Here’s more stuffs about what you can expect in Seoul. Actually Singapore and Seoul are very metropolitan and have very modern facilities. The only thing that is glaringly different is the language that is spoken. Korean is very common in Korea because a lot of the people do not use English as the main language. In fact, it is taken as a foreign language and most people do not have a chance to use it outside classrooms. Another factor is that the older generation do not speak English, so it’s hard to propagate the English language into the culture or population.

Foodcourts

Yes, there are foodcourts in Seoul and quite a number of them too. They are usually located within shopping malls, pretty much like those in Singapore. The cost of food is around the same numerically, e.g. for something you can get for S$5, it’s around 5,000 wons. Typically, it’s US$1 = 1,000 won, so it’s actually more expensive to eat in foodcourts in Seoul. The alternative to this is to eat at roadside stalls, which is usually very hygenic and very much cheaper. For about 3,000 won, you can get quite a good meal; soup included. =)

The exception to this is eating at Namdaemun. They are usually out to make a radish head out of  you.

Bookstores

There are no Times The Bookshop, no MPH, no Popular bookstores in Seoul. The bigger brands are Kyobo (at Gangnam and a few other places), Yoongpoon (at Express Bus Terminal Station) and Bandi’s and Luni’s (at COEX Mall, Samsung Station). They sell international books (English included) as well as my favourite Biological Sciences books. Most books are reasonably priced, with some costing much lesser than what you can find in Singapore. However, there are also some that are pretty costly. If you want to get some books from Seoul, you’d need to:

1. Find out how much it costs in Singapore
2. Find out how heavy the book(s) are
3. Find the nearest EMS post office in Seoul; Fedex Kinko is not really ideal costwise

But they do have unique books that you may not be able to find in Singapore. You should try to exhaust your search in Singapore first before contemplating about getting books from Seoul. They are not exactly the lightest things to carry back nor to check in. The overweight charges are 12,000 won per kg overweight at Incheon Airport.

Shopping and Departmental Stores

There are many departmental stores in Seoul, the most common being Hyundai Department Store (yes, they have other businesses besides making cars), Shinsegae and Lotte. However, these are big brand stores and are usually very costly to get anything. For good bargains, you should try MyeongDong for clothes and cosmetics (they have Giordano’s too), Namdaemum, Dongdaemun and all the different “underground shopping centers”. They are not “underground” as in illegal, but they are literally at Basement 1 - pretty much like the ones you find at Dhoby Ghaut and Raffles Place MRT stations. A particular stretch usually offer the same stuffs at usually the same rates.

If you are looking for shoes, clothes and luggages, you should try the underground shopping centers at Express Bus Terminal Station. It’s just outside the basement of Shinsegae (the expensive mall), and they offer good prices if you are genuine about buying - you might just need to bargain a little. You may also have a better chance with Mandarin than English sometimes.

If you are looking for electronic stuffs, you many want to consider Yongsan (Korean: 용산) (Chinese: 籠山), which is located at Yongsan Station. At the entrance of the station is I’Park Mall, which is an electronics mart cum furniture mart cum megamart all squeezed into one building. The megamart is at the basement (B1/B2) and is good for getting groceries (if you are planning to stay for about 1.5 to 2 weeks) as well as getting a feel on the prices of general goods in Seoul.

If you walk further down, there is another mega electronics shopping mall as well as a Sim Lim Square look-alike. Things there are priced variantly, so, do exercise discretion when buying stuffs from them. The general rule is, if you think it’s too expensive, it probably is. =)

The other place where more Caucasians frequent is Itaewon. This is generally a good place to look around, but beware of touts who tend to offer sky-high prices for things that are relatively cheaper in other districts. Most of the people here understand a little English and usually have a calculator for you to bargain with them. There are also a lot of International eateries here, so if you are really not used to Kimchi, or would like to try some Indian/Parkistanian/West Asian/Middle Eastern food, this is probably your best bet.

Another thing about Itaewon is that the houses are located on a slope. So, if you know the right turns to make, you can actually grasp a scenic view of the Han River in the evening. It’s simply beautiful. =)

Hotels

Okie, there are hotels and there are motels. If you know how to book, you can get hotels at motel rates. What’s the trick behind this? You’d have to email me to find out. Heh. And it usually works for other countries before. Sorry, can’t say much here.

But the best time to get hotels is during Winter and Summer. Yes, Winter. Most people will think that hotel rates peak at Winter seasons, but it’s really not the case. You just have to make advanced reservations.

Winter Sports

I don’t know how this falls under “common places and facilities”, but oh well, the nearest place you can get snow and ski is at Bears Town, which is just a couple of hours north of Seoul. Another place you can get good snow fall during Winter is YongPyeong (not PyeongYang, that is in North Korea). However, it is usually packed during Winter and it is often fully booked. If you are intending to go there for winter, do book early. Do a google on Internet and you should be able to get some bookings.

Rates are usually quite high, so the best option is to opt for the hostel, which really isn’t that bad, but you’d have to sleep on the floor though. Soft blankets and quilts are given though. The flood is water-heated, but it’s really nice because it’s around freezing temperatures outside.

There is a Starbucks and a foodcourt at YongPyeong and the rates are pretty reasonable. I tried building a snowman the last time I was there during winter. Well… didn’t turn out quite well because all I got was a stump. =( Oh well, better luck this winter, perhaps.

Interstate travel

The best way to travel besides domestic flights (from Gimpo Airport) is to take the KTX. There are 3 main types of trains - the bullet train, the express train and the commuter train. I took a train to Pohang once and it was about 4 hours by express train because Pohang is a rather quiet town and not a major city - and hence no bullet trains. =( And they do not have Starbucks or McDonalds! Oh well…

Yes, so, back to KTX. You may take the KTX either from Yongsan Station or from Seoul Station, depending on your destination. Be sure to go to either station to confirm your timing and to get your tickets in advance, especially during peak periods. You may get 1 way or return tickets. I got 1 way tickets because I wasn’t sure of when I’d be returning. Haha…

Ed: Okie.. a little too long for this post. If there are more things that you’d like to know about Seoul/Korea, just drop me a comment and I’d be glad to post on it

Well, this is sort of a response blog to Sheylara’s post on how yellow lines make Singaporeans look stupid. If she’s talking about the yellow lines and arrows, yes, I tend to agree that no one seems to follow it in Singapore. Everyone will stand behind the bended lines until the train arrives, and everyone will just start crowding the door! This is just so silly.

But I do have to say that the line demarcating the edge of the station is really necessary, because people do fall into the tracks accidentally; especially when they stand too close to the edge - the speed on the incoming train may make a person feel giddy, if it doesn’t really blow him away. =P

And the difference between the subway in Singapore and Seoul? Well, Seoul has those familiar yellow lines demarcating the edges of the station, but instead of the yellow lines and arrows, they have cute little footprints - 4 pairs, 2 on each side where the doors are supposed to be, and people automatically queue up behind the footprint stickers! Maybe some photos to proof my point later. The thing is, most of them don’t crowd the train doors when they open. Sometimes, I wonder too, why SMRT bothers to print those yellow lines and arrows when all people do when the train arrives is to clog at the door.

In addition, some people walks right to the front of the door while people are queueing by the sides. These people probably have no sense of shame - and I am not talking about preggy women or the elderly who always ended up getting pushed behind. I am talking about healthy young chaps, and people who run into the train literally when the doors open. I wonder what happened to their manners, if there were any at all in the first place.

Tsk!

Some things have changed since I last went back to Seoul, but most of the stuffs still remain the same. Ya-kun has finally tumbled, partly because the Koreans are probably not used to having toasted bread with kaya and half-boiled eggs. It’s just too…. Chinese? But a lot of things still remained the same, with new additions!

Hooters!

Yes, there is now a Hooters in Seoul. Located in Apgujeong near Sinsa-doing, this branch is pretty much the same thing that you get in Singapore, and perhaps anywhere else in the world. I didn’t peek in too much, just in case I end up looking like a chekopek, female version. I have not tried their food before and am still wondering how good it is. As for pretty girls, there are plenty in Seoul, yes, plenty, and I sometimes wish for the earth to open up and swallow me in.

Starbucks and Coffee Bean

Yes, we have Starbucks and Coffee Bean in Seoul as well. So, how do you order a Tazo Chai Tea Latte in Korean? Well.. it’s just Tazo Chai Tea Latte. But since there is no “F”, “L”, “Q”, “V”, “X” and “Z” in Korean, or at least not in their actual pronounciation, you get them replaced with “B”, “R”, “G/K”, “B”, “S” and “C” or variants of it. However, as more Koreans, especially the younger generation pick up English, it will probably be less of a problem in the future. In fact, I find more English speaking Koreans this trip than the last one last year, so things do evolve pretty quickly.

McDonald’s and KFC and Pizza Hut

Yes, you can find all of them here. Most of the menu is the same, but if you fancy a kimchi pizza, this is probably the right place to be at. Actually I am not sure if they do have kimchi pizzas, but I’d guess a good amount of localization will produce that out in no time. =) The foldovers here in Mac is fried instead of broiled/steam/don’t-know-how-they-do-it-in-Singapore, and it’s a little hard. Do give it a miss here. =P

BBQ Wings and Kimbab

Basically, it’s just deep friend chicken wings, but they have done it quite well and it’s pretty delicious. If you are tired of the local food in Seoul, this is a good option. If you need rice as your staple diet, then perhaps you might want to consider getting a roll of Kimbab which is rice, pickles, ham, veg wrapped with seaweed. Pretty good stuff; and don’t forget the chopsticks. Take 2. You’ll need it.

7-11 stores and other 24 hour convenience stores

Yes, there’s plenty of them. In fact, they have family mart, buy the way, 7-7, mini-stop, and other variants of these brands. Like the local 7-11 in Singapore, the pricing is usually higher than most. So the trick is to look for those corner shops that is like a supermarket and has everything inside. They usually give the best price in any town. Usually.

Train services and EZ-link cards

Yup, they have a completed subway known as the Metro/Subway or simple kicha; and they use RFIDs as well, pretty much like EZ-link, except that the RFID need not always be a card - it can be a small token, a memo-something (the things you hang on your handphones), or your credit card (e.g. Citibank SMRT). We call the card the T-Money card, probably meaning Transport-Money, but it can be used to pay for virtually anything nowadays - coffees, purchases, supermarket, petrol, etc. The buses use the same thing as well but the debit/credit system is slightly different.

When you first go through the gates, they deduct 900 wons from your card, then upon exit, they deduct any extras that’s needed. The way it works in Singapore is different. They deduct the MAXIMUM in Singapore and upon exit, refund you what’s not used. That’s why you have to panick and call Transitlink for your refunds. Till date, I’ve not got my refunds from Transitlink yet. Hmmph!

Ed: Oops.. gotta rush off. Will continue with part 2 later.

I’m not too sure if my views here are going to be a little biased, but yes, I think I’d give my 2 cents view about services on board Singapore Airlines.

The cabin crew on board SQ is usually blasted for favouring the Caucasians but my trip to Seoul seemed alright. Ok, perhaps there are no Caucasians on board, or maybe there were lesser of them, but I thought their level of service was fantastic. Fine, they forgot about my pack of playing cards, but on their next drinks round the leading steward remembered and offered it with another glass of Baileys on the rocks, which I was already finishing. So, the level of service isn’t really that bad afterall. Occasionally, they make small talk with you, which sorts of make flying more than 6 hours easier.

I thoroughly enjoyed the flight, especially with their inflight entertainment system. Just 2 rounds of Simpsons makes 45 minutes pass rather quickly. Admittedly, this is my first time flying SQ after 4 years because their pricing is rather out of range for my pockets (which I think Jaron also agrees, where he’s hoping for some discounts and concessions), but I don’t blame them because they are a commercial entity and they have their shareholders to answer to - it is a supply and demand game at the end of the day. The reason why I managed to fly SQ this time round is because they had some offer tickets for the morning flights, which I think isn’t really popular because no one likes to get up early in the morning for a flight. But I think it is better than an afternoon flight because you’ll lose a whole day on the plane.

Overall, I enjoyed my experience flying on SQ, perhaps more so than any other airlines that I have flown on. Perhaps, like I said, it could be due to the lack of Caucasians for me to see the difference. However, at the end of the day, if we treat them with respect, they will treat us well. It’s mutual, I guess.

5:00am I barely slept enough during the night because I was worried about oversleeping and missing the flight. Oh well, for once I was hoping for a later flight… like sometime in the evening, but unfortunately, the 8am flight was my only option. Oh well, what to do?

6:00am Check-in at row 7 in Terminal 2… and got some duty free stuffs for my friends in Seoul. I usually make it a point to get something for my friends overseas, especially if they have not been to Singapore before. =) This time round, I got a crystal carving of the Merlion - which is a lion with a fish (mermaid?) body. I hope my friend likes it.

8:00am Boarding time! Woohoo! It’s not usual for me to fly Singapore Airlines because they are notoriously more expensive than any other airlines. So far, I had been flying Thai Airways because apparently their airfares are one of the cheapest. However, in exchange for this cheaper rate, I end up having to do a transfer at Bangkok and Hong Kong. The worst case is that, I have to bring all my stuffs down the plane at each place. =( 10:00am 2 hours into the flight. Time to fall asleep =P 

12:00am Lunch time! There was supposed to be a choice of chicken and fish, but chicken was… finished, and only fish was left. But the fish was good stuffs, so, there is probably nothing to complain about. I got my usual playing cards from the cabin crew, something that I do usually because I am quite a card collector (hint: now you know what to get for me the next time you go overseas). Watched The Simpsons, and 6th Sense on the plane, but didn’t quite get to finish that because the plane was about to land. 3:00pm (GMT +9 from now onwards) Finally landed and checked out of the airport. Proceeded to get my rental phone from SK (and since I was a repeat customer, they gave me a 50% off! Was that cool or what?) It’s 1500 won per day and some fee for outgoing calls. /incoming is free thought, and so are SMSes. After getting my phone, I got my bus ticket that goes to City Air Terminal, which is just next to COEX, a shopping mall which is also next to the Intercontinental Hotel and opposite Park Hyatt. Yes, these are the places that I can’t afford to stay at. =(

5:00pm Finally reached the place of accommodation after an hour’s ride on the bus. The place looks pretty much the same and I met all my familiar friends. I unpacked my stuffs and went for dinner at the usual place (wei xiao wu) in Apgujeong. Following which, I dropped by Dongdaemum to look around and to check out 2 open concerts - they always seem to have concerts every now and then at the stages there.

10:00pm Got some kimbab from the store down the street. It’’s like sushi california rolls except that there is ham, pickles, cucumbers and all instead of raw fish. After a long flight, it was time to get a good rest for my appointment tomorrow.

This is probably the first time that I packed most of my stuffs 1 day ahead of a trip; usually I’ll just do it the night before. Yes, I know that it’s not a good habit… but oh well, old habits die hard, ya? Anyway, I did manage to start packing 1 day ahead, so it’s not really that bad.

However, I ended up forgetting to reserve my phone over at the airport. I hope yesterday afternoon’s last minute  reservation did pull through, else I’d be out of comms for a good 1 week. Well, not exactly a bad thing sometimes, but not when you have to meet people there.

And guess what? I forgot to check the weather over there. I think it’s about 21/12 on most days, so I think it’d be pretty good weather. The last time I went on an trip during winter, the winter clothes took up about 1/2, if not 2/3 of my luggage. But I still think winters are special and nice, especially when it starts snowing. It’s just magical, isn’t it?

Anyway, it’s autumn this time round. No countless trips to YongPyeong will make any snow appear from the sky.

I got an email interview on how I got to know about Nuffnang and what made me join them - to advertise on my blogs. It also entailed on whether this had made me more conscious of the type of audience that I was drawing, as well as whether it had affected the way I blog such that I would draw a larger audience so that my blog would have a higher chance of being selected by advertisers.

Actually, I am still not too sure on how the whole thing works, and while I was more conscious about visitor counts initially, I believed that, and Kevin asserted that, I would have my own natural group of readers at the end of the day. So, the most important thing that I have to consider is to be true to myself. =)

Of course, I do not deny the lure of the moola when I first signed up for blog advertisements, but subsequently, that sort of pale in the end because I find it hard to blog about things that I do not believe in, or have interests in. There had been many scandals events recently that were worthy of blogging, such as people who run around with a rifle, retiring at 85 and ,abuying an annuity, as well as the omnipresent Section 377A issue. However, if I have no time, or worse, interests in these issues, I find it hard to say anything constructive. I might even end up sounding like a record gone haywired. =(

Come to think of it, I *am* interested to blog about the CPF and annuity issues, but facts and fiction had been highly intermingled and I am losing track of it. So, instead of blogging based on wrong facts, I’d rather do my homework and get fiction out of the way. =) (So, what’s this thing about retiring at 85 anyway? Or was it 82?)

Nonetheless, if you are interested, here the transcript for my interview. =)

1) When did you join nuffnang?

Some time in June 2007

2) Why did you join nuffnang?

I was brought to the awareness of advertising on blogs during a gathering by Ping.sg. Ironically, it was from a presenter from Advertlets that made me aware of such an avenue. Nuffnang also had the endorsements of popular blogs such as Sassyjan.com and Xiaxue.com. The idea that earnings from advertisements would be able to cover all hosting costs for one year was quite appealling. Anythings that’s extra would be good.

3) What ads have been placed on your blogs and how much have you earned so far?

I have placed ads for Nike Women and Citibank Clear Card and would be placing ads for Nike Plus again in October as well as Clearsil in December. My total earnings to date has been a modest $xx.xx.

4) Why do you think companies would want to advertise on your blog? What kind of readers, and consequently advertisers, does your blog attracts?

Part of the reason would be becase of a rather decent readership count averaging between 3000 to 5000 readers a month, depending on the frequency of my updates as well as the general crowd my blog attracts. I would consider my blog to attract a general crowd, or a heartland crowd if I have to pinpoint to a group. I blog about issues that are relevant to Singaporeans on a whole. At times, I include bits of my life into the blog as well as some non-confidential findings in my work, but the peaks usually coincide with a blog on local issues.

5) What are the benefits of doing so, other than monetary incentives? (e.g. sense of pride? )

Well, there isn’t really “sense of pride” as per se, but rather, there is a sense of knowing what the general feel of Singaporeans are, towards local issues. At times, I would also be able to get an insight of how my readers feel and their perspectives when they do not agree with what I blogged about.

6) Any downside to it?

Bloggers are always subjected to criticisms openly. I try to be as objectives in my views where possible, and state otherwise if I am giving my personal opinion. As the blog is reader by a varied audience, it is not always to sing in the same note with everyone else. Sometimes, people may disagree with what you said, but most people back their views with their own perspectives and this, on the brighter side of things, lets you know how and why they feel about a particular issue.

Of course, this means that I cannot simply blabber off without basis on a wide range of issues that may end up being too politically wrong, or sensitive.

7) Has it changed the way you blog? For instance, do you write less personal stuff or do you write things that you think will attract more eyeballs? Do you worry that you may not get enough visitors?

It has made me more mindful of what I say and how I say it, and it has become a little more important to be more tactful nowadays - without compromising on the content. The same issue can be put across in more than 1 ways, and some can be subdued while others, provoking. I still write about personal stuffs on a regular basis - after all, that was the purpose of my blog in the first instance. I may be tempted to write about stuffs that will attract more attention, but surprisingly I do not find myself doing so simply because I some times lack the inspiration to do so. Writing is pretty much like art to me - if done without a will or inspiration, it just turns out wrong.

I worried about visitor counts at the start of advertising, but subsequently, as people are exposed to your writings, you get a natural crowd of people who like it. At the end of the day, the blog is just an avenue for expression for me and when I understand that, content becomes more important than visitor counts. Of course, if I get a sharp drop, then it becomes an indicator of something wrong that I could have mentioned. This, too, is a good form of feedback.

Ironically, I didn’t think I’d sign up for blog advertisements until I turned out for the Ping.sg gathering some time back. To me, blog advertising means something like google - you know? You place the ads all day long an no one really clicks on it - and that meant “no clicks, no pay”.

So, why are all the ads around now? Well, for some reason, it seemed to work now, as in, I’m getting paid for just placing ads on my blog. I’m not too sure if people really clicked on it, but apparently income is kicking in sooner than I thought.

One thing about ads from Advertlets is that they are usually localised, meaning, the ads cater to the people from your own country - and in my case, ads from Singapore. Another plus point is that, they are ads that you’d actually be interested in, such as RoomsDB and Manhattan fish Market. I tried Manhattan once about 2 years ago, and would definitely want to try them out again. Hmm.. I wonder if they would consider giving out vouchers to bloggers who advertise them as well.

Come to think of it, it may not be such a bad idea after all. If the advertisers are willing to give out vouchers or, ahem, complimentary meals to bloggers who apply or ask for it, they might actually get better publicity because the bloggers can then blog about their experience utilizing their service or products! Nothing beats a first hand account from someone who had tried them out through their ads.

Perhaps Advertlets might want to consider talking to advertisers about it? I’d be first to volunteer! Of course, please don’t deduct it off from my payout.

Just live blogged from Popout this evening, which was held at Suntec Ballroom 1 at about 6:30pm. A warm welcome to everyone who was present, and ahem, absent from Popout’07 - the event of the year to engage the community, students, technopreneur, venture capitalist and startups interested in the web 2.0 services. Today, we had a sharing session with Ross from Bezurk, as well as demos by Quaffs, ZopIM, BookJetty and Recruit.net. This event was also graced by the presence of Gen Kenai of Mozilla, who just landed in Singapore not too long ago. More live blogging here by yours truely and here by Sg.Entrepreneur

Dr Raj Acharya, Professor and Head from the department of Computer Science and Engineering, Penn State University, University Park is currently giving a keynote speech on A Grid-based Virtual Center in the Framework of Information Fusion. The whole goal of the project is to take in biomarkers from the subject level and all and put it in a datawarehouse. And on top of that, an information fusion box is created so that we can make sence out of it.

The national center institute has started a new project called the Cancer Grid to support cancer research - so that individual nodes or cancer centers can chair the application on a grid and perform and analysis. What was proposed was whether we can simulate a virtual cancer - one that allows the sharing of data and that the application should not reside in just a few elite centers but everywhere.

Information fusion, which is the main concept behind this project notes that the whole is less than the parts. It enables 1 to analyse multiple, disparate biomedical data sets simultaneously. One of the ideas is to make use of wireless technology for data collection. For this, they have developed a prototype grid-based data warehouse for cancer data. The system simulates aspects of a virtual cancer center scenario.

The cancer research grid allows the collation of patient, clinical and pathology information, gene express information as well as public data (literature, etc) such that all these could be used for cancer analysis applications. The basic idea is to think of the information as a set of facts and dimensions. Facts are the objects to be analysed. They are analysed with respecto the dimensions. Example, dataset = Patient Demographics; User Query = What percentage of the prostate cancer patients belong to the African American race and fall in the age range of 50-60?; Fact = Percentage of Patients; Dimensions = Race, age at diagnosis. 

Multidimensional analysis helps discover simple patterns and associations among various data sets. From here, a toolkit comprising of the multidimensional analysis, combined clustering, correspondence analysis and homogeneity analysis and other components may be included. The correspondence analysis tries to see if there is any association from the data given. For the patient demographic data set, this tool helps answer questions such as: which age/race profiles, if any, define a typical profile of a prostate cancer patient?

So the correspondence analysis tool is really a dimension reduction tool. It can also be generalised as a multivariate analysis tool.

Information fusion may also be used in the area of gene expression analysis. It is known that genes from DNA are responsible for the expression of proteins, and Dr Raj has skipped a couple of slides from here. He looked into the co-regulation of genes to see if profiles of expressions can be used for the determination of gene co-regulation. He next covered KL clustering, in which, the KL divergene measuers the relative dissimilarity of the shapes of 2 gene profiles. Common motifs were next looked into, and combined with gene expression data. The aim of doing so is to identify clusters of genes with similar properties among all data.

Some experimental data are available, but are not allowed for public viewing because investigations are still ongoing.

In conclusion, a proposal for virtual cancer center was discussed, the CABIG framework was described and preliminary results on information fusion datawarehouse on the GRID is presented.