Sorbetero in Korea

Do you remember your mamang sorbetero? You know, those manongs going around your neighborhood selling what others call "dirty ice cream" in a pushcart similar to this one in the picture, only more colorful. They would let us know they're coming by ringing those hand-held bells. We would then get our scoops of good deliciousness for only just a few pesos. Sigh... Those are the times.
So I was so excited when I spotted this pushcart ice cream in Korea. I immediately run to her to purchase my scoops of deliciousness. This one is quite expensive though. You get a cone with 2 scoops for 1000 won, and the taste is a little disappointing. I'd rather get one of those ice cream cones from Lotteria or even Mcdonalds. But it's still fun seeing it though. And cute parasol.

My Korean language class

I've been studying Korean language these days. Probably harder than ever. I've got a couple of good books on Korean verbs and words. I also attend a Korean language class twice a week. In this class, there are about 15 or 16 of us, my classmates are from Vietnam, Cambodia, China, Uzbekistan and Yemen. There is only one other Filipina whose son incidentally goes to the same school with my daughter. Our 선생님 is a quite a good teacher who can also speak English and Chinese. Attending this class is very helpful for me as I get a lot of practice speaking in Korean. Though I'm quite disappointed that there aren't a lot of activities or tours that others have experienced in their classes.
We've already finished our book for this term, so this week, we are to take this long test of basic Korean expressions and greetings. In the book there is a list of greetings translated in different languages. I just find it kinda inconvenient that there isn't one in English. There's Filipino/Tagalog translation though. But I find it hard to use coz some of the translation's a bit off, reminds me of the 'Rainbow' mags. So I have to study every word of those expressions and translate them myself, and it's taking up a lot of time. But my husband thinks it's a good way though.

After this week, we are to take a long summer vacation from the class. I'm starting to look for other acticvities I can do for the summer. Probably some Korean cooking lessons or even knitting :-). Photography is also good but might be quite expensive. Have any tips?

Spring Break

Pardon my (very long) absence. Been a little under the weather. Too many things to do, too little time. With all the activities, I had to stop and take a break, a long one.
But I'm hoping to be back soon. For the summer fun.
In the meantime, just stop by and smell some flowers. .

Island Reef Job Finalist from Korea

Remember that Best Job in the World ads? The Tourism Queensland has announced the final 16 applicants for the Island Reef Job. The applicants who are from 15 different countries (2 from Australia) will travel to Hamilton Island to take part in an extensive interview process.

One of the finalist is from Korea. Kim Juweon or Jonathan Kim from Seoul is a Radio Host for the Arirang Radio. His campaign video was of the Aussie Golf promotion to Korean consumers. He showed how Korean golf-lovers enjoy golf in Korea- yeah, Screen Golf! According to his bio, he's also lived in Southern California and Texas. He does not only speak Korean and English but he's also fluent in Spanish. And he's kinda cute too. Here's his pic.

Most - The Bridge

I first saw this video on a friend's blog. It's from an Oscar nominated movie, Most (Czech for The Bridge). A very touching story of a father who has to sacrifice his son to save a lot of people. Sounds familiar? Well, it is so touching that I cry everytime I watch this video.

MOST The Bridge

Somehow it reminds me of John 3:16~ "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. " (NKJV)

Day in the Park

After bringing Soie to the school this morning, TW and I went to the park for a walk and to see some Cherry Blossoms. The park is crowded, mostly with students doing some community service (read- cleaning the park!). There's even one group of students doing a kind of demonstration march against smoking. TW thought they were trying to follow us and hold picket infront of him. Anyways, the cherry blossoms are beautiful. Not all of the trees are in full bloom though. We just took some pictures here and there. Just stayed a while and then decided to just check out the 문화센터 (Culture Center) nearby. This place is awesome. It has a sports center, theater, study rooms and library where you can also watch some movies and use the internet. The children's library is huge, but they just have a small collection of English books. They make up for it though, I saw a complete set of the Harry Potter series.

Here are some odd pictures we took.

I'm Now a YouTuber

So I just recently joined youtube. I finally registered for an account. Been watching videos on YouTube for so long that I didn't really feel the need to sign up. I thought that's only for those who upload videos. But then I started wanting to subscribe to certain channels. So here I am, officially a YouTuber. Anyways, one of my favorites among the 'youtube stars' is this Pinoy lip-synching duo Moymoy Palaboy. They are said to have garnered over 4 milliion hits and thousands of subscriptions all over the world. But their official youtube account has recently been suspended for~ guess what, yeah copyright issues. Anyways, here is a video of their new song (not lip-synched) 'Lumayo ka man sa Laklak' a sort of parody of the two songs Lumayo ka man sa akin and Laklak.

Mga Kababayan Ko

As I was browsing through some forum sites, somebody posted a topic about the death of Francis Magalona, I thought it was another one of those repugnant hoaxes that circulated some time last year. I was gonna give them a piece of my mind when I found out that it was actually true. It was announced by Vic Sotto on their noontime show on Friday. Couldn't really believe it.

I know he has leukemia and all but I felt a little pinch in my heart. You see I'm a huge Eat Bulaga loyal. Been watching it for more than a decade, maybe more. It has already been a part of my life. It was a habit turned custom. Kiko's death has also left a hole in my heart. I remember listening to his songs back in school. Some of them were even the first OPMs I ever learned. I admired him for being a proud Filipino. And letting the world hear how proud he is.

My condolences to his family and friends.

Here are some pics taken from his website:

Check here for a video of Saksi about Kiko's death from GMANews.TV

Valentine Date

No, we didn't go on a date. Come to think of it, we've never celebrated Heart's Day. I've never given him chocolate on a Valentine's Day just like the 'Korean Tradition'(though we give each other chocolates or candies all the time ). It is so ironic because we actually had our very first date on a valentine's Day several years back. I was an Office Assistant in a Korean-owned company. He was there to tour and check out hagwons as well. Every afternoon, he would always drop by my desk to talk. He's fluent in English so our conversations are always enjoyable. We talked about everything from music to books to even politics. We found out that we had a lot of things in common. Several weeks into these long conversations, I was rather surprised when he asked me out to be his Valentine's Date. I wasn't really attracted to him, but I said yes to the date. We scheduled our date on the Saturday after Valentine's. We agreed to just meet somewhere in this mall. But come exactly Feb. 14, he dropped by the office to ask me if we could just go out that day after my work. He said he didn't want to wait for Saturday. So after work, we went to a mall, roamed around, talked a lot, grabbed something to eat- I can't even remember what, probably pizza. He walked me back home, yeah we just walked, took us maybe an hour. We walked and talked more, about things we saw along the way, movies we have seen, about France and Ireland, anything, everything. The date was so simple but quite nice, nothing romantic, nothing cheesy. It wasn't even that memorable. But years after that, here we are- married, with a child going to grade school this year. We've never celebrated Valentine's nor anniversary, but once in a while we would go to a nice cafe or drive near the beach or lake, there we would have one of those long conversations. He'd sometimes give me gifts for no reason. He always says 'We don't need to celebrate every occasion but we also don't need any occasion to celebrate'.

Happy Valentine's Day Appa...

This is what my daughter said when she handed her handmade Valentine's Card and some chocolates to her father. So sweet hubby can't stop smiling. ^^