maruko's travels: 2013

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Highlights of Korea Winter 2012

it's that time of the year again!
to plan a year-end trip to reward yourself for a year of hard work and effort :)

whether it is with friends or family, what is your take on travelling?

F1 Grand Prix Singapore (Day 1)

Attended the Big Bang concert at F1 Grand Prix Night Race 2013 :D

the concert started at 11:15pm so it was a longggg wait!
and the song list got leaked on Twitter the day before so we all knew what they were going to sing..

Kim Kibum Fanmeet

First fan meet for me... Hmmm I think I'm not the right audience for fan meets. But Kim Kibum was oh-so-charismatic! =D

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Étude House Pink Party 2013

27 Aug - Étude House Pink Party

It's the annual Étude House Pink Party - the second time they are holding it in Singapore!

We were very lucky to have been invited by MBS to attend this event - the gold wristband allows priority queue and also all star stamps without completing the tasks on the "passport".

So I have more time to spend on exploring the cosmetics :)

Korea sauna - Jimjilbang Experience

This is an idiot-proof post on the Dragon Hill Spa at Yongsan -

How to experience Jimjilbang (Korean sauna) without knowing a word of Korean :D

MAP INCLUDED!

Auraji Rail Bike Experience

For the long awaited AURAJI RAIL BIKE trip!! For this I'm going to do a super detailed post because I realise there is not enough information online, especially in English. Even before I went, I was very unsure if I will get there alive... Haha! So this is the ultimate Auraji Rail Bike survival post!! Bookmark this page!!

Starstruck #4: Cold Eyes movie premiere

Stars in the theatres! Lee Junho, Han Hye Joo and Jung Woo Sung.. Here for Cold Eyes movie premiere =)

Monday, August 12, 2013

Grad Trip to Korea (Day 1 - Jeju)

hey all~ I'll be attempting to blog about my graduation trip to Korea last May 2012. I'll try my best to recall all details since it's more than a year ago o.O...

21 May 2012

We took our flight from Singapore to Seoul on China Eastern Airlines. Not the best service, but do-able. The air tickets were the cheapest on China Eastern. Met at the airport at around 10pm plus to embark on our first trip to Seoul ~ :D

Point to note about booking air tickets on Jeju Air - use Internet Explorer browser to minimise any disruptions to booking and payment. Korean websites are more user-friendly on IE.

At Incheon, long custom queue. Really appreciate Singapore's efficiency!

Starstruck #3: Sho Sakurai and Keiko Kitagawa

Stars in the theatres today! World Movie Premiere for The After Dinner Mysteries..

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

3D2N Montigo, let's go!

Batam 31/5/13

It's the roomies' grad trip! Strictly speaking it's grad trip for Lw, Jem and Jas. it was initially planned for Hong Kong, but I couldn't make it :(

So next we wanted to settle for Nirwana Resorts in Bintan.. Until I chanced upon pictures of Montigo Resorts Nongsa, Batam.. And I'm glad we chose the latter because it was so awesome !!

Winter Wonderland 05.12.13 - Seoul [Day 10]

05 Dec 2013: Day 10: Seoul

Myeongdong, N Seoul Tower, Hongdae

Here at MD to do some last minute shopping - this is definitely a one-stop for beauty products!

Witnessed a very sweet proposal on the streets of MD. the guy got girls to hold on to the roses, to be given after he completes his proposal. Before that he was hiding behind a white mask like the Phantom. Koreans love events like that, don't they!

So sweet =)

Check out the video here:

We -walked- to the N Seoul Tower cable car station. Oh my, bad choice. On the map it seems near but the route is full of slopes.. I wouldn't advise... Should stick to the bus option we took the other time.

Climbing the tower proved to be a little problem for my folks.. Well it was chilly.. But we got there and had a good view of the city night scenery..

the many sights of N Seoul Tower

Some of the decor there..

After this my folks went back to the hostel while my sister and I went to Hongdae.. Hongdae isn't exactly the place to be with your folks isn't it?! Not in a bad way but I would think they prefer places less crowded..

We were there about 12am.. I know, late right? No one can stop us from our adventures, not even fear of taxi scams! Heh :D

Walking down the streets, it was a Saturday night.. Hongdae was still very busy with many people. Along the street I chanced upon these great musicians!! There are many performers in Hongdae but they left such a great impression on me, I was determined to find more of their music! They were doing so great even under the chilly weather, and they gathered quite a crowd at 12am don't you think?!

I didn't have money for their busking because we spent every single cent except for the money we have in our T-money and just money for airport limousine bus the next day :( i told myself the next time i'm here i will definitely reward these buskers for their efforts!!!

Don't ask me how I managed to do it, but when I came back to Singapore I did an intensive search on YouTube, Twitter.. Everywhere online. One day, I managed to find out about one of the musicians on YouTube!! And that led me to finding his Facebook and the details of my favourite performer Kim Dongho :) Now I'm even friends with them on Facebook :) definitely going back to listen to their busking on my next trip!

We ended the night at the Holly's cafe. The prices of the drinks here are a little more expensive than the other cafes (no cash!! Used credit card T.T).. But it was a good place to rest and keep warm =)

Thank you Korea! I had fun =)