My Seoul Style

Hi everyone!

So here's the picture for Mission #3 of the Global Seoul Mates... My Seoul Style in Mexico, Amsterdam and Rome :)

EnjoyKpop

Hi everyone!

As you know right now I'm in Italy but since its 4am and I can't sleep anymore I thought I should blog (haha), so I'm so sorry about not adding the links correctly or the pictures being all together at the end... I'm blogging from my Iphone and I can't edit properly :( but here it goes...

A couple weeks ago I was invited to join the site EnjoyKpop.com since you already know I like Kpop (Oh God why!), I decided to join and see what was going on since I notice my Facebook TL to be filled with EnjoyKpop's links... I was then pointed to this website's administrator Mateo Hwang and I contacted him to find out more about this website and himself as it turns out he speaks Spanish and has a Youtube channel with Korean Lessons in Spanish!

So check out a little of what he has to say about EnjoyKpop and all of you Kpopers out there joing this site for more Kpop related fun!

What do I need to access EnjoyKpop (twitter/ Facebook/ an account/ etc)

You can register EnjoyKpop through 'Twitter, Facebook, Google and Me2day. Also you can simply sign in EnjoyKpop but to upload your photos and video, you need to access through Facebook and Youtube.

What can I do on this website?

1. You can make various friends from different countries.
2. You can easily share your interests with the members because they are interested in K-POP and Korean culture.
3. You can show off your talents through videos or photos.(K-pop cover video, drawing, singing etc.) for a Kpop Battle!

Does EnjoyKpop has an App for iPhone or Android?

We already have the application for iPhone and Android. You can download it in the app market.
G-*I've downloaded the EnjoyKpop App for iPhone and it's very easy to navigate + is purple haha*

Background and plans for EnjoyKpop

The original idea was from the previous model 'iBoast'. The concept of the website was too overall and so the project had to stop a year ago.

Then a new project, EnjoyKpop has come out since January and the project started. We had a lot of difficulties. However, finally we opened the 'EnjoyKpop.com (Beta version) on 12th Sep, 2012.

EnjoyKpop will be renewed again and again, so we call it a beta version at the moment.

We will have some events soon in this month(Nov, 2012). We wish many people come and participate with us.

G-*I will let you know about this events once We have more information!!*

Mateo Hyojin Hwang

I was born and raised in Korea. I studied Spanish Language and Latin American studies at University.
At the time, I studied a year in Madrid (Spain) as an exchange student.
I worked for some other companies. During that time, I worked in Monterrey for a while.
Until this day I cannot forget the taste of taco. I miss it now so much.
I am very interested in any genre of music, art and sport; K-POP, classical, electronic, flamenco, salsa, drawing, Xgame, Skateboarding etc.

Mateo's Youtube channel

I wanted to give some free lessons for the people who are interested in Korean culture so I made some small video clips. I didn't make many videos but sooner or later I will upload more my videos.

Mateo usually promotes his videos through his FB page, if you are interested you can add him HERE.

As you can see Mateo is really compromised with the project and Kpop, he is a very nice guy and will always reply to your questions if needed!

So, let's join EnjoyKpop and why not? Show your Kpop skills for a battle!

-Gisela V.

UPDATE!!

Nowadays, They opened two events; “Friend Invitation Event" & "Gangnam Style World Battle"

They will give away iPad mini and iPod nano etc.

Check out the Gangnam Style World Championship video in Youtube.

Vacations!

Hi everyone!

I'm currently on vacations, just landed in Italy 2hours ago, I have a post ready for you but looks like it will be a bit complicated to edit the pictures now... So I guess I won't be blogging much for the next couple of weeks... Meanwhile enjoy this selca I took in Amsterdam... Because selcas while on vacation are fun kkkk

-Gisela

WKB Tour - Day 4

We woke up early and had breakfast at the Guest House :) I can only remember eating rice, soup and banchan but I don't recall exactly what it was, I was still sleepy and I didn't have any cameras with me to document my food haha, we packed all of our stuff and were told our bus had arrived.... OUR BUS!....because we are cool like that we didn't have a VAN...nop we had a WHOLE bus forthe 11 of us... it was like being a Rockstar (Ok no) hahaha... I still remember Grace feeling shy telling us we were not taking a small bus or a van but a bus.... I know we all liked it :D

Last group pic  @ Hanok / Bus!

Before taking the bus we were invited to have some Tea with the Guest House'owner at the main House (room?...construction?), we got there and she told us a little bit about the history behind the Hanok, his ancestors and the Tea wewere drinking, if you read my last post you probably read KoreanClassMassive'spost about the Guest House (pretty informative, huh?), we were told that the tea we were drinking was a special mix made by the owner itself :) , we all had a cup of Tea and then a tour through the House... it's impressive how it's made, you can find divissions on 1 floor that will make it 2 very short floorsO_O (You know what I mean, right??....errr....sorry), after the Tour, we took some Pictures, Group pictures and pictures of us receiving a Green Tea bag as a gift from the owners we were ready for our bus and it was time to get ready for the Cameras again. You can be ready for lots and lots of shots of us going in and out of that bus....I can imagine a remix with a catchy song of us getting on/off the bus (Oh GOD why!! haha)

We had some time to rest at the bus while we were driven to Jeonju's FilmStudio Complex, this studio was opened in 2008 and consists of 2 indoor studios and outdoor sets, the place is BIG O_O ,saddly the indoor studios didn't have any sets done and were underconstruction, so we didn't really get to see an actual finished set, also...we weren't really allowed to take pictures inside. This studio is the first studioin Korea to be established by local government, some of the movies recorded in there are Ssanghwajeom (2008), Private Eye (2009), Jeonuchi (2009), BattlefieldHeroes (2010), and My Way (2011) [Apparently the Movie My Way is pretty famous,so I guess we should check it out], admission is FREE and operation hours are from Monday-Friday: 9:00-18:00.
 
Besides the 2 indoor studios, there's another building with Props of some of themovies, fake guns, knives, clothes, original scripts, fake rocks O_O, etc.... 

 

To bee honest I was not in a very good mood when we were at the Studio because some stuff there reminded me of my mom O_o and it's hard to be OK around somany people :S ....at a moment I tried to refuse to say something at the Camera because I just wasn't feeling it u_u luckily Ema (KCM) came to the rescue at that moment and joined the hmm..."interview"?  ~Thanks Ema!~

When we were done at the Film Studio we got back in the bus and went to a very cute Coffee Shop close to the Studio... this is only memorable because I had the weirdest drink you can have at a Coffee Shop... you know how I like to trynew things, right? ... well this trip was no exception, so when I was reading the menu I found the Coffee Coke.... yup.... neither of us really knew what that was (Not even Grace or the Camera crew) so I decided to order it... aftersome time I got a big Coke glass with a shot of espresso and contrary to what everyone though I wasn't hyper the rest of the day... :) ...just as a sidenote....people says the BAGELS from that shop are quite good ;)  ;)
 

Very yummy food

Once we finished our drinks we went to a convenience store to buy some drinks and we were off to Gunsan to take a Ferry to take us to Seonyu. We arrived to Gunsan to have lunch, we went inside a big building that had giant fish tanks O_O, turns out the whole building is full with Raw Fish restaurants,we went up and there was a room reserved for us (How VIP of us!), at 1st we sat on the "floor" Korean style and about 5 mins later we realized the seating wasn't very Korean Style, more like western style on the flood or as Jessica says "We had drop-down seatingon the floor, meaning that our legs could hang below us in a hollow space underneath the table. It is like sitting on a chair, but with no back,and it is very comfortable". Once we sat the food started arriving... itwas a never ending feast, Raw Fish, ALIVE OCTOPUS, sea food I was unable to identify but was brave enough to try, Sashimi, Tuna, Seaweed cones with fisheggs and vegetables, a soup we didn't get to try, Shrimps, Tempura....lots of yummy foods, the Alive Octopus is something I've read about and I still can't believe I tried it.... everything was OK until Ema and Annabel told me this story they saw on TV about people eating alive octopus and then having weird stuff growing on their mouths..... sometimes I feel things growing on my mouth.... Thank you Emabel!!!, we had to rush out (that's why we didn't get to try everything) because we had a Ferry to catch, apparently we were taking the"Fast" ferry and it would only be a 40-45min ride... I'm not a big fan of the sea in general, but the 1st half was very fun, some were trying to feed the seagulls, we were taking pictures and just being random until we were to tired to keep doing it and we all ended up seating just waiting to arrive at the Island.

When we finally arrived we were told a driver was waiting for us... it was thispretty cool truck and most of us decided to ride on the back on this tiny chairs to enjoy the view :) the weather was nice, not too hot not too moist, just perfect :) the ride to our accommodation took about 10 mins, it was next to a rocky beach and there were this wooden little houses, We would share rooms (2 people per house).

 

Amazing views of the Islands

We left our stuff and were ready to go back to the truck and it was time to takea tour through the Island, after a short drive we arrive at a bridge that connects with Janga Island, we walked and walked and walked... Did I mention Yeon and HanJeon took bikes instead of the Truck?... HanJeon went M.I.A and about 30mins later Yeon found us, he was pretty tired and you could tell he was regretting taking the bike with the Camera hahaha, we walked some more, up the hill, down the hill, pictures here and there and just when the sun was setting we were done, we walked back (I helped Yeon and took the bike back for a little while) and then took the truck back to our Houses (what?? it was my house for over 12 hours!! haha). Since we are bottomless we were ready to eat again, we chilled for a bit and then HanJeon, Yeon and Sun Ho started the fire for a BBQ, I went out and offered some help but they refused and instead offered me some meat and drinks...just a few minutes later Ema and Annabel joined me just in time forthe 1st batch of barbequed meat and little by little everyone gathered and weall had a nice dinner, barbequed meat, rice, Kimchi, Lettuce, Pork, banchan, etc... 

After we finished our food and chatted for a lil while, we were all pretty tired (it was just like 8pm) but I can say this was the best meal of the trip, I had so much fun talking to everyone, sharing stories and just chilling while listening the waves crash... we cleaned the table a little bit and went down the beach to play with fireworks :), once we were done with the fireworks we went back towere we had dined and were just talking... and guess what! about 20 mins later Yeoncame out and offered some Ramyeon....because apparently that's what you do whenyou go to the Beach / Mountains / Trips (????)... the worst is... we all ate somemore haha, after our ramyeon it was time to go to bed, we felt it was like 2amand it wasn't even 10pm!, we said goodnight and finally went to sleep, we set up our floor-beds (I was told sometimes those rooms can fit even 8-10 people O_O), I shared a room with Jessica and Grace, we all fall asleep as soon as our heads touched the pillow and that's how we ended Day 4 of our Tour.

Sorry for thee lousy pictures, I'm not good taking night pictures

-Gisela V.

BuzzKorea ~ Touch Korea Tour!

Hi everyone!

Just a quick update, BuzzKorea is having a Touch Korea Tour contest, you have to register and create your own tour for the chance to win an All expense paid trip to Korea!

I already submitted mine, so you can go vote for them here and here and I will love you forever :P

-Gisela V.

My 12 Reasons to visit Korea V 2.0

Seonyu-do Island

On January 11th I posted my12 Reasons to Visit Korea, and I wasn't really expecting to travel to Korea this year, at that moment I wasn't sure what was going to happened with my life at all.... turns out I was invited to travel to Korea on September 2012 and I managed to cross some things of my "To do" list.. so let's see what's left for me to do onmy next trip!
 
1- Food - I want to eat more Korean food, street food, drink Makgeolli, go to lots of restaurants,visit a Mexican food restaurant (I’m intrigued). Go to all those mini marts and buy crazy snacks!

This just wasn't enough....

I think I got the food section covered... on September I ate more Korean food than I should have O_O..I didn't visit a Mexican food restaurant but I can do that when I stay in Korea for LONGER!!. I did
go to many convenience stores/Mini Marts and got a bunch of Korean Snacks...that by the way didn't last long u_u haha

 
2- Busan / Incheon – Travel Around -I want to go to Seoul first and then travel around S. Korea. I would like to visit North Korea but that’s going to be way to complicated for a little while.

I met someone who lives in Busan....that counts right?? :D , and I traveled with her to Jeonju and Seonyudo!, I did travel outside Seoul so technically I can cross this out of my list... but
next time I'm definitely going to Busan!
 

Dorothea, Jessica (Lives in Busan!), Annabel, Ema, Me, Maria (Thanks KoreaNet for the pic!)

3- Visit people I met on my1st visit -I want to meet with the people I met last year (In Seoul and Mexico)and would also like to meet some of my fave K-Bloggers (stalker much?? Lol)

This was HARD!, I didn't have enough time to see some friends, although I did manage to meet JoAnna, Sanghyun and my friend Jeanette from BrandKorea!

4- Visit the Noryangjin Market - On my 1stvisit to Seoul I went to the 63 building and I could see the Noryangjin market from there but I didn’t have time to go that day since I had to meet a friend and I still regret I didn’t go back :(

This is staying on my list a little bit longer... Even thou I did ate amazing seafood in Gunsan I stillwant to visit the Noryangjin Market...the day I arrived my taxi drove right next to the market on our way tothe Hotel :O ...so close yet so far away 

5- Take my mom/sister - I want to show them why I fell in love with Korea :)

This one is hard.... Hopefully next year I'll get to travel Korea with my sister, but I'll never make it with my mom... at least not in the way I wanted :(, this trip was filled with mixed feelings for me, after my 1st visit to Korea I promised myself I would take my mom with me next time but sadly she couldn't make it and it was hard being there and think how much I wish she was with me... 

6- Do a Temple stay - Again I didn’t have enough time to do this the 1st time but the 2 temples I visited felt so peaceful…I need to do this next time.

Not enough time to do this...I still want to but I'm not sure I'll be able to make it... Waking up at4am is no problem for me but Jessica told us how she did a Temple Stay and had to do over 100 bows O_O and I'm not sure I can do that... hahaha I'll have to prepare for that...1 bow at a time I guess. 

7- Do a Korea Home stay

It wasn't a Korean Home Stay but we did stayed at a Hanok and visited Jeonju Hanok Village :)

8- Go to the Kimchi museum- What else can I say? I love Kimchi ^^

 I did it and I loved it!!!!!

9- Take cooking lessons -You know I love my Korean Food!!!

I still have to do this....(Yesterday I had my 1st homemade Bibimbap and it wasn't that bad :D )

Does it count if I made Bibimbap at home?

10- Speak more Korean -This is a MUST… Meaning I also have to study more

FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAILED!! Failed big time!... I did know more words but I'm still unable to understand or have a proper conversation.

11- House of Sharing -Would like to do some volunteer work at the House of sharing

Hopefully next year since this requires for me to stay in Korea longer than a week.

12- Take a tour through some of the “My name is Kim Sam soon” locations…. I have to!! This show got me to love Korea!!!

I don't know if I'll ever get to take this tour... but on my recent trip I did go to the Namsam Cable Car and the whole time I thought about that scene where Kim Sam Soon and Sam Shik takethe cable car n_n 

I guess it wasn't that bad,huh? ... I was only in Korea for 6 days and got to do so many things!, 

Hopefully next year I'll get to do that Volunteer work for a couple of months!

How about you?.... Do you have a list of Reasons to Visit Korea (or any other country?)

-Gisela V.