An Nyeong Ha Se Yo

An nyeong ha se yo.... Bangap seumnida....
I have to force myself to post this....or else I will not have any time to do so later. My schedule is so packed, especially when Chinese New Year is just around the corner.

This was indeed our belated honeymoon. Such a nice place to be at, despite the freezing weather.

We took the midnight flight, arrived in Inchon at 8.00 o'clock in the morning. Inside the airport, we did not feel the cold breeze, but as soon as we stepped out of the airport door, oh my.... we felt like a dead chicken being put into the freezer. It was -3 degrees.

Our first activity was to make kimchi. Kimchi is a favourite among Koreans. It is made of cabbage, and stuffed with some ingredients and seasonings. There are many types of vege used in making kimchi, apart from cabbage, eg. cucumber, mustard leave, radish, lettuce, green onion, etc. The taste is nice and refreshing but imagine having the same side dish for 7 days in a row....horrible!

We also visited the Agriculture Museum, Blue House (Korea's White House), Folklore Museum, Kyongbuk Palace (historical palace) and Dongdaemun on our first day. Dongdaemun in Chinese means The Great Eastern Door. This is a place where lots of shopping takes place, similar to Bukit Bintang. My wife and I like this place very much. She, because shopping is women's nature, whereas me, because of the beautiful people around.

This is what we had for our first day dinner, 2nd day lunch, 3rd day lunch and dinner, 4th day.....5th day.....and so on..... I think it's because of the cold weather, that we had steamboat everyday, almost every meal. Luckily, we did have some barbeque pork (bulgogi) and barbeque wild boar for 2 meals.

To be frank, the very reason we wanted to go to Korea in Dec/Jan is to see the snow. Thank God, it snowed on the 2nd day. All of us were so happy to see the snow.

Everland, is our only place to visit for the day. It's an outdoor theme park, currently ranked no. 1 in Korea. Somehow, we feel Genting outdoor theme park has more games to offer. The only speciality here is the Safari. There is a natural breed of combination between a lion and a tiger. The first in the world.

After Everland, we headed straight to the foot of Soraksan. We stayed at Pine Resort. Guessed what, it was New Year Eve. We were too tired, none of us were willing to sit till 12.00am, so at 10.30, we decided to call it a day. This was how we celebrated our New Year 2008! How pathetic!

The next day, we went to Soraksan. Here lies the tallest sitting Buddha in Asia. We took a stroll in the park and Fortress of Soraksan. Then we headed to Yongpyong Hill Resort. This place is where the shooting of the movie 'Winter Sonata' took place. Winter Sonata is a love story, became a big hit 2 years ago, among the girls all over Asia, except for Korea. We enjoyed our evening taking photos around this place.

Later in the evening, we had our ski lessons, and skied for an hour or so. It's fun, but our buttocks were the victim of excessive abuse.

We were later told that this was the coldest place in Korea, it was -13 degrees. Phew... seems like we have gotten used to the weather.

The next day, we went to Myongdong, another shopping street. Part of Winter Sonata shooting took place here as well. Our next destination was one of the highlight of our tour. We visited Nami Island. This island is privately owned. It was told that General Nami was a brave general who fought and won many battles. Due to jealousy, he was framed and soon sentenced to death. The King liked him very much, so instead of beheading him, the King sent him to this island and was never allowed to leave this place.

This island is like a national park, with lots of tall trees. If you like the movie Winter Sonata, you'll notice that the cover of this movie is shot at this place, in between the tall tree trunks.

Later that evening, we went to the MBC Studio. Some of you have watched the movie 'Da Chang Jing', so you'll know what this place is.

At night, we were brought to Lotte World and Walker Casino. Lotte World is an indoor and outdoor theme park, ranked no. 2 in Korea. Due to the location (in Seoul) and the indoor park, I think there are more people here compared to Everland. Quite a nice place, but too bad, we were only allowed one and a half hours here. Definitely not enough, but we are on a tour, so we've got no choice! Walker Casino is nothing compared to Genting Casino, but it's in our list, so what the heck, we've got no complains.

On Day 5, we headed to E-Hwa University Streed, another shopping haven for the girls. Many clothes, shoes and bags were on sale here. There are a few universities around here, which makes this place suitable for shopping.

In the evening, we headed to Jeju Island, another highlight of our tour. Jeju island is located at the south of Korea. It's a small island, smaller than Penang, but the economy here is huge. We were told that Japan agreed to lend money to Korea for construction of stadiums to co-host the 2002 World Cup. However, at the last minute, Japan refuse to fulfill their promise. Korea was left with no choice but to agree new terms with Japan, including supplying seafood to Japan for 50 years. That's why for 7 days here in Korea, the best seafood we had was squid in fried rice!

Day 6 : Our first destination was Yongduam Rock, a rock formation which looks like a dragon head. Is it really so? Hmm....u judge yourself.

Next, we went to Jusanjeoli Cliff. It's a hill, of which we could see the whole of Jeju from the top. The scenery was spectacular! It's quite high tho', we took about 30 mins to climb. In freezing weather, this was the first time we took off our winter jacket.

Then, we went to Seopjikoji. This is a nice place by the sea. It's another Korean movie shooting venue. The movie is 'All In'. Frankly speaking, I have never watched any of these movies. It's too long and draggy....just can't stand the crying and predictable storyline...

Next, we visited Seongeup Folk Village. This village is called the 'Long Aged Village'. There are more than 20 people above 100 years old, and over 40 above 80 years old. We had our BBQ wild boar here, the taste was good....

We also went to Cheonjiyeon Waterfall, the only waterfall in Jeju Island. Again, another dissapointment. The water behind us was the only sight to be seen.....nothing more.

Another highlight of our tour, the mysterious road. It is believed that this road is special, in the sense that no matter which direction your vehicle is heading, it will soon go backwards. Meaning that, if you put a water bottle on the ground, push it towards the front, it will soon stop and roll back towards you. Then, if you turn around and do the same trick, the same thing happens. Unbelievable? You better believe it!

The next day, which was our final day in Korea, we left Jeju and headed back to Seoul. After having steamboat for most of our meals, we complained and requested for something different. Some requested for Jajangmeon, so we had Jajangmeon for lunch. It's similar to our Hokkien Mee, just that the sauce has got more ingredients in it, eg. onions, minced pork, etc.

We managed to catch a glimpsed of the Seoul World Cup Stadium before we leave. The capacity is 65000 spectators, but it looks small from the inside.

We were lucky to see a wedding couple on our last day. This is their wedding costume. Pretty normal huh? By the way, their traditional costume is called the 'Ham-buk'.

Anyway, we did enjoy ourselves. I guess, I'll visit Korea again, maybe in another 10 years. We might just go on ourselves, shopping and skiing as long as we like. Overall, a very nice place to visit, especially end of the year.

New Year with a BANG!

Surprise...surprise....

I just came back from Korea last night. It was tiring, but an enjoyable trip. Still finding time to unpack my luggage and load all my photos and videos. Will post about it later.

7 days in Korea, I had not have any news about our Boleh-land. Heard about the resignation of our Minister of Health, Dato' Seri Chua Soi Lek due to a sex scandal from my friend Jason, who drove us back from KLIA. Thanks buddy. Anyway, this is shocking news! The election is so near, and suddenly this thing happened. As a public figure, this should not happen. He should be the role model for us, young Malaysians. But it takes a lot of guts for him to admit his wrongdoings and resign from all government and party posts. Despite all these hoo has, he still has support from his loyal supporters and promised to help BN and MCA to win the election in the state of Johor.

A similar case happened in Taiwan a few years back. Chu Mei-fen, also involved in a sex scandal, had sex with another married man. According to her, she was betrayed by a best friend. Nevertheless, she is now happily married and residing in the States.

What a year!

Again, it's time for us to ponder and think of all that we have done and all that has happened in the whole 2007. It's been a crazy year.

Personally, I got married. Then my mom left us. It was a shocking sad experience for all of us. But we managed to pull through, thanks to our relatives and friends who guided us through this rough period.

Within our country, ups and downs. Wong Mew Choo made us proud by winning her 1st title, the China Open. We also finished 2nd in the Korat Asean Games. On the downside, Nurin was sexually assaulted and killed in a beasty way. Another girl from Penang, forgotten her name...was killed my her mom's boyfriend, then burned! Shame on u, motherfucka. There has been a few street demonstations, which led to a few arrests. Mat Rempits are more daring these days, racing on the roads despite road blocks being held more often by our fellow policemen. Snatch thief also more daring, more and more cases of citizens injured in snatch cases.

Globally, I'd say, there are just too many happenings. The latest being suicide bombing at Pakistan which killed former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto. She managed to avoid death in the 1st attempt by her enemies few weeks earlier, but not everyday is Sunday la.... Suicide bombing is the latest and current trend used by extremists and terrorists in killing their enemies. It proved efficient, but I wonder how these people managed to psycho their followers to just give up everything, especially their OWN LIFE? Phew....what a crazy world...

Anyway, it's the end of the year. I believe many people are taking a long holiday. So am I!!! In just 4 hours, I'll be flying to Korea. It's my 2nd time there, this time for my belated honeymoon. Well, my wife and I are really looking forward to this trip. Hopefully, we don't freeze too much over there and start to regret going during winter.

I still gotta pack, while waiting for my chauffer to arrive. "Chauffer"...u know who u are. Haha.... Thanks a lot man.....and Happy Holidays & Happy New Year 2008.

Weekend Outing

Manage to go back to Melaka last weekend, to meet up with my childhood buddies.

After work, drove down straight away. No jam, but arrived late. Had dinner at Bei Zhan Restaurant, the food there not bad. There were 10 of us, Mick, Myke, Chris, Jason, John, Kia Hau, Alan & wife, Damian and me. Those fellas were lucky to have reached earlier, and played a round of futsal. After dinner, we lepak'ed at Sports Bar. Quite a nice place, minus the noisy music. Watched Liverpool trashed Pompey 4-1. Happy that Mike Lim and Desmond joined us for a few drinks. It's been so many years since we last met Mike Lim. He's in UK now, lecturing; while Desmond is in KL, with Sunway Group. We played pool and dart. Poor John lost the dart game and had to pay for supper, the usual dim sum that we frequent.

Sunday, we were supposed to play tennis in the morning, but as usual, our plan never always come true. Everyone was too tired. So we met at Dr Fabian's house instead. Dr Fabian's daughter, Chong Kar Yee celebrated her 1st b'day. Congrats to Fab. One daughter now, another kid on the way...Phew...u really work hard la... Me and Jason, were supposed to leave earlier, but the traffic in Seremban was bad, so we stayed till 11+. Drove back side by side, reached KL around 1.30am.


It was a tiring weekend, but overall, a nice one. We managed to have X'mas gathering every year, without fail. Hopefully, next year will be a better one, with a few additional members to the family. Fyi, Myke's wife is expecting a baby, due in June. Congrats to u too man...

Looks like I gotta work hard too....hehehehhe....

By the way, I guess none of us took any photo of our gathering this time...altho most of our phones are equipped cameras....sigh....

Winter Solstice Festival

Jennifer Tan sent me this video...it's kinda cute, and it happens everyday. Misunderstanding due judging another person too soon. Have you experienced it before? And then spend hours or days explaining.... Let's just face it, life is tough indeed....



Today is a special festival for the Chinese. It's the Winter Solstice Festival. It's also know as the Winter Festival in China. Small little glutinous rice dumplings (tangyuan) is offered. It's a time for family gatherings.

I, myself, am also going home. I'll be meeting my dad and brothers, then join my frens for a bbq. It's been quite some time since my frens and I had a gathering. I really look forward to this gathering.

X'mas is near, I'd like to wish my readers a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I'll be away this New Year. Where to? I'm not gonna tell you yet. Surprise is good sometimes....

Enjoy your holiday ya....

Time Flies

It's been 2 long weeks that I did not blog. Phew....time really flies. I hardly have time to even check my mails. Frankly speaking, I've been really busy. It's end of the year once again. X'mas is just around the corner, so is New Year 2008. As for me, I have deadlines for my project. We are rushing to handover the houses to the purchasers. Worse still, it rains almost everyday here.

Okay....let's catch up on all the happenings these past 2 weeks.

Last Sat, we(my brothers) went home. It's the 7th week of my mom's passing away. Sunday morning, we got up at 6.30am, went to the pasar borong to buy some fishes(keli, in Cantonese is Sang Yue). We proceded to the Durian Tunggal Dam, made some prayers, then let free of the fishes. We believe this will bring good merits to my late mother, wishing that she might not be reborn into this cruel world again, or if she is being rebirth, may she rebirth onto the higher plane of existance. This is the believe of the Buddhists.

At almost noon, we went to the Jelutong Columborium, waited for the monk to arrive, and had some prayers. Altho we are all still sad that this misfortune has happened to us, still, we chit chatted with all relatives who came on that day. We proceeded to have vegetarian lunch, then waved bye bye to all who came.

At night, after saying good bye to my dad, we left. I could remember seeing my dad as a cheerful man 2 months back. He used to crack jokes and all would laugh. But things has changed. He has more white hair than before. He is very much quieter than before. And seldom put a smiling face in front of us. He really changed a lot. Physically, I mean. I could feel the environment in the house not as warm before. I really hope all these negative impacts will go away soon. I'm not blaming anyone, just that I feel it's different nowadays. Sigh....how I wish I could go home and enjoy mom's home cook food......and chit chat with mom and dad like we used to be....

Well, mom, you have been a great mom. We will never forget you, in our lifetime. We will cherish you, and remember all the good things that you have taught us. You are the best mom in the whole wide world. Thank you mom......

Other happenings....I bought a Christmas Tree....still got no time to decorate it. Will do my X'mas shopping later in the week. Hopefully Teluk Intan got nice and cute decos to hang on the tree.

Miss World 2007

Congrats to Zhang Zilin from China for being crowned Miss World 2007.

I did not watch the finals event but from the photos, I can see that she looks quite normal. I was expecting our really beautiful (maybe the most beautiful of all Malaysian contestants over the years) Boleh-sian Miss Deborah Priya Henry to be in the top 3 but she only lasted the last 16.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say here is, most contest in China thesedays has lost it's spark. It's a beauty contest, but the most beautiful did not win. And in the badminton China Open and Hong Kong open lately, there have been some bad calls by the umpire, even when the linesman did say the opposite. I'm quite worried by this upcoming 'unfriendly' and 'unsportsmanship' trend. Next year is the Olympics, and hosted by Beijing. If this dishonest and unfair decisions are being brought into the Olympics, then I think it's really going to be a big problem to the host country. I'm not gonna complain much here 'cos here in Malaysia, it happened too. Remember Andrea Fonseka? Those who do not know or forgotten about it, just google it thru.

It doesn't matter wether it's about me being a Malaysian or of Chinese background. I was born here and grew up here as a Boleh-sian. I believe there have been some racial incidents lately, but there is nothing that will stop us living harmoniously in a multi racial country like what we've been doing for the past 50 years. No matter what, I'm still up for fair game. IBF, do something about it ya....