my trip to YG entertainment building near hapjeong-dong, seoul

12.21pm


i had a couple of objectives that i had to achieve once i got to seoul and that was to go to the YG entertainment building near hapjeong-dong, mapo-gu area where big bang's recording company was located. "home" to also 2ne1, PSY etc. 

 thank god one of my husband's colleague who was so kind enough to take us around over the weekend, took us to the YG building. you see, just so happen he likes big bang and 2ne1. (i was like YES thank you very much!! that saved me a trip on my own trying to locate the building without getting lost). he had GPS  so we found the place in no time. 

before heading over to YG, we had our lunch in a tiny but popular dumpling restaurant called jonny dumplings(that served different types of dumplings which is to die for!) over in itaewon, (which i think wasnt very far from hapjeong-dong.)

here's some shots that i managed to take in record time. oh and by the way, not too far away from this building, we saw a couple of girls loitering about and taking pictures in hopes of catching a glimpse of any of these famous artists popping out of the building or heading in. hahaha..now thats what i call die hard fans (well including myself of course!)

this is the main entrance to YG entertainment building. no frills. lots of black cars with heavily tinted windows. im guessing that the big vans probably belonged to big bang or 2ne1? hahahaha

you know come to think of it,  i didnt see any kind of signboard saying that this is YG building but everyone(fans!) knows that this is the real deal. but it makes me wonder now if there really was some kind of signage anywhere around indicating YG entertainment

thats me there, poorly dressed. hahaha hey, you know  i was "unprepared". gimme a break ok guys! anywho, just directly across from the buidling, there was a whitewash wall where fans wrote or spray painted their messages to big bang, 2ne1 etc. i read somewhere on i think someone's blog that every couple of months, some kind soul would get white paint just to repaint that wall and messages that had been written would be wiped off. too bad. i would've loved write something but i didnt have the correct pen or ink marker or a spray can with me as it was an impromtu visit. oh well.

the side of the building. frankly if you asked me, there wasnt  much to look at in this area. its very low key if you know what i mean. no frills about like no restaurants or big shops etc,  the street was pretty quiet and not much activities going on. i only spotted a tiny convenience shop just at the corner of the street and that was pretty much it. the building is located just off the main street, away from all the noise.

that's jonny dumplings in itaewon. if you ever make it to seoul, just go there. you wont regret it, trust me! having those hot dumplings on a cold cold day was absolutely food for the soul. believe you me.

oh and just in case you want to try and go on your own (to YG entertainment building) and have your own little adventure, here's the directions on getting there. (please google it again before going just to be doubly sure). note - that this is just my rough guide.

1. get yourself onto the seoul metro line 2(light green color line) or line 6 (brown) and alight at hapjeong station.
2. use exit 8. walk on until you see SK gas station
3. keep on walking on till you see a CHEERS convenient store (i think) which is on your right hand side, then keep on going. you are on the right track.
4. now not too far after that, you will come across a light brownish building which is the Circle Hotel and yet another SK gas station thereafter.
5. continue walking straight on till you come to a crossroad. once you've crossed the road, you'll see like a 2 storey building(there's a restaurant which has an orange and white signage).
6. keep going on and moving forward and you'll see a white apartment buiding (reckon more than 10 storeys). you're almost there
7. once you see the white apartment building, make a left turn and you'll slowly see YG building in a distance, which isnt very far away. 
8. finally, make your last left turn again and you will see YG building. well done, you've made it!! 
9. the address is - 397-5 YG building, Hapjeong-Dong, Mapo-Gu, Seoul, South Korea, 121-886.


well ok, thats my story on how i achieved one of my objectives or should i say, on my to-do list. my next blog would probably be about my trip to teddy's twosome+ cafe and haroro's restaurant(a cast from a very popular not to mention hilarious korean variety show called running man) which is i think called phaljamakchang (팔자막창.) 


alright then, i shall be off now. hope you enjoyed my blog for today. stay tuned for more of my adventures in seoul. hehehe

ttfn

1.29pm

p/s -  i had a lot of "homework" to do before this trip. had to do some research and stuff plus i had to plan a rough itinerary for the weekend because my husband let me take "charge" as he doesnt have any clue whatsoever when he's in a foreign country and if im with him, he'll just follow me everywhere. thankfully we're usually on the same page most of the time! lets just say we wont waste our time going to museums or art galleries unless there's ample time. (which we didnt have much of anyways)


pp/s - 5/8/2015 - just a heads up. i heard that YG is planning to build another YG building. i cant confirm it yet but i think i read somewhere that thats the plan. when and where, i dont know. so if you are planning to pay a visit to this current YG building, please do so before they all move out. 

seoul, korea, what a beautiful city

1.02pm

i just finished plonking some photos on to my facebook album on my seoul trip. doing that, it brought back fond memories. i dont even know where or how to begin to tell you my story of the trip.

basically in a nutshell, the first 2 days there, my husband and i went around and the next 2 days i was on my own. it was an adventure! thankfully i didnt get lost whilst trying to figure out which subway line goes where. a couple of times i gotta admit that i was going the wrong direction but in the right line. so obviously i had to get off and backtrack and get myself to the opposite side of the platform. huff huff!

it was freezing, it was cold, it drizzled the entire day, it even snowed lightly and best part is, there was some sun and blue skies! simply magical to me. the weather didnt bother me so much or the temperature only when the wind blows, oh boy, its shiver me timbers! 

we tried the local food there as i told my hubby that i dont want to eat fast food or anything american or english (not if i can help it). let just GO KOREAN all the way.but you know somehow the taste there is slightly different, more authentic compared to when we eat korean food in our own country for example. 

anyways, it was a very good experience for me and i will definately make a trip back there again, this time a bit longer. it was good while it lasted. i achieved what i wanted so that was good. here let me share with you some photos. 

myeongdong shopping area

traditional costumes of korea called the hanbok

of course i had to take that picture of GD who is promoting BSX brand in korea

korean street snacks all around. yum-myyyy!!

the next time i go to korea again, it wont be in winter. i didnt shop much as i would have loved to coz they were mostly selling winter stuff and honestly i dont need winter clothings or shoes for that matter. hey, i live in a hot and humid country remember!

anyways, sorry to keep this short but i have to run. will plonk more photos soon! meantime stay healthy and keep calm!!

ttfn

1.27pm

merry christmas and to a better 2014

12.34pm

ho ho ho merry christmas everybody! how was your holidays? i hope you guys have enjoyed yourselves as much as i did. nothing like spending time with our loved ones during this festive period. i dont know about you but there's always something about the month of december that i feel like that its kinda magical and yet slightly melancholy. i dont know how to put it into words exactly. you know its just a vibe, a feeling that i get almost every year end. 

anyways, enough about all that. im back in my home country( for the past 2 weeks) as you already may have suspected so thats why i've been rather quiet in my blogs. sorry about it. i have been really busy! honestly! with all the rushing around trying to catch up with cousins and friends, getting last minute gifts and not to mention all family luncheons and dinners...oh boy. not sure if im coming or going!

 well i dont know if i've mentioned  this to you guys before but i realize that alot of people have just taken christmas for granted. like christmas is not all about the giving of presents and receiving them. its about family, getting together, being united and reflecting on all that has happened throughout the year, be it up or down and learning how to improve on mistakes made etc.  to also count our blessings that we can still walk, talk, laugh, eat etc. unlike a lot of folks out there who do not have these sort of  privileges. its quite sad and unfortunate really. i feel for these people and my heart goes out to them.

as we go about happily with our lives do we ever stop to give a thought about the starving in ethiopia? what will they getting this year? imagine parents losing their kids and vice versa. everyday people are just dropping dead like flies over there and here we are living in a lap of luxury(so to speak) and wanting more. thats where greed, power and envy steps in. i do realize that sometimes that is inevitable because thats how society in general is but seriously why must we keep up with the joneses? isnt it hard to keep up appearances all the time? why cant you just be yourself? why must we seek other peoples approval? why all that bullshit?

you know, those days when i was a kid or when i was an adolescent, i never really given it much thought about the under privileged or people less fortunate than me. my mom always taught me(when i was growing up) to have a heart and that i dont always need to have material things in my life and often told me to think about those who dont have what i have and to be thankful. but you know, when you were a kid/teen, whatever your parents say just goes into one ear and out the other. its only when im an adult, i see things in a different light and perspective. and unless something tragic or traumatic happens to you, only then will you wake up and really smell the coffee. i also noticed that only when something bad happens to you, only then you will learn from that experience. now,if everything runs smoothly in your life(like being born with a silver spoon in the mouth) what will you learn? will you know what sadness is or living in poverty, being jobless? one fine day god may takeaway what you have and then how? what will you do?

thats why i say we should take a step back and look hard into our lives and see how blessed we already are. just take look around. family checked, friends checked, roof over the head checked, food on table checked...the list goes on...we have almost everything. but reminding you once again, theres alot out there who dont have what we are having and wishing that they had something. christmas has been "spoilt" by all these giving and receiving of gifts. spending lots of money on gifts and getting annoyed when its not reciprocated. is that how we are these days? is it all about the material things?

just look at this image that i took off the internet. this should speak in volumes to everyone. and mind you this is just the tip of the iceberg. we all should do something to help. and when we do that something (ie helping others in need or doing charity work) we shouldnt brag about it or "announce it to the world". when you do that, it means that you are trying to tell everybody - "oh look, see! i have done charity and donated x amount of money" - seriously, is it necessary? do you need that kind of recognition? why must you let the whole world know what you have done? just do the deed, keep your mouth shut and trust me, deep down inside you will be proud of yourself and you will have that feel good moment. god will know if your "work" is sincere. you may fool others but never yourself or to god, remember that.

right i have got to go now. i wish you peace and lots of god's blessings for 2014 and may it be a good year for everyone and hopefully things around the world will improve for the better! take care and god bless!

ttfn

1.41pm

seoul, south korea

9.48pm

aaah...its not good to be back to the land of heat and rain. right now, im now back in my home country up till early next year. ok i got to admit that in a way, its good to be back here to see my parents and friends(as i've not seen them for about half a year) but i wished i was still in seoul. i really had a blast there!

well in a nutshell, my trip was da bomb!  i went with an open mind and didnt want to expect too much of it. just keeping it real, you know. dont want to get my hopes up and then it being shot down in a jiffy so therefore i reminded myself to just stay cool about it and just see what happens. anyways, let me just give you guys a quick run down of my trip. i will get into more details in my upcoming blogs, but not today.  

you know, i never really gave it much thought about the language barrier but surprisingly, the people could understand a tiny bit of english and some even spoke mandarin (i reckon it was because there were lots of chinese folks from mainland china flowing into korea). the things that i didnt really like was that sometimes i would get knocked into by accident by the people walking by and they dont even realize it. haizzz and the other thing was that some of the men there tend to spit. ok, not directly at your feet but onto nearby drains or bins. bleeaah.. 

but i guess these type of things happen in almost every city, the spitting and people knocking into you. dont know if they are blind or just totally oblivious about it or its a daily routine getting knocked into and that they are immune to it already. oh well, nothing and nobody is perfect right?

now judging from what i saw, the shopping there wasnt  not too bad but unfortunately i went during winter therefore lots of winter stuff were being sold or on sale. but no point in my spending money buying those things as i will hardly ever use them. there were also lots of imitation bags being sold there too. however, there are different types of grades of these bags so you got to know what type you want. right now, the best imitation are called "super copy". i had done some research (before going) on where to find these bags  and thats how i know it was being called super copy bags. these bags look almost exactly the same as an original bag ie brands like etro, hermes(birkin), LV.. you'll be spoilt for choices im sure.

almost of my entire trip i ate korean food. again there wasnt any point in eating fast food or western/chinese/italian etc. at least i can tell my friends/family that yes i have tried this or that especially the street snacks. i'll get to that part another time. (hopefully i'll remember). food is pretty cheap and affordable. hey, im talking about normal street food or those at the food courts.(not talking about those high end restaurants).

ah yes, for those of you who are planning a trip there (which i highly suggest that you go at least once in your life and if you can afford it, of course), you wont have much trouble getting around. all you need is the seoul metro map to use their subways and to plan your route. if you plan to catch the taxi, by all means do so. it is inexpensive riding the taxi or the subway. one thing that you must pay attention to is the subway lines that criss crosses all over. they have many colored lines which are numbered so you wont get confused. and its written in both english and in korean. a couple of times i took the right train but heading in the wrong direction. luckily i paid attention after a couple of stops i quickly got off and backtracked.

theres so much to see and do there. its just too bad i didnt have that much time so i just did what was on my list and i can safely tell you that out of 100%, at least i managed to cover about 70% which wasnt too bad. if/when i  to go back to seoul, i would want to go to busan, jeju island and try lotte world(biggest indoor/outdoor theme park apparently). guessing spring or summer would be the best time.

right, i'll stop here for now. im getting tired and sleepy. been a crazy hectic week for me. i'll blog again hopefully sometime soon. until then, take care.

ttfn

10.50pm

seoul, here i come

2.39pm

right so guess what folks? tonite im heading to....SEOUL, KOREA!! woo hoo!  imagine, my goal for this year(or next) was to go to korea and just so happened, the hubster has to go there on a business trip therefore, yours truly is following him. hahahahha  how cool is that huh?

im pretty psyched about going. but i keep reminding myself not to get my hopes too high as things may not turn out the way i wanted it to be. the reason im saying that is because of a couple of factors like the weather and finding my way around. on top of that, i have been googling and realized that not alot of korean folks speak much english. its going to be a bit challenging for me in finding my way around or asking for directions, even to bargain for stuff!!

nevermind that, i have done some homework and managed to jot down a couple of places that i would like to go. those places would be Big Bang's recording company which is called YG building somewhere in hapjeong and the other would be SBS tv station, "home of Running Man". i've noted down the details on how to get to each of these places. so, hopefully i can find them on my own, without getting lost. hubby wont be going with me as he has to work.

besides that, we will definately be going to dongdaemon and myeongdong for some shopping, sight seeing and lets not forget, snacking/tasting  their street foods like bibimbab, bulgogi, tteokbokki,  ddeokbokki (떡볶이), roasted corn (옥수수), ho ddeok (호떡) and mandu (만두). just google and you will know what im talking about. 

all i  hope now is that i can handle the weather over there and  i just checked its like 2 degrees at the moment. omg! 

before i end today's blog, i would just like to add this. you know what guys, i realized that it was only late last year when i was going gaga over Big Bang and i've been following them on bigbangupdates (plus giving my 2 cents worth in the discussion column), not only that, earlier this year, i got to see GDragon perform his michiGO concert and then few months back it was Big Bang Mini Concert during the F1 Singapore Singtel Grand Prix. 

last but not least, around middle of this year, Big Bang World (online) was looking for admin/s (of course its not a paid "job", gotta do it for free) and i applied. didnt think it would amount to anything then one day i got an email from them saying i was one of the chosen one. i had completely forgotten about it. im not sure if they only wanted one or a few admins but oh well,  i was well chuffed i tell ya! really made my day but unfortunately, i couldnt do it because i had to start my freelance work doing telemarketing. and being an admin for BBW, that person has to constantly be online and checking for any current news/updates from sites(which was provided by BBW) and blog about it on their website so that fans from around the world can see and view. long story short, it was simply a-mazing that i got chosen. 

well ok i guess thats about it. im all packed and our flight is at midnight so we're going to be heading for the airport for a late dinner after we've checked in. what a way to end 2013. i'll be touching down back here in singapore just in time for my birthday and then i would have to unpack my stuff and repack again because the day after, we will be flying back to our home country for xmas until next year! let the PARTAAAAY begin!! 

so folks, my next blog will be the post korea trip. look out for it ok!! until then, take care, god bless and annyeong!! 

ttfn

3.18pm

shameful things that people can do

12.42pm


I have to share with you an incident that my husband and I witnessed during our stay in bali. now, I did say we stayed at the westin resort and spa right? well, since it is a 5 star resort  you would think that the guests staying there were more mind conscious of what they were doing right, like the dos and donts on how to behave etc. well let me tell you, you would be surprised of what people can do!

nevertheless, here's my short story. over breakfast one morning, my husband and i sat at a table for two. not very far from us sat a mother and son.  im guessing that the mother was in her mid 50s and her son probably between 18-21 and they were both  already seated and merrily tucking in to their breakfast.

I saw the boy getting up and going to have his rounds(god knows how many rounds he'd gone) and he came back with a plateful of bacon, ham and sausages. it was piled high, no not high like a mountain but high enough. the mother, whom I noticed had a small to medium sized green canvas bag on her lap with a big napkin(for wiping the mouth) half draped over the table and half covering her bag.

then what shocked me was that i saw the mother putting some of the bacon and ham onto her plate and after a couple of seconds (her plate was just at the edge of the table) she quickly flicked/pushed them all into her bag! she kept repeating that process until the plateful of bacon, ham and sausages were gone. OMG! and this lady thought we didn't see what she was doing.

my husband saw it too.  nevermind that, I saw an apple on the table and after a while, that too had disappeared. lord knows how many rounds of food went into that bag of hers. hubby told me to check out her bag (as she stood up to get more food) and I could see it was packed because of the bulge it was showing. 

seriously folks, I hope you don't do this in public. its very humiliating as well as embarrassing. you just don't know who is watching you. I noticed also that she was playing with her handphone on the pretext that she was busy and when she thinks that nobody was watching, she'd then quickly pushed food into her bag. we reckon that she has a big Tupperware in there. wondered why she was doing what she was doing and we came to 2 conclusions -

1) either there's a 3rd or 4th party waiting upstairs in their room for the food OR
2) in order to save money , they prefer to "steal" as much food as possible during breakfast so that they can have it for their lunch(or dinner).

I have seen parents from different walks of life taking their kids water tumblers and filling them up with juices and walking away. nobody says anything. I mean that's not SO bad.  the deed was done in the "open" so to speak.

but pushing food into your bag?? come on! have a bit of class. if you can pay to stay in a 5 star resort, surely you can afford to pay for breakfast, if there's an extra person. if not why even bother coming to stay there in the first place right? seriously, I don't know why people do the things they do. my hubby at one point, wanted to  report them to the duty manager but I told him that its not our problem. if these people wanted to behave like that and think that its ok and its their right by all means go ahead, I mean  who are we to stop them right?

apart from these "stealers" at hotels,  I don't know if you have noticed that whenever you go for a buffet, some people would just pile their plates up and  never finishing what they have taken and it goes to waste. it gets thrown away. so sinful!! we have millions of starving folks in this world, not having a drop of water or 3 square meals a day and there we have those who are just plain greedy. not a care in the world. "nevermind, just take, cant finish, throw. its ok". is it really OK to do such things? why cant people be more civic conscious/minded?

so folks, please next time when you go to a hotel and stay, please don't do these kind of embarrassing things. be it flicking food or piling your plate skyhigh and not being able to finish it up. so very wasteful. have a heart for those who would kill to be in your shoes for a day! think of what you are doing.

thanks and have a great weekend.


ttfn

1.27pm

my bali trip (final part)

10.12pm



ok this is getting a tad bit stale for some of you but please bear with me. in today's blog im just going to put random shots that I took, a real mix bag here. just so you know, the weather in bali was perfect when I was there. it seemed a bit gloomy in the morning and I thought it was going to rain (oh no!) but towards late morning, the sky cleared and out came the sun. but by around 5ish onwards the sun slowly sets. it gets bright relatively early like by around 6.15am, coz im awoken by the  sunlight streaming in through my windows.

picture 1 - kuta. rows after rows of little shops selling knick knacks ie bracelets, tshirts, art, surf stuff, clothes, shoes, slippers etc . its repetition after a while. kuta connects to legian and seminyak. very touristy area and overcrowded. either you hate it or you love it because of the hustle and bustle. lots of night scene too. surfers go there to surf although I think that there are better places to surf as the waves in kuta isn't super high. (not that I surf, but just saying)

picture 2 - this picture I took was around 7.20am and as you can see, the sun was already up and about. it was breathtaking.

picture 3 - not so sure what this picture means. I took it because of the amazing craftsmanship. this shot that I took was a bit too far and it looked more blue than anything. hahaha. I was zooming by in a car (that had tinted windows) so I quickly whipped out my camera and took a shot of it. it was located at a roundabout. you can see its a horse drawn carriage/chariot with some kind of warrior god (or something) maybe trying to fight off the enemy or vice versa. aint sure. but it sure looks like it.

picture 4 - dinner at jimbaran. located on the south side of airport and kuta. its a place to go to if you want to have seafood, fresh from the sea, prices are affordable, depends on what you order of course. theres also lots of tourist there, as you can see. I suggest that you go for a dinner there. you can see planes taking off in a distance, sounds of the waves along the beach.

picture 5 - jimbaran. you can have romantic candlelight seafood dinner for 2 on the beach and be serenaded by a group of guys, going around from table to table.

picture 6 - kuta. used to be a sleepy fishing village but now vibrant place to hang out and watch people go by. lots of small lanes selling anything and everything. I even saw a poster on a stand that read - magic mushroom sold here (or something like that). wow! no no, I didn't try it. just walked on by. I should've taken a photo of it, but oh well.

picture 7 - my hotel room. a huge king sized bed. comfy couch just by the side. overall it was clean and we're given 2 bottles of mineral water daily. lots of tv channels to surf. you can fit at at 3 people on the bed. the room is pretty big - about 400 sqft.


ok folks my sore throat is getting to me. im going to take my medication and hit the sack. that's it about bali. its cheap and affordable. friendly people. even after the bombing several years ago, the people of bali, still persevered and kept on moving forward. they don't need all the riches in the world to make them happy and contented. they just do what they have to do to rebuild their lives with less complaining. haiz... if only half of us could be just like them, this world would be a much better place. 


ttfn


11.05pm