Where to eat around SK Global House/International House?!

Hello, sorry for the extremely long staleness on this blog.

I am safely home in Singapore and adjusting to the hectic, high-stress life as a student in Singapore. -sigh- How I wished I was still in Korea, eating my kimbaps and ramyeons...

Anyway, some of my readers now have already embarked on their journey to Korea. To all my readers studying in Korea now, all the best, enjoy yourselves, eat more Korean food (because you will miss it), and live your Korean dream!

Okay, now back to topic.

When I was in Yonsei, I constantly worried about food. See, when I was in KU, it didn't matter much to me for two reasons.

1. There is a cafeteria in the building next to Frontier House that provides meal plans.
2. Even if I didn't feel like having cafeteria food, a short trip down to Anam (which will not take more than 5 minutes walk) will provide me a variety of choices.

However, Yonsei didn't have such options! There was no school cafeteria that allows us to take up meal plans. There is a small restaurant serving Italian at International House, and other than that, was the few shops open at Global Plaza. We shall not talk about these places because you will all find out about them eventually.

So I shall enlighten all readers here living at Yonsei dorms to the places very near where we're staying, that I've discovered has food.

1. Korean Language Institute (KLI) Building
If you walked to Global Plaza, walk along GS25 and pass through the doors into the next building. Walk up the short flight of stairs and turn left. There will be a small cafeteria there.

The food served there is KOREAN. Yes, you can get Korean cuisine! From tonkatsu to samgyetang (Ginseng Chicken), you can find it there. However, the menu changes everyday so there is a limited selection per day. I personally love the Samgyetang, Soondubu JiGae, and Kalbi Tang.

The price is reasonable. Very reasonable. Trust me.

However, I'm not very sure about opening hours. All I know is that... it is definitely open for lunch, and lunch hours are very, very packed. I'm not sure about dinner. But with all school cafeterias, they do not operate on weekends.

Note: FLI Building has a cafeteria too, but I've never tried it, so I cannot write about it ):

2. Lord Sandwich
Walk down from SK Global House until you see an oddly shaped rectangular-ish grey building.

They sell sandwiches. Of course they do.
They sell them quite pricey, but the quality is superb. I've only ever eaten at Lord Sandwich once, but I know if I could, I would return for another of their delicious sandwiches.

My recommendation, as well as my friends': The Beef Steak Sandwich

Eat it, Love it.

No regrets.

3. 딸기곰(Sorry, can't remember exactly so don't blame me if it is spelt wrongly. We just call it the strawberry place)
Walk down from SK Global, pass by Lord Sandwich until you reach a crossroad. Turn right and you should see a convenience store, walk a little beyond it and at a cosy corner, you see the Strawberry Place.

Sells Korean cuisine at reasonable price. A good place for staple meal.
The Strawberry Place sells everything typical. Dwaenjang JiGae to Ddeokbokki, Kimchi JiGae to whatever it is. They have it.

They also have a mad number of side dishes, I've always felt so satisfied having my meals there during weekends. Yep, they open throughout the week!

I recommend this place, really. Especially when everything seems closed on weekends T.T

4. 칼국수 Place
Walk down from SK Global, pass by Lord Sandwich till you reach the crossroads... then keep walking straight until you see a small shop. They specialize in 칼국수, which are knife cut handmade noodles in anchovy broth. I didn't pay much attention to the entire menu, but they do have other dishes.

They didn't really leave a deep impression on me, but if you've been craving the typical chinese style soup and noodles, then this is the place for you.



These are only the umm... very limited places I've tried. That are within short walking distance of SK Gloabl House and International House. A lot of the restaurants are closed. And some I've never ventured into.

But I've always passed by a buffet place outside along the main roads. On weekends I do see the restaurant being packed, so do give it a try and do tell me how the food is! (:

There are also more popular eateries along the main road leading to Severance Hospital, so if you feel like walking a little more distance, explore the area and hopefully you'll get your bellies filled (:

This isn't a very long post, but I'll come back every now and then to post one or two about what I recall during my stay there. I'm still here! So drop me an email if you need to, alright? (:

PEACE!

Welcome home to Singapore?

This is long overdue but I am finally back in Singapore after half a year abroad in the lovely land of Korea.

To summarize my feelings, I still love Korea more. I had time to myself, I felt good about myself, and I learnt so much about myself while over there. This, I will never get to experience ever again.

But anyway, I stepped on Singapore ground again on 4 Jan 2013. It was already midnight by then, and XingCai and Lyn were with me. Since it was late, my Dad was nice enough to send them home in our car. So we were waiting outside at the entrance to the terminal, where the cars can stop to pick people up.

We were just chatting as we were waiting for my Dad to drive to us, and of course, because we're humans we move around as we talk.

When all of a sudden, as I was back-facing the entrance, someone exited with their airport cart and almost crashed into me. Fortunately, XingCai saw and pulled me away from its path. Accident evaded, and you'd think it was the end of it.

I actually wanted to turn around and apologize to the person pushing the cart. But before I could finish my sentence, he exclaimed in his righteous voice, 'Shouldn't be standing at the entrance, yo.'

-_- A simple 'excuse me' would have sufficed.
Yet he chose to lecture me as though he wasn't in the wrong at all. If I was in plain view, he could have taken evasive measures to avoid collision. Put it this way, the entrance is really wide, and I'm a really slim person. I can't possibly block the entire entrance with my presence.

Also, he has an open MacBook at the top compartment of his cart/trolley.
He was looking at his computer, using it while pushing his cart. Please now tell me how that give him privileges and right of way?
If you're pushing your cart, then look where you're going. The cart isn't a bulldozer you use to ram others down like some arcade game.

All in all, I just really felt the coldness in Singapore during my first moments back here. It doesn't matter that it is forever summer here or that I just returned from a -17 deg Celcius climate, Singapore was just cold to me at that moment.

Imagine if I were a tourist to Singapore, and some Singaporean decides to be big-mouthed and did whatever that guy did. I would definitely have a bad impression on the people here.

Because really, it still stand that an 'excuse me' would suffice. I would have turned around to apologize and there would be two happy people around.

Not saying that all Singaporeans are bad. I know many many Singaporeans who are really kind and polite. However, people tend to remember the bad and forget the good. I'm sure we can all play a small part to keep whatever fury we have in us, and be more tolerable to others, and not be quick to reprimand others. Especially when it was a situation where one could have done something to avoid it totally.

I just hope tourists in Singapore don't face such people. There are kind Singaporeans out there. Don't let the mean ones taint your view on Singaporeans.

After I return?

Some people might be wondering what I will be doing on this blog after I return.
Honestly, I don't really have any idea since I won't be in Korea anymore and won't have new things to talk about.

However, there are certain things that I haven't covered in my posts, so I might just reflect back a little and perhaps post about Korea and how I experienced it, in general.

So don't worry, I will try this keep this blog up as much as I can. In the event I have nothing to write, I might start a new blog or something. =/

I started this blog to help my fellow juniors in school intending to take up a programme for studies in Korea, as well as to help people who are going to such programmes... People from anywhere. Or people who want to know about Korea in general, from a student's point of view.
Therefore, I can't use this blog for my personal thoughts or anything that isn't Korea! We must stick to its original purposes! >_<

In any case, I hope it did help people around the world. If you have friends who are intending to go to Yonsei for exchange programmes, or to Korea University for summer programme, feel free to share my blog with them (:

I answer questions too, so they can choose to drop me an email, or leave a comment on one of my posts~

Once again, thanks for reading!

A little taste of Singapore

A long overdue post, my apologies! Now that I am done with school (for now), I can start writing about some of the stuff that I've missed out during my exchange..

One of which was the Singapore Embassy event. To be honest, I am not a very 'hapz' person, so I don't usually go to such events, especially during school days. However, I saw that the Cedar Girls' Secondary School Choir was going to be putting up a performance then, and I just HAD to go!

It would be cool, right, to meet Ms. Chye again? (:

So after we were done with lessons on a tiring Tuesday, Rekha and I met up with MengYu and Lea, and we took a cab down to Lotte Hotel near Myeongdong. Rekha and I didn't dress up that awesomely because we thought we couldn't go. They had some RSVP list and we didn't make it, but we went anyway on last minute notice... And found out that, apparently, there was absolutely no need to be on the RSVP list to attend the event. (Scammed!)

There was a short opening address by the Ambassador, and to be honest, it was pretty heartwarming to hear the Singapore accent again. To top it off, everyone there just spoke in our uniquely Singapore accent, and it was cool. For once we didn't need to speak in pretentious accent just so people would understand what we were speaking. (Koreans learn English the American way, so they can't comprehend our Singapore accent that well) 

After which, the Cedar Girls' Choir performed. They sounded angelic! Ms. Chye, doing excellent work with her choir as usual...

The choir gown is still the same color, but I thought the white looked really good on them. Well, the weather was too cold to wear ONLY the gown. They sang Singaporean songs, one of which was the medley of three songs - Geylang Sipaku Geylang, Ikan Kekek, Chan Mali Chan. I still remember during my time, we sang that exact sang medley. It brought back SO much memories. Haihz.

They sang a few other songs, which were really impressive as well. Ms. Chye seemed to be in a good mood. (:

After the choir was done with their performance, they invited SKarf to give a performance too! For those who don't know, SKarf is a 4-member girl group, with 2 girls from Singapore, and 2 from Korea. So apparently, MengYu is friends with one of them. Wow!!!
SKarf performed two songs, and I guess it was cool because usually when there are celebrities, it is usually a screamfest, or something crazy happens. But since it was a small, private kinda-of setting, it was cool. Just chillin', watching some KPop.

After that we managed to take a photo with them (:

And after all the performances were done, we could start eating. Initially we didn't want to take the food because they only catered for people on the RSVP list. But we didn't really care because we were getting hungry, and had some realllllly good food. Buffet style, with Singaporean flavours, taste of home!!

This was just a small portion of what they really had. Lots of seafood, some chicken, sushis, wow!
Had a really good dinner (:

Oh yes, and I managed to go greet Ms. Chye, who, to my pleasant surprise, still remembers me (:
It's really a conincidence. I haven't been back to Cedar much ever since I left, but now here we are, saying HI to each other in a foreign country (: FATE!

It was overall an enjoyable night~ Left me smiling widely the entire night, haha~!

Thank you, Singapore Embassy!! <3 and SKarf, and most importantly, CGSS Choir!

A smile for you, my dear readers! <3

Travel Tips: Packing!

Whenever I return from a trip and open the luggage, my mum always go, 'Wah!'
Because I pack well. Not the sort of very neat well, but I pack very efficiently.

Traveling from one accommodation to another while on my 6-month trip to Korea, packing has become one of my fortes. And here I am to share my tips with you!
(Fact: International House at Yonsei is the 5th place I've moved to within 6 months.)

Before leaving for a trip
Packing before leaving on a trip is pretty easy. First, you got to make sure you know how long your stay is so you can plan appropriate amount of clothing. And on the topic of clothing, you need to consider if you are going to be doing laundry. If you are, you can actually reduce the amount of clothes you bring, and it is absolutely necessary for long trips.

Tip #1: Open your luggage early and put whatever you remember into it
When I am anticipating a trip, I take out my luggage bag at least one week before the actual date. This is because a person cannot remember every single thing at last minute. So during the week when I remind myself that I need to bring something (especially if you do not use it regularly at home), go get the item, and throw it in the bag.

Some things that I find can be packed early are...
- Travel soaps (those small bottles, surely you don't use travel-sized things at home...)
- Winter apparel (now, in Singapore you don't ever use them, so put them in first.)
- Travel adapter (you don't use this at home, duh.)
- Medications (if you need it while at home you can retrieve from the bag)

Tip #2: You need space for shopping
If you have to force everything into the bag, chances are that you will not have enough space for your shopping. Your other option is to buy another luggage while on your trip. Before the trip, pack your things in comfortably. The zipper should close easily. If you need to sit on it for it to close, you're doing it wrong... Try a larger luggage or removing what you don't think you need.

Hint: Some people think that the bigger the luggage, the better. I beg to differ. If you're taking a plane, chances are that the maximum acceptable weight is 20kg. If your bag is too huge, you will be incurring extra weight charges. If not, you'll find that you will not be able to utilize your luggage space fully.

During the trip
Whether you should unpack or not depends on the duration of your stay in that place. If it's for a long period, then feel free to unpack. If not, then don't unpack.

Tip #3: Laundry
If you are planning to do laundry, check whether the place you reside in provides detergent. If not, a bar laundry soap may be good for doing your laundry in the sink (:
You might choose to bring a string to hang your laundry too.

Tip #4: Organize your shopping
Try compressing your shopping frequently. You might end up with a lot of shopping bags, but it will be good if you can compress all those shopping into minimal no. of bags.

Preparing to return
Oh no! Is it the end of your trip already? Well, no matter, you gotta go home anyway!

Tip #5: Roll up your clothes
Remember you didn't roll your clothes when you came? Well, they are just buying you extra space. Fold the clothes, and roll them up, stack them, compress them in their rolls. Magic happens and you get so much more space! (:

Tip #6: Fill up those boxes
Have some boxes? Open them up and put small things inside to fully utilize the space inside the box! If you have no space, surely you do not want to waste it on carrying air in your luggage!

Tip #7: Hand carry winter jackets
If you really need more space in your luggage and have no vacuum packing, consider hand carrying your bulky winter jacket. You don't have to hold on to in for most of the time, so just chuck it in the overhead compartment and remember to retrieve it later on!

So these are some of my tips for travelling and packing your luggage!

I took so long to write this because I had to pack my own luggage towards the end, as I finish my school examinations and prepared to move to a temporary accommodation (:

Have a good trip!

SNOW WHAT?!

So I haven't been here in a long time, as usual. Time flies really fast. So okay, to be honest, I wasn't blogging for a long time for a few reasons, as listed below.

1. I failed two midterms, and has been feared into studying as and when I could, weeks before the finals. So not the life of an exchange student...
2. I like to play computer game.
3. I sleep late everyday.
4. Communicating with people back home.

So I do actually want to blog about things over here. I don't go out as often anymore because it gets so cold here and the cold just makes me want to snuggle up to the blanket on my bed. 

Few things that I haven't blogged about and eventually would (even if it is after I return home).. are

1. Singapore Embassy Event
2. Ski Trip to YongPyeong

Honestly those are the two things I've attended so far.

So today I decided to blog because we experienced our first full-blown snowfall today! Over the past few weeks, we only ever had two incidents of snow flurry. Very tiny bits of snow falling randomly from the sky that melted as quick as it came.

Then the weather forecast predicted snow today, and indeed it came!

It occurred while we were in our Introduction to Family class. The lecturer was going on about family therapy when she exclaimed in Korean that it was snowing outside.

Synchronously, the Korean girls in the class went 'WooooaH~' and everybody just stopped to look out of the windows.

Yes! It was snowing heavily! Then the lecturer mumbled to herself about the snow and resumed lesson.

We were all distracted throughout the lesson due to the snow. Haha!

And after it ended, Rekha and I spent some time taking photos in the snow. In an hour, the snow settled on the ground to form a significant sheet of snow. Suddenly the campus looked unfamiliar as it was dressed entirely in white. 

Sir Underwood, are you feeling cold there?

Even the forest path back to the dorm looked like winter wonderland. There were people there making snowmen even! 

Snow after lessons!

Rekha doesn't even need to try to be cute.

Anyway, it may all seem so amazing here but there is more to snow than just the beauty of it.

Today we learnt how difficult it is to walk when it's snowing.

Look at how thick the layer of snow is! And the thing is, the more people walk on it, the more compact it gets, and dirtier it gets.

So when we walked through the snow with our umbrellas, we realize it doesn't help much. Despite the umbrella being all glorious shelter its user, the snow flies in from everywhere else to stick to your pants, coat, bag, boots, and if you're unlucky, your face.

And because of that, we get damp whenever we enter a building and get warmed up -_-

Not only that, snow makes everything slippery. Especially compacted snow. When the treads in the boots get filled up, and you step into a building with normal flooring, it's slipping galore! >_< No I didn't slip, but there were many near experiences. No joke at all.

Even on snowed floor, there were people slipping! Rekha almost slipped off the curb onto the road -_-

But the snowy weather brings about emotions... Especially on exchange where you're away from friends and family, you kinda just miss their warmth in the coldness of winter. And also, seeing something so beautiful, and something you don't get to experience in a tropical country... You just wished you had them to share it with.

A loved one who you know will be there for you even when you're cold and lonely ^_^

So about this snow thing, there is mixed emotions... Like it, but don't like it at the same time, haha!

My many expressions in the snow...

Not sure what to make of this snow..

Frustratedwith snow flying into me!

Like a grandma taking a stroll through the woods

Damn I look so ugly in all these photos -_-

I made it back into the warmth of my dorm safely anyway~!! ^_^

And oh yea! Today is Jacqueline's birthday~ She must be blessed for the snowfall to occur on her birthday ^_^ Happy 21st~

Signing off,

Cassie!

Yonsei University: SK Global House? International House?

Are you coming to Yonsei University for a summer programme? An exchange programme?

I think one of the questions you'll be asking yourself is where you will be staying; and if you're staying on-campus, you probably have to pick one of two choices: SK Global House, or International House.

So as much as possible, I'll give a brief introduction to both choices and hopefully make it easier for you to make you choice!

Background:
I live in International House currently.

General information about both SK and IH (things they don't tell you!)

• Both SK and IH are connected internally. This means you can move freely from IH to visit your friends in SK, and vice versa, without having to go out in the open. Entrances to both residences are separate though.
• However, you can only enter and exit from your respective residence. This means that even if you want to visit your friend in SK/IH first before going back to your room, you have to enter through your own side first.
• You can use facilities in both SK & IH if you are a resident of either one.

INTERNATIONAL HOUSE (I-HOUSE)

General stuff about I-House:

• Only has double rooms. In my opinion, it's pretty small, but it's more of cosy than too small. 
• Toilets and showers are shared per level.
• A lounge on every floor. Includes water dispenser, hotplate for cooking, microwave over, large fridge. Also has television with cable, cosy sofas, and coffee tables.
• Fully air-conditioned, ondol also available (during winter).
• 5-storeys, Lobby, two for guys, two for girls. Basement (not accessible by elevator) has laundry rooms and study room.

What's good in I-House:

• Refrigerator inside the room - Store your personal groceries without the worry of them spoiling or being stolen (unless your roommate steals them). Refrigerator works even if nobody is in the room.
• Level-shared washrooms - No need to buy toilet paper, no need to wash toilets. The toilets are kept clean at all times, unless it's the weekends. That's because the janitor does not work. Then the toilets are really clean again on Monday. Even so, on weekends, they are still clean, just not super clean. 
• Good storage solutions in the room - several cubicles for you to organize and categorize your items. Makes use of vertical space so you have more places to put things compared to SK.
• Air-conditioner works all-year round (I think) - Don't need to return the remote controls even when the weather turns cold (unlike SK)

What's not-so-good in I-House:

• Washrooms are outside - May be inconvenient for some
• No shelter whatsoever to the entrance of I-House - Rain or snow, or when the weather turns cold.. You need to walk out into the cold just to buy food from Global Plaza. You have to run through the rain just to get home.
• Motion-sensor lights, even in shower - It isn't very smart. Sometimes it switches the lights off right when you're in the middle of shampooing/soaping yourself, or washing your face. Stuck in the dark, you hastily wrap yourself up to wave at the motion sensor, near the entrance to the showers.
• Less facilities than SK - more inconvenient to walk a whole big round just to print notes at the computer room, or us the gym, or whatever.

SK GLOBAL HOUSE (not a resident so might be lacking in some details)

General stuff about SK:

• There are single as well as double rooms.
• Personal bathrooms
• More storeys than I-House
• Lounge available, various types of rooms around are accessible

What's good in SK:

• Bathrooms inside the room - Convenient
• Slightly larger than I-House rooms
• Directly connected to Global Plaza, KLI, and New Millenium Hall - You can wear your comfy clothes to get to Global Plaza to grab some food, because you won't be out in the cold at all. Speedy travel to KLI and NMH for lessons.
• SK lobby is a great place to chill - don't need to be a resident to sit there, quite a lively place too

What's not-so-good in SK:

• Bathrooms inside room - Clean it yourself, buy your own bathroom supplies including toilet paper. Trust me, cleaning the toilets are often the source of perpetual frustrations especially with roommates who suck at cleaning up or keeping it clean. Single room, not too bad, I guess.
• The entrance only allows one person to enter at one time - Troublesome.
• Kitchen with cooking equipment at the basement - Gotta go all the way down to cook if you want to. Inconvenient.
• Less utility of space for storage - You gotta find somewhere to organize you items.
• No refrigerator in the room - You can't store your milk or other groceries ):

TIPS AND OPINIONS (important! You will regret not reading this part)

• If you are travelling by cab, access I-House through Yonsei's main gate and drive all the way in, and stop in front of New Millenium Hall, that's the closest you can get to I-House. For SK, if you use this method, you need to take the elevator down to the basement level to access the lobby. 
• There are TWO wall sockets at your desk. One is used for the table lamp, the other is for the IP Phone (which we never use). If you need more sockets, I suggest getting an adaptor for your HOME plug, and then bring an extension (like in this picture: click) in your home format, so you can easily use those sockets without hassle.
• There is NO WIFI in the room, please bring LAN wire, and learn in advance how to share your ethernet connection through wifi using your computer, so your phone can tap on it.
• The troublesome part about both SK and IH is that the power slot (the place you have to put your card key in so there is power in the room), only accommodates ONE card. It's a stupid design, especially if your roommate is one who is not spontaneous enough to make their card easily accessible. Imagine this, you wake up in the morning wanting to go for lessons and your roommate is still sleeping. You don't know where their card is, so you leave the room, with your roommate in a powerless room. (My roommate is one such person, she always keeps her card to herself.)
• SK and IH are located very far away from the nearest subway station. 15 minutes brisk walk to get there. Inconvenient much.
• Getting to lessons on main campus is also a pain in the butt, always prepare sufficient time to walk.
• In I-House, laundry rooms are split into Male and Female, although you can access both freely. In each room, there are three washers, and two dryers. Washers take 37 minutes per wash (1,000 won), and dryers take 45 minutes on high heat (always use this. and it costs 500 won). Detergent dispensers are available. Coin exchanger at the lobby. Yes, there is an iron.
• Global Plaza has convenient store, food, florist, nail shop, fastfood (burger & shake). On Sunday, only fastfood and convnient store are open. Food isn't cheap or exceptionally good, in the day, you can go to KLI basement for some good Korean food at lower prices (:

So that's all from me about IH and SK, both sides have their good and bad, so pick one the suits you better. Although, SK seems to run out of rooms faster than IH does so... yea. It doesn't mean IH is a bad place, it has its charms (: