OriBori 하게 春天韩国看樱花呀！

我对两个位老人家说：”爸爸妈妈，你们从来未曾看过樱花，我们还是趁着你们两老现在这么有力的时候，快快去韩国看一看吧？”

问题是，我跟淑华也没看过。所以在韩国春天樱花季节来临前半年就一直在做研究，到底樱花季节是那两个星期呢？据说樱花初开的日子，每一年不一样，完全是跟着天气的转暖而定的。韩国官方的预测也只会在二月中旬才会发表出来。

通常，根据每年的樱花季节历史，那两个星期是三月底到四月中旬。所以我就硬着心把飞机票给订了。没想到，买了飞机票后，我才在网上看到新加坡明星陈建彬主办首尔樱花观光团，四月7日才起飞。

我心想：“完蛋了，要是陈建彬看准韩国樱花是4月7日过后才是盛季，那么我们计划的日期应该是太早了。哎呀，算啦！”

How much do we REALLY actually know about Korea... A trip of 心 and 情.

 Another Winter in Korea 한국 겨울 여행... JUST the TWO of us!

22 Dec 2022 - 10 Jan 2023

... a painting on the wall of our hotel...

I saw this painted on the wall of our hotel on this trip. To me, reading a lot is just as important too. Reading gives us the grounding in knowledge, while travelling gives us practical, localised experiences. But truly it is only when we physically interact with the people can we experience the emotions, the vibes, and the affections that they exude - what we call 人情 .

Thus the question "Do we really know a lot about Korea after all this while?" kept reverberating in my mind.  And this trip gave us new insights into the land, the people, their thinking, and their language.

韩国也可以这么玩的 meh？ An Autumn-y Korea.

To Korea in Autumn to 看枫葉！

白云台 백운대 Baegundae peak 836m
北汉山 북한산 Bukhansan, 19 October 2022, 2:17pm

哇！终于可以跟着这几位美女一起去游韩国啦！她们三位最后一次一起去韩国，是2018年的事情了。那一次的旅游，应该是还不错的。但是这一次，有阿Kat 每天每夜 keng 头脑想哪里去玩，有我计划怎么走，用什么交通工具，我深信这次的旅游，应该是很棒的。

Another Ladakhi medical trip, a different experience.

 

Another Ladakh trip. but a different setting this round...

Thiksey Monastery Medical Camp

[27 July - 5 August 2022]

Our team led by Felicia Tan.

“Eh Felicia is organizing the medical trip to Ladakh again leh!” Lee Haw Chou lai liao.

“Really ah?! Wah, eh you go pull people, you quickly go pull people let’s go together,” I replied.

“This time round Chang Haw Chong also coming,"Haw Chou said. "Let's see if the dates are good, and let's hope Mike & Suet will be able to come." And they were. 

Steady lah! 

Lee Haw Chou and Chang Haw Chong are forever the pillars of the orthopods and we were honoured this time round to also have Mike our radio-onco.

Among the other medical team members we have the Chief-organiser Felicia Tan the breast surgeon herself, Yvonne Wong the anaesthestist, Tan Su-Lin our Cambodia-based GP, Meera Magar the gastro-intestinal surgeon from Sushrut Hospital in Phaltan, and Vicky Tan and Shila Das our experienced nurses.  

Jeanette Tan was of course, omnipresent.

The volunteers were out in full force, with Paul Fong, Jack Tay, Jay Lamkin, and our indispensable Leow Chin Lee (aka 李太太),  Suet and Serene (the Ajumma) Gan.

Such an entourage, this was.  The mere thought of it excited me for weeks.

Meeting His Eminence Thiksey Rinpoche at Chamba Hotel across Thiksey Monastery

Bangkok. Massage and eat.

 Haven't seen Bangkok for the longest time. Almost three years.

Very curious how Bangkok has changed after the ravage of Covid on its tourist economy. Hotel prices have dropped. But  BTS fares, massage prices and food prices remained the same.

Every day is an Adventure - a 'Leisurely' Drive down Korea's Mid-South & West

 

“For the same amount of money, an expensive luxury item will make you happy for a while, but an unforgettable travelling memory will give you endless happiness for the rest of your life.”~임위호의사

The 미친 ones flew VTL into Korea

A long-awaited, 
    most-enjoyed, 
        ate-as-much-as-we-could-but-never-gained-weight
            .. AND walked-like-crazy Trip to Korea during Covid

It has been simply too long since we set foot out of Singapore. That was exactly what a worldwide pandemic did to human beings - we were all confined within our own borders.