Then.... some idiot turned on the lights

So despite my best intentions to actually stay on top of blogging this month, I've had a lot of other things on my plate and on my mind and so my little adventures have been moved to the back burner. But! This was Halloween month, possibly my favorite time of the year, and that means that some sort of post is entirely necessary.

Halloween in Korea was much better than I was expecting. My local Lotte Mart put out a pretty decent Halloween display that included decorations like pumpkin lanterns, glow-in-the-dark skeletons, banners, and window decals as well as kiddie costumes, masks, accessories like wands and pitchforks, and a range of witches' hats. It was nice to decorate my apartment since I always do the decorations at home and missed out big time this year for holidays.

This weekend I went into the city to celebrate and naturally the areas that are always crawling with foreigners were decorated up and there were tons of people in costume. I went as Minnie Mouse which was very easy to pull off and meant I could wear my red sneakers which made dancing for three hours a much more comfortable experience. We got some looks on the subway ride in but hey, as a non-Korean I get stared at all the time here anyway so I'd rather for once it be for an interesting reason.

At work yesterday we celebrated as best we could by wearing either costumes or at least funny ears or hats (our boss isn't big on anything that involves either teachers or students or staff enjoying themselves so we were lucky to even get away with that). I gave my students treat bags and they went crazy. You should have seen them with the candy corn. They've never had it before and had no idea what to even do with it. I had to explain that yes, it's edible and no, I have no idea what it's actually made of (I'm afraid to read the ingredient list to be honest, some things are best left a mystery). They really liked it though.

Probably the only flop of the Halloween season was carving a jack-o-lantern. A few weeks ago I managed to track down pumpkins at a local vegetable market but man, Korean pumpkins are not a pretty picture. They're a dull orange-brown color and very squat and awkward. I made the mistake of waiting too long to carve it (as well as leaving it on my coffee table which sits directly in the sun) and found it molding pretty fiercely when I finally decided to take a stab at it. Blech. So I didn't clean it out and put a candle inside because it was too nasty but I did still carve a face just for fun.

And then I promptly took it outside and threw it in the trash.

Now I'm just recovering from a candy coma and trying to wrap my head around the fact that it's November. November! Almost a year exactly since I came to Korea! It's been a big year, an amazing year, and sadly a year that is quickly coming to a close. I'm officially leave at the end of this term and I have mixed emotions about everything. I had wanted to stay on for an extra six months but things didn't quite work out with my contract renewal so on November 28th I'll be on a plane home to Massachusetts. I'm so excited to see everyone at home! But I'm in love with Korea and I'm going to miss it here immensely.

Recently I've been buzzing around between trying to clean and pack things up here, establish work and school plans for my return home, and experience as much of Korea as I can before I have to say goodbye. It's been exhausting and I've been feeling guilty about not being a better blogger because I think it's a great outlet for me but you know, priorities. Besides, I started this blog before I got here so I may just hang on to it for a month or two when I return home and have some time to share pictures and things that I didn't get a chance to post before. And post my version of the ultimate Korean packing list because I must have read dozens of those before coming here and they were really useful.

Stay tuned!

Trivia of the Day: Korean horror, sometimes referred to as K-Horror, is the term given to horror films made as part of the cinema of Korea. Korean horror features many of the same motifs, themes, and imagery as Japanese horror. Korean horror has been around since the early years of Korean cinema; however, it wasn't until the late 1990's that the genre began to experience a renewal. Many of the Korean horror films tend to focus on the suffering and the anguish of characters rather than focus on the gory "blood and guts" aspect of horror.

People, take my advice, if you love someone, don't think twice

This past weekend was my fella's last in Korea. On Saturday we braved the torrential rain with a few of my co-workers and went to catch a movie at the Puchon International Film Festival. Battle Royale was playing at 2pm in newly released 3D and the pop-out blood splatters made it even more ridiculous than I'd remembered. They showed it with both English (on the bottom) and Korean subtitles (on the side) which was kind of cool. I'm pretty sure the festival runs through this Friday so try to catch something if you're in the area. I recommend Om Shanti Om which I know is playing a few times this week, it's so much fun.

Then on Saturday night we went into Hongdae, which I pretty much consider a Korean cultural experience in and of itself. For one, we were able to bear witness to the fact that Koreans are the best dancers because they absolutely dance like goobers and don't care what anyone thinks (which is awesome). Also, that pesky language barrier brought on amusing results when Mike tried to order a glass of Glenfiddich whisky and ended up with a turquoise cocktail that tasted like Gushers (he didn't drink it). His second attempt was successful since he actually pointed it out on the drink menu but didn't realize why the bartender gave him a funny look when he said "no ice" until his expected glass of whisky was presented in a shot glass. This is why I stick to rum and cokes.

The Hongdae night ended as a night in Hongdae always should, with a sunrise and McDonald's. We slept until the early afternoon, packed up a bit, then went to do some last minute present shopping. After ice cream cones and a movie (The Chaser, oh my god, I am still mad at that ajumma shop keeper) we went to have galbi for dinner.

Galbi is probably my favorite favorite favorite thing about Korea. And there are a lot of things that I love here. In particular there is one galbi restaurant right around the corner from my apartment and their galbi is the best ever. I swear I could eat their spicy marinated pork every day and never grow sick of it. They also serve awesome banchan (side dishes). This was where Mike wanted to eat dinner on his last night so I'm pretty sure he's in love too.

After dinner we spoiled ourselves with more ice cream and watched another movie (well half, it wasn't very good). I'd really just wanted us to have a relaxing day at home because when I left in November things were really rushed and I feel like we didn't have time to say goodbye. So Sunday was quiet but in a good way.

Monday morning we were up early to catch the bus to the airport. The lines were long but after he was all checked-in he still had about two and a half hours so we went to find breakfast. We ended up at Bennigan's (they have a few in Korea) and split a delicious Monte Cristo sandwich before heading down to security to say goodbye. One of us might have been a mess.

The security at Incheon has automatic doors that you walk through once they've checked your passport and boarding pass but as long as they're open you can see through to the other side. So I waited until he was all the way through before leaving. The line took about 10 minutes so I had to keep waiting for another passenger to come along for the doors to slide open so I could see where he was in line. In retrospect it must have looked pretty silly, my standing there sniffling, staring at doors that kept opening and closing. Luckily when he actually went through the metal detector a huge group of passengers were just coming up to security so I was able to catch his eye and get a wave. He made it safely back home last night with no problems.

Living by myself I've gotten into a familiar routine. I know exactly where everything is, not just in my "bedroom" but in the kitchen, bathroom, fridge, drawers, closet, etc. When I do laundry, exactly the things that I want washed get washed. I wake up when I want and go to bed when I want. I don't have to be quiet or turn down lights because someone else is sleeping and I don't have to knock on the bathroom door to make sure it's empty.

Having someone else here for a month threw all of that out the window. I was all mixed up and wouldn't realize that we'd run out of butter because I wasn't the one who cooked last or that a certain shirt hadn't been washed because someone else had pressed the start button on the laundry. It was confusing and strange and after seven months alone, very abrupt.

When I came home last night, it was the first time in recent weeks that I had to use my key when returning from work. Things were back to the way they were. I walked into a dark, empty apartment like I always do.

But something- that something that makes all those mix-ups and confusions so wonderfully and completely worth it- was missing.

Okay- 3, 2, 1, let's jam

This past weekend I came down with a case of Energizer Bunny Syndrome. See I like to get out and about, especially in the nice weather now, but I've always been someone who matches the amount of time I spend being busy with double that amount of time being lazy. It just works for me. Three hours out being social equals six hours reading comments on Oh No They Didn't, collecting recipes off Food Gawker, and watching YouTube videos of Anthony Weiner snarking on the GOP (true story, this was basically my Sunday night).

So usually even if I'm super busy one day, I take the next to relax and catch my breath. This weekend though I stayed pretty active. Let's pick it up from Saturday, starting from the top:

12:00am

I get home after grabbing dinner after work with Brianna and Kim, our newest co-worker who just started this term. I check online for info about Korea's cherry blossom festivals since they're in bloom now. Except all the festivals are about five hours away and I haven't planned in advance. Boo hiss. So Brianna and I decide to hit up the 63 Building in Yeouido instead. 

1:45am

Lights out with the intention of getting a good night's sleep in order to be up and out nice and early. 

3:30am

Planning has never been my forte. I'm still tossing around in bed, trying to empty my head of all thought so I'll fall asleep though not really since actually I'm trying to decide if the books in the home library I am determined to have someday should be placed on the shelves at random or in descending order by height from left to right like I usually do. Conundrum. 

3:45am-ish

Sweet sleep.

8:25am

My first alarm goes off (I always set three alarms, ten minutes apart and wake up on the third) and scares the bejesus out of me. I was in one of those deep sleeps that leaves you confused as hell when you're jolted out of it. When I heard the alarm I thought, "Okay 10 more minutes for the students to finish their tests". No idea.

9:40am 

After pushing out our meet-up time by 10 minutes so we can finish rushing to get ready (always happens), Brianna and I head out to Yeouido. I'm rocking a head of wet hair and wonder how horrified the ever-fully-primped Koreans feel about this. Actually now that I'm thinking about it do other people in the US consider this tacky? I hate blow drying my hair and sometimes just head out when it's still wet. Air drying works best for me. Oh well. I was also wearing the "BOSTON, MASSACHUBATTS" sweatshirt that I finally ended up buying. Tack it up! 

11:30am

We arrive at the 63 Building and it's a cool place. Lots of restaurants and swanky stores and things to keep you busy.

(Your wooden goat is prohibited from the 63 building, sorry to say.)

We purchase the Big 4 ticket for ₩30,000 (about $30) which gets you into the IMAX theater, the aquarium, the wax museum, and the art gallery/observatory on the 60th floor. You can also purchase tickets for say only two or three of these attractions, depending on what you're interested in seeing.

12:00pm
The 63 Building has a spot called the Buffet Pavilion and the food on the signs looks delicious. We're starving and after checking out the price determine that ₩23,000 is totally reasonable. When we walk in the hostess takes one look at us and instead of offering to seat us says in a helpful tone, "₩68,000". We make a hasty turn back into the lobby and realize that ₩23,000 is the price for just dessert. Uh...

12:15pm
Japanese restaurant and a pork cutlet set for ₩10,000 it is!

12:50pm
Our first stop is the IMAX theater for a screening of Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs. 

It's a pretty nice theater and it's jammed pack with littles on school field trips. Unfortunately for kids here when they usually get trips they fall on the weekends. Similar to how kids in America will wear matching t-shirts on field trips, these kids are all wearing little vests that make them look like crossing guards. They're loving the 3D though and adorably spend the previews screaming and trying to grab at the things "jumping out of" the screen. Since the film has been given a Korean voice-over, the ushers provide us with a little audio set and headphones so we can hear the English version.

1:30pm
After the movie we head to the Wax Museum which is so many kinds of entertaining.

It's a nice mix of historical figures, celebrities, and fictional characters. Some of them were pretty good and others were... not so much. Make your own judgments:

There is a little clothing rack in corner where you can get dressed up to jump into The Last Supper. Will the wonders never cease?

Leonardo DiCaprio. I swear.

The absolute worst James Dean wax figure in the universe. 

There is a section with characters from horror movies. We walk through the doorway and I'm wondering why the Dracula figure is situated awkwardly right by the entrance when suddenly he lurches forward. I let out a scream and call him a not nice word in English. He laughs and tries to get us to go into the haunted house which is connected to this part of the museum. Clearly if I were a full blown automatonophobic I wouldn't even step foot into a wax museum but basically my worst fear is dolls/ventriloquist dummies coming to life and  I hustle out of there.

2:00pm

Next we head up to the observatory and art gallery on the 60th floor. It overlooks the Han River and the view is nice except it isn't really a clear day.

2:30pm
Our last stop is the aquarium, called Sea World.

As I'm walking by this tank I overhear random snatches of Korean interspersed with, "Nemo".

The sea lions have an actual playground in their tank.

And a random Maggie Simpson in one of the fish tanks. Most of the animation for The Simpsons is done in Korea so the characters are very popular here. You see them on everything from pencil boxes to phone covers.

Overall the aquarium is kind of disappointing. It's very small and the animals have very little room. The otters especially look like maybe they could be better taken care of. It makes me apprehensive about visiting a zoo here where the bigger the animals the more obvious the lack of space is but we'll just have to see.

3:15pm
We grab some gelato in the food court and head outside to enjoy it by the river. It's a gorgeous day and the riverside is the place to be. There's a spot where you can take out paddle boats and people are roller blading and riding rented bikes.

View of the 63 Building from the riverside.

4:00pm
We head back to Incheon, making a stop in Arts Center to grab food at this deli that makes great Western-type sandwiches and breakfasts.

7:30pm
Nap time! One of the things I miss most about college is taking naps. When you wake up everyday at noon though there really isn't room for naps so getting a chance for one on the weekends is always nice.

8:40pm
I wake up, finish off a bag of caramel popcorn, and get ready to celebrate Kim's birthday in Hongdae.

9:30pm
Head to the subway with Jim and Brianna and realize that I should have brought a change of shoes since I'm breaking in new wedges. Oh well. At least I packed band-aids.

11:30pm
Begin the night at Ho Bar III which is basically crawling with teenagers. This happens from time to time. My assumption is that they are the kids of military personnel stationed in Itaewon. They're definitely not of drinking age but they're there anyway and acting ridiculous, as teenagers who are underage in a bar are apt to do. When everyone else is just starting the night at 11 or 12, these kids are already super wasted so they've probably been out since 7 or 8. They're gone by midnight though which I figure means they have to make curfew.

It's a fun night and I don't even check my phone so three bars later I'm shocked to hear that it's

5:00am
The night started with a pretty big group but by now there's about seven of us so we leave the last place and head outside where the guys buy some kebabs from a street vendor because of course it is completely normal for someone to be selling kebabs on the street at 5 o'clock in the morning.

Since the trains are up and running again we head to the station (instead of paying about ₩40,000 for a taxi back to Yeonsu) but not before stopping at Burger King so Brianna and I can get burgers and watch the sunrise.

8:00am
After a nice shower to wash off the stink of Hongdae (I will never get used to Korea allowing smoking in bars) I hop into bed and I'm out like a light.

1:00pm
I force myself up and get ready because the last performance of The Little Mermaid at Arts Center is today and I have to see it.

3:00pm 
Brianna and I are the only non-children/people accompanying children in the theater.

(Stealth shot so the ushers wouldn't come over like they did during Macbeth)

The posters for the show are actually posters for Disney's The Little Mermaid so I figure even though it will be in Korean that they'll sing the songs from the movie, which are among some of my favorites. This isn't the case at all and the whole performance is ridiculous. Ariel is super whiny and keeps making wavey movements with her arms to show that she's underwater. Ursula is dressed like a goth with tentacles coming out of her costume at random places. Instead of Flotsam and Jetsam her sidekick is an orange starfish who she keeps beating with her tentacles and at one point they break out into an 80s dance number, complete with funky moves.

So the whole thing is hilariously bad and I'm not sure it could be anymore absurd when all of a sudden the greatest thing ever happens. One moment the characters are talking and the next moment the speakers are blaring "I LIKE BIG BUTTS AND I CANNOT LIE. YOU OTHER BROTHERS CAN'T DENY". My immediate thought is that someone backstage messed up big time but no no, the characters start dancing to it. Flounder, Ursula, Sebastian, the Starfish Sidekick- all rocking out to Sir-Mix-A-Lot. They only play that first line and suddenly it's over but we are cracking up.

Overall definitely not worth the ₩15,000 we paid but I can add it to the growing list of weird performances I have been to.

4:30pm 
Buffet lunch/dinner at VIPs which has amazing cashew chicken, broccoli soup, and the only good Caesar salad I've had since coming to Korea. Very tasty.

6:50pm
Sucker Punch at the movie theater by our apartment. I don't dislike it as much as I'm expecting but the action scenes become redundant and I can only watch Emily Browning do that same dramatic leap in which she lands with one arm stuck into the air so many times. Plus there's too much slow-mo and not enough John Hamm. And Abbie Cornish is awful. But the music is good. It's ridiculous but I could forgive that if only Zach Snyder and Emily Browning would stop going around claiming that it's empowering to women. I especially liked the part where the twenty-year-old protagonist is infantilized, not given a real name, and in her self-created escapist world basically just functions as fodder for male fantasy. Great going Zach Snyder!

9:15pm
Home at last to relax and catch my breath after a good, busy weekend.

Korea is keeping me on my toes. I like it.

Fin.


Trivia of the Day: Soju (Hangul 소주) is a distilled beverage native to Korea. Its taste is comparable to vodka, though often slightly sweeter due to the sugars added in the manufacturing process, and more commonly consumed neat. Most brands of modern soju are made in South Korea. Though traditionally made from rice, most major brands supplement or even replace the rice with other starches such as potato, wheat, barley, sweet potato, or tapioca. Soju is clear in colour and typically varies in alcohol content from about 18.5% to about 45% alcohol by volume (ABV), with 20% ABV being most common. It is widely consumed, in part, because of its relatively low price in Korea. A typical 300mL bottle of soju costs the consumer 1,000 to 3,000 South Korean Won in South Korea (roughly $1 to $3 United States Dollars). Soju was first distilled around 13th century during the Mongol invasions of Korea. The Mongols had acquired the technique of distilling arak from the Persians during their invasion of Central Asia/Middle East around 1256, then it was subsequently introduced to Koreans and distilleries were set up around the city of Kaesong.

Ishkabibble

Happy New Year all!

I thoroughly enjoyed my first ever New Year out of the country. After classes were out on Friday I took a cab with three of my coworkers to Hongdae, an area in Seoul which by taxi was maybe forty-five minutes away. Since we couldn't leave until after work ended at 10:30pm we were making a mad dash to get to a bar somewhere in time for midnight. At quarter to twelve we were on the subway with only one stop to make and at five of we were running down the streets, trying to avoid the enormous patches of black ice that were basically  everywhere. Finally we spotted the bar we'd been looking for, ran to the entrance, and right as we got outside it heard everyone inside yell, "HAPPY NEW YEAR!". Honestly all you could do at that point was laugh. It was a valiant effort but I preferred this turn of events anyway, it was more amusing!

So our night finally started at midnight when we arrived and did not end until I slumped back into my apartment at 8am the following morning. We spent part of the night one of the several Ho Bars in Hongdae. There's something like eight of them and I think we were at number three. We were there for a while and after mocking the costumes of a televised K-Pop New Year's concert and meeting up with some more people, we moved over to Zen Bar which I liked a lot because it was slightly similar to a dance club so that was fun for a couple hours. By that point it was close to 6am and so naturally the next place we wound up was Burger King, along with every other foreigner in the vicinity. Apparently people crave french fries here after a night out just as much as back home.

The perk to being out so late is that by then the trains were running again so instead of paying extra for a bumpy cab ride home we just hopped on the subway and after a couple transfers were back in Yeonsu. I went to bed and slept away the first day of 2011 and it was beautiful.

On Sunday I got up and headed to Suwon to check out Hwaseong Fortress. It's in planning excursions like these that the Korea Tourism website (which I have a link to on the right side of this page) is a huge help. I'm only spontaneous to a degree and if I decide to go somewhere I like to get the details beforehand. Most places you would want to visit have a page on the tourism website with info in regards to admission fees, hours, phone numbers to call for English speakers, and how to get there. I keep a subway map on me when I go out but always look up the route using the site's interactive subway map first. All I did was click where I was starting from and where I wanted to end up and voilà:

It's such a life saver. I love knowing exactly where to transfer and how much the whole trip will cost (dirt cheap) and how long it's going to take me. And at Bupyeong there is an express train to Yongsan that bypasses a lot of stops but does stop at Guro so when I hopped on that one it shaved some time off the trip. I love love love the subway system here. 

So I made it Suwon Station hassle free and having actually managed to nab a seat on the generally packed trains for most of the trip. The station building is connected to the AK Plaza department store so it's ginormous, you can't miss it. 

(Taken on my way back from across the street)

Also there's a tourism center if you exit the station and go to the left and I picked up a couple useful maps and such there. When I came out of the subway there was a big map of the area as well as a list of which bus stops you should go to for carrying on to a particular location. I checked the stops that had routes for Hwaseong Fortress and picked one at random. 

There are tons of bus stops outside the station. It was complete chaos. Literally at any given moment there were five or six buses lined up waiting to get in front of the stop to pick up passengers and the traffic was so thick that merging back in was a nightmare. Several buses were running routes about six stops from Hwaseong so when the first one I saw that I knew was heading there managed to squeeze through the mess I got on board.

So Hwaseong Fortress actually has an awesome sort of story behind it. And by awesome I mean it's disturbing but don't the most interesting places always have the darkest histories? Gather 'round while Grandma Wikipedia tells the tale:

Crown Prince Sado was born as the second son of the Korean King Yeongjo of Joseon. Because his older brother, Prince Hyojang, had died young, in 1728, Prince Sado was born the royal heir. However, it had been reported to his father that Sado was mentally ill, wantonly killed people, and was very erratic. This was a disappointment to King Yeongjo, and with the consent of Lady Yi, Yeongjo finally ordered his son to be sealed alive in a large rice chest (an order Sado obeyed), where he died within eight days. Sado's son became Jeongjo of Joseon after his father's death.

Hwaseong, the wall surrounding the center of Suwon, the provincial capital of Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, was built in the late 18th century by King Jeongjo of the Joseon Dynasty to honour and house the remains of his father Prince Sado.

All of Suwon was once surrounded by the fortress walls but obviously it's expanded since then. There are four gates and I started at Janganmun, the North gate.

I bought a ticket for ₩1,000 (less than a dollar) and headed up to the wall.

In retrospect I probably should have waited for the warmer weather because a lot of the paths were icy but it also meant there weren't too many people out so I had a peaceful stroll up there and it was a pretty cool.

They also have a spot where for a few thousand won you can try your hand at traditional Korean archery.

Wee'uns posing with a snowman aww. I love that halfway around the world I can still count on kids just being kids.

Here's the rear view of an enormous church that dwarfs everything in the vicinity.

Seriously look at this monster.

It translates to Suwon First Church though I don't know if you'd say it like that or maybe The First Church of Suwon. Anyway it's crazy massive. It's probably the first and only church of Suwon, it looks like it ate all the others.

And finally here we have the entrance to the fortress itself!

Except I didn't actually get inside because I'm a dummy and had a late start getting out Sunday morning and by the time I wandered down from the wall it was past five o'clock and the ticket office was closed. Heh.

It wasn't a big deal though. I'm planning on heading back again in the warmer weather anyway because from March to November there are a variety of traditional performances and I'd like to see some of those. And admission is only ₩1,500 for the fortress itself so even if I visit a few times I'll always be getting more than my money's worth.

Plus the rest of Suwon outside the walls seems worth a second trip.

That's Paldalmun, the South gate, in the background. It's under some kind of construction right now so I didn't take too many pictures. 

The first great thing about this street is that there's a Pizza School. There's one a couple blocks from my apartment building and you can get ₩5,000 pizzas that almost taste as good as what you'd get at home. They aren't exactly small enough to be personal pizzas but not really large enough that you'd want to share. Or at least not if you're me. I can eat one of those babies by myself. I think I horrified the Koreans in Suwon who were all splitting a pie among two people. Oh well. I get stared at anyway just for being a foreigner, I might as well eat up!

The other draw for me was the Korean dollar store. Well, it was a bit larger than you're typical dollar store with options more along the lines of The Christmas Tree Shops except not as clean. A Korean Christmas Dollar Shop if you will. Anyway I scooped up a few little householdy things and rejoiced to finally find hand cream that wasn't horribly overpriced. They had those little tubs of vaselline too which I jumped on because I cannot tell you how bad the dry winter here has been to my poor lips. It got to the point that I had to go to the pharmacy and spend ₩12,000 on medicated chap stick and then buy a humidifier to pick up the slack while I'm sleeping. I can't stress enough how dry the winters are here. I've always been prone to chapped lips so it's been especially bad but even still I do recommend getting a humidifier for this weather and should you need to purchase some extra strength lip balm, go with Uriage which you can find at your local pharmacy. I hate spending that much on something so small but it's a great product and completely worth it.

So anyway that was my New Year's weekend! It's been kind of a busy week and it's taken me a few days just to finally get this post off the ground so I'll be catching up soon on the other goings-on in icy cold Yeonsu and possible plans for Lunar New Year. But for now I am off to bed with only two classes tomorrow evening separating me from my weekend. So lovely.

Trivia of the Day: Lotte World is a major recreation complex in Seoul, South Korea. It consists of the world's largest indoor theme park that set a Guinness World Record open all year around, an outdoor amusement park called "Magic Island", an artificial island inside a lake linked by monorail, shopping malls, a luxury hotel, a Korean folk museum, sports facilities, and movie theaters all in one place. Opened on July 12, 1989, Lotte World receives over 8 million visitors each year and is considered along with Tokyo Disney Resort as one of the world-class theme parks in Asia.