It’s been quite a while since the jump ship.
You can find my other blog here, here, and here. I still couldn’t bring myself into deleting those down because they remind me so much of how I have grown from a teeny bopper to a young woman. Yes, a young woman.
Me at CheonPyeong Station, South Korea
Flashback to 2010. Fresh out of college, I decided to rest for the next ten months and do personal things. I travelled to Singapore and Malaysia, got into driving school, took IELTS (I had a 9 in listening!), and took (and passed) the Professional Civil Service Exam. I was sort of debating whether I would go work for the government or a private institution. I decided on the latter, hence where I am now.
I now work for an Engineering, Procurement and Construction company that dreams of getting it big on the world stage. I have no doubts they can do that. I have my doubts on whether or not I should stay longer. But I’ve been working here for three five years, I could do probably with a few more months. If Japan does consider a visa-free tourist opportunity, I would – most likely – eagerly jump ship again – to another job, I mean.
What else, ah. At a young age, I was exposed to reading. I read a lot of fiction, and the librarian in my high school was one of my best friends. Wait, she’s old enough to be my Mom, but hey, I keep her company during the lull days in high school. I get perks of ringing her tiny bell when the room gets noisy. Mostly because of the students who only stop by the library for the free air-conditioning. But I did read a lot of Nancy Drew and Sandra Brown back then. I think I have read all the available books on these two that by the time I finished my third year, I had three library cards filled back to back.
I still read now. Although I always have an internal debate of interest on which ones to read: those for young adults, or those for adults. John Grisham, I am looking at you fiercely. Let me know if there’s anything you can suggest. I am very much interested in dystopian. I have a knack for social dilemmas and anarchy – being a Behavioral Science graduate that I am.
I am also in for feel good books such as Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac, the Summer Trilogy by Jenny Han, and similar stories in this transition years of teenagers to adulthood.
I did not grow up in a travelling environment, most likely because we don’t have the money to pay for it. Even though both my parents were working full-time – and my Dad works in this really big Oil & Gas company – the money they earn were always saved for future use namely our education (there are three kids in the family), a little bit of property here and there, business ventures, and family cars (to date, we’ve had four, but we only keep two of them now, we’re practical like that). So we never really travelled as a family, except go to the capital or to the local malls on Sundays – these don’t really count, though.
When I started working, I was more eager to explore the world. From my pay, I have toured Singapore with my brother; toured Seoul and Gapyeong, South Korea; I have gone up two mountains in Batangas, Philippines; trekked Crow Valley up to the crater of Mt. Pinatubo; gone surfing to La Union, Philippines; attended a flower festival in Baguio, Philippines; island hopped and snorkeled in Puerto Galera, Mindoro; gone scuba diving in Batangas Philippines; toured Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka, Japan for the Autumn foliage; finally back-packed through Laoag, Pagudpud, and Vigan, Philippines twice; returned to Seoul and Gapyeong, plus Gyeonggi-do, South Korea for my sister’s birthday trip; flew again to Seoul for a 2-day concert; and have done other luxurious spas, economical hotel stays and practical shopping among many other things. Food exploration was also one of my major movements – but I have been doing this even during college.
Okay. So. What else would be interesting? Korean Dramas and Music, and Japanese Dramas and Music. The whole of my college life was spent on those things. In between reading my social science books, and social statistics, I was pretty much banging my head to the music of Arashi, Super Junior, the then five-‘personed’ Dong Bang Shin Gi, KARA, and Wonder Girls, including OSTs of movies and dramas. I was crying my eyeballs out for Summer Scent, 1 Liter of Tears; getting too engaged with Code Blue, Buzzer Beat, Boys Over Flowers; slapstick laughing at Hana Yori Dango, Full House, etc. Not only dramas, but movies as well. I was hooked. Which are basically the reasons why I would love to visit the countries where these dramas and movies originated.
This has gone far too long, but has gotten less interesting by the punctuation. So I will stop here. Should you have any questions, please feel free to write at the comments down below. I would love to see people interested in my internet life. *wink wink*
I am open to reviewing Korean/Japanese Dramas and Movies, mainstream fiction and dystopian stories, and even my adventures as listed above. Let me know if there’s anything you want me to put my 2 cents at.
By the way, my signature is photo-ed below, but please call me Jae.
My Little Heaven on Earth 