After listening 933 on how my sis is enjoying her tai tai life, I decided to go to a cafe to chill and order my favourite drink and cake which I dont remember when is the last time I did this. Atmosphere of a cafe is really important, unlike starbucks or coffeebean, local korean cafe offers cheaper and quieter environment. I am surprised that some korean cafes started implementing the 3hours rule which means that if you wanna stay longer than 3hours, u will need to pay more. If I have a cafe in SG, I will sure implement this rule.

After 1 and a half years in Korea I am very used to people thinking I am Korean, in fact if they speak to me in english when I am doing my payment I will start to wonder what what gave me away, isit my accent, my pronunciation, my choice of words , my appearance(not likely since it fool almost everyone) or how I hold my money? hahaha.

I used to go to this CD shop to buy my ost and whenever I make my payment he will type the cost on the calculator and shove it to me. But I didnt speak a single word at all how on earth did he know I am a foreigner? I am really curious and got this urge to ask him. Anyway 1 reason could be that Koreans dont buy CD from those kind of shop or I have just too many pimples on my face which could never happen on a Korean.

Met up with Cindy's bf yesterday and somehow I found myself struggling to come out with chinese words when I talk to him. It took me like 10secs to remember the chinese word for pillow, omg... The only time I speak chinese these days is when I call my mum once a week and those arent consider conversation.

Example:
mum: how are you?
me: not bad, everything the same
mum: u got learn korean or not?
me: a little
mum: eat more, u r like monkey le
me: ok......
mum: is it cold there? (she ask me this question all the time even when is 37 degrees in Korea haha)
me: no.....
mum: u got make korean friends or not?
me: yes, of course
mum: u got korean gf or not?
me: no...................
mum: ok, i gtg, wanna talk to dad?
me: NO!!! (only my sis will understand why, haha)

Yes my mum speaks 3 times more than me. I find it so scary that sometimes I am not able to complete a chinese sentence fluently and with my "powerful" british english level and kindergarten korean level, I feel really gifted in language. 

Met up with a korean friend for dinner just now and somehow we managed to come upon this topic of getting a korean girlfriend and he said that is really tough these days to get one. I was really curious what could be make a korean guy say this and he replied calmly "because of stupid drama"

He said that many korean girls are now going after guys with height, good skin, good dress sense etc.. thanks to the "effect" of korean dramassss. So now he even has to wear a 5cm insole, take care of his skin (which he never bother in the past) and start to dress well to attract girls. He gave this example that girls wear make-up, wear high heels to "cheat" so now koreans guys have to do even better to "cheat" too haha. I never know Korea is such a scary place, hahaha.

But this also explains the good complexion and dress sense in both korean guys and gals which I think many Singaporeans are envy of. I remember that when I first came Korea I was quite shocked to see guys applying facial product but after 1 and a half year here, it is actually nothing. In fact I am starting to think why most Singapore guys arent doing it? haha. What I am still amazed of is how on earth do they have all these facial products in their bag all the time?

I know a korean friend who wear insole. Alvin, zx and book know him too but I dont know if they notice. Main point is the visible part of the shoe sole is already quite high and there was once we have to take off our shoe for a meal in a restaurant and i saw the inner part, wah! I was surprise to see an inner insole which is more than 3cm. Indeed height is important for korean guys.

Less than 5 months till graduation. Seriously how on earth did time pass so fast?

Just came back from my "korea tour" and I really enjoy this trip despite sleeping only 3 to 4 hours everyday. Experience many new "culture" and eating korean version of ice-kachang every few hours thanks to the crazy hot weather.

Is my first time taking a korea train (not subway) and i had a culture shock. When I reach the station I was like preparing to show my ticket to a train staff or someone like that but I realize there isnt such a person even when I reach the train platform and on the train. After asking my korean friends I found out that the train company got this "i trust you" policy whereby no one will check your ticket when you board the train. However there will be random check during the ride and if you are caught with no ticket, you will need to pay 30 times the original fare. Wah, if I live in Korea and my destination is just 4 or 5 stops away I will just hide in the toilet, cant imagine the amount of train fare I can save!! hahaha

The train have this nice cafe and this is where I stay for my 3hours ride. Yes because I have no seat!! This is another shock for me. Because we bought this unlimited ride for a certain number of days and we are given no seat numbers so we have to like "find" our own seats. I didnt know about this so I happily occupy some empty seats until I was like being chased away 3 or 4 times then I came to the cafe and seat in front of the computer.

My accommodation for the first day is considered the second best throughout the trip even though the size is smaller than a chalet size. Each person has to pay around 30,000won per night.


The worst accommodation was the second night, I wanted to get out of the place so much that I forgot to take picture of it. The accommodation was a motel and I was thinking how bad could it be but when I was told that we just have to pay 3,000won per night, I started to have this weird feeling. And INDEED.... can you imagine when you push open your room door, there are already 4 strangers inside and you are going to spend a night with them in a small tiny room!! Is was the worst experience in this trip.

Forgotten the name of this place and I think this is the best part of the trip because the view is too crazy. I never know that Korea has such a place.

Went to busan and visit the famous Haeundae Beach. I got to know this beach from a korean movie call Haeundae where a tsunami strikes the beach. Anyway the weather in bushan is way hotter than Singapore so  I stayed under one of the rented umbrellas while sooyoung n moonkyo went to play in the sea. When they came back they look so pale and they told me that they almost drown cause the wave was too strong and they have to be rescued by lifeguard. Wah, scary...

Is my first time to korean style spa/jimjibang and I got a shock. I already know that korean spa is very "open" as in everyone has to be naked. When i went into the spa area, I see naked old man lying on the tanning chair sleeping, naked people eating ice cream, naked people eating snacks, naked people in strange position on the ground... arent they suppose to be all in the spa enjoying the hot steamy water? It took me a while to get used to this open world. My friend then ask me why sg dont have this kind of spa. I think not in my lifetime ba.. now even tekong toilet got door, dont think singaporeans can get use to this parade style spa.

It was until I saw the pictures in the shop then I realize I will be eating pufferfish for that lunch. It doesnt taste good to me but it taste like some dragon meat to my korean friends, they love it. Anyway when I was eating I saw a familiar face at the table in front of ours and I realized he is the guy who acted as the brother of the main actress in BIG. And his girlfriend is quite pretty!

I have been hearing this word 수고했어요 instead of 감사합니다 (thank you) after koreans pay at the cashier or after people did something for them. It sort of means thank you for your hard work and is like "辛苦了" in chinese.

I had an interview with cyberoro last week and to be sure of this word  수고했어요, I asked him when and why korean use this instead of the normal thank you. And he told me it means thank you for your hard word and please work harder. I burst into laughter immediately when I heard that but he was not joking at all. He even told me there was a movement to stop people from using this word because it sounds rude. Hahaha, can you imagine you are the cashier and the customer tells you, you worked hard, please work harder. Hahaha!!

I have been forgetting it's existence for the past 1 and a half years in Korea and i told myself that I will never need it. But on 6th August 2012, 10.34am, just when I was on the brink of going mad I decided to on the dirtiest machine in my house.

Yes. The air-con, man's best friend in summer. I have been waking up in sweat every single morning as if I having some nightmare and there will be visible sweat stains on my pillow. Yesterday night I even put my super turbo fan 10cm away from my face hoping that the sweating will stop but NO!! IT GOT WORST!! I woke up earlier than my alarm which have never happen before and it was so hot that I wanted to SOL (scream out loud). I have never dread summer this much....

Of all the kimbap I have eaten, I think tuna flavor taste the best. I used to thought that the "all in" kimbap which has a little of all the flavor will be good but it taste weird cause I have no idea what I was eating.

I remembered I used to experiment on the art of tuna kimbap making before coming to korea and of course, it taste like shit. There are just too many ingredients needed to make a "real" tuna kimbap, I think I will need my maid to get all those hahaha. And I discovered the secret to good tuna kimbap and that is the mayonnaise where the shop owner spam like mad.

Went to the english academy for my part time job today. The last time I went there was 1 year ago and I am glad that some crazy kids I know are still studying there. In one of the class today, we came upon this sentence

" Sometimes, it is a bit lonely on the island. But I do have my best mate, Max, with me"

So, I wanted to test their english level and I asked "who is Max?"

Not 1 not 2 but all 5 students shouted together "맥주!!" (beer)

It took me a few seconds before realizing what they were talking about. I seriously laugh out loud. Is so amazing how kids can give such cute answers and how on earth do 9 years old kids know about beer brand?

Recently I started watching this UK drama call Sherlock and I wonder why did I get to know this drama so late because is a really good detective show. After watching this drama, I tend to be more "observant" when looking at ppl, hahaha. Honestly I think is better than the US movie. So far there are 2 seasons and there are only 3 episodes in each season each lasting an hour. Go watch it, is worth your time!

Almost all my friends know that I am a person who prefers hot weather to cold weather and I think I can endure heat very well (so proud of this ability). BUT this summer in Korea proves me wrong! The weather in Korea now is damm f******* hot. I am so sorry but besides the F word I cant think of a better english word to describe the weather. Is 35°C today and our dear weather forecast happily tells me that is 36°C tomorrow. YEA!! so excited! I am so surprise no one die from heat stroke yet.

Going back home these days is a nightmare to me. When I open my door I can feel the hot air in my room gushing into my face and I am so proud that the 2 fans in my room are blowing out hot air. Due to the position of my air-con and the condition of it, it is quite difficult to on it. It is so f****** hot that for the first time in Korea, I started bathing in cold water. This is a really big breakthrough for me because even with the hot weather, the cold water here is ice cold!! I cant imagine who can stand like a normal person when the water touches your skin. So every night when I bath, is like me going to some dancing class. I think my mum whose life motto is "i will never bath in hot water" will be so proud of me.

I will be going on a tour with some Korean friends next week for 5 days. Is quite ironic because the "tour" is not outside of Korea but in Korea and my friends are so excited about it. I guess this is the best part of a big country, you will never be able to go to every part of it so to them it is considered traveling. Imagine me asking my Singapore friends "hey lets go traveling around Singapore for 3 days", I think he will give me the stare and say "not funny loh"

Finally!!! There is Gong Cha in Korea!! If I remember correctly we are not able to choose the ice level in Singapore but we can do it in Korea. The menu is a bit different from Singapore's and they have this white pearl which is harder than the normal black one. And the Gong Cha here is like a cafe which has 2 level and people can sit in to chat and stuff. Of course it is difficult to have it in Singapore because when you want to look for a seat, you will feel like you just entered a library with people studying everywhere.

When I saw sis's blog entry today, it reminds me of the story on how I got my chinese name. Have you ever wonder why did your parents choose this particular name for you, what is the meaning behind it?

So as a very curious boy, I asked my mum this question few years back- why did you choose 陈汉松 as my chinese name. As I waited excitingly for some cool or romantic reason,

she replied "oh, we saw this old man in the hospital and we ask him"
me: "ok..... so who is this old man?
mum:"ahh, dunno and we couldnt find him after that"

I was like . . . I thought I asked about the reason behind my name, why on earth is my mum telling me a ghost story...

Never mind. So on a random day I suddenly asked my mum why I wasnt given an english name (daniel is not  my registered name) and just when I was expecting her to say "my english not good lah" or "i am not christian lah"

she replied "ahh, actually I wanted to give you an english name but your aunts said no"
me: "wah! which is???"
mum: abalone
me: WHAT??? WHY???
mum: because it sounds so nice

Indeed, her english is not good... And I feel really grateful for my aunts for stopping my "crazy" mother.

So in sis blog entry, she was supposed to interview Elvin Ng and I think before the interview starts he asked sis 1 question she hated most " are you from china?" hahahaha. Not that she she hates china but just because her name has 2 characters (陈宁）almost everyone thinks that she is from China.

My mum's wonderful reason for sis 2 character name is that she was afraid sis would be lazy in future. I seriously have no idea how on earth she got this thought.

And my mum told me that she should have name me as "陈宇" because it looks cool for siblings to have name with just 1 stroke difference  陈宇, 陈宁. Thank you my creative mum.

Met up with the manager of baduk tv today and we talk a lot regarding how to spread baduk tv to the rest of the world, the future of this game internationally and many other baduk related stuff. I was surprise to know that he was the creator of the game batoo, a game which was similar to go but there are many surprise elements if you play at certain spot and the biggest highlight of this game is that the image and how the player compete is similar to professional starcraft league. But due to several reasons, this game was terminated somehow.

Went myeongdong and I have never felt so happy when I saw the ost of this 2 drama

The second drama (ghost) is the best korean drama I have ever seen. I was so crazy that I waited every wed and thursday night for the raw version (without sub). And today is wednesday!!!!!! YAHOO!! The first drama was intro to me by not one, not two but almost all korean friends. When I went online to search for its info I was like wth... the actor and actress are all like aunty uncle kind, how on earth will it be nice. So out of curiosity I watch the first episode and yes... it is really nice, the humor in the show is really one of a kind. Come to think of it my korean life make out of lots of drama and ost.

My new GO set arrive!!!!! Is so good to see many creative and really nice go set being produce. I think for the GO community to improve overall and to attract more people in, creativity and constant upgrading is needed.

 Yup! I am still alive! Summer this year is much better because there isnt much rain compare to last year. It was like flooding everywhere in my area last year and is impossible to wear shoe if you wanna go out. Hope it doesnt start raining tmr.

I finally receive my package from korea baduk association! 4 months of hardwork (solving problems) get me this piece of paper which worth 400,000won. Thanks to the monthly magazine I manage to get it at a great discount price of 80,000won.

A korean style folder where they put the cert in. SWA should really improve and upgrade their cert, I am not saying is not nice but it looks a bit cheapskate for such an expensive piece of paper.

The content of the cert is quite similar to swa cert but they have signature of 3 pros and the president of kba. Maybe swa can get like lee chang ho, gu li and cho u, the top pro rep from korea china and japan hahaha. It will be cool right? 

They also issue a credit card size dan cert. I always hope that swa can have this too. Is something that dan player should be proud of and they can carry it with them in their wallet. We can also make this as a membership card as well.

The back of the card. I have to say this is one of the best souvenir I have gotten so far in Korea haha.

These days people have been asking me if I am going back sg after I graduate. I really don't know. Deep inside I really hope to stay 1 more year to learn GO and Korea (or either one) but everytime when I call back home my mum will keep saying that they are old already, dying soon so i should go back and start to earn money and give them, haha. And I know that if I go back I will have to focus on swa stuff which I know is going to drain a lot of my time and it defeats the purpose of learning GO for 1 more year in Korea. Lastly I really really miss sg food. 

A really hard decision.....

When I was in Singapore I realized that my mum listen to 933 every night because my sis is on night shift these days. I have been wanting to listen to her but somehow the player on 933 official website doesnt work in overseas. Yesterday I finally found a way to listen and I suddenly realize that I am really fortunate to be able to listen to a member of my family on radio everyday while in overseas. Sis, if you are reading this FIGHTING!! I know is not easy but you have done really well so far. Jia you!! (n try to promote weiqi on air too muhahahahaha)

Trip to Vietnam was not really an enjoyable one firstly because the seats in that particular plane to vietnam was a torture, I have never sat on such uncomfortable seats before. I only slept for for 3hours the day before and I was planning to sleep on the plane but the seats somehow manage to keep me awake for 5 straight hours. And there was no in-flight entertainment!!! Secondly was the country itself. Maybe I am too spoiled by the Singapore and Korea environment, I find it too dirty and messy there. I dont think I will go back there anytime soon.

Visited vietnam go club and again it makes me realize that swa is really fortunate. Even though we have everything a go club needs I cant help to feel that something is just missing. Maybe we need a push towards a new direction.

Our accommodation in vietnam was........ big but too empty and lots of insect friends around. I cant imagine how the girls manage to sleep there for 3 nights.

Was back in Singapore for 5 days but I didnt get the "wah, i am finally back" feeling when I came back in Jan. Maybe because for the first 3 days I was really busy settling the koreans down and somehow my original plan was changed again and again so it was quite crazy. The friendship match on tue night was a disappointment because it was so different from the friendship match in vietnam, there were no drinks or refreshments and no one know who was the organizer for this from singapore side. We even have to find players to play on tue itself cause we dont have enough players. I would be lying if I say I am not piss on tue when I saw the name list of people coming to play. I mean obviously there are just too little people, shouldn't they take the initiative to look for more players or at least inform me earlier so that we can think of something else. Ok, i shall just take it as everyone is busy for msf.


Went to airport and send most of the koreans back on wed night and I somehow left my backpack there and when I went back for it, it was already surrounded by policemen hahaha. Yes, someone reported my bag as suspicious article so I have to write a short report and they have to scan my bag for bomb, quite an interesting experience.

Thursday was finally a day to myself where I went to my granny place for lunch. When I ask my grandma if my grandpa's memory was getting any better she replied he is the same and sometimes he tend to talk nonsense. I find it really amusing when she told me in such a calm mood, haha. Went to harry potter exhibition with my sis and I think the merchandise shop is the main highlight. I wanted to buy so many stuff but is just too bloody expensive. I met my long lost taekwondo friend working part time there and he even explain the different wands to me and told me the crazy experience he faced working there.

Prof nam has been telling me to take up master degree after I graduate end of this year. As much as I love to stay in Korea, I am not young anymore. Is really a tough decision

OMG, i forget to eat old chang kee curry puff before coming back...NO!!!!!

I was in Myeongdong today and when I saw the koreans carrying christian banners (the kind where it wrote "you go hell if you dont believe in Jesus") around I cant help to think about the city harvest church incident.

50 million. Seriously?

Is hard to believe that people are donating so much so the church when there are so many other less fortunate people who need help. What is the reason for donating so much to the church every month? To get more funds to have a better church? To ensure that you have a good life ahead? So that you will be blessed? So that you can go heaven? To me all these are just pure selfishness. If this is really the church teaching, I am disappointed.

If we have faith in ourselves is there a need for all these?

Went to an Asian restaurant in gangnam with chaelim and sooyoung because they have some free coupons and were craving for phd thai. Ana thanks to sooyoung who won 4 straight wins(1,000,000won) in the female vs senior knockout match, this meal was on her.

I think almost all koreans love this dish but I think the pad thai in thai express taste 5 times better than this. And the food here are so expensive!!

Tom Yum. Never ever let korean try this unless you are trying to kill him or you just hate him so much. All the koreans I know HATE this dish. I know hate is a strong word but yes, this is the perfect time to use such a word. This dish is rather disgusting to them haha, completely opposite from pad thai. Anyway it taste really good to me.

Green curry! A dish i will order when I go thai express. But i dunno why the meat and potato here are more than the curry....

Over the weekend I went to this go camp in ansan with my school friends. I was quite excited about it at first but when I reach ansan station i thought i was in south east asia because 80% of the people there look like thai or Cambodian. And standing 1 and a half hours on bus before reaching the camp site. On the way I think even the koreans were shocked because the place was very very countryside....

And I thought I was transported back to my grandparents kampong days... Is so different from yongin (the place i stay which I thought was quite bad already). I think if i die here it will take a few months before anyone smell my decay..

The camp is held in some english village and I happily thought we can only speak english in here, hahaha.

Even the direction signboards are in english!!!

Of course, no one gives a damm about speaking english here, haha. After playing 2 rounds of games we have some bbq party which lasted for about 1hour only because there were no lights in the competition area but some enthu koreans bring torch lights along so that they can continue drinking their favorite soju.

I am really amazed how korea can get so many aunty and ah ma to play go.  I dont see this in other countries. I tried to ask around but even my korean friends dunno why. Looks like I need to ask my professors.

Anyway after dinner we took a 30mins bus to get to the nearest k-box and we spend like 4 hours there. Is actually my first time going k box in korea, quite a cool experience. After that went back to our countryside dorm where we play this interesting game call "how many mosquito can you kill" and I manage to kill more than 10. Look at the beautiful blood stains on the wall..

Had my first mos burger meal in korea which turns out to be a huge disappointment.As you can see from the pic, the meat in this teriyaki chicken burger look so different and there is NO ICE MILK TEA!!! The only plus point is that is way cheaper than sg.

Went to our department semester ending party yesterday and reach home at 9am the next morning. Yes, it was crazy.. I had soju, beer, makgeolli (korea farmer wine) and vodka. If there is one thing I have learnt, it would be never drink all these different kinds of shit in one day because I end up having itchy rashes. Good thing is that they were gone when I woke up.

After the the party, 60% of the people are either drunk or knockout and I thought it would be the end of the party (maybe if is in Singapore) but it turn out that there is a round 2!! I am starting to think that i could make a small fortune just by selling alcohol in Korea. After the the second round 95% of the people are clearly drunk and yet they still want to play bowling.. Is just so funny seeing most people sleeping on the chair when waiting for their turns to bowl and is my first time seeing people fall down when not able to balance themselves during bowling. I mean if they are so tired why dont they just go home and rest?

And yes, why was I not surprise that there was a round 3 drinking session after bowling. I have also learnt that never ask anyone "are you drunk?" when they are obviously drunk because they will look at you angrily and say NO and you will start to see them sitting on the floor or roll around. And I discovered that my alcohol tolerance level is quite good because I was one of the few alive ones even after the whole event.

But I guess I wont be drinking all these shit anytime soon because the minute I see a beer bottle or soju bottle, I feel like puking.

Time pass really fast, is already the final semester exam period now. These few days were quite crazy for me not in terms of drinking but for the time I spent in school for report, exams and presentations. When I saw how late minyi stayed in nus for her project and stuff I was like "siao dont need to sleep meh?" Seriously... really dont need to sleep. I was in school from 12pm to 5am on monday doing ppt and studying for some life and death class. And on tuesday I somehow have 2 different group meetings at the same time, a very unique experience. Great that I am still alive. 3 more reports to go!

I saw 경낭 on monday carrying like 6 library books I was like wah, you are so hardworking. Then she replied "the test is open book test so I borrow all these books hoping it can help" But in the end she told me that the books were useless in the test. Muhahahaha! I have never seen anyone taking so many books to a open book test.

Finally I have some free time to blog. Have been so busy recently, leaving my house at 830am and reaching home at 12am almost everyday. So many stuff happened these past few days, not sure where to start..

A random drinking night with seungjae, sooyoung, moon kyo in a bar beside our school. I really hate the taste of soju but this drink call lemon soju is bloody nice, I am going to drink it often, haha. We somehow manage to persuade seungjae to stay over in yongin because he was thinking of catching his last bus at 8pm which is like so early! So he end up sleeping over in my place and we spend like 3 hours talking about korean language and culture, never thought this topic could be that interesting.

I am still amazed how korean can make such great desserts.

Indian food in Korea!! I think I ate more indian food in Korea than my whole life in Singapore. I dont really eat indian food in sg thanks to my mum who brainwash me by telling me that a certain race in singapore doesnt wash hand after shitting and they yet they use their bare hands to make food. Thanks mum. Anyway the indian food in korea is really good, too bad there isnt one near my place :(

The reason why I am having Indian food is because Prof Nam invited me and philip out for a dinner. During the talking session we somehow found out that the 3 of us were born in the rabbit year. OMG..prof nam is 12 years older than me!!! Anyway I was telling Prof Nam how environmental friendly korea is because they classify their rubbish and doesnt issue plastic bags and i was surprised that she dont enjoy doing the rubbish classification. I have to agree, imagine having 6 different rubbish bins in your house... Actually is a good business idea to set up a company to help ppl classify their rubbish, i am sure many ppl out there doesnt enjoy doing it too.

I think I am going to die sooner than I expect because I have been drinking beer almost everyday for the past few days thanks to the gatherings and meetings. I really dont know how people do the one shot thingy for beer because it really burns your mouth and throat, impressive... Anyway the brand CASS is not bad.

We have this picnic lesson for one of our class today and I am starting to suspect that the teacher is lazy or run out of stuff to teach so he just pay for all the snacks and talk cock with us in the field haha. Sooyoung opened one of the snack and I was like what the... isnt that dog shit?? And she keeps telling me  맛있어 맛있어 (delicious)...omg.. Good thing that the picnic mat has lots of dogs pictures and I shall prove that is really dog shit..

See!! I am right!!

Is amazing how a human being can sleep in this way. He totally look like a roast pig on aluminium foil, hahaha. He is the oldest senior in my department and if he knows that I took this pic I think he would chop off my hands.