Friday, November 29, 2013

Day 16: Monsoon rain attack!

It was cloudy the entire day. July is the wettest month in Korea, and also the most humid month. Which means there will be a lot of rainfall. Well, it rains a lot in Singapore too and I hate the rain when you have to go out. It's nice relaxing at home on a rainy day though.

But Korea's monsoon season is nothing like Singapore's rain, so for those who are interested to go travelling in Korea, I will say skip July and August. The monsoon rain really dampens your mood, and makes travelling and sightseeing hard especially if most activities are outdoors. August, on the other hand, is the hottest month of the year. The temperature might be just 32 degrees celsius (so normal in Singapore), but the sun rays really burn. I got a few shades darker despite spamming sunblock on my last 10 days of trip (which happens to be the hottest period ever).

Showing you a typical meal in SKKU canteen. Tada~! And I believe most canteens too. Kimchi are usually free flow and self-service, but take only what you can finish please. Soups may or may not be complimentary. Menu of Day 15 was Omu-rice, and honestly I hate this brown sauce that they drenched over Omu-rice in Korea. This was my third time having it drenched all over my rice but I personally felt that it was a bit like plum sauce - sweet and sour, and anything sweet doesn't go over my main meals, they are only for desserts.

Oh, btw, this costs about 5,000KRW. So yeah, canteen food isn't much cheaper than outside food too.


We wanted to go Myeongdong again this evening, and also to settle our dinner there. But the heavy rain really put us off. I've tried being stuck in Myeongdong twice with heavy rain - it sucks. You have to go in and out of shops in Myeongdong so if it rains, you have to keep hiding in the shops, and everyone is also hiding in the shops, so you cannot shop because it is too crowded, but you cannot go out into the rain too.

But we still have to settle dinner. Lydia was reluctant to step out in the pouring rain so Jenny and I decided to meet. I waited for 15 minutes but the rain did not show any signs of it getting smaller, so we just decided to head out anyway. (Also cause it's almost 8pm and we're dying of hunger) And 10 seconds after I am out of the guesthouse, my feet are soaking wet and I am drenched already! 

From that day onwards, I was pondering about whether I should get those rain boots that Korean girls wear. Rain boots come in so many designs in Korea - high cut, low cut, flowery, plain etc etc. No doubts about that though because Koreans are so into fashion. But my Korean friends told me the 10,000KRW ones really hurt and cut your feet and no way am I gonna get those 50,000KRW Hunter boots because there was only two more weeks of school and I will be on a 10-days road trip already. So... say hi to more wet shoes and soaking feet.

Jenny and I met and then settled down at a Chinese restaurant in between her dorm and my guesthouse. Actually, we have been wanting to go there to eat because we always see them delivering jjajangmyeon and stuff in their bikes with a huge metal box to put the food. So they must have been quite a traditional Chinese restaurant. I had some clams kalguksu (noodles) while Jenny had her jjajangmyeon again. I guess she hasn't satisfied her craving for jjajangmyeon hahah. I really wanted to try jjampong but I'm afraid that it was too spicy and I didn't really know how to tell them to make it less spicy. Turns out the owner speaks Chinese , though a little bit hard to understand. I think he is from some province of China - a very strong accent/dialect of Chinese we couldn't really catch. He chatted with us though and told us that his son is also studying in SKKU but of course we wouldn't know his son.

But still, I think it's quite comforting to meet people whom you can understand (sort of) and strike little conversations with in a foreign land.



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