Paradise for The Shopaholic

In the motivation section -when applying for exchange program- I mentioned Korea's industrialization as the subject that I'd like to study. And yes I did on-class and off-class study of it. The on-class is for me, because I'm an Economics student. Going further to the off-class, lemme bring you walk around the last chain of supply through lens! (Actually it's Professor Oh, not me. Kkk). We are gonna window shop several spots in Korea where you can chop your money and go broke in a couple of hour!

Seriously! Korea is one of the paradises for the shopaholic. The price of clothes and girlish apparels are dreadfully dirt-cheap (relative to foods and beverages) and uber cute!

I'm a student. How could I count?

In Korea, one proper meal may cost 15.000, whereas you can own a lovely skirt at only 45.000; by any chance, you only need to serve breakfast for one day meal on behalf one cutesy skirt. While the situation is warranted, you might also substitute your meal with canteen ticket. Let's apply the same comparison in Indonesia. One proper meal costs 10.000, whereas adorable skirt worths 100.000; hence, you must serve breakfast for at least three days to afford one comely skirt. See? Indonesia has more expensive skirt! Over this comparative advantage approach, shopping in Korea is more suggested! Let's turn all corridors into catwalks, Ladies!

Myeongdong, Seoul

I went to Seoul by train almost every week! I had exchange partners who are quite obsessive about fashion stuffs. Surely, as a good friend, I walked her here and there. It was very torturing having to close my eyes from all these tempting pleasures. Cosmetics are renowned to be reasonable most -if cannot be called as CHEAAAP- in here! Even with shoe-string budget, thousands of hi-end look clothes are available in fair -if cannot be called as HOLLLY CHEAP- price. Myeongdong, Insadong, Namdemun, and other -dongs/-mun are the must list on your itinerary (if you come by any chance). At worst, feel the atmosphere!

Another spot in Meyongdong Seoul

You are 21? It's nothing without money to spend in Forever 21.

Ya Allah.......... please send me your overwhelming rizq to me, so then I can tadabur-alam with ease in your dunya and also add a number of shopping bags clinging on my hands to help Korea's economy where millions of tummy matter within it. Aamiin.

Korean Song Cover

If truth to be told, the first time I stepped my foot in Korea was the first time I'm in touch with Korea as a "country". The only thing I knew about Korea was Full House--a drama aired in my national TV channel back then in the secondary school year. 

 

However, every small pieces of my experiences had pulled me head over heels with this country. Unintentionally, Korean language, Korean culture, Korean music, Korean people, Korean foods, and Korean dramas, were becoming a habitual. It was my new "normal" that I didn't actually wish at the first place. But, once it happened to me, I didn't ignore, though.

I used to be a bold person with taste in fantasy and thriller genre. Drama--as typically "feeling person" favorites--used to not match me. But hey ........... drama does work to me these days. The first drama I love most is Reply 1988. And the one trending drama entitled Descendants of The Sun is my next. 

To complete the series of Korean-taste in my life, I decided to cover one Korean song. Hahahaha! This song is one of official osts of Descendant of The Sun. As my voice is not dazzling, I guarantee my musical aptitude won't destroy Davichi's song.

Go find your ergi, Chums! Enjoy!

 

Korean Homecooking Pt 2

Hi everyone! I started my cooking lesson again this year. As I'm head over heels with Korean cuisines, here I collect my lesson on it. The stories behind every meal are on the caption section. Visit my cooking channel on Instagram to join me rustling up potlucks!

김지 보금밥 & Kawista Syrup 🍹 #homecooking #loraskitchen #potluck #ratnamadethis #koreancuisine

A photo posted by (Lois+Ratna)'s (@loraskitchen) on Apr 9, 2016 at 1:31am PDT

김지 파전 It's been my 9th time moving my belongings and staying for such a long time in a new environment during 5 years of my study. Like nomadens who look for shelter, I live this life in trial-and-error and do-it-yourself mode perhaps on and on. I have too little time for baby-crying, I have too little time for calling mom to have continuously-upcoming-shitty-problems done. In all words, I'm getting better in ... starting over. 🙍🙍 I'm settled in a new boarding house called Crystal House. Yeah, it's dazzling and peaceful place to live in. To the utmost, I'm head over heels for its kitchen! 💜 This morning is my third morning. Since the house is quite far from main road and food stalls, i'm determined (well, rather be forced, if truth to be told) to rustle up my own healthy dish. 🙌🙌🙌 My breakfast comes in kimchi pajon. (Oh i'm freaking elated to have a pile of tastyyy kimchiiii from Youngrae Oppa). It's Korean pancake that I used to dig in back then during my stay in Chuncheon.😺😺 And ... I have red-rice, fresh milk, plus Pickles (pickled cucumber from darling Doriii) 💜 #loraskitchen #ratnamadethis #potluck #homecooking #koreanfood

A photo posted by (Lois+Ratna)'s (@loraskitchen) on Apr 8, 2016 at 9:00pm PDT 

닭갈비 Dalkalbi Youngrae Oppa is my chief chef these days. Today he taught me Dalkalbi---a cuisine originated from Chuncheon. Here is my jot: Prepare the veggies: carrot, sweet potato, cabbage, bombay onion, spring onion. Chop boneless chicken into tteok sized and marinate them with gochujang, sesame oil, sugar, minced garlic, sweet soybean sauce. Stirfry altogether. Cheese & tteok are optionals. Serve with hot rice. #loraskitchen #potluck #koreancuisine #homecooking

A photo posted by (Lois+Ratna)'s (@loraskitchen) on Nov 2, 2015 at 9:02am PST

닭 비빔밥 aka Chicken Bibimbap aka Nasi Campur Ayam Bumbu Korea I had this meal almost everyday when I was living in Korea. It was the most edible and afforable meal for me bcz it does not contain any swine, tasty, sold in canteen nearby and sold in cut rate! It costs 3500 원 = Rp35.000 while in Indonesia I can make it for about only Rp10.000 per serving! Yeaay~~ I simply bought 고추장 (gocujang; Korean traditional paste) in Gelael (a global market store) and surfed the recipe. So, here it is!!!! 잘먹겠읍니다! Have a good meal! Selamat makan! Bon appetite! #loraskitchen #ratnamadethis #koreancuisine #breakfast #before9oclock #masakalakosan #masak #homecooking #kamupastibisa #nojunkfood #asiancuisine

A photo posted by (Lois+Ratna)'s (@loraskitchen) on May 5, 2015 at 7:49pm PDT

Korean Homecooking Pt 1

Kangeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen..

Sekarang tahun 2015. Itu artinya, sudah hampir dua tahun aku meninggalkan Korea. Perasaanku bisa ditebak, kan? Iya, itu, kangen. Mungkin hidup di Korea adalah sebuah utopia buatku. Setengah tahun itu terasa seperti tidur panjang yang tiada dua.

Ada dua obat yang sangat manjur unruk rasa kangen itu. Pertama, bicara dengan sahabat-sahabatku selama di sana. Kedua, makan makanan Korea.

Makanan Korea adalah yang terbaik di dunia setelah makanan Indonesia! Aku bahkan tidak keberatan menjadi sangat gemuk di sana. Hehehe. Sampai-sampai, aku mau berhemat demi dapat resep rahasia mereka.

Berita baiknya, aku baru saja mendapatkan resep rahasia itu! Ternyata inti dari segala kenikmatan makanan Korea itu adalah gochujang. Hahaa. Pasta ini bisa didaptkan di toko swalayan global, tak jauh dari tempat tinggalku sekarang.

Nah, ini dia resep andalanku! Cuma 30 menit!

양념 통닭 or Yangnyeom Tongdalk A bulk of gocujang is left unused after I made previous recipe (비빔밥). Unfortunately my boardinghouse's fridge has been too full to afford the gochu box causing it cannot be well preserved . As the matter, I decide to reschedule my cooking time table. I'm planning to prioritize Korean cuisines for one up to two months ahead. Having mixed cultures experiments is not bad idea, though. Hohoo!!! #loraskitchen #ratnamadethis #koreancuisine #asiancuisine #belajarmasak #anakkosan #hemattapienak #nojunkfood

A photo posted by Lois & Ratna's Kitchen Story (@loraskitchen) on May 6, 2015 at 8:32pm PDT

Catatatan: Ini sungguhan masakanku. Aku yang mengelola akun bernama @loraskitcen itu bersama sahabatku +Lois Lasyana Narwastu. LORA artinya Lois & Ratna ^^

Dari Sofa ke Sofa

Entri ini saya buat untuk satu situs ajaib yang membuat saya mencapai satu mimpi kecil saya, yaitu tinggal di apartemen mungil di pusat ibu kota. Terdengar ambisius dan haus dengan hal luxurious? Hahahaha. Sebenarnya saya cuma beruntung bisa mendapatkan tumpangan tinggal di Seoul setelah masa pertukaran pelajar saya berakhir. Eh, tunggu-tunggu. Tumpangan?

Yap, akhirnya saya coba Couchsurfing (selancar sofa), sebuah layanan sosial media yang menghubungkan para penebeng dan pemberi tebengan nginep, terutama buat wisatawan yang gembel kayak daku. Muehehe. Oia, ini adalah kali kedua saya mencoba layanan ini. Sebelumnya, saya sudah pernah nebeng di Macau. Ini kali kedua pula saya memberi impresi positif untuk Couchsurfing yang memertemukan saya dengan orang-orang baru yang luar biasa.

Potret Hongdae dari meja kamar host

Sumber: Travel Writesing

Kenapa saya berani untuk tinggal di tempat orang yang belum dikenal? Apa lagi saya perempuan!

Ummmm....

Yang pertama karena saya pernah mencoba. Tapi, kalau masih belum cukup alasannya. Mungkin kicau berikut bisa menjadi rujukan yang cukup "menenangkan"--kalau tetap tidak berhasil meyakinkanmu.

"The best way to find out if you can trust somebody is to trust them." -Ernest Hemingway Also, trust your instincts: http://t.co/LnBrPr5jjq

— Couchsurfing (@Couchsurfing) December 26, 2013

Kepercayaan berdasar intuisi
Sistem Couchurfing adalah sistem pertukaran kepercayaan. Melalui profil yang sehat (profil kita diberi banyak komentar positif dari akun-akun yang terverifikasi, label verifikasi, profil yang masuk akal), kita bisa membobot kepercayaan kita terhadap seseorang. Hanya itu modal saya untuk memulai sepuluh hari ajaib di Seoul. Selanjutnya, saya mulai dengan panduan kemanan dari Couchsurfing. Ini penting, karena di luar sana sudah ada beberapa kasus pelecehan dari beberapa penebeng, termasuk beberapa masalah dari Couchsurfing di Indonesia. Nah, kalau yang ini adalah akibat dari kepercayaan yang kelewatan. Hahaha. Ngomong-ngomong, kok jadi sebel juga, ya, dengar orang Indonesia yang kurang dipercaya. Kan kasian, nanti orang Indonesia lainnya, dilabeli "kurang dipercaya" secara tidak langsung.

Oia, terlepas dari berita buruknya, saya mau cerita berita menyenangkannya dan apa yang bisa saya pelajari dari pengalaman Couchsurfing kali ini.

Tentang host

Saya tinggal di Hongdae, daerah anak muda internasionalnya Korea -katanya sih begitu- yang kental dengan budaya kehidupan malamnya. Host saya adalah orang Italia yang sedang bekerja di sebuah LSM di Korea, namanya Francesco. Dulunya ia pernah datang ke Semarang dan merupakan partner dari salah satu LSM anak muda yang cukup terkenal di Semarang, namanya IIWC dan De Javato. Boleh dibilang, Francesco juga merupakan seorang teman dari seorang teman. 

Umurnya sekarang sudah 37 dan hanya tinggal sendirian di apartemen yang cukup besar itu. Tidak ada banyak macam barang di sana. Kalaupun ada, maka jumlahnya hanya satu termasuk dirinya yang tinggal seorang diri. Tidak ada potret diri atau potret keluarga tergantung, tidak ada TV, tapi ada rak besar di mana buku-buku yang dikirimnya dari Italia berjajar rapi. Urusan dapur dibuatnya sesederhana mungkin: tidak ada penanak nasi, hanya satu spatula, satu penggorengan, satu gelas dan satu cangkir. Yang jumlahnya dua justru matras yang ia sediakan untuk Couchsurfer macam saya begini.

Rasanya sedih lihat dia sendirian. Ironi. Padahal ia adalah orang yang cerdas dan pekerja keras. Ia juga tinggal di pusatnya-pusat kota--pusat kota yang pernah sangat saya (dan mungkin jutaan traveler lain) inginkan. Saya jadi merefleksi diri lagi, apakah selama ini apa yang saya lakukan sudah membuat saya cukup bahagia? Meninggalkan keluarga, loncat dari sana ke sini, atau misalnya menuruti kata hati perempuan saya untuk belanja itu dan ini. Apakah itu yang membuat saya merasa benar-benar bahagia? Apakah selama ini saya hidup untuk membuat orang merasa terkesan atau saya sudah berusaha untuk membuat diri saya sendiri terkesan?

Kebahagiaan adalah sebuah rahasia.

Visit to The SKY

Bicara soal pendidikan, ada tiga universitas terbaik (ivy league) di Korea yang sering disebut SKY. SKY adalah akronim dari Seoul National University, Korea University, dan Yonsei University. Di penghujung kegiatan exchange ini, Kak Isna dan aku berkunjung ke kampus-kampus itu. Ceritanya, nih, sedang survei kampus masa depan. Hahaha, Aamiin.

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