I’m going for surgery tomorrow. Haunted with nervousness and heavy workload.
Was attending a friend’s wedding dinner then questions of “when are you going to have baby” arose.
For someone with illnesses I am so sick of this question. Yet I try my best to smile and say “hmm I’m not sure though”.
Maybe it’s the anxiety that makes me feel so agitated. Bear with me. Two more days I shall be fine!
It has been an eventful period for me and it was a roller coaster ride.
Made some tiny and huge decisions, and made someone whom I used to call a teammate leave.
Be strong enough to hold on if it’s worth it. 🎈
And be strong enough to let go if it isn’t. 👋🏻
抓住該抓住的，放開該放開的。🎈
Since I was young I had severe joint and cartilage inflammation hence my younger days were filled with lots of pain and tears.
I have always been an active person so I couldn’t just pretend to be a couch potato. LOL!
After lots of nagging sessions by my elder sister I have finally given up on running, and brisk walk instead.
Surprisingly studies do prove that brisk walking brings better health benefits than running does. Phew! Hehehe..
Drenched in sweat. But the white shirt does not expose my black sports bra. Amazing.
I think I looked like a Japanese today.
“The effects on participants, who were aged 18 to 80, were observed over a period of six years.
Running reduced the risk of heart disease by 4.5% while walking reduced it by 9.3%.
Calorie for calorie, walking also had a stronger impact on heart disease risk factors. The risk of first-time high blood pressure was reduced by 4.2% by running and 7.2% by walking.
First-time high cholesterol risk was lowered by 4.3% by running and 7% by walking.
The risk of first-time diabetes was reduced by about 12% by both walking and running.”
So, let’s walk!
By the way I was wearing Uniqlo sportswear today. The shirt did not embarrass me by becoming “transparent” because of my sweat. So happy!
I literally have no idea of what to post but I really wish to write something.
Hehe…
Til I blog again!
Love,
Nee.
Annyeong!
I cancelled off Nami Island during our previous Seoul trip because I struggled so much on purchasing an ITX (long journey) train ticket to Gapyeong. I didn’t figure out that we could have used the regular subway to travel the distance so we gave up on it in the end.
After studying thoroughly, my plan to purchase ITX has been cancelled as I am more of a spontaneous traveler hence I prefer not to prefix my travel time. In the end, we took the subway route and made it to Gapyeong safely, and comfortably!
Zipwire to Nami!
Yo! In the bus!
Spot Malaysia’s flag!
Can I not leave this place?
Nami island sausage.
Write your wish on a piece of paper, press it hard and the melted ice will stick your wish!
Frozen pond.
Winter sonata!
Make a wish and stack a rock on a pile of them.
Frozen lake.
Beautiful balloons!
Romantic shot on Valentine’s day.
Then we headed to Petite France! Running man came here before so do I! Hehe…
Tadah! Petite France!
I really love reading the Little Prince.
A quiet spot.
Tried so hard to convince Little Prince to go home with me.
Kiiiicak! Come let’s take a selfie!
Keep digging my bag. LOL.
A tinge of sadness in this girl.
Aim for a star and you will end up getting a bulb!
Soon the sun started to set. Awww then darkness approached. Then we hopped on the tour bus again and went to Garden of the Morning Calm.
It was very very amazingly beautiful but it was way too cold. I couldn’t help but shiver and jumping up and down.
Didn’t expect them to be so beautiful!
Pink lane!
The Golden Tunnel.
The shiny tree.
Tall grass. hehe.
It was a very tiring day but it was a fun-filled day! All the three spots were so beautiful.
We took the bus towards Cheongpyeong station and took the subway from Cheongpyeong station as it was the nearest from Garden of the Morning Calm.
Gotta come again!
Annyeonghaseyo! So finally we have reached Seoul! So how did we manage to teleport ourselves from Busan? We took SRT to travel the distance hence we could reach Suseo directly instead of Yongsan so it was nearer to Gangnam, where we were staying.
Pig Brown with us!
Quick breakfast before catching the train!
SRT and KTX are both located at the same place. All we need to do is to reach the Busan Station. Through Metro, take Line 1 to Busan Station and walk towards the direction indicating KTX station. They are both different buildings and you need to leave the Metro Busan Station and walk towards KTX Busan station. There is an information counter and if you are having heavy luggage with you, the personnel will lead you to the elevator. No worries! =)
You will need to see this building to board KTX or SRT trains. Not my picture as it was too cold to take any picture hehe..
You can see Korail train just beside SRT train tracks. =)
We bought our very super yummy brunch from Paris Baguette and I am so impressed by their packaging! So thoughtful and so easy to handle! And to be honest it is crazily yummy! Chicken sandwich. Yes, we are allowed to eat in the train. =)
It was a really comfortable ride and not too expensive but the major drawback was the railway company does not offer English version of the website so it can be awfully hard for foreigners. I did it with the help of my Korean chingu! 🙂
Let’s move on to: Hanbok day! Yay! So we finally got to try on Hanbok rented from Gowonsol Hanbok. The hanbok shop is located very near to Gyeongbukgong and it was easy to search for it. The shop owners are friendly and they provided accurate directions to their shop. They have huge selections of hanboks and they all look so new and clean! If you are interested, do drop them a Facebook message, they are friendly and nice. Owh, but reservation is necessary! Don’t forget that!
2hours rental price – KRW 10000
4hours rental price – KRW 15000
With the paid fee, you are entitled to wear Hanbok, headpiece, a cloth ribbon, handbag and in winter, we were being offered with free vest but I did not take it as it made me look bulky hehe..
With Hanbok on, we went to 삼백집 (Sambaekjib) to have 콩나물국밥 (bean sprout soup). Sambaekjib is located just in front of exit 4 of Metro Gyeongbokgung station. They serve really light and hearty bean sprout soup and it was so warm! It gave us all the HEAT that we needed inside.
Crazy people in the restaurant. JiYeon was wearing the vest! So sweet!
Chingu and I.
They love raw eggs so they scooped it out before it gets too cooked. But I don’t like raw egg haha.. There is a white jar of salted beef it tastes so yummy but so salty! I love salty food keke..
Just a few steps away it was Gyeongbokgong!
Excuse me! The King wants to cross the road! *hahahahahahahaha laugh die me*
Fai became the KING and he was getting ready to hunt for animals. *the store owner said the King wore this outfit to hunt animals in the forest.*
Two cuties.
I wasn’t ready for pictures as I hadn’t remove my coat but the tourists kept requesting for photos with us. We became celebrity!
I really love this picture so much!
Modern and traditional fashion.
Like, enemies coming! ahaha..
This is so hilarious!
The shop owner (sajangnim) tied the red cloth ribbon for me. So sweet!
After playing for FOUR HOURS, we returned our Hanbok and we went to visit Sejong the Great. I missed out seeing him during my previous visit so I was so happy to see him. There is a “Story of King Sejong” located at the underground level. Do drop by if you wish to know him better. Entrance fee was free.
The great king who invented Hangul system.
I was deeply impressed at how liberal or democratic the South Korea’s government is. Citizens are allowed to protest and voice their political thoughts. Protests were carried out at Gwanghwamun, in front of the statue of Admiral Yi Sun Shin.
We can’t do this here. 😀
Memorial booth was set up in the remembrance of the Ferry victims. It was so heartbreaking to see them.. 😦
Soon, we left and headed to the Yellow Cafe featuring BANANA MILK by Binggrae located in Hyundai City Outlets. Take the metro to Dongdaemun History & Culture Park station, walk towards exit 14. Continue to walk straight for around 3 minutes, turn left and walk for 1 minute, Hyundai City Outlets will be on your right. Take the escalator and go down to B2F and you will see Yellow Cafe.
Huge banana milk!
I ordered black tea banana milk latte. Yums!
We had a good chat there and it was really awesome to spend some time with JiYeon. Then we headed to Gwangjang Market to have our dinner, the Korean way. It was freezing cold outside so we boarded a cab (KRW3000) to Gwangjang Market.
Through Metro, take Subway Line 1 to Jongno 5-ga Station and exit from Exit 7. The most famous food is bindaetteok (mung bean pancake) and tteokboki.
Entrance of Gwangjang Market.
Ahjumma stacking bindaetteok.
Ahjumma selling Mayak Kimbap. Mayak means addictive poison but of course it has no poison! Hehehe.
Mayak kimbap, tteokboki and bindaetteok. The tteokboki was made of rice, not flour! So soft and chewy like I never had such wonderful tteokboki before. The long benches were heated with heater! Woooooo~ hot buttocks!
Then we headed to Dongdaemun Design Plaza to enjoy the LED roses. Whoaaaaa~~~The direction is: Metro Line 2,4, 5 Dongdaemun History & Culture Park Station exit 1, 2.
Whoaaaaaa~~~ #noedit #nofilter
So coldddddd~
Admiring at the beauty of the roses.
So we went home and waved goodbye to JiYeon. Awwwwwww so miss her!!
We had a good rest and we planned a shopping spree the next day. Hehe.
Night night!
Annyeong!
Til I blog again.
Love,
Yanni.
Yoohooo! So here comes day 2 of our Busan trip. To be honest I think that we need at least 3 full days to explore Busan as we couldn’t make it to all the places that we wished to go. But it is okay, the most important element of the trip is to enjoy and relax.
We got up at our own pace, then we were ready to head to Gamcheon Culture Village. Just a shallow background about Gamcheon: it is actually a village which resides the poorest people in Busan. The Government then launched projects and improvised it and infused artistic components to this village and now it has become a tourist spot.
Gamcheon Culture Village 감천문화마을
Get to your nearest subway station and head to Toseong Station (Busan Subway Line 1), Exit 8. When you come out from exit 8, walk towards the direction of Busan National University Cancer Center which requires to do a right turn, there will be a bus stop. Take local bus Saha 1-1, Seogu 2 or Seogu 2-2 to Gamcheon Elementary School Bus Stop. The bus will stop at the exit of the Gamcheon Culture Village. Do search nearby for the entrance (on the right) so that you need not to climb the stairs to meet the Little Prince. Do get a map attached with a stamp booklet at the nearby information counter at the price of KRW2,000.
One of the many photo zones!
Yippee!
The wind almost blown us away!
What a beautiful view!
The cafe was just beside the bus stop. The sodas were free. Hehe..
Nice view while enjoying food.
Dangerous but it is so worthwhile!
Awwww… Finally!
To return from Gamchon Culture Village, hop on the buses stated above, and the bus stop is just opposite the stop you arrived. It was so cold but the buses were always full so we boarded a cab and said “Toseok-yok juseyo!” then the fee was KRW3000. KRW3000 seem to be the minimum fare for short distances. Fairly reasonable I think. Considering the super cold weather.
Then we decided to go for a short shopping spree since it was so cold outside. We went to Shinsegae Centum City. To get there, take Busan Subway Line 2 to Jangsan direction, and get down at Centum City. Fai bought Adidas tubular shoes and I bought a nice Puma sweater. With happy hearts and smiles, we went back to our accommodation to unload our stuff.
To get there, take Line 1, to Sinpyeong direction get down at Jagalchi station. Exit through exit 10, walk straight. At the second street, 자갈치로37번길 Jagalchi-ro 37-gil, turn right. You will walk under the Jagalchi Market sign over the road. Walk for three blocks. The road will curve to the left in front of the market. It is a multi-storey building and it is an indoor market. I questioned myself so many times before going in and the cold wind pushed me in.
WHOAAAA!
The sausage-like thing was still living and moving. Very geli..
Abalone, eel, sea pineapple….
Everyone was aggressive in inviting you to have a meal at their stalls. That was the most distressing part. As we dare not to look at anyone. Hahah..
The locals made us feel like we were real locals. Hehe..
They were served first.
Very different from our Malaysia’s sweet corn. It was combination of hard and sticky. Not my liking.
Steamed abalone. Fresh. No fishy smell. Awesome.
When the raw fish first came I was like.. OH MY GOODNESS I CAN’T! Then the boss of the stall saw my lost face and he made a “sample wrap” and fed me! Awww… I was so happy and touched as I know that Korean elders will feed the younger ones to show their love for them. Kamsahamnida!! 🙂 🙂
I have to give credits to the special dipping sauce made by ahjumma. It has gochujang and onions and chilli and the invisible ingredients. Everything became ultra delicious after dipping it! OMG!
Sashimi! And octopus. And white kimchi.
I really love octopus so much but there was only LIVING octopus in the menu. I did the octopus flipping their tentacles and the Ahjumma said yes yes they are still alive. I begged her to serve fried octopus (nakji bokkeum) and she said oh no no it needs to be eaten raw.
Then she came back and said to me. Okie, for you I will cook it so that you can enjoy. Awwwww!!!! And she knows that we are foreigners so she didn’t cook it with Gochujang (red pepper paste) and I was utterly grateful for that. What lovely people they are!
Perfect combination.
Grilled eel. In Korea, they believe that guys should eat eels and it makes the particular organ strong. *you know what*
My favorite leaf! So yummehhhh!
Receipt.
The ahjumma and ahjusshi’s stall was C54. They were really nice and ahjumma’s cooking was fantastic. It was the best meal ever in the whole trip!
I have to say that Busan people are friendly and helpful eventhough they can’t speak English language. After the dinner, we went home and rested well.
Goodnight! Jjaljayo!
Annyeong!
Til I blog again. 🙂
Love,
Yanni
Annyeong!
So sorry for the delay and so I will be sharing my Day 3 of our autumn Hokkaido trip!
On 3rd day, we went to Noboribetsu Hell Valley (Jigokudani, 登别地狱谷). We were first greeted by the sulphur smell then I started to feel so excited.
90 meters to Hell Valley. Welcome!
First sight: WOW!!! Those smokes are steam!
Looks like sweet cherries. Yum yum. (DO NOT EAT)
Danger: Keep Out.
It was so cold so cold so smelly but so amazing.
The end of the trail.
The magnificent Hell Valley. How can it be named as Hell. It should be heaven!
The sun is rising! Good morning!
Fai, my husband.
It is so precious to have this peaceful shot as minutes ago it was flooded with tourists.
Wefie is a must-do-thing!
After spending some quality time admiring at the beauty of Noboribetsu Hell Valley, we then headed to Noboribetsu Ninja Village.
The red tree caught my eyes!
Vending machine everywhere, literally everywhere!
It was so cold and my head wanted to burst. LOL.
There were two ninjas but this ninja was more popular. Kekeke..
Ninja! Not ninja turtle. XD
Traditional show. Emm. I will rate 1/10.
Entering the world of monsters! Aww..
Four of us. I like my beanie. With ears!
Yellow gingko leafs. Pretty!
Mom took this shot. Nice!
Fai, my instagram husband helped me to take this shot. 😀
It was autumn but seriously so cold so cold.
Then we had a shabu shabu lunch. And headed to Sapporo! Yay!!
Bumped into Sapporo TV tower accidentally.
Keke..
Then we headed to Tanukikoji Shopping street of Sapporo. No pictures of shopping as we were so busy shopping! LOL.
This bakery produces awesome cheese tarts.
These sinful yet heavenly cheese tarts! OMO!
Rate: 10/10. Crispy crust. Not too sweet. Molten cheese under the well done skin. Cold weather. Steaming hot tart. Perfect.
Had dinner at Ippudo! Ramen tastes similar to branches in Malaysia but their fried rice is just the best fried rice on earth. OMG!
The night was so cold so cold like , SUPER COLD. Then I told Fai that it felt like it’s going to snow soon.
Ehh????? SURPRISEEE!!!!
While we were strolling around and were heading to 7-11, it started to snow!!! We were both so EGGCITED!!!!!!! Snowing in AUTUMN!
YIPPEEEEEEE!!!!
Then we both kept playing with the snow. And we went back to hotel for a good rest.
Annyeong!
Til I blog again!
Love,
Yanni
Annyeong!
In continuation of my previous blog regarding my Day 1 in Hokkaido, here comes my day 2. Day 2 was to explore Hakodate 函館市. The Hakodate Fish Market and the Hakodate Market are famous for the huge variety of fresh goods. And what left me in awe was the cleanliness of the entire market place. No smell, no stinking puddles of dirty water. I couldn’t believe that this is a place we called PASAR PAGI in Malaysia. It smells better than the market section of our Tesco or even Jusco.
Touristy shot. Hehe..
Vending machines everywhere. Red price labels are for HOT drinks. Blue for cold. Why do I need to write HOT drinks because they are so hot that made me feel that they were BOILING HOT. Hotter than our warmer hot packs.
I skipped taking nice photos of the gigantic sea creatures which were ready to be human’s food. Because my hands were shivering because of the super cold weather and because I didn’t bring my gloves because I wanted to look cool like “it’s okay”. So many because.
Our bus parked at the famous Hakodate port. Le Husband. Hehe..
Just couldn’t hide the coldness in me anymore. I need FAIYAH!!!! (fire)
Wanted to do something like Titanic, Rose and Jack. Epic fail but fun.
Bought this cute yet comfy yet cheap bandages from the Pasar. There’s a huge drug store. Wow!
My favorite Miffy! I failed to get more Miffy plasters everywhere else. So sad.
Then, we went to the Kanemori Red Brick Warehouse. Bumped into this really cute and nice cheesecakes. Small portions so that we could eat more flavors! This is amazingly nice. The bear cake was Banana Milk cake dusted with Cocoa powder. I don’t usually like banana milk. So you know I purchased and ate it because it’s such a cute BROWN bear. I just love Brown bears.
Most of the Malaysian cafe’s latte wins over this latte. I’m so sorry to point this only flaw. Keke..
Then we strolled around again. So beautiful. Beautiful autumn in such a sweet weather.
Autumn, autumn! Lovely!
My bucket list ticked. I have been wishing to witness red maple leafs blooming. Since autumn is the second spring where leafs bloom like flowers.
Behind the scene. Cold like want die right now!
Then we continued our journey to Motomachi Roman Catholic Church. So bad lah I didn’t really appreciate the beauty of the building but instead I love this view after hiking up the stairs! Beautiful scenery and so peaceful. Like: aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh~~~ Can I live here forever?
Sometimes you really need to take a seat, and enjoy the lil moments in life.
It took me 29 years to be able to sit down on a red maple tree. What a blessing.
Our japanese lunch. Yummeh!
Then we headed to Konbu Museum which I felt the only highlight was the Konbu (seaweed) soft serve. Totally not my type. So not going to upload pics. Hehehe..
Bought this from a drug store! So popular among Malaysian girls. Gonna try it, soon.
Ultimate answer for my furry furry hair when I tie my messy bun!
Then we headed to Noboribetsu and spent a night at Sekisui Tei, an Onsen (hot spring) Hotel.
Okie okie, here comes the HOT SPRING EXPERIENCE!
For a person who never been to any Onsen before, it was a scary thing to try. Again, another bucket list ticked. It was so scary that it took me so long to finally change into Yukata and took a deep breath and entered the Onsen area.
Mom and I wearing Yukata.
Wow! What a lengthy post I am writing!
LOL!
Wookie, hope you enjoyed this post and it may sparkle your interest in spending a vacay there in Hokkaido!
Annyeong, til I blog again!
Love,
Yen-Nee.
Annyeong!
I am so excited that I am back from Hokkaido! It is a really, really beautiful place that I am so going there for the years that come in my life. We followed Apple Holiday Tour so I can’t provide any help in transportation, not even entrance fee. It is my first travel without any hassle! *LOL*
I am going to share some pictures at some locations as they are just too beautiful to not share.
Chitose Airport 千岁机场
Doraemon!
Just outside the airport I saw a tiny hill of snow. Hehehe.. So rare for someone who lives in a tropical country.
Accumulation of snow. Not the white snow as I imagined. Kekekeke…
Then we headed to Mount Usu.
Just a random shot and it is so beautiful already.
Bear Ranch! The bears are so cute and smart like the dogs that we used to see! OMG!
After visiting the Bear ranch we took a ropeway to the top of Mount Usu 有珠山.
From Mount Usu. That is Lake Toya.
Then, we headed down to Lake Toya. Lake Toya is a lake that never freezes. Strong wind was howling it was crazily cold. But I couldn’t stop taking photos. It is way too amazing.
Enjoying the view by the lakeside. The ever beautiful Lake Toya.
Some kind of berry?
Then we headed to Hakodate and went up the Mountain with a cable car. Too crowded and too cold. But still, managed to snap this shot! So beautiful night view! At 5pm! So early.
Hakodate night view. The top 3 best night views in the world.
Mom and I in Yukata.
Then, we headed back to Hotel. We had a really nice stay there. It was an Onsen Ryokan and hence I managed to experience public bath and hot spring! All naked. But so comfortable especially during cold days!
My gifts and souvenirs are still in a huge mess. 😦 Forgive me for the very short and instant post!
Annyeong!
Til I blog again.
Love,
Yanni.
Annyeong!
Aww it has been so long since my previous Taipei blog!
So, on Day 3, we decided to visit Dan Shui (Tamsui 淡水)。 For breakfast, we went to Isaac Toast at ATT4FUN. Being a huge fan of Korean Isaac Toast, I scheduled to give it a try. It was quite hard to go there, so we took Uber. Uber Taipei is quite cheap and friendly and easily accessible. It was raining profusely. Ouch!
Snap a pic before going in, as they open sharply at 11am.
Lil one tried to use my camera! OH so sweet!
Tadah! Isaac Toast.
Pretty common area. My one and last pic with my tiny Line Brown bear.
Our toasts.
Passed by Pompompurin cafe!
On the way to Taipei 101.
To be honest, I still think that Isaac Toast in Seoul is the best. It tasted like a usual toast. A bit disappointed. We went to Taipei 101 to buy Lego for the lil one but sadly, the shop has been permanently closed down. Another sad news. Hehe..
In order to go to Tamsui 淡水， we need to take the Red Line (Tamsui Xinyi Line 淡水信义线）Then get down at Tamsui Station. It is pretty simple, as all you need to do is to follow the sign boards to Tamsui Old Street.
Lil one enjoyed stamping at every MRT station. Hehe..
It’s usually busy and crowded but due to the heavy rain, we just stroll at our own pace. Lots of interesting retail shops!
Rainy Dan Shui (Tamsui).
We went to a cosy souvenir shop and bought a booklet specially dedicated for stamping around!
Lil one and Me.
Pretty mural!
Famous Tie Dan 铁蛋。But I didn’t try. I am not too adventurous in food tho. Hehe.
淡水啊给。Dan Shui Ah Gei. It’s really famous but, I think it doesn’t suit my tastebuds. Hehe..
Right outside the public toilet.
Yo! Fashionistas in action!
Cute!
The rain did not fade his enthusiasm in adventuring Taiwan!
Then, we decided to visit the Alpaca cafe (OIA伊亞藝術咖啡館) which is located in Sanzhi District (三芝县）.
OIA Cafe (草泥马咖啡馆）
Okay, this Oia cafe is quite popular for the freely running around alpacas. We hopped on a bus at Tamsui Bus Station (just beside Tamsui Subway Station), and around 40mins later we arrived at Sanzhi. It was raining heavily and the wind was hitting strong. We went down the bus and I felt like crying as the wind was too strong and my entire face and body was drenched in rain water. Lil one started to cry. And we found ourselves in a very secluded place, and no sign of OIA cafe.
Husband was calm, and he used his Iphone under the rain, and found the direction to OIA. The cafe looks old and abandoned from the outside but once you push the door, Snow welcomes you without fail. I remembered that most blogs pointed out that so I was courageous enough to push the door.
Phew! We are finally safe from the heavy rain and wind and storms!
Snow biting my Adidas Jacket!
Playing with Snow.
Hello! Is my drink ready to be served?
FINALLY! Finally the little one manage to feed Snow.
The smaller Alpaca was gentle. Snow was aggressive and playful.
Expensive meal. But surprisingly delicious.
Baby girl feeling so chill.
After enjoying the Alpaca session to our hearts’ content, it was dark outside though it was about 6pm. The rain continued to shower. So the staff of the cafe helped us to call for a cab and travelled back to Taipei Xinyi area.
Playing with the music box from the souvenir shop in Tamsui.
It was a challenging day for the weather was really poor and we were travelling with kids. Anyway, we enjoyed every little moments! Lil one laughed a lot while playing with Snow. They were like real friends!
Gotta wash up and sleep early.
Annyeong! Til I blog again!
I’m flying to Hokkaido tomorrow!
Annyeong!
the jour-nee. 
