Journeys in Life, One At A Time; Currently: Life in South Korea

Pure Gold For Lunch, Anyone?

2008-01-21T19:23:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, our client took us out to lunch to a Japanese restaurant.
Everything was fine and dandy, until a platter of sashimi came out, with pure gold on them!
I thought my client was joking when he said it was pure gold. But then he started eating it! I was like, "Are you sure you are supposed to eat that?" He said, "Of course. It's pure gold. It's good for your system."
So then I ate it too. I could barely taste it. It just melted right away in my mouth. Weird, but true.

Little Things I learned About Korea

2008-01-16T08:54:00.000-06:00

I have been in Daejeon, for about 13 days now and I have learned a thing or two about this country. Some things to know about:

As in most places, exchange your money for local currencies at the airport, because it usually has better rates than your hotel.
Taxi fare starts at 1800 won in Daejeon, and 1900 won in Seoul.
Korean restaurants always serve the side dishes (or appetizers, if you may), before the main entree comes. And you can ask for more, for free.
Korean language (definitely not enough to get around, hehe):

Yes : ne
No : ahn-nee-oh
Thank you : gahm-sa-hahm-ni-da
You're welcome : chon-mahn-eyo
Hello : ahn-nyong-ha-se-yo
Hello (for phone conversation) : yo-bo-se-yo
Goodbye : ahn-nyong-hee-ga-se-yo
Excuse me: sil-le-hahm-ni-da

A Trip to Seoul (2)

2008-01-16T01:29:00.000-06:00

We arrived in Seoul around 17:30. The first thing we needed to do before anything else, was to buy a return ticket to Daejeon. So we bought the ticket for the last train, departing at 22:30.

Stepping out from the train station, we were smart enough to write down the station name in Korean, just in case the taxi driver doesn't understand the word "Seoul Station".
Speaking of being smart, we were also smart enough to ask our hotel's front desk about places to go in Seoul. She mentioned two places: Insa-Dong and Dongdaemun.

Seoul is a pretty amazing city. Just outside the train station, we could immediately see lots of tall buildings and whatnot. It reminded me of my hometown.

After enjoying the view for a little bit, we then took a taxi to Insa-Dong.

Insa-Dong is pretty much a traditional market, with not-very-traditional price tags! The price tags are outrageous! However, they also have cheap stuff, that are obviously made in China, such as scarfs, handbags, hats, etc!
In fact, I saw the exact $12 handbag that my friend bought in Chicago, for $5!

From there, we took another cab to Dongdaemun, which turned out to be a shopping malls complex.

A Trip to Seoul (1)

2008-01-16T01:16:00.000-06:00

Last Sunday, we headed to Seoul. It took us about 1.5 hours total to get there. Half hour for the taxi ride, and 1 hour for the bullet-train ride. However, the so called 'bullet-train' is not very "bullet-like" at all. Its speed is really slow! Not sure why they call it 'bullet-train'..... hehe

I also spotted Popeye's Chicken from the train station!

A glimpse of my hotel room

2008-01-09T07:22:00.000-06:00

OK, so I am really bored here. Didn't know what else to do but to take pictures of my room. :)
The bathroom is really nice. Heated seat, with automatic sprinkler and such. The shower is even nicer.
But the bed? Not so nice! It's really hard and firm. I guess it's good for my back, but still, it feels like I am sleeping on the floor every night. I am not complaining....I am just reporting..... :P

First Week in Daejeon, South Korea

2008-01-08T06:31:00.000-06:00

After 6 months, I am finally blogging again. This time, I got the privilege to travel to Daejeon, South Korea.
The city is not so bad. The population is about 1.3 million people. So it's not too crowded nor too quiet.
I did some sight seeing over the weekend, and snapped some pictures.

The Sun Actually Shone Today!

2007-07-16T18:38:00.000-06:00

I can't believe the sun finally showed up today! Yesterday was so crappy. The sky was dark most of the evening, with lots of fog! Yuck!

We were done with today's agenda right around 5 pm, and we decided to hunt some lobsters. So we went to Halifax Waterfront and did some sight seeing. Then we ended up eating at this sorta fancy restaurant called Salty's.

The place was right at the shore, with an excellent view out to the sea. It was simply gorgeous!
Then we ordered lobsters at a price of $32 per lbs.....That's pretty expensive! But the lobsters are fresh out of the sea and they were outstanding! :P

Bienvenue au Canada (Again)

2007-07-15T20:04:00.000-06:00

I am back in Halifax, Canada, again.

I will be here for approx. a week, to train my clients on how to use the system we installed about 3 weeks ago. But, there is a possibility that we might be done in 3 days, which means I get to go home earlier. Yay!

My flight today was alright. There was no delays or anything like that, so it's all good.

Now I am just wondering if I should follow my regular-Canadian-diet (which is McDonald's for breakfast, KFC for lunch and Wendy's for dinner) this time or not. LOL.
The weird fact is, I somehow lost 2 lbs, 2 weeks ago after having done my Canadian diet for 3 weeks. :P

Oh, I also met Cornerstone Church's Zambia team this morning. They were on the same flight to Chicago.

Well, it's almost time for me to hit the rack.

Adios!

Stuck in Halifax Airport. This Sucks!

2007-06-29T08:44:00.001-06:00

I am currently experiencing the most exciting day of my week.

We got to the airport around 6 15 am today, just to find out that our flight was canceled.
We stood in line for about half hour at United's check-in counter, not knowing this had happened.

Now we have to fly through Toronto, then to Chicago. We don't have a flight from Chicago to Cedar Rapids, which was where we flew out from.

I guess me and my coworker are in for a road trip.

But wait, that's not all! I am definitely gonna miss my buddy's wedding rehearsal tonight at 6 30 pm. His bride is so gonna kill me tomorrow.

But, as a man who always looks at the bright side of things, I managed to find something to brighten my day. And that something is a 1.5 lbs lobster!

Busy Weekend

2007-06-28T22:22:00.001-06:00

I am so looking forward to my weekend at home!

Although I am gonna be busy this weekend with band practice and a wedding rehearsal, I am still super excited.

My buddy Carls is getting married this Saturday and I got the honor to be the MC at the reception.
I have never done that before, but I am up for the challenge. I just have to talk good about my buddy and that should be it. :)

I am also super duper pumped about this IFC event that we are doing on the 4th of July.
It's gonna be super cool and tight, cause we are gonna have a band, skit, food, games, and fireworks!

For those of you who don't know yet about this great event, here is the info about it:

AMERICAN

INDEPENDENCE DAY

CELEBRATION

Wednesday, July 4

6:00-8:30 PM—COOKOUT/BARBECUE
Brookside Park (just northeast of the ISU campus)
Hickory Shelter (northwest park shelter near old red fire truck)

food l music l program l fun l cost = $2

9:30-10:30 PM—FIREWORKS
Intramural field north of Hilton Coliseum
Across from the Iowa State Center on Lincoln Way

Ames, Here I come!

2007-06-28T21:37:00.000-06:00

I can't believe that I am actually going home tomorrow. My flight will leave around 7 20 am, and it's about 12 38 am right now. I am so excited! I have been gone for 3 weeks and it will just feel so good to be home!

Our demo went well today, and our client was happy with the result. We left site around 5 30 pm, and hunted down some lobsters for dinner. Unfortunately the restaurant called "Lobster Ranch" that we hunted down for was closed down and didn't even exist anymore. Bummer!

So we went to Riverside Pub instead.
They had seafood pasta night today and all three of us ordered that.

Talk about some fresh seafood! The shrimp and scallops were so fresh. They were de-li-ci-ous!

Then we went back to the hotel and had some drinks to celebrate our getting-out-of-this-place.

We stayed at the hotel bar for about 4 hours, talking about work stuff and random stuff.

I am freaking beat right now. I am still deciding whether or not I should sleep. I would have to get up around 5 am if I do sleep. Hmmmmm, we'll see how long my eyes can stay open tonight....

Either way, I am happy!

Peace out!

Denzel Washington and My Saturday (Definitely Irrelevant.....)

2007-06-23T20:46:00.000-06:00

Denzel Washington is definitely one of the best actors out there. He's been my favorite ever since I saw one of his movies for the first time. I think that was Crimson Tide.
Then there was John Q, Man on Fire, The Manchurian Candidate, Inside Man, to name a few.
His movies are never disappointing.

I just finished watching Deja Vu. And as you can guess, it is another outstanding movie that is worth watching.

Aside from watching a movie today, I had to go to my client's site and work for 8 hours! I can definitely understand someone's feeling right now, when her boss calls her to come in on Saturday or Sunday. Hahaha.

But I did fix a lot of things today. There was a bug in my code that was just so irritating. After hours and hours of debugging and testing here and there, I finally fixed it.

I am not a big fan of working on the weekends. But, you just got to do what you got to do, right?

And as my dad always puts it: "Do you want to eat rice or not? If you do, get up and work. If you don't, then sleep and starve." Alright, Dad, I got you. Lol.

It's about 12:30 am, and I am ready for bed.

This One is A Must-See....LOL

2007-06-21T19:33:00.000-06:00

Another Hilarious PC vs Mac Ad

2007-06-21T19:32:00.001-06:00

Hilarious PC vs Mac

2007-06-21T19:30:00.000-06:00

Funny Clip

2007-06-21T19:25:00.000-06:00

Optical Illusions

2007-06-20T19:58:00.000-06:00

It is said that the innocent would see dolphins in this picture.

Are you innocent enough? I am guessing not.....hahaha

Some Interesting Facts Worth Knowing

2007-06-20T19:44:00.000-06:00

Here are some interesting facts about us.

A baby is born every seven seconds.
The strongest muscle in the human body is the tongue.
The typical person goes to the bathroom 6 times a day.
The human body is better suited to two four-hour sleep cycles than one eight-hour one.
You breathe about 10 million times a year.
The colder the room you sleep in, the better the chances are that you'll have a bad dream.
The average human produces 10,000 gallons of saliva in a lifetime.
The world's youngest parents were 8 and 9 and lived in China in 1910.
Women blink twice as many times as men do.
Thinking about your muscles can make you stronger.
Eating KFC every other day can make you smarter and sexier...........according to a research conducted by..........me...........

KFC Again Tonight......

2007-06-19T19:24:00.000-06:00

Guess what? I ate at KFC again today. I think that was my 7th KFC meal during my 11 days here. And I am pretty sure that was NOT gonna be the last time I would eat there.

Hahaha. I am feeling super healthy already! Oh yeah babe! :P

Beatiful Sunday (Con't)

2007-06-17T16:02:00.001-06:00

I found Chloe's sister! Well...maybe not....
but she sure looks like Chloe.....

Beatiful Sunday

2007-06-17T15:39:00.000-06:00

Today was the most gorgeous day after being here for a week. The sun finally managed to come out and the temperature was just perfect.

I went to Halifax Waterfront to take a walk and snap some pictures.

Driving to the Waterfront.

Crossing the bridge.

Some harbor view.

Jelly fishes everywhere.

Strip mall.

Friday Night in Halifax

2007-06-15T19:29:00.000-06:00

Here I am again, sitting in my hotel room, talking to my laptop.
I was not that excited when I found out last week that I would be spending a weekend in Halifax.

Today I drove around the hotel's neighborhood to see if anything cool was happening. There was a carnival right across the street, but I wasn't in the mood to check it out.
So I went to eat dinner instead. :)

My dinner was pretty crappy. I ate at a Vietnamese restaurant close to the hotel and ordered the house special pho (a pho is basically a type of noodle soup that is often accompanied by lots of meat (beef, pork, tendon, seafood, etc, you name it), bean sprouts, and some herb for garnishing.
Ta-da! The pho was nothing close to being special......Instead, it was super tasteless that I had to pour a lot of soy sauce that really made the soup looked so dark brown and gross. Hehe. Nevertheless, it didn't really improve the taste.

I guess I am not going back there.....

A Little Dirty Joke...... :P

2007-06-15T14:50:00.000-06:00

The bride tells her husband, "Honey, you know I'm a virgin and I don't know anything about sex. Can you explain it to me first?"

"OK, Sweetheart. Putting it simply, we will call your private place 'the prison' and call my private thing 'the prisoner'. So what we do is: put the prisoner in the prison.

And then they made love for the first time.

Afterwards, the guy is lying face up on the bed, smiling with satisfaction.

Nudging him, his bride giggles, "Honey the prisoner seems to have escaped."

Turning on his side, he smiles. "Then we will have to re-imprison him."

After the second time they spent, the guy reaches for his cigarettes but the girl, thoroughly enjoying the new experience of making love, gives him a suggestive smile, "Honey, the prisoner is out again!"

The man rises to the occasion, but with the unsteady legs of a recently born foal.

Afterwards, he lays back on the bed, totally exhausted.

She nudges him and says, "Honey, the prisoner escaped again."

Limply turning his head, He YELLS at her, "Hey, its not a life sentence, OKAY!"

My Healthy Diet While In Canada

2007-06-15T14:39:00.000-06:00

I am feeling good and super healthy this past week, because I managed to keep my diet very very consistent.

My diet consists of:
1. Breakfast: McDonald's
2. Lunch: Taco Bell/KFC
3. Dinner: Wendy's or some decent pub/grill restaurants once in a while.

LOL.

I am just being sarcastic at the moment. But really, that was my diet for the first week I am up here in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Can't wait for my second week here.....

The Most Anticipated Movie This Summer! (for me anyway.....)

2007-06-14T20:42:00.000-06:00

Funny Commercial - For Those of You Who Hate Kids

2007-06-14T20:18:00.000-06:00

Why Women Date Daddy's Double

2007-06-14T14:12:00.001-06:00

According to new research, the stronger a woman's relationship is with her dad, the more likely she will marry someone who looks like him.

The research states that the quality of a daughter's relationship with her dad has an impact on whom she finds attractive.

Is that true, ladies?

Give us guys some feedbacks here, cause we might want to consider plastic surgery to make us look like your dad...... :P

US Consulate General in Halifax (highly recommended)

2007-06-12T17:13:00.000-06:00

Today, I went to the US Consulate General in Halifax for renewing my H1B visa stamp.
The place was so unbelievably laid back.

I saw 4 people who were late by at least 15 minutes!
And they still let them in, with a smile! That is so unheard of. It was pretty unbelievable.

Try to be late on your visa appointment in Jakarta, Indonesia. Good luck!
You will be very lucky if they (by they, I am referring to the not-so-smart-yet-cocky people who work guarding the front doors) don't yell right at your ear, telling you to go home and get the heck out of there, with all the snottiness and cockiness imaginable.

All I am saying is, you will be better off if you can do your visa thing in Calgary or Halifax. I did my first H1B visa stamp in Calgary. It was nice too. Halifax is for H1B renewal. They don't do first time H1B visa stamp.

Anyway, that's all the tidbits I've got about US visa. Hopefully this helps everyone who is looking to do the same thing.

Friendship

2007-06-10T23:00:00.000-06:00

OK, I guess I am not ready for bed yet.
I am sitting in my hotel room, kinda feeling home sick. It hasn't been a day yet but I already miss home and my friends.

We always have a great time on the weekends, just hanging out together.
We rarely do anything special, really. Just hanging out, talking, play cards, goof around, etc. But it's always good.

I am always grateful for them. OK, it's time to stop being cheesy. :P

Sleepy Sunday in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

2007-06-10T20:40:00.000-06:00

Getting up early on Sundays is just not fun. Especially when you have to do it for work.
I had to do that this morning to catch a flight to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Not to mention the 2 hour drive that I had to do to get to the airport.
But it's all good. I made it to Halifax with no hassle.

Arrived in town around 7 pm, local time. Took the rental car, went straight to the hotel. Ate a fancy dinner, called Wendy's. :P

I am ready for bed.