Friday, March 4, 2011

My Soul - My Seoul

안녕하십니까? Greetings from Korea ^^ For the first time, out of boredom, I will be writing this travel blog as my final post about travelling in Seoul. It will come part by part because it will be an extremely long one if I typed them all.

I wrote this so that I can forget about unrelated things and move on with other things much more important in my life. :)



This is also so that one day I can use this article as my/their guide when family or friends visit Korea. I actually wrote this guide last month but was busy to post it up. Typing all up was not an easy task too.

My Little Travel in Seoul

Seoul is a huge metropolitan city with almost half the Korean population living in this city alone. At almost 24 million people crowded in this city, it is really a big one.



I went to Seoul from Dongdaegu Station (동대구역) by Mugunghwa (무궁화) train on 30th of December 2010 at 8.22 am. Reached Seoul at 12.15 pm and my real journey begins. I was supposed to meet a friend at Sindorim Station (신도림역) but due to unforseen circumstances, I had to go to my 1 week-home by myself.

Frankly, I love travelling and the feeling of going somewhere I hardly go. I like the thrill of getting lost and finding my way back again. Lost, yup. I got lost when I was on the way to Sindorim.



I took the train from the opposite direction and I was more worried about reaching the place on time than the direction. Seoul subway station was really crowded because it has more than 10 lines. In my city, Daegu, though it was the 3rd largest city in Korea. We have only 2 subway lines. Daegu people do get lost sometimes when coming to Seoul. Whats more to a foreigner like me. :)

When taking subway in Seoul, just be cautious on the subway's direction and which line you need to take.

Sindorim 신도림

Sindorim is my destination. Going there must be through subway or taxi (a pricier choice) but I am not sure about buses. Sindorim is home for many Koreans because the place is among the most affordable housing areas in Seoul comparitively to living in downtown Seoul or Gangnam area in Seoul. Gangnam is said to be an area for the rich and wealthy Seoulites. To go Sindorim, take line 1.



Nevertheless, my destination is not Sindorim. I am planning to go to Dongyang Mirae University (동양미래대학), the area where I will be staying. To go there, take any green buses but check the bus schedule to confirm.

Malaysian JPA (Public Service Department) Scholars

JPA scholars are scholars sponsored by Malaysian Government, mostly they are in engineering fields. They can be counted by thousands studying in Korea and most of them are studying at Korea University, Seoul National University and Yonsei University under government to government agreement. Lucky huh?



JPA students are lucky lots and the government spends huge sum of money buying nearly half an apartment for them to live. Their allowances were deducted but it is way better than paying lots of money for housing deposit in Korea. It does not come cheaply paying house deposit especially in Seoul though at the end of the contract, the money is refunded (without interest).

My only proble is that a minority of them just do not know how to keep the house clean. Cockroach infestation can be listed as one of the problem. :(

To be continued...

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"This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning" ~Winston Churchill~