A Choice Seoul B&B: *Open Promo* THE VIEW @Insadong

As I expected, the location was perfect and the view from the room was interesting. The place was cute, too!

This was my B&B reservation which I found at stay.visitseoul.net and booked through airbnb.com. I wrote my experience on using the stay.visitseoul.net website on this piece, where I enumerated a few glitches and shortcomings. 

As soon as I confirmed and paid for my reservation, Mr. Jack Kim, the owner, immediately sent me detailed directions to the place from which airport bus to take from Incheon International Airport, to the exact building location and even what to tell the taxi driver in case one takes a cab from the airport. Details about the room and amenities were also provided. I had to ask Jack if the TV in the room was connected to a cable service as I planned to watch the opening ceremonies of the Sochi Olympics on the early morning of Saturday. Yes, it was!

         (I was able to watch the opening ceremonies of the 
                    Sochi Olympics at 1AM on Saturday!)

Finding the place even at night wouldn't be a problem, even for a new Seoul tourist. It's right at Anguk Station, and any visitor would find it whether he or she is arriving using the airport bus, an airport taxi, or the subway.

When I got there and looked at the view from the window, I realized my view included the Somerset Palace Seoul, where my friends JK, Ruth and their daughters used to live. I remember we had crazy fun parties there like JK's birthday, Ruth's purple valentine party, or our Hawaiian summer party! If they still lived there, they would have been my first stop.

                                  (Early morning view)

I also asked for a late check-out on Sunday as I wanted to get some lunch in Insadong before I left the Jongno area. He gladly granted. And there are lots of restaurants, cafes, convenience stores in the area. No worries finding a place to eat or where to have coffee.

So, if you're travelling to Seoul alone, or even with another companion, Jack's place in the Jongno District's Insadong area is perfect. It's a walking distance to the Bukchon village that's full of traditional Korean homes, to the Gyeongbukgung and Changdeokgung Palaces, and even to the nearby Gwanghwamun and Cheonggye Stream, which are famous tourist attractions, too. 

(Buildings in the Insadong area covered by thin snow)

Here's a link to his site at airbnb: 

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/2023448?s=DerA

Thanks again, Jack! I enjoyed my weekend at your B&B! And even with this very cold weather outside, I slept well in a warm room and with a great view of the Mt. Inwang (Inwang-san) and the Gyeongbuk Palace from my bed!

www.stay.visitseoul.net: A Lot Of Misses And One Hit!

For tourists going to South Korea, or Seoul in particular, booking a trip with a travel agent for a package tour would be the most convenient. And the priciest, too. Well, that's what the add-on amounts are for. Convenience.

But if you're on a budget and just want to discover the city and the country at your pace and your own itinerary, there are other websites where you can compare the prices, location and amenities. 

So, as a mission for the Global Seoul Mates, which I am a part of, I tested this  website maintained by the Seoul Tourism Organization:
http://stay.visitseoul.net/eng/index.html

It lets you choose your own accommodation. Be it a guest house, a hotel, a homestay, a Korean traditional house or a B&B (bed and breakfast).

Originally, I wanted to stay in a hanok, a Korean traditional house, right in the Bukchon, an area in the Jongno District where Korean traditional houses and architecture have been preserved. But I encountered a few problems while surfing the site as I searched for a preferred hanok.

The problems I encountered were:

1.  The 'search' function does not work. I typed the word 'Bukchon' and it even doesn't know what it is.
2. The location maps of some B&Bs, especially the hanoks in Bukchon, are written in Korean. If this website wants to entice foreigners, they should put an effort to put a map with directions/landmarks written in other languages.
3. I tried calling a hanok (the name of the place has three letters starting with 'D') to confirm a reservation email I received from its webmaster, but the English-speaking staff told me to call again because he was busy. WTF?!
4. The segregation of the hanok guesthouses in the website is wrong. Some hanoks, whose address is in Bukchon, are classified under other places. The people who created the website either didn't care about the segregation, or they just didn't know how to locate them.
5. One link says, 'The Others'.  That is actually the title of a horror film which starred Nicole Kidman. It's my favorite horror film.  If this is an English website, they should at least had it corrected for its grammar and spelling.
6. Some places have no 'Booking' link. If you click 'Booking', it leads to nowhere. It must be ghost house.
7. I sent an inquiry to a hanok guesthouse. It took them 24 hours to reply. By then, I had already decided on another place. Speed and promptness should be observed if you want to get the tourists to stay at your place.

So, after the inconvenience, waste of my time and the helplessness, I decided to abandon the plan to stay in a hanok.

I clicked the airbnb logo, looked for a place around the same area and then signed up with airbnb.com.

And I found this place, which looks like a studio-type apartment!

The place is right next to Insadong, Bukchon is just across the street, and right under the building is the Anguk Station! Convenient, reasonably priced and perfect!  And for tourists coming in from the Incheon International Airport, the airport bus stop is just a few meters away!

I think I made the right decision! I will be writing another blog for this b&b place!

I hope the Seoul Tourism Organization is able to pick up a few of my pointers to improve their website. If you have any question, you guys know where to find me.

Ciao! 

A Pinoy At The Movies: Hercules At Greenbelt 3 and The Hobbit At Glorietta 4

Spending two nights in Makati was a treat. And two nights in Makati were all I needed!

After I planed in from Bacolod City, flying out from the very picturesque Bacolod-Silay Airport, I immediately started my weekend with strolling around the Greenbelt and Glorietta areas trying to practice my legs after a week from the hospital and a few weeks just staying at home.

Every time I am in Manila after the Christmas holidays, it would still be the Manila film festival and no Hollywood movie is shown even a few days after the new year's. But this time, lucky me, after an extended medical leave, I was now able to catch a couple!

So, on my first Saturday night, I went to Greenbelt 3 to watch The Legend of Hercules. Well, the actors weren't familiar faces, although most of them look like the ones you'd see bulking up their muscles in the gym. After all, it's about Hercules, the strongest man in Greek mythology, long before steroids were invented. Ha-ha-ha!

This is a movie to watch if you have no other choice. And yes, I didn't have any other choice that night. Ha-ha-ha! Although the acting wasn't that convincing, the visuals and my re-education on Greek gods and the Greek wars were worth the Php 60 ticket price. Of course, in the end, Hercules and his flexed muscles won over the other bodybuilders pretending to be Greek warriors. 

                                 (Glorietta 4 Cinema)

                        (Sizzling boneless bangus dinner!)

My second night in the cinema was more interesting. I was able to get a ticket for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug! This film was on a limited release in Seoul when I left in December because some cinemas wanted more share from the ticket sales of the film. This wasn't shown at CGV Yongsan, which was just next to my office in Seoul, and even my friend In-pyo, a fellow movie fan, wasn't able to catch it. I sent him a message through KakaoTALK that night telling him that I caught the movie just to make him envy. Ha-ha-ha! Mean!

And right before catching the last full show that night, this time at Glorietta 4 Cinema, I made sure I could squeeze in a dinner at my old favorite fastfood stall at the food court, Sizzling! The boneless bangus (milkfish) has always been my favorite and I got a plateful that night on the eve of my flight back to South Korea. I guess that was my last supper...without anyone betraying me. Ha-ha-ha!

After paying a Php 220 movie ticket, I was engrossed for almost three hours watching elves, dwarves and orcs enjoying my last night in Manila, the last night I could wear shorts before I flew in into the very cold winter days in Seoul. Even though the movie ended in another cliffhanger, signaling another sequel to watch out for, I was able to relive my days (or nights!) of enjoying walking around, dining and watching films at Greenbelt and Glorietta cinemas. Those were the days when my friends, especially Roselyn, and officemates would get guaranteed seat tickets on weekends as part of relaxing after a stressful week at work. Those were the days, indeed.

While In-Pyo envies me for having caught The Hobbit in Glorietta, I envy everyone having fun at Greenbelt or Glorietta this weekend. And if you're there, do watch a Hollywood film for me and even squeeze in a boneless bangus dinner if you can! 

    (A huge poster that caught my eye at Glorietta cinema lobby:                   Monuments Men! Another must-watch film!)

Fotos y Recuerdos: Black-And-Whites Tell The Most Colorful Stories!

We all have photo albums; be they in our smartphones or in my Mom's case, in her ba-úl (trunk), so to speak 

They preserve the visuals of our memories and of times that will never come back. But thanks to these photographs, we can always look back at our past. Or at least, the happy part of it. 😍

My Mom has her own collection of old photographs. She said she made it a point to collect photographs even when she was young. So, when I was home last Christmas, I ruffled through them and asked her about some interesting ones. 

I recognized some young faces, which are now a bit older, some titas during their younger days as belles of the town, and even one ninang (godmother), who, according to another godmother, was probably the most beautiful girl in the province during her time.

There were close to a hundred photographs, most of them in black and white, printed when the technology for colored pictures wasn't available yet. But now, even with all colors and Photoshop-ing that you can do with digital photographs, I still appreciate those black-and-whites because they look so vintage and unique. The stories they tell are not in anyway muddled by the colors.

Let me show you some photographs that caught my eye.

This is Maninay (godmother) Bebing (Estela Fermin-Lacson) when she was 'Queen Estela' at the town fiesta of Saravia, now E.B. Magalona, in Negros Occidental. According to another godmother, she probably was the most beautiful girl in the province during her time. The photograph explains why.  I was told her small tiara was clustered with real diamonds, and her earrings and necklace were of real diamonds as well from Tita Luz Montinola's jewelry collection. According to someone who was there that day, her gown must have been a Ramon Valera, which was flown in from Manila, and she was made-up by Toti Evangelista, a popular make-up artist that time. Maninay Bebing is a great-granddaughter of Don Felix Montinola y Lozada.

An excited looking Paul on his birthday with his sister Florence sitting in front of his birthday cake with a cowboy motif. Cousin Marla is looking at the cake and must be wondering whether it was yummy. Standing next to Marla is a playmate, Holly, who grew up in Manila and couldn't speak Hiligaynon when she and her siblings, Joey and Jinkee, moved to Victorias when their granddad, Mr. Napoleon Montilla, was assigned to manage the PNB in Victorias. My Mom in the picture seems to be directing the whole show.

Ninang Dotty (Dorothea Montinola) in a gown with real ostrich feathers made by Toti Evangelista, a Manila-based fashion designer and make-up artist at that time. She's on her way to a formal affair at the Sta. Teresita Academy in Silay City in 1963.

Belles of the town: From left, Tita Marilou (Maria Lourdes Montinola), Encarnata Corona (?), Vicky Sandoval (?), Victoria Bantug (?), and the late Tita Gamay (Ester Fermin-Acaling) in their gowns. This was during the town fiesta of Victorias and they were the selected muses. Had this photograph been in color, their gowns would have had more stories to tell.

I was intrigued about this photograph when I saw it because the mother holding the baby was a very beautiful mestiza. My Mom said this was Betty Magalona and her children. Even the kids look cute! According to my Mom, Betty Magalona was the younger sister of Susan Magalona, who was the most beautiful woman on the island during her time and was even called the 'Helen of Troy' of Negros. If you see Susan Magalona's photographs on the Internet, her beauty is like the 'old Hollywood' type. Her portraits hang at the Balay Negrense in Silay City. Susan Magalona was the sister of Pancho Magalona, the actor.

This is another photograph of the family, this time with presumably the father of the cute kids. If this is Betty Magalona's husband, he must be Dr. Quintin Gomez. 

My Mom said Betty Magalona used to visit Lola Theang (Dorothea Magalona-Montinola) at 'balay dako' in Victorias City, and one time my Mom asked her for her photograph to keep as a memento, and as these two family photos were with her at that time, she gave them both to my Mom.

There were still a lot of photographs at my Mom's collection. Perhaps, on my next homecoming, there will be more pictures to discover and more stories to tell. 

This is what I like about black and white photographs. Although they're in monochromes, their stories can still be very colorful.😍

Hollywood: Lights, Camera...Addiction!

Like the rest of Hollywood fans, I was shocked by Philip Seymour Hoffman's death. It was only last December that I watched him at Hunger Games: Catching Fire and now, he's dead. What a way to waste a talent. Drug overdose.

As my memory could only recall Heath Ledger and River Phoenix from the film industry, and Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse and Whitney Houston from the music industry, I searched the Internet for a list of famous Hollywood names who may have died from too much booze, drugs and fame.

And what I found, courtesy of Wikipedia, was a list of notable celebrities, athletes, actors, dancers and nobodies, whose death might have been related to drugs and alcohol. And the list is alphabetical! It's more like a list of who's who of dying from excess. Too bad, they're all dead. Dead and famous.

But what's with fame and fortune that led them to abuse? Was it too much to handle? Were they not able to cope with the ups and downs? Were they not ready for failure after all the successes? Or, when everyone else abandoned them, drugs and alcohol stayed behind and gave them the comfort they craved for.

Luckily, I am not a Hollywood actor. Ha-ha-ha! Otherwise, I would have already won an Oscar, and probably be dead, too. But I am just happy and contented to be a Hollywood movie fan. At least, I am alive, drug-free, alcohol-free, but not sugar-free. (I love sweets!) :-)

We will never know why Philip Seymour Hoffman relapsed in his drug rehabilitation. I heard he already had recovered, but what triggered?  But what we know is that he may not be the last actor to die of drugs or booze as long as these celebrities don't look after their mental health. After all, everything starts with the mind. 

So, instead of a nomination at this year's Academy Awards to be held on March 2, Philip Seymour Hoffman will be included in the In Memoriam tribute of the show. And as his name and portrait are flashed on screen, he will definitely get the loudest applause from his peers. Too bad, he won't be around to acknowledge the ovation.



PS. The 'Hollywood' sign photo is courtesy of http://www.hollywoodsign.org

Of Hospitals, Hometowns and A Happy New Year!

Seollal, or the lunar new year in Korea, just went by. So, I guess, most of the long holidays are over. At least for the calendar, or lunar year that was!

My happy holidays started during my Christmas vacation in the warmer temperatures of the Philippines. I remember I left Seoul when the winter day was about 5'C. The next day, at home in the Negros island, I was wearing shorts!

When I landed home, I thought it would be doing the same things with my family during Christmas: shopping, preparing for the noche buena, going to church and just resting at home. But I didn't know an internal organ (and my doctors) had other plans for me.

      (Bacolod's chicken inasal of chicken breast and liver with 
             garlic rice and soy sauce dip with calamansi)

                    (Christmas shoppers at SM Bacolod)

I actually had to spend a week at the hospital as I needed to undergo surgery to remove an internal organ that wasn't cooperating with the rest of my system. Luckily, this happened just a few days after I planed in. I wonder what would have happened had this occurred while I was still in Korea? 

I didn't mind spending Christmas Day and having my noche buena of selected dishes at the 5th floor of Dr. Pablo O. Torre Hospital in Bacolod City. At least, I was with my family and the view from my hospital room was scenic enough to lighten up my spirits. And speaking of spirits, I asked one of the nurses if she had seen ghosts in the hospital. I have always liked listening to ghost stories, and hospitals are usually the most common of settings. She said that there was always a room where, once she entered, she would feel 'heavy' impression of the place. I was intrigued!

                   (Waiting at the emergency room for 
                           my assigned hospital room)

      (My hospital noche buena meal courtesy of Tita Helen)


Not to be outdone, on my last night in the hospital, when I was freed of the dextrose pack, I walked around at midnight armed with my smartphone camera clicking away as I strolled in the dimly lit hallways of the fifth floor. In my hospital pajamas which had Rx written all over it, I looked more like a walking prescription, than a spirit questor. Ha-ha-ha!

My camera didn't catch any ghost, only noisy nurses. Ha-ha-ha! These nurses had been chatting away even at midnight when all their patients were supposed to be asleep. I remember one time I had to buzz the Station 14 nurses because at 4:30 in the morning as I could hear them loudly talking about what happened during some party. No wonder there weren't any ghost; they were scared away by these noisy nurses. Although I didn't see any, I had weird dreams since I checked into the hospital. I must had sensed the energy of the patients who stayed in my room before. And when I was being wheelchaired out of the hospital, the elevator we took wouldn't go down. We had to switch elevator. Weird. I should have taken photographs of the elevators, instead of the empty hallways. Ha-ha-ha!

                (Silence was rare at Riverside's Station 14)

      (My hospital meal. Not looking exactly like a happy meal)

(Blue skies, the Iloilo Strait and Iloilo from my hospital room)

So, thanks to my sister who took care of me and to the Riverside hospital doctors, Dr. Moreno, Dr. Magno, Dr. Arriola and Dr. Arellano, I am now back to my old self, seemingly healthy and normal, minus an internal organ. Ha-ha-ha! And to the Station 14 nurses, of course, who made sure I took my medicines on the hour, and to the scrubs of the 2nd floor operating room with whom I chatted while they ferried me from my room to the OR. Before that sleeping medicine got me, I remember they told me there were three ORs on the floor and they even had a CD player on hand to play music during an operation. Thank goodness, they didn't play K-pop! Ha-ha-ha! 

I also remember, while I was lying there on the operating table ready to be opened up, I told my anesthesiologist, Dr. Arellano that one of her friends, Dr. Tan, was a neighbor in Victorias. My operation started at about 7:30-ish in the morning, and when I woke up at the recovery room, I looked for a clock and saw that it was 11:40-ish. I was still numbed, but I whispered a question to a nurse, who told me that my surgery ended at 8:35AM. It took me three hours to recover, and within 30 minutes, I was back in Facebook! (Thanks to my niece Priscila for lending me her pocket wifi; I was online while immobile).

And thanks to Tita Helen for her thoughtfulness of sending me and my sister some noche buena of fruits and dishes at the hospital. At least, we were able to have some ensaimadas, fruit salad, spaghetti, apples, queso de bola, oranges, pears and grapes on Christmas Day. 

              (A hospital selfie: "Mirror, mirror on the wall, 
                        who's the sickest of them all?")


After I was discharged, I went back to vacation mode once more, forcing myself to move around like an OFW on vacation, and not like wounded patient still with stitches and bandages. Ha-ha-ha! I went around the Bacolod Central Market and the Negros Showroom looking for a native-looking laptop pouch, and successfully found a couple! (I will write about my 'banig' laptop pouch soon.)

(Felicia's chocolate cakes! I had my chocolate quota filled!)

   (The red Christmas tree in the middle of the Victorias plaza)

(Fresh fruit punch at home!)

(Christmas cupcakes!)

My friends told me I'd be losing weight now that I had to taper down my diet. But with all the eating I had at home, I actually gained weight. And with all the goodies I brought with me to Seoul, I think I gained more! And thanks to all thoughtful friends and titas, I had hopias, Mary Grace fruitcake and chocolate truffle cake, Royce chocolates, peanuts and candied tamarind from San Carlos, two tupperwares of brazo de mercedes and fruit for the gods! And those are just the goodies given by friends. I haven't enumerated those which I got myself. Ha-ha-ha!

       

                                   (Arroz valenciana!)

                         (This picture needs no introduction, 
                         only a very good lechon sauce.)

And while I missed Christmas Day at home, there was always the New Year's Day a week after. And while I was thankful of Tita Helen's noche buena at the hospital, I am even more thankful I had a table full of media noche at home during the new year's eve. From a limited hospital diet to a full range of fatty food my doctor would probably have disapproved. Ha-ha-ha!

                        (My Mom matching the color of the 
                     Christmas tree outside our parish church)

            (Hot tablea tsokolate with ensaimadas for breakfast)

          (New year's fireworks at the Victorias plaza)

Thanks to my boss for approving my extended medical leave. I was able to recuperate at home without worrying about things at work. 

My mom was happy I was at home longer than usual. Although I am not sure whether I had to lose an internal organ just so I would  have a longer vacation. Ha-ha-ha! But things happen, I guess. My friends though I was still lucky this happened to me while I was home, and not in Seoul, where I think I'd be helpless. Somebody up there must have been looking over me.

                (One slice at a time: Felicia's chocolate cake!)

                                     (Manapla puto)

       (Camote-cue and banana-cue at the Victorias market)

I am now back in Seoul, trying to stay warm in this freezing winter. Seollal just passed and everyone is back to the daily routine. And while everyone in Korea drove and travelled to their hometowns during the long holiday weekend, my Pinoy friends and I drove down to Pyeongchang Country's Alpensia Ski Resort for some winter fun. That resort will host a few events during the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. (I will write about this next week.) 

To everyone, happy new year of the horse! No matter what our animal sign is, may we all be luckier this year!

            (Grateful for 2013 and praying for a luckier 2014!)