Tuesday, June 30, 2015

My First Taste Of Korea

It was in 1991 when I had my first real encounter with Koreans & their culture.
I was living at the boarding school at Point Park College in US. There were
many foreign students on my floor where the Japanese & Koreans out numbered
while I was the only Malaysian Chinese. The Koreans thought I was Japanese
because I shared room with a Japanese, so they kinda boycotted me.
We all became best friends eventually.



This college above has 2 tall buildings which is connected by a sky bridge.
I lived in Thayer Hall which was formerly a mental hospital as there is no elevator
stopping on the 6th floor of my dormitory. Rumor mongers reported that suicidal cases 
took place and it had been very haunted ever since. 
The one female ghost would walk through 
many rooms nightly and crossed the bridge to the 22 storeys Lawrence Hall.
Once she woke my Korean friend up and stood beside Seung Woo's bed.
He was frozen and shook in fear as the ghost spoke to him
before giving up as he could not understand her gibberish talk.

On many nights, I would be invited by the Koreans to visit
Kook Jin's room at Room # 1920 Lawrence Hall for Korean supper!
That was my first meals to eat hot Korean Steamboat with Soju, Kim Chi 
and Rice Cakes. It was Yums!




Yours truly standing above, went skiing for the first time 
with them at the Seven Springs Resort in Pennsylvania.
My eyes went big with shock as the Koreans could
ski so fast down the slopes without sticks!!!!
They always took me out for bowling but we
always ended up in snow fights instead!!



I moved out to live in a swanky suburbs at Shadyside and often played
hosts to cook and bake for my fellow Korean buddies!
Seated L to R: Park Yoo Seok, Lee Ho Shik, Lee Seung Woo 
and Chang Kook Jin.
Standing: Me



We had many wild parties of Soju booze and gambling almost every weekend!
Should I post all the wild photos later?
We all lost touch completely after I returned home.
Fate brought me to connect with Joon Sung after 20 years.
Click the link to see this Korean Flower Boy
who was pursued by Japanese Kawais at college.
The missing Korean drunkards reappeared somehow after a 
big search all over Seoul and Busan. 
Now we would talk daily in Kakao Talks! 
Happy again!


.......... 

FAST FORWARD TO JUNE 2015.

..........


It was heart warming to see how my drunkard buddy
has become a dotting daddy instead.






Last week, he drove his young son 
somewhere outside Seoul.
They headed to Youngjong Island 
to relax and have fun.





Here, the father and son were busy digging the mud
during low tides. What were they doing?




Oh My God!! They dug up so much clams.
The clams are fucking huge!!
That's for a week's free dinner.





Kook Jin went home happily and cooked Clams Soup
with Korean spicy vegetables. 
Yums!




Meet the handsome friend Kook Jin who's a Computer Science graduate
from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. Now a dotting father,
Expert Chef and lives in Seoul.



I am looking forward to a reunion in Seoul** after my coming trips
to Tokyo and Mount Wutai in China.


**Subject to no MERS.


.......

60 comments:

  1. Hello Kook Jin, nice to meet you! Good to meet up,with old frens from younger days...m

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good friends are like gems. Best friends are better than GOLD.

      Delete
  2. TM, you blend in very well with the Koreans! You look like one too hee..hee..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I look like Koreans? That's what my Japanese room mate told me too.

      Delete
  3. Wow... have a great time in all your trips Anay!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hello TM, dropping by to say hello..

    Very happy to see frequent update from you!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hello Norick! I should work harder since I could make you happy. Where is your new blog?

      Delete
  5. Fuiyoh, you look like one of the singers from Winners, in the 80's.. If the female ghost comes to my room also I think I will be frozen too.. Scary.. The clam soup looks nice, yumyumz...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Who do I look like in Winners?? I think Alan Tam looked like me. Muahahaha
      I hope someday you will see ghosts to understand make friends and ask for lucky numbers.

      Delete
  6. there must be a huge change between the S. Korea of 1991 to the present Korea.. i believe there's no K-pop back then and the fashion wasn't so vibrant like what they have right now..

    oh yeah.. can we have those wild party photos hahaha

    I remember when we were kids... we do pick clams from the shore too .. and then right after being cooked.. my bro and i collect all the used shells and make crafts from them..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Mabuhay!! Your clams in Philippines are also big?? Ours are smaller and flat.

      Of course the whole world was different between 1991 and today in 2015. My hair is shorter and my face is freaking older now. How sad. Sobs!

      You wanna see my wilder photos?? Let me ask the Koreans guys for permission okay.

      Delete
  7. Wow, that size of Clams! Must be real sedap lah!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah I think the clam meat must have tasted like chicken!!

      Delete
  8. Hey..your fri3nd Chang looks like my ex-classmate. But his surname is Liew instead .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey, hey, hey.....Liew was your ex-boyfriend before Kaldip came to bulldoze him down? Muahahahaha

      Delete
  9. MERS already arrived Malaysia in March lo. Hmm......

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope ours would be just one isolated case and no more. Shoooo MERS.

      Delete
  10. Good evening TM... The weather here is so hot...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good Afternoon Zumba Queen.
      The weather is damn hot today!! Did you turn off your iron, heater and stove??

      ******Sweats!*****

      Delete
  11. Right here waiting for all the wild photos, wink wink...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Errrrr.... now I am worried about showing wild photos here. You might post in your FB and it goes viral. Wakakakaka

      Delete
  12. Do you need an assistant, i can help you carry your luggage, haha....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wahahaha, Sharon you're so cute la....Me too, can me your second assistant.....=p

      Delete
    2. Wow! I am flattered to have 2 porters now. Start pumping irons at the gym now as my luggage are damn heavy.

      Delete
  13. Hi! Nice student days in US. Your dishes look very delicious. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good days are over and it is all memories left.
      I am waiting for this friend to cook me some delicious meals again.

      Delete
  14. Anyohaseyo!

    Looks like you had a great time during your younger time. I have to admit that my very best moment is during college and uni life too, cause that's the time plenty of freedom, were wild and young without any parents around :P

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I guess everyone loved their student days when they need not work for money and still could have fun & freedom.

      Delete
    2. The best years of my life was when I was in my twenties and early thirties

      Delete
  15. I spotted some handsome guys in the last group photo

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Who did you spot? Lee Min Ho and Song Joong Ki??

      Delete
    2. My era should be Jang Dong Gun and Bae Yong Joon

      Delete
    3. Whoa!!! You know that Jang Dong Gun!! He acted in a war movie Taegukgi - The Brotherood of War and I cried buckets of tears. I felt that resembled similarly to my only brother and me having cold war.

      Delete
  16. No wonder you look like a Korean heart throb singer and if you should comb your hair down , you probably look like one Korean boy band idol. Where are the kawaii japanese girls and tell us more about the ghost story leh ..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh no, how could I still comb my hair down at this age?? I would look like a dirty old man now.
      I have the kawai girls photos in my album at home. I better not post them for their crazy pursuits as they were hungry for boys like wolves!!! Wooooooooo!

      You sure wanna hear ghost stories? Niak niak

      Delete
  17. I miss my uni life, the one always waiting for weekend to hangout...then go grocery at midnight, it was so much fun...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Where did you study until you had to do midnight grocery??!!!
      I thought your mum and maid waited for you hand & foot.
      Please share and post all your uni days. Quick!

      Delete
    2. Hahaha, I always stay up at the campus till like 10pm, then go to walmart for grocery shopping.
      Nope, I do cook myself, save cost coz is not easy to working and studying at the same time.

      Delete
    3. You shopped at which Walmart??? It must be in the US too.

      Delete
  18. 1991, Thambee was in Form 2 dei and Anay was already such a lucky chap to be sent to a boarding school in USA even Thambee at this uncle age has not step foot on that piece of land..

    is the first photo being taken back then or you just went google it and post it over here?? it certainly looks very recent with the color being so vibrant and sharp (I am comparing it to the other old photos you scanned in, as well as the recent photos you took from your friend Kook Jin)..

    all the Asian were arranged to stay in the same block?? oooh, when Thambee was in uni, we won't see such thing because the uni will not want to see very obvious "ethnic community" hence they will arrange people from all corners of the world to stay in a flat, you probably have people from all continents of the globe in every unit.. and if we were to apply for on campus accommodation with a list of all names of the same ethnic, the probability of being rejected was high..

    so the Japanese and Korean students disliked each other back then and being the only Malaysian you were sandwiched between?? oooh, looks like you were closer to the Koreans dei.. and look at all those happy photos!! nice memories.. that's the beauty of going alone, you will make more friends.. in many cases, Malaysians especially those from the same college program will go over in groups and batches, and naturally they would stick together and it will give little chance for them to make new friends.. I think you agree with me on this..

    so it's 24 years, how time has passed so quickly!!! many things sure has changed but isnt it a wonder to reconnect with your long lost friends through social media and you get to know how they are doing.. Kook Jin is sure a happy father and look at the clams he got for free from the beach and also the dishes he cooked, that's a happy life!!! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh Thambee Oh Thambee!! Your farking eyes is always ever so sharp and wanna stir shit to question me the source of all my photos used recently. I know I was a thief sometimes but how could Anay invite Thambee as his accomplice when you will blow up all my secrets!!! @#%&*@!! I have many photos of that college buildings but I was just too lazy to dig out that haunted sky bridge.

      During my time, the 6th floor of Thayer Hall housed the international students from Tanzania, New Delhi, Korea, Japan, South America, Peru and ME!!! They were smart not to house these foreign students with the Americans to prevent culture shocks. I never liked that Thayer Hall for its only common bathroom with no doors at shower stalls.
      The Lawrence Hall was a former hotel where all the students had own private bathrooms and they mixed the foreign students with locals in one building. The noise there was unbearable at times.
      The Korean and Japanese students were on talking terms but with lines drawn. I was walking on eggs for a while until both sides warmed up to me. In the end my apartment was shared with one Japanese and one Korean. It was not an issue as both were friendly and crazy.

      Kook Jin is sure a happy father who catches and clams and big fishes for his dinner! With our moronic GST here, we should start digging siput babi and catch fishes too. Learn from this smart Korean.

      Delete
  19. Just f**king post all those photos lah, no need to ask so much! XD

    I have heard of the intensity of South Korea vs Japan rivalry from my Korean colleague. He said back in those days, it was alright for the South Korean football team to lose to minnows like Malaysia or Hong Kong, but if they lost to Japan, even in a meaningless friendly match, the head coach would have to take responsibility and resign!

    I heard the Koreans are quite chill about this whole MERS thing, my sister who works for KTO said her directors wanted to bring their families over here to avoid for a while, but their families were all like: "What? Just normal flu, why need to go to Malaysia? No need!". Apparently the foreign media like us who are making a big deal out of it. Hopefully it will quickly die down now..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I better not debate these sensitive issues that has been dragged on since the WWII. I have readers from both countries here, so I am walking on egg shells. You & me know the truths that would never end the disputes, so lets sit on the fence. Given a choice, I would rather live in either of their countries than governed by our corrupted rulers at Putrajaya.

      Yes, the MERS is rising with panic and scare for all my friends too. I told them to talk to me in kakao, so it is safer than go out to chat with others with the deadly germs hovering in the air. Like Ebola, it will also become history soon while other diseases might start afresh.

      Delete
  20. Good afternoon... those were the old days... carefree and wild..hahaha
    Looking forward to read about your trips to China... the clams does look tempting...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Life is just a journey and we have all the fun & tears to cherish.
      I guess you will need to wait till next year for the China post! LOL

      Delete
  21. Computer scientist turned chef!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Computer scientist turned chef!

    ReplyDelete
  23. Computer scientist turned chef!

    ReplyDelete
  24. wow..interesting story and good thing you still remember them very well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Someone told me that I have elephant's memory which is unhealthy to dwell in the pasts too much. We should live in the present and move on.

      Delete
  25. I hope I can visit Korea one day as I think previous life was a Korean. I olve Korean food so much until I can eat i everyday, LOL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You can start planning for a trip now and see their colourful autumn leaves in November. I also love Korean food very much as it has unique tastes that is suitable for our liking. I find their cooking well balanced and nice.

      Delete
  26. What fun days you had when you were young! Hope MERS will go away and you go for a reunion with your good old friends.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you and I will be there sooner! Good friends are priceless like jewels.

      Delete
  27. Nice to see you and catch up with stories of your college days! The father and son do great job collecting clams.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We all live once and would be fortunate if we are surrounded by good buddies to make our life happier.

      Delete

Stay Tuned.