sentimental

as we sailed past the lights along the han river, i realised just how much i'll miss korea

two more days in 대한민국, making every minute count.

listening to this.

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

wednesday was a snow day! in the afternoon i spent half an hour looking out of my window, just watching the snow fall, quietly, furiously, beautifully. photos don't do it justice at all.



it snowed heavily again that night, so we hid in a cosy little cafe in anam that serves pancakes. their banana pancakes were scrumptious, but their chocolate pancakes were heavenly! each bite is full of drippy dark chocolate that melts in your mouth. i couldn't take a photo because we ate them up so quickly! this definitely goes on my 'things to eat again before i leave korea' list.

yay, the weekend is here! 주말을 잘 보내세요~

청계천을 보고 싶어 (missing cheonggyecheon)

korean is a fascinating (and sometimes, frustrating) language to learn, because a single word or phrase can have multiple meanings.

the phrase '보고 싶어요' literally means '(i) want to see (something/someone)'
but it also means '(i) miss (something/someone)'

i can't wait to take a walk along cheonggyecheon again. i know it's man-made, but there's still something magical about this stream, that was buried and then revived again. also, the last time i was there, i had the chance to view some lovely art that was being set up (possibly for the hi seoul festival), which was a bonus.

______ 보고 싶어요! (fill in the blank with something or someone you miss!)

have an enjoyable december's eve :)

travel: chun cheon (춘천)

a few weeks ago, i headed to chun cheon with a few friends and over the weekend there, we:


ate FANTASTIC dakgalbi.
chun cheon is the birthplace of this dish, so it's no surprise that they serve the best dakgalbi ever!




visited gugok falls.
the viewing area was small and very crowded, but the scenery on the way up was very lovely and made it worthwhile.




another spot worth visiting is the place along soyang river where a maiden statue stands. the view there is beautiful, with the bridge reflected in the calm green water and layers of mountains in the distance.



random things seen around chun cheon (more photos can be found on my flickr)

there wasn't a great deal to see or do there (as we'd decided to avoid the more touristy areas) but chun cheon has a laid-back small-town feel that's really nice. and because i love food so much, once the dakgalbi there won me over, i was pretty much sold! if you ever get the chance, chun cheon is definitely worth a visit!

yellow trees

(그녀 by zitten)

i took this in Chun Cheon, while we were hiking/strolling up to 구곡폭포 (Gugok waterfall). more photos coming soon!

autumn is ending, i can feel it in the crunchiness of the leaves underfoot and in my fingers that start to freeze if i take them out of my pockets for too long. i love autumn but i can't wait for winter and for everything to be covered in snow.

i might be learning to crochet a hat later this afternoon! exciting stuff!

seoul, underwater

we had so much fog last saturday! it was fascinating.



i also saw some lovely art along the street, near 목동 station. seoul is full of illustrations or cool arty things that pop up unexpectedly in all sorts of places! love it :)

something a little different

i haven't posted any doodles (on flickr) in ages and i'd forgotten how fun it is to draw :)

happy wednesday everyone!

(part 2 of 3)

busan and inje, on film.

doesn't the first photo look familiar? ;)

inje is about 2 hours from seoul by bus, i don't know much about it, but it's a beautiful place. we went white-water rafting there, down a blue-green river flanked by deep green hills.

busan is the second largest city in korea, and 3 hours from seoul by train. the pace of life there is slower, it was a nice change from seoul. there was an art exhibition being held along one of the beaches there, it was pretty cool.

this week is midterm exam week for me, which means that i'm actually studying for the first time this semester (have i mentioned that i love being on exchange? haha).

since i can't travel, i've been visiting new places through photographs instead: hibika, a blog where hiki and ulrika post lovely photos of sweden and japan, and abby try again, where amazing photos of austin, texas, can be found.

it's like the sun is always out (1 of 3)

new blog header! do you like it?

i am in love with these two songs right now:
she likes croquet by immoor and hurricane by i am arrows.

faces

...in funny places - hongdae and namsam hanok village

chewing gum, sugar cubes, an advertisement for a gig, a grocery bag - just a few examples of the quirky & lovely packaging that can be found here!

i can't believe it's been more than a month since i came to korea, soon my exchange will be half over :( on the bright side, even after a month, there are still so many new things to be seen and done here. this tuesday i'll be attending a soccer match between korea & japan that promises to be super exciting, i can't wait!

hangang

the day we went cycling by the river was very cold, windy and grey - not a great day for cycling or for taking photos, but the scenery was still very lovely, in a grey, cloudy way. also, how cute are those turquoise birdhouses?

the weather's getting colder now, which is very exciting for me, because this is my first time experiencing autumn. i can't wait for the leaves to turn brilliant shades of red and yellow and to wear cosy winter clothes!