Seoul

Crushed into a subway car that more closely resembles a can of sardines than a reasonable method of transport, arguing with rude taxi drivers or fighting your way through overcrowded shopping districts, it’s easy to forget that Seoul is one of the most amazing and beautiful cities in the world.

Having been to New York City, I would argue that it is actually Seoul that is the city that never sleeps. Thanks for all the adventures, books and ridiculous weekends. Next time I promise to see the palace, ride bikes along the Han River and see more than Myongdong and Hongdae.

North Korea in pictures

A photographer for the Associated Press was recently given rare access to North Korea. He ended up with some really amazing photos that provide a fascinating insight into a country that we know so little about and that’s in a cold war (not even that cold, at times) with the country I live in.

My favourite is photo 27; For all the negative things we hear about our neighbours to the north, I love that these kids are completely hamming it up for the camera.

You can read the article here.

Move. Learn. Eat.

Three really great videos for people who love to and live to travel.

From their Vimeo page;

3 guys, 44 days, 11 countries, 18 flights, 38 thousand miles, an exploding volcano, 2 cameras and almost a terabyte of footage… all to turn 3 ambitious linear concepts based on movement, learning and food ….into 3 beautiful and hopefully compelling short films…..

= a trip of a lifetime.

MOVE

MOVE from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

LEARN

LEARN from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

EAT

EAT from Rick Mereki on Vimeo.

Taipei

I spent the day in Taipei today on my own, and it was really great. Made me realise that I don’t spend enough time exploring Daejeon alone (we all remember what happened when I tried to do that back in September …). The highlight of my day, or rather evening, was riding the Taipei Zoo gondola.

Sitting high above Taipei, looking out at this beautiful city in front of me (and a little inspiration from Bon Iver), I suddenly felt more at peace with life, the universe and everything than I have in a really long time. It hit me that for all the good and bad decisions I have made over the years, things are working out and they are pretty great.

Okay, way more introspective that usual so I’m sorry but hey, at least it’s a post!

Seriously kids, if you’re ever in Taipei get yourself on that gondola. Breathtaking, inspiring and beautiful.

Spontaneous Busan Weekend

One of my favourite things about Korea is how small it is. Thanks largely to how easy it is to get around the country (being right in the middle helps too!), it is common among my friends to travel on the weekend. The first weekend in May, I found myself on the train to Busan with vague plans to see a parade, hit up a casino and spend some time on the beach.

I got into Busan late Friday night and headed to a bar in Haeundae that not only faced the beach, but was on the 14th floor so the ocean view was beautiful. Saturday started with a late lunch and after wandering around Haeundae, we decided it was time for a change of scenery and headed over to Gwangalli Beach which is considerable smaller but also much less crowded than Haeundae. I actually like Gwangalli better than Haeundae because the bars and restaurants along the pier are actually on the beach. Haeundae is so massive, the supposed beach front places end up being quite far from the shoreline.

After settling in, we decided that it was imperative to visit the amusement park that we passed in the taxi. The amusement park near Gwangalli is fairly small so admission was only 14,000 W (about 12.50 CDN), but there was a drop zone, pirate ship and roller coaster. What more can you ask for? Previous to Korea, my experience in amusement parks had been limited to North America so one of the things I love about amusement parks in Korea is that you see things that you would never expect to see at an amusement park back home.

This roller coaster car doesn’t work anymore but instead of having it repaired or throwing it away, we will leave it here to inspire confidence in the people who decide to put their lives in the hands of this ride.

The most curious thing about this boat, besides the fact that it was sitting under the supports for the roller coaster, was that there was no ride in the park that used them … at least as far as we saw. So either this is a real boat, or for some reason they’ve kept a car, well boat, for a ride that no longer exists.

If you look closely at the top left corner of the picture, right at the top of the track, you will see that there is a bird’s nest there. There was a bird living in it and every 30 seconds when the roller coaster went by it would fly to the ball in the center and then able back towards its net, settle back in, only to get frightened by the next car coming around the corner. Seems strange that it would continue to live there.

After the amusement park, we went to Jung-gu (where Busan Tower and a giant Lotte Department store are) to see the parade for Buddha’s birthday. Cue the longest parade that I have ever seen in my entire life (okay, the only one – but the general consensus was that this parade was ridiculously long). I’m fairly certain that every adjumma (old lady) between Daejeon and Busan was there carrying a lotus lantern.

After the parade, went back to Haeundae because there is a casino in one of the hotels. It was the first time I had been in a casino since I was 18 (the legal age to gamble in Ontario) mostly because I found the casino at home to be really depressing. Gambling is illegal for Koreans, so you need to show your ARC card to get into the casinos here which means you don’t see the little old ladies plugged into slot machines like you see at home. Anyways, I spent the evening playing roulette and although I was terrible at picking black or red, I managed to defeat the numbers game and walk away with a bit of money. Casinos in Korea also offer free drinks, which is pretty rad.

After the casino, we went to one of the famous fish restaurants along the coast. This restaurant was different from your average fish eating establishment in that you actually choose the fish that you will eat. When you go in, the entire first floor is full of dozens of tanks with all different types of fish. You tell the lady which one you want, and then follow her upstairs to eat it.

Some of the stranger looking species available for eating.

“We’ll take that large, flat one there.” “Yo-gi? (Here)” “Neh (Yes)”.
While we were in the elevator with the fish in the bucked, it had one gasping last breath of air which was vaguely unsettling.

Sunday was spent the way Sundays should be, doing nothing. We ate brunch at restaurant called Thursday …. something? which is located right along the waterfront at Gwangalli beach and then hung out in the neighbourhood near Busan Station until it was time for our train. We did find two random things in that area; one being the Russian district (no, no, not like that!) and the other was an innocuous looking bar that was full of foreign treasures including dark toblerone, deodorant and various other canned and jarred goods.

I am going to Busan again for the Memorial Day long weekend to take in the sand festival in a couple days, so I figured I should get one trip to the city posted before I go on another one! There have been some other cool adventures lately, so hopefully more posts in the coming weeks.

Cherry Blossoms at Chungnam University

I started writing this about a month ago, and then completely forgot about it. Pretty much right from when I arrived in Daejeon in the fall, people have spoken off and on about how beautiful the cherry blossom festivals that take place all over the country in the beginning of spring are. In early April, I started noticing these cherry blossoms (also what I would eventually learn were magnolia blossoms) all over Daejeon so I figured it was time to look into the festivals I had heard so much about. As far as I can tell, the most famous of these festivals is the Jinhae Cherry Blossom Festival, but after being warned of the immense crowds that swarm the area, I decided that I wanted to go somewhere a little less hectic.

I had been hearing that there were lots of cherry blossoms at Chungnam Univeristy here in Daejeon, and then one of my friends posted a photo from the campus so I decided that would be the best way to see them. Turned out, Chungnam has its very own little cherry blossom festival that was quite lovely.

I ended up spending the entire day here and accordingly having more pictures of these small white flowers than I know what to do with. However, this was my favourite photo from the set. I think the focus turned out really cool (click on it to see a bigger version).

So many cherry blossoms! Made for a very pretty canopy, that started to feel very surreal as the light faded. Oh also, every once in a while people would shake the trees and make it ‘snow’ which made all the Koreans go crazy. It was quite entertaining.

Pretty cherry blossoms are even prettier at sunset?

Team Awesome posing under the blossoms! (yeah, I just noticed that those words rhyme when I was naming the file). Photo credit: Ali Burrell

It’s not very useful information at this point, but if you are in Korea in spring of 2012, I would recommend checking at the universities around your city before trekking to any of the major cherry blossom festivals. They are likely to be less crowded and it’s hard to enjoy nature when you are being pushed and shoved by throngs of people.

International Calling Cards

Coming home from dinner tonight, we had an unusually chatty taxi driver. As most people in South Korea can attest to, there are many surly taxi drivers in this country, so it is always nice to come across a friendly one. Anyways, the point of this story was that when he asked us where we were all from, my friend sitting in the front seat pointed to each of us, “Mee-guk, Canada, Namagon” (USA, Canada, South Africa) to which the taxi driver’s immediate response was, “Namagon?? ooooooooooo”. Now I realise that out of context this is not funny, nor even really understandable but what the taxi driver was doing was imitating a vuvuzela.

From my students, I’ve noticed that the first thing that comes up if you mention the US is Obama (I’m curious what it was pre-Obama), and Sam informed me that South Africa now has two international calling cards; Mandela and vuvuzelas.

This led me to wonder, what is the first thing that comes to mind when mentioning Canada to a foreigner? Some of my more knowledgeable students know about hockey (especially after the Vancouver Olympics) and one of my mastery classes had an international foods unit at school that included a section on poutine (seriously!), but what does your average lay person think of when they think about Canada?

Pop-Out Art Exhibit

A few weeks ago, a friend mentioned to me that there was a pop art exhibit showing at Expo Park. Daejeon is not exactly a cultural hot bed like say Seoul, or Busan, so a pop art exhibit is not something to be taken lightly! Turns out it wasn’t pop art, rather pop-out art, but it was still pretty rad. I actually meant to write this a few weeks ago after we went, but if you are living in Daejeon, the exhibit is running until May 29 so there is still lots of time to check it out.

We arrived at Expo Park with no clear idea of where to go, but as it was my first time at Daejeon’s premier tourist attraction I was quite happy to wander around aimlessly. Expo Park was built for the World Expo in 1993, and it is clear that although the park is reasonably well maintained little or no effort has been made to keep it up to date. We made our way in the general direction that the few other people in the park seemed to be going, but not without a few distractions.

Photo credit: Samantha Nell
After passing several deserted, but amusing children’s diversions we came across one that we couldn’t resist: tiny bumper cars! Notice Ben’s expression, and the fact that he is too large to sit in the car normally like all the girls are doing. An absolute steal of an activity at 500won (0.44 CDN) and absolutely amazing.

Photo credit: Samantha Nell
Next distraction takes some explaining. We noticed that there was some kind of tram/monorail vehicle that was running a course over Expo Park when we arrived. We followed the airborne tracks to a building, but when we arrived the building was locked. We tried to get some info at the building next to it, and instead purchased tickets for a 4D ride. The supposedly 4D ride started with a 10 minute film that looks like it was made when the park originally opened. It featured great scenes like a guy working on his corvette and then him wailing on an electric guitar that wasn’t actually attached to anything. It was pretty spectacular. Following this cinematic masterpiece, we were led to the actual ride which was one of those rides where they show you a clip on a projector while your seat jars you around for 10 or 15 minutes. Anyways, after the ride was over we followed the ramps out when we happened on the gem that was the Stage of Participation. The man who was in charge of the ride thought we were nuts, because we spent more time in this 12 by 12′ area with flashing lights and oddly comforting midi music than we had in the actual ride.

Finally we wandered down to the pop-out exhibit. After initially being disappointed at the lack of pop art, the exhibit turned out to have some really cool pieces. I say pieces, because my favourite two were probably the mirrored rooms, and forced perspective room. All the paintings were painted to look 3D and had suggestions for how to interact with them. Turns out, there were also instructions on the best angle to take photos from, but we didn’t realize that at the time.

Hold your cursor over the photos to read the captions.

Where: Art Hall, Expo Park
Cost: 12,000 Won
When: Running through til the end of May

China: Days 3 & 4

It’s taken close to three months, but at last, my final two days in China! We actually did a lot on the second day, but as you read further you will see why I combined the last couple days of the trip.

Day 3 started with my friends and I raiding the breakfast restaurant so that we could make delicious sandwiches. This was an idea we got from Anne (also known as mother ninja) who pulled a sandwich wrapped in a napkin out of her backpack when I complained about being hungry at the Great Wall. The restaurant at the Marriot had lots of good bread, fresh veggies, cold cuts and various condiments. The sandwiches we made were ridiculously delicious, and ended up being crucial to defeating what would turn out to be a really, really cold day.

The day before when we were at the Great Wall, the weather had been beautiful which meant that many of us (myself included) spent the afternoon carrying our jackets, mittens, etc as opposed to wearing them. Without internet access and knowing how inconvenient the layers had been, most of us decided to ease up on the multiple layers for Day 3. Of course, as Murphy’s Law goes, this also meant that it was by far the coldest day of the trip, along with being the day we spent the most consecutive days away from the warm comfort of our tour bus.

We started the day in Tiananmen Square, which at 440,000m^2 is the largest city square in the world. Our tour guide Charlie told us a little about the history of the square, and the buildings surrounding it.

Photo credit: Sara Wurtele.
Being silly on the edge of the square with Tiananmen Gate in the background. We all bought these awesome hats partially because it was freezing, and partially because of how awesome they are. Definitely got some weird looks when I was wearing mine once we had returned to Korea!

From the square we went through the gate in the previous picture, into the Forbidden City. It’s hard for photos to do the Forbidden City any kind of justice, because it a sprawling campus of gates, buildings and stairs. It’s interesting to walk around, but actually much more interesting from a historic perspective than an aesthetic one.

Photo credit: Sara Wurtele
Front corner of the Inner Court, or Back Palace inside of the Forbidden City. The Forbidden City is primarily composed of the Inner Court and Outer Court, which is also known as Front Court.

Following the Forbidden City, we went a tea shop to experience a ceremonial tea service and that evening we finally got to have the famous Peking duck dinner which was absolutely amazing and by far the best meal in a holiday of amazing meals. Upon returning to the hotel after dinner that evening, we took advantage of some of our amazing hotel’s services including soaking our cold and weary bones in the hot tub in the gym and going for a swim. It would be our last night in China, and I was determined to make the most of it!

Day 4 was essentially just shopping and wandering around Beijing a little before catching our flight back to Korea. We were taken to the famous Silk Market, where Lauren and I perfected the art of bargaining as well as another shopping area although most of us had lost interest by that time.

Goodbye, China!

Tempest Freerunning Academy

This is so awesome, especially the Mario themed area. You can see this, and tons more cool stuff courtesy of the bloggers over at The Cool Hunter. They post every other day or so, just awesome stuff from all over the world in every industry. I really recommend adding it to your RSS feeds.

Oh, and the song is the Bassnectar remix of Lights by Ellie Goulding.

Even though the Sens didn’t make it, I am definitely excited to watch the playoffs. First game I’ll be watching will be Capitals/Rangers early Thursday morning. Go Caps!