storytime

"The Sultan loved his wife more than anything in the world. However, she took other men as her lovers. When the sultan found out, he ordered for her head to be cut off. And he began to hate all women. So every day, he married a new woman and ordered for her head to be cut off the next morning."

Wow…a little angry for a children’s book don’t you think?

cheers for that!

 NEVER HAVE I EVER BEEN SO HAPPY TO SEE…..

- Salami, pepperoni, turkey or any other cold meat.
- Real bread which isn’t sweet.
- Real cheese which didn’t come in individually wrapped singles.


A Nescafe opened up one block away. Real sandwiches. For less than 5 bucks. Walking distance. Don’t judge…..but I actually went there twice in one day for their sandwiches..

I guess this is what Korea does to you.. 

Guys, be prepared because I am going to come home and cry with joy when I see bacon, ham, advocado, olives… 

And maybe I’ll cry some more when I walk into Coles or Woolies and see Cadbury chocolate and Fuji apples, and coriander and real herbs… 

And you know what I really, really miss eating??

Chinese food. Real vietnamese combination pho with the tendons. Gourmet seafood pizza from King William St. Fish and chips. Gelatissimo gelato. STEAK. I’ve been soo deprived that I can’t even remember the name of the stuff I miss… pub meals, what’s it called Oh a Chicken Parmigiana. OMG. Waffles from Cocolat. AAAAhhhhh….the list goes on forever!!

But maybe, just maybe….I might be able to survive now that I’ve found my sandwiches……

its not me...its the blonde girl inside of me...

I sometimes do really stupid things.

I prefer to think of myself as smart, so I really don’t want to admit that I am otherwise. Which is why I’ve come up with the theory that there is a blonde girl inside of me…who feels oppressed by the smart exterior me, and so rebels every so often…

One glorious Sunday… a string of rather unfortunate events took place… (I was with Audrey and am partly glad that no-one else saw how stupid we were, but also part of me believes that if we were with other people, such events would not have occurred). Anyways…

NUMBER ONE:  Nicole specifically told us to “cross the road when you see the 7-11, and the subway station will be there”. And of course, Audrey and I were walking down the street enjoying the nice weather and talking about the pretty flowers and skipped down the path and completely missed the 7-11. We kept walking, until Audrey says, “Hmm… I think we’ve walked too far… maybe… it wasn’t a 7-11 but a GS, because I think I saw a GS….” So, we pondered for a bit and turned around walked, this time, determined to identify the 7-11 OR GS or anything….”ooops….it is a 7-11”. (I was later told that there are actually TWO 7-11s located right across from one another and why we missed it still remains a mystery until today).

NUMBER TWO: We wanted to go to Anyang and successfully made it to Geumjong where we had to transfer. We walking across the platform with me saying “This is my favourite station because we don’t have to walk far to transfer and it’s right across! Love it!” We hop on the train and score ourselves seats…Five stops later…”hm…I’m sure Anyang is only 2 stops away…” We check the map and realize we were going in the WRONG DIRECTION!

NUMBER THREE: We finally made it alive to the Anyang Underground Shopping Centre and we shopped and shopped, but it seemed like we were in the same aisles again and again… at the end, we probably looked so lost because some nice man comes up to us and asks “Do you need some help?” “Yes, we want to find the exit..” “Just walk straight and you will see it.” “Oh….yea, I knew that…”

NUMBER FOUR: Exhausted, we get on the subway and we talk about how we haven’t had dinner yet and what we should eat once we get back. Blah blah blah and then it dawned upon us that the train hasn’t made a single stop yet. WHAT?? We see the huge monitor with its glaring red words “Direct to Suwon”. Oh dear…. So we went to Suwon.

NUMBER FIVE: We are at Suwon and try to find our way back. We walk upstairs and see all these signs and station names. We check them against our subway map but couldn’t locate them! Later, we realized it was the KTX station (which is the real train, not the subway) and it goes to Busan (which is like 5 hours away…). Thank goodness we didn’t go there… Our smart idea? ”Since this station is so confusing, why don’t we just ride one more stop and then we can figure it out there..” Luckily, we found the right platform.

Yes, it took us two hours to get to the shopping centre and another two hours to get back home. They were a string of rather unfortunate events. However, had we not done that…we would’ve missed seeing this….

*drum rolls please*


a TALL, BROAD-SHOULDERED,  NON-SKINNY PANTS WEARING, NON-GOLD-BUTTONED BLAZER WEARING, GOOD-LOOKING MAN WITH PECS AND BICEPS AND ALL. That guy was the closest korean man to Rain that I have seen so far…. I came to this country half-expecting all the men to be 6 ft tall with muscles bursting out of their deep-V tops (well, the deep-Vs have been true so far)…

I coulda gone to Hong Kong instead

Today we finally made it out of Ansan. We went to the 63 Building - which is apparently the tallest building in South Korea - yep, you guessed it, 63 floors. Anyhow, the amount of time it took us to get there? - Well…I could’ve been in Hong Kong by then. The flight would’ve taken less time.

First we hopped onto a bus which made most of us sick.. then two hours later… we get off and take the subway… then we transfer… then we get out… nope, not there yet… then we hop onto another bus… and … almost there…we get off…. climb a hill… and voila! We MADE IT.

All in all, it took us close to 3 hours to get there. Which is the equivalent to the plane ride to Hong Kong. 

BUT… the trip was well worth it.

First we went to see the Wax Museum - I took a picture with Chairman Mao *to make up the fact that I didn’t get to see him in Beijing* 

Then we went to SEAworld and played with otters and seals. I saw many many strange sea animals…Like the cowfish.
It’s so ugly that it’s almost cute. I also saw many huge creatures which do look almost alien-like. If I was an animator or movie director, I’d probably use sea creatures as my inspiration. There are just that many weird looking things down there… It’s almost like, the closer to the centre of the earth, the weirder they look. EEK.

Then we went to the SKYart which was a photography exhibition at the 63rd floor. It was pretty cool except that Seoul just isn’t a very pretty city so the sight from the top was mediocre. It wasn’t anything spectacular nor breathtaking. 

I also had REAL GELATI. Oh dear, you don’t know how hard it is to find them here. It was AMAZING. I can’t believe I had taken such a delicacy for granted… back home, Rundle Street was full of gelato places……..and come Korea, I’d be lucky to eat something which ISNT kimchi or bulgogi flavoured…….-_-

Then we went home and watched the World Cup match between AUSTRALIA and GHANA. Interestingly, I wanted Ghana to win. But once the game begun, I wanted Aussies to win. Maybe I am more Australian afterall. But what a slut…changing sides so easily.

Too bad it was a tie. I guess Australia really don’t have a chance anymore…..

But they were a pretty hot team, I must admit.

I think being in Korea is slowly altering my mental health. I see a scruffy, rugged, manly guy who is buff and I swoon…. ahhh….there are just too many skinny legs and long hair and shiny pants that I find it repulsive. EEK.

It’s late, I am not making sense anymore. I must sleep….goodnight! 

let the 5th graders rule the world..

Sometimes, the amount of knowledge that children have amazes me. They learn and remember about the weirdest facts .. but when it comes to important things like doing their homework, there’s that golden phrase, “Oh Teacher I forgot…”.

PLANARIANS.

Have you ever heard of them? They are tiny little flatworms which are semi-transparent and have a feeding tube which extends out of their middle when they eat. And they have these omelete-looking eyes which are almost cartoonish.



Aren’t they just so cute?

But wait…… there’s more.

Yep, as if those sticker-fake eyes weren’t enough…

THEY CAN REGENERATE!!

Yea…so you can cut them up into tiny pieces and they will grow into a worm again. So if you cut of the end piece of the tail, it will grow a head again.

WOW. This is amazing.

5th graders are even more amazing.

Kent and Mike told me that they will open a Zombie factory using Planarian DNA so that their zombies can regenerate and grow and divide into a million more zombies. I asked them, what do you want zombies for?

They reply: A Zombie Army! So that if they were cut or shot, they can just grow another one again.

Oh dear….I wonder what the world will become once these 5th graders grow up and rule the world….

不要問我哭過了沒 ...因為超人不能流眼淚...

 Things have been weird lately. People all around me seem unhappy, down. Like yawning, it’s infectious. But unlike infections and viruses, isolation and quarantine probably won’t help much. Might, in fact, make it worse.

不要問我哭過了沒 因為超人不能流眼淚 
Don’t ask me if I’ve cried yet. Because superman doesn’t cry. 

- That’s a line from a song that’s stuck with me.

I’m not sure why, but it just seems appropriate right now. 

When did that day come? When did we suddenly grow up? When did we wake up that unfortunate morning and skipped the fruit loops and milkshakes and decided, rather, to pile up on responsibilities and burdens? 

It all comes down to choice, really. 

Sometimes things happen and we think we can’t get over it. But we could if we tried. But maybe, just maybe, the child in us is still stuck there, stubborn, unwilling to move. Even when the adult-us tries to pry our little fingers away. There’s that child still in us, screaming for attention, wanting to be let out. 

Just like how we knew since we were young that we need to brush our teeth and not eat candy before bed. But we still do it, because we want to.

Well, there are many things that are not good for us. And oh yea, we know it. But we still do it, because we want to.

And maybe that’s where it all comes from. From the conflicts we all have inside is. From doing what we know is right, and doing what we want.

Well….which do you choose?

seven hundred and ninety seven...

 Yep, that’s the number of photos I took over my holiday. Which was, please don’t forget, a mere nine days. WOW. I am incredible.

Let’s talk about Hainan today. I was told this little island located south of China was like the hidden hawaii of Asia. Of course I was skeptical. C’mon, it’s China we’re talking about. 

I stepped off the plane expecting to be scammed, ripped off and taken advantage of for being a foolish foreigner. If they did, I didn’t know. It was a pleasant surprise for sure.

DAY ONE…

It was hot. Humid. Terribly hot and the airport had multi-coloured flags waving at the scorching sun. Everyone walked around with matching hawaii shirts AND shorts. Not just men, but girls, women, ladies, boys, EVERYONE. There was no air-conditioning in the airport. I felt like I was in Thailand. The people were very dark-skinned and spoke in a different dialect. Was I even in China? 

We see a sign “Airport Bus” and ask the guy behind the desk. He’s busy playing games on his cellphone and he pauses for a minute to inform me that the buses don’t go that direction. Crap, I’d thought…we’re probably living in a horrible hotel that’s really far away. That’s why its so cheap. Then a man walks up and tells us he’s a taxi driver and can take us to our hotel for 6 bucks. Okay, sure. We follow him.

We see a line of taxis and walk towards it. No, the man motions us to walk past them. He beeps at a car and helps us put the luggage in. Okay… it doesn’t look like a taxi. I feel scammed. I feel scared and want to say no, but he’s holding my bags. What if he gets angry or kidnaps us? I look at Tommy, and he looks at me… and we get in.

On the way to our hotel, he tells us that our hotel is horrible and not worth the money. Oops.

We arrive.

The entrance is grand. It looks like a resort. It’s not bad. No, definitely not bad.

We check in and we are told that we have to pay additional tax fees on top of our nightly charge. They speak really fast and I got confused. The girl at the reception looks like she’s 15 years old and she keeps pushing numbers into a calculator but she’s doing it too fast and I don’t quite understand. Anyways, it came up to be around $11 a night. Sounds good to me. 

We get our keys. 

We walk towards our rooms.

I open the door. Wow, it’s pretty big. There’s a patio that walks into the pool. There’s even an upstairs loft. I walk up and discover there are two separate rooms. Huh? 

Confused, I go back to the reception and tell them. I ask if Tommy can move in so we can pay one less. No, they say. They talk and explain and say many things and I don’t understand. 

Oh well… It’s cheap. And I get two bedrooms. Whatever.

I’m going to swim…..

is it possible to fall in love with a city?

I often hear people tell me they have a favourite city or that familiar movie scene where the lead actress throws her arms wide open and exclaims “I LOVE this place!”. I never gave it much thought because, while I most certainly do like the cities I’ve lived in or visited, there aren’t any particularly strong feelings attached.

Take, for instance, Adelaide. I’ve spent the larger part of my life living there and I think I know where everything is. I feel safe walking down King William Street going home at night. I like the convenience of the tram. I really make the most out of the free parking in Chinatown on Sundays. I loved the sunshine and the green trees that line the roads. But that was it. I like it there, but if it wasn’t for my friends, my family, my school, my work.. the sentiment and nostalgia that goes along with it, that’s it. There’s nothing much.

In my previous post, I said I think I am in love. Well, here’s my question for today, Is it possible to fall in love with a city? 

Usually, I am a very critical person. I like to think of myself as being able to see the big picture, the good and the bad. I normally don’t delude myself with false positives. However, this trip to Shanghai has left me with a huge mark. I absolutely loved the city. Everything about it was amazing and beautiful. 

Maybe because I have a thing for architecture and buildings. I found the city a beautiful blend of old and modern. I loved how there were skyscrapers around the corner from the fish market. I loved how there were 19th Century buildings transformed into bars and pubs. 

Or maybe I just had such a horribly low bar of expectation for China. I found the people surprisingly friendly and happy and nice. I am shocked at how clean the streets were. I am dumbfounded at how clean the restaurant toilets were. Everything was more than what I had expected.

People say, no matter where you are, it’s the friends you have. Having said that, it’s definitely not the reason because I didn’t have any friends there! I had some distant relatives, but that was about it - most of them I had never met before. 

So I am now officially one of those mushy people who have a favourite city. Mine would be Shanghai. Yours?

bits and pieces

I just came back from my holiday last night. Words cannot even come close to expressing my excitement in the past 9 days….

As it will be really long for me to document everything I did and saw and ate (as you know, I do tend to talk ALOT)… I thought maybe I’ll just make a list of some interesting things which seem note worthy.. here goes…

- I went scuba diving - where the “instructor” pretty much just threw me into the sea
- We were at a pub where our bill was less than $15 and the boss gave us cigars - and we smoked it ON THE STREETS haha
- We didn’t have enough RMB on us, so our taxi driver lent us money - He lent us 200RMB in one night when our fare was only 80RMB
- In Sanya beach, my hotel room had a patio that led into the pool
- I went into the China Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo - WITHOUT lining up, when usually only the first 200 ppl get in each day
- We knocked down 25 pavilions in two days at the Expo
- Watched a drag queen show in Hainan where the lady boys were taller and had better bodies than I did - I should be ashamed of myself!!
- In Shanghai, we lived right by this street were you could eat all sorts of bbq skewers for 1RMB per skewer (1USD is approx. 6.7RMB) AMAZING.
- And then I threw up twice that night. hahaha but it was still worth it, it was delicious and cheap. And I was fine the next day.
- Went to the expo at 8:30am thinking we’d beat the crowd only to be waiting at the very end of the line HAHA 
- Very Very VERY impressed with the cleaniness of the Expo - there wasn’t much trash, there were lots of huge umbrellas and seats, the toilets were surprisingly clean and not smelly
- There was less pushing and shoving than I had expected - I had imagined people jumping over the fencings and pushing down the gates and stampeding on one another HAHA my imagination sometimes gets a lil wild….
- Ate DELICIOUS Shanghai dumplings….the ones with crab meat in it and still had BROTH .. LAAAAAAAAH……. 

Gahh….it’s almost 3am and I’m really really tired….. that’s all I can think of right now, BUT I’m sure I did way more than that! I guess that will be for another post….. oh and one more thing, facebook is banned in China! It’s so weird not being able to contact all my friends.. I guess that’s the mark technology leaves on us, we become so dependent on it!! LAST THING…..I GOT A TAN… haha i’m SO happy about that! I wish I can stay tanned all summer long!!