Harbor Hopping in Nova Scotia

For quite a few years I used to take an international trip at least every 3-6 months.  My first passport was full to the brim of stamps and visas (may it rest in peace). This blog was updated a few times a week with expatriate shenanigans.  Unfortunately, once you move back home and get yourself [an amazing] big kid's job, priorities shift a little and the amount of trips dwindle.  I never imagined that it would be 18 months in between international trips for me, but here we are.  This isn't to say that I've been sitting idly by in New York (I'd lose my damned mind), I've actually seen quite a bit of the US that I hadn't before.  In the past 18 months after getting back from India I've spent some time in Vermont, Louisiana, Georgia, Colorado, and quite a few places in California.  Getting to know America better is always a good thing as this country is quite beautiful, and its people are extremely diverse.  Seeing different places makes you appreciate what you have as an American, especially when you can compare it to other international locations and what they might not have.  For me, I tend to realize moreso what America doesn't have compared to those places as well.  That all being said, I think I love America only in the context of those other locations and I desperately need to get out of it as much as time, money, and opportunity will allow.  I have the world's itchiest feet.

Hence -- Canada for a few days.  

Many Americans would scoff at Canada as an international destination because it's so close, and the cultures are *SO* similar it's just like going to another state.  I on the other hand, will vehemently defend that Canada feels as much a foreign country as anywhere else and Canadians are unique and awesome.  I just hate that I don't get a passport stamp when I go through customs.

Tuesday morning started like any other Tuesday.  Fighting with my snooze button, throwing on gym clothes, bitching about the heat/the subway/New York/New Yorkers to myself like your typical NYC crazy person, getting to work later than I probably should.  When I receive an email from my best friend with our usual "God I hate this place" banter we realize that Tuesdays come with United Airlines travel deals and neither of us having anything going on in the upcoming weekend and we've hit our tipping point.  As we're scrolling through the list of places that 99% of people would NEVER think to take a vacation to, we find 4 diamonds in the rough:  Trinidad & Tobago, Toronto, Montreal, Moncton, and Halifax.   Trinidad was a no brainer but the flight times were completely ridiculous.  Toronto/Montreal were feasible, but I had been to both and didn't know what we'd do there for a weekend, and I had no idea what in the world Moncton was.  Then, we settled on Halifax on reading this little blurb on Lonely Planet:

Halifax is the kind of town that people flock to, not so much for the opportunities, but for the quality of life it has to offer. Sea breezes off the harbor keep the air clean and parks and trees nestle between heritage buildings, cosmopolitan eateries and arty shops. Several universities keep the population young and the bars and nightclubs full. Stroll the historic waterfront, catch some live music and enjoy the best of what the Maritimes have to offer.

Done and Done.  Flight booked (for me, $90 + 17,000 United Miles) for Friday night to Monday afternoon.  AirBnB utilized for a place to stay and found an amazing house on the water and a cheap car booked through Budget Rental Car that came with a few upgrades (GPS was extremely necessary, in hindsight).  We lovingly referred to it as the Bouncy Castle - A Chrysler 300C.  Tack on a $30 Global Data Plan for 120mb on AT&T, a $20 Lonely Planet Guidebook (a travel must) and we were good to go.  I think the whole thing really took an hour, maybe two to plan.  And man - did it feel great to be out in the world again talking to people with different perspectives and wordly experiences.  There are just some conversations about travel you can't have in the United States for fear of sounding like an entitled douchebag.

Peggy's Cove, South Shore, Nova Scotia

In a total of two and a half days, we hit 6 towns in Nova Scotia: Halifax, Lunenberg, Mahone Bay, Chester, Peggy's Cove, and Wolfville.  The first 5 were all on the South Shore, and is considered to be the best Nova Scotia has to offer as far as views, restaurants, and people. >

 Wolfville was in the north in the Minas Basin in the Bay of Fundy, which is home to the world's most dramatic tides.  All of it was beautiful.  We ate extremely well the whole time.  Two notable restaurants:  The Bicycle Club in Halifax (Rated the best new restaurant in Halifax in 2012) and The Tempest (rated #13 of the Top 50 Restaurants in Canada) in Wolfville. 

Wolfville, Minas Basin, Nova Scotia

I'd absolutely love to go back.  The weather we perfect with high 80s during the day and low 60s at night, and there were so many opportunities for shopping, farmer's markets, hiking, driving, boating, camping, and all sorts of stuff that you could definitely keep yourself busy for awhile. An incredible amount of history for any history buff as well.  Next time you're looking for an easy getaway weekend trip -- Nova Scotia and it's gorgeous natural harbors may just be for you.

View from the Citadel in Halifax, overlooking the fog roll in in the Harbor above the Clock Tower

Indian Adventures

Just because I am no longer living the adventurous life of an ex-pat abroad in Seoul, South Korea doesn't mean that I am not an ex-pat at heart.   I am bound and determined to get snippets of that lifestyle any chance that I can get them and just because I happen to be back on American soil doesn't mean that my adventures and travels are over.  In fact, quite the opposite.   I have no doubt in my mind that in the future I'll pack up and leave to live on foreign soil once more, and that's no reason to stop blogging about traveling during that time.  Afterall, vacations really are just samplers to see if maybe that's a place I'll someday call home.
 
I spent two weeks from December 2010 to January 2011 traveling the Indian southwestern coast.   I can tell you I sampled a good amount of that country - and I can tell you that I most likely will not be moving there any time soon.

India was actually pretty great - in hindsight.   I did not take Malaria pills or get any typhoid shots, so I guess I have 3-6 months to go before I can say that I made it out alive truly, but I can say so far that I survived.  And that's saying something.


Mumbai - Wedding Festivities
My best friend and I traveled to Mumbai from New York on Christmas Day, literally minutes before a gigantic blizzard dumped 3 feet of snow on the area,  to attend a wedding for the first 5 days of our trip.  The wedding was for my friend's former coworker who is first generation American, but Indian by family.  It was a fairly traditional catholic mass, but the events surrounding the wedding were traditional.  On our first full day/night in the country, we stayed in a suburb called Bandra, and went to the bride's home for a party.  We participated in a fascinating tradition called a Paani, where the entire party has a live band follow them around in the streets dancing, singing, eating, drinking homemade whiskey from tea kettles and having an all out parade.   We stopped at a house and danced on a patio and had buckets of water thrown on us, and the party/parade continued back to the bride's home where more events and a wondeful buffet of traditional indian dishes awaited.

Five days in Mumbai is far too many in my opinion.  It's a very loud, dirty, abrasive, and difficult city.  I swear I will hear the sound of carhorns in my head for the rest of my days.   The rickshaws and cabs use their horns in such a way that it's practically another language, and with no kind of public transportation system setup for a billion people, it's a kind of controlled chaos.  The sound makes rush hour in midtown Manhattan sound like a whisper.  The beaches the surrounded Mumbai are trash ridden and you can see raw sewage flowing into the ocean.  The water is quite toxic, so I wouldn't get too close.

You might think at this point that I actually didn't enjoy Mumbai, and you'd be wrong.  In a lot of ways, it's exactly what I pictured.  It was fun to walk around central Mumbai and see buildings that are 2, 3, 4x older than America itself.  The people were so nice and friendly that it made all the difference.  The food was unbelievable - though of the 50 American wedding attendees, I'd say 99% of them got what's lovingly referred to as "Bombay Belly" and it did a number on more than a few.  Some couldn't even get out of bed they were so dehydrated.  Whether it was the bacteria in the food, the water not being safe, or just not being accustomed to the spice level, it wasn't pleasant for a few.

Fort Cochi - Kerala
After five days though, we flew down to the southern state of Kerala and into the city of Cochin.  We hopped in a cab with a fine Australian lady and drove 2 hours into the little backpacker town of Fort Kochi.   We stayed for 3 days in a god awful little homestay called Costa Gamma where we slept on bricks and our bathroom was the gateway to Mosquito hell.   It was lovely.

I decided to nap a bit on that first day, and my friend wandered the abandoned down which was New Year's Day.   After a few hours he returned to inform me that I had missed Carnivale - a gigantic parade with floats, dancers, drag queens, and elephants.   Figures.   We went out for dinner and there were thousands of revelers in the streets of this tiny town - it was amazing!  The community that lived in this little town known for ancient Chinese fishing nets and backwater tours was vibrant and so excited to be celebrating the New Year.

We didn't plan very well, but one of the days we took in a cooking class from a lovely woman named Leena who was off of Tower Road.  We were the only two students that day and she taught us to make Banana Lassi, Chicken Masala, Roti, and Coconut/Carrot Salsa.   It was...one of the most amazing things I've ever done.

We hired a rickshaw driver for the day as well and he took us all around to shops, and a spice market, and the Dutch Palace, and a temple.   A few hours for a couple hundred rupees  ($5) and it was rather nice.   Though he brought us to two shops that were basically the same -  one we were in for hours and I walked out with more knowledge about rugs than I ever imagined possible AND a brand new orange bedspread that would come in handy more often than I'd like to admit for the rest of the trip - and one that if we went into, our driver would get a free shirt out of the deal.    We ended up creating a whole side story about the life we lead and how we owned 10 houses and needed rugs for all of them.   If you can't beat 'em, join 'em, right?

GOA
After 3 days in Fort Kochi battling the mosquitoes that owned our room, and the only town where we found pretty decent coffee, we flew up to Goa.  Goa is a weird place.  It's a place of beaches and tourism and hippies.   If you're a foreigner, you are pretty much going to wind up in Goa at some point, and that's not necessarily a bad thing, but you're going to be amongst so many other foreigners.  Many of whom are pre-packaged British tourists on holiday who've spent thousands to stay at the most ridiculous resorts.   Just be forewarned.

We spent a few days in Candolim and checked out the Anjuna Market that's a village that sprouts up on Wednesdays only.  Again we hired a cabbie to take us here, and to the largest lighthouse in Asia at Fort Anjuna.  The beach in Candolim was nice -  very clean, flat, beautiful sunset, and beach shacks that lined the sand as far as you could see that served breakfast, lunch, dinner, and booze until 10pm.

The one really cool thing about Candolim is the marooned River Princess Tanker that ran aground in the 90s and no one ever bothered to clean up.   It's only a few meters off shore, and I bet you could swim out to touch it if you really wanted to.  Though it's a large rusting tanker, so I wouldn't advise you to try.

We actually got out of Candolim and drove 2 hours south to Palolem to stay the night in our own pretty spacious beachhut.  It was glorious.   Falling asleep to the sound of the ocean right outside my window is exactly what I want everyday of my life.   The cool thing about Palolem is that it was featured in the Bourne Supremacy so my feet have touched the same beach that Matt Damon has ran on.   It's the little things ;)

And that pretty much sums up my experience with India.

Some things that I would like to share with those who may also be going to India:

• Bring plenty of antibiotics.   I never do this on trips, but I was glad I did this time.  
• Bring plenty of random meds.  Immodium, Tums, Vitamins, Allergy medications, etc.  You WILL need it. 
• Don't touch the animals.  You WILL see dogs, cows, elephants in the streets, in the cities, on the beach.  Don't touch them.   Though I will say I broke down and picked up a little fluffball of a puppy after noticing he was on a leash and had a collar and assessed the risk.  He was maximum levels of cute.
• Don't drink anything with ice in it from anywhere.  Ever.   (Ice may not be from filtered water)
• If you're going for an event - flat shoes.  Heels are a really stupid idea. 
• Eat breakfast at the Kashi Art Cafe in Fort Kochi.  You will not be disappointed.  
• Read the book Shantaram and freak out that you're in Mumbai, at Leopold's Cafe, just like in the book!
• IF someone asks you if you want Weed, and you say, "No Thanks, I don't smoke"  that's not an acceptable answer.  They'll offer you cocaine, heroin, and other such stuff that you can snort or shoot.   Be specific & say,  "NO DRUGS THANK YOU!"
• Everything will smell like mothballs.  Seriously.  They put them in bedrooms, sinks, bathtubs, anywhere they can.  Burn your clothing upon returning home, b/c it will smell like mothballs for the rest of eternity, even after multiple washings. 
• Everyone will tell you that their items are made in Kashmir.  I am convinced that the entire population of India is Kashmiri.  
• Make sure to print out your itinerary for EVERY trip you take in the country.  To get into an airport you MUST show them you're confirmed flight status or they WILL NOT let you into the building.   Showing them a picture on your iPhone of the confirmation MIGHT work, but will cause a lot of questions to be asked.  Trust me.  
• In airports your bags, checked AND non-checked, will be scanned 1000x and be stamped.  Make sure this stamp does NOT wash off before you get to your gate on your carry on luggage and they will not let you on the plane.  Again,  TRUST ME.
• Make sure to read the cab meters correctly.   On the first day we were giving 10 and 20 rupees to people instead of 1 or 2.   The difference is pennies in USD really, but no sense in over paying.
• Download Google Maps for the cities that you're visiting before you go.   Not having a data plan abroad blows.  The maps in Lonely Planet weren't terrible accurate either.
• And that brings me to last point:  You will get to know the areas you're staying in better than the locals because you're using a map.  I can't tell you how many times we had to direct our drivers to the places we were staying b/c they had no idea what planet they were on, much less what street. 

India is not the feint of heart.   It's NOT a starter country to visit if you've never left the good ol' US of A.    It's a fantastic challenge though, and one that I am really glad that I took.   Traveling to a third world country is never a vacation - it's nothing short of an exciting, exhausting, stressful, and rewarding adventure. 

Hiking at Bulamsan - Northeast Seoul

One of the greatest things about living in the city of Seoul is that it is the perfect combination of old and new. Tradition and Modernism. Nature and Urban. I don't know how they did it, but these krazy koreans have figured out how to have it all in one place. In this case, I'm sure they just picked a place, built a bunch of stuff, and decided to work around the mountains as this city has grown overtime, but that's neither here nor there. In the center of the city is Namsan (which actually means South Mountain) and its not too big. It's where the tower is, and it's hard to miss. A little more north there is the national park of Bukhansan which is about 700m tall, and on the northeast part of the city is Suraksan (Not to be confused with Seoraksan in Gangwan-do) and Bulamsan. Due to my timing issues of needing to be down in Bundang (south of the city) to teach a class in the evening, we went with the smallest of the 3 northern mountains and did Bulamsan standing at 508m.

Bulamsan in October is absolutely gorgeous. Truth be told, everywhere in Korea is absolutely gorgeous in the fall. The amount of colors and trees everywhere is breathtaking at times even if you're in the dead of the city. We took the subway up to Dangoggae on the light blue line, followed some ajumahs (little old ladies) who looked like they were about to get their hike on, and eventually found a map of the area. There is no shortage of trails to follow, and we just decide to walk until we got onto one after we passed a few apartment buildings. Probably about 2 km in total all the way up, it was pretty easy. The only real difficult part was when we got towards the top and there were actual vertical inclines where the koreans had installed ropes in order to help people get to the very top. Difficult, but very worth it.

All in all, we left our apt around 11, took the subway about an hour, got up the mountain and down, had dinner, and I was at my class by 7pm. Definitely unlike anything at home, for sure.

Camping at Seoul Grand Park for Chuseok

You remember camping at home as a child, right? Pack up the car to the tilt, sleeping bags, tents, food enough to last months for a small village. One of the things you don't really imagine doing while you're abroad because of all the equipment you would need and probably don't own. Well, yet again Korea has taken care of all of that.

Chuseok is Korea's version of Thanksgiving. It's a harvest celebration based on the lunar calendar, so the dates change every year. When I got here in 2007 it was 5 days, last year was 4 days and this year, 3 days because it fell on a weekend. Chuseok travel is unlike anything I have ever seen, and as someone who once got caught on a bus for 13 hours here for a trip that should have been 4, I vowed to never travel outside of Seoul again unless it was fleeing the country (like last year's Philippines trip). This year, 18 foreigners decided to pack it all up and go camping at Seoul Grand Park.

There are two sites directly in Seoul. Grand park and Nanji campground. Nanji is a newer facility near the World Cup Stadium in a much more urban area, whereas Seoul Grand Park is in a much more appropriate area surrounded by forests and mountains with access to Museums, the Zoo, and the Seoul Land Amusement park. It also has more camplike facilities including a campfire area, basketball courts, streams, common areas, and hiking trails. The sites come already set up with tents that sleep 4 people very comfortably for 15,000w a night and you can rent sleepings bags and mats to go in them for 1500 and 1000w each. We also got a special deal where we got cheap discount tickets for 13,000w for the day to Seoul Land so for two days/nights and an amusement park, the whole total was 45,000w (~$39) for the weekend + food. It was incredible. My only complaint? The fact that it got down to near freezing temperatures and I had a sleeping back that was about an inch thick.

There are a few main differences in Korean camping, however. At 11pm it is lights out and basically a zero noise policy. Also, campfires really are frowned upon if you light them using the 15,000w grill you've rented from them and now have a raging fire and half the forest in it as firewood. Also, Korea doesn't believe in graham crackers so it was really difficult finding stuff to make s'mores. Also, the campsites are of course, so close they're basically piled on top of each other. If you can get past all of this, your experience will be a ton of fun. A great way to spend a weekend though, that is for sure. Again, pictures speak for themselves (including being stuck in a bubble for the best amusement park ride I have EVER been on/in):

Corfu, Greece & The Best Destination Wedding of All Time

Why more people don't do destination weddings I'll never know. They tend to be cheaper, a more manageable number of attendees, and everyone has an amazing time. Whilst being in Korea, I was lucky enough to meet a couple worth flying halfway around the world for to be in their wedding, and they definitely picked one of the best places on Earth to get married: Corfu, Greece.

After 26 hours of travel (Seoul -> Dubai -> Athens -> Corfu) we landed at the tiny airport in Corfu Town on Saturday September 12, and took a 35 Euro cab ride over to the Pink Palace in Adios Gordis on the Western side of the island. Corfu Island is the northern most island in Greece, about 1 km away from Albania, and just utterly beautiful. The Pink Palace is rated as one of the best hostels in Europe for 25 Euro per person, per night, for the top level room with a view. It is also a place full of sin and debauchery, and I am extremely happy that I was not there during peak season. There was a hot tub there that the Australian bartender told me, "Don't go in there unless you want to come out pregnant, fathered by 10 different nationalities." It all turned out really well though - spent a day drinking with the staff, rented ATVs and drove around, and then rented kayaks and found a small private beach on the last day before heading up to the main event.

Going from Adios Gordis up to Paleokastritsa was like night and day. It's the richest part of the island with the most resorts, we settled into a really nice apartment and then went to find the bride and groom. We got there on Tuesday, and ran into people as we went along in this one street town. With only about 4 bars in the area, we frequented all of them for the nights, and then we did beaches and stuff during the day. One of the days we rented scooters to go back around the island and as I'm returning to the apt, I ended up crashing it and had to 100 Euro to fix it. They wanted 200 but 100 is all they got and that was the end of it. Not entirely fun, but a story nonetheless...

The wedding was absolutely gorgeous and just stress free, simple, and fun. The reverend was an old college friend of the groom's who got himself ordained on the ol' internet (much like yours truly did a few years back) who said some really nice things, married the two in a short ceremony overlooking the ocean at La Grotta Bar, and the next 8 hours we spent eating and drinking and swimming. About 45 people made it out both family and friends, and overall, I have never seen a more perfect wedding in a more perfect location. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves:

RIP Passport. Feb 2007 - July 2009

Born in New York City, February 2007 - Died in Tokyo, Japan July 2009.
4 visas for Korea and China, multiple stamps for Korea, 2 for China, 2
for Hong Kong, 2 for Japan, 1 for Canada, 1 for the Philippines....
You were full of life and color and will be missed.

There's never a dull moment around here that's for sure. I had this
plan of Tokyo for 2 days, visiting a friend who would be working on the Simon
& Garfunkel tour. I'd fly in with my roommate Dan, crash for a night
at the Ritz, and get a room somewhere for the next night and be home
in time to not miss a beat.

Then a traveler's worst nightmare happened. On the subway between the
airport and the hotel I somehow managed to lose my traveler's folder
which had my passport and 100,000w. I guess it just happened to fall
out of my bag, but of all the things to happen this was not what I was
expecting. I got off at Roponggi station and then the very helpful
staff tried contacting stations but to no avail. Luckily the little
notebook I always keep in there with my friend's number was in another
pocket so I was able to call him. After that and talking with the
embassy there really was nothing else I could do but wait and go out
and enjoy Tokyo.

We headed to the Tokyo Dome and enjoyed an amazing Simon &
Garfunkel show. I sat next to a guy who writes for Billboard magazine and
just seemed to be such an uber fan that it was great. After the show
we headed backstage to meet up with Craig*** (one of my bestest
friends and savior this week) and then headed back to the hotel. I
gotta tell ya, of all the places to be stuck for a week the Ritz
Carlton Tokyo is not the worst place one can be. This hotel is better
than most houses I've seen. Craig's room was on the 50th floor over
looking Tokyo Tower and the view was breathtaking.

We spent our night just hanging out drinking vodka in the hotel. James
Garfunkel, Art's son, came in and our little group had some amazing
conversations and laughs. We left for a bit to go out in Roponggi to
get some Ramen and man, do the Japanese know how to do ramen. Of
course you'll pay around $10 for it but it's worth it - absolutely
delicious. Afterwards we just moseyed back to the hotel and after a
long day called it quits.

The next day Craig and the tour headed out to Osaka and Dan and I
headed to Shinjuku to get a hotel. We visited Shibuya and Harajuku
which are two of the most famous areas of Tokyo and notoriously the
most crowded in the world. The people there are just otherworldly. The
style of clothing and hair is just so fantastic. The men have hair
that is laughable and closely related to Bon Jovi circa 1988. We
walked around Shinjuku just getting the lay of the land and people
watching. We ate at a tiny little noodle shop and were back to the
hotel fairly early. Shibuya:


Monday at 6am we parted ways - Dan back to Korea and me to the Tokyo
police station and U.S. embassy. Three hours and $100 later all of the
paperwork was finished and I'd get my emergency temporary passport the
following day. I wish I could say that I went off to do amazing things
with my newfound time in Tokyo, but I was so tired, stressed, and sick
(btw, I had some sort of allergic reaction to something, so my skin
was all messed up the whole time) that I just went back to my hotel
and watched movies all day. Pathetic I know, but I had all week and
very little money in one of the world's most expensive cities.

As luck would have it another friend who performs every summer in
Japan with a touring group called Blast just happened to be landing
that afternoon for one night in Tokyo. We met up for dinner and he
took me to this amazing little shop in Ginza and then showed me all
around the area. Randomly the hotel he was put up in also happened to
be in Shinjuku so we went back there and got some drinks at a Family
Mart and sat in a small park catching up (gotta love that no open
container law). The drinks we were consuming were called Chuhi and
they came in tall boy cans and tasted like a wine cooler or a hard
cider but were 8% alcohol. After 2 I was quite hammered. Since we had
no idea how to navigate him back to his hotel and mine was a block
away we made our way back there. Along the way we found batting cages,
so somewhere circa 1am we were drunkenly knocking them out of the
park, as ya do. Shinjuku:

Tuesday and Wednesday were easy going days. Got my new passport and
headed back to the Ritz to meet back up with Craig. We got some wine
and that night hung with one of the guys from the tour and Wednesday
just got some food at this great little place they had found for
lunch. I also decided to take in another Simon & Garfunkel show (why
not right?) at the Budokan. The venue was significantly smaller than
the Tokyo Dome (45,000 vs. 14,000). Not surprisingly the show seemed
more intimate, but was just as good as the Saturday performance.
Tokyo Dome:

Thursday was Craig's day off so we were off to Ginza with Michael, the
tour accountant, for lunch. Ironically after I couldn't find the place
I ate at a few nights before, we stumbled across a Korean restaurant
that wasn't amazing but did the job. We headed to Asakusa which is old
Tokyo and home to a nice little market and Buddhist temple. We
wandered around for a few hours and shopped and then headed to Shibuya
to see the crosswalk and get some coffee then over to Shinjuku, got
some beers and sit outside.

When all is said and done this has been an amazingly ridiculous and
seriously lucky experience. How do I wind up losing my most valuable
possession and being forced to stay in a country, seeing two of my
closest friends thousands of miles from home, seeing a legendary music
group twice for free, and staying at the Ritz Carlton for a week? Oh
and on Thursday I learned that the ceiling in my Korean apt collapsed
which, maybe my being in Tokyo saved my life since it would have definitely
landed on me? This all has my mind sufficiently blown on almost every level. Just goes to show how important friendships are; this whole thing could have been much
worse if it wasn't for my old (and new) friends. As far as Japan vs.
Korea... It's been tough. I loved Japan, but I think Seoul might just
have it over Tokyo. Yep, I said it. It has more going for it, and at a MUCH better price.

One last thing before I sign off... there is nothing funnier than
being known around the whole Simon & Garfunkel operation as the girl
who lost her passport. Almost any time Craig introduced me to a tour
staff person or band member the first thing was, "oh so you're the
one..." ha.

Ahhh only me.... (and I guess I wouldn't have it any other way). ;)


***If he reads this or not, a gigantic thank you goes out to Craig for
making it all possible and being my hero :)

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?

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:

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 ;)

Getting Down and Dirty at the Boryeong Mud Festival!

(For More Information go to worknplay's website here:
Boryeong Mud Festival )

I got to Korea at the end of August 2007 and missed a number of fun summer things to do being that I was such a newbie. However, there are a few things that people have discussed over and over in the past 11 months, and one of the most common of those things is the Boryeong Mud Festival in Daechon Beach.

The discussions started a few months ago with attempting to find some rooms, and transportation but no one ever really seemed to do anything about it. Well, with one month left before the opening day after a quick search through all of the tour groups, a friend suggested worknplay.co.kr which had an excellent tour package all set up. I'm a big fan of planning events, and having to do as little thinking as possible so it was perfect. After a last minute scramble to wire some money over to them, my group of about 15 secured their spots and were on their way.

We met at 8am Saturday and were welcomed with coffee and delicious, cheesy focaccia bread from California Pizza Kitchen, we boarded two nice coach buses down to Daechon and watched some movies, and 3 hours later got to our quaint lodgings at this little hostel type place about a mile down the road from all the crazy action.


The festival was actually rather intense. Everything is free, and there's mud wrestling, mud water slides, mud pools, mud massages, and so on.

All of the mud is used in making cosmetics and if you signed the guest book at any of the booths you got some free mud soap (which is incredible to use by the way). I spent all day on the beach going from getting all mudded up to hanging out, to washing it off and swimming in the ocean only to do it all over again. They had tables and brushes set up all over so it was pretty easy:

And man, was there drinking. Basically Daechon goes from this tiny little sleepy beach town into this massive sprawling spring break-esque party town for a week. If you never participated in a traditional spring break back in the states, and always wanted to - Boryeong is where you gotta go.

Even though I'm explaining it as a party-town, hook-up-a-thon, crazy good time - there were actually a ton of Korean families sprawled all down the beach. I have to tell ya, Korean children all mudded up are absolutely adorable.

If you didn't want to be part of the insanity, you could easily go a 50 meters or so in either direction and get some peace and quiet. Sunday morning actually, I wondered over to my little portion of the beach, got all mudded up, and just hung out. It was kinda nice actually - AND there were no lines at the mud slides!


The weather for this upcoming weekend looks rather terrible so I doubt I'll be going back, but this past weekend was one of the most fun I've had in Korea. Saturday night we didn't even need a bar - just get some beers from any of the conveniences stores, pick up a handful of roman candles, and hang out on the beach until the wee morning hours. Nothing more fun than that. And going through worknplay was one of the best decisions we made as well - hell - even got a free t-shirt out of the deal and some of the best food I've had in months. If you're reading this - and plan on doing ANYTHING in Korea next summer - book with worknplay and just go experience it for yourself. If nothing else, man does that mud make your skin feel about 5 years younger.

Busan! Pusan? Busan!

Koreans combine the sounds of a few letters... b/v, f/p, l/r, and p/b just to name a few. You'll see the name Pusan on maps and such, but people mostly say Busan. Sometimes you'll get this crazy b/p cross sound where people will try and sound like they're saying both, but I prefer to use the b for Busan.

Aaaanyway the first weekend in June gave most people a nice 3 day weekend for that Friday was Korean Memorial Day. At home Memorial Day is the beginning of summer marking point and a rather hefty amount of time off - however in Korea - its just a day. So 9 of us packed up our swim trunks and took the train down to Busan on the south eastern coast.

Busan is Korea's 2nd biggest city at 4 million people and the world's 4th busiest port because its conveniently located on the coast/beach. Busan is definitely a breath of fresh air after spending nearly a year in Seoul, I mean - look at that beach:


First we took Korea's high speed train - KTX from Seoul to Busan and it topped out at a nice speed of 302 kmph (187mph). Equipped with a few bottles of wine, we overtook a VIP car and traveled for 2.5 hours down to the coast, complete with our party hats on:


Once we got there we of course didn't have any place to stay (we took a risk) and wound up looking left after getting off the train and staying at the first place we saw. It was the Hotel Arirang which was as seedy as it sounds. BUT for 9 of us in 3 rooms, it was only $40 each. Roughly $14 a night? Cannot complain.

Our nights were spent drinking, but our days were spent at Hyundae beach. There was a sand festival with hundreds of large sand sculptures littered across the beach, and a fireworks show on Saturday night. Oh, and true to Korean form there are snacks and food operations everywhere including a little seafood village. I did happen to partake in some live octupus... squishy and squirmy all the way down.




A highlight of the weekend was the Jalgachi fish market, Korea's largest. We walked into this place and a fisherman tossed a small tiger shark onto the floor for our amusement. As we decided to walk on, the fisherman made it known that we had to fix his mistake, so I picked up the squirming tiger shark (which was about the length of my forearm) and dumped him back in the overcrowded tank. We perused the place with its floors entirely wet, and then went out to take a look at the port's container ships. We did go back on Sunday and partook in the freshest seafood I've ever had. Ordered up 3 king crabs from the first floor fishtanks and then on the 2nd floor they cook it and serve it.


Life in Busan is pretty good....

Namhansanseong or, Gate South of the Han

Namhansanseong. Quite a mouthful, eh?

It has its own subway stop on the Bundang Line, but I never saw it. I had never heard of it before either, but my school director recommended it as a staff outing day. Now, we've only had one other of these to the Suwon Korean Folk Village in the fall, but I accidentally on purpose slept through that. However, I am glad that I did not sleep through this.

Namhansanseong literally means Gate/Fortress South of the Han River. It was a gate that was pretty important from the 1600s when it served a major role in defending a Korean king during an attack from the Manchus until the mid 1700s. It also has a few temples and such scattered throughout the mountain area. The gate eventually was left unattended and crumbled until the mid 1950s when the government decided to rebuild it, as they have rebuilt virtually everything else in this country.







It's a nice walk up a mountain that's not very steep for about an hour. It overlooks the Jamsil area and on a clear day you can probably see all the way into central Seoul, but it's never clear here. The interesting thing was at the top of the mountain, off to the side in the woods was a little community of hikers enjoying vegetables and Makali (Korean Rice Wine). I don't know about you, but after a pretty physical walk/hike booze is really the last thing I want - especially when you still have to go back down.



My head teacher wound up getting drunk, so we had to make sure she was ok to walk back down. It was slow, but she eventually made back into the little mountain town to have a nice Bimbibap lunch. Overall, a nice way to spend a couple of hours outside.

Hong Kong - My Newest Love

As I stated a few posts ago, one of my best friends came to visit me. Korea was never on his list of places to visit, but then again it wasn't on mine either - they just happen to pay me a lot of money. However, he stopped here to visit me before we both headed onto Hong Kong. He had lived there for 6 months a few years ago for school and this of course was my first time.

(Before you get any further - this post will be long and probably not as entertaining as others. You've been warned.)

Hong Kong is one of those magical cities that just blindside you. You of course go and think it's going to be a good time, but you wind up leaving it begrudgingly and figuring out ways to come back. It is a captivating city, and you can feel its energy and that people are there and getting things, important worldly things, done.


You also never forget that you're in a Chinese area, as things are still slightly off... case in point - a street of dried seafood with fresh shark fins on the side of the street:

We got there early Wednesday afternoon, hopped on the excellent Airport Express Train and were in central Hong Kong within 24 minutes.

We checked into the Marriot Courtyard and as we entered our room on the 25th floor and looked out our gigantic floor to ceiling windows we were pretty pleased with ourselves.

We wasted no time, and once we got over the happiness of the room, we took the trolley (yes, amazingly fun trolleys) down to a plaza in central Hong Kong. We walked around there for a bit to see all of the buildings and then subwayed it over to the Kowloon Peninsula to site see.

As we walked around we came to the Peninsula Hotel - an old time British luxury hotel - so we stopped in for a bit of afternoon tea. We took the Star Ferry back to central Hong Kong and took a trip up one of the longest escalators in the world through the mid-levels full of shops and restaurants. Once at the top we headed over to Lai Kwai Fong - the foreigner bar area - and had a beer and some food before heading back to the hotel for the evening to crack open the mini bar and stare out the window (yes, we just sat and stared out the window).

Thursday saw not too much action as there were some meetings to be had, but I did get to see a bit of the Syracuse University program at the City University of Hong Kong. SU is the only American University presence in HK which made me feel pretty good for my alma matter.

Thursday night we did stop on the Kowloon side for a bit to watch the nightly Laser Light Show that HK puts on from their skyline. They play music and each of the buildings light up and its a nice little flair that they add for tourists.


We then took a walk around the lit up area and saw all of the Olympic craziness around. Hong Kong is helping Beijing to host the Equine part of the games this summer. Plus all of China is crazy about it all anyway...

Friday we took a little trip over to Hong Kong Disneyland, and being that I had never before been to a Disney anything it was a really fun afternoon. The highlight for me had to be the Philharmagic Show - which was a 3D theater performance complete with water, smells, wind, and smoke. It was excellent. Also we did the It's a Small World Ride which had only been open for about a week, and the song is forever burned into my brain. The park is very very small though, and took us only about 3 hours to go through the whole thing. It's just hilarious that Disney has a presence in HK.


After Disney we went on one of the craziest bus rides through Lantau Island and wound up on top of a mountain at the Big Stone Buddha and the Po Lin Monastery. Truly a site to see, so if you're there - I recommend it.


We of course went out for a bit of drinking with some of my friend's old friends in Lai Kwai Fong and returned home at 5am, only to wake up and check out at 9am. For our last night in Hong Kong, I was surprised with a night at the Mandarin Oriental - one of the world's premier hotels. We had tea in our room on the 19th floor, overlooking the harbor and central Hong Kong that our concierge herself brought to us.


We headed to an excellent Dim Sum lunch in Kowloon with a few Chinese friends and then went to the Tsim Sha Tsui area to pick up our newly made clothing. Hong Kong is an incredible place to go shopping, but what you should definitely do is go and have clothing made. My friend got a suit and some shirts made, while I had some shirts and a skirt made cheaper than you'd ever get at home.

Saturday evening we took a long trip out to the New Territories and had dinner in Tai Po with a British Syracuse Professor who has lived in Hong Kong for 30+ years. The stories he had to tell were fascinating and he took us out to one of the best Thai food dinners I've ever had. He drove us back to the train station and when we returned to our hotel, we headed to the top floor for an evening in the hotel spa - WHICH happened to be ranked Asia's best spa. This was a title that is well deserved because for 60 minutes I was in pure unadulterated bliss. I've seriously never felt that good in my whole life, that I'm sure of.

For our last night in HK we once again sat looking out our window overlooking the harbor with all of the lights before meeting up with the same friends from earlier to have drinks in the hotel rooftop bar. We sat in this classy establishment enjoying martinis and such before calling it a drunken night around 2am.

Room serviced breakfast woke us up at 6:15am. It was a cloudy rainy morning which fit our moods perfectly being that neither of us wanted to go home. I didn't want to take my 3 hour flight to Seoul and my friend definitely did not want to take his 15 hour flight back to New York. Most people would say that life could be worse, but we now know that it could be better...

Unconventional Stay in a Traditional Korean Hanok

One of my best friends flew halfway around the world to come and visit little old me this past week so I thought I'd attempt to do it up a bit. After our tour of the DMZ we headed back to Seoul and stayed at the Tea Guesthouse near Anguk Station and Insadong.

Now, most people when they travel want to find the best hotels possible, but when in Asia why not do things a little differently?

The tea guesthouse was one of the most unique places I've ever stayed. It's down a quiet street and a pagoda filled area. When you walk in, you enter a small courtyard filled with knick knacks and small houses.


We stayed in the double room which had two andols (mattress on the floor), antique looking furniture, heating/ac, and a desk and computer/tv. When you opened up the back door to the room it opened up into a backyard with a small pond and access to the puppy that was running around.
(The double room)

(The pond in the back)
It was a very nice, secluded little haven in the middle of the city, but it felt like it was miles away from everything (which is a good thing). The staff was helpful, they offered an excellent western breakfast in the morning, and there were plenty of brochures and magazines around to help plan a day if need be. It was nice to spend a night in a traditional place that had paper thin walls like you'd see on tv. We both really enjoyed it and it was a come and go as you please kind of place.

The DMZ - A Toursity Kind of Warzone

Ah the DMZ. The De-Militarized Zone. A span of only a few miles between two warring countries. One at the forefront of modernism and the other led by a madman who may or may not have extremely dangerous weapons. In between the two lies this space of farmers and military co-existing in an active war zone state, BUT also runs daily tours and sells knick knacks and tasty treats.

Specially made DMZ rice.

At a first glance, its thought provoking and fascinating and frightening all at the same time. There are two countries that have been so against each other for so long that they actually have to have miles between them to keep each other out. There are people living in South Korea that haven't seen their family members because they're stuck in North Korea and vice versa. They've been at a standstill for years, and the North is still trying to figure out ways to break into Seoul, as is evident with their digging and finding of tunnels underground. The 2nd most recent tunnel, the 3rd tunnel, was found when they were only 52km (about 32 miles) away from Seoul in the 1980s.

Looking at North Korea, this is the border between the two countries.

At any given time you never know what those crazy North Koreans are up to. The DMZ was built as a temporary barrier between the two, but as they continue to build more permanent structures and keep things freshly painted, its very clear that there will be no resolve in the near future.

However, after all of that goes by the wayside in your brain and you realize you're sitting on a United States Organization (USO) Tour Bus, that you paid $44 to get onto with other tourists, that there isn't exactly any imminent danger. They take you to snack shops, rest areas, banquet halls, and gift shops. I bought some souvenirs for my parents. We joked about walking out the door when we were standing in North Korea and seeing what happened. We were also told not to make any communicative gestures towards the North Koreans and we openly talked about how we were gonna get thrown in jail for waiving furiously at them.


The sign as you head into the 3rd tunnel explaining the stupidity of North Koreans

The whole trip for the USO first takes place in Ballinger hall for a debriefing, then onto the Joint Security Area (JSA) to see where the peace talks were held, then to lunch, and then the Dora Observatory, and lastly the 3rd tunnel where they make you put on hard hats and walk down a steep incline to get to the tunnel that's very wet and dark and short. It was a long day, and extremely informative, and we met some cool people on the tour that were mainly just passing through Korea.

South Korean Soldier guarding the door into North Korea

It is most definitely something everyone who lives here should see, if only to see something that is so definitive in history. It really is some of the most beautiful countryside I've seen here, and it is home to a lot of rare wildlife. Once the countries become united (if ever) there are plans already in place to keep it a nature wildlife preserve. Not to mention it has some of the most fertile untouched soil in the world and grows ginseng, rice, and other various important crops. So much so that the farmers who live in the DMZ are there to farm and making an untaxed living of about $80,000. Yes, dollars. It's unbelievable actually.

North Korea

If you're going to take a tour, make sure you take one through the USO and you book it about a month in advance. This is the third time I've tried to book a tour, and the first two were unsuccessful due to the popularity of the tour. All of the information you would need can be found here.

Ferry Riding and Spelunking!

Ok, well not completely spelunking, but I did spend some time in some caves.

This past weekend I partook in another Adventure Korea trip - this time only for a day - and it was a blast. Got up at the ass crack of dawn, waited on the corner to meet up with a friend, and while I was waiting I got solicited by a Korean man; "You, Me, Money??" and he pointed to me to get into the van. Riiiiiiight buddy.

Anyway, grabbed some food at the McDonald's and headed on the bus, to the subway, to the AK bus and 3 hours later we were in Chungju. We took a ferry ride down a river for 2 hours and it was absolutely beautiful. My words won't do it justice so just notice some pictures:






After the boat there was some downtime and we of course, took more pictures of the scenery and took this is an opportunity to throw some rocks a very long way into the water. My first couple throws reminded me of something that my 8 year old self just wouldn't be proud of. BUT - after a couple practice throws it wasn't so bad.



The caves came afterwards, and it was pretty fascinating. I didn't see any bats, so that was disappointing BUT we did get to go a little off roading in the cave and walk over this tiny little bridge above people and jump ahead of the line. There weren't any signs in English or Korean so its always cool to be a little bad ass.





The caves were then followed by a little hike to Dodamsanbong Peak & the Stone Gate - a giant land bridge overlooking 3 rather large rocks in the water. According to the legend there lived a couple who loved each other, but had no child. They found a mistress because they wanted to have a baby, but once she had the baby, she began to mistreat and taunt the wife. The heavens saw them, and turned all of them into stones. And that's what those rocks are, and in an S shape. Gotta love Korean folklore.





After a gorgeous spring day, we hopped on the bus back to Seoul and spent the night hangin out with friends in Itaewon. It was an early one though - forgot how tiring fresh air is!

Skiing! Adventure Korea Style

If you are in Korea and don't know about the travel group Adventure Korea, you should. They put together travel services geared towards foreigners all around Korea based out of Seoul. This past weekend 8 of my friends and I participated in their trip to PyeongChang/Phoenix Park in Gangwon-Do in the Bangdong Valley, about 241km (3 hours) due east of Seoul. It was absolutely gorgeous, and we couldn't have asked for better conditions.



After you signed up through their website and wired money from your ATM, 112,000W (~$120) bought you transportation to and from, ski rentals, ski lift pass for 4 hours, and a night in a hostel at the base of the mountain. If you needed to rent any extras like goggles it was only 3,000W, or snow pants/jackets for 10,000W each. The only thing you couldn't rent were gloves, but the AK Staff warned us about this beforehand, and I bought a nice pair of ski gloves at a rest stop on the way for 10,000W.

Everything worked like clockwork - we were on the bus by 8am, and were on the road and in PyeongChang getting our rental equipment by 11:30 and were on the mountain skiing by 12:30pm. The mountain had two peaks and a number of challenging runs. I was a bit cocky at first and attempted the intermediate hill even though I haven't set foot on a mountain in 6 years. It took many, many, many falls before I got my ski legs, but it eventually came back to me, and was a great time.


(The view from our room)

If we had wanted to purchase a night ticket or a morning ticket we could have easily done so for 40,000, but we all opted for a night of relaxing pool/sauna, dinner, and drunken debauchery. The interesting thing was the entire little resort town basically closes down at 2am, with the exception of the mountain. There were hundreds of people still skiing at 2, 3, 4am which was something I had never seen before.



However with it only being 2am, we were left to entertain ourselves. If you're ever found in this situation, I whole heartedly recommend talking a walk over to the Bleu hotel and taking an elevator up to the 26th floor. Walk up 3 flights of stairs past the penthouse and you'll find a door that opens up to the roof which gives you the highest view of the entire area - and its breathtaking. I'm sure its against the rules, but eh, everything fun usually is.




All in all, it was an amazing trip and I recommend using Adventure Korea for any of their services. www.adventurekorea.com - trips include DMZ, temple stays, hiking, skiing, and various other activities - all of which I hope to abuse.

Holy China! Part 2 of 2: Beijing & The Great Wall

After 4 really incredible days in Shanghai, it was time to leave it all behind and head onto Beijing by way of the rail. Our tour guide brought us to the station, and right up to the waiting room where after a bit of waiting we eventually boarded the 12 hour overnight train from Shanghai to Beijing. We had a 4 person soft sleeper car to ourselves (there were 3 of us) and after we ran around a bit in utter excitement we got down to business: charging up all of our electronics and playing some cards. I'd love to say that we did something wild and crazy but realistically we were all getting pretty sick so we called it a "night" and I for one had an amazing night's sleep in a warm train car regardless of how incredibly awful I felt. We were then woken up to a pretty awful "western" breakfast around 6:30am, and then after all of the announcements were in Chinese and the train stopped and everyone got off, we realized we were the last ones ON the train when they turned off all the lights. Ah well, these things happen.

We waited in the coldest weather I have felt in years in front of the railway station for our 2 other friends to get off of their train and head to the hostel. They found a pretty great hostel in the 365 Inn near Tianneman Square that had separate rooms with bunk beds in them, and private bathrooms - all for a hefty $6 a night. Not to mention the downstairs had a full service restaurant/bar that was pretty amazing. It comes HIGHLY recommended.

After settling in we didn't waste a minute of our short time in Beijing together. First was our official Chinese meal at some hole in the wall place that was pretty damn good, and then doing a bit of haggling for some Chinese schwag. We headed to Tianneman Square where we effectively froze our asses off, onto to the Forbidden City (officially sponsored by American Express now) where we made one to many 'it's Forbidden!' jokes, walked a bit to the hutongs (the oldest neighborhoods of the city that are so close together cars and just barely fit down the streets), and off to some frozen lake that people were stupidly running around on. After attempting to be one of those idiots and feeling one step away from frostbite, we decided to regroup back at the hostel to wait for our last friend to arrive. Hot Chocolate and cakes all around.





Once our final friend showed up, we spent some quality time drinking in the hostel with random old and new friends - an Israeli (friend of the group) and some random Parisians. That's what hostels are for right? We all parted ways and the core group went onto meet another friend from college at a really nice dinner of traditional Peking Duck. It might be good to say here at this point we are officially on New Year's Eve Day/Evening time. The dinner was incredible, and the duck was delicious, but not something I'd ever crave again I suppose.

Our group once again, now full, and one or two of us being just this side of death, and another one or two of us feeling especially drunk from Chinese Bai Jiu, cabbed it back to the hostel at 11:30pm to ring in the New Year with water and promptly be in bed by 12:30am awaiting what will go down as one of the absolutely monumental days of my life.

A quick 5am rolls around and all but 1 of us spring into action. A 3 hour bus ride to the wall for a 6 mile (10km) hike along the Great Wall of China from JinShanLing to Simatai. The most touristy area is Badaling and while I did not see it, I would NOT recommend it. Too many people and the wall is entirely rebuilt. The trek we did was not only beautiful, but physically challenging, and unbelieveably rewarding, and completely devoid of people. The whole thing cost 270RMB (~$39) and it included 2 portions of the wall, the toll on the bridge at the end, transportation to and from our hostel, breakfast and lunch.





At 1pm Beijing Time, 12am midnight New York time, 5 New Yorkers popped open a bottle of champagne and toasted to it officially being 2008 on the Great Wall after 3 hours of grueling hiking with a good ways still to go. Don't let me fool you, we bitched and complained every step of the way - but it was all for comedic purposes. At one point I considered not going to the wall because I was feeling so horrible from being sick, but I powered through and do not regret that decision in the least.






I cut it pretty close in time as we returned from the Wall at 6:45pm and I had a 9:15pm flight back to Seoul to catch. However, I made it with plenty of time to spare and I wouldn't have changed a thing. One of the best trips I've ever taken, hands down.