Seoul - Day 3

Recap of my trip to Seoul Korea, on Friday, 18 March 2016.

Changdeok Palace, Insadong & Bukchon Hanok Village

Today is full of possibilities. Our itinerary for today was packed to the brim, so we got up early and had breakfast at Nescafe Cafe at Myeongdong. The food was good and my hot chocolate was nice but sweet. I notice that most of the sweet things we ate here were really sweet. There was a group of Japanese tourists eating at another table and I noticed that they cleared their table and brought their used cups and plates back to the counter. I assumed this was the Japanese being very polite. When we finished our breakfast we were about to walk out when we were called by the cafe staff. She asked us to bring our tray to the counter. I quickly did so with a little embarrassment. Back home, most people don't clear their table at restaurants/cafes and I'm afraid I've gotten to used to it.

From Myeongdong station we headed to Anguk station to reach Changdeokgung (Changdeok Palace). I was so excited. The last time I went to Seoul, which was around the early 2000s, my family and I got sick and we didn't get to visit any of Seoul's palaces. We reached there by 9am and purchased our tickets. Since the tour would only start at 10am, we took a stroll at the outskirts of the palace. There was a small charming park at the right side of the main gate. We saw an energetic squirrel flying from one tree to the next, as if it was putting on a show for us.

Seoul - Day 2

Recap of my trip to Seoul, Korea, on Thursday, 17 March 2016.

Namsan, Hanbok-wearing Session, Itaewon & Pumpkin

Today may be my second day in Seoul but it would be the first day my friend starts her official sightseeing. For breakfast, we had pancake at a lovely cafe in Myeongdong. We then went to Seoul Global Culture & Tourism Center at M-Plaza to book our slot for the free hanbok wearing session. We booked a slot at 2pm. We also reserved tickets for the Changdeok Palace Secret Garden tour the next day. We were planning to just buy the tickets at the palace when we go there but decided to reserve the tickets since the number of tickets for the English tour was limited. I then showed my friend all the free maps that were available in several languages at the centre. I was very thankful for the free maps; the subway map was particularly helpful.

Seoul - Day 1

A recap of my trip to Seoul, Korea, on Wednesday, 16 March 2016.

Myeongdong, Seoul Subway & K-Star Road

The flight from KLIA to Incheon was harrowing due to my fear of flying. It didn’t help that I was flying solo. My friend went first, she arrived in Seoul the week before due to her work obligations. I had planned to go last week as well but my cousin got married that weekend so I decided to go after the wedding. I thought going on a night flight would allow me to sleep and have a fresh start the next day. Unfortunately, I couldn’t sleep a wink. I kept getting nervous each time there was a slight turbulence. The flight was smooth overall but I just couldn’t fall asleep.

Game of Thrones S601

Spoiler alert! Do not read if you have not watched this episode. This is a loose recap; I've taken liberty with the chronology of the scenes.

The first episode of Game of Thrones’s Season 6 did not disappoint. It opened with the aftermath of Jon Snow being stabbed by some member's of the Night’s Watch. We see that that none of the mutinous members had disposed of Jon’s body. Davos is the one who sees the body and orders those loyal to Jon to bring the body inside. He also asked Dolorous Edd to bring Ghost who had been locked in a pen. The author of an article I read wondered why Ghost had been locked up. I agree with the writer that it could’ve been for the wildlings sake or Thorne’s party had decided to lock up the direwolf when they hatched the plan to rid of Jon. It was a touching moment when Ghost was finally by Jon’s side and started to lick his hand, as if it could wake him up.

Birth of a Beauty

My K-drama roll continues. After Pinocchio, I watched Birth of a Beauty several weeks ago. Don’t let the title and the premise of this series turn you off. This series is about a housewife who finds out that her husband (who she thought was overseas pursuing his studies) was actually cheating on her. He wanted to divorce her but she refused. She then ended up in an accident, survived it and in order to get her husband back, decided to go and see the plastic surgeon of a popular extreme makeover show to do one on her instead. Thus, the title of the series.

This beginning is problematic enough. Seeing a housewife risk her life doing extreme plastic surgery so that she becomes slim and beautiful is not something you would want women, especially insecure young girls to see. It propagates society’s obsession with youth and a certain standard of beauty. This didn’t stop me from watching though. Even though the main character, Sa Geum Ran went about the wrong way to get her husband back, I was still rooting for her and felt happy for her post-surgery, not because I thought she was much prettier but because society would now view and treat her differently. She had been mistreated by her husband, his in-laws and even his mistress just because they thought she was overweight and dressed like an ahjumma (aunty). We can argue all day long about inner beauty and whatnot but we know that in the real world, people deemed attractive are treated better.

Since Sa Geum Ran didn’t return to her family after the accident, her husband, in-laws and her mother thought that she died (her car swerved off a cliff and fell into the ocean. She survived but by the time she returned, they were in the midst of her funeral). Seeing her husband and her family dismiss her so easily, she decided to get the extreme plastic surgery. She looks completely different from her former self. Now known as Sa Ra, she teams up with the plastic surgeon, Han Tae Hee to stop her husband, Lee Kang Joon from marrying his mistress, Gyo Chae Yeon. The series really picks up from here.

I would have to say that there a lot of plot holes and also coincidences in this series but the two main actors were so good and had such great chemistry that you just ignore it whenever anything doesn’t make sense or seem too convenient. Don’t get me wrong though, these instances are minor and far in-between.

What I like about the series is that it shows someone having a fresh start. We see how Sa Ra develop into a confident and strong person. It’s true that when she was married, she didn’t think highly of herself and would allow her mother-in-law and sister-in-laws to take advantage of her (they all stayed in the same house). Her father-in-law treated her well but he was oblivious to the mistreatment his wife and daughters inflicted upon Sa Geum Ran. Having a friend in Han Tae Hee allowed Sa Ra to find her true self and also develop her existing talent: cooking! It’s kind of stereotypical to associate cooking with being a housewife but when she was married, she did have to cook for her husband and in-laws every day so it isn’t too far-fetched that she would be skilled in cooking. She ends up being a food taster on a television show and later on a contestant on a cooking show. You go girl!

In most K-dramas, no matter how accomplished the main female lead is, she would tend to be the polite, fragile type who would always need rescuing by the male lead. I’m happy to note that Sa Ra isn’t that kind of a person. Sure, in the beginning she required a lot of guidance from Tae Hee but once she had gained enough knowledge, she was no pushover. She would stand up when threatened and does not hesitate to go out and get what she wants. Sure, sometimes she does need rescuing but she does the rescuing at other times as well. She also stays grounded after the surgery. Naturally she was ecstatic that she was now beautiful but it didn’t change her nature. She was friendly and polite to everyone she meets. I know I would be stereotyping good-looking people by saying this, but someone as good-looking as Sa Ra in real life probably wouldn’t be so humble. It’s only a character in a TV series but I like to believe that there are people who don’t let their so-called physical attributes/talent get to their head.

This was an overall solid series. The comedic moments were spot on and the dramatic moments engaging. The storyline was tight throughout and it had a satisfying ending.

Merdeka

There is a lot going on the country that it almost made me not look forward to Merdeka. That shouldn’t be the case though. If you truly love your country, you should not let a couple of setbacks or other people’s shenanigans affect your feelings. In any case, listening a few pioneer doctors on BFM gave me hope.

I particularly felt a ray of hope from Dr Mahmood Merican, consultant orthopaedic surgeon, who, in one of the podcasts, said:

“With all the grumbles, I still have faith in the country. There are still a lot of good people there, some of them may be disheartened but we still have lots of things going on. I still have faith in the long-term for Malaysia.
I think we need to be kinder to one another. This is a basic thing. You know, our behaviour on the road, the way we litter, the way we leave our toilets. These are very bad signs. We should care for the next person. That is the main thing we have to do. I think, again, it is education, parenting, which can play a big part.”

I especially loved his closing quote:

“We should not lose hope; even though at the moment things seem to be difficult, they are difficult, we have to do our bit. One of things about Malaysians is that they grumble, they are prone to point fingers at everybody and forget to examine their own actions. Even if you have a little that you can help, do it and that will add up. Don't feel that you are helpless. Even with what little you can do, do for the good.”

Have a happy Merdeka everyone!

Earth to Echo

I read reviews about Earth to Echo last year. It was a movie by an unknown director with unknown casts (except for one of the supporting cast, who is one of the actors from Monk). I remember the reviewer describing the movie as something like Steven Spielberg’s E.T. The show is basically about a group of kids helping an extra-terrestrial find its way back home.

The movie began by showing a group of three friends lamenting on how they have to move because of the construction of a highway that bypasses their neighbourhood. One of the characters, Tuck, is a budding filmmaker who captures on video the workers at the construction house near his house. One of the things he mentions at the start caught my attention. He said, “Why do you need to build a freeway through our houses? Can’t you go around it?” He summed it up by saying how powerless he and his friends felt. “We can’t do anything, we’re just kids.” The pessimist in me was thinking, “Even we adults can’t do anything when big money comes to disrupt our home and the environment.” It’s not a happy thought but in that sense the movie connects with reality.

Anyways, I couldn’t stay depressed for long because pretty soon, the boys, Tuck, Munch and Alex gather when they find something wrong with their smartphones. A seemingly random, abstract image appears when they come near Alex’s house. No phone technician can explain what’s wrong with the phone. They checked the forums and online and didn’t find anything until Munch came across a map of the desert which surprisingly, matches the image on their phones! Things were bumpy before they even started their journey and they even had to sneak into the house of a girl who happened to be one of their schoolmate. Boys being boys, they were reluctant to let her join them once she found out what they were up to but after saving them from further interrogation from a suspicious construction worker, they let her join. Not that they had a choice anyways. She was pretty adamant about joining them on their mission. Thus the four of them began their crazy adventure.

What I liked about the story is that it shows how you can achieve something that seems impossible as long as you have your friends, courage and a sense of adventure. Of course, the journey will have its challenges and tensions but what matters is how you learn from it. I like these quotes at the end of the movie:

“I don’t really know how to say goodbye, so I’m not gonna and you’re my friend you know. Even when I’m old, even when you think I’d forgotten I’m always gonna be there.”- Alex.

“When you’re a kid, you think you’re invisible. We didn’t think we could make a difference. We’re not kids anymore. We know now that we can do anything.

Having a friend light years away taught us that distance is just a state of mind. If you’re best friends, then you will always be best friends, no matter where you are in the universe.” – Tuck.