Aka Aurora's Tales

Yeah !! So let me begin the Seoul Adventure story by telling you about my trip to Nami Island. Since I stepped my feet in Korea for the first time, I really hoped that I could visit this famous island. Yeah, Nami Island is famous for its romantic situation because popular Korean drama, Winter Sonata, was filmed there. Nami Island is located outside Seoul, or exactly in Gangwon-do. So to go there, I had to take a train and also a ferry!

My friend, Astrid, and I tried to figure out how to go to Nami Island easily from Hongdae, the place where we stayed. So from Hongdae, we took a subway to Cheongryangri station (청량리 역 ) then from that station, we took an ITX to Gapyeong station ( 가평 역 ).

at the Cheongryangri Station

Astrid and I before riding an ITX

Astrid and I inside of the ITX

ITX train is the as fast as KTX, but it's cheaper and the route is shorter than KTX. The subway fare is 1.600 won and the ITX fare is 4.000 won per trip.


When we arrived in Gapyeong, we went to the information tourist center nearby and asked how to go to Nami Island. The staff said that we can go by a taxi or a shuttle bus. The shuttle bus daily fare is 5000 won. So you can ride it freely in one day. But if you just plan to go to Nami Island without going to Petite France, you better take a taxi because it's much cheaper than taking a shuttle bus. Since first we also wanted to go to Petite France, so we chose to take a shuttle bus. But then we realized that we didn't have enough money to go to Petite France as well, since our money was sooooo limited :(

To go to Nami Island Ferry Station from Gapyeong Station only took 5 minutes. Then we bought a ticket. A ticket to Nami Island actually costs 10.000 won, but for foreigners, we just needed to pay 8.000 won. Round-trip ferry riding is also included.

Nami Island and Petite France brochures

Nami Island ticket for foreigners

On the way to Nami Island ...

A cute cafe in Nami Island

Nami Island area is enormously wide. So prepare to walk further. It's tiring, but your eyes will be satisfied by the amazing scenery of this island. Astrid and I took almost 3 hours to walk around this area. My first stop was a First Kiss Park. It was a Winter Sonata drama where Bae Young Joon and Choi Ji Woo did their kissing scenes and built snow men. As we expected, of course, that is a really great spot for couples to take pictures ... errr, maybe taking pictures while kissing ... 헐 ~~ I just could chew my saliva seeing that kind of scene hahahaha If only I came with my boyfriend ..... hahahaha. There was also a bridge at that park. But the unique thing is a glass wall on the edge of the bridge furnishing with empty soju ( Korean liquor ) bottles. I also took some pictures there.








The good thing about traveling in Korea is the facilities in the travel spots. I am a muslim, so it's a bit difficult for me to pray while travelling. But suddenly my eyes stared at the building by the library. There's a musala in Nami Island! Musala is a Moslem praying spot. Since I hadn't done my midday and afternoon prays, so I headed to the musala and prayed. I felt so blessed hahahaha So if you're a muslim, don't worry if you want to travel to Korea. You don't need to be afraid skipping your prays. Thank you to the Ministry of Korean Tourism and Hospitality for this kind and great facility !! ^^


After adventuring around this beautiful island, we ended up going to GS 25- a minimarket in Korea - and stuffed our tummies with the simplest snack in the world, kob ramyeon ( 컵 라면 ) a.k.a cup noodles hahaha


Actually you can find a lot of 닭갈비 ( dalkgalbi - Korean spicy chicken dish served with sliced of rice cakes and vegetables ) restaurants, but yeah, because we had to tighten our belts, so we chose to have cup noodles instead of dalkgalbi. So sad ... T.T But for everybody who will visit Nami Island, please do visit one of the dalkgalbi restaurants there. Dalkgalbi is a really good dish to be enjoyed with the whole family.

At 5 PM, we waited for the shuttle bus to bring us back to Gapyeong station. The last shuttle bus is at 5 or 6 PM. So make sure not to miss the last bus, because you will end up wasting sum of money. We headed back to Seoul by the ITX train at 6 PM. We really had fun!!!

As an Ibuzz Korea members, I always get a newsletter from Ibuzz Korea about events which are going to be held. This time, I got an invitation to attend 2013 Ibuzz Korea Award in Seoul on November 20th, 2013 in Fradia Convention Hall, Jamwon, Seoul. It was a special invitation, so only 300 members got the invitation. The aim of this event is appreciating all of the bloggers and videologgers who shared their writing / video about Korea in the Ibuzz Korea page. Since they spread about Korean cultures widely to the entire world, so they are worth for this kind of award. Beside the awarding event, there were live stage performances from ZE:A and Dalshabet. There was a lucky draw and games too.

Well, let's start from the beginning of the story !

The event venue was at the Fradia Convention Hall, Jamwon, Seoul. I headed from Myeongdong station to Jamwon station. I went out of the Exit 1 and I found a standing banner of Ibuzz Korea which led me to an Ibuzz Korea shuttle bus. This shuttle bus run every 10 minutes to pick the lucky members up and drive them to the event venue. In the bus, I didn't only meet Korean, but also a lot of foreigners. Around 5 minutes, I arrived at Fradia.

2013 Ibuzz Korea Award Banner

We walked at the red carpet like celebrities do and got our photo taken by a photographer who was standby in front of the main door. Once I got into the lobby, one of the staff asked my email address and she checked it on her computer. Then I got my hand band and a light stick.

The  hand band

The light stick

Then she told me that I could go around of the venue. First, I visited a room with a big 3D screen. They played a video about Korean cultures. I borrow eda 3D glasses to watch the video. After watching the videos, I took a picture of myself with Buzz Korea banner as my background.

The big 3D Screen which plays Korean cultures video

2013 Ibuzz Korea Award banner

I headed to the 2nd floor to see other things which were available at the venue. On the 2nd floor, there were some Korea zones, sucs as Korean Foods Zone, K-Pop Zone, Korean Games Zone, etc. I passed by the Welcome Drink Zone where people could drink water, juice, soft drinks, even wine ! I got my orange juice and definitely headed to the Korean Foods zone. I was hungry, though. Hahaha. My eyes and myself couldn't believe that the foods were sooooooo many. I queued and took some of my favorite Korean foods. I took Bibimbab ( sponsored by Bibigo ), bulgogi ( Korean beef dish ), Haemul Pajeon ( Seafood pancake ), Chicken Gangjong ( Sweet and Hot Chicken ), and vegetables salad with olive oil. Those foods were soooooo good !!! Unfortunately I couldn't take the dessert, I was too full. But I could see there were assorted cakes, such as red velvet cake, chocolate cake, cheese cake , then puddings, cookies, and even macaroons.

Korean foods at the Korean Foods Zone

While eating and chitchatting, people could listen to their favorite K-pop songs in the K-Pop Zone. There were some tables with 4-5 headphones and iPods each. Well I tried it, of course.

K-Pop Zone

At 5:30PM, the event was started. Ricky Kim, as an MC, went on the stage then greeted all of the audiences. I couldn't see his face because my table was quite far from the stage and the lighting against my view. Ricky asked the Korean Tourism Organization leader to give a speech as a welcoming speech for all of the audiences who came. He delivered his speech in English so everybody could understand what he said well.



And here's the full rundown for 2013 Ibuzz Korea Award event :


After the speech, this is what people waited for. Yup, stage live performance of Dalshabet, one of the most famous Korean girlband ! I am familiar with some of their songs since I'm an ultimate viewer of Inkigayo or M Countdown hahahaha

After the performances, Dalshabet had some giveaways for the lucky participants. So they picked 3 message cards which were written by all of the participants before the event was started. Unfortunately, I'm never lucky enough. They gave 3 signed CDs and also a chance to take a picture together and shake hands. After Dalshabet's performances, here the awarding event began. There are some categories, such as Blog of The Year, Video of The Year, Buzz of The Year, and K-Spot of The Year. All of the prizes were handed in by the Korean Tourism Organization President. Congratulations for all of the winners!










Surprisingly, there was a lucky draw event too! And the prizes were so tempting. The main prize was a jacket which was a private collection of one of the ZE:A members. The lucky participant who got it was a girl next to my table. Ah, really I was not lucky~~~ :(  Then, it's time for ZE:A ! ZE:a minus Kwanghee performed 4 of their numbers and they were quite interactive o the audiences. Most of the members can speak English well too. What a surprise! ^^ People were cheering on them and even hysterically screaming to them.

ZE:A

Directions

Dongguk Univ. Station (Seoul Subway Line 3), Exit 5. Go 110m forward, and go past the Jangchung Gym (장충체육관). Turn right, and go 60m forward to arrive at the Shilla Duty Free Shop

Since I've graduated from University of Indonesia, I didn't have any formal school to attend. I am just working now while taking some courses. But yeah, I still look for some scholarships and apply for it. In November, I applied for the 2012 AMINEF's Community College Initiative Scholarship Program. I chose to study Early Childhood Education because I am now working as a teacher. That was my first time to apply a scholarship. But time flew. I didn't get any news from the AMINEF. So I just tried to forget about it.

In the beginning of December, I was in the middle of the queue in a bank. My index finger played on my smartphone to read some tweets in my Twitter's timeline. I saw an announcement about Korean Scholarship which was held by Geumgang University, Nonsan, South Korea, cooperated with Korean Cultural Center Indonesia. It is a 4 months language training scholarship.

The basic requirements are :
1. Minimum Diploma graduate
2. If you still enroll in a university, you can apply, but you need to attach a reference letter from your Dean.
3. No need a TOEFL / TOPIK Score
4. The birth year is minimum in 1991
5. Make an introductory video in English

For more info, you can just visit Geumgang University website : Geumgang University .

I collected my application on December 17th, 2012. I didn't expect for something, but at least I tried it. As the time goes by, in January 2013, I went to Hongkong for my annual holiday. When I came back to Indonesia, I got an email which stated that I'm failed to get my scholarship :'(( It was such a disaster for me. There were only 13 people who were accepted, including 2 Indonesian girls. Hmmm ... It's maybe not my turn to get a scholarship.

But one day after I taught, I got an email from Geumgang University which notified me as one of the successful applicant! Yup they added 7 more students to join this scholarship ! Yay, my dream came true !

Right now I am currently studying Korean language in an Intermediate Level. It's difficult but the class is really exciting :D

I will write about it in my upcoming posts

Hi !

It's been a long time not to post something in my blog. Well, I'm kinda ( trying to be ) busy with my work, but yeah laziness always come over me hahahaha. So I have a lot of story to begin my first post in 2013. Let's start it with my trip to Hongkong which was held in January 5th - January 10th, 2013.

Start now !

Soooo, actually in March 2012 after my arrival from Singapore, I browsed some airlines to get some inspirations where to go for my annual holiday next year. My mom was really dreaming to go to Hongkong, because my auntie told her about it before. I actually prepare to go to South Korea. But finally, we decided to go to Hongkong first. Lucky us, we got a really cheap ticket to go to Hongkong with Garuda Indonesia, an Indonesian first-class airlines, for only US$ 247 RETURN ! We departed from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport ( CGK ) anyway. I came to Hongkong with 2 of my aunties and 1 of my auntie's friend who is so close with us, Tante Dyah ( Tante = Auntie ).

But in November 2012, my first auntie, Mimi, got a light stroke or infark, But she'd still like to go! So yeah we brought her wheel chair as well.

Taraaaaa, so we departed on January 4th, 2013 at 23:25 PM ( Indonesia timezone +7 ).

Miss Panda and Hedgehog or called 판다양과 고슴도치 ( Pan Da Yang Gwa GoSeum Doji ) in Korean is a recent drama. It was aired on A Channel Korea several months ago. From the title itself, you maybe can't find any interesting points of this drama. But if you see who starred this drama, maybe you'll take a quick step to know more about it. Lee Dong Hae ( 이동해 ), who starred as a cool patisserie in this drama, is well-known as a Super Junior member. This drama wasn't his first debut, but he got a really important role which he needed to have the experience and a lot of practices. Besides that, the main actress was handed in to Yoon Seung Ah ( 윤승아 ). I had recognized Yoon Seung Ah when she appeared in a popular drama Mischievous Kiss ( 장난스런 키스 ) as Dok Go Min Ah ( 독고민아 ), Oh Ha Ni's best friend. She's one of a popular and talented actress that South Korean has. The main supporting actor of this drama, Choi Jin Hyuk ( 죄진혁 )  maybe has more experiences of acting than his two fellas. He acts for many titles of drama and he's quite popular in South Korea.


Miss Panda and Hedgehog tells about a talented patisserie named Go Seung Ji who became an ex-prisoner. He has no family but he has his grandfather, but not for real grandfather. The grandfather is a bake shop owner named ' Mozart '. Seung Ji or Do Ji ( Seung Ji's nickname - Do Ji = hedgehog / porcupine ) learned everything about producing cakes from his grandfather. After been released from the jail, Seung Ji preferably willed to work at Saint Honore, the best bake shop in town. But he was crudely treated by the head of Saint Honore, Choi Jae Kyeom ( 죄제겸 ). He promised to himself to take a revenge of Choi Jae Kyeom and Saint Honore as well. One day, Seung Ji gets a job at Cafe Panda, a cafe which is led by Pan Da Yang ( 판다양 ), a food journalist. This cafe has no customers since the patisserie of this cafe, Gil Dong Goo ( 길동구 ) isn't qualified enough. Pan Da just recruited her for a pity reason. As the time goes by, Pan Da and Seung Ji have fallen in love each other. They get into a love triangle with Choi Won Il ( 죄원일 ), who is noted as Pan Da's childhood friend and the manager of Saint Honore. But finally Seung Ji gets Pan Da and Won Il becomes their mate. Problems doesn't stop there. Seung Ji finally needs to throw his will to take a revenge to Saint Honore away to help Won Il rebuild Saint Honore as the head of Saint Honore leaves out.

Why should I name this post as ' A Sincere Love Does Exist ' ? Because making a cake is the same as love each other. You can't make a good cake if you don't make it with a sincere heart and love. It does happen to Seung Ji who makes a cake with his fully heart and loves Pan Da sincerely. Love is something that you can't buy or bargain. Everybody has love inside of their hearts, but they have their own thoughts how to express their love. Pan Da makes Seung Ji facing her because of her fully sincere heart. Actually Pan Da is a girl who has never dated before and Seung Ji is someone who always put a wall in his heart if it's talking about relationship. But everything turns out into a good one if we do what we want with our love and heart. A sincere love does involve a friendship of these 3 people. They need and take care of each other. It's such a sweet thing that I have seen. In fact, love and friendship still take their parts to color this world.

I'd like to recommend you to watch this drama. It's all not because the stars are in this drama, but it's all about what messages you can get from this drama. If everybody can do something with their fully hearts like Seung Ji makes a cake and Pan Da loves Seung Ji from the deep of her heart, many happy things can happen to this world.

Enjoy the drama! :)

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xoxo