This is probably the simplest way of making a delicious kimchi fried rice on the internet. That is because Im not much of a cook and I like simple cooking with ingredients that I can find in my kitchen rightaway without bothering going to the market first... so here we go! Ingredients: •1 cup kimchi, drained and chopped (preferably the kind made with Napa cabbage) •1/2 sweet onion, chopped •1 Tbsp finely chopped garlic •1 Tbsp soy sauce •1 Tbsp butter •1/3 cup thinly sliced beef/chicken/tuna/clams •3 cups cooked rice •Salt to taste •1 Fried egg for each serving
Preparation: 1. Saute kimchi and onion in a lightly greased large pan over medium heat for a few minutes.
2. When vegetables begin to look transparent, add ½ Tbsp of butter, garlic, and soy sauce and saute for another 2-3 minutes.
3. Add beef/chicken/tuna/clams and continue to saute until it is cooked.
5. Turn heat off but keep pan on burner.
6. Add rice and rest of butter, mixing to combine.
7. Salt to taste and top with fried egg to serve. (Serves 4)
The Tower (Hangul: 타워; RR: Tawo; "Tower") is a 2012 South Korean disaster film about a fire that breaks out in a luxury skyscraper in central Seoul on Christmas Eve. The film is directed by Kim Ji-hoon,[2] and stars Sol Kyung-gu, Kim Sang-kyung and Son Ye-jin in the lead roles.[3][4] It was released in theaters on Christmas Day, December 25, 2012.
We used to have a community message board but I have taken it down lately so to replace that
I've created this group.
It is a community group for all Hangulexplorer.BlogSpot.com readers. There we can share anything regarding the beautiful Korea and its culture also get to know one another, share our stories and most important of all learn hangul together...
So what is this Falling In Love with Korea Contest co-host by KOICS & KBS??..
The First Round of Annual Event
‘Korea, My Love’ Contest – Video, Photo, Webtoon
Do you love Korea? What made you fall in love with korea?
This event allows global participants to express why and when they fall in love with Korea and how they promote Korea’s cultural preachers who love korea by making their own contents.
- Multiple entries are accepted, but no duplicate entries.
- You can choose to participate in one or more missions.
Event Concept
Participants can produce promoting contents about anything they love about Korea such as Images of why and when they fall in love with Korea. The Korean People’s warm heart and beautiful mind, Korean culture including K-pop/K-drama/Food/Language or Special venues.
Mission 1 Video Contest [Korea, My Love]
Imagine you are a promoter for Korea!
Make a video to promote how much and why you love Korea to promote Korea’s beauty to the world! (Language: English or Korean)
- How to Enter: Make a video, upload it to YouTube and submit the URL to the Korea.net website (video length:1-5 minutes, The title should be included.)
- YouTube Video Title Format : [Korea, My Love] Your Title
Mission 2 Photo Contest [What I love about Korea]
Take photos of what you love about Korea! What has impressed you and what you would like to introduce to others.
- How to Enter: Take 1 to 4 photos in a series, submit your work to the Korea.net website(The title should be included.)
- High-resolution photos preferred (Maximum 6mb)
Mission 3 Webtoon Contest [Crush on Korea]
How did you get to know about Korea and Korean culture? Create a 1 to 4 cuts of a webtoon about your thoughts, experience or impression of Korea! (We also welcome your imagination if it is related to the topic.)
- How to Enter: Complete a webtoon piece and submit the work to the Korea.net website (The title should be included.)
- High-resolution images preferred (Maximum 6mb)
Where to Submit : The Korean Culture and Information Service (http://www.korea.net) Submission Period: July 21, 2014 (Mon) ~ August 20, 2014 (Wed)
Prizes
- 1st Place : Event Winners will be invited to Seoul (Airfare&Accommodation incl.) and have a chance to watch KBS Year-end Special including ‘KBS Song Festival’ or ‘KBS Drama Awards’. ‘Special Experiences’ about Hallyu, Traditional Culture & History, Korean Food will be provided. * The Winners’ Special Experiences in Seoul will be broadcast on KBS World. (Video : 1 winner, Photo : 1 winner, Webtoon : 1 winner)
- 2nd place : K-pop star’s autographed CD, USB, KBS World T-shirt(Video:15 winners, Photo:10 winners, Webtoon:5 winners)
- 3rd place : USB, KBS World T-shirt(Video:25winners, Photo:15winners, Webtoon:10winners)
Important Notice
- KBS World and KOCIS reserve the permanent rights to use the event winners’ names and works. The winners grant and exclusive license(permission) for the promoters to use or edit the entry photos, videos and webtoons.
- KBS World and KOCIS reserve the rights to withhold the distribution of prizes if the winner’s work has been awarded prizes from any other previous events of if the content is found to be plagiarized.
- Participants shall be liable or responsible for any legal dispute including the violation of portrait right of copyright arising from the submitted works.
Winner Announcement
- Date : September 1, 2014 (Monday)
- Available on the website of the Korean Culture and Information Service (http://www.korea.net) and KBS World website (http://www.kbsworld.co.kr)
You should join!!!
I've already join... Checkout my video above!.. I don't expect to win the grand prize but still 2nd & 3rd place prizes are not bad. :)
Like I mention in the previous entry, for most airlines you need to register as a member before you can book a flight via online. So before I show you step by step guide on how to purchase flight ticket through T'way Air website, I will first show you how to register as a member...
I will try to go thru the step by step as simple and understandable as I can :) you ready?
Guide for membership registration for T'way Air....
1. Step one you need to go to www.twayair.com of course.. its the website for t'way airlines.
2. On the top right you can find the link to 'log-in' written in hangul as '로그인'. After that you will be forwarded to the next webpage as per screenshot below.
3. On this page you need to click '회원가입'which means 'Register'.
4. After that, you will view this webpage where you need to tick on the box written '해외거주자/외국인' which means Overseasresident/foreigner then fill in your particulars and click '확인' which means 'confirm'.
If you are curious to what the other ooptions are...
휴대전화 인증 가입 (1st option) = Mobilephoneauthentication registeration.
아이핀 가입 (2nd option) = I-Pin Registration.
Both option are for Korean.. as foreigner you just need to click on the last box.
Tick the boxes to agree upon the terms and conditions and press '회원가입 계속 진행' to progress to the next page.
Here you have to key in your details following the steps below:
1. No need to fill up. Your last name will automatically appear.
2. No need to fill up. Your first name will automatically appear.
3. Choose your own ID and press the button next to it. You will be prompted with this dialog box.
4. Press the red button '아이디사용' which means, you can use the id.
5. Key in your password and reconfirm.
6. No need to fill up. Your date of birth will automatically appear.
7. Key in your email address
8. Key in your address
9. Key in your mobile number. If you can't find your initial number eg 012, just choose anything.
10. Press the button '회원가입 하기' to progress to the next page.
Finally, your membership registration is completed!! Press '회원 로그인' to login immediately and start your booking. ^^
What is the Best way to get around in Seoul?????
To get the best answer from the question, you really have to know :- - How you like travel? do you like to travel light? - How much you budget for transportations? - Are you the backpacker type like me? like to mingle with the locals to get the best experience with their lifestyle & culture?..
In Seoul you have many transportation options.. you can get around by bus, or train or if you don't care about budget and you would like to travel with comfort you can either rent a taxi or rent a car...
But if you are a backpacker like me, you might want to travel by subway. Its cheap, its easy to figure out (might be a bit hard if they have a construction work going on).. and you'll love it not only because of the two former reasons but also because you get to mixed up with the locals.. For a day, I spent approximately about 8,000-10,000 won (that's about RM30?) using subway and that is cheap considering the many places I go in a day. Using Taxi from Incheon Airport to Seoul would be approx. 60,000 - 80,000 won a trip. Consider that!
Getting around by Subway/Underground train...
The Soul underground is very good, easy to use and on time.
They have a bi lingual language over both the speaker announcement and on the signs.
The only downside to the Metro is that they dont have a circle line like on the London undeground system, which would link more of the stations together, but thats a minor point.
They have 8 lines which are all colour coded and easy to navigate around the system.
Here's a tip about Seoul Subway Map : Make sure you get an updated one! Latest one! This thing happened to me, when you are in Seoul you can find the subway map almost everywhere, at the subway stations, from the internet and also from the tourist attractions brochures at your hotels for free. I got one of those! because it was easier for me to have it on my hand & navigate myself here and there. What I didn't check was the year the brochure was released so relying on the map in the brochure, instead of going to this place (don't remember what place it was) the fastest way we ended up using this old connection route (sometimes when using the subway you had to change trains to get to another coloured route, and we ended up using a longer coloured route instead of the fastest one lol). So check your map my friend!
All the stations and trains are clean every single day.
Even the free local paper (like the Metro paper in London) gets cleaned up during the day.
I love travelling by train and underground when I am abroad. You get to see how the locals are and learn a few things about how they behave and their culture (yes, even on a train. You'll be surprise how much you can learn just by observing people).
All Soul stations are wheel chair accessible and easy to navigate through. Seoul Sation and City Hall, the majority of the lines through these 2 stations, its very easy to get lost there.
I would recommend that you find out which station exit is the one that is closer to your destination otherwise you could walk out of the station a couple of miles away from where you wanted to be.
I would recommend people buy the underground travel card (T-Money), as it can save you allot of money. the travel card machine is very easy to use as its in English.
Important things to learn before you board the subway...
When you are traveling to other country you must respect the people culture & lifestyle because remember you are the foreign one. You must learn what to do or what not on a subway.
Here are the Do's & Dont's you might want to know...
1. Don’t Sit in the Priority Seating (Stank Eye Warning!)
So maybe you decided to go hiking at Bukhan Mountain and you’re on your way back. You’re sweaty, stinky and most of all tired, but all the seats are taken – all except for the priority seats at the end of the subway cars. You might be tempted to sit there, but you shouldn’t. Here’s a little secret… it’s a death trap! Well… culturally at least. Korean people really don’t like it when non-pregnant, non-elderly, uninjured people sit there. Even when the Seoul subways are extra full, people will avoid sitting there because they want to make sure that people who actually need those seats can sit down easily. Also, they are afraid of Korean stank eye. Scary!
Tip 1: These seats are also reserved for little children as well. Tip 2: Koreans usually don’t sit there, and think “I’ll just get up when someone comes.” Leaving those seats empty is normal protocol. Try to do the same :)
2. Give Up Your Seat To Be Awesome!
If you’re sitting in the middle seats, you’re totally ok to just sit and watch that last episode of Gossip Girls on your smart phone. No one will say anything, and they shouldn’t! But… if you want to be an awesome Seoul subway rider, you should give up your seat for those that need it more than you do. That means pregnant women, the elderly, injured people, and in Korea… children! One of the awesome things about Korean culture is that it’s focused on helping each other, and the subways are really excellent places to see this in action. Help out a Korean that needs a seat, and the mayor of Seoul might just give you the totally unofficial “Seoul Awesome Subway Rider Award”! Yay!
Language tip: 앉으세요 (anjeuseyo) – Please sit.
I remember my experience giving up my seat to an elderly women, me & my friend were boarding the subway from Yeoido going to Jamsil and at our next stop there were 2 elderly women boarding the train. Like a good backpacker & foreigner we are :) without hesitating we standup and offer our seats to the women. At first the two women decline us with a smile but we politely insist, I told them it was okay for us to stand. ( 괜찮아요) So they accepted it. The two ladies were so nice & politely. They ask us where we stop and everything and when it was time for us to get off the train they even waved us goodbye. Can you imagine? waving us two foreigners goodbye when the train was packed with people??! I felt proud of my self :)
3. Be a Righty on the Escalators
Have you ever been frustrated by slow walkers? You know… those people that are always in your way and have no idea that you’re trying to get past them? Don’t be that person. Nothing’s more frustrating than congested foot traffic, and the escalators found at the Seoul subway stations are excellent places to be locked behind a Korean couple that have no idea that 32 people are waiting to walk ahead of them! If you’re not planning on walking up the escalators, stay to the right and let everyone walk past you on the left. Some people in Korea forget to do it, but keep in mind that it’s what you’re supposed to do. Also, you’re supposed to give a high five to everyone that passes you by! “Come’on ajumma, high-five!”
Tip: 잠시만요 (jamsimanyo) – excuse me
3. Be Cool with Pushing and Shoving
For whatever reason, a lot of Korean people don’t say excuse me on the subways. Maybe it’s their aversion of talking to strangers in Korea. But instead of a polite little “excuse me” from someone about to get off, you might just get a forearm shiver to your lower back. That’s mostly the older Korean people who are probably humming Ludacris’ Move B—- when they’re shoving people out the way. The younger people though, tend to be just as annoyed as you!
What can you do about it? Be cool homie! When you’re getting off, you can of course, say “excuse me” (see language tip below), and people will move away just the same. You have the option of shoving everyone right back too. But if you’re reading this… you’re cool! So stay cool, friends ;)
4. Seoul Subway Do’s and Don’ts – Stuff You Already Know (or Should!)
Sometimes, people can forget some common subway etiquette that is translatable nearly every where in the world (Koreans and foreigners alike!). But we’re going to play the common sense police just in case ;). Here are some common subway etiquettes for riding the subway in Korea:
1. Talk at normal decibel levels – that goes for phones and super hilarious jokes. 2. Sit on seats (wow, can’t believe we just wrote that!). Unless you want to make the Korean news like these guys. 3. There are plenty of trains. Try not to hold doors. 4. Seats are for people. Put your bags up on top. 5. Sleeping is ok, just don’t make the subway your bed ;)
I have been watching Korean drama lately. I just finished watching 별에서 온 그대 (byeoleseo on kudae). Although the English translated title of this drama is very popular, i still love breaking down the words of the title. 별 (byeol) means star with the place marker 에서 and 온 (on) is from the verb 오다 (oda) which means to come but since it’s in modifier form 온 actually denotes past event, this two words means came from star. 그대 means you which is typically used on songs and poems. I am not sure if this is still being used in normal Korean conversation though. So 별에서 온 그대 would mean You (who) came from stars :-)
Anyway, after watching this 21-episode drama in marathon, i came to realise that there is this word I often hear at the end of the conversation. This word I am referring to is 그럼 (geureom). I actually had double thoughts if I heard the word right. From what I know 그럼 means ‘so’ or ‘by the way’ as such I don’t expect it to be said right at the end of a statement. It was weird that in most cases where I hear this word from the drama, the scene is the person who just said 그럼 would leave the person he/she is talking to.
To end my curiosity, I asked two of my Korean friends if I am hearing this word right. This is what I learned from my them, other than the meaning I know this word is apparently used frequently at the end of Korean conversation. It means to end discussion and would suggest that the speaker is about to leave or bid goodbye.
Such a little thing but to someone who is eager to learn Korean, this is worthy to know especially that I someday still dream of being conversant in this language.
이거 지금 친구에서 알았어요…그럼 ^^
During my trip to Seoul I had the time to visit the 3 main competitors in the music industry in Korea. Its none other than SM Entertainment, Cube and JYP. I didnt get the chance to go to YG Building as the building is quite far and takes alot of time to go there :)
So here's a guide which I think might be very useful to those who would like to go there someday...
Here is a guide to go to SM Entertainment, JYP Entertainment, CUBE entertainment / CUBE cafe
Go to Cheongdam Station. Exit through exit 9 (Cheongdam Community Center)
When you walk out you can see a flower shop (there’s a 꽃 — flower
sign). Walk straight until you saw the church on your
right.
Keep walking until you find a junction with a Citibank across you.
Citibank
There’s two choice from here, go straight to SM Entertainment or to JYP Entertainment + CUBE Cafe
To SM Entertainment
When you see the Citibank sign, walk across the street
Keep walking straight until you pass Cheongdam Elementary School bus stop there will be Ferragamo Shop on your right
Walk a bit more and there’s SM Ent building (yellow building) on the right
S.M Entertainment (under renovation)
When I visited there, seems S.M Entertainment
building was under renovation.. It was covered with a huge board with
Super Junior-M and SNSD gigantic picture.
Back part
To JYP Building
Ok lets take it back from the Citibank junction....
1. Cross the citibank junction and walk straight.
2. Turn right on the first junction you see.
3. Keep walking, you'll see a Post office building (during my time of visit it was still under construction). Keep walking until you see a Dunkin Donuts sign! the JYP Building is in front of the Dunkin Donuts shop.
JYP Entertainment
When I arrived at the building I saw a few trainees ( I assume, as they were dressed almost hip hop + casual but ready to do a few dance moves in the dance studio) just coming into the building. It was impossible for others outsiders to enter as you need a password/key to enter the front door.
To Cube Building.. 1. From the JYP Building all you need is to just walk a few more steps and then you'll see the building not far from JYP Building... No wonder some of the JYP trainees are groomed and debute under Cube.. they are neighbors anyway... I bet some of them probably date each other lol...
CUBE Studio Cafe
CUBE StudioCafe consists of two
floors (or more I think..), first floor is cafe, toilet for public and a
small office room. The upper floors are practice studio for CUBE
artists — restricted for public :/ There was a glass door with a stair
leading upstairs, but it was locked with password.
In my opinion CUBE cafe was a really nice place; warm (it felt good
during wintertime :3) and cozy with brown-black dominant color and
wooden interior. It had a looootttt complete merchandises of CUBE
artists like lightsticks, photocard, photobook, slogan, etc. There were
handprints and sign of each idols on the floor too. I took photo of all
of them and then admiring the signed albums and merchandises displayed
inside glass shelves.
Here are the pics..
The back part.. alley to the toilet, small office, and stair to CUBE studio
2YOON Harvest Moon display
B2ST polaroid
B2ST members’ hand print & sign
4minute & G.NA hand prints & sign
BTOB & Roh Jihoon hand prints & signs
As it is a cafe, they sell drinks and cakes beside official
merchandises. The price of the drinks I think was quite reasonable,
around 3,000-5,500won. There was free wi-fi too :3
When you order drinks, they will gave you a small trinket (when I
visited I got B2ST) to pick up drinks…. which beeped and rang when your
order are ready. I quickly went back to pick up desk, sat and drank my
green tea latte while resting, enjoying the songs, music videos shown at
the TV screen, and the atmosphere.
B2ST pick-up card
Here's a full map to help you with your Journey.... Which came very useful for my journey...
Hi all...안녕하세요 여러분...
As you all might have read in the tittle post. I am back in Malaysia... Ive finished my 10 days trip to Korea. Well technically i am currently not in Malaysia but i am on a flight to Narita, Japan for work... I know i know what you guys might think, am i online while on a flight?!! Not of course. I am writing offline and saving it and later publishing this post once i am on the ground haha.
Well anyway thats not what i want to write about right now. I really enjoyed my 10 days trip to korea. Some of you guys who are closely following the news channel CNN, BBC, Astro Awani etc, you guys must have notice the news of regarding the probability of war between the North and South Korea and also the US. Well not to worry, its not as it seems on the news. Its hard for me to explain the real situation in south korea but to sum it up you might want to check out on youtube a video by simon and martina (eatyourkimchee crew) you can search their video on north korea. They explain it clearly there plus its from someone you have stayed 5 yrs in south korea so you get what i mean...
What i really enjoyed about my 2nd trip to korea is that i get to know allot of korean people this time around... I believe that when you are travelling abroad, you will learn alot about the country's beautiful culture just by getting to know the people.. Korea is a nation that is very welcoming towards tourist and people from abroad.. Thy are always willing to help when they see tourist scatching heir heads for directions. I remember one time when we arrived at a subway exit in Euljiro station. We were on our way to our hotel but we were confused by he map direction so i asked a lady who was on her way back from work. She seemed not familiar with the place but still she spent some time studying the map that i got and lead us to the correct direction. Thanks to the lady we got to our hotel safely.. Another incident that i remenber was that when we were on our way to the Gimpo airport by subway. We were stuck at a station while we were trying to figure out the correct direction an old guy who dressed nicely in a black coat asked us if he could help us. He can speak english quite well..he looked like he was on a business trip. After telling him that we were going to Gimpo airport, he told us to follow him because he was going the same way as we were. We were really blessed to have met these helpfull koreans during our trip.
Not all korean can speak english but eventhough some can speak english they are willing to help all they can. I remember one time when i was at he seoul station looking for the right platform to board a train to busan. I was confused with what was written in the ticket. A korean girl who looks like a college student help me figure out the correct platform number. Although she cant speak english but with her help i was able to find the correct platform.
Before i went for this 10 days trip to korea i met a korean penpal online. I call him 오빠 eventhough he was only a few months older than me. I wanted to call him oppa because i thought it would be cute and he let me call him oppa since technically he is older. Well anyway we have been contacting each other and he had help me alot though out my journey in korea. He recommends me alot of the famous places to visit in korea and also the delicious foods too. He even help me improve my hangul :). I thanked him alot for it. 감사합니다 장혁 오빠. :)
Koreans are very warm welcoming and helpfull. If you go to korea someday i would recommend to mix and mingle with the people to be able to experience and learn their culture :)
Learn the language, communicate with their people then you will be able to learn their culture and collect valueble memories and experiences :)
Hi all...as i have promised i'll write about my jeju trip. I went to jeju on the 10th of april until 13th of april. Although i had 2 days to roam around i dont think it was enough. If you want to visit the whole island, you would probably need around 4 days. 1 day for north side, 1 day west side, and the other two days for both east and west. I fly to jeju via t'way airlines. All the flights to jeju use boeing 737 or bigger flights regardless of what airlines you choose.
Places that I went to....
*Seogsan Ilchulbong Peak
This place is a MUST GO place in jeju and i meant it with capital letters haha. I rented a taxi for a day for my trip to go places at jeju. It is much cheaper this way. It seems like the whole taxi communitty have agreed the fee for a day tour trip would cost around 120,000￦. I tried to haggle but the taxi driver ajusshi said its the best price he can give. He was very attentive of us aswell. Everytime there are nice views aroud he would ask us if we would like him to stop for us to take pictures. He also helped us buy entrance tickets and guide us until we are at the main entrance of our stops. Very nice he was. Most of the taxi driver in jeju can only speak very little english so it would help if you know basics hangul for them to understand what you actually wanted to say.
Seongsan ilchulbong is probably one of a few beautiful one of a kind scenery i have ever seen in this wold. It is a very beautiful place. Regardles of whether you go on weekends or weekdays the place will be packed with people. It took us about one hour to go up ilchulbong and half an hour to go down. The entrance fee is 3,000￦ per person. It is quite cheap compare to other entrance fee places im about to write about. If you plan to go to seongsan ilchulbong make sure you wear the right shoes and right attire as the top of ilchulbong will be quite windy.
*Jeju folks village
This place os famous for the old dynasty folk drama which i forgot the name already. But i do remember the hero is Jin jee hee (Did i spell it correctly?). If you like the drama and korean folks village then you must go here. The entrance fee is about 8,000￦. For me it is quite pricey considering the content inside of the village is not much. But still i enjoy the view. It took me about 20min taxi ride fron seongsan ilchulbong to the folks village. In the village you will find old korean folks houses with many tools that they used during the time. There are also a few small cow barns and horse barn where you can take pictures with the animals. We didnt spend alot of time there as we were running out of time and there are still many places to go.
*Jeju mini land
Our next stop was jeju mini land. The entrance fee is 9,000￦ per person. Inside you will find many of worlds famous landmark buildings in miniature size. There are the famous eiffle tower, london bridge, the white house, taj mahal, san fransisco bridge and many more. Also there is a small mirror maze museum inside. During the time of our visit the place seems to be unoccupied and less visitor plus it seemed that the place was not really well mantain and taken care of so for me the 9,000￦ fee was a bit too much. But i like the mirror maze they have there. It was bigger than the mirror maze at the eyetrick museum in seoul.
*Eco land
This was our last place of visit for the day. The entrance fee is 11,000￦ per person. It was probably best to visit thos place during spring and summer time because you can see the sakura blooming during spring. You need to catch the train ride to visit around the park. Its a beautiful place. At one stop you will be able to see a beautiful windmill. This place is famous for many of korean cf was done here and also if you are a fan of the variety show running man you will remember during cha tae hyun and shin see kyung episode where yoo jae suk and others had to collect dirt using their feet..well it was at thos place.. The eco land... Along the train ride you will get to meet a few species of animals at the park. One that caught my attention was a white deer.. It was very beautiful.
*Maze land
Another place that i would like to suggest you uys to go in jeju is Maze land. The entrance fee is about 8,000 ￦ if im not mistaken. It is one of the many places in jeju that the running man went to. It has 2 huge maze park. Each maze park has the easy way out and the hard way out. There is an observatory where you can have a good view pf the park. I also notice a few staff that they have assigned on the park to make sure that no one got lost around the park. For running man fans this is a must visit site in jeju. Definately must go :).
