Sunday, March 25, 2007
YAY!!
Finally one of my grad tripS is settled! Will be embarking on a 7D Korea excitement trip right after the end of my TWO papers. Although the itineray states "Seven" day, day 1 is counted the moment we get on the plane. Since we are getting on the 1125pm plane, it means that by right, we are only spending 5 days in Korea. And, because of that, it also means we have to pay more for the travel insurance, since our 7D trip falls under another different category. *SIANZ*
Anyway, me and my group of friends went NATAs on Friday, and we literally went "shopping", hopping from one booth to the other, asking about the different price plans, the date of departure, the cost of the tipping, the itinerary etc etc... Chan brothers was super expensive, it was about $1500 for the 7D trip. Maybe tt's cos they drink only Korean ginseng and eat kimchi during meal times? O well, anyway, we also checked out Dynasty travel, SA, ASA, and finally Five Stars.
Initially, we checked ASA very first. There, the auntie who only responded to "xiao jie" and nothing else, told us a lot bout korea, that lotte park was under renovation, thus if the itinerary states that we will be going there, we should think twice bout it. She also told us bout the ski resort, and advised us not to go cos it was spring and there wont be snow, or any skiing to do. Moreover, we'd have to pay more to take the cable car ride up to see the scenery from the top of the hill. Armed with these info, we went to check out other tour agencies and the itinaries that they had. Having checked out the price, itinerary etc, we decided that ASA gave the best offer and were just about to place our booking when we decided to check out the very last place, Five Stars. I was rather surprised that Five stars offered tours to other countries besides just Malaysia. Over at Five Stars, we were given like five stars treatment. The attendants attended to us enthusiastically, offering us sweets, drinks snacks. There, they showed us pictures of the places that we will be brought to, and told us in detail the places that we will be visiting, vividly describing the places that we will be brought there. Finally, we decided on travelling with Five Stars as the budget suited us fine, and the itinerary sounded almost magical, at least for the first few days.
Day One. Singapore --> Seoul via Korean Airlines Nothing much *yawn* what to do on a 5,6h long flight with not much in-flight entertainment??
Day Two. Korean Folk Village/Everland Theme Park/Cherry Blossom Trails outside Everland/Overnight at Elf Palace Resort
Now that sounds very very interesting. Many of the different tour guides told us that this is the best time to travel to Korea as it is now Spring gg on to summer, and the temperatures there is a cool 10 plus degrees celcius, not too hot, not too cold. This is also the time where cherry blossoms can be seen, and I really can't wait for that. Just hope that it is not just some shrubs along a walkway planted to cheat tourists of their money.
We were shown pictures of the resort. It really looked straight out of a fairytale book... resort-style houses, each with balcony overlooking the forest, dining under the starry night. *jen stares dreamily*
Day Three. Farm/ Cherry Blossom Viewing/ Odaesan National Park/ Woljeong-Sa Temple/ Farm Activities : Sheep shearing & Sheep feeding/ Cheese making & tasting/ Potatoes digging + Grilling? ATV Ride/ Grass Sledding
This was the part that made most of us decide going via Five Stars over ASA. We get to ride using the bike all over the farm, and since there's no snow to sled on, we'll be sledding on GRASS!!! hehe...
Day 4. Mt Seorak National Park + Scenic Cable car ride/ Gwongeumseong Fortress + Shinhungsa Temple/ Seorak Waterfall
This is a scenery day! lots of nice scenery, of the fortress, up the mountain, and finally a water theme park~ Woo hoo!!! This water theme park has wave pool (nothing new) and hot spring baths and pools! WOo hoo!!!
Day 5. Nami Island with Ferry Ride/ Seoul Land/ Yeoido Island Cherry Blossom (AGAIN!!!~~ =)/ Cheonggycheon Stream/ Dongdaemun Markets & Shopping Malls
THEME PARK NO. THREE!!! and we will be visiting the film site of Winter Sonata~ and then SHOPPING!!!
Day 6. Gyeongbokgung Palace/ Cheong Wa Dae/Ginseng Showroom/ Amethyst Gem Factor/ Tteok Traditional Rice Cake museum with rice cake tasting + Tea/ Insadong Antique street/ Myeongdong Shopping street/ Korean traditional & cultural activities: Hanbok Wearing & Kimchi making
Hmm.... although i am not very keen about this day as we will be brought to places where we might get "tokked", but i guess it's part and parcel of all tour groups... Quite excited bout the shopping part though...
YAY YAY YAY!!! now to get past the FYP report, presentation, 1 project, 1 test, 2 exams...
Countdown to graduation.... back to writing report....
flew into your heart at [8:11:00 PM]
Thursday, March 22, 2007
I think i heard the news about SBS wanting to come up with a bus arrival time at major bus stops. Forget it man... i'd rather they spend more money on putting more buses on the roads, esp on routes which plies by schools. At a frequency of 15 minutes, by the time the bus arrives, the bus is already packed like a can of sardines with sweaty bodies squashed against each other. We can't plan our route even if the bus arrival time states that the next bus will be arriving in another 10 minutes' time because we might have to miss that bus and the next one and the next one and the next one.... *jen is irritated*
flew into your heart at [11:09:00 PM]
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
OOO.... went google-eyed yesterday... i wonder if there is such a word for it... Having started blogging, i realise how wonderful it could be if i could blog on the go, so that my feelings at tt moment could be captured instantaneously... before it trickles away, just like holding sand grasped in your hand.
Anyway, back to the point. I went shopping, and saw diamonds on display as usual at one of the jewlery stores. Having a penchant for something and anything small and shiny (take note: diamonds, crystals,etc), my legs brought me in front of the store, examining the solitaires on display. To my surprise, the 0.5carat solitaires were going for only around $2000+ which was cheap to me, because i know of pple around me who have purchased theirs for much more, albeit the same size of the diamond. To those diamond virgins out there, the cut, clarity, carat, and the colour determine the price of the gem. the better the cut,i.e. celestial, perfect bloom, brilliant rose, hearts and arrows etc etc etc; the better the clarity, i.e. VSI, VSII, S1, S2, (very slight inclusion, slight inclusion); the bigger the carat, (this one we should be familiar with); the whiter the colour, ABC DEF GHI, ABC being the whitest, will cause the price of the gem to go beyond the reach of many of us. Moreover, there's also the difference between where the gems are certified. They can be certified by normal "gem schools" or can be certified by more recognised "gem schools". And there's more... there's also the perfect cut, ideal cut etc...
I have decided: on cut and carat! hehe, cos since to the most of us, it is difficult to see whether there's one more teeny weeny speck of impurity in your diamond or whether the diamond is not exactly white in colour, but cut is important as a poorly cut diamond reflects lesser light and does not shine as brightly as a well cut one. As for carats, I think it is quite understandable... kekeke....
flew into your heart at [10:30:00 PM]
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Went hiking towards the eastern part of Singapore today. Although the trip takes 45 minutes, much faster than the time I take to commute to school, (1h15mins), it still seems far. Perhaps it's cos of the unfamilarity, the "road down the unbeaten track", just like how it seems so long to do sthg you dont do often.
Courts is big, and its layout is surprisingly familar to the yellow and blue building just next to it... Is that why its colour is the reverse of it? Hmmm.. some afterthought heh... Top two levels are the showroom, while the lower level sells mainly stuff. And now I get reminded... of the pee in the Ikea's showroom's toilet bowl. Apparently one child having been toilet trained, and being one good child, had emptied his/her bladder into the showroom's toilet bowl. Nothing wrong with that, just that it can't be flushed away... EWWWW... that shows how real the showrooms are ba...
After visiting giant and courts, it makes me wonder, how long courts and ikea will sustain in the long run. Its weekday crowds are really pathetic, and most of the time the staff outnumber the customers inside. I wonder how it feels like being paid just to stand around idling and talking to your colleagues everyday. Pretty boring job, or rather pretty an easy job. Not everyone will need something inside courts or Ikea at anytime, but we may need something inside Giant on any weekday. But I'd still drop by the NTUC or primemart downstairs rather than to buy groceries at giant, stand in the queue for the shuttle bus, and then do acrobatic acts balancing the groceries in one hand and keeping my balance using the other hand in the crowded bus. No thank you... for the few dollars saved, I'd rather pay more for the convenience man...
flew into your heart at [11:19:00 PM]
Monday, March 19, 2007
Finally. I am done with my experiments. The long awaited graduation day is coming. I suppose I should not have worked as an usher the last convocation. It made me yearn for graduation 1 year too early. Now, finally after the long tussle and struggle with experiments, it is time now for me to sit down and start consolidating my report. It really feels like having to sort out your drawer after 1 year of plonking things down without packing it. What a mess! Hmm... Where should I start? Labels: Projects GALORE
No lab but still have projects. *glum* I HATE PROJECTS!!! I can't understand why the school has to make us do projects. Why put a group of people with different understanding of "project" together to get things done? I spenD much much more time doing a 20% project than studying for another equal weightage test. From the way I see it, it seems as if this is a 50% weightage project. This doesn't make sense at all. If given a choice I would do the bare minimum to get average grades, and pia hard for the final exam which constitutes 60%. IT REALLY DOES NOT MATTER TO SPEND MORE DAYS JUST TO GET 1 or 2 marks more for the project. *roll eyes* think i rolled my eyes too much today when they just din understand...
flew into your heart at [10:31:00 PM]
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