Nami Island: "Naminara Republic"

KBC group on a mission

Nami Island is an island that looks like a leaf floating on a lake. It was founded in 1966 as a "garden of culture and the arts". It is located 63 km from Seoul in the middle of the Han River. The island is full of wide open grassy areas suitable for picnics and recreation surrounded with chest nut trees and other trees. 

  

squirrel spotted 

The island is formed with pebbles and sands, there are no mountains on the island, instead there are tall trees which are tall enough to touch the sky. For most Korean and International visitors, the island is perfectly suitable for leisurely strolls or romantic dates. Nami Island also plays host to a variety of culture events, concerts and exhibitions throughout the year. The island is also flourished with deer, ostriches, rabbits, squirrels, ducks and countless types of birds. Its an island where nature and human beings can coexist. 

Chestnut trees planted beautifully

I found out that the island was named after General Nami, a notable figure in Korean history who courageously fought in battles but died at the age of 26. In last decade, Nami Island became a popular location for the filming of movies and it even rose to international prominence with the re-broadcast of Korean television series "Winter Sonata" throughout Asia. 

Today, Nami Island is a place for the rest and relaxation, where nature and human beings live peacefully in harmony far away from city crowds and civilization. 

If you want to visit Nami Island, click on this link for more useful information. https://www.namisum.com/

 Busan Familiarity Tour

  

Busan Familiarity Tour Bus

Busan Familiarity Tour (from 2^nd to 4^th July, 2012) sponsored by Busan Convention & Visitors Bureau and 4^th Korea Brand Communicator (Presidential Council of Nation Branding). We started our super fast journey on the KTX from Seoul Station with 30 members from KBC. As we reached Busan station, we were greeted by a happy group of tour guides followed by group photos at the station.

BIFF

Right before lunch we reached BIFF Square which is named for the Busan International Film Festival and the hand-prints of many famous film festival in the previous years can be seen there. We visited many incredible spots in Busan such as Gwangalli, BIFF Plaza, Haeundae beach, Sinsegae Department Store Centum City, Gwangan Bridge, UN Memorial Ceremony, Haedong Yonggungsa Temple, BEXCO, Jagalchi Fish Market and Yacht Convention and Tour. Our tour guide said that the BIFF Square into a multiplex space for the enjoyment of films, shopping and other recreational activities, with its youthful ambience contributing greatly to the revitalization of local businesses.

Yacht 

The highlight of the Busan tour is the Yacht Tour offered for the first time by BEXCO. This was my first time nestling on the sea on a yacht convention. Yacht Convention is a unique combination yacht and convention which brought us beautiful natural sceneries of Busan including Gwangan Bridge, Oryukdo, Haeundae, Nurimaru APEC and Dongbaek Island. I later found out on the yacht that the yacht was made was purely Korean made yacht, with the maximum capacity of 26 people, designed and constructed by local manufacturer in Busan. I enjoyed the beauties of sailing on the ocean and felt safety and comfort. Facilities and spaces such as kitchen, foot spa, bow deck, karaoke, salon, stern deck, bed room and event room. We took a lot of amazing photos of the on the yacht.

Madame Tussauds

On the first night of the tour, we spent the night at the Toyoko Inn which was amazingly furnished. On entering the lobby, the receptionist offered warm welcome and professional service. I had a single room for one night where I slept like a log very conveniently. I loved the location of the hotel since it was just a step away to Busan station and it was so close to the Haeundae beach. Haeundae sightseeing at night was so amazing. Haeundae beach is full of spa bathing, leisure activities, and the beauty of the sea. At night we sat on the beach enjoying some recreational activities (drop the Handkerchief) which was really fun and walking on the wet sand felt really refreshing.

Madame Tussauds

Sinsegae Department Store Centum City was said to be opened in 2009 and it is popular for being the largest department store in the world and made an appearance in the Guinness Book of Records as the “World’s Largest Department Store”. Shopping facilities, a spa, ice skating rink, indoor golf, bookstore, and a movie theatre and all such entertainment facilities can all be enjoyed in one location. Taking photos with the "popular celebrities" such as David Bechkham, Lady Gaga, Madonna, Johnney Depp, Micheal Jackson, Elvis Presley, Spiderman, etc at Madame Tussauds.

Busan Cinema Center

With the broad beach and breathtaking high-rise skyline, Busan is one of the best contemporary cities in the world. 

DMZ Tour

 DMZ stands for Demilitarized Zone which is a strip of land (2 kilometer wide) across the Korean Peninsula which was established in 1953 as a part of the armistice agreement. Its practically a 2 kilometer wide “No Man’s Land” running between South and North Korean that was once same peaceful nation. Obviously, DMZ must be the world’s most heavily armed border which makes it even harder for the tourist to travel freely. Subsequently, there are many things that you mustn’t do. Few examples are: you mustn’t make any eye contact with North Korean Soldiers, wear ripped clothes or make any sort of hand gestures. You need to have your passport, Alien registration card or they provide you a card to display to visit DMZ depending on the places you are visiting. There are 6 different locations from where we can visit that many people are not aware of. 
Needless to say the history lesson and stories one hears are much different. May 18, 2012 I made my third visit to DMZ and it was different from my first two visits as always. This time it was a tour organized by ISF which is a non-profit organization approved by the ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Korea, founded to serve the foreign students studying in Korea, to build better relationships and mutual understanding between the nations, even after the foreign students return to their countries. We started our trip by taking the bus at Shinchon (City hall) and reached for lunch at the military base. 

History Museum

After lunch, there was a specification on various tanks owned by Korean military. They explained about the characteristics of tanks such as speed, engine, endurance, weight and price which was most surprising of all. They explanation was in Korean but they also had an interpreter who translated Korean to English which made the understanding much easier. We were also allowed to sit on the tank and take photos, we were also taken on a 2 or 3 minutes tour in a tank wearing a military hat which was very different experience for females and non-military. The most interesting experience was, they allowed us to shoot the magazine and I had my first four shots which was pretty amazing for me and other foreign students. 

At 2:00pm we moved to an observatory. Since DMZ is more than 250 kilometers lone, there are various observatories. We reached Yeolsoe Observatory tower 2A which was built in 1998 by the infantry Division Key to raise awareness on unification and alleviate the homesickness of Korean citizens who originated from the North. During the 15 or 20 minutes briefing, one of the private explained all the details about the DMZ and we were allowed to ask questions. For those who goes there for the first time should keep in mind that they are not permitted to take photos. You must ask for permission before you take pictures.  

Shooting experience

After the briefing, we visited a little history museum right in the basement of the observatory where we could write wishes for the unification of North and South Korea and hang it there along with other millions of wishes made by the DMZ visitors. We also had a walk along the South Korean barbed wire fence. After the observatory, we moved to Yeoncheon, which was in touching distance from DMZ. Yeoncheon is the center of the Korean peninsula. Yeoncheon offers you beautiful, peaceful and scenic sites with various festivals are held from time to time. For more information, click http://www.iyc21.net/_foreign/eng/

Korean TV show: Get it Beauty

Eugene: The host of the show

Get it beauty is one of the popular TV show which began airing in July 2010. The main aim is to promote popular Korean cosmetics products along with interesting cosmetics tips hosted by three hosts most of the time and professional make-up artists are introduced in every episode who does nothing but fills you up with interesting ideas and easy make-up skills. As you can see on the photo on the left, one of the most popular host is Eugene who was a member of popular female band S.E.S. 

I was unaware of the show until I was invited to participate in the TV show with a bunch of other foreigner female students from several other universities. Every Get it beauty episodes provide you with new beauty tips. Here is a little information about Korea's cosmetic company. Comparing to other countries in Asia, Korea is a major producer of cosmetics products and obviously a huge market for cosmetics. The local Korean cosmetics brands are Holika Holika, The Saem, Tony Moly, Banila co., It's Skin, Laneige, Aritaum, Etude House, Innisfree, Nature Republic, Skin Food, The Faceshop and Hanskin House. Some of these brands are mid-priced and some luxurious brand are found in high-end department stores.

SES: Eugene in the center

What I learnt from the sitting there for long exciting hours? First question was, "What do girl's from foreign countries want to learn about Korean make-up?". Most of the girls who went there were interested in learning how to get natural look with the make up on which we mostly see in most Korean soap operas and dramas. To answer this question, one of the professional artist was invited who worked with most Korean K-pop celebrities like Girls Generation. Obviously, getting a natural look was not a single-step process especially for an audience like me who doesn't know the ABC about cosmetics. 

Later in the show we had a "blind test" on five different BB creams followed by complete makeover of one random girl from the audience. For the second part of the show, they brought in a hairstylist, fashionable and young, who selected two random girls from the audience. While the makeover was going on in the backstage, they announced the result of BB cream blind test and what brand they were. The results were quite surprising since the most expensive BB creams got the lowest or close to lowest scores and the cheapest was rated best. At that moment, I realized how BB cream is different to Korean girls and to foreign girls. We could clearly see the difference between how people from different culture and nature prefer different thing.

Me and Eugene

Now, what the hairstylist did was taught the audience how easy it is to have a natural hair style everyday without any help from a hairstylist. The girls were seated on the chair and he worked on their hair very smoothly and created "poop" hair (똥머리) which is very popular in Korea and popular to many foreigner audience through Korean waves.  The name "poop" hair basically means a hairstyle that looks like a lazy bun which might look like "poop" in cartoons. The girl with long straight hair was given simple and big waves at the lower parts of her hair which turned out natural and made her look completely different. Towards the end of the show, the girl whom they sneaked out without audiences' notice was revealed which surprised everyone on the set. She was totally transformed with new cute bob hair cut, perfect make up and  most of all, she was glowing. Well, I guess that is the magic of make-up. 

Finally, we were presented with MISSHA products such as BB cream, essence and Mascara that vibrates when you press a button. The best one that I am still using is a facial essence called "TIME REVOLUTION". It was a wonderful time for two reasons: first, I got to meet a celebrity Eugene, talked to her and had a photo taken with her, and the second, I got more friends in Korea after the show. 

The 13th Gimje Horizon Festival (Oct 1-2, 2011)

Wicker dragon at the back

 Taking a break from my heavy school schedule, I got a chance to give myself a short local trip for a couple of days. Kite flying was all I needed to know about the Gimje Horizon Festival (김제지평선축제) before deciding I could attend it. Accordingly, I signed up for the festival which lasted for 2 days organized by the International Friendship Club, Korea.  

Korean rice cake prepared by foreigners

                                                                            






Gimje is near the west coast of Korea, in North Jeolla Province and a great place to grow rice. It is the only region where Koreans can see horizon in landlocked area is what I learnt about Gimje after a brief research, hence the name of the festival, Gimje Horizon Festival. It is also called a place where the sky meets the ground.We eagerly took the festival shuttle bus to the festival venue from Seoul. I looked at the schedule and knew that it was going to keep us busy until the end of the day. After a rather tiring 2 hours or more long bus trip, we reached the festival venue. As always, there were list of new things to explore for the foreigners. Two huge dragon structure (wicker dragon) made out of huge bamboos were absolutely inviting with a traditional style singing concert going on at the entrance gate. 

rice cake on the table

This festival is mainly held in October since it is the harvesting season in Korea. Therefore, most of the activities are related to rice with the intention to educate people on Korean traditional rice culture, share the history with the foreigners and finally, to enjoy the new season. The men usually hold tug of war with the huge rope which is made out of rice straw. On the other hand, to officially show the opening of the festival, they have huge table with various colored rice cake that reads "Gimje Horizon Festival". Once the countdown starts, people start rushing to get their first rice cake made from the first harvest of the year. On these days you can also purchase various snacks and Korean traditional beverages made out of rice at cheaper rate. If you are not fond of rice, they even have food stalls set up for various foreign countries so that you can suit yourself. 

kite flying

One of the activities that all foreigners would want to experience is Korean dish preparing contest. On my visit, Bhutan and Laos got teamed up against 9 or more other teams. We had to prepare "Punched rice" (literal translation of 주먹밥) and rice cake. Obviously, there were some Korean ladies who lend us their hands. After few minutes of haste cooking, the judges went through the display of dishes and tried them. Laos and Bhutan team were on the second place which would be one of the most memorable experiences for me in Korea. 

One of the most amazing things were, there was World Record Kites still in the air which was mind blowing. At the end of the day, I heard that Gimje Horizon Festival is not only about flying kites but about how the common farming culture is celebrated in Korea (similar to other Asian nations).

Temple Stay in Korea

South Korea has become a home to various religions. Buddhist is one of the traditionally practiced religion in Korea influenced by Korean Confucianism since olden days. Despite the busy life, most of the people still practice their religion. For the tourist interested in Buddhism, temple stay offers unique cultural experience to practice Buddhism. Temple stay is designed to help people understand Korean Buddhism better and participants can find their "true self" amongst the harmony of nature while staying at a temple.

The program usually includes four main program. First, devotional chanting or ceremonial service which is done to praise Buddha. This service is held three times a day and said that it helps to clear one's mind. Secondly, "Zen Meditation" which is meant to allow a person to reflect on oneself. There are two forms of this meditation: a sitting-style meditation and a walking-meditation. The third program is communal Buddhist meal service which is a unique and special way of eating in Korean temples. At this communal meal practice the meal is eaten in total silence and not a single grain of rice is wasted. Finally, the tea ceremony which one of the practices of Buddhist religion. Korean traditionally believes that there are several ways to prepare and enjoy good tea.

I visited Geumsansa Temple in Jeollabul-do with the foreigner students through Korea Traditional Culture Experience Camp.To enjoy these activities, you can make a reservations before hand. There are other fun activities included such as impression making with ink and paper, lotus lantern making, and folk games in addition to the four activities that are mentioned above. The single reservations for temple stay is available in four temples and group with minimum of 15 people can make reservations in more than 9 temples in Korea. The reservations are to be made a week before your scheduled temple visit. Enjoying Korean temple stay can be one of the way to learn about a truly enlightening cultural experience. 

COEX Aquarium

 COEX Aquarium is one of the must visit places in Seoul which is open throughout the year. The tour may take around 1 to 1.5 hours and visitors are allowed to take photos without restrictions. It is rather hard to enjoy and learn about the nature in an urban city like Seoul. However, COEX Aquarium offers you an amazing opportunity to explore and unfold the ultimate mystery of sea world, especially for those who love sea animals and are interested to learn about their habits and behaviours. 

COEX Aquarium is renowned as the best domestic marine theme park and also referred to as the "Classroom under the sea". Visitors can learn about marine education and have fun at the same time. The "Journey of water" comprises of 12 different areas as shown in the photo. 

With that largest scale, COEX Aquarium is said to hold more than 40,000 sea creatures of 650 kinds with 3,000 tons of water. It has adopted the concept of Edutainment perfectly, combining entertainment plus education together. Visitors will get to explore the diversity of sea world as you journey through the aquarium. At the end of the "Journey of water", you can also find snack bar for snacks and drinks, and a souvenir shop selling various items of sea creatures.

The most exciting display was Ocean Kingdom and Undersea Tunnel where explorers get the fantastic view of 180 degree tunnel with very rare sea living things including 10 huge sharks. Polar bears can also be viewed on some lucky days.