Friday, July 1, 2011

First school heritage tour in SKKU

It was the 6th day of my summer programme. FUN, FUN and MORE FUN! I went out on a Seoul city tour organised by the school today. We were due to meet in school at 8am! How early isn't it? With eyes like that =.= , Baby and I left for school. When we reached school, we bumped into Grace and Su Chan, our project group members. Not long later, I felt a tap on the back of my shoulder and saw Ting Wei, my primary school friend! He introduced us to his friend, Chao Lin and so the 6 of us took the same bus together and travelled together.

Assembled at the basketball court of SKKU

The first place that we visited was the Taekwando ring. There, we watched the TKD people perform their moves such as punches and kicks. Their moves were so sharp and crisp. They must have been practicing very hard and consistently to perfect their moves to that extent. Their kicks were powerful and they broke so many boards. They were jumping so high up to kick the boards that I acually feared for their safety should they not land properly. Their performance was very entertaining and they even did a dance for us while incorporating some TKD moves. TKD always reminds me of my first boyfriend, Justin. He used to be very into TKD when we were together and I even went to support one of the competitions that he took part in when he was in college!

Jump and take that!
 
Group photo
 
 
Let's fight!
 
Trying out our fighting skills

The next place that we went to was the Samsung digital building. As we all know, Samsung is like a God to Korea. Their brand name is everywhere in Korea and they have branched into almost every kind of industry; automobile, televisions, notebooks, cameras, washing machines, monitors, vacuum cleaner and the list goes on and on! There was this extremely interesting camera whereby we could take the photo and the image gets sent to the big screen. Baby and I took one photo and boy were we happy camwhoring over there! The whole Samsung digital building was so fun because we could try out all the gadgets that were available over there and play with them. Samsung is indeed amazing, with all their inventions in every industry.

Samsung digital building

Fanciful BMW motorbike
 
The amazing big screen
 
Tablet attached to a keyboard to act like a normal desktop

Following that, we went to the Seoul National Museum and we had a bento lunch. the lunch was good. I especially loved the beef and fruits. We then proceeded to watch videos and a presentation of korea (past, present and future). I really enjoyed myself throughout the whole presentation although I saw many people falling asleep! Tingwei was so funny. He fell asleep and his mouth opened and closed like some fish. HAHAHAHA!

Group picture at the Seoul National Museum

The bento lunch
 
I never knew that Korea had such a rich and turbulent history. I kind of knew a little of their history from reading Lonely Planet but I never knew the implications of their history and how it has shaped Korea to be what it is today. Korea is an amazing country and I must say that I was very impressed by her achievements till today and how it will continue to advance. I believe that everyone must have a niche to continue to progress and in Korea, you can see how she stands on the stage of technology, showcasing her niche in that sector. I wish Singapore could emulate Korea in that sense, how daring they are in testing the waters in sectors they are probably unfamiliar with.

Inside the Seoul National Museum, we were also able to try the traditional desserts and hanbok. It was so chaotic but I got a chance to try it in the end!

Traditional desserts

Trying on the Hanbok
 
From left to right: Ting Wei, Baby and Chao Lin
 

The last stop was to Gyeongbokgung, the main palace where the government in the Joseon dynasty held their parliament. A pity that there wasn't much time left for us to sightsee at the palace because we went in so late.

 


My day was concluded with dinner with some new found friends who took the same tour bus as us.

Seafood with crispy rice