Hong Kong - The One True Love of My Life.

Oh Hong Kong, How I Love You, Let me Count the Ways...

In all seriousness, when you're going through some serious junk in life, there is no better city in the world to be in than Hong Kong. You can't help but get caught up in its vibrancy, bright lights, gorgeous islands, and excitement and forget everything else. This was trip #2 for me to this vivacious city and it was just as good, if not better than the first.

We had just about 5 days to spend in this city, and we didn't waste a minute. First, after checking into the Marriott Courtyard on Hong Kong Island, we went down to Central via the trolleys, which are just so fun. We walked around a bit, gazed at the skyscrapers, as ya do, and then walked over the land bridge and watched all the construction of the land reclamation. Amazing that they can just build something out of nothing - and make the harbor smaller at the same time.

Took the star ferry over to Kowloon and had a few pints at Delaney's Irish Pub, before heading out to have dinner with some Hong Konger friends. We had an amazing night of Chinese family, Chinese food & beer, and catching up with friends (and a new baby!).

Ferry away from HK Island


New Baby! Good Friends!


Day two found us getting up early and heading out to the islands. Do yourself a favor - if you ever get to Hong Kong, don't stay in the concrete jungle the whole time. While HK & Kowloon are amazing, HK's real fun lies elsewhere. We took the ferry out to Cheung Chau and walked around the whole island (takes about an hour and a half or so) where we met a man in his 60s from England who told us about living in various countries during his life in the army, and being the author of a few books, his his crazy life, then and had lunch by the water. Next, we took another ferry to Peng Chau, which is much smaller, and has less to offer, but still beautiful and has some good hiking trails. To end our night we ferried over to Discovery Bay, which is where the richest of the rich live and play. Five star restaurants and Irish pubs in an area along the beach, where we stopped to have dinner. The owner of this steakhouse we went to, ended up giving us free liquor all night and after having my first go with Grappa, we were all pretty smashed and ferried back, drunkenly, to HK Island. Let me just say that this ferry was so amazing - high speed hydrofoil - completely set up with free wi fi. THAT'S how you know you've just spent time on the richest island... most ferries don't come with such luxuries.
View atop Cheung Chau's highest point:


Cheung Chau's Main Street/Fat Guy Little Bike:

A long walk off a short pier in Peng Chau:


Anyway, Day 3 we had brunch with the Director of the Syracuse Study Abroad program near HK University, and then we ventured to try out the new Crystal Cable Cars on Lantau Island to head up to the Giant Buddha. While I saw this last year, its such a cool area that it's worth seeing twice. We took one of the world's craziest bus rides down the island and headed over to Tai Wo, a village completely on stilts. We had lunch in one of the shops, walked around a bit, and then got on one of the boats to go on a Dolphin Watch. Hong Kong is home to pink dolphins that are actually the color of bubble gum. They're unique to the area and their color is unexplained. We were unlucky in seeing them though. Tai Wo was one of the coolest places I've seen though - the tide comes down so low that its a trickle of water, but comes up so high that the houses must be built on stilts many meters high just to keep the villagers dry. We came back that night to Central Hong Kong and went out in Lan Kwai Fong to some swank clubs and bars with some local girls that my friend had met previously... but being exhausted from all the hiking we had a few beers and headed back to the hotel.

Cable Car & Buddha:



Tai Wo:



Our last full day, we headed out to have some delicious Mexican Food at Taco Loco in the Mid-Levels, play some cards at the diner in Lan Kwai Fong, and then headed out to the New Territories to have dinner at a local seafood place where you pick the catch out yourself, bring it to the restaurant, and they make it in any style you want. First we had tea with an SU professor, who before dinner drove us out to the HK Wetlands. UNbelievable that an area as small as HK has one of the largest most important wetlands in the world.

We enjoyed a night out playing Chinese card games with our friends, and drinking in Kowloon. The next morning was our last, and we woke up for massages in Central HK, and then had Dim Sum with our friends before heading to the airport to return to our various places.

Oh Hong Kong, you steal my heart every time... I'll be back soon enough.

The Adventure Continues On: CHINA!

It was nice to get away from all the drama of the past couple months. In April I spent nearly two weeks in Southwestern China & Hong Kong. Flew into Chengdu, met up with friends a day later, and then we overnight trained it to Kunming. Afterwards, we flew to Shenzen and walked over that beautiful, beautiful border to Hong Kong.

Chengdu was an unexpected delight. I got in a day before my two friends did due to their lack of understanding numbers and dates, but it worked out really well. I stayed at the Sim's Cozy Garden Hostel, and it might have been the best hostel experience I have personally ever had. First, I booked a 3 person suite because I assumed there would be 3 of us, and since there wasn't was just going to eat the cost. However, since the hostel was not full, the staff was so sweet that they just put me in a single room for the night which was much cheaper. And having a huge double bed with my own bathroom was a nice way to start my trip. Woke up bright and early and decided to walk around the city. Just took a map and asked them to point me in the direction of town. Now, if I had been smarter I would have done the Panda preserve this day as I learned it was definitely an early morning activity, but instead I had a wonderful day of walking and sight seeing. I stopped by the WoLin Monastery, one of the 4 largest buddhist temples in China and had tea for a few hours while reading my book in their tea garden. Beautiful weather, incredibly nice Chinese people... couldn't have asked for a better day.


Sim's Cozy Garden as seen from my room ^^
WoLin Monastery Grounds vv


My friends showed up that night and we walked around and drank a bit (gotta love that Tsing Tao) on some street corners and set off the next day to wander around town a bit more. We spent the next night at the Sichuan Opera at the recommendation of Sim (the Hostel owner) and he swore by it so much that he said if we hated it, he would refund our ticket price. Well, the man from Singapore did not lie. The Sichuan Opera was incredible, and perhaps the word Opera is a bit strong. It's more reminiscent of a 1920's vaudeville act with Chinese flair than a boring ol' Opera. There were fire breathers, and puppeteers, and bands. Excellent experience in an outside theater with tea & peanuts at your seat, and offers of ear cleaning and massages while you waited for the start. We spent our last day renting bikes and biking out to one of the people's parks in the main area of town and finding food. My counterparts might not agree with me, but Sichuan food is some of the best food I have had in the world. The spices they use are just otherworldly and delicious. I had these cold noodles in a red spiced glaze twice in my 3 days, and still crave it. They were just at street food stands, and super cheap.


No Trip to China is complete without a viewing of Mao^^


The Sichuan Opera ^^

Funny Grass Signs are the Park vv


We booked an overnight train from Chengdu to Kunming that totaled 22 hours. We chose the soft sleeper cabin, and in my mind there is no better way to travel in China. The three of us had our own 4 person cabin, and enjoyed the unbelievably surprisingly gorgeous countryside views of China. The only thing that ruins it is the sporadic factory dotting the hills and fields, but eh, such is China.

Kunming is almost tropical. It's fairly close to the border of Laos and has red dirt and palm trees everywhere. It's a small city, but has been rated the most liveable in China (Chengdu being #2). We stayed at the Cloudland Youth Hostel, and while no where near as incredible as Sim's Cozy Garden Hostel, it did offer clean rooms, free wi-fi, a convenient location, and a decent restaurant. We stayed in a dorm since their private rooms were all booked, but it wasn't a terrible experience.



We did a tour of a number of Kunming's parks and did some hiking in the 3 days that we were there. Kunming is vastly green and mountainous and is truly beautiful. We even went up to the tomb of the man who wrote China's national anthem, and it was much more lavish than the tomb of the man who wrote the Star Spangled Banner, I can tell you that (his grave being in Rome, NY and has very little fanfare surrounding it).



After spending a significant amount of time in these two cities, I would never again recommend Beijing or Shanghai to anyone. Those cities are great don't get me wrong; they're worldly, beautiful, and the epitome of China's future & history. However, if you want something that's distinctly Chinese, a place where English is around, but not enough to be used, cleaner air, natural beauty, and has an abundance of traditional culture, head to another part of China. I mean - this guy looks relaxed doesn't he?

Sloppy St. Patrick's Day!

Told you I'd be back more often. ;) This weekend was the usual St. Patrick's drunken fiasco. In some ways it was better and some ways it was worse than last year. The venue had been moved from the spacious Cheoggye Stream area to the more compact Hyewha Station / Park area. It was a bit colder than last year, but the entertainment was much better this year.

There was a Korean U2 Cover band that was actually QUITE good. There were also more areas to find beer and the like, so it kept things nice and consistent. It was nice that I got to see more of my Korean friends and their families as well.

My group happened to have missed the parade but I guess it wasn't much of a parade. Just some people walking in a small line around the park. Due to the economy and all, a lot of the sponsorship was missing and the city was forced to scale back the celebration. In my opinion it was still an excellent day and hey... there was even an actual leprechaun runnin around:

HAPPY 2009! (*In March....*)

Yea, Ok, shut up. I've taken quiteeeee some time off of this blogging thing. I started a new school in December and went home for two weeks over Xmas, and then have spent the last 3 months just attempting to get my gameplan going on top of basically helping to rebuild this school that I currently find myself at (that I currently don't like).

Basically - expect me back in action pretty regularly from here on out. The cold, disgusting, depressing winter is over and I'm ready to get going on things I've only been talking about. I have quit my job as of this week and have less than 30 days here. I will be coming back to Korea - it is absolutely stupid to leave this kind of lifestyle and go home to the economic woes that everyone else seems to be going through. Even though the exchange rate blows (1000w = 64 cents right now) it is still worth it to stay.

I've got my batteries recharged, new things that I'm going to be doing, and goals for this year. I'm gonna go some much needed traveling, and do some more hiking and things. I've got some friends here, but not too many, and that'll do me just fine.

Now... anyone want to employ me? ;)

Moving & Starting a New Job at Harvard

Ahhh don't let the name full you... Harvard University does not have a presence here in Korea (that I know of at least). However, true to Korean ways they do massive amounts of copyright infringement and have just "borrowed" the name. Actually last year the school finally got in trouble from some random other company and now go by "HLS" professionally.

Aaaanyway, December 5 was moving day and the Friday night beforehand I just did a nice, casual, chicken galbi dinner and didn't drink knowing that I had to wake up very early to move. Well, didn't matter cuz I woke up with massive food poisoning and could barely stand. Did NOT make for a fun moving day - but with the help of my favorite Kiwis I was able to move in the afternoon across town into my new digs.

The location is better (for Suji anyway) - right around the corner from my favorite restaurant that I lovingly call 'sticken' (chicken on a stick) - but I now sleep in a twin bed, and have a completely broken bathroom. Ah the fun of working for a low-budget private, private school. They say they'll fix it for me soon, but we'll see how that goes.

First week was kinda rough... no real training, thrown right into the fire my first week and I was thankful that I had someone to at least show me the ropes for 10 minutes before class started. There's a ton of drama at this place b/c the director is leaving and the management has NO idea what they're doing, but we'll see how it goes... a lesson in life I imagine. Wish me luck...

My Last SLP Days... Bitter Sweet

Working at SLP for 16 months was incredible and incredibly frustrating (but what job isn't, right?) It was my first job here and I was so fortunate to work with excellent people, and an understanding boss, and not really ever have TOO many problems. I could have had it a lot worse.

And the kids definitely spoiled me. They were just so cool and I will miss them more than I ever could have imagined.

Time to move onto bigger and better things though.

Thanksgiving Part Deux

Nothing special about this year's Thanksgiving... just a small dinner of 4 Americans who've found themselves on this side of the planet for a really big holiday.

We did go to Butterfinger Pancakes in Jeongja and stuffed our faces full of whatever was on the menu. I had a Louisiana Beef Stew that was absolutely excellent, and recommend this place to anyone in the Bundang or Apujeong areas.

Piano Man, Seoul Man - Billy Joel comes to Korea!

I worked in the Music Industry for about 5-6 years during and then after college. Music was my whole life, and I was going to on average about 3-4 concerts a week - some for fun, some for work. And it got to be so annoying having to deal with rappers that needed to be babysat, or industry peeps that were just so overly full of themselves, that I got the hell out and came to Korea. In the 15 months that I've been here I've seen ONE concert, and it was the Basement Jaxx at a club in Gangnam, and it wasn't even a concert, it was a DJ set.

However, Billy Joel came to Seoul and it was incredible. So cool to see a large production in Korea, and Billy's always been a favorite. I last saw him at the Dome 10 years ago and he's still got it. Actually I saw him perform a Syracuse commencement speech 2 years ago, and I swore he was drunk. This time, he just seemed to be having fun. Either way... an excellent evening, a bit too expensive, and the Olympic Park Arena was a pretty sweet place to see a show. Word to the wise though - Olympic Park is NOT located near Olympic Stadium. Made that mistake and wound up traveling a bit longer than anticipated... worth it though!

New Contract!

Well... as of right now, I will be officially ending SLP on December 5. I have just signed a contract for the Harvard Language School (HLS) in Suji, will move, and then start on December 8. The school isn't the greatest, but it should be an interesting experience, and at the very least I'll have two jobs in a foreign country and will be able to speak on the positives and negatives and compare and contrast for future jobs. We'll see how it goes... SO, expect me here for the next 6 months.

Obama Wins!! The World Seems Happy

What a day. What an incredible feeling. After 8 years of watching America go down the tubes, it feels so incredible to have a significant change. Unfortunately, I did not get to vote as my absentee ballot never came. However, it wouldn't have mattered much anyway as New York State always goes democrat anyway. I feel more productive having voted in the world's first online primary vote anyway.

Being in another country was nothing short of amazing. At the time there was only one other American on my staff and she was kind of a wet blanket about everything in life so I couldn't celebrate this with her. But the canadians on my staff were really excited, as were the koreans, and it just felt nice to be able to see reactions from those in other countries. Most everyone here was ecstatic, so it was just a nice vibe to be around. I even got lucky and got to watch Obama's acceptance speech live on my computer during one of my breaks. Here's to hopefully a good next 4 years...

Fukuoka, Japan - NOT Just for a Visa Run!

My list of places to visit is about a mile long, and Japan was always somewhere on it, but never really near the top. It's a 3 hour plane ride from Seoul to Tokyo, and once you get there its just insanely expensive and let's face it - Japan's just a super cool, trendier version of Korea. BUT - this particular opportunity arose and well, its now whetted my appetite for more Japanese travel.

This might be one of my most favorite trips in life purely because of how I get to tell it. So it's Thursday night, and I have plans to go see a late movie with the boyfriend, and as I'm getting ready to walk out the door, said boyfriend calls and cancels because he needs to look up Visa information since his expires soon. If you've had to experience Visa stuff in Korea lately, you know that it's virtually impossible to find any answer to any question. So our solution on a late Thursday night was to hop on board a high speed ferry on Saturday and spend the night in Japan, so he could get rid of his visa.

We do some finagling and some research and sure enough we're on the KTX train at 8am Saturday morning - VIP all the way down to Busan, have a nice fresh seafood lunch at the Jalgachi Fish Market, and then hop on the coolest thing I've ever been on in my life - The Beetle.

What's the Beetle you ask? Well - it's only an insane jet-fuel powered hydrofoil that gets you from Busan to Fukuoka in less than 3 hours for less than 250,000w (fees/taxes included). This thing comes OUT of the water, and skims the top of it going at a sweet 80kmph over some of the roughest seas I've seen. It's just like riding on an airplane too - the announcements are the same, there are "flight" attendants, and really comfortable seats with actual life preservers in them that have a chance of being used (unlike in an airplane where they should maybe supply parachutes instead).

Anyway, we wind up at the port in Fukuoka, go through customs (my first time coming into a country by boat) and then go off to find ourselves a hotel. Fukuoka is a very cute little city - extremely clean, trendy, tourist like. We got in around 6pm, showered and went off to go explore. We found that Asahi beers out of the vending machine were pretty cheap, and found some malls, and temples, and even a little river area overlooking what's basically the downtown area. My only regret is that we didn't get some Japanese food at any point because we just spent too much time walking around and enjoying the great fall Japan weather, BUT we did find a Wendy's, which made our nights. We got up the next day and did some more walking, unfortunately in the rain - only to have to get right back on the ferry to head back to Korea. But overall a great weekend trip - maybe a bit too expensive for 2 days, but hey, you only live once right? The life of an English Teacher... always unpredictable. Pictures Below:

Birthday Fun

Another birthday rolled around, as they do, this year. I turned a nice solid 26 (or a shakey Korean 27, whatever you wanna call it) and it still blows my mind that I spent my entire 25th year in Asia, living in Korea. It was one of those decisions that looking back on it now as a bored 23 year old I can't believe I actually up and did, but after the process of it all, having a 25th birthday and now a 26th birthday with no huge desire to get home any time soon, I still believe it to be one of the best things I've ever done. If anything it has given me immense perspective on so many things such as myself, my friends, home, America, other cultures, other people, and the list goes on.

It was a lowkey birthday overall... a nice night out on Wednesday at the local Exit Bar (which to this day I don't think there's been one Post about Exit - so look for that sometime soon). Saturday was the day of observance since one can't party TOO hard on a Wednesday, and it was spent in Seoul having amazing burgers at Smokey's Tavern, playing games and drinking at Gecko's Terrace, walking around the Korean War Memorial, and spending an evening playing games at The King's Tap. No flash, just an overall good day. It's funny though - I have absolutely NO idea where I'll be spending the next birthday...

Int'l Fireworks Show. THEY LIT THE BRIDGE ON FIRE.

After a really nice night in Wolmido, the following night was spent in Yeouido Park, on Yeouido Island in Seoul for the annual International Fireworks Competition. I attempted to go to this last year but only caught the last 15 minutes or so. This year we did it right.

Getting to the park around 4pm, we laid out a few blankets, secured a big spot, and popped open about a half dozen soju bottles and wine. We had magazines and newspapers and enough stuff to kill a few hours until the boomies started. And let me tell you, it was worth the wait.

Rumor has it that China, Japan, the US, and Korea sink money into this and call it a competition of sorts. Basically - its an hour long firework display with a 10 minute intermission. The first half was what you'd expect from a pretty good show:




The second half did something I've never seen done before. Sure, crazy fireworks of all shapes, colors, sizes, and sounds - BUT - Korea took it one step further. This city has about 20 bridges over the Han River that runs through the middle of it - and it took it upon itself to LIGHT ONE ON FIRE. Traffic is still pretty heavy over this bridge during the show and the next thing you know, its raining fireworks from the bridge into the water along the whole thing (at least a kilometer long). Seriously one of the coolest things done, well, ever.



If you're around next year - make sure you plan this out well in advance.

A Trip To Muuido.... err I mean WOLMIDO.. Oops.

Goal: Use three day weekend for Korea's Foundation Day to go to Muuido. The tiny getaway island that's south of Incheon off the Northwest Coast of Korea.

Transportation: Seemed easy enough... take the airport bus to the airport, hop on a local bus, take the ferry to the island.

Accommodation: Beach huts all along a beach where the tide rolls out so far you can't tell the difference between ground and sky.

What actually happened? Well, we did ALL of that, except somehow either wound up at the wrong ferry terminal OR we got there so late there might have been the ferry we wanted and didn't realize it. But the one we took had a nice view of the sunset...


Either way, we wound up at WOLMIDO now MUUIDO. And to the average reader that might not seem like a big difference, BUT Muuido is an island whereas Wolmido is a little coastal wharf town on the mainland west of Seoul. SO we went all the way to Incheon island for nothing really. But it's always random when you pull up and see this:




BUT we ended up making the best of it. Found a hotel (there are only Korean Love Motels in the area, and they were all rather expensive at 60,000w for the night considering they're love hotels), and then went on our way. We walked around the boardwalk for awhile, playing carnival games, and then riding rides (bumper cars being my favorite). This place LOVED its pirate ships, btw:


The hardest part of the evening was finding food. We wandered into a couple of restaurants, hoping for some really fresh seafood, but after getting quoted 80,000W for King Crab (which can be bought in Busan for 20,000W) and then not having any english menus around as far as knowing what we're ordering, we gave up and just went to a bar and had beer and barfood.

It was a quick little trip, just one night really, but definitely a fun thing to do on a weekend evening. And Saturday we just took the subway back into Seoul for a nice lunch. A getaway without really getting away...

Oh and did I mention this place was home to the only Korean drag queen I've seen the whole time?

The Philippines - Cities, and Hobbits, and Islands - Oh My!

This time last year I was a wide-eyed and bushy-tailed newbie to Korea. I had been here for about 3 weeks by the time Chuseok rolled around and took advantage of the 5 day vacation by heading down to Gyeongju - a veritable museum without walls. While it was a really interesting couple of days, for the most part it was pretty quiet since Korea basically shuts down during their version of Thanksgiving. Getting food was a bit difficult, and the transportation on the way back was the worst trip I've ever encountered. THIS year I vowed to get the hell out of Korea and that's exactly what I did by heading down to the Philippines.

We flew out Saturday morning into Manila and we had just missed a pretty big storm from the looks of how wet everything was. We walked around to find a hotel in the Malate area of Manila and ended up getting a room with no windows but a giant mural of London. It was only for a night, so it wasn't a big deal. We went out in search of food and found some of the best Filipino food I had all week. This amazing rice adobo stuff wrapped in a banana leaf - incredible.

We just spent the day walking around, trying to find the Hobbit House - the jewel of the Philippines as far as I'm concerned. The entire waitstaff is comprised of Little People. It's a quiet little place with a stage that hosts really good acoustic cover bands. Can't wait to get back there someday.

On Day 2 we left Manila and went to Tagatay/Talisay/Lake Taal/Taal Volcano (a place by many names really) and then Day 3 we went to the island of Puerto Gallera and Day 4 was spent heading back to Manila and the Hobbit House before flying out. It really was one of the coolest places I've ever been to.

The thing I loved about the whole trip was the fact that it was kind of unwritten. I had bought a Lonely Planet book (which came in handy more times than I can count) but the locals were the ones that made the trip. They told us how to find things and where to go. And the transportation options were incredible. We took a $2 bus ride 2 hours to talisay, and then a tricycle ride to the lake, and then a jeepney to the next bus, only to take a ferry in these boats that are completely unique to the Philippines to get to Sabang. And then we hired a van to take us back to Manila so we didn't have to take a 4 hour bus ride. The whole thing was just incredible and I'd do it again in a second.

Enjoy some pictures ;)

Suwon Bluewings! Suwon Happy Happy Goal!

One of my favorite things to do in this country is to go to any sporting event. It's one of my favorite things to do at home too, but it's just as fun here too. There difference is that I can go to soccer games here and it's cool. Our closest team would have to be the Suwon Bluewings and the games are seriously fun, and they play in the Suwon World Cup Stadium about an hour south of Seoul.

We went to one in June before the season took a break for World Cup Qualifying Games and the Olympics. We were lucky enough that time to get hooked up with some free tickets from a friend who is a journalist for the team and we got to sit in the crazy fan section. The game we went to this weekend we weren't as lucky but the tickets for the game were only $10 and we were still in the thick of things for the 2nd half.

My favorite part of being there is the cheering. Suwon Happy Happy Goal is a crowd favorite as well as "Suwon Blue-i-wings" because everything in Korea has to have 3 syllables.

One of the funny things I noticed at both games were all the ginormous flags being tossed around. Someone has huge flag that is the colors of the team, Blue and White, and a very large Che Guevera picture on it. Just doesn't seem right being that this country supposedly hates their brothers to the north for communism.


Either way - its a fun time. I recommend it :)

The King's Tap in Sinchon - a Gamer's Paradise

Seoul is most definitely known for its nightlife. Areas like Itaewon, Gangnam, and Hondgae are the big hot spots catering to mainly foreigners, but even most party hard Koreans. Every now and again though, a bar will go above and beyond that I just need to write about it. The last time I did this I spoke of the Occult Star Bar in Sinchon that was home to Doctor Fish and hookahs with an excellent atmosphere. This time, I have to talk about The King's Tap, oddly enough - also in Sinchon.

The King's Tap was formerly the London Pub. It was a rather large bar on the 5th floor of a building and it was always pretty quaint. BUT now that it has new owners, FOREIGN owners I might add, the bar has stepped it up quite a bit. It has a professional foosball table, dart boards, touch screen games, a pool table, and probably the most impressive aspect - a shuffleboard table. The menu is also quite good with western food and at good portions for a decent price.

Anyway, the bar caters to the foreign crowd and it does a great job with it. If you find yourself in the Sinchon area, I highly recommend it. Stop by and say hello to the owner, Matt who works hard behind the bar and wears a shirt that says, "King."

A Leisurely Stroll up Mt. Inwangsan

Being that I've been here awhile I'm starting to search out more and more things to keep myself occupied. Mainly I'm trying to pick up some more private lessons to get some more cash as well as fill up my time, but the weekends I'm still trying to explore Seoul and really just see what's out there.

I've basically exhausted Lonely Planet and might pick up some other rough guides just to tide me over for my last 3 months, BUT there was one interesting thing I've managed to overlook. There were two "walking tours" of two parts of Seoul that seemed rather interesting. So one Saturday afternoon a gal pal of mine and I decided to take a stroll before heading out on the town that night.

The walk, entitled "Inwangsan Shamanist Hillside Walk" starts by turning left down an Alley at Dongnimmun Station (exit 2) and walking for 10 minutes up a hill.
THEN you get to the gate and an incredibly steep incline heading up towards a buddhist temple.
THEN you get to some carved out stone stairs before heading up to what's referred to as Zen Rocks where mothers pray for their sons.




After viewing the rocks you can walk towards the right - let it be known you're now entirely in the woods and walking along a rather narrow path alongside natural spring waters. Oh, and a little bit further on up the mountain there is an area for you to stop and rest- partake in some of the spring water AND use some fitness equipment. I kid you not:

Just a bit further and you'll get to the top of the mountain where there is a buddha carved into the stone. If you walk a little towards the left you'll come across a clearing with one of the most beautiful views of Seoul I've seen yet. Entirely worth it.

Along the walk you'll see many women camped out praying for various reasons (mainly their sons - with good reason). They're very friendly so say hello. Just don't bug them WHILE they're doing their bowing and praying, obviously.

Anyway, all in all roundtrip it took about an hour and a half. It's a beautiful walk and one I'd think about doing again. But it's a hike - not a walk.

My One Year Anniversary - Time Flies In Asia

One year in Korea...(prepare for some sappy cheesy 'life is great' stuff - you've been warned)

In a lot of ways it feels like I just got here, but in most ways I have a hard time remembering life before Korea. I'm healthier, I'm more active with outdoorsy things, I feel like I have a better perspective on life, and yet I still find myself in some sort of bar a lot of nights with close friends having good nights and bad.

Korea is a uniquely beautiful place, and I am very happy to have spent 12 months here making good money, teaching fun kids, and getting an experience very few people back home will never even begin to truly understand. I'm also very grateful to have had my best friend visit, as well as a few other unexpected guests to show around. Don't get me wrong, Koreans as a culture can be extremely frustrating, but they're also pretty generous and sweet too.

Being an ex-patriot has meant a lot to me - and not because I don't love the good ol' U S of A, but as an American it is very easy to never leave the country. Realistically a very small amount of citizens actually have their passport, and if they do, something like only 1% of those people actually use it. America's lucky in the sense that every culture in the world somehow makes its way to us. If we want great Indian/Thai/Balinese/Turkish/Italian/Mexican/whatever food, go to your nearest city and pick from any dozens of places for example. The country is also so big that you can literally escape into some remote part of it and it can be an entirely new and different lifestyle. New Yorkers for example are extremely different from those say in Boston, Seattle, Memphis, Atlanta, New Orleans, or Denver. You can live in the beautiful state of Maine full of its gorgeous forests, or move to Arizona with its hot deserts, or go buy a house in Miami and enjoy palm trees and one of the world's best beaches.

Although as an American, while those from other countries are desperately trying to immigrate, you have the luxury to always come back to it whenever you want. There's no reason why you can't go out and see what the world has to offer. Marriage, jobs, kids, all of that stuff can wait while you go off in search of what life is like elsewhere. How can you settle down without knowing all of the information first about where to settle? Nothing is stopping you from getting married to the love of your life and settling in some place like Hong Kong. Not to mention there's never been a better time to get up and go what with the economy tanking, politics being what they are, and a never ending war.

I'm staring down the barrel of my 26th birthday having spent all of my 25th year on this planet in Korea. I've had the chance to see Seoul, Busan, small towns in Korea, Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and pretty soon Manila. I went to an excellent University, I worked for a company that was the best in the world for what it did, I had amazing friends and family. Leaving all of that behind was an easy decision to make in order to see what's on the other side of the world. What I found changed everything and also reaffirmed some things I knew about myself. I plan on going back home, but I'll go back knowing a lot more, having friends all over the globe, and a bigger appetite for whatever else life throws my way.

So even though I've extended and have a few more months left here, and this blog is more about information giving and sarcasm - consider this my one reflective post on a decision and a year that couldn't have been any better. Certain people have made that possible - I'd be kidding myself if I didn't say that those I met didn't have a significant impact on life here - and if they read this they know who they are. The traveling community are some of the best people in the world... and here's to them and Korea.

The Boardgame Cafe!

Korean Independence Day was Friday, August 15th and we had a nice 3 day weekend. A lot of us are pretty poor these days from world travel, or just too much general merriment and boozing. Plus the weather has been kinda iffy lately anyway and that tends to ruin some things.

We did find the time to go and try some new Indian food in Gangnam (Baba India) and man is that place one of the best I've had in Seoul. After that we wandered over to Coex Mall to just walk around and stumbled across the Boardgame Cafe - one of the most unique places I've seen.

It's a little coffee shop of sorts - coffees, smoothies, etc. But also has a menu for board games. While 85% of it seemed to be games in Korean (obviously) there were quite a few that were pretty entertaining.

My competitive partner in crime and I discovered a game called Blockus where you have to try and out 'strategerize' the other person and limit them from making moves with blocks. Quite entertaining if you have the patience and a competitive nature ;)

Anyway, I highly recommend this place. Although it will run you about 3,700won per hour per person just to play the games, it is worth it. Did I mention that its directly across from the (fake*) Apple Store? mmmm Apple.





*It's an authorized apple retailer store. It has everything Apple would have, but Apple is not yet officially in Korea. Sad. Koreans don't know what they're missing.