Day 1 - Sunday, 6 July 2008 My flight to Seoul was scheduled to depart at 1.15am and I was there 2 hours early for check-in and I was so bored at KLIA and the wi-fi was so horrendously LOUSY!  I could barely sign in to my Gmail or Facebook *cis*  So ended up looking at my work documents and presentation slides~ *yawns*  My other colleagues and bosses are taking different flights and some flying to Seoul from other countries, so we all went in our separate ways. Oh by the way, this is my very first work trip assignment overseas! Am I excited? OF COURSE  But the preparation for this trip was insanely stressful and I almost felt like not going anymore  My assignment is to provide training of 2 softwares and guidelines in administrating it upon installation. See, that's the part that got me worried, provide training  And among all the colleagues who's going are all seniors and bosses... and me? 1 kuci rat fler there Plus I'm not a very good public speaker but I guess, my company trust me enough to send me haha I was so encouraged when my teammate sent me a sms before I left, I was really touched she cared hehe   
6 hours of flight... No tv panel in front of the seat so I just sleep throughout the flight~ My breakfast meal came at 6.30am... And I was mistaken by the stewardess as a Korean coz she gave me this arrival form in Korean words to fill up~ Funny!  
It's suppose to be summer in Seoul now but the weather was surprisingly not as expected. It's cloudy. As you walk out of the airport, got this statues along the walkway and I think it is a pig~ hehe 
The lady I sat with is a Korean lady. She could speak limited English but I try to chat with her. She actually went to KL to visit her children who's studying English and they were in Ampang. There's a little Korean town there and I stay like 15 min away from that place. What a coincidence  She's very nice, even with her limited English she tried to tell me what's nice in Seoul to eat, to see, to shop, etc Seoul's timezone is 1 hour ahead of Malaysia. So by the time I landed, it was around 8am (Seoul time). 
On my way from the airport to the hotel, I saw this view. No idea what it is but looks interesting. The view around immediately reminds me of all the Korean drama (Winter Sonata, Autumn In My Heart, etc) haha 
The part of Seoul I stayed at is called Gangnam-Gu. After checking in to the hotel, I was feeling a lil lost and don't know what to do. Here I am, alone, in a country I'm unknown of the language. How should I spend the day? First thing I did log in to Internet. The speed is SUPERLY FAST~ But I felt I would waste the day, my only free day if I just stay in hotel to online. So... I did one of the most adventurous thing ever! Let's do something crazy! Tour around the city of the unknown language on my own! WOohoo! Giler syiok!  Memang a bit dangerous actually but that time didn't think much, just don't wanna waste time and I wanna see Korea Usually if I know I'm going somewhere, I'll do all the research I could bout the place. But because this is a work trip and I don't expect to have free time I didn't do any research at all. So I went to talk to the hotel person, he gave me a map of Seoul and circled a few must-go places and the MRT near the hotel. Due to the lack of research, I was BLUR  seeing all the must-go places and the map and not knowing which one to go first and all~ The hotel is located in Gangnam-Gu and the central & happening part of the city of Seoul is about 45mins away with MRT.  
Everything is in KOREAN WORDS!  Thank God for some alphabets~! And thank God for friendly and English-speaking Koreans who guide me where to go, etc. There were 2 subway incidents: Once, I realized the subway was heading the wrong direction so make a U-turn and second, I fell asleep and without realizing it, I missed my station! Another U-turn. Thank God I woke up on time and not too late, only missed 1 station. Gosh~ On the MRT, a man try to chat with me. He was asking where am I from and all. Then he start telling stories bout himself, he's from Philippines... He was so chatty coz he thought I'm a fellow Philippinos I was kinda cautious lar coz I'm alone but anyway thank God lar, he went off the MRT earlier than me. The places I visited... 1) Myeong-dong It's 1 of Seoul's main shopping districts featuring mid to high priced retail stores & international brand outlets. Here you can find wholesale EVERYDAY! 
Shopping street of Myeong-dong
 
I had 1 of these for lunch~
The Korean actor whom I think is good looking - Kwon Sang Wu!
Sharing of the gospel~
Conversion rate: RM3++ = 1,000 Korean Won
The KFC menu!
Beer ad at the subway. Took this bcoz of the pandas
Lotsa lotsa staircases at all the subways!!!
Next, I decided to visit the palace that requires the cheapest entrance fee! I have no idea how much I'll spend for the next 5 days so I dare not to spend much today. 
Seoul City Hall~
2) Deoksugung Palace Deoksugung (aka Deoksu Palace, in English means "Palace of Virtuous Longevity"). It is one of the "Five Grand Palaces" built in Seoul during Joseon Dynasty. It served as the residence for various members of the royal family from the 15th century through the end of World War II and the Japanese occupation. Entrance fee: 1,000 won. 
Deoksugung~
The last royalty of the great Korean empire~
One thing I'm impressed through this tour is that, I saw parents bringing their children
to this place and reading through the information plaques and
histories of their homeland.
It shows how much they respect their history and passing it on to the new generation.
This family I saw, the kids were reading it out and those words they don't know how to,
the parents taught them and explain to them.
Junghwamun~
Junghwajeon~
 
Stories of Junghwajeon~
Lotsa this kinda buildings around. Each with their stories~
National Museum of Art Deoksugung~
Finally found someone to help me take a pic~!
One thing not fun traveling alone: No one take pic for you
Gwangmyeongmun~
 
Heungcheonsa Bell (left) - Heungcheonsa is a temple established by King Taejo.
The bell was installed in 1462, petitioned by the royal family.
Borugak Jagyeongnu (right) - A water clock that was made in 1536 built by Yu Jeon and others durng the time of King Jungjong. The jagyeongnu, which carries on the tradition of King Sejong, is a precious scientific cultural asset, being the oldest and largest water clock in the world.  
Singijeon Launcher Carriage (left) - The singijeon is a weapon that was invented by Choe Museon at the end of the Goryeo Dynasty and improved in 1448. It is an iron-tipped bamboo arrow with a paper gundown rocket attached to the rear.
Man in Cultural Show (right &below) - I heard noises near the entrance so I went and see that there's a cultural show going on. Lotsa men dressed up in uniforms and marching around. 
Mr Palace Guard & I
Actually I plan to walk till night time but I'm making this my last stop. My leg hurts like mad, I've been walking from 11.30am till 4.30pm And I'm kinda tired coz I didn't sleep very well sitting in the plane the night before. Plus tomorrow is the BIG DAY! I better get enough rest! I wouldn't wanna be spotted sleepy during the meeting Before I head back to the hotel, I dropped by a restaurant for dinner (I only 1 stick of those fried stuff at the Myeng-dong street). I asked the lady if they have a menu with pictures. She speaks to me in Korean and she showed me a menu with Korean words ONLY and continue speaking to me in Korean I have no idea what talking she. But a word she said caught my attention BIBIMBAP! Haha coz I had Korean dinner with my galfriends back in Ampang not so long ago and we were talking bout how this dish called "bibimbap" sounds funny. So immediately I nod excitedly and happily ordered that I don't like to eat alone in a restaurant so that's why I ordered a takeaway  
Bibimbap - literally means "stirred/mixed rice". Served as a bowl of rice with sauteed and seasoned vegetables, fried egg, bean sprouts with gochujang (chili pepper paste).
Then I went to supermarket to shopped for some groceries like instant noodles to bring back home and the Korean drink made from rice, Soju. Then with many plastic bags after groceries shopping, I walked back to my hotel! Wooooo I enjoyed my stay at the hotel so much 
Hotel Ibis~
Likeyyyyyyyyy my room so much~
Check out the SUPER HIGH TECH toilet seat~
Geared with buttons to:-
- adjust seat temperature
- adjust water temperate
- adjust water pressure
- adjust dryer temperature
- adjust nozzle position
- options for massage or bidet or wash
and STOP button! Day 2 - Monday, 7 July 2008 My first day of work begin! Meetings.. meetings... and the training begin! Not much pictures for this day coz it's all very serious stuff. But it's very interesting as I look around in the room, the team from my office has Indonesian, Indian, Chinese and German working with Japanese and Koreans. Very multi-racial, bermajmuk Just find it very interesting Our Korean colleagues brought all of us out for lunch in a very nice place! No idea what is it called coz again, everything is in Korean.  It's those typical Korean restaurant you see on TV, where you gotta take out your shoe and sit on the cushion on the floor. Sadly I was unprepared for it coz I was wearing a skirt  So it was a lil tad bit uncomfortable for me. Oh well, the food is so great I forgot about it after awhile hehe
 
Me & my colleagues~
Korean meals are famous for BEEF, but some of my colleagues can't take beef so they got other dishes instead. Besides that, each main course comes with many many little dishes like vege, kimchi and etc. 
Kimchi~
Bulgogi~
It is made of thin slices of sirloin or other prime cut of beef.
One of the most popular ways of cooking beef in Korea.
Bulgogi is traditionally grilled or pan-cooked.Very veryy yummmmyyy~
Serve together with rice~
Day 3 - Tuesday, 8 July 2008 
More trainings for the day! Okay this time can show take some pics coz it's just me and the trainees, no bosses hehe I have 2 trainees from the IT department. At first I was worried my trainees would be a crowd of seniors staff and I was feeling rather inferior thinking of that, as I thought I'm consider pretty young to be conducting training. I prayed so much that everything will be alright. And I'm so thankful coz my 2 trainees are very friendly bunch of people and they're around my age also And for lunch, we had lunchbox in office. I think I had the NICEST YUMMIEST lunchbox ever! It is curry fried pork, with the usual lil dishes, soup & rice 
Simple yet SUPER TASTY
I like the box alot~ But sadly we can't take it coz the shop will collect it back
Something REALLY FUNNY happened today during the training after lunch. I personally find that conducting training is really tiring coz you talk for hours and hours and HOURSSS! Practically I talk from 9am to 5pm I know, some of you think that I like to talk! Yes, I do! BUT not for 8 hours straight And you see, most people would know, the time after lunch is the most sleepiest time everrr! Ok the funny part~ I saw one of my trainee dozing off and the eyes like struggling to keep awake. I know how that feels, I been through training myself and those time after lunch are killers And I always wonder what/how my trainer feels if he/she see us (trainees) feeling sleepy after lunch? And how did I feel when I saw my trainee dozing off? I can't help but covered my face for like 1 SECOND and I giggled a BIT! HAHAHA Okay I'm very horrid but the sight of it is REALLY FUNNY! And I find it amusing I guess I'm a boring trainer, coz not just my trainee is feeling sleepy, I begin to feel sleepy myself and yawn a bit. That's when I decided to give everyone a BREAK! hahahaha 
My Korean colleague, she is sooo sweeet..
She bought me snacks for tea-time and it is SO YUMMYLICIOUS!!!
I like the snacks here hehe
And for dinner, she brought us to a BBQ restaurant~ I tell you... it's like THE BEST BBQ everrrrrrrr!!!! The meat so tender, so juicy! *droooling* 
BBQ Restaurant~
It's pork BBQ with soup and lotsa lil dishes~
Boss, colleagues from KL & Project Manager from Japan~
Colleagues & boss from KL~
Korean colleague & I~
Soju~
 * k r i S h i n G *
| 
Here I am packing for another trip... I'm like so darn lazyyyy to pack weiii~ 
And actually I've been having difficulty to wake up in the morning for a long time 
haha if I wake up late I don't know lar... Sure the bosses not happy~
They all acting funny so we quickly walk away~
