Winter Break Part 2: Korea

So, as soon as we landed at Incheon Airport, we bought a cup of coffee and got into my dad's car and drove off to my grandma's house. We couldn't go to our new house right away because the family was still living there and they were to move out the next morning. Once we got to grandma's house, we basked in the awesomeness of indoor heating, ate some breakfast, then my parents dozed off while I just watched TV. That was pretty much it for that day. For dinner, we ordered jja jang myun and other good things that come with the dish. Props to the delivery man for delivering on such a cold night.

om nom nom
I was really full by the time I was done

Then the next day, we went to my dad's brother's house - because that's where my dad's family always meets up for new year's. Apparently though, they're going to change that location to our new home starting this year as on new year's day you're supposed to pay respects to elders (in our case, my grandfather, great-grandfather, and great-grandmother) that have passed away a long time ago and most of the responsibilities of carrying the actual ceremony out belongs to the eldest son of the family - my dad. My dad's brother has done it most of the time because my dad was in Hong Kong on new year's.

Ddol Ddol - my uncle's dog - sleeping
He's so adorable
My dad knows it and thus always gives him food
He says he wants Ddol Ddol to like him ahahha

So that day my mom worked with my uncle's wife to prepare the food for the ceremony on new year's day, while I just um sat on the couch and went on the Internet until the rest of the family had arrived. All of us sat in the living room at a huge table and ate dinner together. Afterwards, it was about time for the MBC Gayo Daejaejun to start, so I joined my older cousins in another room to watch it. Boy it was entertaining to see them unable to control themselves once INFINITE appeared on stage...XD Apparently one of them just recently got into the Chaser ahahha. And another good thing that was happening on another channel was that Joo Won had gotten himself two awards - one for popularity and one for his acting in Bridal Mask - I WAS SO HAPPY FOR HIM T^T CONGRATS MY BABY I'M SO PROUD OF YOU. And I was also really glad Park Ki Woong also got himself an award before he left the ceremony that day. Yay, you guys both deserve it!

Once the Daejaejun was over, and once the adults were done playing Go Stop late into the night, the house finally quietened down and everyone succumbed to sleep~.

The next day, after the ceremony was carried out, we ate a late breakfast, and then everyone left around lunch time. I finally got to see our new home. Here are some pics I took:

my parents' bedroom
there's also a bathroom in here which is not pictured

my room

the kitchen

the living room

dad's study room

the bathroom in the living room

the veranda

the view from the veranda
it's quite nice

um yeah since everyone does this with their dslrs
I wanted to do it too
so hah
yup I got my own dslr xd it's a canon eos 650d
still don't know too much about how to use it
gotta read through the manual sooner or later
(a not-so) fun fact: most of the pics in this post were taken using this dslr.

annnnnd pizza for lunch
om nom nom
we didn't have any cups so we just drank pepsi out of the 1.25 litre bottle
lol
my dad joined us later and drank pepsi from a bowl as if it was mak geo li or sth
lol

another view of our new home
it's actually a similar design as my uncle's home

dinner on...a cardboard box ;;;;;
using my dad's words, "we had dinner on a inhumane table"
lololol wut
but nevertheless, thank you grandma for the bulgogi! XD

The next day, my dad went to work, and my mom and I went to Gang Nam to do our hair and shop around :). My mom did some sort of straightening that kinda puffed her hair up a little, and I went for a big change and cut off my long hair for a short hairdo. I also straightened it a little too. Here's what I look like now:

I'm really digging this short hair
I think I will keep my hair short for a long time

After we were done with our hair, we then went to a skin care clinic and got my kind-of-visible "moustache" shaved...My mom was happy that I didn't look like a guy anymore omg I would also like to question why there's an unnecessary amount of testosterone at work in my body

Then we shopped and sat at a coffee shop and blah blah yeah

Gang Nam
I kind of didn't really want people staring at me as I took this shot
but screw it it was too pretty and I thought I would regret it if I didn't take it

Stuff I bought: face masks (two more for my wonderful roomie), face cream from Laneige (which I just gave it to my mom for another one because this one was too oily; I also got another one of the same thing for my roomie too), a set of cute magnetic bookmarks, a 2013 planner, cute post-its, face shavers, eyebrow shavers, and a free set of calendar stickers that I got when I bought the planner at Artbox

Stuff I bought (part 2): winter socks, a plastic basket for toiletries, and a multi-use mat (which I'm gonna use to place my food on when I get take-away or when I eat microwaveable food)

Oh hey and we got these chairs in place of our couch which is to arrive sooner or later
we also have a tea table now woot

Then the next day, my mom and I headed to COEX. As soon as we got there, we looked for something to eat. The food court was apparently under construction, so we just headed to a Korean restaurant.

om nom nom
I had bo ssam jung shik (●´∀｀●)

then after walking around and shopping for a bit (I didn't buy much this time around - bought some books and a shirt from ZARA)
we took a break at Dunkin Donuts
Oh my mom also got a haircut because she didn't like how her new hair turned out
I like her hair now better too :)
she looks really nice with shorter hair hehe

and then family dinner outside XD
han woo jung shik
om nom nom

pa jeo ri and beer
the lady thought I wasn't old enough so she initially only brought 2 glasses
then my mom asked for another one
she looked over me suspiciously but she eventually got me one
lol I guess I don't look old enough to be drinking
(in Korea the legal age to drink is 19 by Korean age - and now I'm 20 y/o in terms of Korean age)

kkak ddu gi fried rice
I would've enjoyed this a lot more only if I wasn't so full from all that meat hah

dessert at the shop across from the restaurant
my parents enjoyed some ice cream and coffee together
while I had iced milk tea
yes I purposely placed the book I'm currently reading next to the drink
because it looks nice ahahha

I'm getting better at playing Ovenbreak 2 hehe
this is my best score as of now
quite a noteworthy achievement over winter break

we finally got a tv
but it's pretty much temporary, as our tv from hk is coming soon~

on my last full day in korea, I just went to a department store with my mom
then before going back home, we went to a coffee shop to rest a little
I had green tea latte, it was really good :)

bossam jung shik again LOL
last meal in Korea before I left for the US
my grandma insisted on joining my parents to say good bye to me
although my parents both said no it's fine, my grandma kinda threatened my dad by saying she'll go to the airport herself by bus omg lol
so yeah we picked her up on our way to the airport :)
it's nice to know that my grandma cares enough about me to want to say good bye to me at the airport
(wow what a slightly depressing way to end a caption)

So yeah that's pretty much how my break in Korea went. Sorry for not putting all these pictures into collages, I wasn't really in the mood to take up the time to do that haha. So here, you've got a long post filled with pictures with long captions instead XD

Now I'm back in LA, and dreading the first day back in college...nooooooo I can't handle this

And an extra pic: the books I bought in Korea XD

all 3 by Keigo Higashino :)
yup I'm really digging his books now haha