Sumbangan ala Korea

Hari ini gue nemenin Bondan ngisi kartu transportasi di stasiun subway Korea University dan gue baru sadar ada boks di sebelah mesin rechargenya. Boks sumbangan lebih tepatnya.

Kotak sumbangan sosial ala sini

Gue awalnya tertarik karena tulisan '모금함' meski sebenernya gue sendiri gatau itu apa. Gue taunya '모금 운동' itu artinya kampanye galang dana. So dari situ plus ngelirik atasnya ada tulisan '기부캠페인' alias kampanye berdonasi, gue menyimpulkan ini kotak donasi.

Yang menarik, gue gak sempet ngezoom kenapa ada gambar brisket arang sama susu disitu. Gue udah jalan sama Bondan buat naik bis, eh gue liat hasil fotonya kurang jelas, sampe akhirnya muter balik lagi buat tau itu apa.

Nah ternyata bukan sekedar minta donasi uang. Tertulis 'Kampanye Berdonasi Tiket Subway Sekali Pakai' diatasnya, dengan sub-header 'dibandingkan refund 500 won, lebih baik disumbangkan untuk kebahagiaan yang lebih besar'.

Buat yang belum familiar, disini kalo pake tiket sekali pakai, ada deposit senilai 500 won. Kita bisa tebus balik di mesin refund yang ada di setiap stasiun.

Wah. Menarik. Mereka minta tiket sekali pakainya dimasukin aja, dan bahkan ga nyuruh kita buat refund dulu.

Tertulis nilainya juga. 1000 won bisa beliin 2 brisket arang buat orang tua yang gak punya rumah. 5000 won bisa beliin 10 pack susu buat anak-anak yang kelaparan dan 10,000 won bisa beliin makan 1 hari untuk remaja yatim piatu.

Dibawahnya tertulis juga sistem donasi mereka. Boks ini ada di stasiun kereta dan kantor pos seluruh Korea. Boleh juga donasi tunai, ga harus tiket subway. Kampanye bertajuk wujud nyata cinta ini ditujukan untuk membantu anak-anak, remaja, orang disabilitas, orang tua, keluarga miskin dan lain-lain.

Wah menurut gue sih idenya keren banget tapi kenapa ga pernah ada yang sadar ya? Atau gue yang terlalu iseng...

Ayo mulai berdonasi!

Discovering Suwon

Every time a Korean asks which part of Indonesia do I come from, I would simply say "Near the capital, you know, like Suwon."

Some of them would look at me in fascination, "Wah, you also know Suwon!"

Well, I know where Suwon is, pointing it at the map would be easy. But I had only been to Suwon once for my 'biggest' culture class when I was still in Ewha. The things that I learned from the trip was only about Hwaseong Fortress the wall and that Suwon is famous for Galbi. Last Sunday, I decided to visit Suwon again with AskCulture.

My guide for the day was Yeaji. She prepared the itinerary and the trip would start from 2PM till 8PM. She lives in Suwon and our meeting point was at Suwon Station. I had a long subway ride just the week before to Incheon so I decided to take the train to cut the journey from almost two hours to 40 minutes. The ticket from Seoul Station to Suwon Station is only 2700 won.

I was quite excited but unfortunately, it was raining when I arrived and I did not bring my umbrella. -_-

My expectation went down as our trip would be all outdoor and we need the weather to cooperate. Sigh. Still, we decided to look around the Hwaseong in the rain.

The entrance ticket is actually super cheap, only 1500 won. But hey, why pay when you can get free admission? Yeaji shared a very cool tip that we can enter for free and get discount to several other attractions in Suwon by adding Suwon City on Kakaotalk. The promotion will last till this month only, I guess. Nice, as expected, you learn better when you go with the local.

Walking in the muddy and wet terrain, we started exploring the huge Hwaseong area. The first part was tying your wish to a hundreds-years-old-tree. It was pretty cool and simple, as you just write your wish on the provided paper and tie it to the rail. No fancy locks or challenging stuff. I like simple stuff haha.

There are many cool and weird exhibitions inside. The one that I remembered from my last trip was the display of the foods that they serve for certain ceremonies. It is too much!

Massive feast, "crap, this is too much"

I think I could not contain my expression. There are fruits, fishes, meats and many other kinds of stuff. Like more than 30 dishes... 

Traveling back to Joseon Dynasty, many of the decorations look pretty lavish for that time. They are not as colorful as what we normally see from the Javanese Royal Kingdom tho. 

I have no idea how big this place is but it is huuuuge. The rain stopped not long after we start and it started to get creepy. There was barely any other visitors. Felt like we owned the place. A good day to stroll around, indeed.

The more you go inside, the quieter it became. At one random corner that looked like a tomb (seriously, there was no one and the area looked shabby), I found a very interesting exhibition.

peeping inside

I was too curious about what's inside but sadly it was locked. Well, I did not give up and climbed to peek in instead. It was a hole-y place.

my old friend, traditional toilet

I was talking about the traditional toilet! Muahaha. My YLS peeps would totally get my 'obsession' with toilet. I once dreamed of building some public toilets in the jungle of Central Java. I took the idea seriously but in the end, I built a house for an indigenous family itself. As my friends said, "At least the house has a toilet!"

back to the entrance area

We continued to discover fascinating Korean things that I never saw before. Like there is this wooden box that you supposed to use it to store rice but it became famous because back then, a dad killed his child inside or a traditional rain clock. We finished around 4 pm. I don't know if we actually managed to look through every corner of the Hwaseong. It is a huge and interesting place. 

one artsy corner

Then we walked to the artsy handicraft road next to the Hwaseong. I never knew this road exists. The atmosphere feels like a modest version Samcheongdong, with the art but without the expensive cafes. We stopped by a shop which sells 'dalgona', Korean traditional sugar snack or Indonesian might be familiar with gulali. It is made from pure white sugar plus some baking soda. You heat the sugar, after it melts then you add baking soda and taadaa! 

Eating them was not the fun part. Well, who thinks to be a step closer from diabetes is fun? 

The real Korean way of enjoying dalgona is to cut the shape without cracking the whole thing. If you succeed, you can get one more for free. I took the heart shape challenge.

I am all serious for my heart

Oh it wasn't easy. I didn't screw it that bad, only one crack but still... No free dalgona, which honestly I think it was a great thing. Even one was too much for 3 people haha.

The next activity is the one I anticipated a lot: eating chicken! So there is a chicken alley nearby. Many traditional chicken shops are doing business there. To any newbie out there: Koreans take their chicken obsession seriously. There are thousands of chicken shops in this country and it's pretty much a national snack. 

What's unique from this chicken alley is that they normally sell traditional whole chicken (they chopped it, don't worry) or we call it 'tongdak' rather than the fancy boneless chicken. I always go for boneless but this time I had no option.

the Jinmi 'chicken factory'

We went to the best chicken shop there called JinmiTongdak. It was a really huge restaurant, 3 floors, only selling 3 types of chicken: original fried, sauce, or half-half. But even at 4PM, we needed to queue. This place is damn popular and the scale is no kidding. 'Chicken factory', indeed.

massive

We waited to be seated in the cold before we were told to go to the second floor. There are two areas on the second floor, the seating area and the 'lesehan' area. We went to the floor area. Interesting.

crazy visual

It took us quite a long time before our half-half chicken came. Good first impression, it looked sexy and appetizing. I first tasted the original fried and... So much better than my expectation!

I really love this chicken and it was relatively cheap, 15000won. I also love how they provide sauce in every table. Just like how I could instantly fall in love with restaurants that provide fork, I am impressed with any Korean restaurant that serves sauce. My favorite.

The interesting part is that they also serve the chicken ass. Like real ass. See the dark small pieces on the left plate? Looked like mushroom and no, I don't want to try it. Changhyun said it is tasty tho but nah, thanks,

Content with our chicken, we took the city bus to the highlight of the day: riding helium balloon!

Hmm actually I am not really sure on how to call this thing properly in English but they do have an official name. The ride is called Flying Suwon :))))

Flying Suwon shot, great one cr: Changhyun

My first impression was that this Flying Suwon is rather expensive and annoying. They do not operate when the weather is bad. The thing is how would I know... I came all the way from Seoul and to miss this ride would be a huge disappointment for me. Thankfully the rain stopped!!!

Flying Suwon!

The size of this balloon is grand. It can fit up to 30 people. 

We did not wait long for our turn. There were only a couple plus us, 3 people, and the operator. We climbed up slowly until we reached our peak point. Then the operator started to help us taking picture. Very helpful and kind!

The view was really pretty. I would rather highlight the sensation tho. Normally we would climb a tower or skyscraper to see a very cool night view but this time, we rode a balloon! I thought it was my first time doing an open observatory but Baiyoke Skydeck in Bangkok was also outdoor haha.

The duration of the ride was pretty long. I didn't really count but it was satisfying. I don't normally take selfies but I think I took a lot when we were up there. It was just too lovely. Worth it!

Why you need to visit at night

Our trip did not end with the balloon ride. We took a walk around the wall. Changhyun said that it is a perfect date course. Well, let me find my lover soon and take him to Suwon later :))))

Anyway, I did not know that Suwon's Hwaseong is so stunning at night! The walk was even more memorable with Yeaji's camera and Yeaji+Changhyun's photography skill. I can talk a walk here at any day but I need someone to take great pictures of me, right! Hahaha

We walked around until the bus stop on the other side. Then we took the bus to Suwon Station and parted our ways there. I am super happy I got the chance to know Suwon better, this time without a whole load of history that I would never need to understand and Galbi that I can't eat. I sort of regret I discovered the chicken because I might go back to Suwon just for that heavenly tongdak. Now that I think about it, if Yeaji did not design the itinerary, why would I ever thought of going to Hwaseong at night anyway?

To those who feel like they already know Seoul for too well and looking for a short escape, visit Suwon Hwaseong with AskCulture! I recommend this course for curious souls who are sick of mainstream cultural tour. Selamat jalan-jalan!

Cheonggyecheon History Tour

Hampir setiap turis dan resident pasti pernah denger Cheonggyecheon, area revitalisasi sungai yang terkenal banget di Seoul karena cantik dan letaknya di tengah kota. Tapi ga banyak yang tau kalo Cheonggyecheon panjang banget, bisa disusuri sambil jalan kaki dan sebenarnya ada museum khususnya.

Gue adalah salah satu fans Cheonggyecheon karena letaknya yang nyambung sama stream yang deket sekolah gue. Nyambung tuh maksudnya kurang lebih 6 km, so kalo lo mau jalan kaki sih 2 jam juga hahaha. But anyway, menyenangkan kok jalan di Cheonggyecheon.

Nah pada suatu sore yang random, gue memutuskan untuk jalan bersama AskCulture. Guide gue hari itu namanya Kak Minju. Kita ketemuan di Yongdu Station, line 2. Gue pernah hidup setaun di line 2, udah khatam muterin line 2 tapi gue gak pernah denger tuh Yongdu Station... 

Ternyata adanya di extension dari Seongsu gitu. Ribet deh kalo naik subway. Lagipula dari sekolah gue cuma 15 menit naik bis. First impression gue dari Yongdu-dong: residential area banget, ga ada kepikiran deh turis-turis main kesana.

Ada beberapa bangunan perkantoran, tapi lebih banyak rumah-rumah yang isinya lansia. Gue rasa mereka udah tinggal disana sejak puluhan tahun lalu gitu.

experience house

Dari Yongdu Station exit 5, kita jalan ke arah Cheonggyecheon Museum. Jujur, gue bahkan gak pernah tau ada museum khusus buat Cheonggyecheon. Museumnya juga keliatan besar, ga asal-asalan. Tapi sebelum masuk museum, kita ke rumah kuno yang dijadiin pusat experience dulu. Letaknya bener-bener ada di sebrang Cheonggyecheon Museum.

Kecil. Terkesan ga ada apa-apa. Gue rasa masuk situ 10 menit juga beres. Tapi ternyata salah, saudara-saudara.

ruang belajar puluhan taun lalu

kedai kopi jaman dulu pake LP

Ada beberapa ruangan di experience house itu. Ruang pertama isinya barang-barang jaman dulu dan komik dari beberapa dekade lalu. Terus ada ruangan belajar lesehan, lengkap dengan propnya.Geser dikit, ada kedai kopi jadul lengkap sama music boxnya. Jadi katanya dulu ada DJnya gitu, terus lo bisa request mau lagu apa, ntar disetelin kalo mereka punya LPnya.

LP di plafon

Nah koleksi LPnya ditempel di dinding dan di langit-langit kedai kopi ini. Asli tapi gue gatau sih didalemnya ada isinya apa nggak hahahah.

Di sebelah kedai kopi, ada toko jadul yang jual jajanan dari jaman dulu. Ada beberapa yang mirip sama jajanan SD gue. Sayang gue cuma ambil video, bukan foto. Nanti gue update.

KELAS JAMAN DULU

Ruang terakhir yang paling seru: KELAS JAMAN DULU. Yay gue agak gak santai soalnya gue rasa gue TK dan SD aja masih begini kok. SMA gue masih pake kapur malahan....

Ini cute banget soalnya semua mini, padahal ceritanya buat kelas 5 SD! Gue kelas 5 SD udah grown up banget loh.... Konon sih kata Kak Minju, dulu anak-anaknya kan miskin dan kurus, jadi badannya kecil-kecil banget. Make sense.

pose dengan seragam

Ada banyak barang-barang menarik di kelas ini. Kaya piano kecil, tas dan ijazah jaman dulu sampe sempoa. Gue kira sempoa itu barang modern, ternyata nggak.

Gue menghabiskan hampir setengah jam disini karena ada Aunty super baik yang setia foto-foto kita. Waktu gue dateng, cuma ada Aunty itu dan anaknya. Doi volunteer jaga disana, super ramah dan informatif makanya sampe gue ajak foto bareng.

Setelah dari experience house, kita pun nyebrang ke Cheonggyecheon Museum! 

Masuknya dari eskalator outdoor, karena museumnya dimulai dari lantai 2. Totalnya ada 4 ruangan galeri permanent dan bentuk showingnya spiral gitu, jadi endingnya di lantai 1. Gratis gak pake tiket dan super informatif karena ada caption Bahasa Inggrisnya.

Ruangan pertama gak gitu menarik buat gue, soalnya isinya tentang jaman ratusan tahun lalu, sebelum Kota Seoul modern, tepatnya waktu masih kerajaan Joseon. Ruangan (atau lebih tepatnya exhibition kali ya) kedua, isinya tentang Cheongggyecheon Stream di jaman penjajahan Jepang. Mulai menarik dan relevan. Nah ruang ketiga baru paling asik, tentang Cheonggyecheon Restoration Project yang dimulai sejak era Walikota Lee Myung Bak tahun 2002. Ruangan keempat temanya 10 years setelah restoration, ngitungnya sejak tahun 2005 karena dibukanya tahun itu.

Betapa kampungnya dulu

Gue enjoy banget di museum ini karena gue sekarang tinggal di tempat yang super relevan dengan Cheonggyecheon. Gue ngelewatin tempat-tempat yang disebutkan, ngelihat langsung perbedaannya dari jaman ke jaman. Tapi buat non-resident mungkin ini kurang menarik karena Cheonggyecheon biasanya cuma terkenal 1km pertama. Ternyata ada lebih banyak cerita disana.

Gue lebih banyak ambil video daripada foto. So nanti gue update dengan video Cheonggyecheon Tour gue. :D

Selamat jalan-jalan!

Seongbuk Sayang Orang Tua

Korea adalah negara yang populasi orangtuanya sangat besar. Populasi Korea dilihat dari data Kosis (website statistik Korea, super keren!) ada 51,67 juta orang dan 10 juta orang berusia diatas 60 tahun.

Dari bis Seongbuk 20

Makanya ada banyak banget program untuk lansia dan kebijakan-kebijakan soal pensiun. Nah, gue menemukan sign ini saat naik bis 'kecamatan' Seongbuk. Seongbuk adalah kecamatan dimana gue tinggal.

Tulisan disimbol hati artinya "Kota (dimana) orangtua bahagia, Seongbuk"
Line pertama "Kalau ditelpon, (perasaannya) senang"
Line kedua "Kalau disapa, (perasannya) senang"
Line ketiga "Kalau (datang) dicari, (perasaannya) senang"

Menurut gue ini dalem banget. Mayoritas orangtua, nyokap gue ga termasuk, kalo ditanya "Apa kabar?" pasti jawabannya positif atau netral dong karena gak mau bikin anaknya kepikiran. Tapi kadang karena dikasih jawaban monoton dan standar macam itu, anaknya suka gatau diri dan lupa bahwa orangtua seneng loh sekedar dikasih perhatian kecil semacam itu.

Meski ada banyak rumah jompo, ada lebih banyak lansia yang tinggal sendiri disini. Denger-denger karena gak mau nyusahin anak atau emang ditelantarin anaknya. Ya mungkin biasa aja karena mereka sehat dan tetep punya komunitas, tapi gue pernah ketemu nenek yang masuk UGD dengan dibawa 3 orang petugas 119 (semacam 911nya sini). Pas ditanya sama suster, "Dateng sendiri?
Dia jawab, "Iya"
Suster nanya lagi, "Tinggal sendiri?"
Nenek jawab, "Iya"
Terus susternya nanya, "Ga ada pendamping/guardian?"
Neneknya jawab dengan agak kesel, "Ga ada"

Sedih. Sedih liatnya karena gue aja sedih loh ke rumah sakit sendirian. Sedih juga hal sesimple ini harus dibuat campaign. Tapi inilah salah satu fenomena di Korea dan pemerintahnya (untung) sadar. Semoga orangtua makin bahagia dan disayang anak-anaknya jangan ditelantarin!

Haneul Park: Astoundingly Beautiful

As a true blue Indonesian, I am not a fan of outdoor park. I spent my whole leisure time inside of hundreds shopping mall before coming to Korea. We do have a huge park in my hometown, Bogor Botanical Garden, but the thought of coming there to spend a relaxing afternoon never crossed my mind. Living in Seoul was totally different. I really enjoy coming to Seoul's various park and Haneul Park (하늘공원) is my personal favorite.

Haneul Park

Haneul means sky in Korean. It is located at the highest point of World Cup Stadium area, hence the name. You will need to climb 'easy' 300 steps in order to reach the park. I am never a fan of stairs but they built the stairs with a smart consideration that I have never complained climbing them. I would say it's been always an easy climb, even on the hottest summer day.

But in case you choose to take the easier way, there is a shuttle bus that can take you up.

a view of World Cup Stadium from the above

View in late summer

The unique point of this park is this park was built on landfill. The Seoul Government decided to restore it into an ecological park. Brilliant. The next point is that you can see beautiful Seoul landmarks from this park. The surrounding area is also very photogenic. That's the best part for me, because I have sooooo many great pictures taken at this park.

Autumn sunset in Haneul Park cr: Kak Farras

I have been to Haneul Park for so many times. Summer, fall, winter, noon, sunset time, late night - I've witnessed them all. My favorite is sunset time in autumn!

beautiful autumn sunset #nofilter

Most of the visitors of Haneul park are couples and families. Last year, I did not really see any foreign visitors but in my last visit two weeks ago, I've seen quite a number of foreigners.

jungle of grass #nofilter

It is nice to see that this park is getting famous. But I also witnessed some negative changes. It is quite sad to see that due to rising popularity of this park, some parts of Eulalia grass were damaged. Many tourists take picture INSIDE the grass and carelessly step on them. So don't be such an irresponsible visitors. There are many photo spots that you can enjoy, without harming the nature.

catching sunset #nofilter

It takes a skill to take an amazing shot but I feel like I've captured many amazing shots effortlessly. This park is simply beautiful.

Don't forget to visit Haneul Park when you are in Seoul and be prepared to walk a lot! The nearest subway station for Haneul Park is World Cup Stadium Line 6 exit 1 and from there you need to walk 1km+

No admission fee, the park is open all year round. Selamat jalan-jalan!