W.E.F 1st Jul

I will be officially employed under Chugai Pharmabody Research with effect from 1st of Jul.. Means, from next Monday onwards, I will be starting my new work. Everything happened in a fast pace... as 2 weeks ago, my boss told me that I will be transferred to the new company. Today is my 2nd last working day in Pharmalogicals Research.

I.feel.strange.

No one knows exactly what will happen to PLR. Rumours and guesses are all we had. The new company has a new project, a new management style, and there will have new staff as well. ZX will be coming over once she is done with rounding up the project in PLR.

Right now, there's no packing up to be done.. coz the HR allows me to hang on with my current access card. So when I know where I'm seated in the new company, I can start to bring my personal belongings over. :) My new company will be at a new building in biopolis - Synapse. It's quite a walk in the morning from the bus stop that I usually alights... Guess I have to make an effort to wake up 10mins earlier to buffer in the walking time.

Random blogging

First of all, I'm quite sad on my cooking this evening. 失水准！Then it was made worse when dear accidentally shattered the chopsticks holder that we bought from Japan's Disneyland.

But everything lit up when I discover a surprise in my wardrobe - galaxy s3! I mentioned to dear that I quite like the phone and wanted to change it for a try... And then he bought for me this. :) it's our anniversary gift!!

I love you dear!

Nature Republic Foot Peeling Mask

I was asked by my SIL to help her get any foot peeling mask from my korea trip, and this was what I bought for her (and myself) - Nature Republic Foot Peeling Mask, about 40000won for a pack of ten. (Cheaper than faceshop)

So yesterday, I decided to try it out. There's English instructions on how to use at the back of the package.

So when you first open the package, you will see 2 pieces of socks-like-plastic bags that are filled with liquid. You need to have clean feet in order to start using! I used that after I had my shower and I'm all ready to sit there and watch tv. :) For ease of walking around, you can do what I did:

• Have a rubber bands placed on both legs
• Cut along the line stated on the masks
• Place your feet into the masks
• Roll down the rubber bands to your ankles and secure the socks

According to the instructions, you have to leave the masks on for about 1 to 1.5hrs, after which, rinse off with lukewarm water. As this was my first time using, I decided to use them for only 45 mins as my feet became slightly itchy in the hot weather. Actually after I rinsed off, my soles feel very warm and I'm not very use to the feeling and I was quite worried that I am allergic/sensitive towards the masks. Luckily the hot feeling subsided after an hour.

The peeling masks have a very gentle fruity smell (and I quite like it) though my hubby said that it smells like chemical (-_-). I am supposed to see peeling skins in bits and pieces within 4-7 days. It was stated that dead skins and calluses will be removed, and after that - baby soft heels/feet once again. (I wished too!)

Right now, I think my feet is under going a change. Feeling very sensitive and smooth now. :) But there's one thing to note, the peeling masks contained a very high level of AHA and Salicyclic acid, which I think will not be suitable for preggy.

Aching neck

We switch on the aircon yesterday and cuddle to sleep. Due to the odd sleeping position, my neck is aching right now... not able to fully turn to the right side. LOL. Dear also had the same problem and he said that we shouldnt try that position again. Haha!

Then this morning, while at my office desk, I arranged my snacks corner and found a baby cockroach! Yucks! It really gave me the creeps. Asked ZX to see and she didnt dare to kill it either.. thus, it got away. After that, I took out all the things from that small corner, and noticed that there were a lot of black small droppings which I highly suspected they were the shit of the cockroaches and whatsoever. Immediately I sanitized with 70% ethanol (that's a plus point for working in science field). Sparkling clean right now.. with the cockroaches shit removed. I take this chance to do a little spring cleaning and I found a small grey spider under my keyboard. OMG! My desk is soooooo dirty! I can't imagine those people with desk that are messier than mine. -_-

Here's an image of my extremely small and miserable desk. Not very messy right? The green cap centrifuge tube right at the back is my handy 70% ethanol. LOL. Opps. You can actually see that I am blogging during office hours. Haha.. Urm, well, its incubation time for my experiment!

Seoul Trip 20-28th May Day 8

For our last day in Seoul, we went to the War Memorial of Korea that is ranked #3 in tripadvisor. hehee. Very interesting place considering it's free admission.

I'm sorry for the lack of description, but right now I'm brain dead, dont have any information or writing juices up in my head. Really should have blog/jot down daily on the activities I did. haha.. now a lot of things I cannot remember liao. Really becoming old lo.

Ok that night i think we went to Hongdae, and the place was full of pubs and bars... and of course, the famous Hello kitty cafe was right there too. 

As we were very full from our shabu shabu dinner, we didnt have any more room for desserts. Though the interior and the menu of the cafe looked really good and attracting, we decided to give up coz we were not fans of the kitty. haha.

We then head back to our hotel and pack up for the flight next day.. I bought a lot of things from faceshop, etude house, skin food etc. I really enjoyed shopping cosmetics in korea because there's a lot of freebies~! I got one full bag of samples for me to try... and most importantly, much more cheaper than Sg.

Over all, I can only say that korea is a nice place to shop and the trains are very accessible.. I felt safe there too.. I don't really like korean food.. so I have to bear with it. Also, the pple there are quite rude.. pushing and shoving (esp with the aunties).. I guess its just their culture which I dont really like too. In addition, they dont know basic English. Had to communicate through either Mandarin or Japanese. Somehow, I don't really like the people there to classify us as people from China... LOL.

That's all folks. Finally. I will return to Seoul for shopping if I have the time and money. :)

Seoul Trip 20-28th May Day 7

Back to Seoul~~ Day 7 was a bright and sunny day. Too bright that I couldnt even open my small small eyes. LOL. We went to Gyeongbokgung Palace that was said to be the most beautiful and grandest of all the five palaces in Korea.

And then the National Palace Museum is located just south of Heungnyemum Gate. You just have to pay for either admission and you can visit both places.

Next we went to Seoul Tower and queued for a very long time to take the cable car up the hill. But once we were up there, we were quite disappointed because it was very foggy and we could hardly see any views. So we stayed around at the top of the tower until we got bored and came down to start queueing to take the cable car back down the hill.

Then I saw this beautiful maple tree... that I secretly hope that I can pluck one leaf down and bring it home.. (but I didnt)

As for the night, we went to dongdaemum to walk around and guess what, we saw a korean boy band F.CUZ! Haha. I think they are not so famous lah.. but then 2 guys are really handsome lo.. typical flower boy kind... There's a lot of crazy girl fans just down below the stage.. because of the narrow sidewalk, plus not a fan of K-pop, I left quickly without taking a picture of the group.. and I regretted now. hahaha~

Dongdaemum is a shopping heaven for girls~!! but not for me lah. Didnt manage to get anything from there.. Probably because I already got it from Jeju and also Myeongdong liao. All the dresses were not suitable for me leh. Too sweet looking.. and OL type. Most importantly, I left very little strength to continue shopping...

Of course, I couldnt leave the place empty handed.. and thus in the end, I got myself a pair of rain boots. hahaa

Seoul Trip 20-28th May Day 6

Getting lazier to post my korea trip posts.. haha. But it's ok 2 more days to blog about and that's it! :)

Ok. Here's day 6. Last day in Jeju.

We head to Loveland~!!! Haha. very very interesting place. Very detailed sculptures and obscene position. A theme park that focuses on sex and positions..Will not be posting those pictures here. Otherwise people may mark my site as inappropriate material. haha. Can you imagine, even the ladies toilet handles were of the man's private area! So paiseh to hold it and push the door open! wahaha

Anyway, here's some acceptable pictures.

After that, just outside loveland there's this mysterious road.. which means, cars with their engine off, will be able to move up the slope slowly.. or water poured on the road will be flowing up the slope instead of down. Very amazing, I must say. It is caused by optical illusion. As we were free and easy couple with no cars/bus to try the off-engine stunt, I took out my water bottle and place on the road to see it rolled up. Haha. So fun!

We went to the Emart to shop around.. and I got myself some items. hhaha! So happy! We also got ourselves Jeju oranges to try (and kena chopped).. and then we walked to an underground shopping center and I bought a total of 6 pcs of clothing.. and we headed back to hotel and pack up to return to Seoul that evening.

Seoul Trip 20-28th May Day 5

Heading out to Seogwipo and some of the tourist areas surrounding it. Initially we went down to confirm with the lady boss of the hotel on how to go the place.. then, she suggested us to take an airport limousine in front of THE hotel that will take us directly to the place we wanted to go. As we were having some communications breakdown, she was saying THE hotel was only about 5 mins walk... but in the end, it was a 20-30mins walk! So far!

Nevertheless, we managed to reach our first destination - Cheonjiyeon Falls - after an hour plus ride. -_-
This waterfall is 22m high, 12m wide and 20m in depth.

Then throughout the day, it was drizzling on and off... :( 天不作美）

Upon entering the fall, we saw nice mandarin ducks...

We were slightly disappointed after reaching the falls... like there's this feeling... 就这样而已啊！Thus after hanging around for a while, we moved on to Yakcheonsa temple.

It was a very nice and quiet place and there's a huge buddha that measured 3m tall.

We then had a change of plan and we head on to the botanic garden... and we enjoyed our best at that place! There were many different types of plants and trees and themes and we had fun posing photos together. haha. (of course, only the nice ones goes to public viewing. wahaha)

And last but not least, Teddy bear museum.. though I'm not really a fan of teddy bears, I just go for the sake of being a tourist.

We had a quick walk over there as we reached 1 hour before it's closing time. So there's no time to waste. haha. It's like a waste of money lo. The souveniors there were so ex.. and we didnt manage to go outdoor coz it started raining again. -_- not a very good day for us.

After the museum, we went back and had our bbq dinner once again. :)

Seoul Trip 20-28th May Day 4

Day 4: Checked in to Goodstay Nulsong Parktel the night before. Upon reaching Jeju (new 7 wonders of nature!), it was really tough communicating to the taxi driver. No one knows where our hotel despite showing them the address.. It's not that our hotel was a ulu one, but they cant understand "Nohyung-dong".. and they only know how to read 굿스테이 늘송 파크텔 (Goodstay Nulsong Parktel). Luckily, the taxi driver was kind enough to lend us his mobile and we called the hotel using that. Then we got to our hotel, safely.

The next day, we were going to 2 places. UNESCO sites - Manjanggul Cave and Seongsan Ilculbong Peak aka Sunrise peak. The boss of the hotel was kind enough to offer us (and another pair of girls from HK) a ride to Jeju-si - Jeju Intercity Bus Terminal. He also suggested us to visit the cave first, then Seongsan. It was a half an hour ride to the bus stop near the cave, and then we need to take a taxi to the entrance.

The cave was VERY cold!! No sunlight can enter the place and thus the coldness. Everywhere was damp and there were puddles of water everywhere. It's very dark as well, though there was lamps along the pathway. It was a rough walk. No proper path, just rocks and stones. This cave is the longest lava tube in the world, formed about 2.5 million years ago. It was very long, but only 1km of its total length is for public access. It was beautiful.

Then we reached the end of our walk, everyone needs to take a picture with this particular background. It's the lava tube. It was not so amazing when we reached the end.. but we did enjoy the walk, and the coldness.

We then got out and onwards to our next destination - Seongsan! It was an hour's ride from the bus stop that we alighted... so along the ride, I took a short nap while dear dozed on and off, just in case we missed the alighting station.

Tadah~~ Here we are~! Magnificient view isnt it? Heehee. It was a tough climb up the mountain. Very steep steps... and it became narrower when you are reaching the top. There are many check points along the  climb too. If not, I guess I can't make it to the top. Haha.

So we reached the top. Very hot! Bright and sunny.... and sweaty. LOL. Didnt look that great when we were up there. Coz the perfect view will be taking a helicopter up and look down. (Got this image from googling) from top view nicer right?

Anyway, we stayed there for a while, calm down our breathless body and tired legs, we then walked down... with wobbly legs! haha. That's common for people who don't exercise at all. Weak! LOL. After we walked down, we were attracted to some people singing and we went there to take a look. It was the women divers performing! We didnt head down to see, but stood at the top, to enjoy the breeze and the view.

After that, we went back to wait for the bus. According the the schedule, we just missed a bus and have to wait for 40 mins under the sun for the next one! Thus we waited... and waited.. and my stomach started churning... so just when we waited for 39mins.. I broke the silence and said "dear, I have to go toilet and LS... if not, I cannot stand the 1.5hours journey back to the hotel..." So! Needless to say, dear was very angry.. 早不痛晚不痛。巴士来了才痛。I felt very bad and guilty.. but LS cannot wait!! Then we cant find a toilet too.. thus we have to walk all the way back to the entrance of seongsan!!! Sigh. What a bad experience~!

After the deed, we rushed back down to the bus stop and was just in time to catch the other bus which was coming 20 mins later. I cant imagine if I missed this bus too! Dear also cooled down after I apologised for x number of times..

We ended our day by having bbq at a restaurant just opp our hotel. Very cheap and nice (and we went back for the next day's dinner)!

That's it. Our mountain climbing experience. :)

Seoul Trip 20-28th May Day 3

Day 3: Bukchon Hanok Village.

This village was said to be the largest cluster of privately owned traditional wooden homes in Seoul with about 600 years of history. There's no admission fee, just endless of steep slope climbing and photo taking views. As the place is residential area, we need to keep our voices down.

Before the start of the long, tedious walk, we managed to take a map with recommended trail walk and photo stops... But the entire journey was too long to complete~!

Nevertheless, after walking and walking, all the houses suddenly looked the same to me, just like picture above. haha. What does that means? We were tired and time to head back!!

We then head to Myeongdong for lunch and also catching Nanta Show. Everywhere was Etude house, Holika holika, skin food etc... It's literally everywhere! Crazy! Very tempted to buy, but restrained again. We walked around trying to find Nanta Myeongdong Theatre but ended up a bit lost. I stopped by a hotel and grabbed a food map for Myeongdong in Japanese.. and that's when my basic japanese course didnt failed me. I understood the map! LOL. Thus we went to have ginseng chicken according to the map, and we were able to locate our theatre too. I think we had been to a tourist trap restaurant as the food there was expensive. Nevertheless, I pulled out the map and continue reading and found that I will have a 5% discount if I present the map upon paying!! I'm so proud of myself to be able to figure out Japanese. Wahaha.

After our lunch, we headed down to watch the non-verbal cookin show recommended by tripadvisor. Very nice indeed! Funny and interactive. They actually came to singapore to perform before. :)

Last but not least, after the show, we back to our hotel and head to Gimpo airport... heading on to Jeju next! Bye Seoul, for now. 

Seoul Trip 20-28th May Day 2

Tadah~~ day 2.  Had our breakfast at paris baguette before going to Lotte world. I like the cup! Makes me happy. hehe. The round round thing (forgot it's name) was very nice! Chewy exterior and warm potato fillings. :)

We went to Lotte world (instead of everland coz it's nearer). When we reached the place, Jamsil station, we were welcomed by this beautiful fountain.. (according to KK's friend, it was a replica from Rome)

We headed on and saw some self service kiosks for entrance tickets and hence decided to buy our tickets there.. We were figuring out how to use credit card to pay for the tickets until a Korean auntie came up to us and wanted to sell us tickets. As we were not sure about the authenticity of the tickets, we told her we couldnt understand her and we walked away to find the ticket booths (coz after 2 tries, we just couldnt get to buy the tickets with credit card). In the end, we were given discounts for couples entering the Lotte world. Lucky! If not we will have bought the original pricing for the self service kiosk. :)

This is indoor Lotte world. Outdoor was too bright and sunny and we couldnt stand the heat. Thus after walking around, we went back to indoor. Right in the middle of the indoor world, there's an ice-skating rink too (Separate charges though)! We walked around taking pictures and played some non-exciting rides. I'm too weak for thrill rides. Then there's a folk museum at Lotte world and thus we went for it. Very nice~! Miniatures sculptures were all very well done, telling us the history of korea.

A very nice painting, but the security guard spoils the picture. -_-

A miniature of a castle... I forgot which one.. Though it's "miniature, it was still a large scale. Need to go up higher grounds to take the full pic!

After visiting the museum, we went back to Lotte world... we concluded that the place is not interesting if you don't take rides... or if you don't have any children with you. There's a lot of child friendly rides and activities...Then we watched the stage performance.... (above pic - quite lame)

And then waited for the parade... 

And saw this cute little baby. haha. Funny expressions~!

According to the schedule put up at Lotte world, there's supposed to be a light show at night... we didnt wait for that show because we find that it was probably not worth a 2 hours wait. haha~~ just as we were leaving, we chanced upon this Pororo world, took a picture of it and left. :)

Conclusion: I still like disneyland.

Seoul Trip 20-28th May Day 1

We departed from Singapore at 0800hr and arrived at Seoul around 1535hrs on the 20th May. After clearing immigration, we had to walk a long way to take a train to our destination : Jongno-3-ga. Travelling time = 1hr 15mins. 屁股都要开花了。。。

We couldn't find our hotel when we first exited the station.... Everywhere's in Korean language. Very tourist unfriendly. No one speaks English too.. but you can try your luck in speaking in mandarin and japanese. Nevertheless, we managed to find our way after going the wrong way.. LOL.

We spent our first 2 nights at Jongno Amare Hotel - A typical love hotel. Haha. Open concept toilet with a big Jacuzzi tub, huge TV with programmes all in HD! This hotel has very good service. Besides friendly and helpful staff, they had 2 desktops (OS is in korean) in the room (thus, free wifi) and free drinks in the minibar. As they are supposed to be a love hotel, they don't provide any breakfast. However, there's complimentary coffee (from coffee machines and not those cheapo types) right at the side of the reception area. :) Here's a pic on part of our room.

After putting down our luggage and rest for a bit, we went out to Insadong - within walking distance from our hotel. So convenient! Took a lot of pictures but only selected a few to post here. There were a lot of street vendors and we were even lucky to saw a lotus lantern festival parade while we were up at this special, artistic building.

There was also a little corner with lots of love notes tied to the fence. Some were even found on the trees nearby. Very colorful and romantic~!

After the parade, we headed down to the street and walked back to our hotel area to have our dinner. Our first korean meal - cold noodles with bulgogi pork. The meat was nice.. and noodles were VERY chewy.. but I just didn't like the extreme coldness of the noodles. I prefer Cha/Zaru Soba though. LOL.

Oh, the left corner pic was a package of roasted chestnuts. It's selling everywhere too. They looked big and tasty.. but when I bought to try after dinner.. it was very dry and semi-sweet only. Felt cheated. Haha.

Last picture of this post.. I bought foot cream to use first coz my heels were cracking.. and 3 hairclips from a street vendor. Mine is the red one! I'm giving the other 2 to my nieces (sis's one). Refrained from purchasing too much from those cosmetics shop, coz they are everywhere and I will leave it to the last day. :)

P.S : All photos were taken and edited by my dear. :)