Hallasan, 한라산
I love nature. I love how the mountain smells like in the morning. When I first set foot into Korea, I wanted to hike up a mountain. I started thinking about which mountain I should conquer, seeing that it will be my virgin experience.
I was just browsing through Instagram and I came across Hallasan. Not only did I saw beautiful pictures of the tallest mountain in Korea, I saw how my friends conquered it. It all seemed really easy for them, so I thought, why not?
So on a cold autumn morning, I woke up at 5 am and packed my bag. I bought 2 huge sweet potatoes from the convenience shop that is conveniently located right below my Airbnb. I called a taxi and headed to the starting point.
Without any proper hiking boots and hiking stick, I started making my way up. At first, I thought I was alone but nope, there were people who were earlier than I was. It wasn’t tough though, not at least until 1 hour later when I reached the toughest portion of the trail.
I was panting, I was perspiring yet I felt cold. My legs were shaking from the climb and I was only halfway there. To be honest I wanted to give up, its easier for me to give up than to keep going anyway. But as I was climbing, there were a group of senior citizens who climbed faster than I did. So I told myself that if they can do it, so can I.
I pressed on. After 2 hours from the start, I reached a rest point. I sat down and ate my sweet potato to regain some energy for the last 1 hour. After my small little snack, I proceeded to attempt to finish the last lap. Guess what, I started feeling raindrops. I just stood there, feeling baffled. What was I supposed to do?
I continued to climb, seeing that it was just a slight drizzle. Not going to lie, I was rather afraid of climbing up since I was just wearing a pair of sneakers; my soles were worn out. However, I pressed on. It started to rain even heavier and the temperature plummeted to negative one degrees Celsius (I started out with sixteen degrees). With just two jumpers, I was shivering. My fingers were extremely red and numb. My ears were sore.
After countless “Good morning” from fellow hikers, I was at the peak of the mountain. Total time of 3 hours. I was extremely proud of myself. However, remember the rain? It was too cold at the top of the mountain that it became a hail storm. Bullets of ice were just pelting against my face; it was too cold and painful. A 3 hour climb up to the peak but I only stayed there for a minute. I made my way down after a few speedy clicks on my mobile to capture the peak.
The trip back down was harder than climbing back up: I slipped a few times as the rocks and dirt path was way too slippery. It took me a total of three hours and thirty minutes to get back to the starting point. When I was at the bottom of the mountain, I was so happy but yet I couldn’t stand properly; my legs were shaking vigorously. I couldn’t feel my legs.
I called a cab to get me straight to my Airbnb. I skipped lunch and slept all the way until dinner. Mind you, I had no climbing experience and I did not train for it. However, I felt a huge sense of accomplishment. Would I do it again? Perhaps, but with proper hiking gear.
Oh, pictures were all taken on film, just because a film camera is extremely light for me to hike up the mountain! They are not perfect but I hope you like it, it wasn’t easy hiking and taking pictures, not for me at least.
KAIST, 카이스트
Back in December 2017, I had to make a decision: which country should I go for exchange? Looking from my Instagram, I guess its rather obvious where I chose for exchange. When I was applying last year, I was actually on a KTX (Korea’s fastest train) from Gyeongju (경주) back to Seoul (서울). At that point in time, I was rather emotional because I had a great day out with my Korean friend in Gyeongju and so I thought, I will need to come back to Korea.
Here I am, in KAIST. KAIST is located in Daejeon (대전), 1 hour from Seoul by KTX. Compared to the bustling capital of Seoul, Daejeon is very peaceful. I spend most of my time in Daejeon at different cafes, rushing my assignments in my dormitory or taking pictures. I recently purchased a Yashica and T-max 400 so I thought, why not go around campus and see what I can capture?
And so I did. I went around the school trying to capture as many details as possible, since its a black-and-white film. I am pretty happy with how they all turned out actually, seeing that it was my first time experimenting with black-and-white format. Thankfully it was quite a sunny day, so I managed to get some light and shadows.
The campus is rather huge and that means I have not explored the entire of the campus yet. I probably need to do so really soon, seeing that I am only left with 4 weeks in this campus (super duper sad about it). Time flies when you are having fun, really. For more of these, check out the tab I made for T-max 400!
Yashica FX-3
Film photography was something that I have always been interested in but yet afraid to venture into. Probably because we are able to review our photos right after we took them with digital cameras, something we cannot do with analogue. Being born in the year 1994, I am blessed with the advancements of the digital world; my first camera was a Canon Ixus, followed by multiple smartphones and most recently, a DSLR. Never have I ever tried a classic film camera, until I came to Korea.
I was exploring Common Ground, in Seoul, on a very hot summer evening and I found Fuji Quicksnap. I mean instead of investing money on a film camera and then get stressed out about using it, why not get a disposable camera? So, I got it. I have to say it was a brand new experience altogether.
I have no idea how many times I have tried to “review” the photos right after I have taken them. I can finally relate to other analogue photographers: you will finally learn to take your time to compose a shot. Perhaps it's because shooting analogue does not have the privilege of reviewing your photos right after you take them, I take significantly more time to frame a shot. Trust me, I just point and shoot at random angles with a DSLR, hoping one will turn out well (I mean I’m not a photographer at all so that probably explains it).
Anyway, after I was done with 26 exposures with the disposable camera, I was finding a place to develop and scan them. That’s when I found Filmlog (not sponsored, I promise). I walked into the studio and guess what I saw? Different film cameras lining up on the shelves, for sale. That’s it. I took my time to choose a camera and picked up 2 rolls of films and off I went. The most compulsive camera purchase ever.
My first roll of film was Fuji C200 and if you were to look at the gallery, you won’t be able to count 36 exposures. Excluding those that I purposefully removed, I only exposed 29 frames; I didn’t check if I loaded my films properly, which explains why there are 7 missing exposures. Anyway, I have no regrets making that compulsive purchase because I am having so much fun with it. The pictures are definitely not amazing but hey, I didn’t say I am a professional photographer, I am just having fun, my hobby. I am excited to shoot more of Korea before I leave on 28th December.
I will try to post more often too, I promise. Stick with me, I’ll dish out more “experimental products” in the future.
1ºC
When I was approached by 1ºC last year to try out their cold brew coffee, they only had 2 types of coffee: Black and White. We sat down over at a cosy little cafe located in Orchard Road and we clicked right away. We were talking about various topics: how did they started this humble company, what do they do during their free time and what are our hobbies. We also talked about photography, and of course, I was offered to have a taste of their creations. I am certainly not a huge fan of cold brew coffee and therefore, I was sceptical about it. To my surprise, their coffee does not have that acidic taste that draws me away from cold brew; it was smooth and certainly creamy (for their white coffee).
Back then they were developing almond milk coffee. When I first heard of their plans, I was so excited! In Singapore, you will be considered lucky if the cafe does serve soy, not to mention almond milk. When I was in Melbourne, plant or nut-based milk coffee options are everywhere. Sadly, I prefer non-dairy milk for my coffee and therefore, I only go to a handful of cafes in Singapore. One month later, 1ºC sent me their almond milk variation and adding on to the surprise, a masala cold brew coffee. Bless them, I am in love with their coffee.
Now fast forward to 30th April 2017, they contacted me again and this time, they informed me of their Blue Pea Cold Tea. Richard and his wife, Yen (the founders of 1ºC), drove down and delivered these cold drinks to me. How should I describe the Blue Pea Cold Tea? Well, it is refreshing with a flowery aftertaste. It was amazing, especially in the Singapore heat. For all of you who are strangers to Blue Pea Flower, it is a gorgeous blue flower (that's for sure, hence the name blue pea) and it is commonly used as a blue food colouring (especially for my favourite Peranakan Kueh). Not going to lie, it is actually my first time drinking it and I'm just speechless. It was incredible.
If you would like to try out their range of drinks, do check them out here!