Start Alone, End Alone

I went to Korea for my JTA, alone.
I went to Sogang from Incheon International Airport, alone.

Tomorrow, I'll eat lunch, alone.
Tomorrow, I'll leave Sogang, alone.
Tomorrow, I'll leave Korea, alone.

The next day, I'll arrive at NAIA 3, alone.
On that day, I will go to my home from NAIA 3, alone.

Start alone, end alone, indeed.

Comments? :D

Sidetrack to Future...What?

This week's gonna be (a bit) deadly. AND THIS POST TOO! (This is a TL;DR post so read at your own risk)

Currently, I am an exchange student in Sogang University, here in Seoul, Korea (yet, this status is about to end soon).  In almost a week, I'm going back to my home country and continue my studies.  The program (Junior Term Abroad) entitles me for only one semester here.

Back to my first statement, yes, this week's gonna be a bit deadly than the previous weeks.  More or less as deadly as my midterms week. This week is our finals week and every student, whether foreigner or Korean, have their faces into their books and lecture slides. (Just a comment, Koreans have a very disciplined study habits.  Perhaps, they got this from studying for the College Scholastic Ability Test or suneung (수능). This tests sometimes trigger the suicidal instincts of high school students, and that's another part of the story.)  Well, I may not have study habits as disciplined as the locals here but my study habits (aka cram study) puts me to survival in my life as a student.

A Night with 난타 (Cookin') Musical

This evening, we (Sogang Seouldiers) went to watch the famous 난타 /nan-ta/ (also known in English as Cookin’) Musical in its Hongdae Theater.

I arrived in the venue, together with Jonah and Tricia, at around 6PM and we walked around Hongdae first before heading to the theater. When it was time to get our tickets, we only had jeje pics on a sign of the musical at the start of the stairs (the theater is at the basement of the building, that’s why there are stairs).  We didn’t even had another photo on a much more beautiful sign of the musical on their lobby at the basement lol.

So we arrived at the lobby, waiting for the doors to be opened.  Just like other plays, camcording/photography is not allowed so I only managed to take one picture of the set before the show starts.

All of the scenes in the musical are inside the kitchen so it’s not really a big thing to see kitchen stuff on stage. However, when the show starts, all of the set turned into musical instruments, including the flowing water :O

During the show we watched (the 8PM show), the actors of Black Group is performing on stage. You may see the characters here.

STORY

The story of the musical involves a group of chefs, who are preparing for a wedding.  It turns out that there are so much orders that are to be prepared in only an hour. In addition to their small group (head chef + 2 assistants), the nephew of the manager joined the team.  The group of chefs are hesitant to the skills of the nephew, which towards the play, their relationship went well because of the nephew’s wittiness. 

PROPS

The props are mainly kitchen utensils - knife and chopping boards turned drumsticks and drums, water containers turned into drum bases, etc.  The rhythm of the musical is based on samullori, where traditional Korean instruments are changed to kitchen utensils.

COSTUMES

Chef’s uniform - of course, they are inside a kitchen.  On their last scene, the four chefs changed to black top and performed, with the manager, a series of percussion instruments (still in a form of the large water drums).

PERFORMANCE

The first part happens in some sort of a traditional Korean kitchen, that the chefs are dressed in hanboks. The rhythm sounded like a real traditional Korean performance, yet with the use of kitchen utensils. On the second part (during the present time), everyone showcases their skills on integrating cooking with performing (chopping REAL vegetables while actually beating the chopping board like a drum). The third part is some sort of a party-like, urban-styled beating.

Described in the official website, Nanta is a nonverbal musical, though the actors used very minimal words such as “6 o’clock,” “uncle,” slurping sound, screaming “AHJUMMA” on random lady at the audience, etc.  

REACTION

Overall, the performance is very entertaining as it mixes Korean traditional rhythm, new style (the use of kitchen utensils), comedy, and audience participation only saying less than 10 words. The show absolutely made the audience laugh so hard and they portrayed the story well.  The performance is world-class and jaw-dropping. I do not really go on musicals frequently but Nanta is really AWESOME!

RATING: 10 out of 10

Comments? :D

Gabo Invades Korea: Solo Trip in Gyeongju [PART 1]

So the main point of going to Gyeongju was because of the Hallyu Dream Festival.  But I went there a day ahead of my friends to have a short tour of the city.

My friend booked me a bus ticket to Gyeongju. Since I didn't sleep the night before (because of the early schedule of the trip), I took the chance to sleep on my 4-hour travel.

Then, I woke up just in time. I arrived Gyeongju!

However, I'm still worried because my I hadn't received anything yet regarding my booking in Sarangchae Hostel. And I even lost my way to the hostel >_< Good thing I could speak basic Korean phrases and I found my way to the hostel.

And just as I'd thought of, I had no room to stay in Sarangchae! But the ahjussi and ahjumma are so kind and good in English, they called my back-up hostel, Nahbi Guest House, and asked if there was a space, and Nahbi said YES! The ahjussi gave me the directions to the Nahbi Guest House, so I walked again to Nahbi. (By the way, I walked from the station to Sarangchae, then to Nahbi, with backpack and my heavy sports bag :|)

And yes, Nahbi still had a vacant solo room for 25,000 won for a night. I reserved it before someone could take that spot. I put my stuff and rested for a while because I was walking too much already. At around 1PM, I felt hungry since I had not eaten anything yet. And my search for food/soul searching began..

So that's the view from one of the streets. It's much peaceful and calmer here than in Seoul, probably because this is a province.

I decided to start looking for tourists spots as I look for place to eat. I decided to go to Hwangseong Park first because it looks near on the map. But as I continue to walk towards the direction of the park, I CAN'T SEE ANY PARK/STATUE STILL. So now I was starting to ask the locals about the location of the park.

FIRST: I asked a man, probably a college student at around 23-28 years old, where the Hwangseong Park is. I think he couldn't understand my Korean phrase (I'm still practicing -____-) so I tried to speak in a mix of English and Korean like, "Hwangseong Park odieyo? Where? Hwangseong Park? Where? Place? Direction? Odieyo?" Then he suddenly said "wait" to me in Korean and called someone on his phone. I thought he's gonna call someone to ask for direction but I eavesdropped that he's saying, "Sorry. I don't know." WHAT THE... He's asking his friend how to say sorry and I don't know in English :))))) Why couldn't he just ask for the directions... -_____- oh well, I just thanked him in Korean.

SECOND *and successful one*: So I tried asking a couple (yes, couples are everywhere even in provinces). They seem to understand the way I spoke to them in Korean because the girl suddenly points on the direction then speaks in Korean! I can't understand a thing. All I could just say, "Ne~" to whatever she says, even if she's asking me something (because one of the things she said ends in "imnikka") HAHAHAHAHAHA! I think the guy noticed that I didn't understand her and luckily *YES!* he spoke to me in English and told me to go straight and cross the river that I will see. AT LAST, AN ENGLISH SPEAKING PERSON HERE IN GYEONGJU! (Not that I'm underestimating people from the provinces in their English-speaking skills but in a desperate time like this, I would really need someone who can speak English). So I continued my journey...

FAAAAAAK! No food stores yet! All I could see are bakeries and cafes! I need real food :(( plus, I've walked so far yet I couldn't see any sign of river/water!!!

And at last, I saw the end of the long and winding road...YEY RIVER!! But as of my current location that time, I was too far from the bridge and all I could see are some sort of rocks/stones that I think was used for crossing since people in bicycles crossed the one beside it (right part of the photo below). So I walked on those stones on the left...

It was funny because I was the only one walking on the stones. I thought that time, maybe I'm the only person crossing this stones. I'd like to run so fast because people might think I'm crazy because of crossing these stones. HAHAHA! Great experience!

So when I reached the other side of the river, this was what I'd seen...

THIS IS THE VENUE FOR THE HALLYU DREAM FESTIVAL!!! I didn't know actually that this is the venue lol :))

So I walked around the area, thinking that this wasn't the Hwangseong Park yet because there should be a tall statue according to the map I had. Here are some photos I took while roaming around the area...

Comments? :D

26 Hours Left Before the Invasion

It's officially 26 hours left before my invasion of Korea will start.

I used "invasion" because I have a Tumblr account specifically for my Korea adventures. I will post pictures and random posts there.  There maybe times when I will post same content here and in my Tumblr.  Maybe sometime, that Tumblr account will turn into something like a Kpop blog.

Wait...bobo moment. I did not really explain why I used "invasion." It's because the name of my Tumblr blog is GABO INVADES KOREA as what my link shows.  It has a page about JTA and Sogang, and also about me!

As for my visa, I will claim it tomorrow so I hope there would be no more delays because classes have started in Sogang already.

I will post another blog tomorrow as I wait to board on the aircraft. :D See ya!

Comments? :D