Of 벚꽃 (cherry blossoms) and 치맥 (chimek)

One of the definite pluses about being in Korea for the spring semester is the fact that cherry blossoms are blooming left right center! It is hard to be in a lousy mood for long when you are greeted by such pretty sights everywhere you go. This is definitely a welcomed change from Beijing where spring (春天) is a short lived season of allergies as the catkins (fondly known as 柳絮) from the willow trees are everywhere. I have a Thai friend who has such severe allergic reactions to the catkins that spring is often a week long stay at home and visits to the hospital... And also from Singapore, where it is summer all year round (though this year there has been a massive blooming after a bout of dry spell- somewhat stimulation of spring).

Here in Korea, in place of catkins floating in the air however, are cherry blossom petals. When the wind is slightly stronger than a breeze but not strong enough to send stuff flying into your eyes, the petals tango beautifully in the air with the wind before settling on the ground.

Outside Kyunghee's Second Dormitory- white specks are all cherry blossom petals!

Here at Kyunghee, the cherry blossom trees line the outside of the dormitories and grow in one full circle around the running track. Despite having woken up to it every morning for the past ten days or so, the sight never fails to take my breath away when I step out of the dorm each morning. Spring is so alive, in your face.

Evidence as shown below, photographed along the route that I take to get to class:

Growing on the slopes next to the running track.

Plenty of cherry blossom trees dotting the little hill which I climb every day to get to class. 

The road lined with cheery blossom trees that leads to my faculty.

It got pretty warm last week, with the temperatures at noon reaching a high of 22 degrees Celsius, and the night at a comfortable 13-16 degrees. Then starting last weekend, the temperatures plunged and day time temperatures barely made it above 12 degrees. Korea had to do that just when I dug out my summer wear and was all ready to put my sweaters away for the next 6 months... Why?

In Chinese, there is a phrase to describe this plunge in the temperatures- 乍暖还寒 (zhà nuǎn huán hán). It is usually used when winter and spring seem to be coexisting, and the weather is erratic. However, I have since learnt a new phrase in Korean which I think better describes this phenomenon: 꽃샘추위. 

To break it down...

꽃= flowers

샘= jealousy

추위 = cold

Winter is dying and is jealous of the flowers which blooms in Spring, hence holds out for as long as she can in a spat of dying vengeance. This reminds me of the Cinderella story, with Winter being the jealous stepsisters and Spring being poor Cinderella who is not allowed out. Still, we all know that Cinderella finds her Prince, and Spring will eventually get its time in the sun. Only drawback to this battle of the seasons is that it is making it impossible for me to dress without first checking the weather app. 

Now, more photos to make Winter jealous:)

Street lamp with cheery blossom trees in the background.

Close-up. 

Daddy came to visit <3

Also, what good is spring if all you do it stay indoors? The flowers are practically screaming for you to pay them some attention before they disappear for another year, and the weather is warm enough to say goodbye to the down jackets yet cool enough to wear stylish coats. Naturally I took advantage of that by going on a picnic by the Han River (한강) on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. 

We headed to Yeouido Hangang Park (여의도 한강공원), sat down on a nice patch of grass and ordered chimek (치맥), which is essentially a condensed way of saying flavoured fried chicken (치킨 chi-kin) and beer (맥주 mek-ju). 

See all the people behind us? Everyone's out enjoying spring while it lasts.

Us while waiting for the delivery.

Selca!

没有人永远年轻，但永远有人年轻。那一年，我们曾年轻。

I highly highly highly encourage you to take half a day to enjoy sitting by the Han River and with some food, alcohol and good company. Going on holiday should not mean having to cramp all the touristy places into a week, but also about letting yourself take a break. I can't think of a better way to take one than this:) Just like my dad would always say when my mum complains about not having enough time to take in all the sights:

留点遗憾，下次再来

(Leave some regrets and return another time.)   

Directions to the Yeouido Hangang Park (여의도 한강공원) : 

Take subway line 5 to Yeouinaru (여의나루) station. Come out of exit 2. 

***If you would like to rent a bicycle and go cycling, walk straight from exit 2 for about 5 minutes and you will see the bicycle rental counter. It costs 4000 won an hour, and you will need to give them an ID (passport/alien registration card/driving license). They have both tandem bicycles and normal bicycles.***

Exchange is not a bed of roses.

The first reaction I get from my friends back home when I break the news of me going on exchange is "Wow, you are going on exchange! Korea? You are going to have so much fun!" The second reaction was mostly "But you are already studying overseas in Beijing what. Still go exchange for what?". 

I applied for exchange mainly because studying abroad has taught me more than a few intangible things and challenged in more ways than I thought possible. After 2 years in Beijing, I have adapted to the life there and have gotten so comfortable that the itch to venture out of my comfort zone returned, big time. Life in Beijing has had its ups and downs, but the ups outnumber the downs (eg. the once-a-year-food-poisoning-hospital-visit) Returning home to Singapore was like taking a break from my life in Beijing. Imagine the clock time keeping clock used in a Scrabble competition, one clock ticks and the other stops, and this repeats itself. In many ways, going home to Singapore was like putting my Beijing life on pause for a few weeks, then letting it tick again. It was time to stop playing pause and play. How many other opportunities will I have in the rest of my life where I can live for months in a foreign country (excluding work)? Probably none. 

The rational self me decided to pursue my logical, dominant strategy of GOING ON EXCHANGE (YAY!) before any other actor comes into play and turns this into a prisoners' dilemma. I had a semester to ready myself for the reality of uprooting and moving to a country whose language I cannot fluently speak/understand, BY MYSELF. Yet arriving in Korea after the rowdy and heartwarming sendoff from my friends the night before in Beijing, I realised that I had not fully prepared myself to deal with the loneliness that struck the moment my plane landed at Incheon International Airport. And it struck hard. 

Four weeks on, the loneliness has slowly ebbed away, only appearing abruptly in moments when I feel helpless or tired. The first week of school was when loneliness was on its prowl, and a fresh wave of tears would make its way to my eyes when I thought I spotted a familiar face but realise in a split second that it was not possible for that friend was back in Beijing. Sometimes I feel like if I turn back, I can see a friend zipping down the road in her little pink scooter and asking me if I would like a lift to wherever I am going. One of the first thoughts when I make a new discovery was wishing that my friends were here to share that moment. 

Don't get me wrong: I have made more than a few friends here, and they have been nothing short of AWESOME, but this saying totally describes how I feel- new friends are silver and old friends are gold. All precious, but incomparable. 

So all those moments you see on Instagram/Facebook/Wechat? They are but fleeting moments, and I shared them because I wanted to be able to look back and know that there were good times. Don't know if it is just me, but I recall the moments of anxiety, worry and stress way more easily than I do the happy ones, so those moments are mainly for my references when I talk a walk down memory's lane.

I have been here almost four weeks, and already I feel like I am a slightly different person than when I left Beijing a month ago, and most definitely more grown up than the me who had just completed high school and who naively thought university would be way better than high school (right now I would rank them equally).

Would I have had chosen another path had I been able to turn the clock back to 2011? I can tell you in a heartbeat that I would not. As Frost aptly wrote:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Excited about the MT tomorrow~ Goodnight:)

Korea the Land of Waffles.

I am currently on a semester exchange to Kyunghee University (경희 대학교 국제 캠퍼스) in Korea. A much welcomed break from the smog that is constantly plaguing Beijing and putting a dampener to all outdoor activities I would like to do in spring. Making the choice to go on exchange was not easy, primarily because I am worried that I would not have cleared enough credits to graduate by July 2015. The convoluted administrative system sent me running around 5 offices (back and forth between them no less) to get stamps so that I can put in my application to put my studies at Peking University on hold for a semester. What I cannot understand is why this cannot all be done online (since I did have to start out by filling in an online application, get it approved by office one, then embark on the torturous stamp collecting process>.<). But enough brooding over what is already in the past, and onward to my KOREA ADVENTURE!:)

I will cover the highs and lows of being in a foreign land and having to start making friends all over again in another post. Today's is dedicated to one of my many discoveries in my three weeks here- 

WAFFLES ^.^

Not just any waffles, but one with crispy, caramelised edges and a fragrance which compels you to have one despite the knowledge that you just had dinner,or that you are going to have dinner in 30 minutes. In my universe, I would be able to capture the fresh waffle smell on my iPhone and put a link of it here on this post so you guys can smell it too...but sadly since we are living in the Real World, pictures shall have to do. 

Waffle Bant original waffle- 1500 원

Cream Cheese waffle- 2700 원

The waffles are from a Korean waffle chain store called WAFFLE BANT (와플 반트), which sells Belgium style waffles. Though it has been three years since I had waffles in Belgium (ie. I can't remember the taste actually), this is the first time in a long while that I had a waffle that ticked most boxes off the my mental waffle checklist.

It was a tiny store tucked away in an unassuming location, and looks pretty normal on the outside. But if you push the door open, you will walk into a brick wall which smells like waffle heaven. Definitely worth a try if you are coming to Korea and would like something resembling afternoon tea (a concept that is not as popular here as it is in Singapore). 

The interior walls.

Point card- you get one chop for every waffle you buy, and with ten you get to redeem one! Quite an easy target to achieve even if you are just in Korea for a holiday, especially if you are travelling in a group.

Waffle Bant offers waffle-drink sets as well (different flavours of waffles + different types of drink) for a range of prices, and my personal favourite is the Original flavour plus Affogato set (5000원), as seen below:

Affogato: One shot of expresso poured over a serving of vanilla ice cream.

Other waffle flavours which my friends and I have tried (3 times in the past two weeks since I discovered it!) include sweet potato (고구마), walnut (월너트), blueberry (블루베리), white chocolate (화이트 초콜릿), dark chocolate (블랙 초콜릿) and cream cheese (크림 치즈). If you were wondering, yes we tried everything on the list:) An achievement!

In case you were wondering, the pink drink is actually a strawberry milkshake (of sorts). 

In my three times there, I noticed quite a few parents who bring their young children (probably between 5-8 years old) and the staff always asked if they would like for the waffle to be cut up and served on a plate, with forks and all, for the kids. So if you are touring and have kids, this is a good place to go! As with most Korean eating places, drinking water is self serve and always available:)

For more details you could check out their website: http://www.wafflebant.com/main_kr.php (ENGLISH IS AVAILABLE:))

Now that I am done with this post, I have half a mind to go there tomorrow after class. Be still, my fluttering heart.

Winter foods.

What comes to your mind when you connect the dots between ‘food’ and ‘Beijing’? Peking duck. Now anything more? Then you may flashback to news reports of food quality issues in China which is more than merely the way food is handled. It goes all the way to the very core of food- is it real? From passing off pork as beef by dipping them in chemicals to manufacturing fake, rubbery eggs, how can one be sure that what you are eating is what you THINK you are eating? Well there is no way to know really. I go by my gut feel and after two years in China, I haven’t *touchwood* suffered from a bout of food poisoning as yet (though I’ve had fake eggs served to me at the school canteen once).

Don’t strike all the street food vendors off your list just yet, because as my favourite fried-potato-in-chilli-powder street hawker said, “We are parents who have children at home, and who are just trying to make a living. We won’t sell you anything we don’t want them to eat. We want you to come back, because we survive on your business.” But well, it is also true that I buy from her because 1) she is friendly and a regular sight outside the east gate and 2) there hasn’t been much any scandals about fake potatoes (probably because they are cheap and hence not economically sensible to try to reproduce chemically).  I stay away from the hawkers selling hotplate meat and probably will not go back to eating that in the near future thanks to the alarming frequency of reports about some hawkers selling rat’s or cat’s meat disguised as chicken skewers AND the use of drain oil (地沟油).

If you wondering what kind of ‘fakes’ China has, below is a graphic representation of the tip of the iceberg which I made for a presentation on a discussion about ‘Made in China’ when I was a freshman.

Now if you haven’t stopped reading out of sheer horror, here’s a more accurate picture of what I eat on an everyday basis. In fact I was inspired to write this because I was eating at the stall earlier and took a really nice picture which I thought ought to be seen by more people than just me.

One of my autumn/winter favourite eating place in school: 麻辣烫 (loosely translates to ‘spicy dip’, more accurately ‘numbingly spicy dip’). Tadaaaaaaaa!

What you have is all sorts of things on skewers (or satay sticks, as Singaporeans more commonly refer to it as), dipped in either the spicy or non-spicy soup base. Yes, there is a non-spicy soup base because a lot of people can’t tahan the numbing spiciness which lingers. I usually have one or two skewers from the spicy one then it is non-spicy all the way.

You can also ask for noodles面 /vermicelli 粉丝 , which will be cooked on the spot, during which you can hang around eating other stuff. It is pretty much a DIY meal- take what you want and eat it, and if they are out of it, just ask the auntie for it. Eat till you are full, and yeah, you eat standing around the two pots.

Cost of one item (skewer or noodles etc): 1 RMB (0.20 SGD) [*Note: Before you yell that it is cheap, you should know that last winter, it was only 0.80 RMB per item. There was a 25% price hike.]

I usually have 6-8 skewers plus a noodle or vermicelli. When it gets too cold in winter (think minus ten degrees or so), how many skewers I eat will depend on how fast my fingers freeze up after they leave the comfort of my very thick gloves. It is time to stop once the fingertips go from being numb to having a throbbing, slightly painfulsensation. My favourite items are sliced lotus roots 藕片, pork dumplings 饺子, spinach 菠菜, baby cabbage 娃娃菜and fish toufu 鱼豆腐. Heap them with a lot of sesame sauce 麻酱, it is simply TWO THUMBS UP.

Then after having a very satisfying 8 RMB meal, I bought myself a 冰糖葫芦 (sugar coated hawthorns 山楂). Though personally, because I don’t like the hawthorn fruit all that much, I got sugar coated grapes instead. The stall is open from September till April every year. The best time to eat it is during the strawberry season (mid-winter) because what makes a better pick-me-up than giant strawberries on a skewer coated with sugar?

Cost: Varies with what’s on the skewer. The hawthorn one costs about 3RMB, then other fruits can range from 4-9 RMB. There are also variations of the hawthorn skewer, usually with walnut 核桃, yam 山药 or red bean paste 红豆沙.

Well,that's all for now. If you ever come to Beijing, or to Northern China, these have to go on your to-do list! :D Now I’ve got to get back to researching Anglo-German naval rivalry in the 19^th century.  

Winter & "Punishment"?

Is this what comes to mind?

Waking up at 6am.

Walking barefoot in the snow until you can't feel your toes anymore.

Showering in ice cold water at midnight.

I'm going to write about something like that but not quite like it. I love winter because I can deck myself out in beanies, scarves and everything warm. But I have a love hate relationship with it for many reasons, one of it being our topic of the day: PHYSICAL EDUCATION aka 体育课. Coming from a sunny island meant that the first winter I truly lived through was in 2011 when I moved to Beijing for my undergrad studies. And one of the many things which stunned me was that the university had MANDATORY physical education classes. The story is that if I didn't complete 4 modules of PE classes, I can't graduate. End of story. Protest, complain, do what you want, but nothing will change this fact. 

Rules are as follows:

• One compulsory module (健美操 [aerobics] for girls, 太极拳 [taichi] for guys)
• Three other modules where you take what you like (the huge variety offered includes 羽毛球 badminton, 网球 tennis, 乒乓球 pingpong, 攀岩 rock climbing, 瑜伽 yoga, 健美 gymming, 地板球 floorball, 足球soccer etc )
• Compulsory fitness test (体质测试) for each semester of PE class (similar to NAPFA in Singapore schools) which you MUST PASS in order to pass PE
• Only ONE module of PE is allowed each semester
• Chinese students have to complete what is literally named extracurricular exercise (课外锻炼) in order to pass

So you be wondering what its like isn't it? Let me first unload the bad before I gush about the good:) PHYSICAL FITNESS TEST? I average a silver for my NAPFA, and I don't consider myself unfit. Yet what the test requires here is a little confounding. So you have the usual height and weight right, and what else? These are the top four which somewhat puzzles me.

#1: Lung capacity (肺活量)

What on earth...? So basically you go to that station, grab a funnel, attach it to a tube that resembles that of a mini vacuum cleaner's, inhale deeply and EXHALE AS MUCH AS YOU CAN. The machine will reflect a number, usually ranging in the 1000s-3000s (idk what this is really:O all I know is that I have a larger "lung capacity" than my roommate since I have a bigger number hahaha). Blow three times, and they take the best result. 

What it shows, I don't know, but it makes me dizzy and somewhat weaker for the remaining tests. Aargh. The marks for this station is given after they peg it against your height and weight @.@

The passing criterion: 

NONE.

#2: Skipping (跳绳) - thankfully they removed this segment in the spring sem of year 2.

So a good student would, two weeks before the physical test, buy a skipping rope with a counter and practice. It looks like: 

I really see people meeting up to practice skipping together. Each time my heart goes into panic mode as I remember that I have yet to buy a skipping rope and that I REALLY SUCK AT SKIPPING. How is this a good measurement of physical fitness anyways? 

The passing criterion: 

Skip 100 times in a minute. To get a distinction? 160-180 depending on age and gender. 

Now go get a rope and try it for yourself. How long has it been since you skipped anyway (assuming you are not the health nut who skips to keep fit...)? Well for me, the answer prior to 2012 was, well a decade or so, maybe plus a few years. And they keep count by having you jump on top of a mat with a floor sensor of sort which will sense the number of times your feet leave and return to the mat surface. You can't even think of inflating your count by having a mutual agreement with the person who counts for you to bring you up to the passing grade (like for sit-ups hehehe).  

#3: 12 Minute Run (十二分钟跑)

What's so puzzling about the run? Nothing really, especially in sunny Singapore. In fact, when in school, the 2.4km run was the least of my worries, compared to things like say, standing broad jump. But when you factor in running in chilly October (10-16 degrees) AND the hazy air (PSI in the high 100s or low 200s), it knocks the wind out of you once you complete it. I think they know that, and that's why they test it on a day separate from the other components of the test.

My experience: running the first 400m with a thin down jacket on, feel warm, unzip the front for the next 400m, then zip it up when the cold air makes contact with perspiration, then deal with a runny nose for another 800m and a splitting headache inbetween the ears for the last 400m. All that plus a wave of nausea that lingers for half the day after the run. 

The passing criterion: 

1.7km(girls)/2km (guys) in 12 minutes. To get a distinction? 2.2km(girls)/2.6km (guys) in 12 minutes. 

#4: Sit and reach (坐立体前屈)

Again, nothing wrong with it. Except for the way they test you. If you touch your toes, that's ZERO CM. ie. DISASTER FOR PEOPLE LIKE ME WHO HAVEN'T TOUCHED OUR TOES SINCE WE WERE FIVE WITHOUT BENDING OUR KNEES. All I can say is lucky we don't have to hold it there for 5 seconds like we had to in Singapore. It really was touch and go, so I took a deep breath, squeezed my eyes closed and reached like there was no tomorrow. My result? 7.5 FREAKING CENTIMETERS (length of my middle finger- I went home after the test to measure it with a ruler). Seriously? And I swore I bent my knees a little unwillingly but no one spotted it cos I wore black tights and was sitting on a black mat.

If you are wondering, yes I know someone who got a negative score. Can you imagine the conversation at the dinner table? "I had a sit and reach test today and I reached negative 4cm." Laugh all you want and thank your lucky stars it isn't your story to tell.  

The passing criterion: 

A positive reading. 

Now that I have let off steam and share my worries about my impending physical test in October (I shall document it this time around:/), here are some pictures/stories of the good.

My first PE class was aerobics. Although I remain the girl who gets noticed because I always raised the same arm and leg, it was nevertheless a good experience overall. I had a very patient teacher (well worth the 91 points I spent bidding-it's a huge deal since we only get 99 points every semester) who always kept a straight face and an encouraging smile when I mess up. Brownie points for buying us mini Snickers too. 

My second class was FANTABULOUS except for the written exam at the end where one of the open ended question was to list the names of your teammates (in Chinese characters of course!) and I could only list three, with two being in pinyin. I'm just bad with names:O Name of the class? 拓展训练. Can't find an English equivalent term, but in simple words the activities we did every week resembled that of OBS. Three highlights:

天梯 (Heavenly Stairs): Climb to the fifth log with only the aid of your partner and nothing else. Requires immense trust, although I did earn some bruises on my arm from having to haul my partner up. To be fair, I stepped on his thigh and on his shoulders so I guess it was mutual bruising.

信任背摔 (Backfall- my translation does the Chinese name little justice really): Team forms a human net to catch the person up on that stand. Yellow cloth shown is used as a safety measure to prevent the falling person from panicking and then reaching out his arms to claw those who are catching him, and also for our TA to help control the direction of the fall.

10米高空跳 (10m leap): Pole I climbed was 10m high. Point was to leap to catch the handlebar. The part where I struggled the most was standing up because it requires a good sense of balance, which I have only a little of. The weather was not in my favor that day because there was wind, so i was just wobbling, both because I was scared and because of the wind, though I would like to think it was more of the latter. 

A photo with my teammates at the end of the semester. Our team name is shown on the flag: 笑傲. Our motto: 一统未名 (未名 being the name of our school's lake)

I guess the value in making PE classes mandatory is that it gives students an opportunity to meet students from other faculties, and it forces you to do some exercise each week instead of being a couch potato (roommate seconds this keke:)). The only parts I feel require improvement would be 1) the physical fitness test stations/criteria and 2) contingency plans for outdoor class in the event of smoggy weather which Beijing gets half the time. We can't all wear masks while having PE outside can we?   

My choice for PE this winter sem: SWIMMING (held indoors in heated pool wheeee.) No punishing myself by picking an outdoor class held in the brutal cold. 

pick-me-up cakes.

Two years ago I was dreading the idea of having to give up my love for cakes when I moved to Beijing. Beijing greeted me and my parents with some rain and her infamous traffic jam, and I still can't describe how it felt to be squished in the backseat of a tiny car which was stuffed to the brim with 70kg of luggage and us. There was the imminent fear of not being able to adapt due to my more than rusty Chinese, but also the need to be brave so mum knows that I am more than capable of living by myself in a city/country neither of us knew very much about.

Fast forward two years and I become the person missing this and that about Beijing over the summer holidays while I was in the US and Singapore. People give me the look I know so well when I tell them that I miss Beijing. "What's there to miss?", their eyes ask, as images of news headlines screaming tainted milk, fake eggs (well fake almost everything, really) and the smog come to mind. Well there is more to Beijing than that, if you give her a chance like I did.

So allow me to share one of my favourite things about living near Wudaokou (五道口): cakes from Cafe Bros (波罗斯咖啡)! That coupled with the fact that they deliver for FREE just bumps Cafe Bros up a few notches on my comfort food list. So obviously.... one of the things I had to do in my first week back in Beijing was to get reacquainted with these cakes.

From left to right: Crepe cake (薄饼蛋糕), Sweet Potato cake (红树蛋糕) and Strawberry Pie (草莓派). Pooh courtesy of yours truly.

I consider them value for money, despite them being priced similarly as cakes in Singapore (each slice costs about 22rmb) because they do wonders to my mood whenever I have them. They are kind of like my pick-me-ups, especially when it is a gloomy day in Beijing. Now as I am typing this I am yearning for a cake, but I really ought to exercise some self control since I had a very filling lunch thanks to it being Restaurant Week in Beijing.

Now if you are wondering how to eat a crepe cake, let me teach you. DO NOT ruin the good cake by sticking your fork in it and eating it like you would a cheesecake. So give the picture below a good look and PRACTICE, because we all know practice makes perfect.  

Steps: Insert one prong/tine of a fork between layer 1 and 2 at the sharp tip of the cake. Peel backwards until the entire layer is rolled up on your fork. Enjoy:)

By the time you get through all the layers in one slice, you would have mastered the fine art of crepe cake eating. If you haven't, you should be buying a second slice and starting over. Afterall, this is so much more enjoyable and easier than having to 将铁棒磨成针.

Unfortunately this was the one picture I managed before I polished off the cake, so no step by step guide. If you have the crepe cake sitting in front of you right now you'll understand why it is so hard to stop for pictures:)

Cafe Bros (波罗斯咖啡): 海淀区华清嘉园13号楼门东 (010-82865970)

Now I will get back to overdosing on Korean variety and Hong Kong dramas before semester officially begins tomorrow.