Skiing & Boarding

Happy New Year 2014 everyone! I shall attempt to be active on my blog again this year.

So first start to a brand new year, I know how to ski … YAY!!!

Last Monday, Mat and I went on an impromtu trip to Muju Ski Resort, Deogyusan. Purposely. To learn how to ski properly. I remembered the first time I went skiing on Mt Buller, Melbourne,  I had a terrible experience, because no one taught me how to ski properly, and what I’m suppose to do, or how am I suppose to feel going down a slope.

So this time, I was determined to learn it properly from an instructor.

And I’m glad I did! Cause now I know how to ski properly, down a beginner’s slope, without falling down!

Unfortunately, Mat still couldn’t get the hang of it. He can’t seem to make his feet bend at a certain angle which is very important in skiing.

Photo with our tutor, Jason, at Muju Ski Resort

Excited, I couldn’t wait to test my skills at skiing again!

So off we go again to another ski resort, Eden Valley, near Busan.

The Intermediate slope at Eden Valley

This time, we went with the rest of the gang.
Hee Young wanted to learn how to ski, so I taught her. And…. she could ski after 1 hour! Both of us were whizzing up and down in no time.

We both look like clowns in this rented ski outfits

And the other three, Mat, Sara and Jay, signed up for snow boarding school!

This time, Mat really enjoyed it. He said snow boarding is for him. I was so happy for him when I saw that he could go down a slope without being frustrated.

Look at the snow packed butt. Beginner snowboarder cannot avoid this.

Another cool photo of a snowboarder going up the  travelator

Photo at the top of the beginner’s slope

Photo taken at the bottom of the beginner’s slope, still in one piece!

I think we all enjoyed it so much that we are now thinking of planning the next ski trip!

If you don’t know how to ski, or board, I highly recommend signing up for a ski or board class. It’s totally worth it. Or, ask a friend who knows how to ski, and is patient in teaching, to teach you.

Generally, skiing in Korea is not too expensive. My second ski trip at Eden Valley costed me around 75,000won for ski lift, equipments, and ski pants.  And you get to ski for 4 hours.

Ahh…. can’t wait for the next ski trip! Might learn boarding next! WOO HOO!!

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Apple Picking

It’s been ages since I last blogged. Truthfully, I was just pure lazy!

Until Yang Di emailed me and complained, “FLORA! Why haven’t you been blogging???!!!”

Ok ok…. so here it is.

Last Saturday, we went APPLE PICKING!!! And it was a fun experience.

First, we were marveled, not by the apples, but by kiwi. Did you know kiwi grew on vines? Like grapes? Well… I didn’t know that. So this was a first for me. I always see kiwi plucked, sold in markets, or packet in a plastic box in the supermarket.

(Like how you never see real life chickens, and see them featherless in supermarkets, and when you finally see a real chicken, you go, what on earth is that?)

So yeah, this is definitely a first for me. Not only do I see 1 kiwi hanging nicely on the vine, I see “mutated one”. The owner said, it just grows like that. It didn’t split properly.

And here comes the star of the day! Apple picking! Boy, were there many apples. You would think it’s hard laborious work? Well, we could only pick one box of apples, which amounted to 50,000 won. I counted about 35 apples? So doing the maths, I picked about 7 apples? Hard work!!! Lol…

Look at all the apples!

Mat, not earning enough money here in Korea, has to do this part time job to support me. Unfortunately he had to pay himself.

Not only did we pick apples, the owner graciously gave us to pick 1 persimmon each to snack on. Delicious! Straight from the tree. Rayda is one happy girl, because persimmons is her favourite fruit.

While Jay and I listened intently to the lecture of apples, the rest lost concentration.

A group photo with the owner.

And then, the owner started entertaining us with old gourds Therefore, it led us to this picture. Oh yeah, the owner somehow had a liking to Jay, and there was the idea of him becoming her son-in-law, her eyes really twinkled.

We couldn’t resist taking a great picture with the rice fields.

After apple picking, we detoured to this Arboretum to enjoy the autumn scene.

The rest of the gang wanted Mat and I to take a romantic-korean-like picture with leaves falling romantically down while we loving posed, but it ended up like this:

How hilarious this turned out! (If you’re wondering why is Jay in the picture, he’s trying to fake the leaves falling down on us, good effort Jay! But he accidentally jumped into the frame.)

Autumn is so beautiful.

This will last for another week or two?

Took a little hike up to the observatory.

On our way down, we had nothing better to do, but to pose cooly.

Here are some attempts to be professional models which, I think we failed terribly.

This one is not too bad right?

What is that weird guy doing up there?

An amazing day with friends and nature. Can’t help it but sing Great Is Thy Faithfulness!

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9th Year Anniversary

Last Saturday Mat and I celebrated our 9th Year Wedding Anniversary! WOO HOO!!! And what better way to celebrate it with great friends 😉

It was actually a social day for our Connect Group, but since it fell on our anniversary, we killed 2 birds with 1 stone.

At first, we wanted to do rock climbing, but for some weird reason, the rock climbing place does not open to public on a Saturday. Then, we thought of either bowling or ice skating. So by Friday, majority wanted ice skating.

So come Friday night, at 11pm, Jay and Rayda called us at 11pm at night (and we were already in bed about to fall asleep), Jay screamed over the phone like he usually do:

Jay: LET”S GO OUT NOW AND HAVE A PARTY!

Mat: What party?

Me in bed heard Jay screaming through the phone… what party?

Jay: COMMON’… LET”S GO… PARTY!!!

Mat: But we are going to sleep now

Jay: COMMON… celebrate your anniversary…

After a few minutes of comtemplating… ahh… why not….

So we both dressed up, and went to pick up Jay and Rayda. While sitting in the car, “where are we going?”

Dunno… was the answer… heeehhhhh??????

Then I suddenly said, I feel like french fries and ice cream.

And of all places… we ended up in McDonalds…. lol….

And while there, we talked and talked and talked till…. ONE A.M.!!! While talking, we discussed about Saturday plans. And we ended up changing the plans, and KARTING we shall go!!! WOO HOO!!

All geared up. The karts look pretty old. Not as high tech as the one we tried in Melbourne. Nevertheless, it was super exciting.

This photo was actually taken when Mat and Jay went for a second round of karting. We girls had 1 round and thought it was enough. Not for the boys.

Both raced against each other. Both were very close to each other, Jay was leading, and suddenly…. Mat spunned! AWwwww!

Then, Mat pushed with all his might to try to catch up… and suddenly… Jay spunned! Awwww!!!! So Mat was in the lead. And Jay couldn’t catch up. Sayang~ But I think they both had tremendous fun.

This is the overall standing… hehehe…

By the way, an incident happened. I crashed into my husband! 😐

I was a few meters behind him. And suddenly at a sharp corner, he SPUN! And to my horror, and his horror, I stepped on the break fully, but my kart was still going really fast, I had no where to turn…. and like a slow motion action movie, I crashed into him, and my helmet flew…. over… and above Mat…. and landed 5 meters away.

Thank God I was still intact. Phew~

A jump for victory!

And another one! I think I’m getting really good at catching jump shots 😀

Behind us, the track.

A photos for keepers.

After that, we all went to eat at our favourite dokgalbi restaurant in Gyeongju.

I feel extremely blessed, married for 9 years, and surrounded with great amazing friends!

Love you all! >HUGS<

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South Korea Family Trip, Day 9 – Bogyeongsa

I think this is my 3rd time to Bogyeongsa. But of course the first time for my family.

Here we are, at the small little town before you start the hiking trail.

At the entrance.

The number of waterfalls at this place. They are all very small waterfalls.

Surrounded by beautiful nature.

Pine trees along the way. My parents said never in their life they imagined walking among pine trees because they only see these kind of trees in storybooks or in the tv. The nicest pine trees are the ones they took with in Gyeongju.

Apparently, my mum said this hike is considered very easy for her!

Superman, I mean, superwoman in the making.

Training.

One of the many waterfalls.

More training!

Even managed to conquer mount “everest”!

Another waterfall behind the rock behind us.

Another one below the bridge.

TADA!!!!!! SUPERWOMAN!!!!

Who’s the damsel in distress?? Or should I say, master in distress?…lol

At the bridge right before the biggest waterfall on this trail.

Here we are, right at the end of this trail is this biggest waterfall.

Compared to the waterfalls that my parents have seen, this is very tiny. But nevertheless, the place have it’s own unique beauty.

Oh what JOY!

From this photo, my daddy’s arms seem to look very long!

Then we looked for a spot for a little picnic.

Had kimbap, cherry tomatoes and bread.

The water is very clear. You can see small fishes in them.

After the hike, we all wanted some ice cream, even though the temperature was cold.

Dad cleaning his shoes with the air pressure cleaner.

On the way home, we saw a field of cherry blossoms. I think the farmer planted these for sale. Of course we had to stop by. Mum was also curious about the plastic coverings in the farm.

More pictures of cherry blossoms.

And again.

Nooo…… this is still not the last of the cherry blossoms.

More to come!

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South Korea Family Trip, Day 8 – Herb Hillz

I’m back! No, I haven’t been mourning for Malaysia… if you’re wondering…

Today, we are going to Herb Hillz in Daegu. It is a 2 hour drive from Pohang. Roads in South Korea are generally very good. And the scenery is mountains and blue skies and tunnels. The colour of the mountains at this time of the year is brown. Now it’s probably green.

After getting lost a couple of times (my little sister was the navigator, which she did a fabulous job!), we finally arrived at Herb Hillz. I won’t be writing much. Just let the pictures speak for themselves.

When we first arrived, it was like a ghost park. We were like the first and only guests there. Which in a way was great! Because we got the whole place to ourselves!

Finally, my daddy is able to sit on Santa! Unfortunately Christmas is already over, he didn’t get any presents 😦

 

This park is packed with funny characters here and there.

And it was also full of these picture “boards”, so you can stick your face through it and take a picture with it.

We saw this beautiful dog, with beautiful white eyelids! So adorable.

Next, Zoo Zoo Land.

That’s one weird looking hamster, or guinea pig with massive ears!

The animal which inspired Pikachu.

This sheep desperately needs a trim.

I think this goat was learning how to pray.

Saw a wild squirrel.

Beth had fun in this ghost village. She was bitten by a dracula.

Turned into a dunno what.

 

And had to sleep in the coffin.

Next stop, cultural village. What’s cookin’?

The olden time backpack! That thing itself is heavy! Carrying that alone is enough for me, don’t you dare add anymore stuff on it.

Olden days, the prisoners movement were restricted by this plank around their necks.

Beautiful scenery all around.

Sister taking a rest and stretch.

Next stop… I don’t know what to call this place. Love village?

Couples come here to lock their love with the padlock as a symbol.

And then you throw the padlock key into this box to seal your love forever!

Daddy…. that’s my car key!!!

I love this one. We went crazy with this stamp frame.

I think my parents look better than the both of us. Woooo….~~~

Aren’t they a sport?

Took us a while to figure out how to pose for this.

Finally got it!

Herb Garden.

Mum was very amused with this herb, pineapple sage. It really had that pineapple scent!

Beside the herb garden, is the eco park. You have to pay extra to do it. Maybe next time. Looks fun!

Went to this restaurant in the park for lunch.

Mum had this very healthy bibimbap. The rice is below this mountain of salad.

The rest of us had donkatsu. Very nice!

Overall, I think we all really enjoyed Herb Hillz. I love the display of creativeness all over the place. No walls are left blank.

Back to Pohang.

On our way home up the usual hill… the pink cherry blossoms were in full bloom. So of course mum dad and beth went out again for pictures.

This is not the last of cherry blossom pictures.

More to come.

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