KOREA #9,10...FINALLY

(Time check: 12.08am)

So it's officially the last day of 2014 and I still have not completed posting about my Korea trip. Hustle mode: ON.

Okay this entry has been backlogged for so damn long that I have already lost track of things. So...instead of ransacking through my memory for the last few days we spent in Korea, I decided to sift through pictures from the whole trip and just talk about random things until it jogs my memory. I'll try my best to put this in chronological order!

On the train from Seoul to Busan. This blurry photo deserves an entire paragraph to itself because it's one of the first memorable moment I had since we landed in Korea. To be honest I didn't really feel out  out of the country yet at this point, probably because we could still use English + very broken Korean to get around. But yes, back to this photo. Two things you need to know. 1) I had only been breathing Korean air for less than 3 hours. 2) I have a knack for losing important shit all the time. This is us successfully scoring seats in a no-seats-appointed-fo'-our-asses train cabin. We scrambled to secure these seats, so when we finally settled into them I decided to reach for my phone to snap some victory pictures. I could not find my phone anywhere.

Me: Oh fuck I think I lost my phone.

Hui: What! You sure not? Did you leave it on the plane? Okay don't worry I try calling your phone. You see if you can feel the vibration okay.

Me: *waiting*...eh don't have leh. I think I lost my phone for real man.

Me: *spots something green* OI YOU ARE SITTING ON MY PHONE LA!!!!!!

Hui: Hahahahahahahahahaha oops sorry.

Me: You didn't feel the vibration meh!!!

I swear this was much more funnier in real life.

Busan pictures!

Jeju pictures! (Wa my eyebags here really last warning. Also, Korean uncle is judging quite harshly in the background lolol.)

Underwhelming lighthouse in Udo Island.

And there is me shamelessly shouting across the entire rock...shore (?) to Huihui standing on top of this mini rock observatory hill thing (??) to take a photo of me. Single-handedly destroyed the peace and serenity that the quiet Korean families/couples were trying to take in.

Seoul pictures!

Aaaaand these are the faces of some really uncool people abandoning the idea of clubbing because they got there too early. Hahahaha. We had just spent the earlier part of the day shopping at a local Korean supermarket after giving up on our bungee jumping adventure. We got too lost in a remote/zero English signboards/couldn't find anyone who understood English+our broken Korean part of Seoul. Or was it out of Seoul?? We got really really lost (and are wildly uncool).

Anyway, we settled for some hipster pub near our place after failing miserably at our clubbing attempt. Ordered variations of fruit juice+vodka. Only managed to finish half of mine because my alcohol tolerance is virtually non-existent.

Street busker who was playing Oasis' Wonderwall. I probably gave him a total of 10,000w + a bunch of coins because I don't know what the appropriate amount is when someone performs your favourite song in a foreign country.

Him: You know this song? Wonderwall?

Me: Wonderwall by Oasis!

Him: Yes yes, Oasis! You want to choose another song? 

Me: Ahh...it's okay, I have to go somewhere. Thanks though!

Him: No no, choose another song! By Coldplay?

Me: OH NO. NonnononononononononoOOOooOOoo *waves hand to emphasize* (reeeaaally not a big fan)

Which understandably, made his face do this.

 

Looks like social ineptness doesn't miraculously disappear when you are overseas.

Random questionable subway art.

Okay, if my chronological order is correct, we have now reached the last day of our Korea trip. Decided to visit a nearby jjimjilbang (public bathhouse) before we leave.

My verdict: Friggin' awesome.

There is something weirdly liberating about getting naked in front of strangers, and less intimidating than you would think. No one bats an eye. No one stares. Everyone is just doing their own thing and enjoying their bath. Perhaps the "nobody knows me here" factor plays a part too, but the shyness and novelty of being naked in front of others wears off pretty quickly. So yes, pretty awesome!

After the awesome bath we had, we headed home, packed up our remaining stuff (aka have you seen my sock? do you have an extra plastic bag? is that my shopping loot or yours? eh you really didn't see my sock??), tried to leave the room in a more presentable state, napped (only me), and left for the airport.

All aboard the plane back home!

Fun story when we arrived back home. Things you need to know: 1) I decided to visit the washroom before I went through immigration.

I was searching for my passport to get through immigration when I realized that it...was...fucking...gone. Like are you kidding me. Just how. HOW? It was the epitome of a laugh/cry situation. I bolted up the escalator, ran into the washroom and began frantically knocking at the cubical while trying not to scream.

Me: *knockknockknock* Erm hello? Hi? Have you seen a passport inside?
*someone taps me from behind*
Girl who saved my ass: Hi is this your passport?
Me: HOLY SHIT YES. OH MY GOODNESS YES. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!!!
GWSMA: Haha, you're welcome. Actually, I found this in another washroom ah. I was walking around trying to find you!

Wtf. My brain. Wtf. I really have no words.

The boys came to pick me up after! Had dinner and went home, to which my parents both reacted: "Huh 你今天回来meh?" Hahaha.

///

I feel like there should be something sentimental written in this post, but...I don't know man. I remember the entire trip in flashes of laughter, breezes, moments of "oh wow...", and a bunch of happy emotions. It feels refreshing yet familiar at the same time and I don't know how to write it down in words without feeling like it's inadequate. Does this make any sense at all? I feel like I ask this question a lot. It probably doesn't, but this is where the word awesome comes in. This entire trip was awesome.

Can't wait to go back again, and here's to more travelling in 2014!

(Time check: 4.36am) /someone's a slowpok.

Aaaand....abrupt ending now.

THRONES

"It often comforts me to think that even in war's darkest days, in most places of the world, absolutely nothing is happening."

Quoting a little Game of Thrones. In this particular episode, Lord Tully has just passed and Catelyn is mourning the loss of her father by the windowsill whilst reminiscing her childhood. The book's description of this part is a hundred times sadder.

But yes. Quite a lot has happened during the past few days and most of it...if not all of it, would seem to take place in my mind. Which sucks because...because it just sucks. But the moment of clarity came quick this time round, and harsher, I would suppose. Back paddling is never ever a good idea. Pondering about the what-ifs and attempting to even manifest one of those what-ifs is never a good idea. Attempting to change the course of something which has played out the same way time and time again is never a good idea.

Joy Division's words are more than apt.



Why is the bedroom so cold?
Turned away on your side.
Is my timing that flawed?
Our respect run so dry?
Yet there's still this appeal,
That we've kept through our lives.

Love, love will tear us apart again.
Love, love will tear us apart again.

Do you cry out in your sleep?
All my failings exposed...
Gets a taste in my mouth
As desperation takes hold.
Why is it something so good
Just can't function no more?

By the way, this is the only song outside of their Unknown Pleasures album that I can really get into.

Now that that's all over, it's time to (try) and cheer myself up (a little) with some pop punk. The classic The Middle by Jimmy Eat World. It just takes some time/Little girl, you're in the middle of the ride/Everything, everything will be just fine/Everything, everything will be all right, all right. A very cherry song that puts me in a better mood for 2 minutes and 46 seconds.

These two songs are probably the saving grace of a very, very, very stupid mistake.

/Deep sigh.

4am. The ramblings of this post is most definitely accredited to being awake at 4am.

PRINTER

My printer isn't cooperating with me right now. It takes for fucking ever to print just 15 pages and when it finally gets going, it prints it halfway before jumping back to page 1 and restarting the printing process. I now have multiple copies of half-done print jobs that I have absolutely no need for.

And I still have a ton of printing left to do.

COME ON PRINTER, WORK WITH ME PLEASE. PLZPLZPLZPLZPLZ before I stab my eyes out because that would be less painful than trying to get through all these at 2 in the morning. Please?

HAIR

(Time check: 2am) 

Just came home from a late night movie and I am feeling a little peckish. Thinking about having supper but munching on almonds and pumpkin seeds instead - food cravings that are not fulfilled at 2 in the morning.

Took a bunch of selfies because I felt like it and also because my hair is in its golden stage, which of course, happened only after I got home. The golden stage, aka the effortlessly naturally tousled bed hair that only happens in movies and girls on tumblr...which ironically is everything but effortless. It takes 10 minutes to do and it's 10 minutes too long for something that should be naturally occurring everyday when I wake up. Also, this is the longest my hair has been since...since ever  I think. Never had the patience to grow my hair out because the humidity always gets to me, but the weather has been really awesome lately! (plus I am lazy as hell) So, the growing continues!

But what was the point of this post again? Yes, supper. Instead of going out to get some, I remotely mentioned my craving in an extremely cryptic way to someone in hopes of being asked out for supper. Did not work at all by the way.

Which reminds me. Something happened recently that made me...quite happy, even after removing the rush you get from time lapse and anticipation. Happy and nervous. A lot of nerves. And a little despondence that comes with over thinking and anticipating the end before anything even happens. But mostly happy. Is an ending really that important? This need to have something conclusive out of something intangible drives me to the edge sometimes. Perhaps trying to stay in the moment will work well this time round. This entire paragraph is a written contradiction but at least I can set this aside now.

(Time check: 5.28am)
I just got done with the final episode of Sons of Anarchy S6 and I don't think I've cried this much over a TV series in a long time.

WHAT. JUST HOW. JUST WHY.
I can't even. The moment I saw Chibs crying I just lost it. Then when Jax breaks down with Tara in his arms...walau my tear ducts were beyond the point of lost. Puffy eyelids when I wake up later are a given at this point. And speaking of eyelids, my eyebags are getting out of control in the above photos. Hopefully the whole "aegyo sal" trend from Korea will last forever so that my eyebags can be interpreted as something positive other than a physical manifestation of a very erratic sleep schedule. Will dark eye circles be in trend soon? Or chubby cheeks? Haha oh well, a girl can only dream.

(Time check: 5.54am)
My eyes are starting to hurt and I can feel my brain shutting down already.

Goodnight.

ME #2

People I need in my life right now: Managerial Economics pros.

If ME were to be an actual character, it would be the boy in every girl's life who just when you think you get him, throws you a curve ball out of freaking no where and knocks you right out. Except that you genuinely like the boy and it's not mandatory to make things work with him because it is too late to switch this boy out for a less complicated one and your grades depend on him.

Does this make sense?

My point is. I spent 2 days trying to get Auction and Bidding, and just when I think I finally got it, I attempt the assignment question and it's like I never even read the notes before.

Seriously. I am not born with enough middle fingers to express how I feel about ME right now and the assignment just feels like a giant fuck you from the lecturer.

Just shoot me already.

/DEEP SIGH. Okay rant over. Time to get back to trying.

posted from Bloggeroid

SSS'CUTE

You know how sometimes when you are watching a movie and a funny scene comes on, everyone in the theater would laugh on cue together? Yeah. This was the opposite.

The lecturer was playing a video during my IR class about the sub-prime mortgage crisis.

"...Angelo Mozilo, who was also known as the Golden Boy because of his permanent tan...", while the video was saying that, they showed a picture of him looking really tanned (as in Jersey Shore tanned. Which is somewhere between pumpkin and burnt).

Aaaand I was the only one who laughed. Out loud. In a very quiet lecture hall. That was not filled. So it was evidently me. Because the lecturer did not switch off the lights during the video. Which would not be a big deal if the person sitting in front of me did not turn around, stare coldly at me, and then turn back around.

No but seriously my cheeks were flaming.

Also, in today's lecture.

I just realised that the guy in my class who smells good looks really cute too. Which makes sense because I have only noticed him using my peripheral vision up till today. Cute boys and interesting topics, that is what every 3 hour long lecture needs. Actually, make it 3.5 hours because this particular lecturer has no interest in looking at the clock.

In this weekend's agenda: All on board the assignments and test prep train.

UGH.

PARIS

Apparently half an apple is all it takes for my green smoothie to taste entirely like apple juice.

Random things.

1. KALE, Y U NOT READILY AVAILABLE???? I have scoured all the supermarkets in Tampines and it is no where to be found. Gave up and googled "kale in Singapore" and someone online said that you had to order it online from Malaysia or something along those ridiculous lines.

 

2. NTUC finally restocked my favourite brand of unsweetened almond milk! It tastes the closest to home made almond milk and words cannot express my happiness that they finally restocked it. The current brand that I have sitting in my fridge is suspiciously white (like stark white-white) and just tastes...off. Also, I found gluten-free pasta and I feel inexplicably excited. This entire point is so pretentious it makes me want to puke.

 

3. Paris Baguette needs come up with a better ordering system. I would have never stepped into the store because a) have you looked at the queue? and b) have you LOOKED AT THE QUEUE? but my Mama wanted some white bread what's a daughter gotta do. The amount of eye-rolls and deep sighs I held back while queuing is ridiculous. Also, I find that the older I get, the less effort I put into veiling my (potentially rude) facial expressions. So if you saw a bratty looking 21 year old at Paris Baguette today with a scowl on her face, that would be me.

4. Conversation with the bff last night.

G: How you feeling anyway? Better already?
Me: I was about to reply you this. "Ya no more headache already. Maybe I just 熬 through it!".........Then I remembered that I actually took panadol. So in conclusion, I am feeling better and it is all accredited to panadol. Lolol.

5. Fifth point because who makes a list with four points. Stefan Struve is back in training! Very excitingggg. Also, I recently saw a video of GSP playing with a toddler. This is me after the video.

For reference, this is the video.

TOO. FREAKING. CUTE. ALREADY.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.