IFAC World Congress in Seoul, South Korea

Alrite....finally found some time to blog about my trip to Seoul. Went there to attend the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC) World Congress which was held from 7th till 11th July and also to present my research findings there. Was lucky to be able to secure the Young Author Support Program which provided me with a US$1,000 grant (sungguh bangga betul :-p ) So let's cut the craps and time for some pics haha

6th July (leaving Malaysia)

Woke up at 5.30am to rush to KL Sentral to check in at 6.50am (flight at 8.50am) and took the KLIA Express to eerrrr....KLIA...duh! And was so happy a friend who woke up at 6+ just to SMS me and keeping me company till the time I boarded the plane.

Somewhere above the clouds between Malaysia and Hong Kong

Was transiting at Hong Kong

Somewhere above Hong Kong

The place where a small apartment costs HK$1,000,000....so crowded!!

Thought that this looks nice :-) "I believe I can fly....."

Touched down at Icheon Int Airport around 6pm...still holding on to my poster :-) Quite tired after the flight...so just took the Airport Limousine (in the form of an express bus) and headed straight to the hotel and was done for the day.

7th July (Day 1)

Registered at the congress, went around looking at the demonstration booths with interesting robots and other stuff before heading to the General Assembly (was invited to represent Malaysia :-p ) for a good lunch (nice sushi and nice red wine) :-)

Using magnetic force to suspend a metal ball in the air

A helicopter model used for simulation, control and design purposes...interesting

The General Assembly. Sorry was too busy eating didn't capture the food :-p

Me from Libya??? hahahahha

The glass pyramid outside the COEX which looks like The Louvre to me :-p

After the General Assembly, adjourned to attend some seminar sessions before proceeding to attend the Friendship Night - Dinner Cruise on Han River, yeah....was invited to that too haha

Han River...water was dirty but people are still skurfing on it....eeewwwwww

First dish of the night - Raw salmon with salad....Ichiban

Second dish - Beef with King Prawns and Carrots....but didn't eat the beef though

Performance by Hwang Jin-Yi (tried googling but found no info :-p was expecting TVXQ haha)


Fruits in season....that's what the menu said. The one before this was Salads in season..I'm sure you can guess what they were :-p


Still sober


The boat


One of the bridges connecting the 2 sides of Han River...and each of them had different colours!!


Great dinner on the first night

8th July (Day 2)

Was not interested with any sessions so was away touring the city with Jen Nee and her husband. First stop was the "Jonker Street" of Seoul where they sell souvenirs and the likes.

The Rose Line thingy like the one in Paris??? Nah....I don't think so :-p

One for the album :-)

Next, we visited one of the famous palaces in Korea. We visited only one simply because they all looked the same so much so that if you visit one, you'd have visited them all haha

Main entrance

The main palace building

Never know what species is this but they were all over the place

The Secret Garden is not so secretive after all :-p



Our tour guide who was fluent in English (most Koreans don't speak English :-( )

Went straight to lunch after that before heading off to Seoul Prison and then to Dong Dae-Mun to shop for souvenirs for family and friends.

Hard-boiled eggs had never tasted so good before

Main meal - Rice in soup with Kimchi!!


Seoul Prison

The artificial river at Dong Dae-Mun

One of the many shopping complexes there. Managed to get pretty nice ear-rings, bangles, necklaces and other female stuffs for all the ladies in the family.

East Gate

Dinner - Cheese rice with seafood and Kimchi!!!

That wraps up Day 2. Busy walking all day with all the shoppings and visitings that my leather shoes cracked at the base!!

9th July (Day 3)

Presenting my work today so couldn't go out visiting....at least not until after my session :-p

Main Plenary Hall

Me and my supervisor, Dr Edwin with our poster

Lunch under "The Louvre" I showed you earlier

Cold noodle with sashimi (and it's super duper spicy!! Exciting!!)

Spent most of the time at the COEX Mall doing some shoppings and to buy a handbag for a friend.

One of the shops offered real aesthetic shopping experience for its customers...the dry ice effect


Interactive games for shoppers, especially kids, to play football on the floor!! Image provided by a projector on the ceiling. Great invention!


Ibis Hotel - my 'home' for the week :-) Highly recommended. The time was 8pm but it's still so bright!

The room is equipped with a very hi-tech toilet to enhance your 'experience' haha

Close-up view of the control panel :-p

The room and Edwin's bed after taking his afternoon nap

Room 618...I was here :-)

No pic of dinner for today simply because I had McD :-p


10th July (Day 4)

Had Roti Boy...yup you read that right....for breakfast today :-)

Instructions in BM??? WOW!!!

Was being good boy attending the sessions in the morning before heading out for lunch and went on to visit the COEX Aquarium at half the price :-) The rest of the time was spent at the mall again and managed to grab a pair of ear-rings and another bangle for sis. Really felt so weird getting all those looks from people these few days when they saw a guy shopping for female accessories. Maybe it's not their custom for guys to shop for female stuff....:-p

Chicken cutlet rice


2-headed tortoise....I actually made a wish haha but what wish cannot tell la :-p

Saw the turtle and ran straight away to capture this photo...not many of them around

Walked back to hotel after shopping (just 5 mins walk) to get myself cleaned and sterilized for the Banquet Dinner later.

Thanks Dr Edwin for all your support and guidance along this tough road :-)

Raw salmon with ginseng....hehehe

Pumpkin Porridge...quite nice to me actually


Next up...Australian beef with cheese and seasonal veges and this time....I'm...


.....eating the beef, hoping that Korea is outside the jurisdiction of my God :-p


The sin being committed....hahaha


Red wine with beef.....mamamia!! Double sins!! :-p


Orange mousse French gourmet style :-)

and........

Edwin after 2 glasses of booze....hehehe "I feel certain lag while turning my head.." Typical Control Engineer even when feeling 'high' haha

11th July (Last day in Seoul)

Being my last day here....didn't do much....was shopping at COEX Mall again (where I got my Sennheiser MX 55) and getting ready to pack and return to KL. So was attending sessions for the rest of the time before going to the Farewell Party...

Lunch - Rice with sashimi salad....


Farewell Party...but they ran out of food and booze quite quickly but I still managed to get my hands on 1 red wine, 1 white wine, 1 beer and 1 orange juice...all on empty stomach :-p

Starbucks yeah!!!!

Beautiful final sunset bidding me goodbye :-)

Seafood salad at Outback Steakhouse with fellow researchers

That wraps up the day practically. But since we needed to reach the airport at 6+, we actually stayed awake all night online surfing the internet and just took power naps :-p

On board the bus to Icheon Airport at 5+am and the sky was already so bright....was traveling along Han River :-)

Really enjoyed my trip to Seoul except hating the fact that South Koreans are a bunch of puffers who smoke like chimney everywhere they go. Other than that, I like the food here and also the fact that they are much better drivers than Malaysians (duh!)...truly a city life to me. And not to mention also the booze that I took in Seoul for 1 week was more than what I took in the previous 2 years :-p Won't hesitate to go back there one day for another visit :-)

Hope you enjoyed looking at the pics as much as I enjoyed the trip :-)



Cheers...from the monk who drank booze and ate beef in Seoul :-p