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Wednesday, 6 August 2008
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Sunday, 22 June 2008
April 29 - Hiking with John & Lori
This was the second hike I went on with John & Lori. The first was completely undocumented, as everyone forgot their cameras and mine wasn't working properly.
So this was the second hike and it was somewhere 2 hours south of Suwon. I can't remember the name of the place, but it was about a 4 hr hike with a magnificent view from the top.
This was one of my favourite days in Korea, we had such a great time.
Lanterns for Buddha's birthday
Pink Cherry blossoms
John & I, very comfortably posed together :P
A festival celebrating and giving thanks for the mountain! (And yes, that is a pig's head)
Strolling among the bamboo
Pretty spring flowers
Lori & I at the top, standing on the helicopter pad
Perched on the top having lunch
Views from the top
The expression on John's face is the perfect personification of how we all felt when we thought we had found a secluded, QUIET place to have lunch at the top of the mountain, and then a bus load of Koreans descended upon us. It's funny, the mentality here is completely the opposite of back home. At home, if you saw someone having lunch in a nice quiet spot you would try to respect their privacy by going somewhere else. In Korea they think, "Hey! This must be where we're all supposed to have lunch!" John, having spent most of his time on the Army base in Korea, was the least impressed of the three of us. Lori and I just laughed, cause it was SO typical.
So after the hike, to top it all off we jumped back into John's Japanese car with the steering wheel on the right side (haha) and went to the Army base (my first time there - how I wish my camera had been working!) It was such a funny experience, I felt like I had been transported back to North America. There was a typical Truro-style mall, a couple of fast food restaurants and lots of barracks. It just totally looked like North America. Not a Korean thing in sight. Very very odd, but after being here for 7 months it was such a welcome change, I felt such relief! (Sad, I know.) We went to Chili's, a place I'm sure I would NEVER set foot in back home, but man, we ordered steak and mashed potatoes and margaritas, and I swear, it was just about the best meal I've ever tasted. Hahaha... oh man, maybe I shouldn't be saying this on the internet... it could come back to haunt me! (Especially after my American military rant in the DMZ post... ah well... that was before I met John :)
So this was the second hike and it was somewhere 2 hours south of Suwon. I can't remember the name of the place, but it was about a 4 hr hike with a magnificent view from the top.
This was one of my favourite days in Korea, we had such a great time.
Lanterns for Buddha's birthday
Pink Cherry blossoms
John & I, very comfortably posed together :P
A festival celebrating and giving thanks for the mountain! (And yes, that is a pig's head)
Strolling among the bamboo
Pretty spring flowers
Lori & I at the top, standing on the helicopter pad
Perched on the top having lunch
Views from the top
The expression on John's face is the perfect personification of how we all felt when we thought we had found a secluded, QUIET place to have lunch at the top of the mountain, and then a bus load of Koreans descended upon us. It's funny, the mentality here is completely the opposite of back home. At home, if you saw someone having lunch in a nice quiet spot you would try to respect their privacy by going somewhere else. In Korea they think, "Hey! This must be where we're all supposed to have lunch!" John, having spent most of his time on the Army base in Korea, was the least impressed of the three of us. Lori and I just laughed, cause it was SO typical.
So after the hike, to top it all off we jumped back into John's Japanese car with the steering wheel on the right side (haha) and went to the Army base (my first time there - how I wish my camera had been working!) It was such a funny experience, I felt like I had been transported back to North America. There was a typical Truro-style mall, a couple of fast food restaurants and lots of barracks. It just totally looked like North America. Not a Korean thing in sight. Very very odd, but after being here for 7 months it was such a welcome change, I felt such relief! (Sad, I know.) We went to Chili's, a place I'm sure I would NEVER set foot in back home, but man, we ordered steak and mashed potatoes and margaritas, and I swear, it was just about the best meal I've ever tasted. Hahaha... oh man, maybe I shouldn't be saying this on the internet... it could come back to haunt me! (Especially after my American military rant in the DMZ post... ah well... that was before I met John :)
Spring in Korea
With my camera still broken in April I have collected stolen flower pictures from others. I have a few on my cell phone, but I haven't figured out how to download them from the phone yet...
Purple Magnolia
White magnolia outside the spa that's across from our building
Cherry Blossoms
Cherry Blossoms
Cherry Blossoms at Hwaseo Lake
Cherry Blossoms at Hwaseo Lake
Purple Magnolia
White magnolia outside the spa that's across from our building
Cherry Blossoms
Cherry Blossoms
Cherry Blossoms at Hwaseo Lake
Cherry Blossoms at Hwaseo Lake
March 17 - St. Paddy's: Even in Korea!
Most of the teachers at the St. Paddy's Day parade
The parade in downtown Seoul
Irish Koreans! They played Irish music and danced Irish dances! I felt like I was back in Nova Scotia!
The battle of the b'boying Guiness'!
The battle of the b'boying Guiness' continued
Hannah & Pip enjoying a green beer at the Canadian bar in Itaewon, the "Rocky Mountain Tavern"
The parade in downtown Seoul
Irish Koreans! They played Irish music and danced Irish dances! I felt like I was back in Nova Scotia!
The battle of the b'boying Guiness'!
The battle of the b'boying Guiness' continued
Hannah & Pip enjoying a green beer at the Canadian bar in Itaewon, the "Rocky Mountain Tavern"
April 18 - Changdeokgung Palace
On April 18th I met up with a couple who worked at the Underground restaurant with me a few years ago. They had just arrived in Korea the month before, so we got together to go and see a palace I had wanted to see for a long time.
The palace was called Changdeokgung, and was Korea's centre of power between 1618 and 1896. It can only be visited on a guided tour, which was a nice way to see it because we got to learn about the history of the place. The highlight was the 2.5 km "Secret Garden," which was a very beautiful place with forests and ponds and flowers and amazingly fresh air.
Unfortunately my camera was broken at this point, so these are Ian's photos (thank you Ian!)
A temple at the palace
Our tour guide
Palace architectural detail
The Secret Garden
The Secret Garden pond, which was sadly being drained while we were there
In the secret garden, next to the empty pond
The three of us in front of the palace
The palace was called Changdeokgung, and was Korea's centre of power between 1618 and 1896. It can only be visited on a guided tour, which was a nice way to see it because we got to learn about the history of the place. The highlight was the 2.5 km "Secret Garden," which was a very beautiful place with forests and ponds and flowers and amazingly fresh air.
Unfortunately my camera was broken at this point, so these are Ian's photos (thank you Ian!)
A temple at the palace
Our tour guide
Palace architectural detail
The Secret Garden
The Secret Garden pond, which was sadly being drained while we were there
In the secret garden, next to the empty pond
The three of us in front of the palace
March - Dr. Fish
In March, Hannah's sister came for a visit, and Hannah wanted to show her "Dr. Fish". Mike, Nick and I decided to tag along, and it turned out to be quite the adventure!
Dr. Fish is a foot therapy cafe here in Korea, the basis of which is to place your feet into a small pool with hundreds and hundreds of fish, about 2" long by 1/4" wide, which then proceed to eat all of the dead skin off of your feet!! And, if you can believe it, that's not even the strangest part of the whole thing. The place where all of this happens is just a normal coffee and cake cafe, and in order to get the fish therapy done you have to buy a coffee or tea. So you come in, buy your coffee or tea, then they take you over to this raised platform and you sit on the edge of a pool full of these fish, and you just stick your feet in. The waitress sets a timer for 20 min, and when it's done you go and sit down in the cafe and have your tea.
The fish LOVED me for some reason - not sure if that's a good or bad thing... it was such a funny feeling, it kind of tickled and for like 20 min after it felt like they were still eating. Yikes. It was kind of like pins and needles. SO strange, but my feet have never felt so soft!
Hannah enjoying her fish-foot-therapy
Nick tentatively placing his feet in for the first time
The fish, trying to get as far away from Nick's feet as possible!
Just having put my feet in, the fish were really tickling!
The fist trying to stay away from EVERYONE's feet
Oh, they got the hang of it... at least with my feet! The big ones were scary!
Dr. Fish is a foot therapy cafe here in Korea, the basis of which is to place your feet into a small pool with hundreds and hundreds of fish, about 2" long by 1/4" wide, which then proceed to eat all of the dead skin off of your feet!! And, if you can believe it, that's not even the strangest part of the whole thing. The place where all of this happens is just a normal coffee and cake cafe, and in order to get the fish therapy done you have to buy a coffee or tea. So you come in, buy your coffee or tea, then they take you over to this raised platform and you sit on the edge of a pool full of these fish, and you just stick your feet in. The waitress sets a timer for 20 min, and when it's done you go and sit down in the cafe and have your tea.
The fish LOVED me for some reason - not sure if that's a good or bad thing... it was such a funny feeling, it kind of tickled and for like 20 min after it felt like they were still eating. Yikes. It was kind of like pins and needles. SO strange, but my feet have never felt so soft!
Hannah enjoying her fish-foot-therapy
Nick tentatively placing his feet in for the first time
The fish, trying to get as far away from Nick's feet as possible!
Just having put my feet in, the fish were really tickling!
The fist trying to stay away from EVERYONE's feet
Oh, they got the hang of it... at least with my feet! The big ones were scary!
It's been a looooong time!
Oh my goodness, my last post was December 30th! As you can see, it is now June 22nd! Yikes. Well, I'm going to try to do some updates here, we'll see how far I get.
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