Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Hiking at Achasan


Last Sunday, Bobbie, Kara and I hiked up Achasan, a small mountain in the east of Seoul. It was a rare nice day after a week of bad weather. I even checked the concentration of air pollutants at my new favorite site, www.airkorea.or.kr. Heck yeah only moderate level pollution! Let's hike


We made it to the top with no casualties. Seoul looks pretty on clear days. And massive, as always.



On the way down, we walked by a buddhist temple.


Just so you know, should you attempt wrongdoings, a happy Buddhist holding a lotus blossom will watch you serenely as you do them. Possibly while contemplating the sound of one hand clapping.

Yay, Buddhism.

Monday, March 22, 2010

White Day

Unlike in America, Korea (and a few other Asian countries) actually have two Valentine's Days. On February 14th, Valentine's Day, women are supposed to give chocolates to their boyfriends or husbands. On March 14th, White Day, men are supposed to return the favor and give chocolates to their girlfriends or (/and?) wives. So, basically, what this breaks down to is the Korea's Hallmark is even smarter than America's.

I'm told April 14th is Black Day, when singles put on black armbands and go out to...be single together? People are still unclear on that one, so I'll have to let you know.

Look! I have friends. They'll come in handy for Black Day.

I finally went hiking last weekend. Seoul is surrounded on all sides by mountains so there's a lot of good hiking around that I've, until this point, never taken advantage of. Some friends and I hiked up Suraksan in the north of Seoul. Man, even though it rained the last 45 minutes, I've really missed hiking!

 From the top of the mountain (that nice Korean man gave us cucumbers!).

Monday, March 8, 2010

My Time in 'Nam

 
The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum


I went to Vietnam over winter break but in my laziness, I'm only getting around to posting pictures now. So, Dad, here's what you missed seeing in the 70's.

 
Some electric green rice paddies, as seen from our sleeper traincar.


The countryside was very beautiful. 

A house we saw on the side of the road.

There were lots of beautiful palaces and old buildings to see, too.


A lake with a bridge in Hue.

I met my friend, Anji, in Hanoi and then, we caught an overnight bus down to Hoi An in central Vietnam. 

Hoi An is very well known for its custom tailoring. I got lots of clothes made, blah blah blah. Here's a picture of restaurant we ate at.

The restaurant next to the street market in Hoi An.

From Hoi An, we took a 22-hour bus trip (OMG 22 HOURS WTF!!) to Saigon. Somewhere in the middle of that, I ordered breakfast IN FRENCH. It was pretty exciting.

The next day we took another bus down to Vĩnh Long, a fishing village in the Mekong Delta. While there, I had to take a motorcycle taxi while carrying all my luggage, wearing a miniskirt and a falling-off helmet with a driver that seemed to maybe be sporting a coke nail. I thought I might die, just a little, as we weaved through heavy motorbike traffic, uninhibited by traffic lights. But man, I gotta say, motorcycle taxis are AWESOME and SO MUCH FUN.

We hired a boat to see the floating market the next day. Some of the produce is tied wooden poles on the boats so people know what each boat is selling.


The floating market

Although Vietnam is a much less developed country than Korea, they have a  much larger tourist industry. So, while finding chocolate banana pancakes in Korea is almost impossible, in Vietnam they are in almost every restaurant. Things were pretty touristy.

 Chicken noodle soup, just like mom used to make?

Except for this soup I had. This was not touristy at all. I tried to man up and ignore the fact that my lunch was squinting at me. But, in the end, I couldn't get past the fact that the soup also (unsurprisingly) smelled like something with a dead animal head in it. Sorry, Vietnam, I guess I'm not as open-minded as I thought.

 
The Vietnamese food pyramid

We found this food pyramid outside an elementary school in Hoi An. Even though they are communists, Vietnamese people worry about their consumption of salt, sugar and oily foods JUST LIKE US!

 School's out!

Except instead of Mom in a mini-van, Dad will pick you up from school on his moped! Heck yeah!

Ferries & Caves

Last Sunday, I went sightseeing with some friends to Chungju in the center of Korea. We took a bus down and then rode a ferry to see beautiful lakes and rocks!

 As promised, the beauty was shocking.

 It was a bit cold and dreary but this turned out to be for the best since I'd forgotten to put on sunscreen.

I was on a boat.

After the ferry ride, we went hiking to see a big natural stone arch. 

 The Stone Gate
It was pretty cool. It's hard to see them but if you look closely there are some tiny people in the corner of the above photo. The arch was, in fact, huge - a scale not really conveyed by this photo. So, obviously, the thing to do was climb on top of it. And here's the view.

 
Pretty, no?

Our tour guide told us this area was where nobles used to enjoy themselves and 'play with women.' Niiiiiice. 

Afterward, we wen't to a really big cave. This sign was posted near the exit. I thought it was a good life message to keep in mind.

Wise Korean sign.