Japan

I really loved Japan! The people were so friendly and helpful. And the food was delicious. I was lucky enough to visit several places: Tokyo, Hiroshima, Miyajima, Kyoto and Osaka.

Imperial Palace

TOKYO
I started in Tokyo, and was able to visit Melissa, my amazing friend who I interned with in Italy. It was so wonderful to catch up with her, and I really enjoyed meeting the other interns at the Tokyo Camp Adventure site. I was able to stay in the hotel with her, so it was a really comfortable and affordable sleep! The hotel, New Sanno, was so nice. The bed was ridiculously comfortable and the staff was some of the best. On Friday while the girls were at work, I meandered around Shibuya district, Yoyogi Park and Hirajuku. I had a delicious doner kebab in Shibuya (way better than any kebab offerings Korea has) and did a little shopping at H&M. After that I relaxed and people watched on a bench in Yoyogi Park. Then I walked around Hirajuku for a bit and was able to see some of the girls dressed up in their famous, crazy fashions. Sadly I did not get a picture with or of any of them!
Friday night we headed out to an English style pub that was having a sale of 50 percent off all drinks for the entire day. It was amazing! We got ourselves a few drinks there, and then headed to Greenland, a bar with a roughly 10 dollar cover for all you can drink until 11 p.m. And since we arrived 15 til 9 p.m., we certainly got our money`s worth! The odd thing about bars in Japan is that dancing is technically forbidden in establishments, and signs warning you not to dance dress the walls. But that did nothing to stop us or other patrons in the bar, and we had a great time dancing away. We left Greenland, grabbed some snacks at a convenie and were going to head home, but the owner of a bar nearby called Joker`s enticed us in to his joint with a free drink. We ended up getting two drinks free and some tasty popcorn, which I ate at the bar in addition to my convenie sandwich. An old man next to me kept tapping my shoulder, pointing to my sandwich and laughing. He found it absurd (as did I) that I was eating the sandwich in the bar. But the bar owner encouraged me to take it in when he offered the free drink, probably fearing that had I stayed outside to finish it, I never would have made it into the bar at all. We finally got away from the bar and headed back to the hotel, where we promptly fell asleep after such an eventful evening.
On Saturday we slept in late. We eventually headed to the famous fish market, grabbing lunch at an Italian restaurant along the way. Sadly once we finally got to the fish market, everything was shut down and packed up. So we then headed to the Imperial Palace. The grounds were so beautiful as were the buildings. It was such a nice little area, but sadly we only had about 30 minutes to explore. I could have gone for a little more time, but was happy that we were able to see it none the less. That night Melissa and I had dinner at a ramen restaurant. It was so good! We both got the vegetable ramen and shared a thing of gyoza. Later in the night we joined some of the other girls for a drink in the hotel bar. The staff were so sweet and gave us nachos and a cheesecake! It was delicious. We then headed back to Roppongi for another night on the town. We danced in another `no dancing allowed` bar for most of the night. After working up such a sweat, we headed to a nearby kebab stand to refuel. The kebab was delicious and had lots of meat, but was not quite as good as the one I had in Shibuya. And that was pretty much the end of our night!
Sunday we slept in as long as we could, and the headed down to the hotel`s brunch. Luckily, one of the children the girls work with was able to get us into the 25 dollar brunch for free. It was so good. Everything was ridiculously delicious. I ate so much food, I can`t even remember it all! The highlights were the fresh fruit, cheese, champagne, seafood and desserts. It was a real treat, and certainly would have been worth the price. After doing a quick load of laundry, it was time for me to say goodbye. I was so sad to leave! It was such a delight being able to spend time with Melissa again. And I really loved all the other girls who I met as well. Everyone was so nice and such fun to hang out with.
I was a fool and didn`t exchange my Japan Rail Pass before trying to leave. So I spent a good two hours waiting in (the wrong, then the right) line to exchange my pass and then get my reserved seat for the train to Hiroshima. I was so tired from getting such little sleep the night before, and stressed out that I was going to miss my check in window for my next hostel. Once I finally got my ticket (only the train from Shin-Osaka to Hiroshima had any seats left to reserve) I burst into tears. At that point emotions were just all over the place, and try as I might I couldn`t collect myself for a good hour, crying on and off. When I got on the first train, I was so sad to have to stand; it was a 3 hour journey from Tokyo to Shin-Osaka. But after about 20 minutes into the ride, a sweet Japanese man showed me an open seat and encouraged me to sit down. I was so relieved to be able to sit there for the length of the journey. And I was able to use another kind Japanese man`s phone to call my hostel and let them know I was going to be late. So it all worked out and I was finally able to relax. After getting to Shin-Osaka, I transferred to another 2 hour train to get me to Hiroshima. Adding in the lines for tickets, it took me about 7.5 hours to get from Tokyo to Hiroshima. I was so exhausted by the time I arrived, but so happy to be able to get in to the hostel with no probably. I dropped off my stuff, took a quick journey to 7 Eleven to refuel and then headed to bed.

A-bomb Dome

HIROSHIMA
Hiroshima was a really great city, and I took advantage of its proximity to Miyajima Island. The island was definitely worth a day trip. It is best known for its Toori Gate that appears to be floating at high tide. Sadly, the tide was low the whole time I was there, so I didn't get to see the floating effect. But it was fine, because I was able to walk around the gate on the beach and check it out from a much closer vantage point. I spent the day walking around the island and checking out the various temples and buildings. My favorite was the five-tiered pagoda. The island is also known for its deer, and for good reason! They were everywhere. And not at all concerned about the people milling about. The deer were actually quite aggressive if you had anything they wanted, namely food. They would walk up to someone and persistently try to snatch it from them. I did my eating inside a restaurant, so I happily did not have to battle a deer for my meal. I had some oysters, which are popular in the area. They were grilled and very tasty.
In Hiroshima, I visited the A-bomb Dome and Memorial Peace Park. I happened to be there on the anniversary of the bomb drop, so it was a really interesting experience. I just kept thinking that if I had been there 68 years ago, I would likely have been killed. It was surreal. There were several booths and activities happening to commemorate the anniversary. I walked on a strip of cloth with a dye on my feet for a group collecting footprints. And I visited the museum, which was really informative. It had a good collection of pictures, artifacts and replications of the bombing. Some of it was hard to see, especially the pictures of people with their flesh burned off and their bodies mangled. The thing that impacted me the most, though, was a wrist watch that reads 8:15, the time when the bomb was dropped. It just embodied something being frozen in history. Sadly I didn't have time to say for the lantern lighting in front of the dome, needing to get to my hostel in Kyoto in time for check-in.

The Golden Pavilion

Fushimi Inari Shrine

KYOTO

I did a lot of exploring in Kyoto. I checked out some of the more interesting sites, including the Golden Pavilion, Ryoanji rock garden and Sanjusangendo Shrine. The Golden Pavilion was really beautiful and one of the cooler buildings I've seen in Asia. I also really loved the rock garden. The garden itself was pretty awesome, but the area surrounding it was absolutely gorgeous. It was a lush, moss-covered forest that seemed enchanted with the way the sunlight peeked in. Sanjusangendo Shrine was really interesting as well. It is filled with Buddhist statues. There are so many, it seems like an army. 

During my time in Kyoto, I was able to hang out with my friend Tiffany. She taught English in Korea as well and decided to travel to Japan too. We met up my second day in Kyoto, and headed to nearby Kumara to check out its Onsen (public bath house). This one was special, because it was in a mountainous setting with indoor and outdoor baths. It was rather small, but so beautiful. I loved just hanging out in the bath while gazing at delightful nature. And I also enjoyed the clothes we were given to cover up when walking from the indoor to the outdoor bath. It was so comfortable! We spent nearly the whole afternoon there, deciding to leave a little after 6 p.m. We lucked out, because the last bus into the city was at 7 p.m. We had a bit of a wait, but it was nice to know we still had a sure way to get back to Kyoto! Once we got back we went out to dinner and then ended the night with some sweet karaoke. 

My final day in Kyoto I ran into Tiffany when I went to get breakfast. So we decided to head to Fushimi Inari Shrine together. We didn't see the whole area, because it is ridiculously vast, but we got a good feel for it. It was a really awesome place. There were so many of the orange gates. I believe the official count is more than 1 million! And the bright color was so striking. We parted ways after the shrine, and I headed to Sanjusangendo Shrine, and then on to Osaka.

Sinsekai

OSAKA

I did very little sightseeing in Osaka, but that was perfectly fine with me, because there was little I really wanted to see. I went to Osaka Castle the afternoon I arrived and was pretty content with what I had seen. But my hotel was close to the Sinsekai area, which is know for its gambling rooms and fried food on a stick, so I went to check it out. I had a whole assortment of food fried on a stick: avocado, lotus root, pumpkin, asparagus, salmon, shrimp and scallop. They were quite tasty, but not my favorite meal in Japan (honestly, I think the pack of edamame I ate almost everyday from the convenies may have been my favorite!). I wasn't quite ready to turn in for the night, so I went to Spa World, which is a huge collection of public baths. There is an Asian section and a European section with various styles of baths. From the brochure pictures, it looked like the European section had Roman, Greek and Spanish style baths. Women were in the Asian section for the month, so I was able to use the Islam, Persian, Japanese and Bali style baths. It was a nice and relaxing evening. 

The next day I went to Summer Sonic, the epic music festival that drew me to Japan in the first place! It was absurdly busy. I thought Korea had crowded events; boy was I wrong. It was just incredible how many people were there. Utter insanity. But I made the most of it. When I arrived, the line for the shuttle bus from the train station to the concert site must have been at least a three hour wait. I just didn't have the patience (and I didn't purchase a ticket beforehand, so I wasn't sure if I'd even be able to ride it), so I scoped out the crowd and saw two foreigners trying to flag down a cab. So I ran over to them and asked to join in their taxi. They were really nice and agreed, but we weren't able to get a taxi as they all were busy or kept being taken. So we went one train stop back and caught a taxi from there no problem. The weird thing though, was that the previous train stop was for Universal Studios theme park, so I was a bit shocked when I got off the train and walked into a theme park version of America (i.e. the city walk)! But I didn't have much time to marvel, though the roller coasters did tempt me, as we hurried to get a cab. We got the the site within a 10 minute drive, and I only ended up paying about a dollar more than I would have for the shuttle. So worth it!

Once I finally got to the concert, I walked around the area to get an idea of where things were located. Then I got to see the first band I was looking forward to, Imagine Dragons. They were so good and incorporated so much percussion into the performance. A really great show! I also saw John Legend (pretty good), Cyndi Lauper (awful), Carly Rae Jepsen (a little whiny for my tastes), and the Smashing Pumpkins (good). Additionally, I was able to watch Two Door Cinema Club. They were so great! I really love their music, and that was reinforced by their excellent performance. Sadly I only caught the middle performance, because they were playing at the same time as the band I most wanted to see: Muse! Oh my goodness! Muse was so incredible. They totally rocked my socks. Even though I missed about 20 minutes of their performance to watch Two Door, I heard all of my favorite songs. So I was completely happy with how it turned out. One of the best performances I've seen!

Leaving the concert was not as bad as I had anticipated. The line for the shuttle was again insanely long and no taxis were to be found. But I happened to walk past a public bus stop that had a really short line. I wasn't sure where it was going, but something said JR, so I figured it was associated with the railway system and thought I'd take a chance to see if it could get me to the train station. I ended up waiting for only about 10 or 15 minutes. And it was a pleasant wait, because two Korean guys who spoke good English were behind me. So we chatted a bit, which helped pass the time. It was a bit odd though, because it felt a little like a comfort of home talking to them. Maybe because I was able to speak English and actually converse with someone. But I think also because they were Korean and its like my second home now. So a nice feeling. Anyway, my intuition paid off, as the bus went directly to the train station and I was able to catch a train back to my hotel rather quickly. Leaving Summer Sonic was thankfully a much quicker process than arriving there. But it was absolutely worth it, and I am so glad I was able to see so many great performers. The concert was the last eventful thing I did in Japan, and a nice way to end. I crashed at my hotel before waking up for my morning flight to Bali.

Rocking Out and Camping Out

Vampire Weekend

Foals

July 26 through 28 I headed to Ansan for the Ansan Valley Rock Festival. It was such an excellent time! I saw so many ridiculously good bands and the weather was quite nice most of the time (though it did rain a bit the last day, but nothing too extreme when I was actually out and about). Every performance I watched was absolutely amazing, but Foals, the XX and Skrillex took the cake for me. In addition to those stellar performers, I also was lucky enough to see Vampire Weekend, FUN., Nine Inch Nails, Yellowcard, the Cure, Coheed & Cambria and some Korean bands. It was a long weekend, but so worth while. 

I stayed at the festival site in a tent. It was nice enough, but the site was pretty much on a marsh and got really foggy at night, so everything was saturated with moisture. All that moisture made for a soggy mess, and there was mud every where you walked! And since the performances carried on until about 4 a.m. (with sound check beginning the next morning at 9 or 10 a.m.), sleep was not the easiest to come by. But it was so convenient to wake up and pop right out to the festival, or go in for a quick rest between groups. And the festival provided nice showers and really nice toilets, complete with toilet paper, running water and air conditioning! Seriously the nicest portable toilets I have ever seen.

I spent each morning in town at a coffee shop reading my book (I finished the Millenium series; holy moly so good!) and charging up my phone. The bands I actually wanted to watch did not start until around 3 or 5 p.m., and it was way too hot to stay in my tent, so I decided to lounge away the morning and early afternoon in a nice, air conditioned spot. It was also a nice way to relax and retain the little energy I gathered from my nights of fitful sleep. 

After the festival, I got back home around 5 a.m. and had to get up two hours later to get ready and head to work. Luckily I had summer camp, so I only had to teach until noon. After I took a nice nap at my desk before clocking out for the day at 4:30 p.m. Even though I was exhausted, I would absolutely do it again. It was so fabulous to see so many great bands, who I have wanted to watch for a while now! I just love music festivals. 

Shanna Visits, I Turn 24 And Then Get Covered in Mud!

Hanging out at Gyeongbuk Palace

 It is safe to say I have the world's best sister! She finished up three years teaching in China, and decided to stop by Korea for a bit over a week before heading back home to the U.S. It was so great to see her again! Unfortunately I had to work during the week, so we mostly just hung out in the evenings in Daegu, going to dinner, watching a light show at one of the lakes, and celebrating the Fourth of July on the local U.S. army base Camp Walker. We then headed to Seoul for the weekend, staying in Hongdae. We got in quite late Friday night, so we just went to I Am Makgeolli to drink some makgeolli and eat haemul pajeon. Shanna wasn't a huge fan of the drink, but she did enjoy the pajeon. 

 Saturday we started fairly early. We had a scrumptious American style breakfast at a restaurant near our hostel. I got a french toast set complete with eggs, hash browns, bacon and sausage. And Shanna got a blueberry waffle. Everything was so good and tasted like something I could get back home. And the chef, who I assume is also the owner, was so sweet. Then we headed to Gyeongbuk Palace, arriving just in time to catch the tail end of the changing of the guards.

 

 A great group for my birthday festivities.

 For my birthday, I gathered up my friends for a delicious dinner at La Luce, a "contemporary European cuisine" restaurant in Daegu. I had never been to the restaurant, but read a glowing review about it in the local magazine, Daegu Compass, so I figured I'd give it a try. I was pleased with the decision the moment I sat down at the table! The restaurant served up proper bread with olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dipping. Something that is such a staple elsewhere in the world is certainly not a common occurrence in Korea's restaurants. I would have been content just munching on the delicious bread alone. But my meal was spectacular, so I'm glad I got that too. I enjoyed a hamburger with a blueberry sauce. Hard to explain, and weird in theory, but oh-so-delicious once it hits the palate. It was certainly the best burger I have had in Korea.
 After dinner (and a quick stop at Cold Stone to indulge in their ever delightful Mud Pie Mojo mix) we headed to a multibang, which is a room with multiple forms of entertainment, like DVDs, video games and karaoke all in one spot. It was the first time I have been to one, but certainly not the last time I will go. I had so much fun. We did a little Mario Kart racing, karaoking, and my favorite part, Just Dance game dancing. I had never played the game before. It was such a good time. I thoroughly loved dancing to the songs and trying to get a high score. Now I really want a Wii and the game so I can do it at home! It was a really great evening filled with good food, good laughs and good friends. I had such a wonderful time hanging out with the wonderful people around me.

Mud wrestling!

Who knew playing in mud could be so much fun? 

On Friday, July 19, I went to the Chicken and Beer Festival in Daegu, which turned out to be pretty decent. The festival offered up to six (six!) glasses of beer for free, of which I only drank two. And I also grabbed some tasty chicken. It was a pretty good time, but I didn't stay at the festival too long.

Saturday I headed to Boryeong for the famous mud festival. It was such a blast! I absolutely loved playing in the mud and covering my body from head to toe. We got to the festival fairly late, so we didn't have a lot of time in the actual activity area with slides and obstacle courses. But we did have enough time to do some mud wrestling. It was so fun to splash around and tackle each other in the mud pit. I've always wanted to join in some mud wrestling action, so I was so excited to cross that off the bucket list. And I also got to cross partying on a beach--complete with a water cannon "misting" us with water as a DJ rocked some beats--off of my bucket list. It was such a great time! After that we swam in the ocean for a bit. It was a pretty strong current, but the stretch of sandy beach was huge! Probably one of the biggest beaches in Korea. We ended the evening by dancing at some of the more energetic temporary bars set up around the town and relaxing on the beach. It turned out to be a really wonderful time and even included a sweet firework show. I will certainly be returning back to Mudfest next year.

Kimchi, Sharks and Beaches

As I write on this last day of June 2013, I am amazed we are already half way through the year! My how time flies. And I've been so blessed to do so many amazing things.  Friday I signed my renewal contract, so I will be teaching in Korea for another year! I am happy I will be in this great place for another year, and I'm really hoping to see as much as I can and develop the friendships I have while I am here. It's been a while since I've posted, so here's what I've been up to:

Kimchi Making

I was taking Korean classes with the YMCA (we finished Monday, so now I have two of my weekdays free again!!), and they offered a cultural cooking experience. Our choices were 잔 (jan- Korean pancake), 국수 (gooksu- a noodle soup) and 김치 (kimchi- the famous side dish). I figured I had to go with kimchi, because it is just too quintessentially Korean! We made the most common cabbage kimchi and a radish kimchi. It turned out well, but didn't really have time to ferment, so the flavors weren't as cohesive as kimchis given enough time to be prepared properly. It was a great experience, and I loved getting my (gloved) hands dirty in the fiery red mess.

 

Haeundae Sand Festival

After cooking up some kimchi, I headed to Busan with my friend Katt for the sand festival. We got into the city pretty late, so we didn't get to see the sand masterpieces until the next day. But we did go out for a drink and a failed attempt at clubbing. Two of the three clubs we tried to go to (after a quick internet via phone to find out what was around) were shut down and the other was too much of a lounge. We were pretty disappointed. But it was probably a good thing, because we got back to our hostel early and got a good night's rest, which was important for our first adventure of the morning...

 

Busan Aquarium Shark Dive

We went to the Busan Aquarium to dive with the sharks! It was such an incredible experience. We were suited up with scuba equipment, which in itself was exciting for me, because I hadn't done any sort of diving since my certification. Then headed into the tank with the sharks. Sadly we weren't able to actually swim around; we basically just walked along the bottom of the tank. But it was still amazing! The sharks were a bit intimidating, especially when they swam straight toward you, but they were so awesome to watch. Some were very curious, probably searching for food, which they equate with divers in their tank. Two of the sharks got so close to me that they brushed my leg. It was excellent! We also were able to see some groupers, which are huge fish. Fish bigger than most of the sharks, and fish that have eaten some of the sharks. I was more intimidated by those guys! And we were also able to check out some porpoises, which were so cute and playful. They were in a different tank, so we didn't get to really swim with them, but it was still good fun to watch them. My heart was beating quite rapidly the whole time for a mixture of fear, excitement and adrenaline. 

We were also a source of entertainment for the crowds outside of the tanks. I think they might have been more excited to see us walking around than they were to see the animals. We did a little Gangnam Style rendition for them and waved to the smiling groups peering in. It was fun to see the children's faces light up when we acknowledged them. I shared some "high fives" with them as well.

After diving we checked out the aquarium, which was not the most impressive. Then we headed to the sand festival. I was hoping for some epic sculptures crafted from sand, but the works of art were more like giant drawings carved onto mountains of sand. It was still pretty impressive, but not quite what I expected.

Headed to Oedo

 

Oedo Botanical Garden

Last weekend I joined an excellent trip to Geoje and Oedo islands. They were both incredibly beautiful! It was quite a long drive, and we had a "bathroom" (smoke) break nearly every 20 minutes, but it was a lovely drive to the island. The first day we didn't get much beach time in, but were able to check out the gorgeous cliffs that plummeted into the ocean. And we headed to Oedo for its botanical garden. It was a really lovely little spot. We were allotted a decent amount of time in each place, but I could have stayed even longer to just soak in the views!

But my favorite part of the trip by far was dinner. We had a proper barbecue. And oh my goodness it was delicious! The organizers of the trip were from South Africa, and several attendees were South African as well. So those men took over the barbecue and cooked up scrumptious steaks, pork chops and lamb chops. And we had a delicious potato salad and green salad. And then we ended with a fabulous creation by South Africans... basically it was a grilled cheese sandwich, but a magical one. Two slices of bread house cheese, onions and tomatoes. Then a light spread of butter on the outside of the bread, and let it toast up on the grill until the cheese is ooey gooey melty. It was so good! I will definitely have to add some onions and tomatoes to my grilled cheese sandwiches more often. Just thinking about the meal makes me want to eat it all over again. Seriously the highlight of the trip!

The next day, we headed to a few sandy beaches, and I just enjoyed looking at the vast water stretch to the horizon. It was incredibly beautiful! At our second beach, we did a zip line across the ocean. My previous experience with zip lines is that they are a bit thrilling. However, this one moved fairly slow and was more about the view. It was also quite short. But it was a fun new adventure to zip line over an ocean, so I'm happy I was able to do it! Overall it was a nice trip.

Today, well Saturday, I didn't do too much except get a pedicure and prep for my visitor... Shanna is coming to Korea for a bit over a week, and she lands in a little over 12 hours! I am so incredibly excited to see her. It is going to be too much fun hanging out. Glorious!

Gotta Hand it to the Amusement Parks

Last weekend I spent Saturday morning and midday at E World, the local amusement park, with Lindsey and Elizabeth. It wasn't a super epic park, but there was some fun stuff! I enjoyed hanging out with the girls. We rode most of the rides and enjoyed an expensive (an really not so tasty) cup of tea in Duryu Tower. It was amazing being up so high and looking at Daegu all around us. I was a bit surprised that the park had foreigners walking around as princes and princesses. I would guess they were from eastern Europe based on their futures, but really it is hard to say for certain. I just couldn't get over that they were in a foreign country to work at a theme park. For some reason it was a hard concept for me to grasp. That evening I headed to downtown to support my friend Jenny get bid off in a date auction (don't worry, it was for charity! lol). It was a very unorganized event, sadly. But it was still fun, and the bar was serving sangria that night! Yummy. After the auction we popped around to a few bars, and then went clubbing! First time heading to a club complete with cover charge in Daegu. We went to FROG. It was pretty packed. I thoroughly enjoyed dancing the night away! The men were much more aggressive here than they were in Seoul, and sadly they didn't dance as devotedly. But it was still a blast, and I was glad to finally go out clubbing in my hometown!
Sunday I went to church and grabbed dinner with a big group of friends after. It was a nice and relaxing day. And I got a delicious mushroom and steak salad that really hit the spot. Jenny, Elizabeth and I broke off from the rest of the group and spent the rest of the evening walking around downtown and chilling at a park. It was so nice just chatting with them and hanging out! I'm so glad I've met such great people here, and I really want to make an effort to really develop those friendships.

 

Happily, Thursday was a national holiday--Memorial Day--so we got the day off! It was a very much needed break from school! I headed to Pohang, a nearby beach town, with my friend Kas. The weather was a bit cloudy in the morning, but cleared up nicely until it started raining. But happily we had decided to leave a few minutes before the rain came, so it didn't really hinder us much. Pohang is known for two hand statues, and as the spot in Korea where the sun first rises. The hands symbolize harmony and are meant to catch the sun as it rises. Even though we weren't there for the rising sun, it was still an awesome sight. A giant, sea-stained hand jutting out of the ocean isn't a sight you see every day! It was really very beautiful. And I was with good company, so it was a great little day trip. And we got home fairly early, so I had enough time to do a load of laundry and prep my snacks for the next day!

It's the Little Things

Last weekend nothing grand or significant happened, but I had a delightful weekend. I participated in some activities I haven't done in a while, and it reminded me how much I love to do them! I tend to let myself get so busy living life and doing things (I really don't even know what!) that I forget to A. do the things I love, 2. cultivate my friendships and D. take enough time to relax. But this weekend I was able to do all three, so it was a very satisfying weekend indeed.
Friday night I headed downtown for a blues party. I've never danced blues before, so I was a little nervous, but it is perhaps one of the easiest partner dances, especially for a follow. You basically just keep rhythm with the music and move to you heart's content. Though the problem with that is finding a quality lead! But it was a nice, short (I only stayed about an hour so my cheap self could catch the subway home) time. It reminded me just how much I love partner dancing and need to incorporate it into my life so much more!
I spent Saturday morning at the Daegu Arboretum on a picnic with some of the lovely ladies from church. It was a really nice time. We enjoyed some delicious food and fun activities. And the weather was great! I am so lucky to have such a great group of ladies around, and I really need to work on spending quality time with them. After the picnic, I headed home for some much needed relaxation. I prepped some snacks for the work week and did a little cleaning. But other than that, I just relaxed and caught up on my television shows. And I started a new one... Game of Thrones. I keep hearing people talk about how great it is, so I decided to give it a whirl, and after episode one I am hooked. I have several episodes to catch up to the current episode, but it will be a nice way to spend leisurely time.

Sunday I went to church, and after joined in on the church's basketball tournament. It was so much fun! I tried to think back to the last time I really played basketball, and I couldn't even remember. How sad is that! I forgot how much I absolutely love the sport. It felt so great to play again. I loved boxing out and shooting and dribbling. Ah, it was glorious!

And my team won the tournament, so we got Starbucks gift cards. A pretty sweet deal. I really hope to play more in the future, and while I'm at it, to swim more as well. I love those two sports, so I should really make the time to do them!
Overall this weekend was a good reminder of what makes me happy, and what I need to keep up with to keep from getting down. These last few weeks have been pretty tough. My students are getting rowdier by the day, and even with all this time that has passed, my communication with my coteachers isn't the best. So work is a bit stressful at times, but I'm trying my best to learn to go with the flow and be more flexible. Patience has never been my strong suit, so I think God is really challenging me to learn to rest in Him and His timing as well as how to cope with change better. It is a tough lesson, but one worth learning. We'll see how it goes!

Thanks for Being Born, Buddha

 

Sigur Ros concert!

Last weekend was one of the best weekends I have had in Korea thus far. We got Friday off, because it was Buddha's birthday, so I took full advantage and headed to Seoul. I've been to the capital a few times, but hadn't really been able to explore much. This time round, I got a much better feel for some of the neighborhoods in Seoul. I still stayed mostly in Hongdae, Myeongdong and Itaewon, but I did also venture around the Olympic Stadium.

I really fell in love with Hongdae! It is a great place for young people, and it was so refreshing to see a lot of diversity. And not even just people of different nationalities, but Koreans with such varied styles. It is definitely a more modern-thinking part of Korea, which was exhilarating to be around. Don't get me wrong; I love Daegu. But this was like a breath of fresh air from the monotony that can bog you down. And, of course, Hongdae has one of the very few Taco Bells in Korea, so I was excessively excited to eat there. It was my first meal after getting into the city. But I actually ended up eating therefour times after things just worked out that way (lunch and dinner the first day, then a late night snack before clubbing and an early morning refresher after said clubbing).

 

Hanging out with Yong!

During the first day in the big city, I just walked around Hongdae, checking out the area. It is really a great little area, and one that I would love to live in. I was also very excited, because I was finally able to find proper nose rings. That night I met up with my friend Yong (권용범), who I met sophomore year of college when he was an exchange student at Fresno State. He was the person who really introduced me to Korean culture and food, and lit a desire to come check out this country. It was so surreal to see him in Korea, but so great that we finally got to meet up. He lives in the Hongdae area, so he took me to a cute little coffee shop and we just caught up on our lives.

The next day I headed to Itaewon for the afternoon, and did a lot of mindless walking around. It is definitely a superb place to go for kitschy souvenirs, plus size clothes and foreign restaurants. I decided on a Mexican restaurant (I mean, Taco Bell is good, but it isn't Mexican food). While looking at the menu, a random Korean man approached me and said he noticed me walking around the area. So he asked to join me for lunch, and I figured why not. Turns out he lived in Washington (the state) for three years and worked as a journalist. We actually seemed to have quite a bit in common, but he had a chauvinistic air about him that I was not impressed by. So after lunch, which was the best Mexican food in Korea I've had, I said farewell and thanks for the meal (he paid!) I then headed to Myeongdong for a little shopping and found some good stuff at H&M.

That evening I met up with Yong again, and had dinner with him and his lovely girlfriend. She studied at USC for her bachelor's degree, and her English was impeccable! It was really nice that I was able to freely communicate with both of them. They are such a great couple, and wonderful individuals. We had samgyeopsal, which is like Korean bbq with pork belly. It was really delicious, and fun to have a Korean meal after all of my burritos and quesadillas! After we went to a coffee shop and grabbed a sweet, tasty cup of Joe.

 

Lanterns for Buddha

Once we said our goodbyes, I headed to Cheonggyecheon Stream, which is a pretty major tourist destination. It was exceptionally lovely this time of year, because lanterns were on display in the river to celebrate Buddha's birthday. I had a serene, albeit wet from the rain, walk down the stream. It was really beautiful with all of the colors from the lanterns lighting up the stream. I headed back to my hostel around 9:30 p.m. and did a bit of Korean homework for about an hour or so. Then I joined in with the other girls staying at the hostel for what would be a fantastic night! We started the night out with some Norebang, singing for about an hour. Then after a bit of delayed walking around, we finally headed to the club.

We went to Mama, which turned out to be a fabulous spot. It had an excellent mix of house and hip hop and kept me dancing all night long. Literally... we didn't leave until about 5:45 a.m., and I still felt like I had enough energy to go on for at least another hour! I haven't really gotten to see the true clubbing nightlife of Korea, and assumed that was because it was lacking. But it turns out I either wasn't looking in the right place, or not looking with the right people. One of my favorite things about clubbing in Korea is that the men are actually there to dance! Well, obviously not all of them; but so many of the guys just go so hard when they dance, and it is great. Most people were there to dance and have a good time, which is exactly what I love to do when I go out! It definitely puts CA clubbing to shame! Though there was the occasional guy who was a little to aggressive when trying to dance with me. One guy kept pushing down on my shoulders, basically trying to direct my movement, which really infuriated me. I can dance just fine without anyone's assistance, thank you very much! So I removed his hands from my shoulders, and turned around to give him a "shoo, fly don't bother me" hand motion. But other than that, it was a glorious experience overall. I will certainly be hitting up more clubs in Hongdae in the future, and now I really want to give clubs in Daegu a try.

 

So much talent!

Sunday I slept in as long as I could, then headed back into Hongdae for a sushi lunch. The sushi was all right, but not the best. I mean for as long as Japan occupied Korea, you'd think they'd have it down pat. After another pass through H&M (Hongdae has one too) and a brief rest in the hostel, I headed to the Olympic Park Stadium. I went to see Sigur Ros! They are a ridiculously talented group from Iceland. I got to the concert a little early, so I walked around the park. It was a beautiful spot with lots of little trails and grassy mounds covered with trees. And there were many fun statues as well.

The concert was absolutely amazing. Sigur Ros is pretty chill on their album, but they really ramped it up for the show. It was a work of art with the accompanying lighting and video. I was in awe of their talent, and how powerful the lead vocalist's voice really is. It is insane the notes he can hit and how long he can hold them. It was so great that I can't even find the words to describe it. They put on a show that you really just have to experience to understand. I got back to my house fairly late, but it was worthwhile. Such a splendid time in Seoul!

Walking on the Sea, Drinking Tea and Paragliding

Hello again blogging world! I have quite a few updates for you, so let's get to it. The weather is actually starting to feel like spring with sunny skies and highs in the mid-80s. It has been really delightful enjoying the warmer temperatures. And as such, I have started to be more active of the weekends, getting out and traveling. Though mid April was filled with leisurely weekends!

The weekend of April 27-28 I headed to Jindo with a travel group for the Sea Parting Festival. It is a natural phenomenon that happens for a few days in spring each year.
The legend of the sea parting is that the inhabitants of Jindo were being terrorized by a ferocious tiger, so everyone fled to the nearby (smaller) island Modo for safety. But in midst of the chaos, a grandmother was left behind. She pleaded with the gods to give her a way to make it to the other island, so they parted the sea for a short time, allowing her to walk to Modo. She made it all the way, but tragically died of exhaustion shortly after arriving. Not the happiest of legends, but definitely reasonable that she would have been so exhausted; it was quite a journey!
In reality, the tide gets so low, that a rocky/sandy bar opens up in the ocean between the island of Jindo and Modo. Thousands of people visit each year to walk along the sand bar. But as I experienced, in order to make it to Modo and back, you have to run bits of the way. The distance between the two islands was quite longer than I anticipated, and the sea only parts for about two hours. But happily my friend Tiffany and I powered through and were able to make it all the way! We were a bit nervous at points on our way back, but we did it.
The festival itself was pretty typical of most Korean festivals, but had one fabulous new addition that I was so excited about! It was a booth to make your "own" painting. I've been searching high and low for Korean paintings that I can take home as souvenirs, but have come up short of anything remotely traditional looking; until now that is! And the best part is I saw the man paint it right before my eyes, and I even helped a little. Ok, not really... I just held the brush with a limp hand that he moved around. But it was still great!
After the festival we headed to Mokpo for the night. Tiffany and I tried to find any sign of nightlife, but came up pretty short. It was a sleepy little town with only a few bars that had any activity. But we did get to drink at Moe's Bar (think the Simpsons), so that was kind of fun. We called it a night pretty early, since there wasn't too much to do.

The next day we headed to Boseong to see the Green Tea Fields. It was gorgeous! Rows and rows of tea plants curved along the hills like luscious green ribbons. It was nice to get out of the cities and have a short respite in nature. The surrounding area was a bit forest-like, and was also beautiful. We even found a little waterfall. And, after quite a hike, we got to the highest point of the tea fields and could sea the ocean stretching to the horizon in the distance. After all of our activity, we headed to the restaurant and cafe at the tea fields for some refreshments. I enjoyed some green tea bibimbap (basically the rice was mixed with green tea leaves) that was good, but didn't have much of a green tea flavor. But my excellent green tea ice latte and ice cream both had scrumptious amounts of green tea flavoring. I also bought some tasty green tea chocolates. It was a fun experience, and a really beautiful place. Plus green tea is probably my favorite tea (jasmine is quite close!), so it was a delight trying so many green tea-infused treats.

I had a delightful day off mid-week (Wednesday, May 1), which coincided with the start of the azalea festival at Biseulsan, a nearby mountain nature park. I woke up early and took the hour and a half trek to the nature park. Once inside I enjoyed the festivities and hiked about 2 km to the point overlooking the gorgeous azalea fields. It was a pretty good hike, and a nice way to get my energy flowing! I made it a pretty quick trip, but I did have time to try some azalea rice cake, which was all right, and get a quick print painting from a local artist. After returning home, I dropped off my things, grabbed a quick lunch and then headed to a fairly close jimjilbang (a sauna/spa/public bath place). It was the perfect way to relax and unwind after the strenuous hike. It is the second time I have gone to a jimjilbang, and now I really want to go more often! It is just so relaxing and nice. And I got a scrub down by and adjuma (old/married Korean woman), which hurt so good. She rubbed off all the dead skin from my body with two abrasive gloves. It was like an icy fire sensation that I would liken to the feeling of Icy Hot cream. Only intensified. It was great, and I left feeling so refreshed.

The following weekend, I headed with Elizabeth and Lindsey, along with another tour group to go paragliding! We went to nearby Cheongdo to soar in the air. It was a pretty cool experience, though the sensation of being suspended in the air made me a little queasy. So paragliding is one of those things I am so happy I tried, but I am satisfied with only doing in once. The take off was definitely the most exhilarating part. After a crazy, windy drive up the mountain, we were suited up with our gear and then linked up with our instructor (it was a tandem jump). After we had our parachute attached, we sprinted off the side of the mountain and jumped off into the air, hoping the wind would catch us so we could fly. My first attempt at taking flight was thwarted, so we had to stop mid way and try again later. But it wasn't anything crazy like a crash landing, because we basically just stopped running a few feet before the end of the mountain.

After paragliding we headed to a nearby "castle" of which basically on part of the wall remained. But there was a pleasant little tea shop nearby, so I enjoyed some chrysanthemum tea and we played UNO. It was a nice, relaxing afternoon, and the weather was perfect! Then we capped off the night with a barbecue at our pensions in a mountain. It reminded me of the cabins (and surrounding areas) I used to stay at in Redwood Christian Park (although these living quarters were a bit classier). The barbecue had insane amounts of food and drinks, of which I thoroughly enjoyed partaking!

The next day, after a bumpy start (my cabin woke up and got ready to go at the originally planned time to leave [8a.m.], only to learn that it had been pushed back 2.5 hours thanks to a last minute decision by the coordinators) we set out for Gyeonju. I have visited the city before, but this time I was able to see parts of it I didn't get to visit last time I was there. Also, the weather was sunny and warm, unlike the arctic chill I experienced last time I visited! We went to the national museum, which was mildly interesting and also included an art exhibit. We also saw the royal tombs, which look like little hills plopped onto the earth. The higher your mound, the more important you were. My favorite part of this trip to Gyeonju was visiting the only tomb in the city that allows you to walk around inside. It was kind of surreal to be standing in a grave. Definitely an interesting experience.

After Gyeonju, we went to a nearby folk village to grab lunch. It was a traditional style village with hanok homes. It was a nice little place. Then we headed back to Daegu, stopping at Palgongsan to visit Donghwasa Temple. We didn't get much time at the temple, so I definitely want to visit it again. It is located in a very beautiful area, and there is an awesome, huge Buddha statue. Overall it turned out to be a nice weekend, and I was able to check paragliding off of my bucket list!

This weekend I plan to take it pretty easy. I went to Costco to restock on some things. Later I watched a compelling documentary about North Korea, and then hit up the nightlife in Daegu. It had been such a long time since I had been out in my city, so I was excited to get out again. It turned out to be a pretty good night. Sunday I just headed to church and soaked up the sun. It feels nice to have a relaxing weekend after being on the road so often recently.

Strawberries and Blossoms

 Mmm... warm, delicious hotteok!

 

Dancing and having a blast!

Last weekend I headed to Nonsan with Elizabeth (as part of a large tour group) for a strawberry festival. Sadly it was quite a cold, rainy day. But I still managed to enjoy the festival, and I will probably go again next year! We mostly walked around, visiting the different booths. At one point in the day, there was a dance competition for foreigners that I obviously took part in. I didn't get chosen as an outright winner, but I certainly had a blast. And I got a strawberry plant for braving the stage (though I ended up tossing the plant, because there is really no where to put it in my tiny apartment). The festival didn't have a whole lot else in the way of entertainment, but there were plenty of foods that incorporated strawberries. And they were delicious! My favorite strawberry-infused item was the hotteok (it's kind of like a cinnamon syrup-filled pancake). It wasn't easy getting the hotteok though. When we first got in line for it, the ladies ran out of dough, giving the last one to the person before me. Ugh, bummer! So Elizabeth and I diligently returned to the booth about five times, until our persistence was finally rewarded with a new batch of freshly cooked hotteok. I also really enjoyed the strawberry ice cream and chocolate covered strawberries I had. We also sampled wraps, rice cake and jams that incorporated strawberries. It was really all quite tasty. But nothing compared to the absolute deliciousness of picking strawberries right off the plants at a nearby strawberry farm. We were able to pick strawberries for about 30 minutes, filling up tiny containers and cramming as many in our mouths as our bodies could stand. I ate a ridiculous amount of strawberries, but they were just so good! Definitely the most delicious strawberries I have had in my life. I basically want to go to the festival again so I can go back to another strawberry farm and pick excellent, fresh strawberries!

 Jinhae

 

Making rice cake!

On Sunday Elizabeth and I joined up with another tour group bound for Jinhae. It was quite an adventure getting there. About 10 minutes into the journey, and before even getting out of Daegu, a car cut off our bus and we crashed. Luckily we weren't hurt. But it did set us back about 20 minutes waiting for everything to get sorted out with the police and insurance swapping. I guess now I can say I experienced my first (an hopefully only!) car accident in Korea (actually, now that I think about it, it may be my first car accident ever). But on we finally went to Jinhae! We were under the impression we were going to a cherry blossom festival, but it turns out that the festival was actually to celebrate the armed forces in Korea. The festival was pretty typical of most Korean festivals, and sadly wasn't as beautiful of a setting as I had hoped. Jinhae is known for its cherry blossoms, but unfortunately many of them were gone by the time we arrived, either from growing out or being washed away by the rain the previous day. But luckily we stumbled across a nice set of trees still filled with the blossoms. So we were able to get some nice pictures! As with most festivals, we also enjoyed some tasty treats. For lunch we had seafood pajeon; snack was red bean-filled dough balls; dinner were doner kebabs. It was a delicious day of eating and leisurely strolling around Jinhae. We also climbed up to an observatory on a hill. It had stunning views of the festival and the nearby ocean. It was quite a spectacular sight! I will probably skip this festival next year, but it was nice to see once.

Colorful Crabs

This past weekend I joined two outings that were both a great time! On Saturday, my friend Katt and I joined in with a group headed to Yeongduk for the annual Snow Crab Festival. The festival was a bit small, and we were able to see everything it had to offer fairly quickly (even with Katt’s broken foot setting the pace!). But it was a nice, relaxing trip. And also delicious! We were able to try so many delicious crab dishes, and lots of free samples! We had free samples of crab legs, makgeolli, and cream-filled bread to name a few. The dishes we purchased were quite delightful. We enjoyed a crab soup (my least favorite item), a crab wrap, crab spring rolls and a crab pancake-like food (my favorite item). We also tried the chicken skewers you can find at any Korean festival for good measure, since we had wanted to try them for a while, but for whatever reason failed to do so at festivals we previously attended! It was all scrumptious and incredibly cheap! I was so happy to eat so much fresh crab. And there were thousands of them in tanks or laid belly-up on display. There were also many other sorts of sea creatures, including lobsters, octopus and an intriguing looking animal that looked like a combination between a fish and an eel. Over all it was a delightful trip, and a festival worth checking out at least once!

On Sunday Katt and I joined forces again for the Holi Hai festival in Busan. Holi Hai is an Indian festival that is celebrated each year to welcome spring. Basically you wear white and get a rainbow’s supply of richly colored powders. Then you shout, dance and prance with joy while throwing the colored powders in the air or at your friends (or complete strangers too!). Face paint is also distributed (think of the acrylic paint you use in elementary school) to paint everyone around you with. The goal is to get as colorful as possible. If you do it expert level, no one will even be able to tell your outfit started out white! The party got into full swing after we became Easter eggs, and everyone danced to the blaring techno music. It was a great time.
Ever since going to India, and first hearing about Holi, I have desperately wanted to take part in a celebration of the event. While I would certainly love to attend one in India, I was very happy to join the Indians in Korea (along with other foreigners and Koreans) to celebrate at Haeundae Beach. We didn’t dance away the entire day at the beach, but decided to get a nice cup of coffee to help warm ourselves up. Later we went to a nearby “Hawaiian” restaurant and enjoyed a very scrumptious buffet lunch, though I’m not sure where the Hawaiian food came into play. Our colorful faces and attire got us some side glances, and stopped dancing children in their tracks (their faces quickly registered fear and confusion upon seeing us), but most people just seemed to chalk it up to foreigners being crazy foreigners. I did have a couple moments in the meal when I just started laughing, because I realized how ridiculous we looked, but it just added to the general merriment of the festival. It was a great day and I certainly plan to go again next year!

Catching Up

Well hello again! As usual, I have gotten caught up in living life, and have failed miserably to update this neglected blog. So be prepared for a peppering of what I have been up to these past few weekends.

On March 2, I traveled to Cheongdo to watch some bull fighting, taste persimmon wine in a wine tunnel, hang out at a park and see a light show. It was a fun day trip and a great group! And I was really excited to watch the bull fights, since I didn't end up making it to the Jinju bull fighting festival. I really enjoyed the bull fighting, but sadly we were only able to watch two matches. It is pretty civilized as far as animal fights go. Two bulls are brought into the ring to face one another. The bulls size each other up and can choose to fight or run. In both rounds I saw, the bulls tangled for a while, using a variety of techniques with their horns and bodies. Finally, one bull is declared the winner when his competitor runs off. Then the bulls are taken from the arena and it is prepared for the next set of bulls. There didn’t seem to be any mistreatment of the animals, and the bulls get to decide when, if and how long they want to fight. It is a pretty popular event in Korea, so it was nice to see it firsthand.

After the bull fight, we headed to the famous Wine Tunnel. I was a little underwhelmed by the tunnel, and the wine was far too sweet. But still something to check off the list of life, so glad it happened! We then headed to an outdoor recreation area, which turned out to be my favorite part of the trip. My friend Jocelyn and I jumped on a tandem bike, and shakily biked our away along the nearby lake. I have always wanted to ride a tandem bike, so I was so excited to get on and go. It took us a while to get our rhythm, but after a while we got the hang out it. I had such a ball and giggled the entire time. Jocelyn probably thought I was crazy, but I think my fits of laughter made her laugh too. It was such a blast! We finished the trip off at a light show, which was similar to the one I visited in Gyeongju. If you see one, you pretty much see them all. So now that I have been to two different ones, I am set!

The following weekend, March 9, my friends and I had an utterly delightful Spanish fiesta. We made a bunch of delicious Spanish food, including empanadas, stuffed bell peppers and tortilla de patatas. We ate obscene amounts of food, and I spent a majority of the time cooking, but it was such a fun time. I really loved sharing the food together and being able to try out making new dishes. Thinking about it makes me hungry all over again! We have tentative plans to do another cookout, this time with Italian food. That will also surely be a delicious occasion.

St. Patrick’s Day weekend and the following weekend were pretty laid back. I enjoyed the free weekends by resting, catching up on cleaning and completing odds and ends tasks I had been putting off. On the 24, I headed to Busan with Holly, Elizabeth and Lindsey to celebrate the lunar new year. The festival is held to pray for good health and good fortune in the coming year. The main event of the festival is the Daljip burning, which is basically a HUGE bonfire. A heap of straw and other flammable vegetation was piled way up high and set ablaze around the time the moon rose. It was a magnificent sight, and I was amazed by the intensity of the heat the fire put off. There were several events held throughout Busan, but we decided to attend the one at Haeundae to get a little beach in our lives. It was an interesting cultural experience and a nice, quick day trip.

Winter Vacation- Shanghai, Cambodia, Thailand

During my winter vacation, I was lucky enough to visit Cambodia and Thailand, and I got to see Shanna! It was a great trip with lots of new adventures. I traveled with my friends Elizabeth, Jenny and Rachelle. 

 

Short Layover in Shanghai with Shanna!

Getting to Cambodia was quite a journey, involving two layers. One was in Seoul. The other in Shanghai. After booking our flight to Phnom Penh, I texted Shanna (thanks Kakao Talk for international textability!) that I had a long layover in Shanghai. I didn't dare to hope for what happened next. She enthusiastically responded that she should fly to Shanghai for that weekend so we could hang out for my layover. I was a little nervous it wouldn't work out, but turns out, you can go out and about in Shanghai up to 48 hours without a visa as long as you have proof of an onward flight to another country! We only ended up being together for about three hours of the six hour layover, but it was amazing nonetheless. I must say I have the best sister in the whole world, and it was a real treat and great way to start the journey hanging out with her!

 

 

 Killing Fields in Phnom Penh

We finally made it to Phnom Penh, Cambodia around midnight (after traveling nearly 24 hours) and headed straight to our hostel; we then headed promptly for our beds. We only had one full day in Phnom Penh, which was mildly rushed, but really enough to see the city if you are short on time. We visited the infamous Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng Museum. It was a somber visit, but very eye-opening and something every must do when visiting Phnom Penh. I was struck by how viciously people were murdered, and how little attention was paid to the horrors until far too late into the ordeal. Afterwards we headed to the Russian Market, where I acquired several excellent paintings. We ended the day with dinner by the river and strolling around the city. It was a nice visit, and the chaos and uniqueness of the city was a breath of fresh air from all the Westernized places I have recently traveled to! 

Side note: We stayed at Sunday Guesthouse, which was in a pretty good location and the rooms were excellently priced (we're talking $4.50 a night for a two twin bed private!!) The staff was incredibly helpful and the rooms were in good condition. I highly recommend staying there.

 

  

At Bayon Temple in Angkor Wat in Siem Reap

We took a long mini bus ride (about 7 hours) from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap, arriving quite late in the evening. We just grabbed dinner at the hostel and tucked right into bed. The next day, Da, our tuk tuk driver, took us to Angkor Wat to start our three-day tour of the temples. Three days was the perfect amount of time to tour the temples, because you got to see many of them at a fairly leisurely pace, but didn't become numb after seeing every temple known to man! One day would most certainly not have been enough and would have been a terrible tease. One week would probably have been overwhelmingly long and changed the temples from the magnificent buildings they are to mundane stones you would get tired of clambering around. Here is the schedule we did:
   Day 1: waterfall hike ( a nice and fairly vigorous hike, though the waterfall is small), Bantaey Samre, Bantaey Srey, Kbal Spen
   Day 2: Preah Khan, Neak Pean, Ta Som, East Mebon, Prasat Kravan, Bantaey Kdei, Pre Rup
   Day 3: Angkor Wat (sunrise!), Tae Keo, Ta Prohm, Angkor Thom, Bayon
Bayon was my favorite temple overall. It was very unique from the other temples and really stood out, which is part of its appeal. But the temples were all incredible, and something that must been seen if visiting Cambodia. I mean really, not to be missed!

We also ate lots of delicious food in Cambodia, including sandwiches, which are hard to come by in Korea (well, delicious, gourmet ones anyway)! A restaurant that is certainly worth a visit is Blue Pumpkin. It is a bakery slash restaurant and has delicious pastries and Western food. Thanks to the French colonization for leaving Cambodians with the skill sets to make incredibly delicious bread! I also tried some Khmer cuisine, my favorite of which was the coconut amok. It is served in a coconut and has a variety of spices and vegetables along with your choice of meat. A dish worth trying.

Side note: Da was an excellent tuk tuk driver and a really nice guy. He mapped out a good tour for us. Though I wish he would have given us a bit of history or information about the temples. But he speaks very good English and is charismatic, so I was glad we used his services. You can check out his site here: http://www.experienceangkor.com/ or visit his facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/da.mao.52
We stayed at The City Guesthouse, which was pretty good. I liked the ambiance of the place, but the rooms could certainly have been cleaner. And I was not a fan of the howling chorus of dogs that kept me up from 3 a.m. to 4 a.m. every night. It was comfortable enough and did the job, but not necessarily a place I would enthusiastically recommend.

After Siem Reap, we took a long journey from the city to get to Bangkok, Thailand. We started at 8:30 a.m. with a three hour taxi ride from Siem Reap to Poipet, a popular spot to cross the border. It was a bout an hour process to our passports and make the walk from Poipet, Cambodia to Aranyaprathet, Thailand (the walk itself was about 5 minutes; the real time killer was waiting in line!) Thailand was easy enough to get into; I merely presented my passport, scanned my luggage and walked right on in! Then we caught a 10 minute tuk tuk ride to the Aranyaprathet train station and grabbed lunch at a nearby restaurant. We had plenty of time to relax before catching the 1:55 p.m. train to Bangkok (train 276). The train was third class only, with wooden benches and fans/open windows for ventilation. It certainly wasn't the most comfortable ride, but we passed by lots of fields and had some beautiful views. Though I could have done without the burning fields that blew in quite a bit of ash for about the first third of the journey. I just chalked it up to a once-in-a-lifetime experience and really enjoyed the experience. And for only about $1.60 (48 Baht) for the 6 hour ride, it's hard to complain!

We arrived in Bangkok and after struggling to find out hostel, headed to Khoasan Road for some dinner, drinks and nightlife. The area was incredibly packed with foreigners and Thai vendors. It was a bit overwhelming, and the traveler crowd was different than those I have previously encountered (imagine mother-earth-loving, drugs-of-all-sorts-doing, dreadlock-rocking travelers). But we had some decent food and hung out at a cute little bar (The Hippie Bar) for a bit. I also purchased a few tank tops and flip flops. In retrospect, I wish I had purchased some of the artwork I saw, because I didn't see any work of a similar style anywhere else in Thailand. Guess I just have to go back to Bangkok! The next day we searched in vain for about 2 hours to locate our train tickets for the next journey that were delivered to the wrong hostel. After we finally secured them, we headed to the river for a short boat tour and journey to the mildly impressive floating market, of which about a fourth of it floated. We didn't really get to do much with the rest of our time, as it takes a frustratingly long time to get anywhere in Bangkok. I wasn't all that impressed with the city, and I'm glad we didn't devote more than a day to the place. I really don't feel a strong pull to go there again, other than to use it as a transition place to get from one part of Thailand to another (or to nearby countries) or to get some of that artwork!

 

Scuba Certified in Ko Tao, Thailand

We took an overnight train from Bangkok (at 7:30 p.m.) to Chumphon, and then caught a ferry onward to Ko Tao. We booked a combined ticket through http://www.thailandtrainticket.com/ but it really isn't necessary, because there are usually plenty of tickets available for the train and ferry (expect perhaps the day of and surrounding the Full Moon Parties). And trekking around downtown to find our tickets ate up so much of our time in Bangkok, that it really would have been much wiser to have bought the tickets when we arrived at the train station instead of before we got to Thailand! We were in second class of the overnight train, and I was thoroughly impressed! It was a great train that has seats that convert to beds in a mere two minutes when the efficient staff switch them over. It was a very comfortable bed with a nice curtain to keep the light from the hallways out of your bed area as well as give you privacy. And there was a Western style toilet on board the train as well as food (though I bought some snacks at the train station beforehand). It is definitely the way to go when traveling to the south of Thailand! We got to Chumphon around 5 a.m. and then waited til about 6 a.m. for the ferry bus to shuttle us to the pier to catch out 7 a.m. ferry to Ko Tao. It was about and hour and a half journey.

We were excited to finally arrive to Ko Tao and went straight to Crystal Dive Resort, or accommodations and scuba certification school for our four days in Ko Tao. The rooms were really quite sketch and we had lots of bugs crawling around at night. But the resort was in a convenient location and we were mainly there to get our scuba certification. It was an exhausting four days, but well worth it! We started with three introductory videos in the afternoon of our first day in Ko Tao. Then we enjoyed another two videos the next day and spent about 6 hours in the pool practicing with the gear. On our third day, we were finally able to get in the ocean for two open water dives, each 12 m deep, after completing our final exam in the morning. On our last full day on the island, we did two more dives in the morning to 16 m. It was amazing how much I improved from one dive to the next, and by the fourth I felt quite comfortable. I am so happy that I got my certification, and I want to get my advanced open water certification soon and keep on diving!
We did also get to enjoy the island the short times we weren't devoting to our scuba certification. We went to Sairee Beach in the evening twice to enjoy some restaurants and the spectacular night life. There were several beach bars, with great music and exciting fire twirlers. I was mesmerized by the flames, though I wasn't so caught up that I was foolish enough to partake in the flaming jump rope or flaming limbo! It was a fun area, but I am glad that we stayed the 20 minute walk away at Crystal, because we were closer to the pier and further away from the noise! We also ate so many delicious meals, both Thai and Western. I had an excellent vegetable pizza at Sol Cafe and some tasty Thai Tea from the Crystal Dive restaurant. It was a great few days of diving and eating!

 

Ko Phi Phi, Thailand

 

 From Ko Tao we spent nearly a full day journeying to Phuket. We spent the night at a great little hosetl, 2W Cafe, and then headed out the next morning to Ko Phi Phi. The island is truly spectacular, and I really wish we had time for more than just a day and night there. I would have loved to have been able to kayak around the island or go on a hike, but time just wasn't our ally. We spent most of our time lounging on the beach, taking some much needed rest after a whirlwind of exhausting traveling! I had my favorite dish of Pad Thai at a restaurant on the island, and was finally satisfied with my Thai food experience! I also had some amazing steak and shrimp fajitas from the Mexican restaurant, Banana Bar. It was a great place and exquisite food! I also finally found artwork, though it still wasn't quite what I was hoping for (i.e. the style Bangkok had).
After our spending the night, we caught the afternoon ferry back to Phuket and headed to the airport. We dropped off our bags and spent our final few vacation hours at the nearby Naiyang Beach and national park. It was a gorgeous area, with a huge expanse of sandy beach! And the surrounding area was a bit forest-like, with some cool looking camp grounds. I really underestimated Phuket, and hope that I can return one day to spend a little more time exploring the rest of the city. We finally headed back to the airport to catch our 2:45 a.m. flight back to Seoul. Once in Seoul we took the express bus to Daegu and I finally subwayed it home. It was a wonderful vacation filled with amazing food, gorgeous sites and lots of adventure. I certainly must return to Southeast Asia to see what else it has to offer!

Time Change

 

Such a lovely group!

I can hardly believe that is is already 2013! My has time flown by. But 2012 was an utterly, amazingly, life changinly great year! I met so many wonderful people last year; some who will surely be life-long friends. And of course I have been able to travel extensively: Italy, Switzerland, Slovenia, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania and South Korea! And I know the traveling is going to continue on this year. When I stop to think about it, I realize how completely and wonderfully blessed I am. I don't know why I get to live this life, but I am eternally grateful that I do, and I hope it continues on for a long while yet. I am so in love with the world! And meeting new people, trying new foods and visiting new places. It is a very exciting time. I am really looking forward to what 2013 has in store. If it is anything like 2012, I know it will be a truly excellent year filled with great people, adventure and growth.
To ring in the new year, I headed to Boccaccio Brau in Daegu for its buffet with a delightful group of friends. I have wanted to go to this place for a while, so I was happy to finally be able to go! The food was delicious and there was a good variety. But my favorite part was the (unlimited refill, included in the price of the buffet) beer that was brewed right there! They had a delicious Weizen and a really smooth stout. It was nice to get hearty, flavor-packed beers, because Korea's offerings of Hite, Max and Cass are just too much like beer-flavored water! Though that doesn't stop me from drinking them! After stuffing ourselves, we headed to downtown to dance off everything we consumed. For the countdown, we headed to Memorial Park and saw the traditional bell ringing and a really great fireworks show! It was fun to have a collective New Years experience, and I really loved counting down in Korean! We capped the evening off with more dancing and drinking. It was a fabulous way to bring in the new year, especially because I was with a wonderful group of people.