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It's not a secret that one of my favorite things about Seoul is the cafe culture here. After wandering around the Hapjeong/Sangsu area for a bit, my boyfriend and I stumbled upon this one. The cafe's menu was quite extensive. The French decor was a nice touch too <3

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Studying Korean / tutoring my boyfriend in English^^

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Chai tea & a green tea muffin.

Gamcheon Art Village

During Korean Thanksgiving my friends and I hopped on a long bus to Busan to spend a few days. One of the most interesting things we did in Busan was walk around the  Gamcheon Art Village.

Gamcheon Art Village

These houses are still surviving after the Korean. While they certainly are charming from the outside, one wouldn't want to live here. As we were walking around, we got the vibe that generations of families have lived here and weren't used to American and Canadian girls walking around their streets taking pictures. Once we stopped to say hi to a dog and a man came outside and told us to leave. Nonetheless, it was really interesting to see this cute little houses with Korean slippers sitting outside on their doorsteps. :)

Walking Path Signs

Once you reach the art village, there are 3 different walking paths to take. Whichever way you go there will be cute signs like these fish to direct you.


The random murals everywhere was really cool to stumble upon and we didn't even hit the major ones we saw pictures of.


Our walking path - quite narrow. As you can see, we are literally walking on people's property.



Next time you're in Busan, please spend an hour or two wandering this quaint village. ^^

LASIK in Seoul

This past weekend I got LASIK eye surgery in Gangnam. I decided around September that I wanted to get the procedure done before I went back to the U.S. because it's a lot more expensive in the States. Even if you were to pay the full price-tag for LASIK in Korea (around $1,500 for both eyes), it's much cheaper than ($4,000 minimum for both eyes) back in the States. Like all things in Korea, word-of-mouth and referrals are the way to go. A volunteer language exchange group posted an LASIK promotional partnership with this eye clinic with prices at around $850 so I contacted the clinic and set-up a free examination. The eye clinic I went to is 하늘안과 or SKY Eye Clinic .
ImageThe check-in counter.


It should be noted that this clinic does not cater to foreigners and most workers, aside from the doctors, cannot explain anything in detail in English. I had some difficulty filling out a medical history form in English until a girl waiting for her surgery overheard me struggling and came over to translate for me. After that was finished, I had to wait for my name to be called over and over again as I went around to several stations for several different tests. A person must take 24 tests in order to determine if you are a fit candidate for LASIK/LASEK/Wavefront or any other type of eye surgery. Luckily I qualified for LASIK, which has the fastest recovery time.


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One of several eye examination areas.


I went to the examination alone and didn't want to commit to getting an operation performed on the very same day, which is what a majority of Koreans opt to do. Instead I scheduled my surgery for a month later and went on my way.


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Waiting area for examinations.


Last Friday was the scheduled day for my surgery and my Canadian friend came along to take care of me. There's no way a person would be able to drive after the surgery and in Korea they tell you to not take the subway either, because the crowds and harsh lighting will not be comforting. So I checked in, signed a legal waiver, learned about the eye drops I need to use, got anesthetic eye drops put in and paid. Then I was brought downstairs to sit in this lobby while I waited to enter the surgery area.


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Waiting area pre-surgery.


Finally my name was called. I took off my shoes and put on an Asian-style wrap top and shower cap. Then we had to wait for someone to come around to clean our face off with a wet wipe and sit back with our eyes closed for 10-15 minutes while they played classical music. At times it was getting really boring to keep sitting there while I can hear a laser-like sound in the next room. Then my name was called and I was brought into the surgery room, which had almost all the lights out.


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Here's the machine they used. There were 3 machines with 3 patients getting the surgery in the room. Each doctor had two nurses on each side - one for each eye, in order to finish the surgery as soon as possible.


The surgery itself was quite intimidating. I jumped when the doctor applied something to keep my eyelid up and he kept saying "Don't afraid. Don't afraid." While they compress your eye to begin, you go blind for about 10 seconds despite the eerie fact that your eye is being held open. Then I was told to stare at the red light and to never look away at the red light. When the laser is being applied, the red little circle becomes a red cloud moving in a fuzzy circle. I described it to my sister as being a window in the car wash.


The surgery was supposed to take 10 minutes but it felt like 2 minutes so I'll trust my gut. After I finished my first thought was "I'M NOT BLIND!!!!!!!!" Then they told me to get up and I couldn't see anything and was incredibly disoriented. I was quickly taken out of my hospital gear and met my friend in the waiting area. I couldn't see anything and my eyes were really watery. Think drunk simulation goggles times three.


The funniest thing was parents taking tons of pictures of their kids in pain after the surgery.  One family even tried to get a family picture with peace signs while their kid has his head down in pain.


My friend and I took a taxi home and my eyes would burst out watering about every 10 minutes. I couldn't sell incredibly well but I could notice that my vision was subtly better while reading some building signs.


Fast forward to today - I'm seeing and feeling awesome. Plus, I already got it approved to take a sick day tomorrow to rest.


So there you have it.. if you're thinking about doing LASIK while in Korea.. just do it!

Climbing Achasan + Yongwasan

Today I woke up early and tackled two small mountains in Seoul for an assignment for an online class. Here are some snapshots. There are 37 mountains in Seoul, with 10 major ones. I really want to try to climb all 10 while I am in Seoul.

First, Achasan.
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ImageImageAchasan and Yongwasan are right next to each other. Now to Yongwasan.






Apartment

I've been at my new apartment for almost 4 weeks and today I finally managed to take some pictures with my iPhone. When I moved into the place, it was a disaster. The first week was exhausting with all the cleaning. I had to buy a couch. I got rid of some old furniture from my old place. I did a furniture swap with my friend Justine (she took my old coffee table & I took her table, which I now use as a desk).


ImageMy new couch from 10x10.


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The kitchen. I baked a ton of muffins yesterday.<3


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My table/desk from my furniture swap. I want to spray paint it white but I have to find a location first.


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& a mumble-jumbled bookcase/camera holder. I have so many books in other places too- eek!


A Quick Trip to Konjiam Resort :: Gwangju, South Korea

Last weekend I left Seoul to spend one night at Konjiam Resort with my bf and two friends from our semester in Japan. We were only gone for about 24 hours but it was a fun stint away from my new busy life this semester.

ImageChecking in.


ImageLobby


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We rented a suite with 2 bedrooms for the 2 couples. Here is the living area.


ImageAfter checking in and grabbing a quick bite to eat, we headed to the walking paths. There were 3 paths: largo, andante, and moderato. We didn't have time because it was 5:30 so we chose largo.


ImagePristine nature.


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ImageThey had really detailed information about all types of birds in the area. Eventually we realized that they say the sounds the birds make in Korean and we were just searching for that information. For example, one bird could say " Ka ka ka" and another will be " ooo ee oo eee." It was funny.


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ImageTwo Koreans, 1 French & 1 American


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ImageAn adorable little girl struggling not to fall down the path after her parents in super-squeaky shoes.


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A little figurine folk village.


ImageTraditional Korea


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ImageBeing that this is an LG resort, there were massive LG advertisements everywhere.


ImageBack to our room. We brought food to make BBQ!


ImageA homemade feast.


ImageWe almost ate and then Choi jumped to get the camera. I look hungry.. ;)


ImageFinished with some extreme Jenga.


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The next morning we had cheese muffins & checked out to head back to Seoul~~