Love for Hangul and Everything About Korea
It’s been ages since i posted on this blog and before anything else, today is the start of Korean Thanksgiving day, it will end on October 5 so I would like greet all my Korean friends a happy thanksgiving day.
추석 즐겁게 보내세요! (Chuesok geulkeopke bonaeseyo!)
I am revamping the site. I am still that that person who love Hangul 10 years ago and has grown to love everything about Korea. I hope to see you still soon with my new posts!
Next to spring (봄 – bom yes that same name of 2NE1 lead vocal), autumn is my next favorite season in Korea. Autumn is 가울 (gaeul) in Korean and if you have watched Boys Over Flowers you might have known this as the name of Jandi’s best friend. The weather starts to get cooler in autumn and this is the perfect time to walk around and enjoy the beauty of Korea.
This year I will get to experience autumn once more and hopefully to see more of the wonderful colors of the season. When maple leaves changes color from green to yellow to orange or red this called 단풍 물들다 (danpung muldeulda). Picture above is taken from Nami Island in September of 2015. Korea Tourism Organization says peak of the changing of colors happens this October.
Autumn is also called fall for the simple reason that this is the season where the leaves of trees start to fall off. This is described as 낙엽 (nakyeop) or falling of leaves. By winter time, the trees would have lost its leaves.
During fall, Koreans love to go on hiking and Seoraksan is one of the best destinations of the season. This place, which can be reached by 3 hour bus ride from Seoul, is filled with locals and tourist. It offers various hiking trail with different levels of difficulty.
I am too excited to experience autumn once more and hoping to see the beautiful Garusogil lined up with trees in yellow or red.
It has been my fourth spring in Korea and I am still loving it. I am mesmerized by the beauty of cherry blossoms and the cool weather that goes along with the surroundings. Just like how the first snow can be romantic, looking at cherry blossoms while the wind gently let the petals fall brings the same lovely feeling.
Cherry blossoms has started in Nami when we visited April 9. It was a Saturday but it was not so crowded compared to April 2015 visit when it was so jam packed that the queue to take the ferry reached the line of pine trees. That day was a perfect day to enjoy Nami. No matter how many times you have been to Nami you will always be enchanted by its beauty.
A closer look at those beautiful cherry blossoms. I guess all the trees will be in full bloom by April 12 or 13.
There are so many places to check for cherry blossoms when in Seoul and the National Assembly road parallel to the Han River is a good place to enjoy it within the city. From experience, the full blossoms in this area happens somewhere between April 12-15. We visited April 11 and some trees are yet to bloom, nevertheless about 60% of trees are in bloom. Strolling around while having some street food made me forget the time.
By this time, I guess cherry blossoms are in full bloom in Yeouido. Enjoying the cool breeze of Han river at the Hangang Park while having some picnic would be something worth doing.
The queen of all the cherry blossoms in Korea is right at Jinhae in the province of Gyeongsangnam-do. The Cherry Blossoms in this town happens between April 1-10. This year we visited on the last day. The cherry blossoms is almost over. There were still a lot but it was not as full as when I visited March 31 of 2014. You can spot the difference below.
I realized that taking the earliest KTX from Seoul to Masan is the fastest and most convenient way to visit Jinhae for a day tour. Last time we took the bus from Seoul Nambu terminal. The bus was comfortable but taking the train cuts the travel time but at least an hour. From Masan, taking a cab was no problem at all going to Jinhae. It just cost 15,000KRW. The KTX is more expensive than bus but time is more important for us who were just spending day in Jinhae.
Visit to Jinhae is not complete without checking out the Gyeonghwa station. The railroad is lined with trees that almost turned the place pink. This is an old station its no longer operating, the government left one of the old KORAIL train in display.
A lot of people were taking video on this place, the wind is blowing and it was creating something like ‘petal rain’. I can almost see my self visiting this place in the next Spring time. I am yet to see another autumn to replace spring as the best season to enjoy South Korea.
벚꽃 (beokkott) means cherry blossoms in Korea.
진해의 벚꽃 아름다운이에요
Having to point something or describe location of something is very basic in any language. When a child is learning to speak, adults would tend to say short phrases complemented with gesture or sign language. Like a child who would have difficulty understanding the simplest statement, same goes for someone learning a new language.
Here are some basic words which i would commonly hear in a Korean conversation:
The above set of words can transform into a verb expression. It would be easier to observe the end state pattern than to explain it inductively:
There is a long explanation on the steps by which this words are formed. 이래요 is from base form 이러 which is instead of making it 이러요 (ireoyo) or 이러해요 (ireohaeyo), by certain rules on abbreviating, the verb ending becomes 래요. This is the thing with reading books when learning language, questions could pop up in your mind one after another.
Now it made me understand more the common expression 그래요, it sometimes used to mean you agree on something or conclude it was like that.
I know I am just one of the many people out there who is looking forward to see cherry blossoms in South Korea. 벚꽃or beot kkott is sakura in Korea. This is one of the reasons why I love spring. Aside from the mellowed down cold weather, the flowers are blooming. The Korean Tourism Organization (KTO) has finally released a portion of the cherry blossoms forecast and flower festivals for 2015.
This year I am going back to Jinhae. Knowing that the festival is April 1 to 10 our day 2 in South Korea is definitely in Jinhae. It’s the last day of the festival but if given a choice, I would plan on a March 30 or 31 visit (just like in 2014) because during the festival, people are all over the place. I read that people who spent cherry blossoms during the festival period had some difficulties going around as the traffic can be very heavy. However, during this period there is a special route of KTX from Seoul Station going directly to Jinhae. Outside the festival period, there is no direct route to Jinhae. Masan is the nearest town to go to and one needs to take a bus from Masan to Jinhae.
If you plan on going to Jinhae within April 1 to 10, check out the KTX schedule. There is a special route directly to Jinhae during this period as a way of providing more options to reach this special destination and to help ease the traffic going to Jinhae. Going around Jinhae takes a lot of walking especially during festival where streets are closed to give way to events. I personally don’t mind walking around because everywhere you set your eyes the beautiful cherry blossoms can be seen. Outside the festival period Jinhae can be reached via the following means coming from Seoul, coming from Busan, Jinhae would be more accessible via Bus:
I think the best way to enjoy spring and cherry blossoms would be to go to Seoul last week of March to early April. Which ever time you get for your flight booking, never miss going to Yeouido whether the cherry trees are in full bloom or not. The sight of Han River and Mapo-go bridge at night is beautiful and the park conducive for enjoying some chit chat and snacks. You would be surprised on the amount of people receiving deliveries from the park . There are also street side vendors offering Korean snacks. Just make sure to bring jacket to be ready for the chill that the wind brings.,
Yey! Posting my spring plans in a while. Finally the dates are clear 🙂 last week of March until mid April is a good period to look into. Stay tuned…
Are you planning on a trip to South Korea this Spring? It was almost a year after my last visit and it still feels like yesterday. Last 2014 I was in South Korea in the month of April which is spring. I am officially in love with Korean Spring time.
This year I am definitely going back to Jinhae with my kids so they can see how beautiful the place is. There is no update yet on the expected cherry blossom in Jinhae but I hope it would come first week of April because we are already booked!
In any case, I would have the option to check Yeouido as well and enjoy the view of Han River. Last year cherry blossoms in Seoul was a bit late it came mid April. So if this is the same case for 2015 I think we will see cherry blossoms in full from Seoul.
If you are planning on a Spring trip to South Korea this year feel free to comment so we can exchange plans. I am so excited with this travel plan. I will strive to share more information for those who are also planning to go on tour this spring.
Today is 빼빼로데이 (Pepero Day) in Korea. While most in the world is probably celebrating Valentine on February 14, this day became a day to give this sweet treat to friends and someone special.
I read somewhere that the exchange of pepero was originally done in the wish to be taller or thinner. However, these days exchanging pepero is more to show affection rather than the supposed original meaning.
Happy Pepero Day!
Late October and Early November is the best time to experience Autumn in South Korea. Next to spring, autumn is my favorite season to be in South Korea. This is when the leaves turn red. The weather is not to hot and not to cold and for some reasons the surroundings warms the heart. Maybe its the mix of yellow and read leaves which brings that feeling. How I love this season.
Autumn in Korea is 가을 (gaeul). Just like 봄 (bom) or spring, 가을 is used as given name for girls. Other than being born on autumn, the warmth of this season and the good weather are common inspiration to give such name to a pretty little one.
During this season a visit to a park is truly a wonderful experience. Imagine walking with trees painted in yellow and red. The falling leaves is the autumn’s version of cherry blossoms.
So how do you say the weather is good today (because it is usually during autumn)?
I feel like going to South Korea Now! If only I have Harry Potter’s floo powder, I’d be there on an instant and fall in love with autumn leaves *sigh*
You’d be hard-pressed to find anything that’s quite as fulfilling as digging into a culinary experiment and finding it to be a success. Being able to determine which flavors will go well together is a gift that not everyone is born with, and for many, it takes years of trial and error, of discovering different tastes and combinations, to finally be able to say that they have a solid grasp of even just the basics.
This is especially true for Korean cuisine, with its myriad of strong, intense flavors and subtle, delicate fragrances. Korean food is as rich and complex as the culture it embodies, and to be able to know the many flavors that function in this cuisine is already difficult enough – let alone trying to cook with them. A great game of bingo, however, could help you learn to work with these flavors.
Modifications to the traditional 75-ball bingo card, a 5×5 chart of numbers. Each spot on the chart presents a number, apart from the center square, which is labeled “FREE”, have been used to create bingo cards for different activities and events. Free Bingo Hunter, a website dedicated to online bingo portals, has reported that bingo portals often vary the themes of their games and promotions, with some giving away Flowers for Mother’s Day and then tickets to games during football season. It’s this versatility that helps bingo lend itself to different themes. In fact, bingo has even been used to teach the Korean vocabulary, through an app available on iTunes.
Cooking and learning new Korean dishes can be fun and having to use the Recipe Bingo can double the fun. Playing Recipe Bingo to create your own Korean fusion dishes is easy. As many of you know from following My Korean Kitchen, Korean cuisine combines colored ingredients because of a belief that they make it easier to absorb nutrients into the body. Korean cuisine follows a five-color, five-taste formula, and it is this formula that gives rise to our bingo game.
The five essential tastes are as follows:
• Sweet
• Sour
• Salty
• Hot
• Bitter
A perfect example of a dish that makes use of all of these tastes is bibimbap, but these can also be apparent in other classic Korean dishes. To prepare for your bingo game, list down five ingredients for each of the five essential tastes. Create your bingo card using any of the free bingo card templates available online, with each row being dedicated to one essential taste. Label each of the items on each row a number from 1-5.
Once you’re ready, roll a die. The number you roll corresponds to the ingredient you need to use in your Korean dish. Should you roll a six, you are free to choose among the ingredients, or add your own choice of ingredient even if it isn’t on the card. Allow yourself to experiment with different techniques, and you might be pleasantly surprised by the results of your Recipe Bingo game.
It Started with Hangul 