Seoul Dream Forest

Wait, is this what was supposed to be a dream forest? Well....it is in the eye of the beholder..that's what counts--at least. 

As for me (or my camera lenses, so to speak), it is^^

This is what the forest looks like actually--perfectly surrounded by jungle of concrete apartments--a distinctive landscape of Seoul or any other cities in the peninsula. But, hey..this is what makes it a dream forest. 

An eerie evening just before sunset, I was dragged into the loneliness of this barren-looking forest longing for the embrace of spring.

As I glanced again, I spotted a typical yet an unfamiliar landscape I never knew existed before.

I've been to this forest several times, but..that was the first time I climbed up the hill and circle around the very spot where I spotted this spot:)

Forest of Hope @ Dream Forest, Seoul

Let the pictures do the talking. 

Eyra & Freya were like...LOST in time. They seemed to 'ignore' me 

when they're playing. ^^ 

Ok, just have fun, gals.

북서울 꿈의 숲 Dream Forest

개미처럼...봄이 오자마자...공공장소를 찾아 가는 사람들이 많아지고  우리도 마찬가지로 좋은 기회를 놓을까봐...갔다 왔다. ..애들은 좀 공원에 가자고 해서....생각 없이 오케이....가자.

우리 동네엔 이렇게 멋진 풍경을 담은 곳이 꿈읫 숲밖에 없는 것 같다. 물론 진달래, 벗꽃 등 같은 꽃들이 아직도 피우지 않았지만 ....그린 샤워(??)^^로 걸아 가자.......!!!! 

Yes, we wouldn't want to to miss the chance of enjoying the early breeze of spring with the kids.

This is just a 10-minute ride from where we live. 

Not so much to see apparently ...but boy..we did have time there.  

Simply strolling along the park and letting our eyes wonder and wander around ....was more than what we'd expected. 

Barren trees were still visible...and the field was light and pale brown..yet..the weather was tantalizingly inviting. 

Roller-blade-ing kids, rope-jumping kids, scooter-ring kids, hula-hoop-ing kids, and other you-name-it-you-got-it games...dotted the scenery at one of the section in the park.

Jaws Time & ....

Jaws Tteokkpukki (죠스떡뽁이) is a brand name for a franchise restaurant specializing in tteokpukki or rice-cake snack...and other gorengan or tempura or 튀김 a la Korea. 

The tteokpukki was so hot that well...Eyra found it irresistibly ..relentlessly torturing for the kids.^^ but..so much so...we keep coming back..:) 

They love the ojingo or fried squid...oh....and I happen to be a vegetarian. So, I've been always their guardian angel *chuckle* who accompanies them whenever they eat something like this. 

Gosh..all of my girls lovveeeeeee this jaws-time:)..but for me..sure..I could, too..though not so much into it like they are:) 

Yippiee...ice cream time....now I can enjoy and pamper myself with this...

but then again...they chose the flavor of their dream...and not mine:(

ㅋㅋㅋ once again..I could only see them having a great time... 

and...at home..they're also having a blast..with their tiger-dolls....even when they're having dinner. 

*This has been our weekend's lunch-snack-dinner time.

Pizza Making Time!!!

Pizza time. Eyra was helping her Mom making pizza! Yeaach, now we're proud to say that we can make pizza at home. Of course, thanks to chef Sangjin Ko....we now know the secret recipe of how to 'cheat' in making a delicious home-made pizza. 

Gee...I forgot why she was shocked like this. The moment I clicked on my camera butter..I may have said something that might've shocked her...anyway..that's not important..she ended up finishing 'garnishing' her pizza. 

Thanks to the 'magic' of oven...everything's within reach when it comes to 'enjoying' food we otherwise only dreamed of--due to, well, you know....:) 

da..da.....the fresh-from-the-oven pizza. This one is specially made for me..wait...no...it has some meat in it...

All in all, Eyra and her Mom made three different pizza one time at a time...to be our dinner and breakfast for the following morning...*left-over time*

Live from Space

Well, I should've made an entry on my blog about this event.....days ago ..no..weeks ago. But, well..now that it's all over..and the moment seemed to fade away...oh, well..

the thing was that I wouldn't let this 'memory' slip away. 

Yup, on March 15, 2014..all over the world was going crazy over the supposed-to-be sensational live event of the year or decade or century? hmm can't say much about it. 

Anyway...it's somewhat way different from what I thought it would've been. I thought I would just look out of the ISS window to keep looking down 'onto' the earth while ISS was circling around the earth..that's it.-as simple as that..but it turned out...it's somewhat similar to other NGC or Discovery's space programs...or is it just me? 

But, enough about that: here's the highlight: I'm impressed that this live coverage was simultaneously accompanied by live translation on screen for Korean viewers. 

Of course, it's possible...what's not possible when it comes to 'something' like this. 

Planes? Sharks?...

I was reading an article for my class assignment while Eyra and Freya (sitting next right to me) were busy making 'something' out of their color clay. A few minutes later..I found out these cute little planes or sharks....:) put on my reading list. 

Eyra blurted out: "Dad, please pick one that you like. 

Oh, wait..I think I'll give the yellow one to you, Dad."

And what about the others? --> blue for Mama, pink for Freya, and the purple one for me, Dad.

But, why yellow? I was curious..but just left it unanswered. I just grabbed my camera and took a moment to take the picture of those little 'sharks'.  

*Thanks, dear for 'coloring up' my time so as to 'remind' me when I got to squeeze in myself in between assignment and play-time to be or at least..take a moment to notice what you're up to.

A week has passed and then I noticed something else. Wondering what those were that you put up on the wall. But, I guess...that's how you 'spend' your time...playing around in the house. 

*gals, just keep on making stuffs you like* and decorate the house as you please...^^

Happy Birthday, Daddy: Gifts from Eyra & Freya

Two days prior to my B'day...Eyra and Freya were hiding in their room..concealing something from me. (I bet they're up for something and I was right.). It turned out that they made these pictures as a B'day present for me. First, this is Freya's drawing. She always imagines 'B'day' as a party having a cake with the invited friends celebrating. and..oh..some presents, too. (But, Dear...would that be necessary for your Daddy?)

What you did is more than enough.  

Then, as I flipped the paper, I noticed another piece of treasure. She jotted down these words. It's simple, yet..I know how much she put her heart into it. 고마워, 프레야. 

Then..I got two other pieces of paper. One from Freya and the colorful one from Eyra. Yup, these are my B'day presents from Eyra and Freya. 

Nothing flashy or fancy about it....but the fact that they DID something for my birthday is beyond words. I love you, too, gils. 

고마워, 프레야..^^                                       고마워, 에이라^^

Surely, it's been such a great gift from both of you. 

Happy Birthday to Me:)

This is supposed to be Biryani rice--Indian-spicy rice--that has been one of my favorites. Of course, it's home-made. The other day, I bought Basmati rice along with one package of instant biryani ingredients. My wife told me that she'd like to make Biryani rice for my birthday. Dada..this is what it looked like. Although, of course, it looked more like nasi goreng (fried rice) than what we'd expected...ㅋㅋㅋㅋㅋ hahaha...but...the taste, scent, aroma makes up for it. Thanks, Ma.

* and..wait...though tempe is not the side dish that usually goes with Biryani....since I am a vegetarian...nothing beats tempe! 

As of today, I am officially 40 y.o. Gosh..now..number 4 stands right in front of my age...whenever I am addressing myself in term of age. ㅋㅋㅋ.

Some say life starts at 40. (Yes...but, what does that mean?)

In Korea some say that age is just a mere number '나이는 숫자에 불과하다'

 (...but, once again...what does that mean?)

What I know is that...I've been doing & experiencing lots of indescribable and invaluable lives with people around me....family, friends, and others. 

and..guess..I am just right here to always thank and thank and...being thankful for what God has given me, personally.

Alhamdulillah. Be thankful always, Suray. 

개강모임 Spring Semester Got Pumped Up

The first week of the Spring semester. As par of out tradition to start the semester, we gathered at one place, mostly restaurants, where we had talks over dinner. It should've been a formal occasion, but since we want to 'melt it down' a bit..so we'd thought of having it at a restaurant. Here we were. Having a blast by engaging in talks, chit-chats, and of course some ceremonial *ahem*speeches from our representative professors. Prof. Cho and Prof. Bak attended the meeting--they're welcoming the freshmen to our department--as well as letting us--seniors *ahem* to introduce ourselves to others. 

I should've been in the pic. no...not necessary. 

We just wanted to make sure that the so-called 'initiation' process of welcoming new students and encouraging them to study and enjoy campus life...would be a two-hour program worth-remembering. Most of us are foreigners since our program is Korean Studies designed for international students. We're from Indonesia (only me:), Thailand, Vietnam, The United States, Russia, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Mongolia, Japan, Turkey, Tunisia, and of course, Korea...although they only make up for almost one-fifth of our friends.

*Welcome to the new semester, guys.*

Dongdaemun Design Plaza & Park: Will it live up to what it promised to BE?+

This is one section of the facades of the soon-to-be-opened design plaza and park @ Dongdaemun. Just got back from there. Witnessed some workers did what looked to be a post-finishing or hmm finishing touch to the supposedly grandiose state-of-the-art plaza. hmm...

well..this is the rendering of what it'll look like when it's fully completed.

But...this is what it looked like...at least at the point of my visit as of today (March 6, 2014). I think it's about to fully operational. At daylight the walls seem to be er...bland but...I saw some rendering that the walls will be glaringly glowing with lights at night. Hope that's gonna be true, though.

So..this is what it looked like as of today. I took Eyra to take a walk even when it was surprisingly cold (again). ^^. Not many people around..and we occasionally encountered some people who happened to be coming in and out of the subway station right underneath this behemoth design. 

This will surely be another must-visit attraction or tourist spot in Seoul. 

Though nothing seems to be 'occupying' the area, I am sure that this plaza will be filled with innumerable exhibits to ease the senses of Seoul sight-seekers.  

The question that remains is whether its function will live up to its 'grandiosely behemoth design!! TIME will tell. ..and I cant' wait to pay another visit when it's officially opened. This March?? hmmm......