Sites to Visit in Seoul, South Korea

I visited South Korea a few years ago. Since it is a fast-paced country, I am sure there are more exciting places than the ones I list down here. I shall add more in my next post.

Enjoy your trip!

City: Seoul

        Gyeongbokgung Palace    

It is huge attraction in the buzz of the city. There is a distinct separation between the past and present. At times, you might get a glimpse of the tall city buildings at the background. 

You might be lost in the palace so remember to take a picture of the palace map before exploring further.  

There is a small admission fee which excludes the optional experience to dress up in a hanbok. Plus, free guided tours at various time slots in English, Japanese and Chinese languages. ^_^ Psst... Take note of the timing for their "changing of guards" ceremony!

Learn more about its history here.   

        Namsan Seoul Tower    

Spectacular at night when the lights of the tower are switched on and the city lights shine amidst the blackness. It is a romantic place to be with your significant other. Bring a lock with you (or you could buy it there), write your names and lock it onto the same familiar fence that you see in Korean dramas.

Compared to other towers I visited (e.g. Eiffel Tower and Petronas Tower), Namsan Seoul Tower is not as impressive. They did however compensate their smaller observation deck with other activities. Other than the glimmering lights, there are also shops, restaurants and exhibitions. Visit their official site here. 

        Demilitarized Zone, DMZ  &  Panmunjeom    

You will need to to book a tour beforehand for your trip if you would like to go to Panmunjeom (Joint Security Area). I went along with Seoul City Tour. The whole tour was smooth. Pickup will be at a hotel. It includes the 3rd Inflitration Tunnel, Freedom Bridge and lunch! 

At Panmunjeom, there were 2 U.S. soldiers who accompanied my tour bus for security. Please be on good conduct and listen to their instructions. During my tour, there were some tourists who were stubborn and rowdy. This caused the more tension in an already tense environment. -.-"

Habit Challenge

I read that a habit is formed in 30 days. That seemed simple! I tired it a couple of times throughout my studies. Personally, I lack the discipline to make it stick as a habit. Nevertheless, there were successful moments.

In the past, instead of 30 days, I would add in a routine every semester. For instance, I would read through my lecture slides before the start of my lectures to have a better idea of the upcoming lecture. It helped because I was able to take notes only on the information that were not in the slides. It saved time. Plus, I was able to concentrate on the ideas rather than the details.

In the next semester, I added an additional step. To completely understand my notes before I attempted my tutorial questions. I would sit through a round of the recorded lecture to ensure I ironed out all confusion. In most cases, if there were still ambiguity, the internet and the recommended textbooks are the best source of answers.

You get the gist. That was during my studies. Alhamdulillah (Glory and Praise be upon Allah), I graduated.



The idea of this 'habit challenge' is taking small consistent baby steps. Everyone of us know ourselves better - our limits to change, our discipline threshold, our goals we wished to achieve, etc. This means I have to set my 'challenge' for myself!

Unconsciously, I was following these steps:

1. Set a goal (its progress has to be traceable). 
2. State the steps (your action) to achieve the goal. 
3. Set a reward upon the completion of each action. 

For example,

Goal:           Increase my grades in the new semester

Action:        Make a condensed notes for each chapter before the final exam

Reward:      An episode of a Korean drama

Discipline matters in implementing the reward system. Never stray from it. Reward yourself only after the action is done. It gets easier as time passed and a HABIT is BORN! ^_^ Congratulations.

Forgive & Forget

Can anyone really do that - to forgive and forget?

The experiences in life will always be within us. They replay over and over in our head, especially when we let our guard down. The good ones will be a joy while the bad ones just ruin our mood for that day.

The term "to forgive and forget" get thrown around so often. It seems logical but how do we erase these bad memories from our minds? If only we have access to the neuralyzer...

Why do people expect others to feign ignorance of what that had happened? Nothing can be like before. Once trust is broken, it can never be perfect once more. People are selfish. I think it is within our nature. We want everything to happen the way we want it to be, so we influence others in their decisions. We use our authority that was given to us as the management, the parent, the brother, the best friend, the significant other to influence the situation and the 'victim''s decision.

As humans, there is a part in us that also cares for others so we suppress our emotions (hurt, anger, sadness) to try to please the people that matters. We put a fake smile to hide our real feelings. How healthy can that be? Never.

It is unfortunate that my motto in life right now is "Smile at the face of adversity". It was to represent courage and strength in any events that cross my life. I still believe it does. But, I cannot forget. Whatever that happened will always be a part of me. It comes with the whole messed up emotions that will be triggered every time i recall those memories. I will be affected, I cannot pretend that it does not affect us.

To forgive. I am honestly working on it, I am trying my best. In the end of life, all these turmoil does not matter. We will die, if God wills, in peace.

Say Something...

I never understood why people stay silent when it is obvious they want something so badly. This song is about relationship, but think about it, it can be for anything. Even something minor like the sharing of food!!! (A foodie may take this example to heart. haha...)

Anyways, I guess innately, we have the thinking that "I shall remain silent so I will not hurt him/her" or "I do not want to ruin his/her future, I shall keep my feelings to myself".

No matter how noble it is, is it really better to keep the other party in the dark? Come on...  Isn't it unfair to him/her? Any decision made by your beloved would be biased because he/she was not informed of the whole aspect of the situation.

The best examples will be the plots in many dramas - not informing a blind parent that his/her child has passed away, hiding the love for someone just because he/she will be going overseas, etc. Keeping hush always end up in regret, sadness and anger for the oblivious one once he/she uncovers the truth.

Trust is harder to repair after it is broken. Just tell the truth and allow the other time to heal.

  

List of Useful Phone Apps

Insyha Allah, someone else may find these useful as I have. 
I shall add more as the time passes. 


Islam: 

• Muslim Central Audio 

• Ayat Al-Quran (King Saudi University Project) 

• Quran iLite

• Bayyinah TV (needs subscription to Bayyinah TV)

Time Tracker/Saver:

• OFFTIME

Expenses:

• Monefy

Travel:

• HERE WeGo (Offline Maps & GPS)

Personality Test - Mediator

According to 16 Personalities, I am a 'Mediator'!

That explains a lot of my actions. Almost 90% of the description is spot-on. I planned to improve on my weakness and being self aware is the first step.

Hopefully everything works out...

2017

A new year, a new beginning. Forgive and forget the pain, remember the lessons & MARCH ON!

HappyDino

Life Lessons

Have you ever noticed that the tests in life are repeated over and over again until you learnt the 'true' lesson behind them?

For example, since I am naturally short-tempered, I have come across people in my life who loves pushing my buttons. I am like a porcupine yet there are always some people who just love to poke me to observe my reaction. In anger, I wish to shoot my quills at them but I just cannot. Why? Because they need to be in contact to my quills for these 'mini-missiles' to target them, and they are smart enough to use a stick rather than their fingers. So, I will explode in anger and they will be miles away from me. That makes me look like a crazy person to others.

Well, that lesson came too often that I realized I failed in every one of them. My feelings and actions to the provocation was too dramatic. If you were to look at it as a game of life, it means I never made it to the next level. I was stuck! It sucks to know I was at a plateau.

Then again, patience is not a skill that you get immediately after the realization. I am still improving on that. My limits of patience has increased and so has the level of difficulty of these provocators. You have the minions, the middle bosses and the big bosses.

I learnt to not take the minor problems to heart, to maintain my heart in equilibrium most of the time (mainly by supplicating and becoming God conscience), and to always think before I react.


Just something I wish to leave a note to myself and all... A reminder to my and all 'future self', to carry on in life knowing that "Hey, you did well! You changed for the better ^_^".    

Mine