Sleepless in Suwon.

Although I love our city and all superfluities it brings, at times it really gets under my skin. I don't need a nagging boss to pump up my stress level to the hilt. Just picture this; crowded subways, rowdy uniform-clad students packing every square inch of the streets, drunk men acting like retards, and a neighbor who loves to play the piano until the wee hours of the morning (and waking up in the middle of the night hearing his rendition of Nocturne scares the crap out of me!). It doesn't help that there's always a new building being constructed/renovated and hearing earsplitting jack hammer noises all day long is part of the deal. These are the things that I have to deal with every single day, and let me tell you a daily dose of that could really make any sane person crazy in the literal sense of the word.

Whenever I'm stressed out, I would always ask Chris to go with me for a late night walk. During one of those therapeutic walks, we went to Ajou University. I spent a good three months studying in this institution. All of my classes were held in the afternoon and I was dead curious how the University grounds look at night. It didn't disappoint though. It looks even better with the moon, the stars, and all the cute little lamp posts. I sort of gave Chris a tour, and showed him the usual spots where my Norwegian friend and I usually hang out. When we got tired, we went to the picnic ground and stayed inside a gazebo to rest and soak up the scene. I grew hungry so Chris called our favorite Chicken place (it's on his speed dial ^^) and ordered a box of fried chicken and beer. We enjoyed the accidental picnic so much that we lost track of time, and before we knew it, it was already 2 am! We spent another hour taking pictures before heading home.

What's a better way to seal a romantic evening than take photos that'll forever remind you how perfect the night had been...

Wishing for more unexpected dates and romantic evenings like this one. :-)

Suwon's Finest: The World Cup Stadium.

Suwon is synonymous to two things; Hwaseong Fortress and Suwon World Cup Stadium. I live near both, but the distance of the latter is much closer.

During daytime, the Stadium turns into one busy arena, holding multitude of soccer fanatics. It's the home of Suwon Samsung Bluewings, a popular team in the K-League - Korea's top professional football league. Chris could get free tickets at work if the team has a match, however, both of us couldn't endure sitting and watching a soccer match for long hours (for some reason, it bores us to death ;p). At night it looks even better, so whenever Chris and I feel like going for a late night walk, we head to World Cup Stadium. It looks really cute when the purplish and pink lights are turned on. A lot of people go there to jog and exercise, some people choose to spend time in a random cozy spot and drink coffee. This is how the World Cup Stadium looks like up close.

The Stadium also has park-like amenities and there are tons of things you could do while your there. There are exercise equipments you could use for free, cozy-grassy areas where you could have picnics, and a huge space to jog and do in-line skating. On our most recent visit, we had a picnic there. We ordered chicken (and YES, they deliver EVERYWHERE!), and bought a six-pack beer. We've had one of our most meaningful conversations there. Stars were unusually plenty that night, and I could barely tolerate the crisp autumn air. It was a magical evening, and it's hard to believe that a night as perfect as that, we could get for free. Now I stand by the famous and overused adage "The best things in life are FREE."

If you happen to be in our City, head to the East. Visit the World Cup Stadium, and experience what over a million inhabitants get to enjoy for FREE.

An Evening of Culture and History.

I was feeling quite lethargic the day Chris asked me out on a date. That was Monday, I just got off from the phone with my sister and she passed a bad news that pretty much ruined my day. I could tell Chris could feel whatever bad vibe is in the air, and whenever he wants to make me feel better, he'd ask me out to 'blow-off' some steam like what he likes to call it. We were already half a block away from home when we realized that we didn't have a place to go. It was late and other than bars, all places were already closed. Then a sudden idea sparked in my head, and I just knew the perfect place to go. Suwon is synonymous to Hwaseong (Brilliant Fortress), the most famous and probably the only place in Suwon worthy for a late night bus ride. Hwaseong was built by King Jeongjo during the Joseon Dynasty to honor his father Prince Cado who was murdered by his own father King Yeongjo.

When we arrived, the main gate was already closed so we had to take a much more difficult trail of probably 500 stairs and barely visible pathways with hungry mosquitoes and moths flying in all direction. It didn't sound even the slightest bit romantic to be called a 'date', but when we reached the top, I understood why people subject their legs to that kind of abuse and commune with mosquitoes and other insects I barely know the names. Standing right in the middle of it, with the wind, the view, and the lights was all too perfect.

We continued to climb till we reached the ancient observatory that has an amazing 360 degree view of Suwon. If it's only possible, I wanna have a romantic candlelight dinner here at the exact same spot where I was standing and took this picture..




This wall encloses the palace of the King, and surrounds the center of Suwon. I always see it whenever I take the bus to go to the subway.

One of the many gates...

On the way down, the view was equally breathtaking.

It was pretty late, but we didn't wanna leave the Fortress and end the magical evening just yet. I told Chris about the candlelight dinner that I was imagining while we were up there, but since that's not even remotely close to being possible, we settled for the next best thing. We went to this traditional restaurant that has clay pots everywhere, ancient wooden decors hanging on the wall, and straws weaved on the roof like a hut. He said he wanted to give me a taste of their traditional culture.

We ordered Dongdongju, a traditional liquor made from brewing rice, yeast, wheat flour, and water. It's sweet and has a milky off-white color. It's served chilled on a bowl with a scoop like in the picture below. It's kinda grainy like that of soybean milk, and part of it settles below so you have to give it a good stir before you drink it.

Here's a picture of me, taking my very first sip.

Dongdongju is best consumed alongside "pajeon", but in the tradition of using "pa" or onion leeks to make this dish, we had something a bit more elaborate. This one's kimchi, haemul (seafood), and gamja (potato) jeon in one platter, just like a three-flavored pizza we all love.

Chris has the metabolism of a teenage boy, and as if the three-flavored jeon wasn't enough, he ordered yet another sidedish called "dakbal" (chicken feet in uber spicy sauce served on a sizzling platter). Ok, I don't normally eat chicken feet, but this is one rare occasion where I actually consumed more than I'm supposed to.. It has a weird chewy texture (no bones or anything), but it's really tasty.. With my three year stay here, I think Korea is growing on me.

When we left the restaurant, we were full and a bit tipsy. We walked holding each other's hand, laughed like crazy for no reason (a classic when you're drunk), and waited at the wrong bus stop alongside a sleeping homeless man which resulted to a few more rounds of laughter. Hearing the bad news from my sister, I was hurting to have this kind of fun, and I'm so glad we did.

Alone but not Lonely.

Chris went to military training camp early this morning, and he wont be back till Sunday. I'd normally hate to be alone at home for a couple of days, but this is a rare exception where I'm actually enjoying it. We're always together that I sometimes feel suffocated! We badly need some time apart and this might just be the perfect chance to have some peace and quiet. Don't get me wrong, Chris is a nice guy. But at times, he could be a little 'strict' and treats me like a child. I grew up to be very independent and free-spirited. I don't like to meddle with other people's business the way I don't want them to meddle with mine, and Chris just so happens to think my business is also his. Ok, this post isn't about ranting and venting, so enough of those.

I get excited thinking I'm gonna have the house all to myself for two days! This means I don't have to cook korean food, I don't have to wake up early, I could stay up all night watching movies and playing "Need for Speed" for as long as I want to.

Since today's sunny, no sign of rain or anything, I went out and took pictures. I'm in a really good mood today, so I wanna give you guys a tour in our area. We live in Suwon, it's 45-minutes away from Seoul by bus. Compared to Seoul, I don't see much of a difference when it comes to amenities and facilities. Whatever Seoul has, it's also here.




With almost every apartment complex, there is a park like this where children could play. There are swings and a giant seesaw that could entertain kids for hours.





There's also a place where the adults can work out for free. These machines (and a few others which I wasn't able to include in the photo) were recently installed. Had I known earlier, I wouldn't have enrolled in a gym.





This is the university where I studied before. The university is really big (like most universities in Korea), and it also has it's own hospital. It's gonna take hours to explore it.





This is where the university students play soccer and baseball. It's also the place where concerts are held. I attended two different concerts here before. First was SG Wanna Be, and the other was Super Junior.





This is a picture I took while crossing a random bridge. Cute isn't?





Some random road I pass by every single day. I'm so familiar with this road that I could literally cross the streets blindfolded!





At the other side of the bridge, there's the Youth Cultural Center. It's a place where people could play just about any sport imaginable (swimming, basketball, badminton, volleyball, tennis, even kendo, squash, and Korean sumo wrestling). The best thing about it, it's for free. You only have to pay for the locker.





Among dozens of parks scattered all over Suwon, this is our favorite place to visit. You'll see why..









Right in the middle of numerous coffeeshops, restaurants, bars, and shops, there's this cute little fountain where children could play. In the Philippines, we usually don't let kids get wet playing in the fountain, but it's different here.





Suwon may not be as happening as Hongdae, Myeongdong, or Apkujeong in Seoul. But we have a lot of these quirky little shops that are hard to find in the metro.





80% of Koreans live in apartment, so whichever direction you're facing, you could always see endless rows of apartments like this..





And the small percentage of Koreans live in houses like this.





I was tired, not to mention burnt from walking in this very hot weather. I badly needed something cold to drink, so I went to my favorite coffee shop to relax a bit.




I hope you guys enjoyed the tour!