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The Empress
"I'm fascinated by human behavior, by what's underneath the surface, by the worlds inside people."
A vagabond at heart.
 : syafiqah, 25, malaysian .
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Travel: Korea Winter Trip 2017 (Part 2)
written on Saturday, 25 March 2017 @ 21:16 ✈
Ssamziegil Mall (Insadong)
Ssamziegil is a retail center located in Insadong with four floors of fashion, art, and home goods shops around an open, central courtyard. What's interesting about this place is the poop cafe. Yes, poop cafe. You can't visit Ssamziegil without trying the poop bread! There's a food stall selling the poop bread on the ground floor.
 |
| Insadong |
N Seoul Tower
Direction to the cable car service: Get off at Myeong-dong Station (Seoul Subway Line 4) and Exit 3.
Walk for about 15 minutes following the street on the right side of the Pacific Hotel. The cable car boarding place will be seen ahead.
What's famous about this tower is the countless locks of love hanging on the wall of the terrace attached to it. But of course, I was only here for the view. To get to N Seoul Tower/Namsan Tower, you can either ride on a cable car or by walking. You can also choose to either go for a round-trip or one-way trip for the cable car. Me and friends decided to go for the one-way up, and go down the hill by walking. The view on our journey down was breathtaking.
 |
| On our way to the cable car boarding place. |
 |
How marvelous it really is, all of the different things in the universe that must line up, to bring two people together. |
 |
| On our way down. |
Ehwa University
Nami Island
Labels: korea, seoul, syaftravels, wintertrip
Travel : Korea Winter Trip 2017 (Part 1)
written on Sunday, 19 February 2017 @ 03:42 ✈
Hello, mortals. Last January I went to Korea for a little travelling with my friend. Yeah, only two of us girls. It was our first time going to Korea. We went around middle of January and it was super cold. The coldest we experienced was -12°C. I thought I was gonna freeze to death there, it was almost unbearable but I managed to survive. Me and my friend, of course, we both survived.
We arrived in Incheon around 2.00pm (local time). And the place we were staying is in Itaewon called Itaewon Inn. It's a quite small, green building, and pretty near to Itaewon subway station. We stayed there throughout the whole trip within a week. We got a room located on the third floor, no elevator, but it wasn't that bad. There's a kitchen where we can cook, a rooftop where people can hang out (which is awesome), water heater (since we went there during winter, this was actually very necessary), near to a lot of halal restaurant (for Muslims) and I guess that's about it.
 |
| View from the rooftop |
About meals. We both agreed to only eat outside once a day. We both also brought our own food, so for breakfast and dinner, we eat something like bread, mushroom soup, Maggi, and porridge. We also bought nasi impit and some can food. Trust me, this will save your pocket money by a lot so you can go crazy when shopping. There are a lot of halal restaurants in Itaewon such as Eid, Makan, Siti Sarah, and some other Indian restaurants. Also there are a bunch of groceries shop that sells halal food.
 |
| We drink this banana uyu (banana uyu simply means banana milk) almost every day during our trip. It's so good. |
At night in Myeongdong starting around 5.00pm, there are a lot of food stalls selling all kinds of food such as kebab, swirly-fried potatoes, churros, cotton candy, etc. I bought this thing called Korean Dragon's Beard candy. It's basically some kind of cotton candy except rather than using machine, they use their hands to pull the sugar..with gloves of course. I heard it's famous and it's kind of an "in" thing. I saw someone posted a video about it on Twitter so I thought I should give it a try. It tastes good although it's not as soft or chewy. There are three flavours; chocolate, fruits, and almond. I think my favourite is chocolate.
Without further ado, here are the places that we managed to visit.
1. K-Star Road (Gangnam)
2. SM Town
3. Gyeongbokgung Palace
4. Bukchon Hanok Village
5. Gwanghwamun Square
6. Cheonggyecheon Stream
7. Ssamziegil Mall
8. N Seoul Tower
9. Ehwa University
10. Nami Island
11. Garden of the Morning Calm
12. Myeongdong
13. Hongdae Street
Gangnam K-Star Road & SM Town
If you ask me what is the latest and most popular song by a Kpop artist right now, I'll probably just shout "BigBang" because they're always relevant. I haven't keep myself updated with Kpop lately ever since I finished my diploma. But sometimes I do listen to their music and watch some of their dramas to brush up my Korean language a bit. Yeah, to be honest, during this trip I relied solely on my friend's confidence (she's the one who studied the train routes and directions), my ability to read hangul (thanks to Kpop, Kdrama, and third language class), and mostly our blind courage. We did get lost and almost got lost once or twice in the middle of Seoul but alhamdulillah nothing bad happened. My friend, though, is a huuuge Kpop fan. She knows almost everything related to it that I'm amazed at how much a human can do when they like or put their heart into something.
We went to K-Star Road and Korean Entertainment agencies (JYP, FNC, SM). K-Star Road is located in Apgujeong Rodeo station. It's basically like the Hollywood Walk Of Fame except along the road there are what they called gangnamdols (a form of bear sculptures dedicated to Kpop singers and actors). The weather was chilly but I could say the whole tour was adventurous.
Directions: Take the subway to Apgujeong Rodeo Station (Bundang Line in yellow), proceed to exit 2 and the whole street down is the K-Star Road.
 |
| Inda with 4Minute gangnamdol. Sorry, darl, mata you tutup but don't worry you still look cute. |
Then we went to CNBlue Jonghyun's Sulbing Korean Dessert Cafe in Sillim to celebrate our first tour in Seoul and also having my first bingsu ever. And I just happen to always have a thing for Jonghyun hehe. Bingsu is a Korean dessert which is popular during summer and basically like our ais kacang or ABC (air baru campur). But instead of using shaved ice, they use frozen milk. You people may think "why the hell you eat shaved ice in the middle of winter you crazy". Yeah crazy awesome? People eat ice cream during winter all the time. Plus, it was yummeh.
 |
| We decided to share this bingsu as you can see, the portion is quite big. |
Directions: From Sillim Station, take Exit 6. From Exit 6, turn left. Look out for Sillim Department Store and walk straight ahead. Jong Hyun’s Sulbing Korean Dessert Cafe is located at the 2nd floor.
Gyeongbokgung Palace
One of the best things I like about Korea is their traditional culture. Therefore, Gyeongbokgung is one of the places that I looked forward to visit. Gyeongbokgung literally means "Palace of Shining Blessings". It was the main and largest palace of the five grand palaces built during Joseon Dynasty.
 |
| The pond is frozen due to cold weather. |
Bukchon Hanok Village
 |
| Just wandering around and not making any noise. |
Gwanghwamun Square
This place is located directly opposite to the Gwanghwamun Palace where we can see the statue of King Sejong the Great and Admiral Yi Sun-Shin. King Sejong was the fourth king of Joseon and the one who created hangul (Korean letters). While Admiral Yi Sun-Shin was a Korean naval commander who fought against the Japanese navy during the Imjin war.
 |
| Entrance to the underground museum. |
Some words of encouragement by Admiral Yi Sun-Shin that caught me.
 |
| "Don't succumb to despair and disappointment!" |
 |
| "You will win for sure if you fight at your peril!" |
Cheonggyecheon Stream
Before it was restored in 2005, Cheonggyecheon Stream existed only as a neglected waterway hidden by an overpass. It is actually around 10km long but we didn't walk until the end of the stream.
 |
| We stopped by the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) which located somewhere along the stream. |
 |
| Prayer rooms for muslims are located on the 3rd floor. |
(Part 2)
Labels: korea, seoul, syaftravels, wintertrip
|
Travel: Korea Winter Trip 2017 (Part 2)
written on Saturday, 25 March 2017 @ 21:16 ✈
Ssamziegil Mall (Insadong)
Ssamziegil is a retail center located in Insadong with four floors of fashion, art, and home goods shops around an open, central courtyard. What's interesting about this place is the poop cafe. Yes, poop cafe. You can't visit Ssamziegil without trying the poop bread! There's a food stall selling the poop bread on the ground floor.
|
| Insadong |
N Seoul Tower
Direction to the cable car service: Get off at Myeong-dong Station (Seoul Subway Line 4) and Exit 3.
Walk for about 15 minutes following the street on the right side of the Pacific Hotel. The cable car boarding place will be seen ahead.
What's famous about this tower is the countless locks of love hanging on the wall of the terrace attached to it. But of course, I was only here for the view. To get to N Seoul Tower/Namsan Tower, you can either ride on a cable car or by walking. You can also choose to either go for a round-trip or one-way trip for the cable car. Me and friends decided to go for the one-way up, and go down the hill by walking. The view on our journey down was breathtaking.
|
| On our way to the cable car boarding place. |
|
How marvelous it really is, all of the different things in the universe that must line up, to bring two people together. |
|
| On our way down. |
Ehwa University
Nami Island
Labels: korea, seoul, syaftravels, wintertrip
Travel : Korea Winter Trip 2017 (Part 1)
written on Sunday, 19 February 2017 @ 03:42 ✈
Hello, mortals. Last January I went to Korea for a little travelling with my friend. Yeah, only two of us girls. It was our first time going to Korea. We went around middle of January and it was super cold. The coldest we experienced was -12°C. I thought I was gonna freeze to death there, it was almost unbearable but I managed to survive. Me and my friend, of course, we both survived.
We arrived in Incheon around 2.00pm (local time). And the place we were staying is in Itaewon called Itaewon Inn. It's a quite small, green building, and pretty near to Itaewon subway station. We stayed there throughout the whole trip within a week. We got a room located on the third floor, no elevator, but it wasn't that bad. There's a kitchen where we can cook, a rooftop where people can hang out (which is awesome), water heater (since we went there during winter, this was actually very necessary), near to a lot of halal restaurant (for Muslims) and I guess that's about it.
|
| View from the rooftop |
About meals. We both agreed to only eat outside once a day. We both also brought our own food, so for breakfast and dinner, we eat something like bread, mushroom soup, Maggi, and porridge. We also bought nasi impit and some can food. Trust me, this will save your pocket money by a lot so you can go crazy when shopping. There are a lot of halal restaurants in Itaewon such as Eid, Makan, Siti Sarah, and some other Indian restaurants. Also there are a bunch of groceries shop that sells halal food.
|
| We drink this banana uyu (banana uyu simply means banana milk) almost every day during our trip. It's so good. |
At night in Myeongdong starting around 5.00pm, there are a lot of food stalls selling all kinds of food such as kebab, swirly-fried potatoes, churros, cotton candy, etc. I bought this thing called Korean Dragon's Beard candy. It's basically some kind of cotton candy except rather than using machine, they use their hands to pull the sugar..with gloves of course. I heard it's famous and it's kind of an "in" thing. I saw someone posted a video about it on Twitter so I thought I should give it a try. It tastes good although it's not as soft or chewy. There are three flavours; chocolate, fruits, and almond. I think my favourite is chocolate.
Without further ado, here are the places that we managed to visit.
1. K-Star Road (Gangnam)
2. SM Town
3. Gyeongbokgung Palace
4. Bukchon Hanok Village
5. Gwanghwamun Square
6. Cheonggyecheon Stream
7. Ssamziegil Mall
8. N Seoul Tower
9. Ehwa University
10. Nami Island
11. Garden of the Morning Calm
12. Myeongdong
13. Hongdae Street
Gangnam K-Star Road & SM Town
If you ask me what is the latest and most popular song by a Kpop artist right now, I'll probably just shout "BigBang" because they're always relevant. I haven't keep myself updated with Kpop lately ever since I finished my diploma. But sometimes I do listen to their music and watch some of their dramas to brush up my Korean language a bit. Yeah, to be honest, during this trip I relied solely on my friend's confidence (she's the one who studied the train routes and directions), my ability to read hangul (thanks to Kpop, Kdrama, and third language class), and mostly our blind courage. We did get lost and almost got lost once or twice in the middle of Seoul but alhamdulillah nothing bad happened. My friend, though, is a huuuge Kpop fan. She knows almost everything related to it that I'm amazed at how much a human can do when they like or put their heart into something.
We went to K-Star Road and Korean Entertainment agencies (JYP, FNC, SM). K-Star Road is located in Apgujeong Rodeo station. It's basically like the Hollywood Walk Of Fame except along the road there are what they called gangnamdols (a form of bear sculptures dedicated to Kpop singers and actors). The weather was chilly but I could say the whole tour was adventurous.
Directions: Take the subway to Apgujeong Rodeo Station (Bundang Line in yellow), proceed to exit 2 and the whole street down is the K-Star Road.
|
| Inda with 4Minute gangnamdol. Sorry, darl, mata you tutup but don't worry you still look cute. |
Then we went to CNBlue Jonghyun's Sulbing Korean Dessert Cafe in Sillim to celebrate our first tour in Seoul and also having my first bingsu ever. And I just happen to always have a thing for Jonghyun hehe. Bingsu is a Korean dessert which is popular during summer and basically like our ais kacang or ABC (air baru campur). But instead of using shaved ice, they use frozen milk. You people may think "why the hell you eat shaved ice in the middle of winter you crazy". Yeah crazy awesome? People eat ice cream during winter all the time. Plus, it was yummeh.
|
| We decided to share this bingsu as you can see, the portion is quite big. |
Directions: From Sillim Station, take Exit 6. From Exit 6, turn left. Look out for Sillim Department Store and walk straight ahead. Jong Hyun’s Sulbing Korean Dessert Cafe is located at the 2nd floor.
Gyeongbokgung Palace
One of the best things I like about Korea is their traditional culture. Therefore, Gyeongbokgung is one of the places that I looked forward to visit. Gyeongbokgung literally means "Palace of Shining Blessings". It was the main and largest palace of the five grand palaces built during Joseon Dynasty.
|
| The pond is frozen due to cold weather. |
Bukchon Hanok Village
|
| Just wandering around and not making any noise. |
Gwanghwamun Square
This place is located directly opposite to the Gwanghwamun Palace where we can see the statue of King Sejong the Great and Admiral Yi Sun-Shin. King Sejong was the fourth king of Joseon and the one who created hangul (Korean letters). While Admiral Yi Sun-Shin was a Korean naval commander who fought against the Japanese navy during the Imjin war.
|
| Entrance to the underground museum. |
Some words of encouragement by Admiral Yi Sun-Shin that caught me.
|
| "Don't succumb to despair and disappointment!" |
|
| "You will win for sure if you fight at your peril!" |
Cheonggyecheon Stream
Before it was restored in 2005, Cheonggyecheon Stream existed only as a neglected waterway hidden by an overpass. It is actually around 10km long but we didn't walk until the end of the stream.
|
| We stopped by the Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) which located somewhere along the stream. |
|
| Prayer rooms for muslims are located on the 3rd floor. |
(Part 2)
Labels: korea, seoul, syaftravels, wintertrip
|
about
“I have a deeply hidden and inarticulate desire for something beyond the daily life.”
- Virginia Woolf
Name : Syafiqah
Age : 25
Hometown : Kajang, Selangor
Current city : Kuala Lumpur
Interests : Books, food, music, collecting memories, clever humor, arts, mysteries.
Hi! So there's nothing much going to be around here. I read a lot. I read almost everything that has print on it. Everything from flowery romance to pretentious fiction to poetry. If you came here to stalk on my activities, then you've came to the wrong place. There's a special place for that but I'm not gonna speak of it here. Here is the place where I rant about books (mostly), musics, tv shows, movies, foods, and my personal opinion about all kind of stuff which I would like to share. I don't really share in real life, especially food. But I'll make this an exception (i'll share the pictures of food). So if you don't mind reading my rambles, fair warning; you may not be able to understand a single word I'm going to say because of my overflowing emotions. But just take the chance anyways. Oh this isn't a diary, just so you know.
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doorgifts
links exchanged opened! just tag me but link me first
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link
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