I'd planned on going to the dentist. I should have learned by now that things don't always turn out like you plan.
I had spoken to Mihey about going sometime late last week, and she mentioned it to the gym teacher, UnSeok Kim. His sister is a hygenist at a local office. The plan was to meet today, Saturday, at 3:20 in front of schoool.
The meeting each other wasn't a problem, nor was the part when we met UnSeok's best friend, a gym teacher from another middle school, YuJin, in front of the dentist office. It turned out we had an hour to spare before the appointment, so we decided to get coffee at Kenya Espress. UnSeok got a call from his sister, and there must have been a scheduling conflict at the office.
The men asked if I'd ever been to Damyang Bamboo Park. Well, I'd already been there two times, but I said sure and went along with it. YuJuin spoke a good amount of English, so we had a decent conversation during the 45 minute drive to the bamboo park just outside of Gwangju.
The bambook park was just liike it was the last two times I'd been there- walking paths with bamboo all around you. This time instead of snow and ice, there was wet dirt and more people. At least the weather wasn't as cold.
After walking around in the muddy park, we got some dinner at a samgypsal restaurant on the way back home. Even though both men are 37, married with children, they were a lot of fun to talk to and joke with. We stayed at the restaurant for over an hour, which is uncommon. Koreans tend to eat as quicky as possible, but we enjoyed the time.
I think we are going to meet again on Thursday and try again to go to the dentist. It was just a funny afternoon because it was a perfect example of how you never tend to get exactly what you expect in Korea. Instead of the dentist, I got coffee, Damyang Bamboo Park, and dinner! But I do really hope next week we make it to the dentist, fingers crossed!
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Girls Generation- Tell Me Your Wish
This is one of my new favorite songs. It's by Girls Generation, a group that I know a few Americans (Mike and co) really enjoy! I'm pretty sure one of the reasons it is so popular is because of their legs! Check it out here:
Looking for suggestions
I got a call tonight from my host brother. Their family and I have been talking about doing dinner together sometime soon, this time at my apartment, and having me cook. We decided on Tuesday at 7pm. I don't have too much space, and we're going to have to sit on the floor to eat!
I'm looking for ideas now of what to prepare. I've currently got lots of random American junk food and spices. They did request an American meal. I just don't know what! As I was making grilled cheese tonight for dinner, I thought of perhaps having breakfast for dinner. I have pancake mix, and french toast isn't too hard. Eggs are also relatively inexpensive, and I bet if I looked hard enough, I could even find some bacon. I'm just not sure.
If you've got any ideas or recipies that require basic ideas, I'd love to hear them. Otherwise, french toast it is! And probably some valentines candy to follow ^^
I'm looking for ideas now of what to prepare. I've currently got lots of random American junk food and spices. They did request an American meal. I just don't know what! As I was making grilled cheese tonight for dinner, I thought of perhaps having breakfast for dinner. I have pancake mix, and french toast isn't too hard. Eggs are also relatively inexpensive, and I bet if I looked hard enough, I could even find some bacon. I'm just not sure.
If you've got any ideas or recipies that require basic ideas, I'd love to hear them. Otherwise, french toast it is! And probably some valentines candy to follow ^^
I was so happy...
Today, I came home from school on my lunch break. One of the men that works below my aparment in the car shop opened the door for me, and presented me with two large boxes! I hadn't ordered anything, so I was taken by suprise! One was from Mike Kubisak, and the other Analiese Tushaus, one of my best friends from back home. I haven't been that excited in so long! It was a great feeling!
I ran back to school before opening them, because I wanted some pictures taken. Mihey was just as excited as me! Here I am. Look at how happy I am!
I tore into both packages, and had such fun opening them. They each contained the necessities. For example, shower gel, t-shirts (Go Badgers!), chocolate, Hershey's, Dove, candy canes, and macaroni and cheese. I just put them into my cabinets today after school, and I've got one designated specifically to American food. Combined with the food my brother brought over a few weeks back, it's the fullest cabinet! And mostly with junk food. It's a good thing I joined a new gym yesterday in my neighborhood since my other membership expired. It may not be as nice, but it's about half the price, and it doesn't take me a half hour and cost 1,000 won to get there each way! Which reminds me, I'm off to my training session. Just wanted to say thanks again! ^^
I ran back to school before opening them, because I wanted some pictures taken. Mihey was just as excited as me! Here I am. Look at how happy I am!
I tore into both packages, and had such fun opening them. They each contained the necessities. For example, shower gel, t-shirts (Go Badgers!), chocolate, Hershey's, Dove, candy canes, and macaroni and cheese. I just put them into my cabinets today after school, and I've got one designated specifically to American food. Combined with the food my brother brought over a few weeks back, it's the fullest cabinet! And mostly with junk food. It's a good thing I joined a new gym yesterday in my neighborhood since my other membership expired. It may not be as nice, but it's about half the price, and it doesn't take me a half hour and cost 1,000 won to get there each way! Which reminds me, I'm off to my training session. Just wanted to say thanks again! ^^
Sunday, January 24, 2010
4 out of the last 5...
weekends, I have been in Seoul/Incheon. I realized this when I was halfway to Incheon on Thursday to visit Joe. Most of my friends in Gwangju are out of the country, specifically to SE Asia. So I didn't have any plans, and decided to go up and see what was happening in Incheon.
Everyone and more was in town for the weekend, so we had a blast. Thursday we went to Trivia night at a small bar named G7 in Bupyeong. It was lots of fun. I got to see Patrick, Evan, Sophia, Carmen, and Ryan. There were also lots of other Incheon people from orietation there, like Drew and Kevin. The Incheon crowd has made friends with some Koreans, and I got to meet some of them. It was a good crew, and one of our two groups came in first place. Here they are with their winnings:
On Friday, I went into school with Joe. He was doing an English camp this past week, and after we went out with two of his teachers to get coffee and ice cream. The cafe near Juan station was adorable, and the bathrooms were western! There was a real toilet, toilet paper, liquid soap, and paper towels! That's not something you come across very often!
Later, we took the subway into Seoul to get a very late dinner in Insadong. Insadong is close to the main palace, so it tends to be a little touristy. Since we were there later, we didn't get to see much of the shops. They sell a lot of antiques and traditional Korean handicrafts. I would like to go back again someday to do some more shopping in the small stores. There are also a lot of tea houses in the area, and we got tea at 10 pm after dinner. I had ginsing and ginger, it was pretty tasty!
Saturday, Joe and I went back to Seoul after watching a few episodes of Jersey Shore. We went to Myeongdong, which is a very popular shopping district. I really wanted to see the Forever 21 and get some clothes. That place was amazing, and I could have spent all day (and all my paycheck!) in there! The three stories were filled with women of all different races, it was strange hearing that much English! I didn't come out empty handed, but I'll refrain from telling you everything I got. Here's the outside.
Joe's friend Alex lives in Seoul, and does the SMOE program. We met him and two of his friends, Diane and Julia, at 6 in Sinchang. It is a university area, and one of my new favorite places. There, there's a place called HANA and every week there are language exchanges between English speakers and Koreans. This weekend was a special "party" weekend and it was packed! We figured there were a little less than 300 people there. It kind of felt like speed dating! You get unlimited beer and snacks, and get to mingle and small talk. I meet a few girls who I exchanged numbers with, and I'd like to get together with them when I'm in Seoul next. Before the party wound down, there was a dance contest and dating auction. It was pretty entertaining! Our group decided to skip the official round two, and instead went with our new friends to Hongdae for a good time at a few places. Sophia, Evan, Ryan, and Carmen came in from Incheon and met us there. Here we are at a Soju Room.
From left: Badi, Qu, Sophia, Unknown, Ryan, Me
From left:Unknown, Evan, unknown, Alex, unknown, Carmen, Joe, Diane.
It was a great night and I wish that Gwangju had something like that. I'd definitely do it again!
Everyone and more was in town for the weekend, so we had a blast. Thursday we went to Trivia night at a small bar named G7 in Bupyeong. It was lots of fun. I got to see Patrick, Evan, Sophia, Carmen, and Ryan. There were also lots of other Incheon people from orietation there, like Drew and Kevin. The Incheon crowd has made friends with some Koreans, and I got to meet some of them. It was a good crew, and one of our two groups came in first place. Here they are with their winnings:
On Friday, I went into school with Joe. He was doing an English camp this past week, and after we went out with two of his teachers to get coffee and ice cream. The cafe near Juan station was adorable, and the bathrooms were western! There was a real toilet, toilet paper, liquid soap, and paper towels! That's not something you come across very often!
Later, we took the subway into Seoul to get a very late dinner in Insadong. Insadong is close to the main palace, so it tends to be a little touristy. Since we were there later, we didn't get to see much of the shops. They sell a lot of antiques and traditional Korean handicrafts. I would like to go back again someday to do some more shopping in the small stores. There are also a lot of tea houses in the area, and we got tea at 10 pm after dinner. I had ginsing and ginger, it was pretty tasty!
Saturday, Joe and I went back to Seoul after watching a few episodes of Jersey Shore. We went to Myeongdong, which is a very popular shopping district. I really wanted to see the Forever 21 and get some clothes. That place was amazing, and I could have spent all day (and all my paycheck!) in there! The three stories were filled with women of all different races, it was strange hearing that much English! I didn't come out empty handed, but I'll refrain from telling you everything I got. Here's the outside.
Joe's friend Alex lives in Seoul, and does the SMOE program. We met him and two of his friends, Diane and Julia, at 6 in Sinchang. It is a university area, and one of my new favorite places. There, there's a place called HANA and every week there are language exchanges between English speakers and Koreans. This weekend was a special "party" weekend and it was packed! We figured there were a little less than 300 people there. It kind of felt like speed dating! You get unlimited beer and snacks, and get to mingle and small talk. I meet a few girls who I exchanged numbers with, and I'd like to get together with them when I'm in Seoul next. Before the party wound down, there was a dance contest and dating auction. It was pretty entertaining! Our group decided to skip the official round two, and instead went with our new friends to Hongdae for a good time at a few places. Sophia, Evan, Ryan, and Carmen came in from Incheon and met us there. Here we are at a Soju Room.
From left: Badi, Qu, Sophia, Unknown, Ryan, Me
From left:Unknown, Evan, unknown, Alex, unknown, Carmen, Joe, Diane.
It was a great night and I wish that Gwangju had something like that. I'd definitely do it again!
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Joseph- my travel buddy
I went to the Philippines with my friend Joeseph. We met at orientation back in August, and got along really well. Even though we were in the same training class, he destination was Incheon.
Anyhow, this is the link to Joe's brief but entertaining post about our trip to the Philippines. He has a nice camera, so most of his pictures are better than mine.
http://josephgutierrez.tumblr.com/post/320962376/my-trip-to-the-philippines
I also want to mention that he has started his own website, just because. He was talking about it in Manila, but I didn't think he was serious. According to his tumblr post, his web address is http://joseph-gutierrez.com
You can read more about him and his new website here. I have to agree with him, it is pretty shameless but should be highly entertaining.
http://josephgutierrez.tumblr.com/post/337156180/momma-im-going-to-be-an-internet-superstar
This is Joe.
Anyhow, this is the link to Joe's brief but entertaining post about our trip to the Philippines. He has a nice camera, so most of his pictures are better than mine.
http://josephgutierrez.tumblr.com/post/320962376/my-trip-to-the-philippines
I also want to mention that he has started his own website, just because. He was talking about it in Manila, but I didn't think he was serious. According to his tumblr post, his web address is http://joseph-gutierrez.com
You can read more about him and his new website here. I have to agree with him, it is pretty shameless but should be highly entertaining.
http://josephgutierrez.tumblr.com/post/337156180/momma-im-going-to-be-an-internet-superstar
This is Joe.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
North Korea/DMZ/JSA
Our main purpose for going to Seoul when Tom and Mike came was to have a tour of the DMZ (De-Militarized Zone) and JSA (Joint Security Area). I found the tour online through tourdmz.com It was the only company I could find that offered a tour of both areas on a Saturday at a price I was willing to pay.
Pickup was at 8:30 at the Lotte Hotel. Lotte is one of the largest brands, and had a gorgeous hotel in downtown Seoul. The tour was about half English speakers and half Japanese speakers. There weren't any Koreans on the tour because as a Korean you are not allowed to have a tour of the DMZ.
Our first stop was Dorasan Station. It is the northern-most train station and very, very close to NK. They have the line set to go to NK, but due to the current political situation, the project is still in the works. Once the project is complete, the line will run from Busan all the way through Russia and over to Europe, making it the longest train line. The station was also brand new and completely empty. Guess it doesn't get much use! Here are the boys in front on the empty platform:
Our next stop was the Dora Observatory. From this point, you usually have a good view into the DMZ and North Korea. However, our weather was cloudy and with the snow it was really hard to tell what we were looking at. I imagine on a nice summer day you'd have a pretty good view.
Close by is the third tunnel. It was one of 4 (known) tunnels dug from the north to invade the south. Luckily, they discovered it in time! You aren't allowed to take pictures in the tunnel for security purposes. We were able to go quite far into the tunnel after taking the monorail down into it (it was just like a rollercoaster!) and they provided us with hard hats because the ceiling was low. Mike and Tom kept hitting their heads on the rock but I managed to only hit mine a few times. In the tunnel, we were able to go pretty close to the Military Demarcation Line, so that was exciting. It was suprisingly warm 73 meters under the surface, I was getting pretty cold from being outside! Outside the tunnel we went into some visitors sections and took this picture:
Then we went to Imjingak freedom village. There is a long bridge that goes into the DMZ where the POW's were exhanged after the war. We looked at some monuments and got to walk on the bridge a little. It was covered with ribbons everywhere you looked, I'm assuming to honor those families that were/still are separated. There was also a train here that had been derailed by bombs at some point during the war. There were over 1,020 bullet holes in it and according to the sign, it "shows the cruel situation at the time."
This is Tom with the ribbons on the bridge:
Another thing that was interesting was the two layer wire fence. It looked like one giant booby trap. There were rocks stacked in the wire and each type of rock had a different name (Auditory stone, Hearing stone, Patrol tag, and Trace stone). They are supposed to alert the guards that patrol the barrier if there was an intruder because of the way they are stacked. I couldn't believe the amount of barbed wired on the fence!
We switched busses at this point to take the second half of our tour, the JSA portion. This might be a little hard to describe how everything felt and what it looked like, so forgive me if it is a little confusing.
In our new bus we drove to Camp Bonifas which is just on the southern border of the DMZ. Our tour guide was telling us about the "lucky" young men that get to do their now 18-month mandatory military service there. It is very prestigious. They have to meet a height limit, be physically and mentally tough, speak 4 languages (though I'm not sure how well), and be at least a black belt in Taekwondo. Now, I'm not sure if that is correct because during the tour, Tom, Mike, and I all thought we heard different things about the requirements.
Camp Bonifas looked like what I assume any other military base does. We weren't allowed to take pictures here. The area did have a lot of security though, as you can imagine! Upon arrival at the Camp, we had a briefing on the history of the DMZ and had to sign a disclaimer. I have mine taped up to my wall now, normally you aren't allowed to take it with you, I'll explain more about that later. The first lines of the disclaimer say:
"1. The visit to the Joint Security Area at Panmunjon will entail entry into a hostile area and possiility of injury or death as a direct result of enemy action. The JSA is a neutral but divided area guarded by United Nations Command military personnel on one side (South) and Korean People's Army personnel on the other (North). Guests of the United Nations Command are not permitted to cross the Military Demarcation Line into the portion of the Joint Security Area under control of the Korean People's Army. Although incidents are not anticipated, the United Nations Command, the United States of America, and the Republic of Korea cannot guarantee the saftey of visitors and may not be held accountable in the event of a hostile enemy act."
This is to date the scariest disclaimer I've ever signed, and probably ever will!
After the briefing, we had to leave ALL of our things on the bus other than our camera. You couldn't even take your camera case! Their reasoning was they didn't want the North to use anything against us propoganda wise. We boarded a Camp Bonifas bus, and drove past the security right into the 4km wide DMZ with our ROK tour guide/military man with us.
This area to me didn't look much different than any other snowy landscape in Korea, but Mike was incredibly excited and kept saying how much his dad would like to be here. Apparently, he was able to see old trenches and such dug into the ground. Again, picture are not allowed. We went right to the JSA, which is divided by the Military Demarkation Line. I was kind of nervous when we got there, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one!
Off the bus, we were forced to stand in two lines next to each other. It reminded me of being in Kindergarten again! We went into the main ROK building and marched straight outside to the blue conference buildings. We were really, really lucky to have been allowed this opportunity. Even the day before the tour, it was not allowed to see the conference buildings, so I was very excited. As we walked anywhere outside, we needed to keep our hands in our pockets, not make any hand guestures, and not smile at the guards (both the ROK and KPA).
The conference building wasn't too big, and our group of 40 and about 10 ROK soilders filled it up. After a brief explanation, we were allowed to take pictures. The Military Demacation Line runs right through this room, so I tried to take lots of pictures of the North. But it doesn't look much different than any other conference room. I did get a picture of the acutal line outside from the north. Now, I can officially say I've been to North Korea!
Here, Mike's in South Korea, while Tom's in North Korea.
We left the conference room after about 15 minutes of rapid-fire picture taking and went to a lookout point outside. During our march there, our ROK soilder/tour guide yelled at some people for falling out of line and not keeping up with the group! From the lookout point, we could see the North's main JSA building as well as a skeptic KPA guard looking at us through binoculars. I took a few pictures of him looking at us. We could also somewhat see the North's propoganda village in the distance, but it was still cloudy and snowy so those pictures aren't the greatest. We were allowed to stay on the lookout for about 15 minutes, then we marched back to the bus.
These are the conference buildings, we went in the center one:
This is North Korea, do you see the soilder?
That was pretty much it for the JSA tour, and we then drove back though the DMZ and through Camp Bonifas on the way back to Seoul. I was impressed at the amount of barbed wire fences on the way out, even after we'd left the DMZ area. Oh, I forgot we did stop at the Camp's souvenier shop and switched back to our bus where we'd left our things. Also, as I mentioned earlier, we were able to keep our disclaimer we signed upon arrival. I think it was partly because someone in our group asked to and partly because we were the only visitors there. I'd say we were lucky that we chose to go on that day of all days!
It was a full day tour, we got back to the Lotte Hotel around 5:30 just as the sun was starting to go down and the Christmas lights were coming on. It was a great tour, and I'd definitely recommend the company. Just make sure you get to do both tours (DMZ and JSA), if I'd only done one part, I wouldn't have been completely satisified with my tour. And, I was also relieved that we didn't encounter any "hostile enemy action!"
More pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/#/album.php?aid=2220653&id=59501140&ref=mf
Pickup was at 8:30 at the Lotte Hotel. Lotte is one of the largest brands, and had a gorgeous hotel in downtown Seoul. The tour was about half English speakers and half Japanese speakers. There weren't any Koreans on the tour because as a Korean you are not allowed to have a tour of the DMZ.
Our first stop was Dorasan Station. It is the northern-most train station and very, very close to NK. They have the line set to go to NK, but due to the current political situation, the project is still in the works. Once the project is complete, the line will run from Busan all the way through Russia and over to Europe, making it the longest train line. The station was also brand new and completely empty. Guess it doesn't get much use! Here are the boys in front on the empty platform:
Our next stop was the Dora Observatory. From this point, you usually have a good view into the DMZ and North Korea. However, our weather was cloudy and with the snow it was really hard to tell what we were looking at. I imagine on a nice summer day you'd have a pretty good view.
Close by is the third tunnel. It was one of 4 (known) tunnels dug from the north to invade the south. Luckily, they discovered it in time! You aren't allowed to take pictures in the tunnel for security purposes. We were able to go quite far into the tunnel after taking the monorail down into it (it was just like a rollercoaster!) and they provided us with hard hats because the ceiling was low. Mike and Tom kept hitting their heads on the rock but I managed to only hit mine a few times. In the tunnel, we were able to go pretty close to the Military Demarcation Line, so that was exciting. It was suprisingly warm 73 meters under the surface, I was getting pretty cold from being outside! Outside the tunnel we went into some visitors sections and took this picture:
Then we went to Imjingak freedom village. There is a long bridge that goes into the DMZ where the POW's were exhanged after the war. We looked at some monuments and got to walk on the bridge a little. It was covered with ribbons everywhere you looked, I'm assuming to honor those families that were/still are separated. There was also a train here that had been derailed by bombs at some point during the war. There were over 1,020 bullet holes in it and according to the sign, it "shows the cruel situation at the time."
This is Tom with the ribbons on the bridge:
Another thing that was interesting was the two layer wire fence. It looked like one giant booby trap. There were rocks stacked in the wire and each type of rock had a different name (Auditory stone, Hearing stone, Patrol tag, and Trace stone). They are supposed to alert the guards that patrol the barrier if there was an intruder because of the way they are stacked. I couldn't believe the amount of barbed wired on the fence!
We switched busses at this point to take the second half of our tour, the JSA portion. This might be a little hard to describe how everything felt and what it looked like, so forgive me if it is a little confusing.
In our new bus we drove to Camp Bonifas which is just on the southern border of the DMZ. Our tour guide was telling us about the "lucky" young men that get to do their now 18-month mandatory military service there. It is very prestigious. They have to meet a height limit, be physically and mentally tough, speak 4 languages (though I'm not sure how well), and be at least a black belt in Taekwondo. Now, I'm not sure if that is correct because during the tour, Tom, Mike, and I all thought we heard different things about the requirements.
Camp Bonifas looked like what I assume any other military base does. We weren't allowed to take pictures here. The area did have a lot of security though, as you can imagine! Upon arrival at the Camp, we had a briefing on the history of the DMZ and had to sign a disclaimer. I have mine taped up to my wall now, normally you aren't allowed to take it with you, I'll explain more about that later. The first lines of the disclaimer say:
"1. The visit to the Joint Security Area at Panmunjon will entail entry into a hostile area and possiility of injury or death as a direct result of enemy action. The JSA is a neutral but divided area guarded by United Nations Command military personnel on one side (South) and Korean People's Army personnel on the other (North). Guests of the United Nations Command are not permitted to cross the Military Demarcation Line into the portion of the Joint Security Area under control of the Korean People's Army. Although incidents are not anticipated, the United Nations Command, the United States of America, and the Republic of Korea cannot guarantee the saftey of visitors and may not be held accountable in the event of a hostile enemy act."
This is to date the scariest disclaimer I've ever signed, and probably ever will!
After the briefing, we had to leave ALL of our things on the bus other than our camera. You couldn't even take your camera case! Their reasoning was they didn't want the North to use anything against us propoganda wise. We boarded a Camp Bonifas bus, and drove past the security right into the 4km wide DMZ with our ROK tour guide/military man with us.
This area to me didn't look much different than any other snowy landscape in Korea, but Mike was incredibly excited and kept saying how much his dad would like to be here. Apparently, he was able to see old trenches and such dug into the ground. Again, picture are not allowed. We went right to the JSA, which is divided by the Military Demarkation Line. I was kind of nervous when we got there, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one!
Off the bus, we were forced to stand in two lines next to each other. It reminded me of being in Kindergarten again! We went into the main ROK building and marched straight outside to the blue conference buildings. We were really, really lucky to have been allowed this opportunity. Even the day before the tour, it was not allowed to see the conference buildings, so I was very excited. As we walked anywhere outside, we needed to keep our hands in our pockets, not make any hand guestures, and not smile at the guards (both the ROK and KPA).
The conference building wasn't too big, and our group of 40 and about 10 ROK soilders filled it up. After a brief explanation, we were allowed to take pictures. The Military Demacation Line runs right through this room, so I tried to take lots of pictures of the North. But it doesn't look much different than any other conference room. I did get a picture of the acutal line outside from the north. Now, I can officially say I've been to North Korea!
Here, Mike's in South Korea, while Tom's in North Korea.
We left the conference room after about 15 minutes of rapid-fire picture taking and went to a lookout point outside. During our march there, our ROK soilder/tour guide yelled at some people for falling out of line and not keeping up with the group! From the lookout point, we could see the North's main JSA building as well as a skeptic KPA guard looking at us through binoculars. I took a few pictures of him looking at us. We could also somewhat see the North's propoganda village in the distance, but it was still cloudy and snowy so those pictures aren't the greatest. We were allowed to stay on the lookout for about 15 minutes, then we marched back to the bus.
These are the conference buildings, we went in the center one:
This is North Korea, do you see the soilder?
That was pretty much it for the JSA tour, and we then drove back though the DMZ and through Camp Bonifas on the way back to Seoul. I was impressed at the amount of barbed wire fences on the way out, even after we'd left the DMZ area. Oh, I forgot we did stop at the Camp's souvenier shop and switched back to our bus where we'd left our things. Also, as I mentioned earlier, we were able to keep our disclaimer we signed upon arrival. I think it was partly because someone in our group asked to and partly because we were the only visitors there. I'd say we were lucky that we chose to go on that day of all days!
It was a full day tour, we got back to the Lotte Hotel around 5:30 just as the sun was starting to go down and the Christmas lights were coming on. It was a great tour, and I'd definitely recommend the company. Just make sure you get to do both tours (DMZ and JSA), if I'd only done one part, I wouldn't have been completely satisified with my tour. And, I was also relieved that we didn't encounter any "hostile enemy action!"
More pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/#/album.php?aid=2220653&id=59501140&ref=mf
Tom and Mike come to Korea
For those of you who don't know, my brother Tom and his best friend Mike have been visiting me in Gwangju for the last two weeks. It's been busy, and I hope they've enjoyed their time here. They have been keeping up with their journaling, so they probably remember everything we did better than I do! It's their last night tonight, they'll leave at 3:15 am tomorrow morning to go to the Gwangju bus terminal, then catch a bus to the Incheon Airport. We're taking it easy at home tonight, watching Dante's Peak and I'm thinking they'll probably lay down and rest pretty soon, even though it's only 6:45 pm.
Tom and Mike had some difficulty getting here. There was confusion with their airline carrier, and eventually found out from Pavlov the courrier at the MSP airport that it was Korea Air, not Delta. Due to the heavy storms in Seoul/Incheon (the most in 70 years!), they were delayed about 6 hours, and that pushed back their arrival time into Gwangju to about 2 am!
They were pretty jet lagged the first few days, but I made them get out and do things in hope that it would help reset their clocks. I think they saw all the main highlights Gwangju has to offer, and were semi-courageous when it came to trying foods out of their comfort level. We did lots of eating, I wanted to make sure they got to experience a variety of cusine.
Some of the fun sites in Gwangju we saw were the CGV Imax Theater (Avatar 3D!), Downtown, May 18 Park, Sangmu, Suwan MS, Lotte Mart, Shinsaegae, Keun Beol Elementary School for my EIC camp, the virtual roller coaster, and the insides of a few bars, cafes, and restaurant. Mike did get to meet his pen pal partner, YeoChan, but unfortunately Tom's partner was out of town in Seoul. We never made it to the Noraebang, PC bang, or DVD bang, but I guess there's always next time.
Here are the boys at one of our lunches out:
The highlight of our trip was our weekend in Seoul. We were there Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. On Friday, we were downtown in the skyscraper district and looked at the stream running through the city. It was so pretty at night with the Christmas lights. We had a simple dinner of Kimbap and went back early to our hostel in Hongdae to rest for the early morning DMZ/JSA tour.
Sunday we saw Gyeongbukgung Palace (which I'd already seen in the fall with Alli) and Seoul Tower. Here we are at the palace:
We didn't actually go up in Seoul tower because we had a good view of the city from the base (it's on a mountan) and it was somewhat cloudy anyhow. In the afternoon, we met my friend Kenny from Gwangju in Itaewon, the foreigners district in Seoul. We spent some time at a bar, got Thai food which was amazing, and then had after dinner drinks. I had originally planned on leaving at 2 pm, but because we were out in Itaewon, we didn't get a bus back until 9:45 pm. The four of us crashed on the bus on the way back, and got back to Gwangju around 2 am!
Overall, we had a great time. I was worried that the boys would be bored in the morning when I was working at the EIC camps, but I think they were happy to have some rest time and watch Entourage. I got lots of wonderful presents/cards from my parents (thanks for the food!) and it is so nice to have some more clothes here! I'm not sending much back however because I think I'll wear most of the clothes again next season/year when I resign :) I'll worry about sending things home much later on.
Tom and Mike had some difficulty getting here. There was confusion with their airline carrier, and eventually found out from Pavlov the courrier at the MSP airport that it was Korea Air, not Delta. Due to the heavy storms in Seoul/Incheon (the most in 70 years!), they were delayed about 6 hours, and that pushed back their arrival time into Gwangju to about 2 am!
They were pretty jet lagged the first few days, but I made them get out and do things in hope that it would help reset their clocks. I think they saw all the main highlights Gwangju has to offer, and were semi-courageous when it came to trying foods out of their comfort level. We did lots of eating, I wanted to make sure they got to experience a variety of cusine.
Some of the fun sites in Gwangju we saw were the CGV Imax Theater (Avatar 3D!), Downtown, May 18 Park, Sangmu, Suwan MS, Lotte Mart, Shinsaegae, Keun Beol Elementary School for my EIC camp, the virtual roller coaster, and the insides of a few bars, cafes, and restaurant. Mike did get to meet his pen pal partner, YeoChan, but unfortunately Tom's partner was out of town in Seoul. We never made it to the Noraebang, PC bang, or DVD bang, but I guess there's always next time.
Here are the boys at one of our lunches out:
The highlight of our trip was our weekend in Seoul. We were there Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. On Friday, we were downtown in the skyscraper district and looked at the stream running through the city. It was so pretty at night with the Christmas lights. We had a simple dinner of Kimbap and went back early to our hostel in Hongdae to rest for the early morning DMZ/JSA tour.
Sunday we saw Gyeongbukgung Palace (which I'd already seen in the fall with Alli) and Seoul Tower. Here we are at the palace:
We didn't actually go up in Seoul tower because we had a good view of the city from the base (it's on a mountan) and it was somewhat cloudy anyhow. In the afternoon, we met my friend Kenny from Gwangju in Itaewon, the foreigners district in Seoul. We spent some time at a bar, got Thai food which was amazing, and then had after dinner drinks. I had originally planned on leaving at 2 pm, but because we were out in Itaewon, we didn't get a bus back until 9:45 pm. The four of us crashed on the bus on the way back, and got back to Gwangju around 2 am!
Overall, we had a great time. I was worried that the boys would be bored in the morning when I was working at the EIC camps, but I think they were happy to have some rest time and watch Entourage. I got lots of wonderful presents/cards from my parents (thanks for the food!) and it is so nice to have some more clothes here! I'm not sending much back however because I think I'll wear most of the clothes again next season/year when I resign :) I'll worry about sending things home much later on.
Philippines Trip Day Seven/Eight
For the last day in the Philippines, we took a day trip to Tagaytay, south of Manila a ways. Tagaytay is known for having the worlds smallest volcano in the middle of a large lake. It was very scenic. Joe slept for most of the trip, suprise suprise, and majority of the time he slept, he was half in my seat!
We went to a park called "People's Park in the Sky." I wasn't dressed for the incredibly windy weather in my sundress, and had to hold it down the whole time. On the plus side, I did get a henna tatoo for $2 (a butterfly) and in the process, entertained many onlookers with my "whiteness." Kenny even took some pictures that day of all the Philippino men looking at me...
During the long drive back, I snapped some pictures of roadside fruit and garden stalls. The area is famous for buko, or coconut, pie, but instead we got mangos. I love all the bright colors.
Our last stop was the SM Mall of Asia. This mall is currently the third largest mall in Asia, even though it didn't look like it from the outside. We had dinner at a nice Filippino restaurant, and by this point I was very ready to get back to the fresh, healthy Korean food I'd been missing. I bought some English books and a few clothes. Though Korean clothes are cheap, Filippino clothes are some of the cheapest I've ever seen. I even had to buy a new bag to pack my clothing purchases in! At the end of the trip, the total amount of Won I spent ended up to be 130,000, majority of which was on clothes. We were very lucky to have Joe's family be such gracious hosts and cover 90% of our expenses.
I flew back the next morning (January 2) after an amazing, fun-filled week. Everthing was a fantasic experience, especially the weather. It was a well-deserved break from everything in Korea, but when I landed in Incheon, it felt great to be back!
Here's some more pictures from the last day:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=profile&id=59501140#/album.php?aid=2219686&id=59501140
We went to a park called "People's Park in the Sky." I wasn't dressed for the incredibly windy weather in my sundress, and had to hold it down the whole time. On the plus side, I did get a henna tatoo for $2 (a butterfly) and in the process, entertained many onlookers with my "whiteness." Kenny even took some pictures that day of all the Philippino men looking at me...
During the long drive back, I snapped some pictures of roadside fruit and garden stalls. The area is famous for buko, or coconut, pie, but instead we got mangos. I love all the bright colors.
Our last stop was the SM Mall of Asia. This mall is currently the third largest mall in Asia, even though it didn't look like it from the outside. We had dinner at a nice Filippino restaurant, and by this point I was very ready to get back to the fresh, healthy Korean food I'd been missing. I bought some English books and a few clothes. Though Korean clothes are cheap, Filippino clothes are some of the cheapest I've ever seen. I even had to buy a new bag to pack my clothing purchases in! At the end of the trip, the total amount of Won I spent ended up to be 130,000, majority of which was on clothes. We were very lucky to have Joe's family be such gracious hosts and cover 90% of our expenses.
I flew back the next morning (January 2) after an amazing, fun-filled week. Everthing was a fantasic experience, especially the weather. It was a well-deserved break from everything in Korea, but when I landed in Incheon, it felt great to be back!
Here's some more pictures from the last day:
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=profile&id=59501140#/album.php?aid=2219686&id=59501140
Monday, January 11, 2010
Philippines Trip Day Six
The next day, we woke up early to take a banana boat ride to the islands. We ate breakfast poolside, and got our things organized for the day. At the beach, we loaded into two banana boats. A banana boat is a long skinny boat with two wooden floaty things on each side. It doesn't look very sturdy, and just as we were approaching the beach, our motor stopped! However, the scenery and ocean was so beautiful, I could have been stuck out there for a while and just appreciated the view. I took some pictures during the ride, here's what we looked like cruisng along in the water:
We eventaully got to the beach, and I basically ran immediately into the water. It was perfect for swimming. While I was out there enjoying the surf, another swimmer asked me if I wanted to borrow his boat drivers snorkel, mask, and flippers. Of course I said yes. For the next two hours, I paddled in the coral reefs along the beach. It is so hard to describe, the best adjective I can think of is "magical." I've never experienced anything like that in my life. It was like swimming in Nemo's tank, except a million times bigger, and with so much varitey. It blew Ocean Park Aquarium in Manila out of the water. The fish were gorgeous, and there must have been a hundred different varieties that I saw. The coral was perfect, and I even got to see a jelly fish and a foot-long+ water snake! That was kind of creepy. The best part of that was that Uncle Eddie was out there with me, so I had someone to share it with. If only I had a waterproof camera...
After three hours at the beach, we cruised back to the hotel and drove to Manila. Since it was New Years Eve, a big party was underway by the time we got back to San Juan. We got into town around 6 pm, and the neighbor kids were already starting to light off firecrackers and bottle rockets in the alley. The noise was unbelievable! I had no idea that this level of noise from fireworks was possible!
Later on, we went up to the party on the fourth floor of the apartment, on the rooftop garden. I had a perfect 360 degree view of the city, and fireworks were being shot off in every single direction. It was so hard to describe. The quality of the fireworks weren't that great, but the most impressive part was the fact that they were being shot off in all parts of the city. It was a ton of fun. Since pictures can't really capture the amount of fireworks that were shot off, I took video instead, but am unsure how to post videos on here. Guess that's something for me to figure out this winter break! ^^
More pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/photos.php?id=59501140#/album.php?aid=2219385&id=59501140
We eventaully got to the beach, and I basically ran immediately into the water. It was perfect for swimming. While I was out there enjoying the surf, another swimmer asked me if I wanted to borrow his boat drivers snorkel, mask, and flippers. Of course I said yes. For the next two hours, I paddled in the coral reefs along the beach. It is so hard to describe, the best adjective I can think of is "magical." I've never experienced anything like that in my life. It was like swimming in Nemo's tank, except a million times bigger, and with so much varitey. It blew Ocean Park Aquarium in Manila out of the water. The fish were gorgeous, and there must have been a hundred different varieties that I saw. The coral was perfect, and I even got to see a jelly fish and a foot-long+ water snake! That was kind of creepy. The best part of that was that Uncle Eddie was out there with me, so I had someone to share it with. If only I had a waterproof camera...
After three hours at the beach, we cruised back to the hotel and drove to Manila. Since it was New Years Eve, a big party was underway by the time we got back to San Juan. We got into town around 6 pm, and the neighbor kids were already starting to light off firecrackers and bottle rockets in the alley. The noise was unbelievable! I had no idea that this level of noise from fireworks was possible!
Later on, we went up to the party on the fourth floor of the apartment, on the rooftop garden. I had a perfect 360 degree view of the city, and fireworks were being shot off in every single direction. It was so hard to describe. The quality of the fireworks weren't that great, but the most impressive part was the fact that they were being shot off in all parts of the city. It was a ton of fun. Since pictures can't really capture the amount of fireworks that were shot off, I took video instead, but am unsure how to post videos on here. Guess that's something for me to figure out this winter break! ^^
More pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/photos.php?id=59501140#/album.php?aid=2219385&id=59501140
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Philippines Trip Day Five
We spent a lot of time in the car on Wednesday. I was up by 6 am, and we were on the road by 7 am. We took a pit stop for some breakfast around 8 am at a rest stop. This was probably the most Americanized pit stop I've ever seen! You could get any sort of American food here- Starbucks, Dunkin Doughnuts, KFC, Pizza Hut, Burger King, Cinnabon, and Dairy Queen. Kenny was in the mood for pizza, but that was closed, so we opted for Chow King (Chinese food).
I thought I'd heard Tita Oma say that it would take about 3 hours to get to the beach. When we hit the three hour mark, I was constantly on the lookout for the water. Little did I know that we'd be making some stops to visit family along the way.
Our first stop was the small town where Tita Oma was born. We visited with some aunts, uncles, and young cousins. I was so anxious to get to the beach that I just sat around in the shade and waited. I didn't know Kenny and Raymond had gone exploring for some treats, otherwise I would have joined. Thankfully, we only spent about a half hour here.
We drove in the car for what seemed like ages, probably another two and a half hours. By this point, I'd resigned myself to the fact we wouldn't have enough time to go jet skiing all afternoon.
Our second stop was at the family farm. The farm house was in the rice basket of the Philippines in the middle of nowhere. It was very scenic, though. The farm house was extremely small and lacked furniture. I'm not sure if this is where the actualy familiy lived, or if it was more for storage. There were 2 families here, and they were excited to see a white girl and chinese boy, along with an American cousin they'd never met. We gave them some candies and umbrellas, along with some clothes. When we were about to leave, we got offered a ride on a dirtbike. I didn't really want to, but Kenny and I were kind of forced into a ride. We cruised through the paddies and stopped at a neighbors house.
I didn't think much of the house, but it had quite a party going on in the backyard. There were lots of kids, food, and even a karaoke machine. We were told to help ourselves to the food. It tasted okay, but the flies swarming around were a turn off! I later found out that it wasn't pork like I'd assumed, but it was goat! That was a first for me!
Again, we got back in the car to finish the long treck to Subic. We arrived in town around 6pm! There was no chance of even making it to the beach in the daylight anymore! I was pretty bummed. I'd assumed we had a hotel reservation, but it turns out we didn't. The first place we stopped at was really swanky, like somewhere you would want to stay on your honeymoon. It was also very expensive. We drove another half hour north, and found a secluded beach with a variety of bed and breakfast type hotels. Dinner was down along the water at a beachfront restaurant. Even though we were exhausted from sitting in the car all day, we had enough energy to go swimming in the outdoor pool until 11pm or so.
After swimming came the highlight of my trip. It involved food. Not any ordinary kind of food, this food is in a league of it's own. Like "Fear Factor" quality food. It is called Balut, and in some countries it is a delicacy. I didn't think it was! Here is what Wikipedia says about Balut:
A balut is a fertilized duck (or chicken) egg with a nearly-developed embryo inside that is boiled and eaten in the shell. It is commonly sold as streetfood in the Philippines.
A street vendor came to the pool late in the evening. At this point, I'd already downed a beer. Joe had been telling me about this on the plane, but I didn't realize this was the moment of truth. We bought 4 balut.
First, I watched eveyone eat theirs. Kenny was the best to watch, since he hadn't had one before either. He is a brave one, he ate it very quickly.
Then it was my turn. I was so nervous. After just peeling it, I thought I was going to be sick! I looked at the egg when it was halfway peeled, and there was the embryo. It was so creepy, and I swear it looked like it was smiling at me. It took so much courage to eat it! I think going bungee jumping would be easier I've never been so scared! I put lots of salt on it because I didn't want to know what it tasted like. I bit into it, and suprise, it tasted just like an egg. The center was soft, not crispy like I thought it would be. My first thought, after the inital shock was, "Wow! This is too salty!" In the end it wasn't the taste of the egg that made me gag, it was the copious amount of salt I'd put on it! Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of this, but Kenny took about 30 during the whole process and I'm sure they'll end up on Facebook soon enough!
Here's the album from day five:
http://www.facebook.com/#/album.php?aid=2219385&id=59501140
I thought I'd heard Tita Oma say that it would take about 3 hours to get to the beach. When we hit the three hour mark, I was constantly on the lookout for the water. Little did I know that we'd be making some stops to visit family along the way.
Our first stop was the small town where Tita Oma was born. We visited with some aunts, uncles, and young cousins. I was so anxious to get to the beach that I just sat around in the shade and waited. I didn't know Kenny and Raymond had gone exploring for some treats, otherwise I would have joined. Thankfully, we only spent about a half hour here.
We drove in the car for what seemed like ages, probably another two and a half hours. By this point, I'd resigned myself to the fact we wouldn't have enough time to go jet skiing all afternoon.
Our second stop was at the family farm. The farm house was in the rice basket of the Philippines in the middle of nowhere. It was very scenic, though. The farm house was extremely small and lacked furniture. I'm not sure if this is where the actualy familiy lived, or if it was more for storage. There were 2 families here, and they were excited to see a white girl and chinese boy, along with an American cousin they'd never met. We gave them some candies and umbrellas, along with some clothes. When we were about to leave, we got offered a ride on a dirtbike. I didn't really want to, but Kenny and I were kind of forced into a ride. We cruised through the paddies and stopped at a neighbors house.
I didn't think much of the house, but it had quite a party going on in the backyard. There were lots of kids, food, and even a karaoke machine. We were told to help ourselves to the food. It tasted okay, but the flies swarming around were a turn off! I later found out that it wasn't pork like I'd assumed, but it was goat! That was a first for me!
Again, we got back in the car to finish the long treck to Subic. We arrived in town around 6pm! There was no chance of even making it to the beach in the daylight anymore! I was pretty bummed. I'd assumed we had a hotel reservation, but it turns out we didn't. The first place we stopped at was really swanky, like somewhere you would want to stay on your honeymoon. It was also very expensive. We drove another half hour north, and found a secluded beach with a variety of bed and breakfast type hotels. Dinner was down along the water at a beachfront restaurant. Even though we were exhausted from sitting in the car all day, we had enough energy to go swimming in the outdoor pool until 11pm or so.
After swimming came the highlight of my trip. It involved food. Not any ordinary kind of food, this food is in a league of it's own. Like "Fear Factor" quality food. It is called Balut, and in some countries it is a delicacy. I didn't think it was! Here is what Wikipedia says about Balut:
A balut is a fertilized duck (or chicken) egg with a nearly-developed embryo inside that is boiled and eaten in the shell. It is commonly sold as streetfood in the Philippines.
A street vendor came to the pool late in the evening. At this point, I'd already downed a beer. Joe had been telling me about this on the plane, but I didn't realize this was the moment of truth. We bought 4 balut.
First, I watched eveyone eat theirs. Kenny was the best to watch, since he hadn't had one before either. He is a brave one, he ate it very quickly.
Then it was my turn. I was so nervous. After just peeling it, I thought I was going to be sick! I looked at the egg when it was halfway peeled, and there was the embryo. It was so creepy, and I swear it looked like it was smiling at me. It took so much courage to eat it! I think going bungee jumping would be easier I've never been so scared! I put lots of salt on it because I didn't want to know what it tasted like. I bit into it, and suprise, it tasted just like an egg. The center was soft, not crispy like I thought it would be. My first thought, after the inital shock was, "Wow! This is too salty!" In the end it wasn't the taste of the egg that made me gag, it was the copious amount of salt I'd put on it! Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures of this, but Kenny took about 30 during the whole process and I'm sure they'll end up on Facebook soon enough!
Here's the album from day five:
http://www.facebook.com/#/album.php?aid=2219385&id=59501140
Philippines Trip Day Four
On the fourth day in the Philippines, I felt like a true tourist. We woke up early in Intramros, and walked together (with me flanked on all sides by my bodyguards- Edmark and Raymund, and Joe and Kenny) through the slummy part of Intramuros to the tourist area. Our first stop was Manila Cathedral. This is one of the main tourist attractions, yet I felt like the only tourist there!
After snapping a few pictures, we took a half hour horse tour ride around town. We got to see some old buildings and the wall. I couldn't hear much of what the tour guid was saying because I was in the back of the carriage, but that was okay.
Next, we toured Ft Santaigo where Jose Rizal (the national hero) was held captive before he was executed a long time ago. It was very pretty, but the weather was SO HOT. It almost made me long for Korea's weather!
After eating some Pork Sisig for lunch at a hole-in-the-wall-but-still-cute restaurant, we crashed for about 4 hours. I think the heat got to us all. We took a jeepney to Rizal park later on, where we took a few pictures, but the highlight was Ocean Park Aquarium at the west end of the park.
I haven't been to many aquariums that I remember, but this was awesome! I petted a starfish, which actually didn't feel like anything special. There were tons of fish I'd never seen before. There were lots of sharks, sting rays, and there was even a tunnel you could walk though. It was like "Finding Nemo" but in person. Little did I know, I'd be going snorkeling in the ocean and the aquarium wouldn't have anything on that!
I thought our day was over after the aquaruim, but suprise, suprise, it wasn't. We didn't get the memo that we were supposed to pick up Cora, Joe's mom, from San Juan at 6 pm in order to go visit Joe's dad's side of the family in Quezon City. It was already 8pm by the time we left Ocean Park. We got back into the Mitusubishi, drove to San Juan to get Cora, then spent another hour in the car to go to Quezon City. Kenny and I tried to be in good spirtits to meet another 20 odd family members, but we were pretty tired. We'd already eaten at the Pancake House in Ocean Park, and had to eat some more, so as not to be rude, with the family. It was after midnight by the time we got back! Another night without a lot of sleep!
Facebook album:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2219385&id=59501140&saved#/album.php?aid=2219215&id=59501140
After snapping a few pictures, we took a half hour horse tour ride around town. We got to see some old buildings and the wall. I couldn't hear much of what the tour guid was saying because I was in the back of the carriage, but that was okay.
Next, we toured Ft Santaigo where Jose Rizal (the national hero) was held captive before he was executed a long time ago. It was very pretty, but the weather was SO HOT. It almost made me long for Korea's weather!
After eating some Pork Sisig for lunch at a hole-in-the-wall-but-still-cute restaurant, we crashed for about 4 hours. I think the heat got to us all. We took a jeepney to Rizal park later on, where we took a few pictures, but the highlight was Ocean Park Aquarium at the west end of the park.
I haven't been to many aquariums that I remember, but this was awesome! I petted a starfish, which actually didn't feel like anything special. There were tons of fish I'd never seen before. There were lots of sharks, sting rays, and there was even a tunnel you could walk though. It was like "Finding Nemo" but in person. Little did I know, I'd be going snorkeling in the ocean and the aquarium wouldn't have anything on that!
I thought our day was over after the aquaruim, but suprise, suprise, it wasn't. We didn't get the memo that we were supposed to pick up Cora, Joe's mom, from San Juan at 6 pm in order to go visit Joe's dad's side of the family in Quezon City. It was already 8pm by the time we left Ocean Park. We got back into the Mitusubishi, drove to San Juan to get Cora, then spent another hour in the car to go to Quezon City. Kenny and I tried to be in good spirtits to meet another 20 odd family members, but we were pretty tired. We'd already eaten at the Pancake House in Ocean Park, and had to eat some more, so as not to be rude, with the family. It was after midnight by the time we got back! Another night without a lot of sleep!
Facebook album:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2219385&id=59501140&saved#/album.php?aid=2219215&id=59501140
Philippines Trip Day Three
On my third day in Manila, it didn't seem like we did much but we were busy the whole day. We got picked up at 9 by one of Tita Oma's coworkers, who took us to her office in a Jeepney. Neither Joe nor I really knew why we were going there, but we learned to just take things as they came and not ask questions. When we got there, we realized we would go to the airport to get Joe's mom at 11. In our free time, we took a walk to the bay. It was nice to see the water, even though it wasn't very pretty!
Joe is a pretty funny guy, so when I met his mom for the first time outside the airport, he said, "Mom, this is Marge, my wife." She laughed. Then he followed that up with, "And she's in her second trimester" as he proceded to rub my stomach. Apparently, Joe does this with lots of his friends back in LA, so it wasn't strange to her!
Between picking up Joe's mom and his friend Kenny from Japan in the afternoon, we went to the duty free store. This was like no duty free store I'd ever been to! It wasn't even in the airport! It was like a regular department store, but it was 2 stories. It had everything there! I could have gotten some nice things had I wanted, but instead I opted to get the essentials- toothpaste, conditioner, and peanut butter! His family again refused to let me spend the $10 on these things! And I tried really really hard to pay!
After getting Kenny from a different terminal, we went back to Intramuros. Later, we crammed 13 people on the family Mitsubishi. I'm not even sure how that is mathematically possible! There were 6 in the back trunk area (all the middle school boy cousins), 4 in the middle, and 3 in the front seat. Wow. I wish I could have gotten a picture of that! We were off to Star City, and thankfully dropped some people off on the way.
Star City is a large amusement park/arcade with a roller coaster, bumper cars, ferris wheel, karoke, food, meri-go-round, climbing wall, haunted house, kids rides, games, etc. So it was the 6 boy cousins, Joe, Kenny, and myself. Just one of those 6 boys had more energy there than Joe, Kenny, and I combined. I felt old! All I wanted to do was sit down and rest my feet! Thankfully I had a chance to at Dr Fish, where the fish in the tank came to eat the dead skin off my achy feet.
The tour guides:
Here is the outdoor portion of the park:
Facebook album:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2219385&id=59501140&saved#/album.php?aid=2219210&id=59501140
Joe is a pretty funny guy, so when I met his mom for the first time outside the airport, he said, "Mom, this is Marge, my wife." She laughed. Then he followed that up with, "And she's in her second trimester" as he proceded to rub my stomach. Apparently, Joe does this with lots of his friends back in LA, so it wasn't strange to her!
Between picking up Joe's mom and his friend Kenny from Japan in the afternoon, we went to the duty free store. This was like no duty free store I'd ever been to! It wasn't even in the airport! It was like a regular department store, but it was 2 stories. It had everything there! I could have gotten some nice things had I wanted, but instead I opted to get the essentials- toothpaste, conditioner, and peanut butter! His family again refused to let me spend the $10 on these things! And I tried really really hard to pay!
After getting Kenny from a different terminal, we went back to Intramuros. Later, we crammed 13 people on the family Mitsubishi. I'm not even sure how that is mathematically possible! There were 6 in the back trunk area (all the middle school boy cousins), 4 in the middle, and 3 in the front seat. Wow. I wish I could have gotten a picture of that! We were off to Star City, and thankfully dropped some people off on the way.
Star City is a large amusement park/arcade with a roller coaster, bumper cars, ferris wheel, karoke, food, meri-go-round, climbing wall, haunted house, kids rides, games, etc. So it was the 6 boy cousins, Joe, Kenny, and myself. Just one of those 6 boys had more energy there than Joe, Kenny, and I combined. I felt old! All I wanted to do was sit down and rest my feet! Thankfully I had a chance to at Dr Fish, where the fish in the tank came to eat the dead skin off my achy feet.
The tour guides:
Here is the outdoor portion of the park:
Facebook album:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2219385&id=59501140&saved#/album.php?aid=2219210&id=59501140
Monday, January 4, 2010
Philippines Trip Day Two
After a restful night in the laundrymat, we woke up around 8 and went to the Greenhills Mall in downtown Manila to do some shopping with the family and cousins.
Shopping was similar to in Korea, just that the prices were much lower and the clothes actually fit! Koreans are small overall, but Filippinos are more normal sized. That was a great change! Joe bought a pair of shoes, I bought a dress and a few presents for family and Em and Alli. Something I became aware of quickly was that the store owners were not calling out "Hey ma'am," but "Hey mom!" Joe explained to me that once you look like child bearing age, people call you "mom." That was somethin I was not prepared for! I still wasn't used to it at the end of the trip!
For lunch, we ate at Shakey's. It's an American chain, and everywhere I looked there seemed to be American restaurants. Pizza Hut, Starbucks, Dukin Doughnuts, etc. It was even worse than Korea. Tita Oma explained that after the WWII, things became heavily Americanized and they have great respect for our country. It was nice eating some American food I'd bee missing, but I also hoped that it wouldn't be all we ate!
We also talked about English education over lunch. In the Philippines, kids start learning when they enter elementary school, compared to in grade 3 in Korea. The school that Edmark and Raymund (Tita Oma and Uncle Eddie's kids and Joe's cousins) go to is taught entirely in English, and they also have 1 and a half hours everyday of regualr English classes. We had no problem with talking with Edmark (13) and Raymund (16) and Edmark was significantly better than the 13 year olds I teach.
After lunch, we got a bit lost on the way to the Manila American War Memorial and Cemetary but after asking for directions, we made it. It was nice and the weather was nice. You could see the clear blue sky over the water, but also see the not-so-blue air over the city. We relaxed there for a while in the afternoon, then went to Market, Market!, a 6 floor shopping center closeby. There we did some more shopping, they boys played in Time Zone, a large arcade, and had fun shopping in the outdoor food market. The colors of the fruit stands were so bright, it made me want to try it all! I did have a coconut to myself, and tried bits of other fruits, like jackfruit, melon, and mango.
Here we are at the memorial:
Fruit stand at Market, Market!
After we ate our fill of fresh fruit, we dragged our tired selves over to Bonifiaco High Street. Tita Oma described it as the Paris of Manila, but as nice as it was, it didn't compare to Paris! I could tell it was a brand new area of town, and it would be easy to spend lots of money there. The landscaping and architecture and general layout of the area was very nice. The christmas lights on the trees made it picture perfect. This was also good area for Manilians to walk their dogs, there were lots of cute ones!
Again, we were all tired by the time we came home to the laundrymat around 12 so falling asleep among the still-drying wash wasn't a problem!
Link to my facebook album of day two:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=230452815059#/album.php?aid=2219208&id=59501140&ref=mf
Shopping was similar to in Korea, just that the prices were much lower and the clothes actually fit! Koreans are small overall, but Filippinos are more normal sized. That was a great change! Joe bought a pair of shoes, I bought a dress and a few presents for family and Em and Alli. Something I became aware of quickly was that the store owners were not calling out "Hey ma'am," but "Hey mom!" Joe explained to me that once you look like child bearing age, people call you "mom." That was somethin I was not prepared for! I still wasn't used to it at the end of the trip!
For lunch, we ate at Shakey's. It's an American chain, and everywhere I looked there seemed to be American restaurants. Pizza Hut, Starbucks, Dukin Doughnuts, etc. It was even worse than Korea. Tita Oma explained that after the WWII, things became heavily Americanized and they have great respect for our country. It was nice eating some American food I'd bee missing, but I also hoped that it wouldn't be all we ate!
We also talked about English education over lunch. In the Philippines, kids start learning when they enter elementary school, compared to in grade 3 in Korea. The school that Edmark and Raymund (Tita Oma and Uncle Eddie's kids and Joe's cousins) go to is taught entirely in English, and they also have 1 and a half hours everyday of regualr English classes. We had no problem with talking with Edmark (13) and Raymund (16) and Edmark was significantly better than the 13 year olds I teach.
After lunch, we got a bit lost on the way to the Manila American War Memorial and Cemetary but after asking for directions, we made it. It was nice and the weather was nice. You could see the clear blue sky over the water, but also see the not-so-blue air over the city. We relaxed there for a while in the afternoon, then went to Market, Market!, a 6 floor shopping center closeby. There we did some more shopping, they boys played in Time Zone, a large arcade, and had fun shopping in the outdoor food market. The colors of the fruit stands were so bright, it made me want to try it all! I did have a coconut to myself, and tried bits of other fruits, like jackfruit, melon, and mango.
Here we are at the memorial:
Fruit stand at Market, Market!
After we ate our fill of fresh fruit, we dragged our tired selves over to Bonifiaco High Street. Tita Oma described it as the Paris of Manila, but as nice as it was, it didn't compare to Paris! I could tell it was a brand new area of town, and it would be easy to spend lots of money there. The landscaping and architecture and general layout of the area was very nice. The christmas lights on the trees made it picture perfect. This was also good area for Manilians to walk their dogs, there were lots of cute ones!
Again, we were all tired by the time we came home to the laundrymat around 12 so falling asleep among the still-drying wash wasn't a problem!
Link to my facebook album of day two:
http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=230452815059#/album.php?aid=2219208&id=59501140&ref=mf
Philippines Trip Day One
My trip to Manila with my friend Joe from Incheon was amazing! I didn't have any specific plans for when we were there, I just knew I wanted to sightsee and make it to the beach. I had no idea how much I'd get to do in just one week. His family was also amazing! We got on fabulously and had lots of fun together. They spoiled us for the week with a free place to stay, free food, and drove us all over the city and on our day trips. I really felt like part of the family.
We started off our trip nice and early, waking up in Joe's semi-dirty/lived in studio apartment in Incheon on the floor (he broke his bed somehow) at 5:30 am. We needed to grab a taxi by 6 to drive over the 7.6 mile newly constructed Incheon Bridge to the airport (total cost- 40,000 won!). When we got to the airport, we were not sitting next to each other, but by the time we got to the gate, we were seated next to each other- in business class, might I add! We got bumped up for free, I'm assuming because they thought we were on our honeymoon! It was a much welcomed suprise, and after we had breakfast, we slept the rest of the way.
Upon arrival, we were greeted by some members of Joe's family, including his mother's sister, Tita Oma, and her husband, Uncle Eddie. They drove us to the historical part of town, called Intramuros. This part of town in basically in the center of town, close to lots of action. It is quite charming because of the old city wall. Unfortunately, the Spanish vibe faded quickly by where we were staying into more of a slummy area. His familiy was great enough to put us up for free in one of their properties. It was a restaurant, laundrymat, and internet cafe rolled into one, run by some members of the family. I'd later find out how important (and large!) Catholic Filippino families can be!
Here's our place in Intramuros:
We then drove to San Juan in Manila, where Tita Oma and Uncle Eddie lived. At first, I thought they were lower-middle class, but then realized it was just normal housing. They are living a comfortable life style close by other family in a 3 story house with a rooftop garden and excellent view of the city. We were there just a sunrise and were able to get some good pictures. The neighborhood itself was filled with people, noise, and cars. I'm not sure how I'd get any sleep staying in that area, so it was lucky they had space for us at Intramuros.
View from the rooftop garden:
By that point, we were hungry, so we jumped in the family Mitsubishi and went to Esplanade right along Manila Bay. This area was at least a mile and a half of boardwalk, restaurants, cafe's, and shop right along the bay. At night, it was very pretty. For dinner, Tita Oma went to a seafood market and bought some squid and shimp. Then, our restaurant prepared it for us and we had a nice, late dinner. I enjoyed watching the thousands of people and the hustle and bustle of the crowd. At the end of dinner, Joe and I were exhausted, so as soon as we got to Intramuros and unpacked, we fell asleep quickly on some matresses despite the humidity from the day and the hanging laundry drying in the same room.
Family Pic looking exhausted and sweaty, but having fun!
Facebook album:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2219385&id=59501140&saved#/album.php?aid=2219187&id=59501140
We started off our trip nice and early, waking up in Joe's semi-dirty/lived in studio apartment in Incheon on the floor (he broke his bed somehow) at 5:30 am. We needed to grab a taxi by 6 to drive over the 7.6 mile newly constructed Incheon Bridge to the airport (total cost- 40,000 won!). When we got to the airport, we were not sitting next to each other, but by the time we got to the gate, we were seated next to each other- in business class, might I add! We got bumped up for free, I'm assuming because they thought we were on our honeymoon! It was a much welcomed suprise, and after we had breakfast, we slept the rest of the way.
Upon arrival, we were greeted by some members of Joe's family, including his mother's sister, Tita Oma, and her husband, Uncle Eddie. They drove us to the historical part of town, called Intramuros. This part of town in basically in the center of town, close to lots of action. It is quite charming because of the old city wall. Unfortunately, the Spanish vibe faded quickly by where we were staying into more of a slummy area. His familiy was great enough to put us up for free in one of their properties. It was a restaurant, laundrymat, and internet cafe rolled into one, run by some members of the family. I'd later find out how important (and large!) Catholic Filippino families can be!
Here's our place in Intramuros:
We then drove to San Juan in Manila, where Tita Oma and Uncle Eddie lived. At first, I thought they were lower-middle class, but then realized it was just normal housing. They are living a comfortable life style close by other family in a 3 story house with a rooftop garden and excellent view of the city. We were there just a sunrise and were able to get some good pictures. The neighborhood itself was filled with people, noise, and cars. I'm not sure how I'd get any sleep staying in that area, so it was lucky they had space for us at Intramuros.
View from the rooftop garden:
By that point, we were hungry, so we jumped in the family Mitsubishi and went to Esplanade right along Manila Bay. This area was at least a mile and a half of boardwalk, restaurants, cafe's, and shop right along the bay. At night, it was very pretty. For dinner, Tita Oma went to a seafood market and bought some squid and shimp. Then, our restaurant prepared it for us and we had a nice, late dinner. I enjoyed watching the thousands of people and the hustle and bustle of the crowd. At the end of dinner, Joe and I were exhausted, so as soon as we got to Intramuros and unpacked, we fell asleep quickly on some matresses despite the humidity from the day and the hanging laundry drying in the same room.
Family Pic looking exhausted and sweaty, but having fun!
Facebook album:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2219385&id=59501140&saved#/album.php?aid=2219187&id=59501140
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Safe Journey
I am back from a wonderful but exhausting holiday! I spent time with my host family on Christmas Eve, traveled to Incheon on the 25th, and was in the Philippines for a week. Then, I flew back and spent the night in Incheon. Tonight I'm finally back at my place!
Many exciting things have happened in the last week and I can't wait to share them with you, however, it's late and I'm tired. I'll try to do a post before Tom and Mike come on Tuesday for a 2 week visit! I'm so excited to see them I probably won't sleep much these next few nights either :)
Many exciting things have happened in the last week and I can't wait to share them with you, however, it's late and I'm tired. I'll try to do a post before Tom and Mike come on Tuesday for a 2 week visit! I'm so excited to see them I probably won't sleep much these next few nights either :)
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