Korean cooking classes

Here at KAIST we have a special course called “Korean Business and Culture”. One of our assignments was to go to Korean cooking classes. Cooking also means eating, so we were more than happy to attend the classes. We had a Korean guide (Suzanne) who was also our interpreter (translator) because it was all conducted in Korean language.

We prepared a pork in sweet sauce and crab salad. Great fun and another skill. I like it.

Later after meeting Kristo and Yulien we went to Seoul fish market.

Nami Island trip

Thanks to Taiwan Ian girls we spent the whole Sunday on a mysterious trip. Our main goal: Nami Island. Second goal: to eat a great chicken dish in the city of Chuncheon (north east of Seoul). Our schedule was full-professional-mega-fancy. I knew what to do in every minute of the day.

First we took a train from Cheongryangni station to Nami Island. After about 1 hour ride we jump on the short ferry ride and finally we could see it. The place itself is famous because of the scenery used in popular drama (in the whole east Asia). It is enough for Koreans but for me it was not so impressing. We rented some bicycles but we needed only 30 minutes to make a round from coast to coast. The thing that I like the most about this trip Is that we were there with almost every exchange student at KAIST (Me, Kristo, Sophie, Piotrek, Manlin, ChiaLing, Lam, Maryam and Koji).

After another 1,5 hour in the train we were in Chuncheon. The city famous of the street where the restaurants serve the best chicken in Korea. The food was really great and also quiet cheap.

On the way back to Seoul I have learnt how to say some basic words in Chinese. Beware Chinese people, I am coming.

Is was a hard "hiking"

Below you can find some Fast relation from the short hiking trip in the forest near Seoul. Thanks to Sophie we met some exchange students from Ewha Women’s University. Surprisingly there were also some guys. Kristo said that it has to be funny when they tell somebody at their home university that they have been studying in the school for females.

After some quick lunch in COEX mall we went to see Seoul Olympic Stadium. Olympic Games took place here in 1988 and the complex does not look so impressive right now. Anyway you can see some photos below.

Indonesia welcome to (Bintan)

Hey Piotrek, I think that this is a wrong city

It was one of those hard days when you have a big hangover but still you have to wake up and do something. Of course we could spend the whole day doing nothing but our plan was very ambitious. We woke up very early and took a taxi to Ferry terminal. Of course no booking and very limited knowledge about the place we are going to. After some time on the “waiting list” we have managed to buy tickets to Bintan Island. After a lot of custom control we finally began our trip to Indonesia.

Bintan Island is just about 1 hour (40-50 km) away from the coast of Singapore. The northern part of the island is called “Bintan Resorts” which is a compounded terrain with a dozen of fancy and very expensive hotels for British and German retirees. After crossing a fence there is completely other world. Jungle-looking forest with some huts made of wood just next to decrepit road. A lot of poverty but also huge amount of positive energy in local society. Our driver (Yes we rented a car with a driver) after 1,5 hour ride brought us to the eastern part of island. Finally we have found a room in “Ocean Bay Resort”. Our “VIP” room was in the bungalow just next to the beach. Depending on the level of water the sea was 3 to 20 meters away. The rest of the “resort” was built on the stilts. Even though rooms were full one could barely see any people during the day.

From the very beginning we started doing the most exciting thing you can do during holiday. Being lazy and doing nothing at all was my aim for those days.

Nevertheless on Sunday we decided to make a little kayak trip to the near Island. Somebody told me that this is a desert island. When the ebb started we took a green canoe and begin our trip. Of course after about 15 minutes the waves started being bigger and bigger and some noon showers disturbed us. Hopefully after an hour we reached a coast. It would not be any fun without little thrill. On the way back a big wave crashed our kayak turning it upside down. It was about 1 km. from the coast. Finally we are still alive.

In the evening we also realized that actually we took a wrong ferry. Instead of going to the capital of the island we took it to the Bintan Resorts. Anyway it was a great holiday time for us.

After coming back to Singapore we had a nice time in the pool with beautiful girls and fantastic drinks:)

China, India, New Asia and Singapore

On Thursday we did some sightseeing in Singapore. Firstly we decided do go to the part of the town called Little India which is a local asylum for Indians (Hindu). Unfortunately this district and their motherland has only one thing in common. It is extremely dirty as for Singaporean standards. No atmosphere and feeling.

Later on we took a subway to reach Chinatown. This one was much better and one could really feel like being in China. A little bit similar to New York Sokho district. We have found some great and cheap place to eat a lunch. The food was great taking into consideration that it cost about 3-4 SGD (6 PLN, 3 USD, 3000 KRW, 300 JPY or 2 EUR).

There was also a nice boat trip thru the Singapore Downtown.

After coming back to the apartment and changing to some fancy clothes we took a taxi to New Asia Bar on the top (72th floor) of Swissotel, The Stamford and we met some friends there: Jose from Spain and Olivier who is polish-french-canadian.

The view was truly beautiful but the service of our waitress was worse than ever. I was really pissed when she brought a bill in the middle of the drink and wanted a money right away when we have been in the best part of conversation. No tip.

The last part of the day was a dinner in the restaurant just next to the river.