All Posts By

Jay E. Tria

Tourism

Things to Do on a Fall-Winter Trip to Korea: Gwanghwamun Square, Gyeongbokgung, Bukchon Hanok Village, Hongdae

Posted on January 7, 2015

Day 4 in our winter-fall Seoul escapade was easily my favorite day. Dampened a bit by some morning drizzle that did nothing to tame the cold (rather exacerbating it to a very unique chill), the skies cleared soon enough in time for an umbrella-free afternoon. This day sort of turned into our hippie arts and culture day, starting with a stroll along Gwanghwamun to say hi to King Sejong, then a fascinating tour of Gyeongbok Palace, ending with an afternoon split between Bukchon Hanok Village and trendy, energetic Hongdae.

Tourism

Things to Do on a Fall-Winter Trip to Korea: Everland, Dongdaemun Design Plaza, Nandaemun Night Market

Posted on January 4, 2015

Day 3 of our Seoul adventure heralded a trip to Everland. Strictly speaking, I am not a fan of amusement parks, but I seem to be going to one in almost every country I’ve been to just the same. Anyway, I decided to make the most of my day out, firstly by looking out for adorkable little Asian children in their fluffy winter gear. Continue Reading

Tourism

Things to Do on a Fall-Winter Trip to Korea: Nami Island, Petite France, E-Mart Yongsan

Posted on January 4, 2015

Day 2 of our Winter-Fall in Seoul adventure found us clamoring to get up early for the trip to Nami Island. We were supposed to take the bus so we can sleep the entire 1-hour ride, but it was already fully booked a couple of days ago (how tourists are expected to book when there are no online reservations, I do not know. Sad face), so we were stuck with the train. Good man Jin of B My Guesthouse recommended a faster train route, an advice we heartily took. Continue Reading

Tourism

Things to Do on a Fall-Winter Trip to Korea: Cheonggyecheon Plaza and Stream, Lantern Festival, Insadong

Posted on January 4, 2015

Thanks to a slew of dramas, pop songs, awesome skincare and cosmetics, servings of kimbap, and several Super Shows, Seoul has been in my travel bucket list for years now. So I’m sure you can imagine my mounting giddy excitement as the months fell away into weeks, then days and hours, until finally our plane touched down in Incheon International Airport. We reached Seoul on November 19, a couple of days after the proclaimed official first day of winter, and were welcomed by clear skies, a high feeble sun, and frigid Siberian winds. The adventure begins. Continue Reading

Movie Review

Harry Holidays to All!

Posted on January 2, 2015

I do realize the greeting above is quite late, because it’s been weeks since Christmas, and it isn’t even properly new year anymore, with 2015 already beyond a day old. My only excuse is the same reason for the greeting – I have been immersed in the best Christmas tradition I’ve only discovered recently, which is to reread all seven magical books (and watch the films) on the life of the Boy Who Lived. JK Rowling‘s masterpiece is nothing short of magic, and I knew that as a kid when I first met Harry (only a couple of years older than his 11), and I know it now, more than a decade later.

Now, my Harry Potter bucket list has extended from 1. ownership of the complete movie boxed set, to 2. exploring the Muggle-made wonder that is the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal Studios Japan. A studio tour in the UK sounds awesome too, and this sounds very intriguing. But until then, I’m educating myself with Tales of Beedle the Bard, and watching this one-hour gem below.

Cheers!

Photo and video credits to owners.

Life and Lemons

2014 – The Blogging Year That Was

Posted on January 2, 2015

2014 was the year of passport stamps, career pirouettes and sweet tastes of liberation from the ever-looming paternal shadow (i.e. weekday condo living away from my kind yet quite naggy mother). I am very grateful. Nonetheless, the year was also naught with deficiencies, such as my lack of attendance in any musical event, and likewise the less than satisfactory number of blog posts I should have written. 2014 was an I-should-have-blogged-more year. Despite of that, my beloved WordPress.com stats helper monkeys are showing much improved numbers for this humble blog, an impressive leap from previous year’s 11,000 views to 25,000. To this I say: Boo-yah.

Thus, I offer my sincerest thanks to those of you who stumbled upon this tiny piece of the interweb and proceeded to click and read. I offer my commitment to provide more daydreams, etc for your perusal. Cheers to 2015!

Here’s an excerpt of my 2014 annual report, all thanks to you:

The concert hall at the Sydney Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 25,000 times in 2014. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 9 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.