Hi guys!!!! I think I'm extremely behind in blogging about my experiences.... lololol but slowly but surely, I will blog about everything that I've done so far in Korea. Anyway, I'll be blogging about my experience to the BIGBANG Exhibition and N Seoul Tower. I went to these places on the same day (on 30th August to be exact) - exhibition in the afternoon and the tower at night. I was so tired by the end of the day but it was a day well-spent for sure ^^
BIGBANG Exhibition
I went to the exhibition with Atirah and it took us roughly 20 minutes from Anam Station to get to Seongsu Station, which is where the exhibition is at. The exhibition is located at S-Factory, which is about a 10 minute walk from the station. I managed to spot the huge BIGBANG Exhibition poster, which is a surprise because I'm usually very oblivious....
Ticket costs 12,000won, which isn't too bad I reckon.... all for BIGBANG ♥♥♥
LOL anyway, professional cameras/video recording devices weren't allowed, so I couldn't use my GoPro to take pictures... I even tried to snapchat video on my phone but the staff said it wasn't allowed either.... Nevertheless here are the pictures I took at the exhibition! Sorry if the pictures seem.. disproportionate. I couldn't be bothered editing the photos lollllllll.
I absolutely love this shot of Taeyang. <3
Too damn true :)
THIS REALLY BROUGHT ME TO TEARS.
It's BIGBANG during their pre-debut era. :'(
Anyone recognise some of the props?
(Hint hint: it's from a music video)
<3 <3 <3
All of their concert outfits!!
This is a prop used in their tours and they actually showed
a video of the members breaking this prop into pieces.
This is meant to symbolise BIGBANG's future apparently lel
All of BIGBANG's albums <3333333
A corner where you can listen to BIGBANG's music
After leaving the exhibition, there is a gift shop and a mini food counter at the bottom floor. I bought little fridge magnets (because that's one that I could afford LOL) and churros from the food counter.
It was honestly an amazing experience because you get to see BIGBANG's achievements and you get to see REAL-LIFE PROPS from their music videos/tours etc. And I guess it makes me proud, as a fan, knowing that they've achieved so much in 10 years. :)
N Seoul Tower
After the exhibition, we headed to Myeongdong Station, which is about a 20 minute subway ride from Seongsu Station. We boarded the Namsan Shuttle Bus #5. The bus ride itself took about 15 minutes until it reached N SEOUL TOWER!!! Initially I thought that N Seoul Tower is a separate tower from the very famous Namsan Tower...... until I realised what the N stands for in N Seoul Tower -_-
TIPS ABOUT TRANSPORTATION TO N SEOUL TOWER:
- They provide shuttle bus services to N Seoul Tower at different locations in Seoul, which includes: Chungmuro Station, Dongguk Uni Station, Itaewon Station, Hangangjin Station and Seoul Station
- There is also a cable car that you can ride from the bottom of the hill, which is located 15 minutes away from Myeongdong Station Exit 3. This is for those who wants to experience THE cable car ride that Jandi and Junpyo once took in the all-hailed Korean drama Boys Over Flowers LOL.
- For more info, visit this website: http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/ATR/SI_EN_3_1_1_1.jsp?cid=264550
Once we arrived at our destination, we had to walk uphill to the base of the tower (also known as the plaza), where it's pretty much empty~ We took the lift to the 1st floor, where we bought our observatory deck tickets for 10,000won. Other than the ticketing booth, there are also restaurants and gift shops here. Well, I guess I'll let the pictures do the talking now :) (Sorry again for the lack of quality in the pictures!)
The view of the N Seoul Tower from the bus stop :)
View of Seoul at the top of the hill
View of Seoul at night. Too beautiful ♥
View of Seoul. Again ♥
N Seoul Tower at night ♥♥♥
A good photo opportunity for couples.... lel
The couple locks. I tried to find Yongseo (Yonghwa + Seohyun)
couple lock but there were just too many locks LOL
We spent nearly 3 hours at N Seoul Tower, and it is a definitely must-visit-place if you are in Seoul! I cannot emphasise enough on how beautiful Seoul is at night. If you ever have the chance to travel to Seoul, please do visit the N Seoul Tower at night. You won't regret it :)
That's about it for this post! Also, I will try and get a blogpost up every Wednesday, since I don't have classes on Wednesday lol so stay tuned!
Hi guys! I know I've blogged a lot about administration stuff with regards to uni.. And I figured it's time to switch gears and start blogging about the fun stuff. Sooooo from now on, for most of my blog posts, I'm gonna start posting all my random sightseeing.
First off on the list is..... Itaewon!!! Itaewon is an area where you'd see a lot of foreigners hanging around. That's because there are a lot of businesses here that have been established by international residents living in Korea. You can find a lot of stuff imported from overseas here..... which of course, includes foooood!!!!!
I knew I had to visit Itaewon even before I arrived in Seoul. Due to the fact that there are a lot of Halal food in this area, particularly in the area where the Seoul Central Mosque is located. I've been to Itaewon a number of times since I arrived in Seoul, so here's just a recount of my experience so far.
Halal food
When I first arrived in Seoul, I had to firstly find a place where I could buy my groceries. In Itaewon, there are a few shops that sells imported Halal food products and local Halal food products. The only downside to it is that some of the products might be a little expensive (well, for me it is because I'm on a student budget lol)... but I guess you'll have to deal with it. Also... some of the shops don't have clearly stated price tags to it... which kinda sucks when you're trying to compare prices with other shops.
This is Foreign Food Mart, which is where I buy most of my groceries from.
After finding different grocery markets, I had to find a butcher that sells Halal meat. Again, there are a few butcher shops available in Itaewon, but all of them that I've been to only sells imported Halal meat, which also means that it's on the pricey side. If I remember correctly, 500g of mince meat costs 6,000 won, which is about AUD$7. Anyway, I forgot to take a picture of the butcher shop that I usually buy my meat from... will probably update this post again with a picture next time.
If you're trying to find a Halal restaurant in Itaewon, there are A LOT of them around here.. to the point where I can say you are spoiled for choice. And depending on what you order, some of the food may also be on the pricey side. Anyway I've only been to two restaurants:
1. Itaewon Halal Pizza, a small cosy fast food restaurant which sells burgers, chips, and of course, pizza.
2. Makan Halal Korean Restaurant, which sells super delicious Korean food.
I've been to the Makan restaurant twice now and oh my god their food are so delicious I cannot even describe it in words. My favourites on their menu are the 떡갈비 (tteok-galbi), which is a beef dish, and this squid dish, which I totally forgot its Korean name. Also, their 반찬 (banchan), which are side dishes that are served with every meal, are TO-DIE-FOR. I seriously love all of their side dishes T_T
I'm already drooling just by looking at this picture....
Seoul Central Mosque
The mosque is located on a hill, so you'd have to walk up in order to get to the mosque. Anyway, to enter the mosque area, you'd have to be dressed appropriately (i.e your legs, arms need to be covered and not exposed). Even if you're not, the mosque provides clothing that you can wear temporarily while you are within the mosque area. I've seen some Koreans who were keen to learn about Islam and were talking to a person who was working at the mosque. It's a pleasant feeling seeing that people are still interested to know about Islam, despite all the hate that is happening around the world.
Anyway, I've been to the mosque a number of times, of which one of the occasion was for Eid ul Adha. It was a refreshing experience because I've never been away from my family for Eid before. And even though I was far away from home, being at the mosque for Eid prayers was truly a nice feeling. Cool fact - the sermon after the Eid prayers were conducted in English and Korean. How awesome is that????!!! Anywayyyyyy after the Eid prayers ended, there were a bunch of Indonesians crowding around this lady and taking pictures with her. Turns out, she's the wife of the ex-president of Indonesia (Yudhoyono) LOL. Both Yudhoyono and his wife were present at the Eid prayers. I thought that was cool lol.
The view from the top of the hill where the mosque is located.
Seoul Central Mosque in the day
Seoul Central Mosque at night
Other stuff about Itaewon
Itaewon is a really happening town at night... and that's because Itaewon is also home to a lot of nightclubs. Quite a number of people from my dorm love going to Itaewon because of the nightlife. If you have any questions about the nightlife in Itaewon, I'm sorry to say that I'm the wrong person to ask about this matter LOLLLLLLL.
Itaewon can get kinda dodgy at night, so it's best that you always have someone with you at all times..... Actually this applies for everywhere you go in Seoul... so yup.
A street in Itaewon.
... And that concludes my post about Itaewon! I will be blogging about more places very soon :)
Hi everyone!!!! I didn't think I'd be posting about my course registration drama here, but I just needed to rant out every single thought that I had about this SUPER FRUSTRATING PROCESS. As mentioned in my previous post, these are the units that I was originally supposed to take..
However, after being in Korea for about 2 weeks, I realised that my Korean speaking skills is extremely limited. Even though I've done Korean Intermediate I back at Monash, I still feel communicating with other people in Korean is a huge challenge. Understanding Korean is one thing, but speaking Korean is a whole new level.
I talked with one of my buddies in my KUBA group, and she mentioned that some terms (especially if you're in the Biomed/Life Sciences field) can get very technical.... However she did advise me to talk to the professor and see if he is able to accommodate me by providing resources in English...
I emailed my professor for the Microbiology II unit. The good thing about KU email is that you can see if the professor's opened your email or not. Even though I can see that he's read my message, he still hasn't replied to my email.... up until this day LOL. And as much as I tried to stay positive about it, I decided to look for other alternatives....
Firstly, I had to look through my study plan, and see if there were any English courses that I have gotten approval from my faculty. Unfortunately, there wasn't any options left from my study plan, because it was either going to be taught in Korean, or it clashed with my current timetable.
That's when I went into..... PANIC MODE!!!!!!!!
I decided to change my Microbiology unit a week before uni started.. howeverrrrr the period for me to change my units was the week after uni started.... And I was already panicking because I wasn't sure if I can get units approved on time....
Anyway, I remembered the pre-departure presentation that Monash gave.. They mentioned the steps that I needed to take in order to change my unit.
1. Inform the faculty adviser ASAP.
2. Email them the unit syllabus to the faculty adviser and get it approved
3. Obtain an updated study plan from the faculty
4. Inform Monash Abroad about these changes
5. Make sure unit enrolment is correct
So I started looking up for other units that I can take and managed to find two really interesting units, which are Healthcare Strategic Management and Stem Cell Biotechnology. The first one sounds appealing as it was related to public health, while the latter was all about stem cells, which is a topic that I have always found interesting ever since first year of uni.
Informing the faculty adviser
After that, I started emailing my faculty adviser and seeked advice about my unit enrolment. I was worried about two things: the effect on my HECS, and whether the units will be approved on time. Just to fill in the gaps, HECS is a loan scheme that seeks to help Australian students with their university fees.
Anyway, there are certain deadlines that you need to meet with HECS. For example, if you withdraw the unit after the deadline, you will incur a HECS debt, and in addition to that, you'd also have to incur academic and financial penalties from the university. And since I was planning to change the unit, I was scared that I will incur a debt and have to pay the penalties. BUT THANKFULLLLLLY, changing a unit doesn't affect my HECS according to my faculty adviser, so that's one worry down.
Emailing unit syllabus to faculty adviser
Next, I had to get approval for the two new units. The reason why I had two options was because last year, when I was compiling my study plan, there were some units that wasn't approved. In addition, it took foreveeerrrr for my faculty adviser to approve my units last year.
However this year, we have a new faculty adviser and a completely new system for Biomed students to communicate with the faculty. In a way, it's a much efficient system because I always get a quick response from my faculty, usually within one business day. Anyway, I emailed my faculty adviser on Wednesday aaaanddd the next day........ BOTH MY UNITS WERE APPROVED!!! I was really pleased about that, because one, they replied me within the timeframe that I wanted and two, both units were approved!!!!!
Anyway, I had to request for my study plan to be updated so that I can forward it to Monash Abroad, and once again, they replied me within a business day.
Thank. You. Biomed. Faculty.
Add/Drop Period at KU
After getting unit approvals for two units, it was time for me drop my Microbiology II unit and add either Healthcare Strategic Management or Stem Cell Biotechnology unit. And since the first week of uni was orientation week, I was able go to the first class and test the waters. I managed to go to the first Healthcare Strategic Management class. And amazingly enough, the professor was super kind and accommodating to the only foreigner in that class.... aka me. Also the unit sounded so interesting, because it involved management (which I have never done in my life) and public health. That was when I decided to sign up for the class.
For exchange/visiting students, add/drop period started on Tuesday, 6th September at 6.30pm. AND THANKFULLYYYYYY I managed to get into the Healthcare Strategic Management class!!!! For most of my friends, however, it was a complete nightmare. They couldn't get into the classes they wanted, and I think it was mainly due to the popularity of the class I guess. They had to fill in an additional form, just so that they can get into the classes that they wanted. :-(
Anyway, this is my OFFICIAL timetable! (I have Wednesdays off, which is a weird break in the middle of the week, but I'll be fine lol.)
Emailing faculty adviser and Monash Abroad
After confirming my units at KU, it was time to advise my faculty adviser on the unit that I was taking, which was Healthcare Strategic Management. They emailed me back within one business day, and my unit enrolment with Monash was confirmed.
Last but not least, I had to inform Monash Abroad about my unit change and I had to email them the updated study plan. And that was the end of the course registration drama.
I didn't think this post would take up so much space... but it did lol. Anyway, this is probably the last admin-related stuff that I'll talk about soooo more sightseeing posts coming your way very soon! Until next time :)
Hey guys! One week of uni has passed and it's been a rollercoaster. So many things have happened from the time I last blogged... buuuut as I've promised, I'll blog about my dorm, which is CJ International House!
All the on-campus accommodation at Korea University are all within the same area, so I'd always see Korean and international students roaming around. There are separate accommodation for local Korean students and international students. For international students (including those on exchange/visiting program), they offer two dormitories - CJ International House and Anam Global House. And lucky enough for me, I got my first option, which is a single room at CJ International House.
So before coming to Korea, I researched how the dorm was going to be like, and everyone was saying how there is a huge hill before you climb up to CJ International House...... well here's a video from the entrance of the on-campus accommodation area to the lobby of my dorm.... it's self-explanatory I reckon. I apologise in advance if the video is a bit shaky.... I have shaky hands...
A convenience store just down the hill from CJ International House
CJ International House
The entrance of CJ International House
At CJ International House, there are three different suite types. There is a 2 bedroom suite, 3 bedroom suite and a 4 bedroom suite. I was assigned into a 3 bedroom suite, and I share this suite with 4 other people. All of them are put into double rooms, while I'm the only one in a single room. Photo spam coming up!!
Lift to the suites
Info on all the facilities available
Walkway to my suite
My suite! 601 :)
When you first enter the suite, there is a sink
on the left and the bathroom on the right
Walkway to the rooms (My room is on the very far right)
Bathroom - shower and sink
Bathroom - toilet bowl (Do you notice something? #muslimproblems)
When you first enter my roooom!!
Bed on the left, wardrobe and study table
The study table in my room (which I doubt I will use for study purposes)
Facilities
CJ International House has a range of facilities available, of which it includes:
Shared kitchens
There are two kitchens per floor; Kitchen A and Kitchen B. In each kitchen, there are two refrigerators, cooking stove, an oven, a microwave and cupboards for storage. The only difference between the two kitchens is that Kitchen A has a water purifier dispenser, while Kitchen B doesn't. For me, Kitchen A was the closest one to me and it was the most crowded one. The fridge is always filled with food and it's a pain to store food in there.
Lucky for me though, I met Atirah and we both decided to cook our dinners together. It's a win-win situation for us because we both have the same palate for food (Melayu food 4evaaaaa) and our expenditure for our groceries is shared. Anyway, Atirah lives on the 4th floor and her suite is opposite Kitchen B, which is SUPERRRR empty. I think we conquered most of the space in one of the fridges LOL.
Kitchen B on the 4th floor
Kitchen B on the 4th floor
Laundry room
The laundry room is located on the basement floor, and it is equipped with washing machines, dryers and ironing board.
In order to use the washing machine/dryer, you need 2 x 500 won and your own detergent/softener. Or if you prefer, you can buy a little sachet of the detergent/softener for 500 won from this little machine in the laundry room.
For me, I bought my own detergent from Daiso because it's way cheaper than buying a small sachet every week. I spend 2,000 won weekly for my laundry, which isn't too bad I guess.
I've never tried the ironing board before but all you have to do is press a button and the iron will be on for 10 minutes.
Laundry room
Music Halls/Seminar rooms/Conference rooms
All these rooms are located on the basement floor. I've never entered these rooms, because you need to book the room and obtain a key to get in. And if I'm not mistaken, you'd need to pay for the seminar and conference rooms.
Prayer Room
There's a prayer room!!! It's also in the basement floor. I've never entered the room though, because you'd need to inform the reception desk and get a key. But apparently, one of my friends tried to get a key but the reception desk lost it.... oh well.....
Gym
There's a gym located on the 2nd floor, and it's only open at designated periods (not too sure on the actual timings, but it's open for a few hours in the morning and night). Again, I've never entered here because climbing up the hill is already a workout for me lol. Probably when it gets colder.... I'll enter and take pictures.
Study Rooms/Lounges
There's a study room on each of the residences floor, and it's open to only residents. Againnnn, I've never entered here becuase I haven't actually studied any of my lecture notes yet LOL. But yeah, I will take pictures next time I enter the study room.
On each floor, there's also huge lounge room on each of the residences floor, but no one uses it really. The only lounge room that I see people use is the lounge room on the 1st floor, where guests are also allowed to hang around. There's also another small lounge room somewhere between the suites. Don't really see people hanging around there either. Oh there's also a mini alfresco area at the balcony.. which I have no photos of at the moment. I usually see people sitting at the balcony during breakfast time.
Lounge room on the 1st floor
International Cafe
There's also an international cafe, located on the 1st floor, near to the reception area. When you first check into your dorm, you'll receive like a meal plan for the whole semester. If you plan to sign up for it, you'd have to go to the cafe during the designated times (i.e breakfast, lunch, dinner).
Printing/scanning facilities
There's a few computers and a huge printer/scanner machine on the 1st floor, near the reception desk. Not too sure on how it works, but you can use your student card/T-Money card to pay for it.
Random stuff about CJ
- There is no curfew! You just need to remember to bring your card to enter the building.
- Smoking inside and outside the building is strictly not allowed.
- Alcohol is strictly not allowed.
- Visitors can only enter the lounge room on the 1st floor. Penalties apply if they catch visitors in your suite.
- There are two lifts for each gender. Right one is for females, and the left one is for males.
- Males are not allowed on the females' floor and vice versa. Males are on 2nd and 3rd floors, while the females have the 4th - 6th floors. They take this rule very seriously...
- The gym is also open for people living at Anam Global House.
- Cleaning ladies will clean the bathroom once a week.
- Wifi connection is pretty good anywhere in the building.
- You can't control the temperature of your air-conditioner unfortunately!!! :-(
- Bedsheets and pillow can be rented out for 20,000won.
- I think they will inspect the rooms during the semester... but I'm not too sure when.
My personal review of the dorm
Honestly, the dorm is actually pretty amazing. It's equipped with so many facilities and there's always a security guard at the reception desk. Although the security guard speaks minimal English, there's always a person who can speak English at the reception desk, usually at the night. I paid 2,000,000 won for a single room, and I reckon it was worth it.
The only cons for the dorm is the location... Since most of my courses are down at the Science campus, it sucks having to walk for a good 15 mins to get to my classes. And not to forget, the mighty hill that everyone dreads. Just to make it clear, the hill to go to my dorm is VERY steep. You'd need some kind of stamina to walk uphill. And especially during summer time, I get tired easily because of the heat. Buuuut on a positive note.... I don't need to go gym because this is a good enough workout for me LOL.
And that's about it for my dorm! I'm really sorry I don't have the images for all the areas that I've mentioned above, but I'll definitely update this post if I have pictures!
