MErry XmAS...

recap of Xmas break...

21 Dec 2012- last day of work before a 5 day break, good thing was it was not very busy, and I got to leave work early, the downside was having to face her becos she decided to come into work, though God knows why cos she did not do any productive thing at all other than dictating what I should be doing to get rid of all the patients on my list...

22 Dec 2012- roadtrip, 1st stop was Saddleback Mountain lookout, luckily the weather cleared up when we arrived, cos it was drizzling on the way there, then we went to Berry, had lunch there, and the sun came out, and along came the flies, which meant that the lunch was not very pleasant, and the town was pretty crowded, which also meant that the toilets were disgusting... then we went onto Kangaroo Valley, which was really boring, cos most of the shops were closed... so it was pretty much in and out... then we decided to stop by Fitzroy falls... which was really disappointing, cos there was not much water, which Uncle did warn me before... then we decided to make our way back and decided to have dinner at Chatswood at Takeru... for some unknown reason and probably not thinking properly, I decided to order this ramen that has 2 chilli symbols, and it turned out to be really spicy, and it did not help that it was hot outside and inside the restaurant cos their air conditioning was broken, so in the end, I was eating and sweating at the same time, nice! my mouth was numb after... 

23 Dec 2012- went to cut my hair at Eastwood, and to my surprise, it was really quiet on the korean side, and wanted to check out the new korean restaurant, and it turned out to be BBQ, but it was closed anyway... 

24 Dec 2012- went to send Hyungie in for service, then took a train to Chatswood hoping that this time we could finally get pongie's licence done, but due to their pain in the ass rules, her name on the bank statement needs to match the name on her passport which it didn't and so RTA refused to issue her licence, I was really pissed, and it did not help that it was boiling hot that day, and crowded... so we went to the bank to change the order of her name and went to eat at Oliver Brown to cool myself down... came back to pick the car up and went to do some grocery shopping in the evening, did not have stuff on special though... 

Xmas day... cloudy and raining pretty much all day, which we were prepared for, so it was movie marathon day at auntie's... started with running man, then brave, resident evil, and bourne legacy... 

Boxing day... did not do very much studying the whole weekend, so did some in the morning, then it was time to make our way to the gathering at Magu's place, as usual, have to make small talk, eat and use the excuse of nainai to leave early, and ended up playing mahjong at auntie's place anyway...

27 Dec 2012- back to work, and everyone kept telling me how quiet it usually is on the 2 days but it turned out to be fairly busy... thought I would get some time to study, but nope, though I did leave early on both days... then had to go for dinner at Steve Adkinson's place, was not planning to go initially, but uncle said he wanted us to go, so again have to make small talk, eat food I don't like, except for the starters and dessert...

太累了。。。

another day of drama on wed... she became upset when the pall care team and her were disagreeing about hospital beds for a patient, and at one point I really thought she was going to cry or something, and then she decided she had to take a day off today otherwise she would not be able to continue, and she kept saying she can no longer stay in this position, and wants to go back to the main dept... and people could tell she was stressed, cos Willie came up to me and asked if she was stressed and was she taking a day off as stress leave, but Willie was really nice as she was asking whether I was ok... and Deanne gave me a pat on the shoulder and said I was doing well... which was really nice of her, although I know that Deanne and her are at odds... so in the end, she took today off, missed the dept xmas lunch and kris kringle... and possibly tomorrow as well... was seriously considering taking a sick day off tomorrow, but had to go to work in the end bcos of a pt, and the fact that there was no allied health tomorrow at all if I don't turn up as well... 

speaking of secret santa, got a decorative candle thing from cancercare and a handbag from the dept... which are both going into the regift box... 

one more day to go, I am so tired, this week has been a killer really... both physically and emotionally... and also found out that the person is leaving in march to london to work for a year...

HOW LonG moRe CAn I dO thiS?

had another shitty day at work again, was asked to do a learning styles questionnaire, and I did not score one point in the activist column, needless to say, she and I are going to be in for a really FUN time next year... my main problems continues to be not showing empathy, and not engaging with people at work, building rapport by making small talk, and the b**** made me say out loud that I suck at making small talk... and she even suggested that I speak to Kate about the fact that she got along so well with people at cancercare... and today, she quarreled with Jacqui right in the office, where everyone can hear, and it was pretty awkward throughout the day, but by the end of the day, they were back to speaking terms again... just like that other day, when she threw a tantrum and walked out of the meeting...seriously, how can you possibly expect people to respect you when you act like this??!! and I mentioned to her that I use a different OT model, and she was like, well, you need to tell me these things, and what happens when you start in a new job and I am the boss and I realise that you are doing something different from other people, and of course, any answer I gave was wrong, cos everyone has to do things her way... I hate her, truly do, and she even implied that if I don't like working in this area, there is no point doing the lymphoedema course, WTF, I have to keep telling myself to tolerate these shit until I become at least competent in lymphoedema, and then AU REVOIR! thanks but no thanks... you are the worst bully I have ever come across!

anyway, bcos of all these stress, I have now got this massive pimple between my nose and mouth, and it's huge, and painful the whole of today, and I had to walk around with that at work, and people that I did not want to see, of course, I see them... tried to squeeze it earlier, although we were told not to... it came out in a squirt at the mirror, it was way gross and now it's all red and painful, and still it's not clean...

10 DAys to XmAS...

realised that since this month started, all my posts are about the annoying person... she continues to irritate me nevertheless, however, I am NOT going to write another post about her... 1 more week before the xmas break, everybody seems to be already in the xmas spirit already and people seem to be more relaxed, personally, I am looking forward to this break, not bcos we are doing anything exciting during xmas, but becos of the days that I don't have to face her... work has been very quiet, I actually had no patients one day, and like 1 patient at the end of the week, so I actually had time to do my study... have finally decided to work on sundays, will have to see how it goes next year, cos I dunno if it is worth me travelling that far to work for 6 hours...

went to barefoot bowls this afternoon at parramatta rsl, quite a decent turnout, it was alright, I really just wanted to play it and see what the hype is all about, but don't think it's a game you could be playing for long hours on end... our team lost though... did not go for dinner though, not up to socialising, and heard that the food is not great either, and when I left, it was already starting to rain... 

other than that, nothing really exciting at the stage, no new dramas, so watching some old ones, and running man is ongoing...

16 days To XmaS...

almost a month since I last posted, and nothing has much improved from being irritated and frustrated and not being able to tell anyone else at work... everything I do seems to be the wrong thing, and now she is saying that I am doing things which she said not to do, even though when we talked about it, she said it was ok to do it that way... no wonder Kate made a comment previously about not knowing when to take her seriously or not when she says things... and she kept saying things like clinical reasoning, and that she has been doing things for a long time now and I have only been there for 2 months, and during the assessments, when she was meant to be observing me, she decides to step in and after asking a few questions, she just throws equipment at people, despite telling me that we cannot solve everything with just equipment... and when I started asking about continence, she was like why are you asking about that?? dunno how much more I can tolerate this shit, it's really difficult to respect and acknowledge something or someone when you don't agree with them or their methods... it's like so what if you have been doing this for a long time, it does not mean that you are doing things right...at this point in time, my strategy is to tolerate things until after I am competent in lymphoedema, and then I am off, thanks but no thanks... it was just really ironic that we also had our workplace culture training that day and talking about bullying... putting on a fake smile and pretending that I am actually enjoying my work is so tiring...

other than work being irritating, nothing much really happening, no new dramas at this stage, should be studying my lymphoedema stuff but have been putting it off... looking forward to this xmas break and really any other time that I don't have to face her...

忍气吞声...

I am going to use this post to rant... 

day before, Dawn happened to see the handover templates that I have been using since I started MRT, and made a big fuss over why I am keeping confidential stuff, should not be taking pts' confidential info around in my folder or leaving it around, which seriously, everyone in the office does that, like everyone has pts' files on their tables anyway, which is annoyingly ridiculous, and me having to justify why I am doing it, and the fact that she does not have to abide by the dept's policy around the clinical handover and having to do audits every month, means that I can't be writing down pts' confidential info and carrying it around and keeping it... it sounded so ridiculous and inefficient, bcos she actually suggested that if I were to need some pt's info on the file, I should just refer back to the file, which obviously she has not done alot of handovers before, bcos the pts and their files move with them, so unless you are willing to go tracking them down to find their files, which again sounded so stupid, just the fact that she actually said that and the fact that I had to justify the use of the templates made me so mad that day... I seriously thought of leaving the place that day... and had to keep reminding myself to think of the big picture and my own future... and at least stay there till I am confident in my lymphoedema skills first before leaving... 

and then today, she had to present on our roles in cancercare to a group of community OTs, and she made a comment which really annoyed me again... she was talking about mindfulness, and how I did not take the sultana during Kate and her presentation a while ago, and by some miracle, and those were her words, I actually managed to sneak into cancercare... which further cemented the fact that she was the one who strongly opposed me going to cancercare in the first place and went to say this to the manager, whom of course, in turn mentioned it to Karen, which on hindsight, I probably should not have mentioned this back to Dawn during supervision that day... and it is so obvious that she strongly wants Kate there, not me and that she has previously said to me that she worked better with Kate... 

all I can say and do is patience and breathe Andrea think of the big picture and your career... just endure until mid next year hopefully, when I finished the lymphoedema training and had some experience actually treating pts with lymphoedema then it's anneong!!!! unfortunately until that happens, I will just have to 忍气吞声... and with her, the other issue is that you never know whether she is kidding or being serious, which Kate did mention before... and from the way Kate was talking about her and cancercare previously, it really did sound like she had a difficult time with Dawn too, but obviously not, cos the 2 of them appeared to be pretty close, from what I can see... 

the other relatively good news is that I finally received my registration, with no conditions YAY! big sigh of relief... and I don't have to pay the additional renewal fee... thank goodness this one stress is over, after 8 months...

I have also booked our flights to NZ in April 2013, and we will be joining a tour for 9 days both north and south islands... only pong and I are going this time... looking forward to this, dunno if I will have the opportunity to go back home next year, if I am going to start looking  for a new job...

URggHhh... HOT...

coming up to a month after rotating into cancercare, things are still going ok, I guess, still trying to get used to having someone monitoring me closely and having to work so closely with another OT, still trying to get used to the wards and the people, and now that the end of the year is coming up, there's all these Xmas parties and gatherings happening, which to be honest I am not that keen on going... 

been catching up on my dramas, finished watching I need romance 1 and 2, did not think they were as good as the reviews said they were, pretty much forwarding through most parts, moved onto Reply 1997, slightly better, the leads are quite funny, and then watched Iljimae returns, omg, what a waste of time... it was super boring, and I did not even get what the plot was trying to do, and the lead character really did not appeal to me... next up was arang and the magistrate, some parts were not bad, but overall did not think it was as good as gumiho... just finished watching Faith, another show which I had quite high hopes of but ended up being melodramatic and slow... and the fact that the lead female character is so much older than Lee Minho... and I did not really get the story... which brings me to an end of my shows, not that I have finished all of my shows and no new shows at this stage... so probably will be rewatching some shows in the meantime... 

still waiting to get my flyscreens fixed, still nil response from them yet... so irritating... which goes to show that even if you are a paying customer, having money is not everything...

received my new phone today, a Samsung Galaxy Ace, yes a touchphone... features wise, of course it's better than my old phone, but still prefer to use my sony ericsson, but it's now a fact that I can only speak and hear through the speakers, can no longer hold it to my ear to listen and speak...

thinking of going to new zealand next April for a holiday, did some research today and realised that it's definitely not cheap at all, and we are only going for 12 days... but April seems to be the only time we are all available to go on a trip, and if I were to start looking for a job mid next year, I may not be able to have a holiday for a while... My plans for Europe 2013 is getting further and further away from me...

Wet ANd CoLd...

today is the first Thursday when Kate and I had to swap, was feeling worried already the night before, not knowing what to do, and have already forgotten some of the stuff I used to do in MRT, and working with the PT...

so this am, Kate was late, we were doing handover for almost an hour, which of course, did not sit well with Dawn, and then got a p/c from Ren saying Kara is on sick leave, and asking why I have yet to turn up... which also meant that I will be working with the PT mainly, which was definitely one of the things I was worried about... so after handover, headed over to the office, everything felt the same but also different at the same time, went to see this pt first, to do some UL stuff and apply the FES, had to revise my notes on FES and speak to people, cos I really forgot how to do these after not having done this for so long... and then of course, decided to page the PT to see where he was up to, met up with him, and began the first time we worked together, I personally felt really awkward, don't really know what to say, I really do suck at making small talk... anyway, the day went on, and I pretty much did not know what I was doing most of the day... I was pretty much either doing UL stuff or helping out the PT... after having done one day of MRT, and being physically exhausted, I was reminded of why I don't think I could do this again, the pts are heavy and I have gone for so long without having to do all these heavy transfers... and also, forgetting where wards are, and how things work, all contributed to me feeling really out of place today, and just the feeling of not knowing what to do, which sucked... the PT must be thinking 'what is she doing?!!!'

I really don't think this swap on Thursdays work well, but it's really not up to me at this stage, and it's not easy for Kate either... well I am off the hook for the next 2 weeks whilst Kate is away, so we'll see what happens... over at cancer care, still trying to get used to the different environment, people and how things work there, which is quite different from how it is back in the office... Dawn is quite supportive, but I sometimes do get the feeling of being a new grad or a student all over again, which is ok with me atm cos I am still learning every day... dunno about the lymphoedema part though, Dawn was telling me how we don't really get to wear gloves during bandaging and measuring for garments, and there may be pts coming in with really bad lymphoedema that it oozes out, and there's a smell and having to touch pt's private areas sometimes as well... my first thought was OMG what have I gotten myself into??!!!

再见年老部门， 欢迎癌症部门。。。

after one year and a bit in aged care, I am ready to move on, my last week did not go as well as I would have liked, received some pretty 'scorching' feedback from Collette just like last week, and on hindsight again, I did not think I did the wrong thing... anyway, just want to put the bad stuff away and move on... I was abit sad that I am leaving a pretty good multidisciplinary team in aged care, and I hate to say this but I think the daily MAU meetings have grown on me, it's now more like a social gathering at times... I am going to miss it... had my farewell lunch in 1F on Thurs, brought ice cream, and on Fri, it was my combined farewell lunch on MAU, was initially planning to buy the creme brulee cake at Pattisons, and for some reason, I thought the large cake was about $30, but it turned out to be a whopping $42, heart pain... now I have to buy another something for my first day in cancer care... I am really hoping that this last rotation turns out ok... felt pretty foreign when I had to pack my stuff and leave the office, on the good side, it is that I get to have my own computer and windows, and the table is much bigger, but the other hand, I have been in that office for the last 2 years, but it was good to know that I will be missed by some... even though I am still in the hospital but not physically in the office...

we have survived the first week at our new place, have yet to be doing alot of cooking, the first real cooking we did was rice, chicken and veges... other than that, the next few days were noodles, toast, and going to Auntie's place to eat laksa yesterday... our lounge set is finally arriving today, I am looking forward to it though, although the dining table chairs are pretty comfy, but it is not really ideal for sitting back and relaxing... the only thing remaining to do really is get rid of the awful odour coming from the laundry drains, and the door locks... solved the trapping of hair issue yesterday... realised that our sink and draining area is far too small for our needs if we are to be doing any serious cooking, which we did that day, so pretty much we were washing and drying at the same time...

thought I would be able to catch up on my dramas now that we moved out in the evenings, but that has yet to happen, by the time I arrived home, it was already like 1830, and by the time we cook and eat and clean, 1930, and shower 0800, and I am already pretty tired by then, managed to rewatch the avengers again, pity we could not burn it to keep, watched some running man, that was it...

Ah Neong...

we have finally moved in! 30 Sept is the day, could not sleep the first night, dunno whether if it's becos of the pillow or different bed... slowly getting used to it... nainai slept over, and we went for breakfast at the usual place, followed by another massive grocery shop again (never want to repeat the experience at Eastwood on a Sat am again for grocery shopping)... and then back to the unit and then to auntie's place for steamboat... woke up this am with a shock, cos the sky seemed to be bright already, my first thought was oh shit I am so late for work, quickly came out to check the time, and it was only 5:45am... left the house at 0630 and got to work at 0740... I can see my kms slowly increasing every day... worked out that the distance from home to work is now 54km... tonight is the first night that we are cooking, realised that the sink is too small for our needs, so we actually have to wash and dry stuff as we go... stuck the clingwrap wrongly, don't have anywhere to hang our clothing to dry indoors, cos I am worried that there may be bird shit on our clothes, so tried to use the dryer, but it was totally useless... so in the end, no choice, we hung the clothes outside hopefully the birds will keep their shit to themselves and no weird things dropping on the clothes...

NEXt rOTatiON...

had a really shitty day yesterday, was my performance review, and Collette was upset at me for not following her instructions but I also have a suspicion that she was also upset that I went to Deanna for advice instead... and received a voice msg from Optus advising that they attempted to deliver the modem to me at Waitara, despite me telling them on 3 separate occasions that I want it delivered to Dural, like seriously, Optus is ridiculous, nothing seems to be updated on their database... and then was turning into the road leading to home when this stupid truck decided that he was going first, even though it was freaking obvious that he needs to give way... and he dared to stare and me and gesture as well, WTH... @^*##*^ so needless to say I had a shitty Friday just before the long weekend...

last week in Aged care, I am glad becos I feel like it is time to move on and try something else, I don't really like how things are run especially when Collette is there, other than that, I did enjoy the actual work and working with the team... rotating into cancercare on 8 Oct, did my orientation with Kate that day, and work is paying for lymphoedema training which is like $1850, so I really want to grab this opportunity cos who knows whether cancercare may decide to withdraw from the rotation program in the future, and being trained in lymphoedema will increase my employment opportunities... the only thing is they are now in the process of adding community into the rotation program as well, but this would mean that Kate and I will be vying for the same rotation in Sept 2013, but I am seriously considering working closer to home at this stage, and maybe doing something like TACP... but we'll see...

other than my rant on work, have not really been watching alot of dramas, cos have been spending time with Nainai, playing mahjong, showing her pictures of our trips... taking her out... 

this long weekend, we will be moving the big furniture today, and officially moving into Waitara... uncle will be helping us setup the internet, so hopefully everything goes as planned... seriously, now that we are moving our stuff, I now realise that I do have lots of stuff, which did not seem that way before, but we have been trying to move things in small loads, and we are still doing that now... 

met up with Silvana and Elain when they came to visit, also had dinner with Amelia and Karen, with them, Amelia and Karen are getting married next year... have yet to see the others for awhile now... uncle Oliver and auntie Maureen and uncle Peter coming to visit in 2 weeks' time, so we will be busy entertaining them, and Michelle returning for a holiday in Nov, along with Sharon... prisy bought a car, a Hyundai Elantra, the features are nice, but I still prefer hatchbacks... it's got a sunroof, alloy wheels and fog lights... she bought it in white... 

hope everything turns out well in cancercare...

I NeeD a MoNEy MaKinG MAchiNE...

3 weeks have passed since mum and papa and nainai came, now both mum and papa have gone back home... got alot of stuff done in the unit since they were here, but also spent alot of money... seriously broke, who knew furnishing a house and all the bits and pieces was so expensive, and we are still ongoing, the annoying thing atm is optus and setting up our internet service, that's probably the only thing holding us up from moving... I was actually really excited at having a bookshelf where I can store all my books, and my photo albums and being able to organise stuff the way I want it...

work wise, nothing very much happening, new grad started in aged care, he's pretty good in terms of assisting with the workload but you can totally tell he's a geeky sort of person... anyway, rotation wise, we have been told that the rotation will still go ahead as planned, but I will be covering for Kate at MRT once/week bcos the lymphoedema training is not until March 2013, dunno how it will turn out though... not really sure I want to return to MRT... but it was really good to be able to sit down with the 2 others and realise that words have been miscommunicated amongst people and people are saying things that we ourselves did not even say... so counting down to rotation day, 8 Oct, and apparently physios are also rotating the next day, so this should be interesting...

have not really been watching my dramas recently, cos mum and papa are here, so pretty much spending time with them and organising stuff for the unit... 

will be meeting up with silvana and elaine for dinner tomorrow, initially invited them to the unit, but was informed that it was too far away :( oh well... 

so essentially, I am just waiting for internet to be setup before moving in, and then starts the money draining process... oh wait, the process has already started...

27...

25 August 2012- painting completed, went to have our first look at the newly painted unit, and it turned out that the colour was more pink than brown, but I like it... 

26 August 2012- happy birthday! everything feels the same, went to the airport to pick them up, and this time, they were very quick and they waited for us as opposed to us waiting... came home, and settled down, went out for dinner at this Jap restaurant at Eastwood recommended by Auntie and Uncle, the food was not bad, and we had our own room, but I still preferred Takeru... 

27 August 2012- had the day off, and went to the unit to start the cleaning, even though it's only a 2 bedroom unit, there were so much to be done, and in fact, it's still not completed... 

28 August 2012- also had this day off, more cleaning to be done, everything was so dirty, and still some of the stains just would not be removed... the carpet cleaner came that day too... after the whole day of cleaning, still had to come home to bake the flourless choc cake for my birthday for work... I was exhausted by the end of the day...

had a mini celebration at work, not as grand as last year's though, but I was very surprised as Ren bought me the French Vanilla cake which was what I wanted to ask him to buy for me anyway... and as always, got birthday wishes from the standard group of people, whom I can always count on, and it was always a good feeling to see wishes from any additional people... 

31 August 2012- went to Ribs and Rumps for dinner, had the same thing which I always order when I go there, I still think it's the safest and nicest choice for me, even though it's boring...

 

1 Sept 2012- went to the unit to await delivery of the furniture and appliances, I was actually very angry that morning, bcos Domayne rang and I was told that he only my bed and no dining set even though I was promised twice that they would register in the system that I would like both delivered at the same time... and we were all rushing to get to the unit on time... so anyway, I rang and pretty much complained about it, and in the end, they managed to deliver the dining set on the same day, but the assembling was quite painful... which resulted in us being late for dinner at night at this Italian place at Lane Cove recommended by Prisy's friend... the space was very narrow, and it was very crowded, and noisy, I thought the food was not too bad, but most of them did not like the food there... and it was freezing cold that night... bought the shelves for the pantry but would have to collect them on Thurs, and bought my book shelf, but not the one I wanted, the one I wanted could not fit into Hyungie :(

2 Sept 2012- went back to the unit to assemble the book shelf and sort out the stuff mum brought here... I am so annoyed at mum for bringing unnecessary stuff, and the toaster she brought here is so small that I don't think it can fit 2 slices of bread, ANNOYING!

work wise, Collette's back at work, and as I predicted, the structure we had when she was gone is all gone to bits, cos as usual, she does not leave handovers but expects the rest of us to do it... it's sooo annoying, and had a meeting with Karen that day, and she mentioned that someone obviously spread the rumor that I did not want to go to cancercare, and now Kate apparently wants to stay there, and they are now looking at including community into the rotation, and maybe cancercare pulling out of the rotation... realised that I really have to watch what I say at work sometimes, cos you never know who might be listening and then telling other people... so we'll see, but I did tell Karen I would like to go to cancercare as my next rotation for sure...

又快老一岁了。。。

finally, settlement has been completed, keys collected, and got in contact with some painters, and was informed that the painting will be completed by Friday. We have decided to go with Dulux colour Chintz Quarter, brown based, alot of the painters recommended a colour called Hog Bristle, but we decided to try this color instead, so hopefully it will turn out ok... we will find out on Sat :)

water has been organised, electricity and gas through Energy Australia, and broadband which has yet to be organised will be through Optus... went furniture shopping on the weekend, spent alot of money and exceeded my credit card limit, crap... organised carpet cleaning to happen on 28 Aug, which means the cleaning has to be finished by then... and after that, it would be a matter of waiting for the furniture to be delivered... we still have to buy a book shelf, phone, and possibly a lounge set... and of course, the other bits and pieces like cutlery, pots and pans...I am going to give myself a pat on the back becos I pretty much did most things myself, yes I did get some help from uncle and other people here and there, but I was the one chasing up stuff most of the time... from looking for a place, to looking for a conveyancer, to completing paperwork, to sorting out the finances, to looking for painters, to buying furniture... and it's still ongoing atm...

don't think auntie is that happy about us moving, which I don't understand, bcos it means that there is less 2 people to feed and do stuff... and it's not like it was a sudden decision... anyway, nothing very much I can do at this stage... 

completed watching this other korean drama called can love become money, it was alright, it only got interesting towards the end actually... did not like the female lead... now rewatching some shows, cos no other nice shows to watch atm, still ongoing... 

work-wise, we are still busy, not that the workload has increased but more the fact that we are so short of staff... and just the other day, I was saying I have been in Aged care for almost a year now, and have yet to do a guardianship report, and I must have jinxed myself, because now I have 2 reports and potentially another one on the way... and Collette's due to return next week, personally, I prefer Deanna, cos from previous experience working with Collette, she is not the most organised person... and you really have to keep chasing her to do things... so if Collette really does come back next week, I will be stuck with her for the next 2 months... 

looking forward to this weekend! I just have to get through this week first :(

PiSS oFF...

I am sooooooooooooooo annoyed with this whole property crap...

firstly, the property manager is refusing to liaise with me directly about the cleaning despite the fact that they are the ones who are responsible for organising this, and now the agent is not responding to my call and email...

secondly, received an email from the conveyancer stating that they will only let me know how much I need to pay on Mon and expects me to drop off the cheque in the city on Tues... No freaking way, do they actually think I am sitting around waiting for their instructions???!!! I actually am working fulltime to be able to pay off this property!

I AM SO ANNOYED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As per Gary, STRESS!

HappY NatiONAL dAY...

finished watching Big awhile ago, the ending sucked, no definite ending, just like rooftop prince... moved onto I do I do, which actually turned out better than I thought it would, the main male lead is quite funny... currently watching King 2hearts, it's ok, almost at the halfway mark, it's looking like it's a one off show for me, and Seunggi looks really bad in this drama for some reason... now that the Olympics are here, most of the dramas have been delayed, which is very annoying... not really chasing the Olympics like I used to back in 2008, mainly due to the time difference and got better shows to watch ie korean dramas :)

met up with mel and her boyfriend yesterday at chatswood, went to takeru for dinner, and then Zen Q for dessert, I am so envious, seems like people are all on hols, fran also went to Europe for 3 weeks, whereas I am stuck here working, and stressing about the unit thing... 

the property, headache... went to do the pre-settlement inspection on sat, and the unit looked like it was not cleaned, and even the agent said that it looked like it was only done half-heartedly, and there was a broken hinge on one of the cupboards in the bathroom... so the agent was going to speak to the property manager and organise another pre-settlement inspection... today received an email from the agent indicating that the property has been cleaned, I was so pissed, sent an email back to the agent and also to the conveyancer, advising that I am not happy with settlement next week until these has been sorted. This delay is stressing me out, becos this means that the painting will be delayed, the household stuff and the moving will be delayed... I was hoping that with papa and mum here, they could help out with these... urgghhh... things better work out well, otherwise I am going to refuse to settle next week.

the weather has been really cold especially in the mornings, today Hyungie's thermometer said 1 degrees outside, worried if nainai will be able to cope with the cold... my R ear was blocked for the last 2 weeks, I think due to my being stingy and using an expired eardrop, thankfully after 2 weeks of not being able to hear and having to go through 3 times of syringing, it's now cleared, both ears... I never want to go through this experience again... it was painful :(

It's mY FaV TiMe Of The YeAR soOn...

on my July ADO today... not doing anything exciting... maybe going to watch Spiderman later... most of the paperwork for the property has been completed at this stage, so pretty much now waiting to do the pre-settlement inspection and settlement date on 14 Aug... most probably nainai and mum also coming end of Aug with papa, so it will be quite "热闹”。。。 

been watching a few Korean dramas recently... the next drama I watched was Coffee Prince, after watching it, I thought yes it's funny and cute but... it did not live up to the hype it was back then... but since I watched Biscuit Teacher, I am now in a Gong Yoo phase... haha... after Coffee Prince, I moved onto Big, although the show has yet to complete, I am again sucked into starting a drama when it's not finished, alamak what's new... it's ending this week, it's not bad, but as with all the other fans out there, I just don't know how they are planning to end this drama, cos it's quite complicated... it will probably be a good ending, but I don't know how good... moving on, I watched and finished Dal Ja's Spring yesterday... actually even though the reviews said it was good, which was the reason I downloaded the show in the first place, I did not have high expectations of it, but it actually turned out better than I expected, the female lead is funny... 

work wise... cancer care did an inservice that day and Kate presented on her experience in cancer care for the past year... it was actually quite insightful and personally, scary for me, I just have a vision of me spending most of my time in cancer care crying and thinking of my patients who are dying... I think knowing how to cope in that environment would probably be key for me, and before the inservice, I was actually more worried abt whether my lack of knowledge in home mods was going to be the biggest issue...

衰人走开。。。

Friday the 13th, this day and date has never bothered me before until today...

at work, clashed with this reg twice already, and one of my old confused patients grabbed me and tried to kiss me, this was the first time I actually felt scared since working in aged care, the other times were when I was still on MRT, when I had violent psychotic patients, luckily I managed to release his grip on me, and redirected him back to bed, and the patient still kept asking me to go closer to him whilst in bed... I documented the incident in the file, but don't really know who to tell at the time, and nothing bad really happened thankfully... maybe speak to Deanna or Collette if she does come back next week... 

and then pong rang whilst I was driving home, telling me she failed another subject again... really don't know what to do for her, not that she did not work hard, pongie really has to think what she wants to do now, otherwise it's going to be a waste of time and money... 

the unit, the annoying conveyancer still has yet to respond to me about the certified copy of the contract, and now received an email from the bank asking me to submit the application urgently... I am just going to mail the application tomorrow and hopefully they will accept the documents... now, the conveyancer is asking for a cheque for the stamp duty and it has to be bank cheque, which means it's going to take me another week to organize this... this is so painful...

called home this evening, and mum told us nainai had a fall this morning, apparently she felt dizzy and fell, apparently did not blackout, and when she tried to stand, she felt dizzy again and fell again, and the spoon hit her eyebrow, and she decided to use a hard boil egg to massage the bruise... and of course, my stubborn grandma waited until mum arrives home in the evening before telling anybody... now they are on their way to the GP clinic, hopefully everything's ok, no head injury, no broken bones...

out of boredom, I started looking up nice korean dramas, and downloaded a few... first up, was this drama called biscuit teacher and star candy, it's pretty old, 2005, but I really liked the show... highly recommend this drama, 10/10, rewatch value is 10/10 too... I was so sucked in by this drama last weekend, that all I did during the weekend was watch the show... did not even feel like going to the movies to watch snow white and the huntsman but no choice, the tickets were bought already... anyway, after the movie, we had earlier planned to go eastwood for dinner, so we headed there, but the shanghai restaurant was so crowded and it was freezing cold that night, and I was so sleep-deprived and anxious to continue my drama, that I behaved really badly that night... and prisy got angry at me, until now, we are barely speaking to each other... 

anyway, finally finished that drama, and next was this other drama called 9 end 2 outs, just finished it, and it was alright, probably a 5/10, probably not a show I would be rewatching though...

CHangEs...

officially in the middle of winter... it is freezing especially in the mornings, hyungie's dashboard actually showed a snowing symbol one day and the temps outside was 3 degrees... 

work wise... 3 people are leaving this month, and Collette is only back 3 days/week, so Deanna will only cover her days, which means when Julia rotates, I will be on my own on Mondays and Weds... fun times... and it's not only OTs that are short-staffed, PT and SW are too... and rotation is going to be delayed till 8 Oct... not that I mind... there was also some talk about including community as one of the rotations which will be good, if it really does get included, I may consider staying... 

breaking news, we have bought the unit at Waitara, contracts have been exchanged, deposit paid, settlement date is 14 Aug... now the paperwork for the mortgage loan is the thing that's driving me nuts, have to get a witness, get them certified, stuff that I don't understand... and the broker is away on leave, so I can't ask her... hopefully these will be sorted, and apparently there is a pre-settlement inspection approx a week prior to settlement, and after that, we have to contact the building manager informing them we are moving in and that we would like to paint the place... so hopefully, we can get that sorted and painting completes prior to papa coming, so when he does come, he can help with the moving, the fixing of things and the buying of furniture... initially I thought we could paint the place ourselves, so I signed us up for the free DIY classes, but after going, we realised that the job is too difficult, so we will be paying for someone to do it... so if everything goes according to plan, we will be moving in Sept... so pretty much, I think my birthday this year will be spent working on the place and moving...

other than that, not much exciting news or shows, rewatching shows until the korean shows complete airing...

It's ThAt tiME oF the YEar agAin...

registration... still yet to hear back from them and 1 July 2012 is the due date... seriously, unproductiveness and inefficiencies are the curse of this society...

work... found out that Collette is coming back 3 days/week, Deanna is returning to amputees and Nat is leaving for Blacktown Hospital and Angela's leaving as well... our numbers are slowly dwindling... other than that, nothing much to report, aged care is still the same, busy...

went to Otford/Bald Hill Lookout, temple and Kiama on Sat with pong and prisy, it was such good weather that day, cold but really sunny and nice... we also stopped by the lebanese bakery and had zatar... yummy... went to attend this free workshop at Bunnings about how to prepare walls for painting and it was actually quite useful, next week's topic is on painting... it's hard work and money will be needed to buy the tools we need...  so I am hoping that papa will come and do these physical work... 

with regards to the property, spoke to the agent today and was told some unsettling news, that the tenants are moving out next week and that the vendor is looking to rent it out again if we don't settle soon... so hopefully, things will come through, I really hope that we get this place... cross my fingers and toes... I even prayed about this when we went to the temple so...

 finally watched protect the boss, and it's actually better than I expected, still yet to finish, but the characters are funny and the main male lead Jisung, really acts well, the female lead is ok, but I just don't like her expressions and the way she talks, I really think she has too much plastic surgery done... Jaejoong's character starts off as boring but his interactions with Jisung are hilarious... I definitely did not expect to like the show... no new shows atm, waiting for Big and I do I do to finish, which will be another month to go... so may have to watch repeat shows in the meantime...

DAmN yOU...

damn you , registration, firstly for getting my hopes up that my registration has been approved and I don't have the same problem as Amelia and Tina, now you send me an email before the deadline telling me that I have to be supervised for 12 months and have to retake the academic module for IELTs... I was so pissed and upset when I received the email on Friday... I have decided to appeal this decision, which meant that I have ask huge favour from Kate to write a letter proving my English language skills and speak to Karen asking her to complete the referee report... and hopefully they will reconsider my application... so annoying...

yesterday was another shitty day as well... raining the whole day, dropped pongie off at uni for her exam, came home for awhile, and went to castle towers to exchange the chips becos I bought the wrong flavour, it was so packed, I had to drive around to find a parking spot... and then had to go to hornsby to attend my dental appt, got to westfield, there was a sign outside the carpark saying it was full, but they still allowed people to go in, so there I was queuing to get in and queuing again to access the top parking level, and when I arrived, finally, was then told that I had to go out again becos the carpark was full... so I had to drive around and park on the street... after the dental appt, went to macquarie to wait for pongie, again, same situation, had to drive around a few times and wait around for parking... finally found someone leaving, so I signalled and waited, then came this white car, full of asians, I signalled for them to go ahead and that I was parking, the next thing I knew, they parked in MY parking spot... I was furious, I reversed, rolled my window down and yelled at them... all I saw from them was gestures indicating that there was another car leaving across from the spot, I was like NO, I was waiting for this spot, you assholes... I did not actually swear at them though, which on hindsight I should have, and I was furious enough to go scratch their car or something... I was like don't let me see you in there, otherwise who knows what I would say and do... talking about it now still gives me the shits... damn asians...

其中一个改变人生的决定。。。

finally finished watching Queen Inhyun's Man... yay!!! it was such a good show, one of the best shows I have seen... rewatching value: 10/10 :) long weekend, not doing anything special... watched Prometheus yesterday, it was ok, confusing for me, and a little gross at some scenes, raining all day since yesterday... so we are all stuck indoors today... 

finally decided to buy the property, now waiting for the conveyancer and broker to call me back, hopefully tomorrow, and will be transferring the deposit, and get all the checks done, 10 cooling off days... and after that, exchange of contracts, and becos there are tenants currently, we have to give them 30 days to vacate... and have to sort out the bank stuff, I have got 3 bank accounts now, and it's getting so confusing, cos money have to transfer here and there... once the tenants move out and we get the keys, start of the hard work ie cleaning, painting, washing... still thinking of whether we should be installing flyscreens... after that, more money to be spent on washing machine, fridge, vacuum cleaner, microwave, kettle, etc... and moving all our stuff... the only big items are probably the bed and the bookshelf and the clothes rack... maybe have to rent a van or something, but then who's going to drive, so maybe have to spend more money and get a mover... everything needs money... just thinking about these is enough to result in a headache and insomnia...

I WiSh moNEY wouLd FaLL from the Sky...

finally got my new car... decided to name him Hyungie... it's really good, still trying to get used to the feel of the car, but will always remember Auris... the Bluetooth feature is the best I think... storage space wise in terms of the compartments at the front seats, not as good as Auris...

finally got my registration confirmation, so that's one load off, Amelia and Tina had to retake the IELTS Academic module... thank god... the saying 'the early bird gets the worm' is right... 

bank pre-approval obtained, now waiting to go see the apartment at Waitara for the 3rd time to confirm that everything is working and that this is what we want... if we really get the place, I am going to be very broke for a while... hopefully we have enough money to pay the necessary stuff... so we'll see... 

work wise, nothing very exciting, it has been busy a few weeks ago, but it's settled down now... Deanna has decided to stay in aged care until recruitment can be commenced, so that's not too bad... 3 more months before rotation, looking forward to cancer care actually, I think I will also learn lots... 

watching this show called "Queen Inhyun's Man" recommended by prisy, it's actually really good, I was so sucked in that I finally succumbed to watching it before it ends, and the shitty thing is bcos it's only shown on cable tv, the subs take forever to come out, and I am even resorting to watching the raw episodes now, which I hate... it's really annoying... other than that, still watching running man every week as usual, no other nice shows... long weekend, tomorrow going to see the place cross my fingers and hopefully we will finally own a place... sunday, planning to go watch 'Prometheus', nothing planned on monday, apparently it's going to rain over the long weekend... it's been freezing cold in the mornings and at night recently... it was 4 degrees this am at work...

Brrrr....

back to work already for 3 weeks now... nothing exciting, busy, the hospital still not allowing us to recruit people... will be interesting to see what happens in aged care, when Deanna finishes up in aged care and Julia rotates... 

still househunting, can't do very much at the moment becos the market seems to be very slow, not many for sale, and we are still waiting for the bank approval to come through...

I still have yet to get the new car, it's already been 3 weeks, keeps getting delayed... hopefully will finally get it this weekend... 

watching rooftop prince now, last episode to go... it's funny at the start but I think I had my expectations too high and it was only ok, like it's a show that I will watch again, but I would not say it is as good as what the reviews said... stopped downloading the king 2hearts, cos it did not look very nice... and prisy said there is another new drama also with similar theme of travelling through time... but other than that, no more nice shows, may have to start rewatching some shows...

nothing very exciting currently, my next day off is on monday, but not going anywhere though... pong's birthday next week, so we are going for dinner and maybe lunch out at ribs and rumps and dessert ... and decided to buy a cake for her as well...

最后一个星期的假期。。。

spent the first 2 days sorting out the photos, we took approx 1,200 pics and videos during the trip... spent alot of time looking around for houses and cars during the week... almost bought this 2 bedroom apartment, new, at carlingford, even made an offer for it, however, did not buy it at the end due to potential health risk because of the power line being so close by... it was a pity cos the unit itself was really nice and spacious, and airy and well ventilated... so back to looking again :(

decided to cut my hair short this time, the style did not come out as it looked on the pic, but not too bad, similar to a doll look... still getting used to the style... finished watching the moon embraces the sun... it was ok, sad at times, I thought the male lead acted really well... but it was really weird cos the female lead obviously looked older than him... some cheesy moments but hey, I consider myself one of the suckers for cheesiness... I love cheese :) currently the show which looks really interesting is Rooftop prince but is still airing, so I am waiting so im-patiently for it to end, and really having to tell myself not to fall into the trap of watching it now and becoming frustrated waiting for new episodes...

spent 3 days going for test drives, hyundai, mazda, nissan, ford, kia... after much time spent and negotiation, finally signed the contract today, for a 2012 KIA Cerato Hatch Auto in silver... in exchange for Auris... additional features include mats, tint darkest legal limit, rear parking sensors, wanted to get front ones but was told that even when stopped in traffic, the beeping starts, so decided not to, and leather seats and doortrim... the car itself is spacious, has standard Bluetooth and cruise control, the only thing I found not great was the old fashion look of the controls at the front... paid $13,000 out of pocket, cos Auris was only worth $8,000 due to the hail damage and the dents... I am going to miss Auris, my first car and I have had it for 5 years now... the other good thing abt the dealership at Hornsby is unlimited lifetime free carwash... which I thought was really good, and the station is close by, walking distance to Hornsby shops, the only thing was it did not come with roadside assist... oh the other weird thing was when we went to Ford Pennant Hills that day, the salesperson coincidentally turned out to be the future father-in-law of a colleague at work, what a small world... 

so now countdown starts before I go pick up the new car and exchange Auris... have to start sorting out the car registration, CTP and car insurance... 

back to work tomorrow :(

Anyeong Korea!

Day 14 (Fri)- our last day in Korea, had buffet breakfast but choices not as good as the one at Ramada's... but at least we had breakfast provided... slept again after breakfast, and checked out at 1200... walked to Gwanghwamun again to catch the Seoul city tour bus, WON10,000 each person... the tour took approx 2 hours one way, and you can hop on and off at any stop for the whole day until 7pm... we got off at Cheongwadae,which is apparently where the president of Korea conducts his business, and there were police patrolling the area... you have to be escorted by a tour guide if you want to enter though, so we just walked along the area... that was the only stop where we got down, otherwise, all I did was snap pics of the areas we drove pass... walked back to Myungdong where we had late lunch, I decided to eat bulgogi rather than my grilled chicken, it turned out to be expensive and not as nice as the one in Jeju despite the signboard saying that the black pork is from Jeju... after that, we made our way to the Ibis hotel bus stop where there is an airport shuttle for WON10,000 each... it was approx a 90mins journey to the airport due to traffic... 

once at the airport, it was still so early that the checkin counter is not even open, so we were sitting around waiting... once our luggage is checked in, we decided to go through customs, go settle our tax refund and find some food... we found this food court, which had Burger King and KFC and some korean food, but later realised that they were closing and that there was not much choices left, which made us really upset, complaining about the airport being voted best airport apparently but not being able to provide food 24 hours... so we ended up eating what we could, and settled down to await for our flight... we got to the airport about 1900 and our flight was not until 0020, talk about wasting all that time... finally it was time to board, again surrounded by crying babies, did not eat any food, arrived at singapore at approx 0545, not able to go out to eat my fishball noodles as the time in between the flights was too tight... so settled for yuntun noodles which were so expensive and not nice at all... and then it was time to board our next flight back to sydney... I hate flying... and that's the end of my 2 week hols in Korea... another week left before reality really sets in... no more travelling for at least a year, not going to NZ this year anymore, have to start looking for another job mid next year... continue looking for houses, painful... and maybe think of travelling to NZ in between jobs, hopefully...

Pity!

Day 12 (Wed)- last day on the tour, was so upset when I found out that the accomodation for that night was at the Hilton resort, damn!

1st stop... Suncheon where we visited the Boseong Green Tea plantation and the Nakaneupseong Folk Village... the view at the plantation was nice and we also got to sample the green tea, bought some back for uncle... the folk village was kind of boring... although the place where we had lunch was pretty grand... apparently it is something which a King would eat, 9 side dishes and some fish called corvina, the only thing I don't like about Korean food is the side dishes are cold, the fish was cold that day, and you apparently pour your rice into the cold green tea dish, scoop it up and take a piece of cold fish along with the pepper sauce and eat it... urggh... I prefer my food to be hot thanks... the fish was quite fishy though, and cold... 

2nd stop... apparently this was not included in our itinerary but we got to go anyway, Suncheon Bay eco-park... more walking but at least this was walking on a bridge, flat path, but when we got to the end, there was nothing much to see... visited the museum as well... boring... and was told that we were to catch the KTX back to Seoul which was a 3hour journey... so we got dropped off at Suncheon station, and got onto the KTX, the price of the ticket was not cheap though... but I was quite glad that we got to experience their bullet train... the only issue was getting our luggages on and off the steps of the train and the bus and onto the escalators... that was not fun at all, so I was pretty cranky by the end...  anyway, we got off at Yongsan station where we were picked up and taken to Hotel Royal back at Myungdong... 

when we arrived at the hotel, we were told to pay an amount lesser than I was quoted over the phone, and the mistake was not realised until we went up to the room, and received a phone call saying that he calculated the amount incorrectly... he even came up to the room to explain the mistake... I was already cranky then so I decided to act dumb and insist that the amount we paid was the amt quoted to us, he finally gave up and left... anyway, the room was not great at all... it was ok, and breakfast was not included despite us paying so much for one night... and no free wi-fi as well... we ended up eating Burger King for dinner at Myungdong and walked around a little, trying to locate this chicken shop which I saw initially... but did not find it until after we had our dinner... and mum decided to try asking at Metro hotel again to see if there was a room available, and her persistence paid off, cos we got a premium room at a lesser price than the Koreana hotel which we had reserved for the following night... the only thing was that it was smoking room...

Day 13 (Thurs)- we slept in and checked out at 1200, made our way to Metro Hotel, deposited our stuff, and walked to Gwanghwamun square, where the 2 statues were and where Running Man also filmed... walked around the place alittle, there is an underground museum, free entry... and caught a train to Yongsan where we had lunch at this ramyun place... it was ok... mum was not feeling well, so opted not to go with us to the jjimjilbang called Dragon Hill resort... entry was WON10,000 per person, clothes provided, and 2 towels, lockers were provided separately for shoes and other belongings included in the entry fee... quite alot of tourists and locals... we were told that there were 7 stories altogether, you can stay for 12 hours and if you stay longer than this, charged every hour... 1st floor is common area, 2nd and 3rd stories were for females only, and 4th, 5th, 6th were for males only, and there is a rooftop area which is a common area... so we deposited our shoes in the locker on 1st floor and took the elevator up to 3rd floor where we can change... once we came out of the elevator, oh my goodness, females of all ages, size and shapes were walking naked everywhere... and we found out later that you have to remove your clothing in the shower area so pongie and I were like okkkk, we are just going to explore the area and not get too sweaty... there were different sauna areas, in domes, pyramids, this green tea room, different levels of heat, outdoor pool, this hall area with massage chairs, and you can lie on the floor and there are sections where there is heat coming up from the floor, games area, a common room where you can sleep... we were not given pink clothes like on tv though, but we saw people eating eggs and drinking the rice wine... and pongie and I decided to try one, it tasted sweet and you can eat the rice grains in there, not really to my taste... and pongie also asked someone there to show her how to tie the towel into 2 buns... it was hilarious... we were there for maybe 90mins, the one we liked was probably the ice room, that was the only cooler place... you had to pay for some sections and other services... it was a good experience though... 

went back to the shopping centre to retrieve mum and made our way back to Metro hotel... the room was so smokey, tried to open the windows to get some fresh air but our window is facing the airconditioning vents and there were cigarette butts, and all sorts of gross things, so we had to settle for breathing in cigarette smoke and turning down the air con... the room itself was great... mum was becoming sicker, so pongie and I went to have dinner at this korean place and I had my kimchi bokkeumbap again and waffles and icecream for dessert... it was so crowded despite it being a weeknight...

Coach tour days 1 & 2

Day 10 (Mon)- we had to wake up quite early that day as we were to be picked up at Lotte Hotel, and had to manually lift our luggages up and down the steps and drag it across the road to Lotte Hotel where we awaited the coach... wanted to buy some food for breakfast but did not find anything good, ended up eating some bread along the Star Avenue at Lotte Hotel... finally the coach arrived and there were already some people on board... there were 5 groups altogether on the tour, all were couples, 3 oldies, one young couple and us 3... 

1st stop... had a rest stop at Jeong- An service area, and then made our way to Buyeo where we visited Busosan Seong Fortress, some walking and climbing required... Baekmagang river, where we took a ferry... the scenery was nice... Nakhawaam Rock... thank god the weather was really good during the coach tour... and then it was lunch time, lunch was samgyeopsal, pork belly meat, I thought we would be having it grilled but it turned out to be more like braised, but there were alot of side dishes, there was also some glutinous rice, which I did not eat... the good thing about this coach tour was meals were provided... 

2nd stop... went to Buan, where we visited the Naesosa Temple, Chaeseokgang river, Gyeokpohang harbour... after that, we finally got to check in at the first accomodation place for that night, OMG, our luck with accommodation has finally turned, 5 star hotel called Daemyung Resort... it was sooo nice, the best accommodation place during this trip for me... they had alot of facilities as well, billiard room, business centre, karaoke, shopping mart, water park but of course you have to pay for these facilities but the room was awesome... the only thing I could complain abt was the pillows being too soft for my liking...  and dinner was kimchi stew and grilled mackeral again... it was not too bad... one of the couples ordered a mulberry makgeolli, I tried a little and it was so much better than the one we had on the first day we arrived... I never want to leave that place and that room, it was soooo nice...the people on the tour were all really nice and friendly as well... there was this couple where the female is of Korean background but she migrated to Germany, and she is fluent in Korean, German, French, English and alittle Mandarin as well... and she's funny as well... we were lucky to have such a good group to travel with...

Day 11 (Tues)- 1st stop... went to Jeonju where we visited the Jeonju hanok village, which was pretty much the same as all the other hanok villages we have been to, Jeondong catholic cathedral, this was boring... rice wine museum, some toy museum, not very interesting... had to make our own bibimbap for lunch after demonstration... they put alot of ingredients in the bibimbap, and raw egg and beef, urgghh... I cooked my own beef and egg and added only the stuff I wanted which was carrots... haha... after lunch, we got to dress up in hanboks and take pics... this was hilarious, both pongie and me look ridiculous cos we are fat, and the lady had a hard time looking for our size and I ended up wearing a hanbok which resembles something a servant in the olden days would be wearing... where the arms are exposed... hanboks only look nice on people who are slim I conclude...

2nd stop... more walking, this time at Mt Maisan, had to walk approx 1.6km one way to see this temple at the bottom of the mountain, and all of us declined to walk any further... apparently the mountain is so called becos it resembles ears of a horse... the toilet facilities there are shocking... one was only squatting, which was hard for me as I have yet to squat for awhile, let alone for the older people, and the other toilet had no washing basin... and no paper... dinner was at this korean place where we had hotpot, not to my liking I have to say... the ingredients were not to my taste...

finally it was to our accomodation place for the night... this time at Ramada Hotel in downtown area... not as nice as the resort but still a 5 star hotel... we found a Lotte Mart across the road, so pongie and I went to have a look around, they have really long pads, bought mum her sore throat medicine, cos she was getting sick, had a hard time communicating what was it we were after, this young salesgirl was trying to help but no English at all, however, the next thing we knew, she whipped out her Iphone, and found an app which you type the english word and it translates to korean... we thought that was hilarious actually... not that she gave us the right direction anyway, we had to ask another lady, who directed us to the pharmacy thank god... medicine in korean is 'yaku'...  the breakfast was so much better than the resort one though, cooked breakfast, which meant bacon, eggs, pastries, and other nice stuff... we were there for almost an hour...

Definitely recommend Hana Tour, this tour company which we had for the coach tour, everything was pretty organised, the food was not too bad and the hotels were excellent...

Trains and Ferry

Day 9 (Sun)- free and easy day for us today... we decided to go have a late breakfast at the Singaporean Kaya cafe nearby... which was pretty good considering I have not had kaya toast for a while now... and they also had milk tea singaporean style... after breakfast, caught a train to Samseong station where the shopping mall Coex was located... pretty sure Running Man also went there to film in one of the episodes... only one level of shopping, but huge area and the rest are convention halls... they actually had marche there, we were going to eat that, but pongie and mum had a blowup whilst we were there over buying of shoes, and we did not end up eating... bought a pair of running shoes, grey based and hot pink laces... pretty cool, expensive but it was the only thing I bought for myself during the whole trip... pongie ended up taking a train back to the hostel on her own, whilst mum and I caught a train to Yeouido where the spring flower festival was at... 

Yeouido... we got off at Yeouinaru station cos we wanted to go buy the ferry tickets first, it was packed everywhere... there was the huge Hangang park where people were cycling, flying kites, just walking around... and alot of people were walking along the road admiring the cherry blossom trees... it was quite a walk towards the ticketing area, but we made it there, bought our ferry tickets, and I wanted to go to the 63 Building where My Girl filmed, but did not think to read the book which did say we have to pay for entry and that there is a free shuttle there from the station... mum did not want to go cos it was quite a long walk there... so in the end, we walked back to the station, made a call back to the hostel to make sure pongie got there ok, and attempted to make our way to the national assembly building where the festival was apparently held... we did not make it there in the end, cos there were so many people, and there did not seem to be an end in sight... there was no food to eat as well... only street food... so I ended up having biscuits again for dinner whilst waiting for the ferry... it became quite cold as night approaches, and the ferry was at 1930... finally got onto the ferry, again lots of people, we sat indoors first, and I went out on the deck to take videos... when the rainbow fountain at Banpo Bridge came on, the cold and the prolonged standing on the deck was worth it... we were probably stopped there for approx 15mins and then it was time to go, but the fountain was still going... and we were told to go back into the undercover area and not before long, the decks were splashed with water as we went under the bridge... it was pretty cool, approx WON 15,000 per person... about an hour return... by the time we arrived back on shore, it was freezing cold, and we had to walk the long road back to the station... once back at the hostel, there was another round of packing to be done, cos we are going on the 3D2N coach tour... there was alot of packing and repacking going on during the trip... :)

Back In Seoul

stupid blogger thing, I hit the wrong text background button and now my previous post is filled with this disgusting white background... and I can't seem to fix it... 

Day 8 (Sat)- last day in Jeju, our flight back to Seoul is at 1500 so our 1st stop for the day was at Yongduam rock, it's a lava formation in the shape of a dragon's head which is apparently quite popular amongst tourists, but I did not think it was anything special when we were there... but the scenery was pretty good...

2nd and 3rd stops... one was Jeju folk museum and the other was Jeju national museum, nothing very exciting... and that was it for the Jeju tour... requested for kimchi bokkeumbap again, and the tour guide brought us to this downtown area where young people hang out and found this korean restaurant, and the kimchi fried rice was really nice, probably the best I have eaten during the trip, cos it was spicy and it was served on a hotplate... yum... after lunch, we were dropped off at the airport where we awaited for our flight back to Seoul... 

picked up at Gimpo airport and was brought to Myungdong Hostel where we had booked for 3 nights... upon arrival, the first thing we realised was that there was no lift and the hostel was on the first level and our room on the second level, which meant pong and I had to manually lift 2 heavy luggages up and down 2 flights of steps... the room was dodgy as well, slightly better than the Jeju one in that it did not have such a bad smell and there were no flies, but other than that, we had to provide our own towels, amenities, and the shower is in the same room as the toilet... and the bed was hard as anything... no choice but to stay there since we have already paid, but after the first night, we decided to see if there was any other places we could sleep in for the 3rd night... many places were booked out already, and we found a room at Hotel Royal but it was very expensive becos we had 3 people and it was last minute booking... fortunately the hostel allowed us to refund the money for one night's stay... at least the person at the reception area could speak reasonable English... I was actually quite stressed at certain points during the trip I have to say, becos I did not expect things to be booked out so quickly, and my thoughts were that we would be able to organise tours, and accomodation through the tourism organisation when we arrive in Seoul, but that was not the case when we arrived, I had to do alot of ringing around to search for accomodation, and tours... 

Lesson learnt: book tours and accomodation prior to departure next time, and find out the cancellation policy... and whether meals are included in the package...

Anyway, we decided to explore Dongdaemun that night and have dinner there, caught a train there, again, crowded, but in terms of shopping, not much things to see, and the stuff were not suitable for us, and alot of smoking as usual... we ended up eating Burger King, which is probably the most decent fast food we had so far... the other thing I noticed was that you have to return the trays to the respective store or common area after your meal, most food places provide water dispensers which is pretty good and they also provide metal cups, which are then hopefully washed and stored in the UV cabinet...