Random Observations about Korea

Bus drivers are scary in the way that they do not usually do full stops when people get off. Taxi drivers refuse to do U-turns and will tell you to walk across the street to hail another taxi that goes the right direction.

Many places do not open until the afternoon and stay open until the wee hours of the morning. Love the night life!

Almost all women wear heels or flats. Apparently you only see people wear sandals in the summer when it's very hot. However, feet must be dressed in nice shoes with some sort of heel and your digits should be well-kept and manicured.

From what I observed, Korean people are either very beautiful people or just....no. I don't really see many people who are in between those two extremes. But then again my idea of attractive (for men and women) can vary from everyone else.

Korean fashion is very girly with their chiffon dresses and bows in their hair. The women play the traditional female role in speech, fashion, and lifestyle.

Korean cosmetic shops are insaaaaaaane. There can be 4 or 5 of the main brands lined right next to each other, as well as multiple stores of the same brand within a block of each other. They also have employees standing outside and handing you free samples to come shop inside. They give you even more samples depending on how much you purchase from their store. My bag of makeup samples is taking up a lotttttttt of room in my suitcase .__.

Food in Korea is maddd cheap. I can get full off of kimbap (Korean roll, around $1.50 USD) and jajangmyun (Korea's take on the Chinese black sauce noodles, $2 USD). Nothing is ever over $6 USD for a full meal.

8. It seems like everyone in Korea has a significant other. Those in their early twenties that aren't dating anyone will be seen as strange. There are shops dedicated to couple items. I see couples walking down the street in couple t-shirts, shoes, and cell phone charms.

There's more but that's all I can think of right now. :P

Hello from Hong Kong

I know, I've been absolutely horrible about updating. Bleh!!! Sad that the only time I am motivated to update my travel blog is when I am bogged down by a cold.

Speaking of which, if you happen to know me well, you should understand that I always get sick once every couple of months. I don't know what's wrong with my immune system, but I honestly am surprised at how long I've held up in Korea without getting sick until the last day. Yay! (If that's anything to cheer about)

Anyhow, I planned (and still planning) to write a long post about my trip to Seoul, but right now I'm at my uncle's place in Hong Kong with limited internet access, as well as the fact that I'm not on my own laptop therefore I don't have access to all my photos and photoshop. I proooooomise that I will give a proper update once I get to CUHK in a week. Okay, so maybe a little longer than that since I should be busy with orientation and all that stuff. :) It will come sooner or later.

I'm not sure if many of my friends in the States have followed this piece of news, but last night in Manila, Philippines, a Hong Kong tour bus was held captive by an armed man, resulting in eight deaths so far and several others injured. Of course, I am super angry that the bastard went around killing innocent people because he lost his job, but what made me fume was watching the live broadcast of the Philippines police taking their sweet time to rescue the people on the bus. Nobody wanted to go onto the bus, nor did they use any strategies until much later when more and more people were being shot to death. They huddled alongside the vehicle, stepped forward a few inches, and retreated several paces. Imagine seeing that on repeat for an hour straight and you'll understand the agony of watching them, knowing that some of the people who possibly had a chance of living had already died by then. Had the police acted faster and with clear directions, there would have probably been less people losing their lives.

One of the most heartbreaking things to watch was the interview of one of the survivors. She went on the tour with her husband and three children, but came out of it with only herself alive and her son in critical condition. Her son had a bullet lodged in his brain, and doctors are still not sure if he is in a stable enough condition to be brought back to Hong Kong for medical attention after his surgery. Her husband and two daughters were killed on the bus. Watching her interview really made me wonder why innocent people like her and her family must be subject to such cruelty. I wish her and her son a speedy recovery from this tragedy and that no one else should have to deal with this kind of trauma ever again.

Very Last Thing

Tomorrow is the day I fly out to Asia! It hasn't quite hit me yet, but I'm sure I'll realize it when I get there. Haha.

I'm not sure if it's because I will be mainly eating Asian food abroad, but I have been craving Mexican food like no other.

Sandy asked me the other day what is the last thing I want to do before I leave for Asia. Cherry had bought a dozen of Krispy Kreme donuts the day before she left. What was mine? I gave it a thought, and started my adventure early.

I headed to In-N-Out Burgers for one last meal from them. No animal fries or anything fancy, but just a good ol' combo #2 with a coke. Yum. Then I went to the nearest Mexican grocery market and bought a little over half a pound of fresh Mexican cheese. I still don't know what kind of cheese it is. It's not cotija for sure. It's just straight up labeled "Queso Fresco" (fresh cheese) and I just took it for what it is.

Today I will be having my final real meal in the States at Boiling Crab (they should feel honored) with some friends. Can't wait to order pounds of shrimp dunked in the whole she-bang sauce and sweet potato fries!

Although one of my last fatty desire is actually my mom's homemade arepas stuffed with pulled pork and the cheese I bought. Nothing like comfort Venezuelan snack food to wrap it all up.

I shall see you all on the other side of the world tomorrow! :)