kimchi museum

this week, i had monday and tuesday off of work, due to buddha's birthday being on tuesday. even though korea is traditionally buddhist, it seems like a lot of people these days are either christian or not religiously affiliated. since i am not buddhist, and i don't know anyone who is [well, i don't know anyone who is a practicing buddhist], i'm not sure what people traditionally do on this holiday.

so, my friend and i decided to go to coex mall and check out the kimchi museum. coex is a ginormous mall, build underground, and it's quite famous in the seoul area. it has tons of stores, an aquarium, casino, kimchi museum, and a large food court with a variety of different restaurants [and a sbarros--heckyess]. the mall is also arranged like a giant maze, and i'm pretty sure that i've never walked around the entire thing before...

jen and i had never visited the kimchi museum before, although we had been curious about it for a while. we decided that it could be something interesting and cultural to do for buddha's birthday.

the museum itself was much smaller than i had anticipated. the displays detailed the history of kimchi, as well as how it is made [then and now]. it also explained the importance of kimchi to korean culture, and how the taste is different between the different regions.

all-in-all, it was an interesting experience. although, i wouldn't recommend travelling all the way to coex just to see the museum...but if you happen to be at the mall already, it's definitely worth checking out.

coex mall is located on seoul subway line 2 [the green line] at 삼성 [samsung] station, exit 6. the museum itself is a bit trickier to find. it's on level B2, but you should look for the signs inside the mall. the museum is closed on mondays, and the entrance fee is 3,000KRW.

hello kitty cafe~

yesterday was children's day, which is apparently a pretty big holiday in korea. i think that children are supposed to get presents and/or money on this day. since i am [shockingly] neither korean nor a child, i received nothing. other than a day off of work, which is a pretty great present.

to celebrate, my friend reallywally and i went to the hello kitty cafe at 대학로 [daehakno]. there are several hello kitty cafes sprinkled around seoul, and last year i went to one in 홍대 [hongdae]. but since this one was brand new, we decided to check it out.

the menu was virtually the same as the other HK cafe, and the interior was very similar. pink, girly, kitty. cuteness overload. [basically, it's like my dream house.]

the cafe had two floors, which looked pretty much the same..and the world's cutest bathroom. there was also a separate room for couples, although i can't imagine dragging my boyfriend there [assuming i had one]...

i enjoyed a delicious iced caramel machiatto, and we shared a choco-banana waffle. [it was shaped like hello kitty!!]

it's definitely worth a visit...especially if you're a kitty fan^^

YGEntertainment

a few weeks ago, i went to the YG building in 합정 [hapjeong--an area of seoul located a covnenient 30 minutes from my apartment]. YG is the record label that produces BIGBANG, 2NE1, SE7EN, Psy, and Gummy. [but most importantly bigbangㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ]

anyways, i was totally not creeping because bigbang wasn't even there at the time. and i knew that they weren't gonna be there. [they had another concert at that time...and for some reason i didn't goㅠㅠ] and, it's not creeping if they're not there, right??

anyways, i had wanted to drop by the building because i'd heard that it was really cool, architecturally. [ok, and also because i wanted to see bigbang's workplace...i'll admit it...]

there's a convenience store right next to it where fans have written messages for YG artists [although it appeared that most of them were for bigbang]. apparently, fans usually wait outside of the building for the artists to come out, but on the day that i went, there were only 3 [probably middle school aged] girls waiting. my friend and i only hung out for maybe 15 minutes or so...just enough time to enjoy our convenience store ice cream and take a few pictures. and it's possible that we may or may not have also written a message for bigbang.

anyways, it was cool to visit once. and i'd recommend stopping by to see the building [especially if you're a fan of YG]. but i'll probably never go back again unless i have a specific or legit reason to be there. mostly because i don't want my future husband [*cough*T.O.P*cough*] to catch me creeping. because that would be embarassing.

i hate this love song~

so, lately i've been trying to avoid posting bigbang fangirlishness, and instead post about the other [less interesting things] that i do, which for some reason most people find more interesting to read.

but i reallyreallyreally like this. a lot.

a couple of weeks ago, bigbang released a special edition of their newest mini-album, with love song as one of the title songs. and yesterday they released acapella versions of three of the songs. they are seriously amazing, and this one is my favorite. [ackkkk~~T.O.P's voice at the beginning!!]



and here's the official music video for the song, if you'd like to hear what the song sounds like with the instrumental accompaniment.

it's spring~!!

spring is finally here!! after weeks of bleak coldness, the sun has come out at last~~the air feels warm, and beautiful flowers are blooming everywhere.

to celebrate spring, i went to the cherry blossom festival at 여의도공원 [yeouido park] in seoul this past weekend. from there, my friend and i walked to 여의나루공원 [yeouinaru park] to relax by the 한강 [han river]. the weather was perfect, and i took entirely too many pictures [mostly of myself...i'm vain, i guessㅋㅋㅋ]. the only downside to our adventure was that approximately 50million people also ventured out to the park on that day.

happy black day~~

april 14 is black day in korea…it’s supposed to be a depressing singles’ holiday, following valentine’s day on feb 14 [the boy’s holiday] and white day on march 14 [the girl’s holiday]. so i guess it’s only fair that they should have a holiday for the remaining 5% of the population that is not currently in a relationship. [seriously…i’m pretty sure that everyone in this country is in a relationship…either that, or singles never leave their homes…whatevs.]

anyways, on black day, singles are supposed to gather together in depressed little groups and eat 자장면 [jajangmyeon], which is a black noodle dish. oh, and they’re also supposed to cry bitter tears into their jajangmyeon, as a horrible reminder that their lives apparently suck so much.

will i be celebrating black day? ~only absolutely.

will i be crying bitter tears into my dinner? ~ummheckNOO. and here’s why

1. jajangmyeon is freaking delicious as is.


2. quite frankly, i’m just excited that there’s a korean holiday i can celebrate.


3. OMYGOSH BIGBANG’S NEW MV CAME OUT TODAYYYYY. i’m too busy spazzing about that to be sadㅋㅋㅋ

rain.

it rained today. i'm told that it was radioactive, and that it's bad if it touches you. this morning, i was more concerned with putting in my headphones than putting up my umbrella. so i got rained on. just a little bit. i hope that i wake up with cool superpowers.