Travelogue Day 5: Namdaemun Shijang again?!

Day 5:
We woke up a bit late today and we wanted to go to a tourist spot with old castles. Since we woke up late, we had to cancel our plans and so we went to Namdaemun Shijang instead. I didn't mind since I enjoyed going there.
This time around I bought a shitload of stuff. Shirts, 3 pants, a jacket, keychains/cell phone accessories as sourvineers, and shoes. I spent roughly 100,000 won ($100.00) this time around. The other times, my friend's mom gave us money to spend. I spent 10,000 won at a little keychain stand that an old lady was at. She spoke Japanese to me and said "Yasui desu ne!" We felt a little bit bad for her, so I spent a lot there. My friend bargained with a lot of the sellers and used me as an excuse. "This is her first time in Korea. Can't you lower it?" I also found an unusual gift. Lee Byung Hyun socks--a dollar for a pair! I bought it as a gag gift for my sister. LOL.

1. Pic of my friend and I (new haircuts!). 2. Solo shot... waiting for the train. 3. Here's a pic of the Lee Byung Hyun socks.

I also get to eat donut holes and the bean filled fish things again!
5PM which means we have to head back to my friend's mom's bar again. On the way, we stop by at Lotteria and eat Korean-style hamburgers (bulgogi and shrimp hamburgers). For 2 meals (fries, hamburgers and a drink), it's only 8000 won ($8.00).

Bulgogi and shrimp hamburgers at Lotteria.

Right now, I'm at a PC bang (PC place/room) updating my blog. Earlier an elderly man (50ish) was watching pr0n next to me in fullscreen. But he's gone now! Thank goodness.

Travelogue Day 4: Dongdaemun Shijang

Day 4:
Alright! Another day of shopping. This time we are headed to Dongdaemun Shijang. Dongdaemun isn't as fun as Namdaemun for some reason. It's less crowded and most of the shops were closing by 5pm. Argh...

Pic in front of Dongdaemun Shijang.

I bought a couple of shirts from there and got sick of the place. The ground was wet and the sellers weren't as friendly. Overall, it was a dreary place to be in and you can tell from the sellers faces there.
We head back to my friend's mom's bar and I take a nap there. Wake up around 11pm - 12am, catch the bus and go back to the house.

1. Pic in front of the bar. 2. Pic of Young Korean boy that worked at the bar (who looks like my brother!) 3. Pic of my friend's parents (her dad is a taxi driver--he's jacket has a badge that says "best driver." o_0). 4. A shot of the entrance to the bar.

Travelogue Day 3: COEX

Day 3:
I guess the air here in Korea is pretty bad. Everyday I wake up and my nose and mouth fills congested. I remember cleaning my nose one night and there's a bunch of black dust. Luckily, I haven't gotten sick yet.
We wake up early today to attend church. Korean Catholic church is a little bit different compared to Vietnamese and American Catholic church. First the women who had confirmations already, wore white veils on top of their heads. To me it looked as if they were in mourning wearing those veils. Second the church was in a regular building, not a traditional Roman-type of building. During mass, I cried because attending mass reminded me of my mother. My friend's grandmother and sister were concerned and held my hands.
After church, we eat out at a Korean style seafood restaurant. The seafood was cooked in front of us in a hot pot. The waitress then slapped a live octopus into the hot pot! Ugh... I didn't want to see the octopus suffer right in front of my eyes. T_T It kinda grossed me out and I didn't want to eat octopus after that. The food was alright and not worth 10000 won (roughly $10.00) per person.
My friend's sister's boyfriend dropped us off at a hair place because my friend wanted her hair to be done. We went to a rather up-scale trendy beauty shop. As soon as we walked in, they asked for our bags and coats, and wrapped us up in cloaks. They gave us coffee and magazines to read while attending to our hair. The hairstylist flipped through a book and looked for a style to show me. She showed me a picture of Song Hye Gyo with a layered shoulder length cut and I said, OK! I felt a little bit sad, because the last person that cut my hair for the past 4-5 years was my mom. This past year my hair was the longest that it had ever been. I had made a promise to my mom that I would wait for her to recover so that she could cut my hair. She got to cut it at least once, so I'm happy. Anyways, my hair came out cute, I guess. I'll post pics later.
Today, the plan was to go to the COEX mall. The train ride was a little bit longer than usual. People always stare at us when we speak in English on the trains and buses too. I guess it's strange because I look Korean and we should be speaking Korean. The COEX mall is filled with foreigners and looks like the typical American mall. My friend says that they even accept foreign currency there.

Screenshot in the train.

The entrance to the mall was covered in advertisements. Everyone from Jang Dong Gun for Panasonic, Daniel Henney for Bean Pole and a cellphone carrier, and Jeon Ji Hyun for comestics. One store carried "cute" comestics and Song Hye Gyo was on everything. I didn't really like COEX that much because everything was expensive. So, we just took some pics and drank Starbucks (the Starbucks Tall cup in Korea is super small--I think it's only 8-10 oz) and left.

1. Jang Dong Gun advertisement before entering the Coex mall. 2. A shot of the Starbucks Tall Cup. 3. Me drinking Starbucks with my new haircut. Interesting tidbit: If you give the cup back, they give you 50 won (5 cents) for recycling.

1. Pic in front of a gigantic cell phone that aired commercials with Kim Tae Hui and Daniel Henney. 2. Screenshot of a popular online game ad (Maple Story) in the PC bang.

Travelogue Day 2: Namdaemun Shijang

Day 2:
A little bit jetlagged, we wake up around 10am and eat breakfast/lunch (which is always some soup, rice and banchan -- sidedishes). We shower and then walk to the bus stop. The bus fare is only 1010 won for the both of us--which is roughly $1.10. It's been awhile since my friend has been back to Korea, so she had to ask for some directions. Some people were nice, and some were a little bit cranky.

1. Picture of some businesses from the bus. 2. A daytime picture of a church. 3. On the bus. 4. A shot of a busy street.

1. Shot of a 63 floor golden building from the bridge. 2. Hyundai apartment complexes. 3. Seoul (Train) Station.

Eventually we arrive to Namdaemun Shijang, which is a big market place where you can buy almost anything. If you remember the scene in Stairway to Heaven where Choi Ji woo's character is selling clothes, that's what the market place looked like. It was crowded and all you could see was a sea of black heads. I blended in so easily. But some of the sellers knew I was a foreigner so they spoke to me in Japanese (Yasui desu ne! ---an old lady said to me). I spent approximately 3000-4000 won and managed to buy 4 shirts and 2 jackets. The best part of going to the marketplace is eating the junkfood at the food stands. My favorites are the red bean filled pancake fried thingys that are shaped as fish and donut holes. Ugh, along the way I smell something repugnant...and I see a lady frying up a bunch of brown caterpillars.

1. No I don't know that lady. 2. That Dr. Pepper shirt says "I'm a Pepper!" LOL! 3. Another shot in the market.

Not everything is cheap there, so you have to search for bargains. Some people like to rip people off and charge a lot more if they know that you're a foreigner. Luckily, my friend was there to help me.

1. A billboard advertisement at a movie theater of my lovely Kwon Sang Woo's new movie. 2. Another shot of that golden building and the river. 3. Random building pic.

Travelogue Day 1: Incheon Arrival

Day 1:
Caption: Ready for the plane ride!
The airplane ride was not as bad as I thought it would be. The 12 hour plane ride from San Francisco to Incheon, South Korea was pretty painless because Singapore Airlines had state of the art amenities for all passengers. The mini entertainment centers kept me busy throughout the plane ride. There were more than a dozen on-demand movie and tv channels, music channels, games (puzzle games, board games, multiplayer games--play against other passengers, and language tutorials!). I watched 3-4 movies total (Fantastic Four, 40 Year old virgin, and Wedding Crashers... I guess it was my time to catch up on American movies), and I also tried to sharpen my Korean skills by taking the Berlitz language challenge. Landing was amazingly smooth and there was hardly any turbulence at all. Immigration and customs for foreigners was fast and easy. But for Korean citizens, the line was super long even though they had multiple booths.

Some screen caps from my camcorder of Korea from the airplane. Sorry the original files are in bmp and I'm a little lazy to convert.
So, after 12 hours we arrive at Incheon Airport and bustle through immigration. Right away I see a gigantic advertisement with Kim Tae Hui's face plastered on it. I also remember seeing Kwon Sang Woo's face on a widescreen tv advertising "The Face Shop." Too bad I didn't take any pictures. I didn't want to seem like a tourist right off the bat. LOL.
My friend's father greets us at the gate and walks very fast to the parking lot. He makes a comment that I look Korean. He also knows a little bit of Vietnamese and makes an attempt to say it to me.

First 2 screen grabs are some small shops during the car ride. The 3rd one is a picture of a neon cross from a church.

While driving to my friend's parent's house, I see the bada (ocean) and a bunch of holy crosses blinking in neon lights. I guess churches in Korea are like businesses. The churches were in plain business buildings and had neon lights.
We finally arrive at the house and unpack the presents for my friend's grandma. I've met my friend's grandma before, and she was actually happy to see me. She always called me mettugi (grasshopper--because my eyes are big like a grasshopper's ).
Then off to my friend's mom's Soju HOF (bar that serves food and beer/soju). My friend hugs her mom and her mom hugs me also. She says "ippu da!" (Cute!) We stay for a bit and go back home to rest.
End Day 1!

Happy New Year! and a Not-So-Happy Last Year...

I finally get some free time to blog and change the layout to something to celebrate the new year and also as a tribute to Memoirs of a Geisha! This is my first post in the new year so I would like to reflect upon the happenings of 2005. Last year was horrible for me... finding out that my mother had stomach cancer (which is very common in asian countries and people of asian ancenstry), quitting a job where I liked most of my co-workers, having my baby chihuahua stolen, moving again!, and ultimately my mother succumbing to the cancer that was eating away at her. Although, in terms of fansubbing, it was a great year for SARS. Through it's many incarnations, SARS was able to survive and make it past its 1st year (our anniversary was back in August). I'm thankful to be working with these talented, dedicated and trusted individuals. I love each and every one of you for dedicating yourself to the art of fansubbing. But without the fans, all of this fansubbing would've gone unnoticed. So, you the viewers are a part of the equation also. With that in mind, I want to thank all the fans for their continuous support.

It's been a little bit more than a month that my mom has passed away... but somehow it feels like she's still here with me. I guess a part of me doesn't want to believe that she's physically not here any longer, and another part of me realizes the brutal reality that I won't ever see her again. What I've learned is that life is cruel and short. We take many things for granted and never learn to appreciate them until it's out of our grasp.

My mother was a wonderful woman--yes, I know that everyone says that about someone when they pass away... but my mother was truly an incredible woman. She was someone that I strived to be--smart, loving, supportive, caring, and most importantly selfless. In essence, she died creating a future for her 10 children. From out of the welfare-supported housing systems, to a brand new 5 bedroom house (her room has a lounge area and a fireplace!), she accomplished everything on her own after my father left over 10 years ago. 1992 was the year my father left out of his own free will. Yes, he was the breadwinner and my mom was a lowly homemaker. So, he practically left us 10 children and my mother for dead. 2005 -- thirteen years later, in a cruel twist of fate, we lose our mother as well. Ten children now orphans.

It was barely a year after my mother had settled in with a new house, new car, new business when we found out that her constant hospital visits was from the results of cancer. It was an aggressive and progressive cancer which has no known origin. The doctor claimed that her life expectancy was 2 months to a year. I didn't want to hear such stupid calculations on my mom's life. Who is the doctor to say that she has only a year to live! Is he God? No, but maybe this was my own insane reasoning to not deal with the facts. On the day of her death, I sat there next to her deathbed and watched her slowly lose consciousness. She was breathing with only 1 lung because the other was filled with liquid from the cancer. Eventually, her other lung gave out and her breathing became more shallow. My older sister and I yelled at her to breathe! She took a few breaths and I saw the color in her face turn purple... that's when I knew that she was already slipping away.

Today, a month and seven days after, I take this time out to blog about her and share my feelings for all to read which I promised (and wanted) to do.

Mom, where ever you are right now, I hope that you have found happiness and eternal peace because you deserve it. Our pain and loss will last for the rest of our lives, but the memories that you have left us will keep us going. I <3 You Mom.

Hana Yori Dango Finish!

So, we finally finished off Hana Yori Dango! I hope everyone has enjoyed this series as much as I have worked on it. But please stay tuned for more HYD goodies. We'll be working on the specials that were released during the run of the series.
Also I have all of next week off, so other series that have been stalled will be back on track.

On that note, Happy Holidays!

Currently Released: Hana Yori Dango HDTV Episode 09 (Final)

My weekend and holiday plans

In case some releases are delayed, here's a brief summary of my plans for the holiday season.
I'll be heading down to Los Angeles this coming Friday morning and will be returning on Sunday/Monday.
The week after, I'll be off from work for a whole week (paid)! So, be expecting some releases that were backlogged (like Yoshitsune).
For the week of January 11th, 2006, I'll be off on vacation in South Korea. I won't be back till January 20th, 2006. ;)

This past weekend in the Bay Area was horrible. It was raining cats and dogs! But yesterday, I attended a fundraising dinner in San Jose with my 3 sisters/1 brother and half a dozen of my cousins/relatives. We snatched up the food as soon as it was placed on the table, which I thought was hilarious. My aunt and uncle were horrified at the scene and were embarrassed to be sitting with us young kids. But at the end of the night, we all had loads of fun singing WHAM's "Last Xmas" as the band played it, and yelling/screaming as they were calling off numbers for the raffle prizes. Unfortunately, we won squat.

Almost done!

Finally, episode 08 has been released! Last night I slept around 3:40AM, it wasn't as bad as other times. I really liked this episode because of Tsukushi's reactions while she's receiving "etiquette lessons" from all of the F4.
I'm a little bit sad that there's only one episode left, but hey! we're going to be working on the many specials. I think there's a total of 2 mini specials and 1 mega special. Perhaps there will be another one at season's end. I am also thinking about redoing Hana Yori Dango once the DVD set comes out. BUT, I am still pondering that since I want to release other series that haven't been subbed yet. SARS-Fansubs has a shit-load of series that we've been working on, that'll probably take a year or half a year to finish.
Here's the list (in order of release):
1. Gokusen Specials (I have to find translators for these)
2. Sekai no chuushin de, Ai wo sakebu Special
3. Ikebukuro West Gate Park
4. Gokusen 2
5. Hotman 2
6. A toss up between Hitotsu Yane no shita, Love 2000 and a secret drama.

Other random stuff:
I'm currently addicted to: Animal Crossing: Wild World DS. Guess what my character's name is?! It's Tsukky!
If you want to play with me, here's my Friend Code: 4338-5283-2523
Name: Tsukky
Town: Hanabi

I've been playing around with the idea of writing a book or creating a website in memory of my mother. She lead a very interesting life and passed away so young (she barely turned 49 Years Old in November). I want to share her life and memories with others because her life was so inspirational to me. She was a very strong, dedicated and loving person. Eventually, I'll share more about her life. Till then, ta-ta for now and I hope you enjoy episode 08 of HYD.

Currently Released: Hana Yori Dango HDTV Episode 08

Thanks for the support.

Welp, another episode released. 7 down 2 to go. We're also doing the Specials, since we want to fill that 2nd DVD-R of yours up to the max!

Also I would like to thank all the wonderful support and responses regarding my mother's death. Later on when I've gathered more of my thoughts, I'll blog about her. I'm a little sad because she won't be there for the holidays and for my birthday which is next Monday. Although she isn't here physically, she'll be there in spirit.

Currently Released: Hana Yori Dango HDTV Episode 07