RD Goes to Korea

This is going to be a lengthy post about my trip to Korea  with fiance in May this year. I have finally found time to blog and upload videos of the trip. 

Brief Summary of the Trip
Singapore - South Korea - Jeju - South Korea - Singapore

I flew to South Korea via Singapore Airlines and landed safely at Seoul-Incheon International Airport. The flight time was about 6 hours. Upon arriving at the Airport, I bought a KAL Limousine bus ticket to travel to Novotel in Gangnam area to meet the fiance there. He was there earlier for business trip.

Gangnam, South Korea
Dinner was Heamultang Live Seafood in Gangnam, which was an eye-opener for me as I have never experienced watching live seafood cooked and served right before my eyes. The soup was delicious and seafood tasted very fresh. You can watch the video here.

I also had Korean BBQ while in Gangnam. Although we also have Korean BBQ in Singapore, but it just tasted different when you have it in Korea. The first picture was BBQ pork and the yellow liquid surrounding the hot plate was egg. The second picture was an eel in the midst of being cooked. The meat was quite rubbery and hard. 

 

I wouldn't want to bore you with too much words and a picture speaks a thousand words, I shall just post the photos of this trip, accompanied by some short descriptions where applicable.

We were lucky to arrive and witness the marching performance outside Gyeongbokgung. You can watch the video here. Below are some more pictures taken inside Gyeongbokgung.

We also went to other temple and then to N Seoul Tower.

We also made time to head to National Palace Museum of Korea.

We went to LOTTE Mart but didn't take much pictures as we were busy stocking up snacks to bring to Singapore. I very much would like to bring the beetle home as pet but couldn't. Fiance bought the raw crab back for our parents to taste. I didn't like the taste of it, tried once would be enough.

One of the highlight of our Korea trip was the Panmunjom DMZ tour. I encourage all to give it a try once. We weren't able to take much picture and was told to behave and not point fingers at the North Korean soldiers too.

Myeong-dong

We shopped for masks and other cosmetic products at this shopping districts in Seoul. Fiance loves cats a lot and so we made a trip to the cat cafe for a short rest and patting the cats. 

Jeju - Manjanngul Cave

Another highlight is this cave in Jeju City. I love it!

Jeju - Seongsan Ilchulbong (Sunrise Peak)
It was very tiring to trek up to the top. The top is remarkably beautiful. I had captured some videos which you can view it here, here and here.

Cheonjiyeon Falls

Didn't snap much picture but took a few nice videos. You can view it here and here. The sound from the waterfall makes one feel relaxed and close to nature.

Cheonjiyeon, meaning "God's pond", derives its name from the legend that the seven fairies serving the King of Heaven came down to the pond on stairs of cloud and bathed in its clean waters.

Random Photos in Jeju

And finally, all the food we had!

52 Week Savings Plan - Week1

If you want to be rich, it is important to earn more and spend less. Besides discovering and exploring ways to increase my revenue and income, I also make sure I save a portion of it.

Inspired by the 52 week savings plan, I decide to make my own version and stick to it. I start Week 1 with $10 (original weekly savings plan begins with $1 in Week 1) and add an additional $1 each week. This is going to be very challenging as the week goes by. As you can see, from Week 41 on wards, I will need to set aside $50 each week. 

Will I succeed? This will only be known when time comes. I will keep you guys updated. Meanwhile, the below is for your reference. 

30-Day Challenge #1 - Wake up at 6AM

I used to think that I am not a morning person and I am unable to wake up early. However, I decided to give it a go and challenge myself to wake up everyday at 6AM for 30 days. I have to say, it wasn't a consecutive 30 days, just weekdays. I slept in and woke up later during weekends. I will aim to train myself to wake up every single day at 6AM and then to 5AM as I progress.

I took up this challenge in August and am sad to say that I have failed. It wasn't easy, especially I am a night owl and sleep real late. I still wake up early but some days at 5AM and some days at 630AM. I will definitely make sure I wake up everyday at 6AM by Dec 2015!

The Journey

In the first 5 days, it was relatively easy to wake up early. I was already up before my alarm went off. I also make sure I do not press 'snooze' and immediately hop out of bed after the alarm goes off.

I make it a routine, wake up and then head to the bathroom for a shower. I have ample of time to enjoy breakfast and watch youtube videos in the morning before I head out for work. I realised that I tend to feel tired around 10PM to 11PM and I was sleeping earlier than I used to. Perhaps this was why it was easy to be up.

The next 5 days was a challenge. I became contemplated and insisted on sleeping later (like now). It was very difficult to get up. Even when I was up, I feel tired. I think this was because I was getting insufficient sleep.

Subsequently, I just got up at 630AM and continue sleeping way past midnight. This is very bad and right now I am slowly adjusting my body clock back to be in bed by 1130PM and up at 6AM. 

Despite not waking up everyday at 6AM, I am still proud of the effort that I am putting in. I will continue to work on getting up early and starting on other challenges. I will definitely make this challenge a success and write about it in the near future.