Hi guys!
So it’s been quite awhile since I posted here last but I have started a new blog for the next chapter of my life!
I think I caught the travel bug while I was in Korea, and now I’m moving to New Jersey!
I’ll be updating my travels over there from now on! Thank you for following! 😀
Filed under Uncategorized
Just a quick savings update with Chantel!
Check out her blog HERE and follow her on twitter HERE.
And also, HERE‘s a link to the blog I mentioned in the video 🙂
Keep an eye out for more vlogs coming soon… Itinerary vlog with Grace will be next 🙂
안녕~!
Filed under Saving Update, Sydney
According to The Telegraph, idle chit chat can make you unhappy….
But you know what will make you happy?
IDOL Chit Chat! (Teehee, like my little play on words there??)
I’ve decided to start a new segment on idols and just my own personal view of them. I’m not sure how often I’ll be posting on this segment, probably just once monthly… maybe a bit more once I get the ball rolling…. but without further a due, I’d like to welcome you to the first edition of Idol Chit-Chat!
This blog came about quite simply. All I knew is that I wanted to write a little something about Sandara Park aka Dara of 2NE1 fame and the idea of writing about other idols stemmed from that.
Eh, Eh, Eh, Eh, Eh, Eh, Eh, 2NE1!
This is just my own personal take on Dara. Basically, I’ve been following her for awhile now. I come from a Filipino background and of course, my house has TFC (the Filipino Channel) blaring 24/7. Because of this, I was exposed to Dara back when she was good old Sandy – the Korean Beauty – on the TV show Star Circle Quest.
In all honesty, I didn’t think she’d achieve much after this show. She was a beautiful girl however she only came in at second place after Hero Angeles (her rumoured love interest).
Hero & Sandy :3
After having a successful career in the Philippines with a few movies, shows and songs under her belt , Sandara finally moved on to greater things (namely: 2NE1 and the YG family). After training with YG for four years (I think), Sandara’s star has only continued to rise and grow brighter. I mean, Dara’s kissed Lee Min Ho! OMO! (Inner fan girl coming out, I apologise)
She doesn't look too interested... if you want, I can take over for you Dara.
The one thing I absolutely admire about Dara though, is that she has remained humble over the years throughout her transition from Filipino reality-TV star to international K-Pop star! She always goes back to her roots, and her fans are always her first priority. I recommend that you read THIS post about her generosity to her fans.
But the one thing that attracts me to Sandara so much is the fact that she’s accomplished most of the things I have always wanted in life. Namely, 2NE1 recently performed at the Araneta Colliseum in the Philippines. I can only dream of one day accomplishing such a feat (but I’ll keep trying anyway… 화이팅~!) Also, she has become the face of etude house along with SHINee.
Mwah~!
Anyway, that’s all I have for now… keep an eye out for more Idol Chit Chat in the future (I promise it won’t all be YG family). I hope you enjoyed your first dose. As for now…
안녕~!
Filed under Idol Chit-Chat, K-Pop
Hey guys!
Hope you haven’t missed me too much! Hell month (aka exam/assessment month) is drawing to a close meaning that in two weeks from now, I will no longer be a full time student! Woo! This means only one thing – I can dedicate more time to this blog! Yay!
I have decided that K-Talk Tuesdays will now only happen every second week – otherwise I’m going to run out of material real quick!
So by now you’d know your Hangul and some popular Korean expressions (Pt. I & Pt. II), but let’s go back to the basics now because you’re going to need to know this phrase if you’re going to want to make any friends in Korea.
What's Yo Name?
Your other option is to be a socially awkward turtle (like me) and pretend to know someone’s name for weeks on end and just hope someone says it in front of you or you find it over Facebook. (True Story)
So in order to avoid awkward situations such as the above, this is how you say:
Just some quick info on Korean culture – Korean’s usually ask for names using formal language. Otherwise, informal language is more than acceptable in everyday conversation. When asking for names, it is okay to use the informal form when speaking to someone younger than you.
Before you even ask for someone’s name you want to get their attention and you’ll do this by either saying Joesonghamnida (Jwae-song-ham-ni-da – ‘I’m sorry’) or Sillyehamnida (Shill-ye-ham-ni-da – ‘Excuse me’).
Excuse me miss girl. 😉
You’ll then go on by asking for their name by saying:
Seonghami eotteoke doeseyo? (Formal Polite form)
(Song-ha-mi ot-taw-kae dwae-sae-yo)
성하미 엍터게 되세요
or, alternatively
Ireumi mwoeyo? (Informal Polite form)
(Ee-rum-ee mo-ae-yo)
이름이 뭐에요
And that’s pretty much it. Once again I will reiterate that the formal polite form is used most often when asking for names, otherwise you can use the informal polite way when asking someone younger than you, or if you’re asking your friend’s friend.
To make your sentence sound even smoother, you can add the word “but” in between your ice breaker and your inquiry into their name. “But” in korean is “man” so if you wanted to say “Excuse me but what is your name?” You’d say “Sillyehamnidaman seonhami eotteoke doeseyo?”
Anyway, that’s all for this week. I’m pretty sure that’s right. Haha! If there are any mistakes, please feel free to correct me. 🙂
안녕~!
Filed under K-Talk Tuesdays
As promised, here is my latest Savings Update! Hope you savers have been doing well!
Since mid-February, I have been trying to save a minimum of $4000 for my Korean holiday! I have great news! I have just hit the $1k mark with ten months more to go until holiday time! Seoul, I can almost smell you!
No more trying to hitch rides to Korea!
So what have I been doing to save up, exactly?
Well, the Easter Holidays have just past and everyone had the opportunity to get away from school and work, and just have some family bonding time.
….Almost everyone.
I worked during Easter Sunday so I could get holiday penalty rates of time and a half. I find that if you don’t have anything planned for a public holiday anyway, why not just work? Make a quick buck. I made sure I still had the time to spend with my family because of course, family matters. So instead of celebrating on Easter Sunday, we had dinner on Easter Monday instead with our extended family.
Since reaching the $1000 mark, I thought I’d reward myself a little bit. I think I’ll be doing that now every time I reach a certain threshold! I don’t want to be too much of a tightass! You’ve still got to have fun and reward yourself a little every time you achieve something worthwhile! Before I started rewarding myself though, I made sure to transfer a percentage of my earnings into my Netbank saver account so I won’t be tempted to spend it!
So my mates and I went out last night for dinner at Alrose Garden in Strathfield for some hearty traditional Korean dishes. Apparently the spicy food there is really, really hot so I took the coward’s way out and just ordered a Chicken Schnitzel instead. I didn’t get to take a picture but their servings are MASSIVE! My Schnitzel didn’t even fit on the plate!
The Menu at Alrose Garden
All in all, the prices were really good in relation to how big their dishes are. The ambience was great, too, and they played K-Pop which was cool. 🙂
To continue on with the theme of big things, we went to Noggi afterwards to drown ourselves in their Frozen yogurt. We ordered the Groupi which is their largest serving and we demolished it in no time! Omnomnom!
This is the Maxi... not as big as the Groupi.
Also, we went to China Town Friday Night Markets in the city. I bought some dragon beard candy and I was going to buy 4 Minute’s new mini-album Volume Up but I found that the internet sells it for much cheaper! So online shopping it is!
I won’t drag on any longer, but I wish you guys the best in saving! And just remember to live a little, and spend a little to reward yourself every once in awhile!
Good luck!
안녕~!
Filed under Saving Update, Sydney
Happy Tuesday everyone! Hope you’ve had a good Easter break! I know I have…
Don't make me run! I'm full of chocolate!
Anyway, I hope you’ve found last week‘s K-Talk words useful! Here are a few more common Korean expressions!
PPALLI -빨리 – Hurry!
Koreans live fast paced lives so it’s no surprise at all that “Ppalli” is a widely used expression! Ppalli means “hurry” or “fast” and it can be used as an expression on its own or as a word within sentences. So how would you use it?
” Ppalli! Ppalli! We’re going to be late!” (as a separate word.)
“Ppalli Gayo!” – Let’s hurry up and go! (used in a sentence.)
"Be my love! Ppalli Ppalli Jeonhwahae!" - IU (Love Attack)
MOMOMO – 모모모 – Blah Blah Blah!
This is an easy one to remember and you can use it in everyday conversation! All it means is “BLAH BLAH BLAH!”. Don’t want to hear what someone is saying? Momomo! Tired of explaining something? Momomo! You can also use it in place of “etc.”
“Rumour has it that you have a crush on Siwon….”
“Momomo! Shhhh!!”
“I have to do the dishes, iron my clothes, pack my bag, momomo… the list goes on.”
Speaking of Siwon, did you know SuperJunior are coming to Sydney?
Get your SuperShow4 tickets here! Exo-M will be supporting them. 😉
MWO HAEYO – 뭐해요 – What are you doing?/What’s up?
Mwo Haeyo can be used like a greeting when you see your friends. It’s the equivalent of “What’s up?” or “What are you doing?” in English. Make sure you rise in intonation at the end of this sentence to indicate a question! You can also use the formal version of this expression which is “Mwo Haseyo (뭐하세요)” but typically, the informal version is just fine.
“Annyeong Haseyo! Mwo Haeyo?”
“안녕 하새요! 뭐 해요?”
“Hello! What’s up?”
Wasssuuuuuupppp?!?!
A, GEURAEYO – 아, 그래요 – Oh really?
This expression is generally used to indicate that you are listening and paying attention to the speaker, and that you are following what they are saying. Saying “A, Geuraeyo?” pretty much means “Oh really?” or “Is that so?” but if you just say “Geuraeyo” without the “A” before it, it turns into the statement “That’s right” or “Exactly”. Once again, when saying “A, geuraeyo?” make sure you lift the intonation in your voice to indicate the question. Usually when Koreans use this expression, they have a very interested, almost surprised face.
“Omo! Did you know that Sohee and Seulong are dating??”
“A, Geuraeyo??”
“She’s very pretty.”
“Geuraeyo.”
A, Geuraeyo??
That’s all for this week’s K-Talk! Have fun with the words! I’ll be posting a Savings Update later in the week so for those interested in saving, keep an eye out!
As for now, 안녕~!
Filed under K-Talk Tuesdays
So as some of you may know, I am an aspiring singer and a major YG Fan! So when I heard YG Family were having auditions right here in Sydney, I grabbed the opportunity!
I won’t bore you with the minor details but basically, we got to Chatswood very early (mind you I live almost two hours away) and I got to be the 14th Auditionee (is that even a word?) !!
Like my haircut? 🙂
I sang 아파 (slow) by 2NE1. I knew it was a popular song…. but I didn’t think it was that popular… I was Number 14, and I met two other people who sang the same song before me. Can you imagine how many other people would have sung it after?
Anyway, here’s a little snippet from my audition….
The night before I had completely lost my voice from recording with my band, but thanks to steam inhalations, ginger, honey, lemon and prayers I got my voice back long enough to sing!
Did you audition for YG? Or any other Korean companies such as JYP last year? Rumour has it that SM Town will be having auditions in Sydney later on in the year, so for you Sydney siders out there, keep your eyes peeled!
Anyway, I’m keeping positive but if I don’t get it this time around, YG, you’ll be seeing me again. I’ll be auditioning in Seoul next year. 🙂 I’ll leave you guys with Park Bom’s audition for YG Family!
Extra trivia: Did you know Park Bom was rejected from YG multiple times before finally being accepted after three years? (So to everyone who auditioned, stay positive!)
안녕~!
안녕 하세요~! I hope you guys haven’t missed me too much!
This week I’m going to be making you sound just that little bit more authentically Korean with some common expressions and idioms used by Native Speakers! If you’re a K-drama buff (like myself) you may have heard a couple of these words before! You may already know some words such as Annyeong Haseyo – 안녕 하세요 (Hello) , and Kamsahamnida – 감사함니다 (Thank you) – But here are a couple more words to add to your Korean vocab.
DAEBAK – 대박 – Jackpot!
This expression is often used when something awesome has happened or if something impresses you. It’s like a parallel word for the English expressions “Awesome!”, “Cool!” or “Hell yeah!”. Basically, Daebak is a word of exclamation!
So how do you use it?:
“I got a high distinction for my assignment! DAEBAK!” (In all honesty, I only scraped by with a low pass)
“The Wonder Girls just won a Nickelodeon Kids Choice Award! DAEBAK!” (They didn’t really, but I wish they did)
FIGHTING! – 화이팅~!
A battle cry! You all know this one! It’s so overused and every single drama (that I’ve ever watched) has incorporated it in some way. Basically, other than the fact that it’s a sort of battle cry, it’s a term used to encourage someone and to get them to do the best they can. It’s often (or always) accompanied with a little fist pump like this :3
Fighting~!
You go, success kid! :’) Anyway, here’s how you’d use it:
“We’re going to win this football match tonight! FIGHTING!”
“I know you can get through this! FIGHTING!”
I should also point out that Koreans pronounce this word as “hwaiting” as it is spelled that way phonetically in hangeul (화이팅!)
OMO – 오모 / AIGOO – 아이구 – Oh My Goodness!
OMO! Omo and Aigoo both basically have the same meaning as the English expression “Oh My Gosh!” Once again, I’m sure the drama buffs already use “omo” a lot. Although the words have the same meaning, they sort of have different connotations (I think). I’m not entirely sure but I think Aigoo is more interchangeable than Omo. Aigoo changes meaning depending on the context, for example, you’d use Aigoo if you spilt boiling water on yourself, or if you’re exasperated, or sympathising with somebody. Omo has more of a positive connotation to it. It’s pretty much like saying OMG.
“Aigoo, that’s no good! You poor thing.”
“OMO! Lee Sin and Gyu Won just kissed!! Omo, Omo, Omo!!!
SNSD’s Jessica – “Aigoo! Stress!!”
JEONGMAL – 정말/ JINJJA – 진짜 – Really??
Like Aigoo and Omo, Jeongmal and Jinjja both mean the same thing: “Really”. It can be used as a statement or a question depending on how you say the word. If you were to ask the question “Really?” you’d raise the end of the word, otherwise you’d just say it straight. Basically, these words can be used as sentences all on their own. Besides that, here are some examples of how you’d use it in sentences taken from my little bible: “Korean For Dummies”.
“Jinjja gyosunimkkeseo sukjega eopdago hasyeoseoyo!”
“진짜 교수님께서 숰제가 엎다고 핫여서요!”
” Really, the professor said there was no homework!”
“Jeongmal oneuldo yageunieyo?”
“정말 오늘도 야근이에요?”
“Really? I’m working overtime today?”
Another way to say “really” is the word cham 참 but it is closer to the english word “sure”.
(Btw, I’m not sure if the hangul for those last two sentences are right, so please correct me if I’m wrong.)
Omo! Jinjja, Bom?
Anyway, have fun using these words guys! I’ve almost resurfaced from under all my assignments (Aigoo! Stress!) and I’ll be updating the blog often again. Give me about two weeks.
I’ll give you guys more words to use next week! Fighting!
안녕!
Filed under K-Talk Tuesdays
It’s a Friday night, you’re tired from work, you don’t want to go home yet but you just want to wind down… So what do you do??
What exactly is a Noraebang you ask? The Noraebang is translated into English as literally meaning the “singing room” or “the song room”. And don’t mix your Noraebang with Western Karaoke! It’s two completely different things. Koreans take their karaoke seriously! (As do most other Asian cultures, amirite?)
In the past week alone I have gone to Noraebang twice! TWICE! (I take my karaoke very seriously, too.)
Sydney Noraebang @ Town Hall
There are many Karaoke rooms in the Sydney CBD. Most of which are great establishments. The two I went to this past week was 시드니 느래방 (Sydney Noraebang – pictured above) and Mizuya (A Japanese Karaoke Room). So obviously, in this post I’ll be talking about the Korean one. ㅋㅋㅋ
Korean Noraebang’s are next level shiz. You get the whole shebang when you go and that’s why I love it so much! Think of your average karaoke… now add some fancy lights, tambourines, shakers, alcohol, food and even costumes and you’ve got a Noraebang. Scared that you’ll embarrass yourself? Don’t be! You don’t even need to be able to sing in tune! Just as long as you’re having a good time (which you will) and hitting all the notes (whether right or wrong)!
Isn't that right, Cat? Hahaha!
Sydney Noraebang can be found near Town Hall Station next to Hungry Jacks. It’s quite a quaint place and it’s fairly hard to find but that’s what makes it more exciting. If you ever go, just look out for the neon sign above and just take the lift to Level 2. And don’t worry! Songs are not only in Korean, but also English, Japanese and Chinese. What I love most about 시드니 노래방 is that songs are updated very regularly so most of your favourite new tunes will be available for singing at your next visit.
In comparison to most other Karaoke Boxes, Sydney Noraebang is fairly cheap ($15 per hour on weekdays) and it’s great quality, too.
Can you read that??
Anyway, enjoy your noraebang experience!
안양~!
Hey guys!
So sorry for the K-Talk delay this week. I have heaps of essays to write right now but I’ll get straight back into it next week!! Promise!
Have a good week guys! Annyeong! 안녕~!!
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