회식: Eat, Drink, ChitChat, Sing!

Helloooo~
okay,  I decided to post something new related to Korean culture to make my blog being more interesting to read. ^^

Do you know "회식"? (read: Hui-Sik)

Do you like to hang out with your coworkers after work, or do you enjoy gatherings where people drink a lot? A lot of Korean companies still have a strong 회식 culture, and not everybody enjoys going to one these days. In this posting I will explain what 회식 is and what people usually do during a 회식.

MIS Team ♥

For Koreans 회식 is a very important part of working life. Every so often, you should go out with your co-workers and your boss and have some food, drinks and fun to get to know each other or to celebrate important events.

farewell party Mr Jang! T_T he lives in Canada with his wife and his daughter now

pardon my chubby cheeks. I was 45kgs that time! huahaha

I think drinking with your coworkers is one of many ways to improve your relationships with your coworkers and will make or break the ideal working environment.

Since we have our personal plan on Friday night, so usually we have 회식 on Thursday. or sometimes on Wednesday, because in our company Wednesday is Family Day (go home on time for quality time with your family. LOL), so the company will not provide dinner in cafetaria. That's why we choosing Wednesday  for having dinner outside with our beloved team.

After finishing work, we go to korean bar around 6 or 6.30PM.

Korean bar (its called with "HOF") usually require food is ordered with a drink. And we order some amounts of fried chicken, sausage, golbengi and many things. Our team leader walks around to make sure everyone's glass is topped off. Of course, they don't pour drinks until your glass is empty, so it's not uncommon to hear "One Shot!" and be expected to finish half a glass of beer so they can pour you the next one. kekekeke

Some of HOFs have this kind of table. It will keep your beer cold.

500cc beer

If it’s a great night out, then you’ll still be on the third or fourth 차 (Cha) or place for hanging around.

I didnt understand when the first time joining the 회식 and my co-worker asked, "Shall we go to 2 차(i-cha) ?"
And they explained to me that usually my team has 3 cha in every 회식.

These are 3-cha in my team~

1 cha : having dinner. I mean the proper dinner. Sushi, Bibimbab, Bulgogi and many things.

2 cha : HOF time. Fruit time and of course, SOJU AND BEER hahaha.  I was always under the impression that Korean people are more likely to have an iron stomach =))

3 cha : NORAEBANGGG or singing room! yes its karaoke time. one of my favorite. kekeke. Usually we have 2 or 3 hours singing since we have 15 members.

drunken Hao.. as always =.="

Usually it ends around 2AM or 3AM. Luckily my apartment is nearby the office, and also my co-worker lives in the same area with me. So, he always drops me off to my apartment.

Park Ki Bum Daeri-nim! My co-worker and my neighbor

whats the most annoying thing?
WE HAVE TO GO TO OFFICE LIKE USUAL. huhahahhaa. I go to sleep at 3.30AM, and I have to wake up at 7AM +.+ 

I miss 회식 sooo muchie! and I miss my team members as well T_T

my very last 회식 T__T

Have you ever experienced 회식 or dinner with your co-workers? ^^

The Colorful of Love: Banpo Bridge Rainbow Fountain

My favorite tourist attraction! Banpo Bridge Rainbow Fountain (반포대교 달빛무지개분수)

Why I love it... because.. No doubt! It's actually as beautiful as what you have seen in picture!
I called it "The most romantic place in earth"! I've been there 4 times and I still love it very much.
Very beautiful rainbow fountain... Amazing Han River... plus romantic song that is played during rainbow fountain show.
I hope my 5th visit would be with my baby :p

This bridge is also a very famous place for film shooting. Some of the scenes in korean drama like "Daddy's Girl", "Iris", and "Boys Before Flowers" are also filmed here. I could remember how I want to go this place so much because it appears in many Korean drama.
Tourist can sit on both sides of the Bridge to enjoy the magnificent night view in the heart of Seoul.

Many photographers like to come here and take pictures too during the bridge's operating hours. This is also a good spot for couple to date and friends to chit-chat. Some koreans prefer to take an evening walk here while some people prefer to ride a bicycle nearby the river. Most of the time, there were also people selling fried chicken here. If you are not in a tight budget, I highly recommend you to buy a box of fried chicken and slowly enjoy the view. Price should be around 12000 won for a box of whole chicken. You could enjoy the famous and delicious fried chicken while relaxing by the river!

Operating Hours
April-October (Duration: 15min)
* Weekdays: 12:00, 20:00, 21:00
* Weekends: 12:00, 17:00, 19:30 (July & August only), 20:00, 20:30, 21:00, 21:30

♥ How to get there:

1) Dongjak Station (Seoul subway Line 4, exit 1 or 2). Walk around 20~30 minutes.

2) Express Bus Terminal Station (Seoul subway Line 3, 7, 9, exit 8.1). Go straight for 250m, turn right at Express Bus Terminal 4-way intersection. Continue going straight for 400m and cross the street at the crosspark. You will see an underground passage. Walk into the underground passage and take the first exit. (Also around 20 minutes~30 minutes)

follow the pink line :)

Bibimbab, Make Your Tongue Dancing

its 11AM here now. sooo hungry~ waiting for lunch break. oh yes, an hour left T_T

so, I decided to post something that will make me better: FOOD!

this food is one of my favorite!

Bibimbab~

Bibimbab is literally "mixed" meal in Korean word. It is served as a bowl of warm white rice with vegetable, meat, a soft egg and mixed together before eaten.
This food is considered to be one of healthiest dishes as it contains a lot of nutrition.

Korean people loves spicy food, so they usually put Gochujang or Chili Pepper Paste to make it spicy.
and it makes your Bibimbab so colorful. kekeke

If you go to Jeonju, you have to try their Bibimbab. Jeonju is so popular with their bibimbab. But its little bit pricey. You have to pay around 10,000 won ~ 15,000 for one bowl of Bibimbab in Jeonju while you can find 7,000 won Bibimbab in Seoul.

waiting my bibimbab!

They usually add beef to make it more delicious. My friend, Devi cant eat beef so she always orders without-beef-bibimbab

hello devi eonni!

without-beef-bibimbab

and for me, I really like to add Seaweed to my Bibimbab, and mix it together with other vegetables. The taste is so heaven.

you can see the different between Jeonju bibimbab and the last one right? no wonder the one that I bought in Jeonju is more expensive.

the highlight of Bibimbab is the egg! so dont even dare to eat other people's egg when you guys eat Bibimbab together.

try me!

last but not least, you have to try Korean green chili peppers.. usually korean people eat this as their side dishes. so you can ask for more green chili peppers if you like it for free. lol


what's your favorite Korean food? ^^

MIES Container: Good Foods, Good Male-Waiters

hello! this is my first post about culinary spot in Korea. hohoho
its not korean food though, but its recommended place to go!

yup! MIES Container in Gangnam~

they have 2 branches in Seoul, which are located in Gangnam and i-forgot-where-it-is. But I made a visit to the Gangnam branch that time.

Since it is almost impossible to find a stylish restaurant serving delectable food at affordable prices in Gangnam, its popularity has practically hit the roof.

You have to wait several minutes or even hours to go inside the restaurant. the waiting list is always soooo long. my friend and I ended with an hour waiting even though we went there at 4PM. usually i never have to wait to go inside when going to restaurant around 4PM though, since its too late for lunch nor too early for dinner.

the waiting list T_T

The atmosphere inside Mies pretty much screams one word – Macho. The open loft structure is constructed like a factory, with the slogan ‘Wipe and Tighten and Oil!’ written on the wall in Korean.

 They even have numbered construction helmets to identify orders. All the waiters are young and hot (and male), and overly friendly towards customers, especially women.

If you are a woman, you will love this place very much. trust me! lol. you can feel Hallyu-Stars are everywhere inside the restaurant. with their good bodies and good appearances. they will give you high-five after your orders are served.

We tried to order Nacho for both of us. and when it came to our table, WOW so big! the good news is the price is so affordable. we paid 16,500 won for that big nachos and fruit salad.

16,500 won - Mies Style Nacho Platter

when its getting darker outside, the waiter will give candle for each table. candle light dinner with pretty onnie!
that time we did chit-chat until around 7pm. because that night was the last night for Luna, and my last-2-days before coming back to Indonesia T_T

if you love handsome guys, delicious foods, hip-hop musics and cheap prices, go there!

is there any restaurants with only male as waiters in your hometown? ^^

❤Mies Container
9, Seocho-daero 73-gil, Seocho-gu, Seoul

❤ How to go there 
Subway station: Gangnam Station (Line 2) exit number 9 
Go straight, make a right and go straight about 20m. The restaurant is on the left.

Cheonggyeochon Stream: Secret Dates Under the Moonlight

Cheonggyecheon stream (청계천), the 5.8-km restored stream that magically starts in the heart of downtown Seoul and courses through the neighborhoods of Jongno and Dongdaemun before it meets the Jungnangcheon (중랑천) and eventually empties into the mighty Hangang river (한강).

In the mornings, groups of ajummas power-walk along the paths while lovebirds walk slowly arm-in-arm at night when the banks are lit up. There’s also a growing number of fish and birds returning to the Cheonggyecheon stream, including a few bright orange goldfish i saw on a recent trip.

the stream is surrounded by various attractions. It passes through Deoksugung Palace, Seoul Plaza, the Sejong Center, Insa-dong Street, the Changdeokgung Palace, and the Changgyeonggung Palace.

I prefer to go there at night because the atmosphere is just so different. you can see many couples do lovey-dovey.. and some bridges have super good lighting, like heart-shape, pretty flower and many more.

if you ever watched Super Junior and Girls Generation music video you know what I mean. Kyuhyun and Seohyun's scenes were in Cheonggyecheon stream~

last time I went there was on December 2013. and they had ice-Christmas-tree. I asked someone to help me taking a picture. kekekeke.

peace!

There are some annual events in Cheonggyeochon stream, for example lantern festival which is held every November since 2009. So dont miss it!

Seoul Lantern Festival 2013

♥ Cheonggyeochon Stream
Address: 110, Sejong-daero, Jung-gu, Seoul  
서울특별시 중구 태평로1가 ~성동구 신답철교

♥ How to go there
1) Euljiro 1-ga Station (Seoul Subway Line 2), Exit 2 or 3.
2) Jonggak Station (Subway Line 1), Exit 5.
3) Gwanghwamun Station (Subway Line 5), Exit 5.

Magic Island: Lotte World

heihooo~
deciding to post something today since im so free.. u know, sometime its just so boring to wait until 5.30pm everyday for going home without doing anything in working hours.

okay, have u heard about Lotte World? Lotte World is one of must-visit-place when you go to Seoul. its amusement park with indoor and outdoor area.
Everland has more attractions than Lotte World, but you should check their Gyro Drop!

entrance gate

You have to pay 44,000 won (adult) for the entrance fee. but dont worry, usually you can get discount for foreigner. they usually have some events for foreigner in their website.
or you can also check we make price's website or ticket monster or coupang for cheaper price.
those websites are the most popular website in Korea for buying the cheap voucher or discount voucher.

Once you entered the entrance fee, you will love it.

taken from air-balloon attraction

They have indoor and outdoor area. Lotte World attracts many visitors with their ski-rink. but unfortunately you have to pay extra fee for ski-rink.
if you know Korean drama Full House, you might know that Lotte World's Ski Rink.

For outdoor area, they called it Magic Island. It has more than 5 attractions in outdoor area. And you can see beautiful castle as soon as u arrived in outdoor area.

We went there on winter season, so its quite windy that time. Going to amusement park on winter is such  uncomfortable for me, because u need to wear your gloves, your thick jacket, shawl, etc etc etc.
but, the queuing should not that long, like you will find on summer.

I dont understand why people want to take a ride for this kind of attraction! but you know, i was the only one who chose to stay while my friends were so excited to have a try.

For lunch, they have many restaurants with different varieties. Im sure one of them will match your tongue. Its little bit pricey though T_T you know because its amusement park, so u cant find the cheap foods here.

We decided to choose fried rice as our lunch (because thats the cheapest one. LOL). 8000 won for fried rice! and as usual, korean always has soup whenever you eat. so here we go, fried rice + seaweed soup.

since the waiting list was so long, so we've finished it in 20 minutes. we wanted to try French Revolution (Lotte World's roller coaster), but it's not good idea since we've just finished our lunch.
So, we decided to try air balloon and just went around.

save me puhleaseee~

And they also have eye-museum-corner.  if you know eye museum in Jeju or Hongdae, you know what i mean.

pretty devi onni!! :* smooch u

And then, the best part of amusement park is the parade! there are 5 times of parade in a day if im not mistaken. but you know, we're too busy queuing so totally forgot about this one.we could see from 3rd floor while having our dinner that time.

If you ask me, whats my favorite attraction, i would proudly say MERRY GO ROUND!
im falling in love with this one, so i always always always ride merry go round whenever i go to amusement park. some people will refuse to ride it because its too wasting time, but its just too sweet to be skipped!

heihooooo lets go up and down with you guys!

Usually they have specific theme, like Halloween around September and October, Christmas around November until December etc etc etc.
we went there on December, so they were in jingle bell atmosphere because Christmas was around the corner.

 

Last but not least, we've tried Ghost House.. You have to pay 3000 won more for this one, but i think you have to try it! its just..... interesting! yet scary huaahaha.

we've spent more than 10 hours there. time always ticking so fast when we enjoy it.

I hope i can go to Lotte World again with my sisters on my next-korea-trip :)

♥ Lotte World
Address: 240, Olympic-ro, Songpa-gu, Seoul 서울특별시 송파구 올림픽로 240 (잠실동)

♥ How to go there:
Jamsil Station (Seoul Subway Line 2 & 8), Exit 4.
Lotte World is directly connected to the station.