South Korea Day 4: Jungmu Kimbap / Welcoming 2014

Assalamualaikum. 안녕!

Otak tengah berselirat sekarang ni, too many things invaded my mind at once. Mau keluarkan one by one; pastu settlekan ikut priority. Problem is whilst I'm in the middle of sorting, ada lagi benda baru datang. Dugaan Feb 2014 apakah ini? Gitu kan baru intro sudah drama sebabak. Sob.

As today I refused to entertained any of those ridiculous things I chose to scribble here. Update blog lagi bagi ketenangan jiwa. Dapat imbas kenangan di 'kampung' boleh bersihkan minda. Paling busuk pun, aku kena menahan rindu jaklah. Over!

Oklah sebelum merapu melebih better continue dengan tujuan asal. Sambungan dari sini. Lambat sangat update, hoobaes who are currently in Seoul texted me last night asking me the whereabouts of the kimbap shop. Refer blog apa benda kalau sunbae bertuah korang ni belum pun publish entry pasal kedai tu kan. Mian!

Update Sept 2018: This branch is now closed. Good news is that the new one is not far from this store. Just follow the map below BUT walk further ahead. The new kiosk would be on your left (across it is Yooganae Restaurant). A bit smaller than its previous store. Taste remain the same; so no worries. 

That evening after settle sesi membeli kasut, Lotte World magically disappeared dari itinerary aku. Perut yang pedih harus diisi segera. Sejarah sudah banyak kali membuktikan kalau gastrik aku datang melawat, possibility untuk mood holiday aku ranap adalah sangat tinggi. Almost 100%. So sebelum mood hancur, marilah kita menjamu perut.

Direction to Jungmu Kimbap (Myeongdong Branch). Picture on the right shows the first left junction we took after coming out from Exit 8. The blue dot is Yooganae Restaurant (on the left side) & Jungmu (blue star) is situated right ahead. Ndak jauh pun.

Sanggup email Azra untuk tanya direction. Kunun mau variasikan choice of food while in Seoul. Siap dia attached map sekali untuk reference. And lucky juga aku ni celik map sikit. Thanks beb!

Jungmu Kimbap. Bangunan tinggi gini siap ada gambar kimbap atas tu, impossible terlepas pandang lah kan. 

Our plain kimbap, sambal sotong & lobak putih. Tengok gambar ni pun boleh buat aku terliur tau. Sambal tu walau pedas sampai tahap hingus meleleh di hidung pun ndak perasan, namun ia adalah sedap. 

Mula tu order 2 set then Ahjumma tengok aku macam pelik. Salah order kah? Tapi dalam kedai ni memang tu jaklah menu dia. So aku kurangkan order; 1 set. Sekali order sampai barulah aku faham. Mesti Ahjumma ndak yakin kami boleh habiskan 2 set. Aigoo Ahjumma, 20 biji kimbap adalah sangat senang untuk dibaham oleh kami. Cuma sambal sotong tu jaklah aku berfikir lebih since the cousin doesn't quite fancy spicy food. 

Sup pun adalah sangat yumms! Aku minta tambah 2x. Memang dasar kan. My cousin rendam sambal tu dalam sup to reduce the spiciness. As for the radish, habis licin by Yours Truly. Sangat my kinda fish. And total damage hanyalah 6,000₩. 

Sudah sesi mentekedarah, we made our way back to the hostel. Harus jadi ular sawa lah kan bila sudah kenyang then TERjumpa katil empuk. Aku mandi siap² before sailing to dreamland. Told the cousin to wake me up before dusk. Mau restkan kaki yang sudah penat ukur tanah di Seoul. Also recharged tenaga sebab malam nanti sure balik lewat. 

We left the hostel after dusk. Sebelum pigi tempat tujuan utama, aku bawa the cousin to this place. After she found out about the pop-up store, teruslah request untuk dibawa. Layankan jaklah. Memang tujuan malam ni untuk cuci² mata around Seoul before we joined the countdown to 2014.

I was thinking to celebrate the coming of 2014 a different way. Memang di website KTO ada list down few sunset/sunrise spots yang Korean selalu pigi; diorang akan spent the eve of new year near the beach. And they will witness the first sunrise of the brand new year there. I'm always a fan of sunrise/sunset thingy. But I got it cancelled due to various reasons. Risau daya tahan diri aku towards cold temperature. Tengah malam, tepi laut. Fikir & fikir...next time perhaps. Jadi marilah sambut di kota Seoul jak. Pun still meriah.

Menunaikan hasrat orang yang gila EXO. 

Walau hanya kiosk kecil in a mall. Artis² SME pernah datang sini buat surprise visit to the fans. Ndak apat jumpa EXO Oppa, dapat berdiri di bangunan yang sama pun jadilah. Pastu beli merchandises then gebang ndak hengat sama kawan². 

Asal boleh. Comel jak street deco.

Outdoor ice rink at Seoul Plaza. Just in front of the City Hall building (new & old). 

Entrance fee is 1,000₩ per hour. And rental for ice skate is free & the cost for gloves rental is 500₩. More info here. It was the rest time when we arrived at the rink. So cuci mata tengok kawasan jak lah. Ingatkan boleh tunjuk skill main ice skating to the cousin. Ngek.

Time for the staff to show off their skill. Sambil bersihkan rink, sambil tunjuk skill. Gitu.

This suited tema holiday aku kali ni. Like!

Sudah siap cuci mata area Seoul Plaza. Kami jalan arah Gwanghwamun Square. Masa ni sudah nampak polis & their buses ready untuk acara malam tu at the side of the road. Padahal baru jam 9pm. 

Cheonggyecheon Stream. Last time bergambar sama siput tu tapi ndak berapa clear, so kena ambil lagi sekali.

Bila rasanya sungai di KK ni boleh jadi cantik & bersih macam ni...boleh jadi tempat riadah orang awam. Insha Allah, one day. Masih penuh harapan ni.

Lepas second/third bridge, we decided to go up to the road. Mau jalan cuci mata tempat lain pula. Sambil sibuk cari mana spot yang diorang akan buat countdown malam tu.

경찰 Oppa sudah start buat kubu. Orang makin ramai, jalan pun macam siput sudah. Sesak. But I swear, 99% yang jadi kubu tu adalah handsome! And comel. Like, wei kau patut casting jadi model or pelakon why recruit jadi polis? 

Ndak jumpa di Myeongdong sebab street food belum buka masa kami di sana. But alhamdulillah jumpa di tempat lain.  Melepas kempunan. Ntah apa nama ni, tapi aku panggil candy keras. Hentamlah labu. Don't ask me where this is sebab malam tu kami jalan ikut rasa. Mana kaki mau corner, kami ikut.

Aku suka candy ni. Kenapalah ndak beli banyak sikit kan. Boleh bawa balik KK kasi rasa cousins lain. Sejuk² memang otak aku lembab berfikir. 

Of all designs, Hello Kitty candy (2,000₩) juga dia berkenan. Pastu emo bila aku gigit & patahkan sebelah telinga tu. Kena makan ikut turutan kunun kalau ikut kaedah dia. Motif sangat.

This is in front of Jongno Tower. Selama ni selalu nampak tower ni dari jauh. And selalu point out "Eh, Jongno Tower!". Ndak sangka jalan punya jalan malam tu, ended up kami stop depan main entrance tower ni. 

And this was where we stood for nearly two hours that night. Together with the citizens & tourists. Semata untuk lintas jalan depan tu jak. That's where the stage was set up for the New Year's countdown. Dalam sejuk gigil, tabah kami berdiri. Abang polis tu semua apatah lagi kan menahan sejuk. 

By the way, I stood in front of rows of super handsome policemen hence the waiting time adalah sangat menenangkan. In the picture above, jarak kami masih berdepa² so ok lagi aku curi snap gambar diorang walau gelap. Bila sudah makin ramai orang, kami makin ke depan. Sedar² selangkah jak jarak antara kami & these 'fortress'. Jadi haruslah rasa malu aku menebal. Ndak kan tunjuk galak sangat mau snap gambar lagi. Sila lah sedar diri & simpan camera, araso Bie! 

Thirty minutes before midnite, kami 'dilepaskan' to the opposite road. Pastu sibuk selca sebab orang lain pun selca. Haruslah ndak mau kalah kan.

Selautan manusia! Memang melekat kami berdiri. Sempatlah aku jadikan orang sebelah aku as dinding. Aku menyandar baik punya.

Jongno Tower behind us.

Paling best adalah cameraman. View paling best dia dapat. Comfy somemore. Ndak payah berebut sama orang ramai. Tapi, sejuk gigil dia di atas tu haruslah triple kami di bawah. 

View from where I stood. Betul² depan screen. Ok lah, dapat juga tengok apa jadi atas stage tu.

Ada few performances by various artists, pastu speeches from Seoul's important peoples. Tapi hampa sebab artis pujaan ndak da. Acara free kan, aku rasa artis famous amos semua buat tempat berbayar. Or diorang sibuk buat event di overseas. Trend artist Kpop sekarang kan gitu. Diorang lebih banyak spend masa outside their country for promotions/concerts. Tetiba jadi macam spokesperson artist pula. Eh?

First time in my whole life juga, kira countdown to new year NOT in my bahasa kebangsaan. 

Sam, I, Il...새해 복 많이 받으세요! Wish everyone all the best, many happy returns & good fortunes. Gitukan ucapan padahal sudah masuk Feb pun sekarang. By the way, countdown di Seoul ndak da amal budaya barat yang kalau the clock strikes to sharp 12am...teruslah kiss whoever next to u. Kecuali yang datang sama couple kali, tapi scene dalam cerita Omputih memang langsung ndak kelihatan.

Lepas acara countdown, marilah kita tinggalkan tempat kejadian. Amazingly, tempat yang crowded gila tu...lerai in less than ten minutes. Cekap ndak cekap cara diorang ni handle event gini. Aku saksi kejadian, bukan based on news or dengar cerita orang. 

Kereta memang kureng as mostly took the public transport. Goodbye to traffic jammed! 

Sesak tapi moving fast & smooth. We walked from Jongno Tower to Jong-3-ga station with ease. Cuci mata tengok orang menari tengah jalan, main fireworks etc while on the way to the station. 

Masa tengah tunggu countdown tu, ada few briefing pasal public transportations made by the emcee. They were talking in Korean of course tapi ada chart diorang tunjuk di skrin besar tu, so aku try fahamkan sendiri. Paling penting aku mau tau bila last train. And alhamdulillah, kami selamat sampai di hostel. Ndak da kejadian tertinggal the last train. 

Sampai hostel, perut tiba² menyanyi. So kami pun masaklah maggi. Cepat & simple. Lepas makan, teruslah jadi ular sawa. Kena tidur awal as the next day kena bangun awal sebab mau berjalan jauh. Somewhere two/three hours of journey from Seoul. Bukan superwalkertapaki, tapi by bus. Tempah penyakit berjalan kaki duatiga jam kan. 

Will scribble about it in the next entry. Tunggu. *wink*

eryantierdabdulkarim

CutiCuti: The Forecast

Assalamualaikum. Kon'nichiwa.

The forecast is out. Insha Allah, akan sempat menatap keindahan cherry bloom. We will be arriving just on time. Kalau pun lewat one or two days, aku harap masih ada pokok yang berbunga lebat.

Cherry sila jangan gugur cepat sangat ah. Niat di hati sungguh mahu berhanami. Ahaks.

eryantierdabdulkarim

South Korea Day 4: FNC-SME-JYP-CUBE / KBS Building

Assalamualaikum. 안녕!

Roh rajin sudah merasuk diri. Oh yeah. So before life gets busy lets continue updating about the Winter Trip. Semester break will end this week. Meaning starting next week, aku kena ucap selamat tinggal to "aku balik rumah at 5pm". Also selamat tinggal "gerak dari rumah to cafe at 8am"! Sob. Demi bersuap² nasi, demi trip(s) yang mendatang...gagahkan diri untuk keluar bekerja. Konsep hemo drama sangat!

Back to tujuan utama. Our fourth day in Seoul was also the last day of 2013. Memang purposely mau celebrate 2014 di luar Malaysia. Kunun semangkit mau buka lebaran baru di 'kampung' lagi satu. Pfft!

Breakfast at hostel. Porridge for us. Nescafe adalah perlu, energy booster aku di pagi hari. No coffee, kau akan nampak aku macam zombie kelaparan berjalan. Not to mention, mood separuh jiwa. Effect kafein sangat!

At Apgujeong Rodeo Station, they set up this area called G-Star Zone. 

Sangwangsimni Line 2 (Seongsu Bound) ---> Wangsimni Line 2

Wangsimi Bundang Line (Jukjeon Bound) ---> Apgujeong Rodeo Bundang Line (Exit 2)

Written on the plaque. It's a G⁺ Dream Project where Hallyu stars take part to help with the hopes & dreams of youths. They will be meeting stars through various hands-on activities. It is the first time such event takes place in subway. 

The cousin was super excited. Not because of the drama but because of the lead actor. Juling mata tengok budak gedik terkinja² depan poster mamat tu. Belum depan mata lagi tu.

Indeed, station ni lain macam mewah dia compare to other stations. Not only because it's new...also because it is located dalam area orang kaya². Posh gila deco walau hanya di dinding. Ni memang up berlevel² than Gangnam Station for sure.

First building on the left side upon coming out from Exit 2. 

Maka bermulalah aktiviti sihat di pagi hari. I read somewhere in the internet that it will take approximately 20 minutes!! to walk from the station to the place we wanted to go. At first I decided to just take the bus. But when I saw the view I will be missing if I were to take the bus from Azra's blog, I ditch the idea straightaway. 

Reason being? Feeling² orang kaya sikit kalau jalan sepanjang Apgujeong street ni. Kiri kanan semua designer shops. Sebiji² pula tu. Ala Jalan Dago-Riau di Bandung tapi di Apgujeong ni memang bukan factory outlets. 

Jalan straight lagi ke depan, maka jumpalah SM Entertainment old building. Poster artists diorang segedabak ni, siapa yang terlepas pandang memang question mark besar lah bagi aku.  Annyeong SHINEE 'Oppas'. 

Layan We Got Married, barulah keminatan sama Shinee mekar kembang. Love their new song. Everybody...chorus lagu tu jaklah aku ulang² sampai cousin aku tanya, itu jak kah line yang aku tau. Kecoh!

Hanya mampu mencuci mata sebersih² alam. Risau kalau masuk, aku ndak keluar sampai kedai tutup. Busy berangan, tambah koleksi 'angan'.

I didn't realized how long we took to walked from the subway station to this intersection. Ntahlah aku ndak perasan sebab kami busy posing, busy bercerita itu ini & yes busy berangan kunun terjumpa artis pojaan. Jalan di musim sejuk bolehlah cakap ndak perasan masa, cuba time summer!

Van retis sampai 3 biji depan FNC building. Tapi retis nya nan hado kami jumpa. 

That black van depan gate tu macam ada someone inside. Pastu driver a.k.a manager tu asyiklah lari anak keluar masuk building tu. Adalah 2-3 kali. Manalah tau dorang tengah shooting untuk Cheongdamdong 111 kan. Boleh tumpang berkaki² tengok orang shooting. Manalah tau juga dalam tu ada si kesayangan Jonghyun. Huh, berpeluh kaki imagine kalau lah anganan jadi kenyataan.

Pastu jalan ke depan lagi, just in front of a playground...situated the new SM Entertainment building. Harapan untuk tengok Suju member ke laut...sob lagi sekali. 

My cousin asked me where's her favourite EXO Oppa. Apa hengat aku ni manager diorang aku hafal their schedule? Nama semua 12 orang tu pun aku ndak hafal, apatah lagi mau sibuk ambil tahu their whereabout. Ugh. Hemo kan tiba². Sebab tulah jawapan dia bila aku tanya mana Donghae-ssi. Ngeks. 

Gila ramai paparazi mamarazi die hard fan di playground depan SME ni. Setia menanti artis kesayangan. Padahal kami sampai tu awal pagi juga. Mau aku snap gambar diorang tapi hmmm sila jangan menempah bala Bie. Dapat peminat yang ndak suka bab digambar curi ni, jadi daun kering kami di sana nanti. 

Dari SME, kami patah balik ke jalan besar. And ambil another junction. Ada 2 lagi buildings mau diterjah. Ndak dapat jumpa artis kesayangan, tengok bata & signboard pun jadilah. Jiwa Kpop separa kental sebab aku belum berani untuk attend any konsert macam si Azra. But in the near future kali aku akan pigi. At least once, mau merasa juga ok!

Perut berbunyi lepas jalan cuci mata. So we decided to have our tea time at a cafe just in front of JYP building. Donut pink heart tu super sedap! It has cheese & strawberry filling. Sungguh mengenyangkan.

Ada few fans sudah macam berkampung dalam cafe ni. Conquer meja & kerusi. Siap ada beg tarik AF 2 biji. Siap bawa extension yang boleh cucuk banyak plug tu ok! Charge camera, charge hp, charge lappy. Tu pun demi tunggu retis kesayangan juga. 

Quoting MS G "Amboi, di Malaysia ndak lah kau heran sama DD kan. Ini siap melepak dalam cafe. Siap beli drink lagi".

Apa heran, kan aku ada perangai selalu lupa diri. Ngeh. Alaaa alang² sampai sana, do it the local way lah. Lepak ngopi selagi berkesempatan. And bila sudah melepak di coffee shop sana, silalah tahan diri dari convert expenses spent. Nanti nangis darah.

Ouh kami bukan fanatik lagi. So lepas isi perut, kami bagi peluang sama pelanggan lain untuk duduk menikmati meal diorang. We went outside. Took few pictures in front of the building. Been there, done that. Gitu konsep aku haritu. My cousin is one of Suzy-ssi many fans so yeah yang menggelinjat depan building ni adalah dia.

Artis pojaan under Cube Entertainment adalah 2 ahli dari kumpulan Beast. Doojoon-ssi  & Dongwan-ssi. Ramai sangat bias kau ni Bie, nampak sangatlah bah kekeranjangan mata.

This building situated not far from JYP's. Selang 1 blok bangunan jak. Yang excited & berharapan tinggi was Yours Truly. Tapi macam biasa, harapan tinggal kenangan. Aku fan biasa jak, bukan jenis scrutinized habis schedule mamat² ni pun. So diorang ada ka ndak da di Seoul memang aku ndak tau.

Done with artists/buildings-hunting, we walked back to Apgujeong Rodeo station. Next destination is KBS Building. Nearest subway station is National Assembly Line 9 (Exit 4). 

Hajat di hati sebenarnya mau visit Gangnam Tourist Information Center after reading Azra's entry about it. Kunun mau beli Tshirt & merchandise CNBlue tapi apalah nasib boleh² aku buat perangai hilang ingatan? Sampai KBS baru teringat...betul haru perangai!

Tengok building ni, automatically teringat 2 Days 1 Night. And ehem, of course SUKIRA (Super Junior Kiss The Radio program); a radio program hosted by 2 of Suju's members. 

SUKIRA starts at 10pm. Kalau mau sangat tengok the program or sebenarnya tujuan asal mau tengok pojaan hati, kena datang awal. Like 2 or 3 hours prior the program. Else, paling belakang lah 'seat' kau dapat. 

From what I read from bloggers who have been here, yang selalu occupied the front rows adalah wakil fan sites / fan cafes Suju or guests malam tu. Sometimes datang awal macam mana pun, seat tetap akan penuh. Bukan manusia duduk dulu, tapi diorang akan letak something to mark the seat is already taken. Pasal tu aku ndak terfikir pun mau datang malam. Sejuk satu hal, dapat menatap belum tentu. Tengok live streaming dari hostel jaklah. 

Ndak da ruang di tiang² ditinggalkan kosong. Every pillars penuh dengan nota cinta peminat².  

22:00-24:00 Super Junior Kiss The Radio

KBS Exhibition Hall; entrance is free!

I found out about this thing from DJ's entry. Kalau ndak aku datang KBS ni memang semata posing depan building jaklah kan. Lucky we both layan most dramas by this broadcasting company. Thanks for sharing. 

Verangan jadi anchor news. Bolehlah merasa masuk tv kejap kan.

Sudah macam penyanyi 60-an. Ish.

Happy Together. Ini memang antara favourite aku. So far jarang aku missed tengok variety show ni. 

Ehemmmmmmmmmmmmmmm! Antara drama paling disuka.

Best of luck in Sochi, Kim Yuna-ssi. We admire u!

Kemajuan teknologi. Dari zaman disc sebesar alam...

Sehingga yang ini. Nowadays ada usb smaller than displayed, kan. Banyak pula tu storage capacity. 

We didn't get to be on tv shows like what DJ did...siap menari sama After Schools, siap posing sama casts 2 Days 1 Night. Sob.

Anyways, we went to Namdaemun Market again?? after touring KBS. Sebab si gedik tu sakit kaki, boots gigit tumit aku as she told me. So mau ndak mau, kena gi Namdaemun untuk beli new shoes. Kenapa mesti Namdaemun? Because she saw the one that suits her taste the day before. Memang kan, semalam pigi ndak dia beli. Kunun cari lain. Bila sudah sakit kaki, barulah sibuk membebel macam lebah.

Noryangjin Station. Masa tunggu train sini, suddenly train bound for Soyosan stop at the other side of the platform. Teringat plan Herbs Island yang ndak kesampain. 

This station is in the subway Line 1 & it is among the earliest station built. Serupa station komuter kita pun ada. Memang feeling old school sini. Semua pun macam back to masa lampau. The aging facilities also the environment gave me such feeling. 

Actually, petang tu aku ingat mau masuk Lotte World. Datang petang sikit boleh dapat evening ticket; which is much cheaper than the normal ticket. Tujuan pun cuma mau tengok winter parade & fireworks since aku ndak sempat tengok masa di Everland haritu. Tapi lepas beli kasut, aku kelaparan gaban. Baru perasan, after breakfast di hostel, then tea break di DD memang aku langsung ndak da makan. Sudah jalan bertapak² no wonder perut aku start pedih. Hence, we headed to Myeongdong for super late lunch after Namdaemun. 

Makan kimbap at a cafe near Yuganae. Yang tu aku update nanti lah. Tapi memang kenyang gila makan di sana, walau hanya kimbap. 

Till then, annyeong!

eryantierdabdulkarim