No!! You CAN'T Take Them All to Lunch!!! *nangis meraung_raung*

Have you guys missed him already?? It's about time!

Superexcited strikes again. This time it's about lunch.

Do you still remember ante meridiem? I mentioned her once when I wrote about our company casts of The Big Bang Theory. Penny? Anyway long story short, she already left the company but all of us have become friends with her throughout the years. So.... That day she came to visit us and had lunch with us.

I don't know if I have mentioned it before, but our company does not allow all employees to take lunch together. There are 2 lunch time slots, either you have lunch at 12 or at 1. If you need to have different lunch time today, you have to swap with someone else to make sure you are covered.

That day she went on lunch with the 1 o'clock lunch team. But before that, she popped in and said hello to all of us. She looked happy and fresh and great. Honestly, everyone thought they should get out too to be happy lol. Then come 1 o'clock and they all went out for lunch. (I didn't go since I was told too late and couldn't arrange for lunch swap) . Straight after everyone left, you-know-who went to the receptionist and asked who went out with her. He also asked, if there was anyone from 12 o'clock who came along. Then from there, he went straight to Lao Er and started bitching in low voice @_@ Honestly I couldn't hear the whole thing, but from a lot of 'her' that he said, and looking at his hand gestures which kept pointing to reception, water tap and I came to the same conclusion, he was whinging about ante meridiem going out lunch with them -____-

To tell you the truth, I really can't see the wrong part of ante meridiem going out to lunch with those guys :l 1. She came on their lunch time. 2. She didn't take everyone with her, office wasn't left unattended. And 3 she didn't take them out for longer than their own lunch time :l tell me what I'm missing please, I really can't see it .____.

The funny part was, once he knew that one of staff who usually goes at 12 actually JOINED the lunch, he flipped and asked one of the colleagues to CALL that staff to come back ASAP and do something for him. -.- I'm speechless... Well if you're wondering, that colleague of mine just ignored the call and came back 10 minutes late lol XD

"He's such a baby...", said one of my colleagues XP

Signs You Have Left Indo for Far Too Long

1. You stepped right into pedestrian crossing without looking left and right first.
   
2. You queue for toilet at the toilet entry way, NOT in front of the cubicle.
3. You and your friends stand on one side of the escalator, not on both sides to let other people pass.
4. You find it weird when people don't eat fish and vegie raw and eat their steaks well done.
5. You flush your toilet paper.
6. You can't squat in the toilet anymore.
7. You hold the elevator door, restaurant door and other doors open for the next person.
8. It's normal not to have rice with KFC
9. You accept the fact that KFC doesn't provide chili sauce.
10. You queue. And get annoyed being cut by everyone else.
11. You go crazy when going to asian country coz everything is so cheap.
12. You assume you can buy things using your credit card everywhere and assume buying movie ticket online is normal.
13. You forgot that pickpockets exist and you should really zip your bag.
14. Going to the beach means taking off your shoes, walk on the sand, jump into the water or at least dip your feet in it. Not just taking photos.
15. Using umbrella when it's sunny is embarrassing to you, and you will give other people doing that a dirty look.
16. You sometimes/always look for non-whitening skin care products as you know the chemical stuff in skin whitening products is really not good.
17. You expect your change when shopping and get angry when you get your change in candy currency.
18. You drink water straight from the tap.
19. You dress for the occassion. i.e. wearing sneakers, pants and backpack when bushwalking, not dress with high heels.
20. Asian food portion doesn't fill you up anymore.
21. You don't comment about strangers' appearance as much as before.
22. Seeing people kissing in public, or same gender couples date in public is not so special anymore.
23. You can't cross the street by yourself anymore.
24. You can't write formal letter in Indonesian anymore.
25. You're suprised at how many staff Carrefour has in every single aisle.
26. You wonder how come Carrefour needs 2-3 people at each register, 1 to scan and 2 to pack while you can do all those yourself when you work at a supermarket overseas. And quicker than them.
27. You don't feel wrong going to shopping centre wearing shorts and thongs XD
28. You expect water is given for free at restaurants and serviette is provided at food courts (serviette is really singaporean thing though).
29. You question why we need to tip every single person dealing with you at the hair dresser. Haven't we paid at the cashier already???

There you are!! The signs that show people that you have lived overseas (Australia in my case) for a bit too long according to ME :P Of course everyone is different, but those are what I found. Let me know if there is anything else, I'm sure I missed something :)

The Effects of K-Drama to the World, and to Me

South Korean government should really thank their K-drama industry for promoting South Korea to the world, introducing Korean culture, and also doing their part to the economy. Prior to Autumn Story (a.k.a Endless Love) and Winter Sonata, less people traveled to South Korea. Of course it was still a pretty place to visit, but it wasn't as exposed as after those 2 dramas came out. Thinking about it, autumn season should really thank this drama too. I'm certain that more people appreciate the beauty of autumn after watching Autumn Story. Moreover, the place where they shot Winter Sonata is now one of the top places to go when visiting South Korea. Jeju Island was also featured heavily in Spring Waltz.

(Left: Autumn Story, right: Winter Sonata - http://www.dramabeans.com)

With more historical Korean dramas going out, they promote their traditional outfit, Hanbok, more and more. Honestly, before all those dramas were out, I had very limited general idea on how hanbok looked like. And let me tell you, it wasn't pretty XP Then Dae Jang Geum came out. Oh man, it confirmed my initial impression, especially with the elaborate hairdo and stuffs. I'll be honest with you, I only watched bits and pieces of it, so I don't know if there was any pretty hanbok in later episodes, but just based on what I saw, it was ugly :/

Dae Jang Geum teamsejong.files.wordpress.com

Dae Jang Geum - lens-views.com

Princess Hours 

http://english.visitkorea.or.kr

After that I so not wanted to watch Korean period drama. But, Goong a.k.a Princess Hours came. It was a modern story, while still featuring quite a few of traditional clothings. My opinion started to change. Eventhough there wasn't much of it, but there were pretty enough to catch my attention and started to look forward to seeing them even more.







The one that really changed my opinion towards hanbok was actually The Princess' Man. The costumes were beautiful!! Some were grand and beautiful, while the others were simple but sweet. Just simply pretty :) Plus the casts were great, full of pretty girls and sweet guys :P It's one of my favourite dramas. Eventhough if I think about it, I still can't figure out why the main characters loved each other so much :S It was really a Romeo and Juliet story. Nonetheless, it was a great show, great story, full of eyes-pleasing aspects and made me have to force myself to turn off my laptop because it was already 3 AM XD Oh, Jang Ok Jung also showcased the beauty of hanbok heavily.

Princess' Man's Hanbok

amalia-aira-malichi.blogspot.com

zafirahoney.blogspot.com

amalia-aira-malichi.blogspot.com

amalia-aira-malichi.blogspot.com

zafirahoney.blogspot.com

           koreanvibe

Fried Chicken and Beer - Wikipedia

Gejang - Wikipedia

But what I really want to mention is the way K-Drama promotes Korean food. The latest craze in Korean food is fried chicken and beer, which is the main character of My Love From The Star's favourite food. I must admit I got into this too, especially because the time I watched the show coincided with the opening of a new Korean restaurant in the city - Incredible Chicken Sparrow's Mill - specialising in Fried Chicken XD How lucky I was! Their Snow Cheese Fried Chicken is really good! XD

Anyway back to the topic, according to the articles I read, and from my Hongkong and Chinese friends, the sales of Fried Chicken there increased A LOT after the show aired in China. In addition, it also made me so wanted to try gejang XD In the drama, the main character ordered these raw crabs marinated in soy sauce from a TV shopping channel. I even asked my friend if I could get it anywhere in Sydney, she told me I can't, and even if I found one in Korean groceries, not to try it as the crabs have to be very fresh :(( 

A few years ago, Princess Hours made people crazy for Shin Ramyun. I don't know about anyone else, but that show made me crave for Korean barbequed meat wrapped in lettuce with kimchi and all those condiments as well. Fantasy Couple made my friends and I crave for Jjajangmyun, both instant noodle version and restaurant version. Still, Marry Me made me want to try Makgeolli and now always want it every time I go to a Korean Restaurant =P and Prosecutor Princess again reminded me of how good ramyun can be ^^ I can't remember what drama, but Tteokbokki and Korean cheap beer were also introduced to me through Korean drama. Cass beer was definitely the result of Sandara Park's MV with Lee Min Ho lol

yujinishuge.files.wordpress

Wikipedia

mykoreandiet.com

tong.visitkorea.or.kr

Wikipedia

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All in all, you might all think I watched too much drama. However, you can't deny that K-drama has a big part in introducing and promoting South Korea to the world, giving both economic and image benefits to their country. And for me, thanks to them I got some historical, cultural, and geographical knowledge, and get to try all those yummy things I might not even think to try if I didn't watch them ;)