Sign Language... the way to go in Korea!
hehe.... yes, we relied heavily on sign language as a medium of communication in Daejeon... the situation is not that bad in campus as the KAIST people can still understand us (but, we do need some time to decipher their replies in English)
When we go out of campus, CHAOS!!! No one seems to speak English!! Not to mention that most signages are written in the Korean Hangul..... but overall, it's a very refreshing experience...... cuz Korea is very much like Singapore, but at the same time vastly different..... it's quite contrast...
Anyway, just an update on what happened for the past few days that I've been here...
Day 1 - 24 August
Took flight SQ602 at 2350 towards Incheon International Airport
Day 2 - 25 August
Reached ICN at about 7am Singapore time... then bought the Airport Limousine tickets to Daejeon for 14,500won.... buying this ticket was the first time we encountered the language barrier, cuz we spent like quite while at the counter trying to fix a time for our bus.... Koreans seem to think that we understand them, so they always reply us in Korean.... funny!!
the journey to Daejeon by bus takes about 3 hours.... if you choose to take the KTX train, it will only take 50mins from Seoul.... such a great distance
Upon reaching Daejeon, we were greeted by a group of taxi drivers waiting to pick up passengers from the bus terminal... The taxi ride to KAIST took about 5min....
Once we reached KAIST, we bumped into the ladies from the International Relations Team and they treated us to lunch at the school cafeteria (this was where I encountered the largest serving of noodles I have ever seen.... i think it's a serving for 3 people.... and mind you, my appetite is quite huge) The Kimchi was surprisingly nice.... very different from the ones I have tried in Singapore.... very refreshing and crunchy....
After that, we moved into the Dormitories and settled some admin.... yup tat's about it for day 2
That's it for now....
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Tuesday, August 26, 2008
In Daejeon now.... but very tired.....
yes, reached KAIST at about 11am on 25 August 2008.... but after that, we had so many things to do.....
went shopping basically.... but the nearest major shopping mall is like 45min walk away..... so, i have been like walking and walking and walking since yesterday..... not to mention the huge campus....
so, very tired now.... will try to post photos and blog by the end of the week....
But Very Happy!! :)
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Sunday, August 24, 2008
Korea here I come!
hehe.... it's about 9 hours more to departure....
and to be honest, I'm not actually very excited....
not that I'm not looking forward to the trip.... it's just that I'm trying not to put too high an expectation on the SEP.... there are still many unsettled issues that can only be solved in the next few days..... hopefully everything falls into place nicely...
right.... i discovered that my room-mate is a student from France....
but i'm not sure if he's French... that's because his name sounds Vietnamese to me...
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Saturday, August 16, 2008
Trying out my Canon A590IS Digital Camera
I had bought the camera 2 months ago but I haven't been able to really try it out until last week.... Since I'll be going to Korea for a long period of time, I decided that I had to learn more about the camera and photo-taking techniques (especially for night shots)....
Hence, I did some research and played around with the Manual mode for the 1st time to capture photos under low lighting conditions.... These are what I have....
1. Night scene mode(without flash)
2. ISO100, f/2.8, Exposure time 3.2s
3. ISO100, f/3.5, Exposure time 6s
4. ISO100, f/3.5, Exposure time 5s
5. ISO100, f/3.5, Exposure time 4s
6. ISO100, f/3.5, Exposure time 3.2s
7. ISO100, f/3.5, Exposure time 2.5s
Tell me which one is the best, ok?
Personally, I feel that picture 2 is the best.... in terms of sharpness and the lights captured
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Wednesday, August 13, 2008
안녕하세요
안녕하세요
제 이름은 Wilson 입니다
만나서 반갑습니다
Hello (annyǒng haseyo)
My name is Wilson (che irǔmǔn Wilson imnida)
I'm pleased to meet you (mannasǒ pan-gapsǔmnida)
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Monday, August 11, 2008
13 more days to go
Anyway, I have decided to push back my return date from 2 January 2009 to 10 January 2009.... The reason as follows: I'm afraid I'll regret coming back so early. NUS semester 2 2008/2009 starts on 12 Jan....
hence i decided to come back only 2 days before school starts..... hopefully I can travel to as many parts of Korea as possible.....
However, I'll not be able to attend and witness 2 very important events. Pearl's wedding and the birth of a baby.... I'm going to be a godfather!!! (hehe.... i haven't asked her la....) so sad....
But nonetheless, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I'm sure they'll understand
I'll be keeping this blog updated on my Korea adventure.... so, no need to change channel! :)
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