Day 4, Day time @ Seoul, South Korea

This time round, we managed to get to Cheongnyanyi in time. I got myself the latest Christmas Stamp issue at the Post Office there. w00t! While waiting for Jane to make a phone call, an old man pushing a cart of bananas was shouting loudly in Korean. Jane and I had no idea what he was doing. It sounded like he was trying to sell his bananas but in an angry tone. Maybe gone crazy due to the Korean War.

Chuncheong is the place where the famous Korean Drama, Winter Sonata was shot. It is also very popular in Japan. I heard many Japanese obasans (aunties) were injured after trying to catch a glimpse of the main actor, Bai Yong Jun when he visited Japan.
Yong Jun’s face is everywhere. I see his face more than the President’s face. Japanese obasans were everywhere as well.

There is a Winter Sonata tour as well. One can hire tour guides to bring you around . Jane and I decided to go on our own. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out well. We got lost and even missed our train! We only managed to visit the part where Yong Jun and Choi Ji Wu first met. There were couple of souvenir stalls selling Bai Yong Jun merchandise and a Yong Jun mannequin.

We wanted to go to Chongdo Island (also where Winter Sonata was shot). We couldn’t find the jetty though. We ended up abandoning that plan and also missing our train to Gapyong.

Since we had to wait for an hour for the next train, I decided to commit a crime. I stole a stamp from an abandon post box. Hehe

Life as a chambie..

South Korea aside, hello legal life.
I started work in a law firm with 200 over people last week. Oh my god, so many people to meet!! I can’t remember all their names!!
I am now put in a crummy corner surrounded by mountain of files with 3 other chambies. So far not much work for me as it’s the end of the year and most offices are closing for xmas.
Despite the huge population, the firm is all work no play. Work finishes @ 530PM but most of them will stay till late! A colleague of mine stayed till 530AM went home, and came back to work..Too much work it seems.. I feel like I’m working like a Japanese…
Frank and I are getting busier by day. Soon, we’ll have no time for this website. Ladies and Gentlemen, put your hand together now and say..”CLOSE SHoP LUUUUUUU!!”

Day 3, Night Time @ Seoul

We had dinner at Dongdaemun. Initially we didn’t know where to eat but after passing a Korean restaurant with Japanese words, we decided to eat there.

Dongdaemun is a must when visiting Seoul. It consists of endless roads of shops and markets. For sports wear, head to the Dongdaemun station. Be prepared to bargain.

Souvenirs are abundant there as well. I bought couple of Gundam keychains 😀

After a long walk, we rested at a café. The café had a funny looking cake. It looked like spaghetti cake.

Another thing to take note in Seoul is the shopping centres. Sometimes they would hold a performance or ask some of their customers to perform on stage. The one we saw was a dancing competition. It was really amusing as a weird looking schoolgirl did a sexy dance on stage. Unfortunately, she didn’t win the competition.

She danced too much till the hostess had to pull her away. Then during the finals (she was eliminated in the semi finals), she gatecrashed the stage and danced. She got kicked out of course.

Cup Jelly harzadous to children?

Ban this killer jelly
A consultant pathologist has urged the authorities to ban cup jelly candy as it poses a high suffocation risk among children. Prof Dr Kasinathan Nadesan of the University Malaya Medical Centre told The Malay Mail that most children sucked the jelly straight from its container after lifting the tab. Due to the texture of the jelly, it gets sucked straight into the throat and this may cause children to choke.
“If the blockage is not cleared quickly the victim may die within minutes,” Dr Nadesan said when asked to comment on the death of three-year-old Wong Poh Yan on Sunday.
Poh Yan was riding a bicycle accompanied by her Indonesian maid near her house in Seri Petaling when she choked on the candy, the second piece she had within minutes. The maid tried to dig out the candy using her fingers but failed. The girl was pronounced dead when she was taken to a nearby clinic by her father. A post-mortem at the UMMC on Monday revealed that the candy was lodged in her throat between the larynx and vocal chords. Checks by The Malay Mail at shops near the victim’s house showed several brands of the jelly on sale at RM1.20 for a packet of 20 cups.
Dr Nadesan said what happened to Poh Yan is not an isolated case. He said there have been similar cases in the past year, although he could not give details.
“That is why I am calling for a ban on this particular type of jelly which is sucked by children,” he said.
“Meanwhile, parents should supervise their children when this jelly is consumed.”
Asked what was the best way to help a child who is choking, Dr Nadesan said the child has to be held by the legs, upside-down and slapped hard on the back, just below the neck.
“This is the most effective and the fastest way to dislodge the foreign object from the throat. There is no point running to a doctor at that time, as every second counts,” he said.
“The child could end up dead by the time he or she gets medical attention.”
Poh Yan, the youngest of four children, was cremated yesterday at the Cheras crematorium.
Note1: This story was published in Malay Mail on 24th November by Marhalim Abas

Note2:Contrary to what Dr Nadesan was quoted in the above item about holding a choking child upside down and slapping hard on the back just below the neck,
The Heimlich Institute recommends:
Don’t slap the victim’s back. (This could make matters worse.)
The Heimlich Manoeuvre is an option which may work better.
How to do the Heimlich Manoeuvre:
The Heimlich Manoeuvre for CHOKING INFANTS
A choking victim can’t speak or breathe and needs your help immediately.
Follow these steps to help a choking infant:
1. Lay the child down, face up, on a firm surface and kneel or stand at the victim’s feet, or hold infant on your lap facing away from you.
2. Place the middle and index fingers of both your hands below his rib cage and above his navel.
3. Press into the victim’s upper abdomen with a quick upward thrust; do not squeeze the rib cage. Be very gentle.
4. Repeat until object is expelled.
5. If the Victim has not recovered, proceed with CPR. The Victim should see a physician immediately after rescue.
6. See a physician immediately after rescue.

Day 3, Day time @ Seoul, South Korea

We woke up late, very late. We couldn’t make it in time for Chuncheong.

While walking around Cheongnyanyi, we sat a group of ladies preparing kimchi in front of Lotte Shopping Centre. They were stuffing some red coloured paste into the cabbages and a man was announcing something. Sounds like they were trying to break the world record..

With the huge amount of spare time, we ate some sort of grilled octopus with vegetables for lunch at a home like styled restaurant. Jane was fascinated with the huge scissors the lady used to cut the meat. The scissor was as big as her face!

We then spent the entire day reading map and writing post cards. We bought a pack of postcards with 12 postcards in it from the palace souvenir shop.

We had some time left before the sun sets. Wasting no time, we headed to Gyeongbukgung Palace. It is bigger than Deoksugong Palace. However, there were not many artefacts lefts and most of the buildings were newly built. This was due to the fact that most of the buildings were destroyed during the Japanese occupation. Hence, most of the buildings were just a shell with nothing inside.

We were lucky to witness the guards changing ceremony. Actors dressed in traditional clothing with weapons would give a great performance. However, it was just a procedure, no kungfu or fighting action can be seen.

Jane wanted to try the traditional costumes provided by a shop. Unfortunately, it wasn’t open.

When visiting Gyeongbukgong Palace, one must see Gyeonghoeru. Official banquets were held and foreign envoys were once entertained there. The small pavilion is built next to a pond hence one can see the reflection of the pavilion on the pond.

Work Work Part 2

I am so damn tired. I didn’t sleep last night and ran around the court for fucks. I bumped into Siew Lee and her colleagues,Cynthia, this other guy (sorry, i forgot what is your name), and a CLP coursemate, Ricky. It was fun running around the Masjib Jamek Court with them, filling our petition papers. Although, we didn’t manage to finish filling them today.
Anyway,Hey, anyone wanna go for Putrajaya Court visit? I am going there soon to serve one of my paper to the Attorney General. Let me know, cause i don’t wanna go there alone.
Ok, story time! Today, I took a taxi to the Masjid Jamek Court in the afternoon. My taxi driver was an indian man. Like any other taximan, at first he talk to me about the traffic jam and the Arab Tourist who can’t differentiate RM5 and RM50.
Then he changed topic and said “Brader, you lawyer kan,”
“Yes but not yet. I am training to be one now,”
“So, u chambering student lar.”
“ya ya how u know ar (note:not many taxi driver know what is chambering student) ”
“I used to work for LC & co as a dispatch.”
“Huh! LC & co? U know my friend, CM or not.” i asked the taxi man.
“No lar. Is he fat ar?”
“No but he is not very tall about 170m and he is a chinese,”
“Don’t know him lar. I left in 2000.”
“Why u leave lar, brader? LC & Co not good?”
“No lar, LC is damn good. She is a kind boss and even send my family to Australia. All expenses paid by company. Then this chairman (i think he meant partner) joined. He wanted me to come in and work after 6pm. Crazy lar!”
“so, u quit lar”
“ya, i tell him to fuck off and became a taxi driver!”
Then, he went on and on about LC for… i don’t know …about 5 to 8 mins cos we were stuck in the lunch hour jam. After that, he asked me for legal advice on his credit card debt.
“eh, brader i got this matter lar. Can ask you ar?”
“Can can but if it doesn’t help. Plz don’t charge me extra for the taxi fare.”
“hahahaha…ok” (note:he must be thinking i am lame then…hahahahha)
Then when i reached my destination.
“Holy! I only have RM3 (the fare was RM4). U got change for RM50 ar?”
“Aiya brader, we are friend now. I give u RM1 discount lar”
“Ok ok, next time u pass by my office taxi stand and if i am waiting for taxi,You don’t go fetch anyone else but me, okay?”
“ok ok” (note: I doubt he can remember me tommorow lar..hehehehe)
P.s. if the sentence is fragmented or grammatically unsound, don’t get upset. okay? Just read it as if you are reading a mangrish book.

Day 2, Night time @ Seoul, South Korea

The sun was setting when we finished exploring Nandaemun. Seoul Tower, which is located on top of Nam San, was our next destination. One can opt to take the cable car or walk up to the tower. We took the cable car, as we were tired from walking the entire day.

We could get a picturesque view from the cable car and from the top of the mountain. However, we decided to enter Seoul Tower for a better view. There is an entrance fee for it, student price available but only applies to University students or below (post graduates not included! God damn!)

It was a foggy day. I was bloody frustrated with that. If it were not for the fog, we could see the mountains, which surround Seoul.

I was advised to wait till night time. We waited and it paid off. The night view of Seoul was excellent. A tripod would be great while talking pictures. However, beware of the reflection due to the glass panel.

Jane and I were laughing at a lady who works in the elevator of the tower. Her job was pressing buttons, look pretty and translate some stuff. Gee..what a boring job.

We had bibinba at the restaurant next to the cable car station at the foothill. It didn’t taste good as it consist only vegetables and rice! However, according to Jane, in Tokyo, they serve meat in bibinbas.

We walked around Myeong Dong before heading to Yeouinaru. Yeouinaru Station leads to the riverbanks of Han River. It’s also a lover’s spot and a lovely place to spend the night with your love one.

Day 2, Day time @ Seoul, South Korea

Myeongdong was our first destination of the day. Myeong-dong, also known as the Fashion Street, consist of hundreds of fashion malls, shoe shop, sporting goods and so on. They even have an underground shopping area. One can expect stamp shops there 😀

However, we didn’t do many things there. We had breakfast, great stuff.

We walked to the city hall after that. There were couple of Falun Gong members strutting their shit on the gardens. With them were few flyers protesting the crackdown of Falun Gong in China. We took couple of pictures and left. While on the way, we saw few police officers trying to expel the poor Falun Gong members.

Since Gyeokbukgong Palace is closed every Tuesday, we went to Deoksugong palace, which is just next to the city hall. We have to pay a small entrance fee into the palace, students get discount.

The view of red leaves and arches were beautiful. However, we were not allowed to enter into the buildings. The only building admissible was the museum which is located next to the palace. The museum was boring though. The signboards were not translated into English hence we had no idea what the fark they were saying.

However, there is a little souvenir shop in the museum with great selection of gifts. Price is reasonable as well.

After Deoksugong Palace, we went to Nandaemun market, which is within walking distance from the palace. Nandaemun market is another huge market area with counterfeit clothes, food and many other accessories. Sights of beggars were common as well. They were pretty hardcore. I saw 2 dudes crawling on the floor pushing a music player with his head!

According to Jane, many Japanese get their glasses done in Korea. So many till opticians had to learn Japanese to cater the huge market! Jane had hers done for 4000won and it only took 20 minutes!
To be continued….

Day 1 of Seoul, South Korea

The 6 and a half hour flight was lousy. Bloody Airbus doesn’t have personalized screens for passengers and the lady who sat next to me had bad breath. However, I had one of the best seats, which were seats with no seats in front!

For most countries, no entry visa is required for stay less than 90 days. I got through the immigration and custom easily.

Since Jane was due to arrive 8 hours later, I decided to leave my bags at Brown Hotel first. Bus would be the most appropriate way to travel to Seoul. It costs 7000won and takes about an hour plus.

I had problem looking for the hotel initially. I had no map and no guide. I didn’t bothered to ask around as Koreans couldn’t speak English. My only guess was that the hotel is located near Shinseouldong station and Bomun station.

After wandering around for half an hour, I accidentally found it! The hotel allowed me to check in few hours earlier than the official check in time. The hotel room was small though but enough to accommodate the two of us and the plus side is that the floor is heated!

We had dinner at the restaurant next door. Jane read good reviews about it hence we decided to try it. Oh my god, it was so good. Service was absolutely great as well. The lady showered us with loads of attention and taught us the proper way to eat Korean food.

We retired early, with great amount of excitement over the events which were installed for us tomorrow 😀

Hell!

The following is supposedly an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry mid-term. The answer by one student was so “profound” that the professor shared it with colleagues, via the Internet, which is, of course, why we now have the pleasure of enjoying it as well.
Bonus Question: Is Hell exothermic (gives off heat) or endothermic
(absorbs heat)? Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle’s Law (gas cools when it expands and heats when it is compressed)or some variant.
One student, however, wrote the following:
First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate at which souls are moving into Hell and the rate at which they are leaving. I think that we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell, it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving.
As for how many souls are entering Hell, let’s look at the different.
Religions that exist in the world today. Most of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to Hell. Since there is more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to Hell. With birth and death rates as they are, we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially. Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume in Hell because Boyle’s Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand proportionately as souls are added. This gives two possibilities:
1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls
enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase
until all Hell breaks loose.
2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop until Hell freezes over.
So which is it?
If we accept the postulate given to me by Teresa during my Freshman
year that, “it will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you”, and take into account the fact that I slept with her last night, then number 2 must be true, and thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and has already frozen over. The corollary of this theory is that since Hell has frozen over, it follows that it is not accepting any more souls and is therefore, extinct…leaving only Heaven thereby proving the existence of a divine being which explains why, last night, Teresa kept shouting “Oh my God.”