[Part 1] 011. 12 August 2010 Thursday

Youngjin left the apartment early this morning for his tuition. As he didn't have time to clean the house before I left, I helped him vacuum the apartment. At around 1pm, Jeannie and I left for Songnae Station where I had dumpling soup for lunch while Jeannie had kimchi stew.

Kimbab for 1,500KRW.

We finally realised why we kept missing our stop at Songnae Station from Bupyeong Station the past 2 days when we took the train today and it skipped a few stops. There are actually 2 trains headed towards the same direction but one is an express train which skips certain stations while the other is a normal train. As Youngjin only takes the subway once every blue moon, he didn't know there was an express train and that he had brought Jeannie and I to the wrong subway platform at Bupyeong Station 2 days ago where we took the express train which did not stop at Songnae Station. Songnae Station is only 2 stops away from Bupyeong so we alighted at the 2nd stop but to our horror, we found ourselves at Bucheon Station which was 4 stops away from Bupyeong. As a result, we had to go to another platform to take the train back to Songnae. And thankfully, the platform we went to was for the normal train. So before you take the train, do look at the signboards carefully especially if you see 2 platforms on your left and right that seem to be headed in the same direction!

Jeannie and I took the train to Seongnae Station near Jamsil, from which we walked to Asan Medical Centre where Youngjin's father was warded after his eye surgery. We weren't quite sure of the way so we asked a total of 3 Koreans for directions. The 1st was a pretty Korean girl who said she didn't know the way. In fact, she seemed as though she didn't know her way either as we saw her walking back to the subway station less than a few seconds later. The 2nd was a Korean man in a suit who strangely flashed the peace sign at us, shook his head and walked away -_- The 3rd was a nice Korean man who gave us directions patiently.

Strangely, it was a really cool afternoon with a temperature of around 25deg.c so it was a nice walk to the hospital. I can't wait for autumn! Anyway, before we alighted at Seongnae Station, Jeannie asked me to sms 어머님 to find out which room Youngjin's father was in but she didn't reply or contact me until we were outside the East building looking for the new building where Youngjin said his father was in. If only she had contacted us earlier...because she said they were on their way back to the apartment when we were at the hospital!!!!! -_- we wanted to surprise them with our visit and we also knew that if we were to tell 어머님 that we were going to visit Youngjin's father, she would tell us it's alright and that we don't have to go. In the end, our plan was foiled because Youngjin's father was discharged early :( But it was a blessing in disguise as we found the correct subway station that's nearest to the shopping malls in Dongdaemun: Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Station Exit 14.
I'm really glad that I decided to go back to Doota in Dongdaemun to try to exchange my sheer chiffon blouse for other items...because I succeeded! Even though I didn't have the receipt as it was sent in for tax refund, the sales assistant had kept a record of my purchase in her sales book so she allowed me to make an exchange :) I'm so happy! I kept brooding over my bad purchase for days but thank goodness for the exchange! She even remembered where I'll be going to study in for the next few months. In the end, I stayed away from the pretty sheer chiffon tops and exchanged for a black asymmetrical blouse for 40,000KRW (a lower value than the 45,000KRW I paid for the blouse I exchanged due to the deduction of the tax refund amount). I also bought a grey tank with a pearl-studded neckline for 18,000KRW. There's actually a LOVE SALE going on at Doota now till 15th August (started on 6th August) with discount ranging from 10-80% so if you're in Seoul now, do check out the sale! 

I also went back to the perfume stall in Doota to buy my Chloe EDP perfume. Again, the stall holder remembered me and immediately went to the counter to take out the perfumes for me to select from the minute I asked her about Chloe. It's 75,000KRW for the 30ml and 92,000KRW for the 50ml. When she saw me hesitating, she took out a small white box...a 75ml bottle for 90,000KRW as it's actually a tester set and not meant for sale. Obviously, I bought the 75ml bottle!

Jeannie and I did more window shopping in Doota before moving to Hello A Pm building where both of us bought a necklace each for 9,000KRW. 

At about 6.30pm, we met Junho oppa outside the shopping mall before heading to Sindang for dinner. It was nice talking to him and hearing how much he loves Singapore.

We ordered a bottle of soju and I drank 2 small shots while Jeannie and Junho oppa each drank 3. My tolerance for soju has improved slightly in that I can drink 2 shots instead of 1, as compared to last year. But the 2nd shot left me with a really red face, a throbbing head, pounding heart and sleepiness. I have never clubbed in Singapore and I almost never drink alcohol in Singapore at all. But these few days, I've been drinking soju and Cass beer so my body's still trying to adjust. We're going to meet Junho again on 23rd August for dinner :) and thank goodness he accompanied us as we transferred subway lines because we almost took the train headed in the wrong direction!
It was a long journey back so I had a good nap. On our way back to the apartment, 어머님 called Jeannie to ask her where we were and when we were nearly reaching the apartment, 어머님 asked Youngjin to call me to check if we had umbrellas and whether we were hungry. It started raining before we went for dinner...I really hate it when it rains because it inconveniences almost everyone :( 어머님 is so nice and concerned about us! After being back in the apartment for a few minutes, we were out again in 어머님's car, headed towards her sister's place where we were to have beer together with her family. 

It was a great night as all of us (어머님, Taehun, 어머님's sister & brother-in-law, Youngjoo, Minjoo and Dongsu, Jeannie and I) sat around a table, chatted, ate and drank from 11pm+ to 2am. Initially, Jeannie and I were still afraid of Gummy, the family dog. But gradually, we conquered our fears and were able to play with her :) Minjoo only joined us around 12am+ as her tuition ended at around 11.45pm!?! It's really scary how there's such a great emphasis on education here in Korea where parents complain if they feel that the schools are not pushing their children to study enough. They also send their children to tuition academies where they have lessons from 9pm to 12am. To think that Singaporean parents always complain about how stressed their children are and how there shouldn't be so many tests...just take a look at the education scene in Korea and you'll be counting your lucky stars at how blessed you are to be able to stay and study in Singapore! Apparently, Minjoo attends an academy called "Crazy Academy", as we were informed by Youngjoo. Crazy, indeed!

During our chat, 어머님 told me that Youngjin really likes me and I didn't know that! I thought he was always dreading tuition with me. haha...but he's such a joker. During tuition at the start of the year, he kept trying to take a picture of me with his handphone when I was teaching him because he wanted to show his swimming teacher how I look like -_- 

Dongsu didn't drink as he's on a diet so he drove us back in Youngjin's mother's car in the heavy rain.  

During my almost one week long stay with Youngjin and his family, I've really enjoyed myself and experienced life with a very close-knitted and kind Korean family. I've been really blessed, thank you dear Lord!