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I'm back after a week in Chiang Mai and another in Samui. Samui was kind of a bust; it rained and I'm just not a big beach person. Chiang Mai - Oh I loooooooved it. Gonna get right on posting about it, I might just do several posts tomorrow since I leave Thailand Wednesday night. Erk.

It's a strange, cold day here in Bangkok. Yeah, that's right-- COLD. Never thought I'd say that about Thailand. Especially since the hot season is almost upon us.

So I wanted to run a little poll by any and all who have been reading my little blog. It's called where should that girl go next? Haha. But seriously, I'm feeling like I always do: lost, lost, lost. So it's back to Busan and then they have booked me a flight back to America which I cannot get a refund on, unfortunately.

I have been contemplating on living in Korea again. Lord knows it had its trials but I made it through them, to a point where I'm comfortable with the country. And the money's good.
But hell, it's Korea. Where life can get stagnant and decent people are hard to come by. Know how many good people I got out of living there for a year? 4. Just 4. Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful that we even met at all and life should be quality over quantity, but this ratio gets depressing during those aforementioned stagnant periods!

I went about applying to schools in Thailand too. I actually finally got some responses. It would be nice to live in the country to connect more with my family. The weather is super agreeable! The food is to die for! And I love traveling around it!
But the money's not as good, let's not lie. And I met with enough hippies in Chiang Mai to know what I'd be getting into with making friends here. (But maybe better them than the die-hard drunks in Korea, hm?) Plus I don't fit in. Whiiiiiite skiiiiiiin. And whenever you see a white guy here, my automatic thought is: PERVERT. You watch, that second Hangover movie is going to come out and there's going to be an onslaught of them.

I met some interesting people in Chiang Mai that got me thinking too. This girl and her boyfriend/fiancee lived in India for two months. She was learning how to teach Yoga from a more meditative viewpoint. Before that they lived in London where he was teaching students how to cook. Why not go study abroad for a month or two?

And I have this dream of going to Tibet for some reason. I mean, I think India might be out of the question for me at this current time. I lack the 'balls' to be there on my own. My friend Sala went there and warned me its not for the faint in heart. (I am so faint of heart.) But hey, I'd go back to Bali and study how to teach yoga. And before the Korea ball started rolling last year I was planning on going to Costa Rica to teach English for a couple months.

Any input, dear ones?

Increase Taxes on Cigarettes To Fund Korea’s Health System

The Seoul Gyopo Guide Has Already Prescribed an Answer
Recently, The Korea Herald suggested a number of ways to curb smoking in Korea. Frankly, this is getting tiresome. There can be a public ban on smoking, ban on smoking on the street, tickets for those that litter, etc. The bottom line is that smoking will only stop when sales are curtailed in some manner. The way for that to occur? Higher prices through higher taxes. This should sound familiar to those that have read the Seoul Gyopo Guide in the past. It is the same solution suggested for each bottle of soju. A simple 100KRW/bottle of soju, with the entire proceeds being paid to the NPF would improve the finances of the National Pension Fund. A similar, 500 KRW/pack of cigarettes, with the proceeds being paid to the National Health Insurance Corporation (NHIC) of Korea would greatly help close the enormous gap that currently exists, and that will persist for the forseeable future.

Cigarettes Are Too Cheap in Korea, Anyways
In Korea, a pack of cigarettes costs 2,500 KRW. That is approximately $2.25 USD. A pack of cigarettes in the U.S. costs at least $5.00 a pack, and in New York City, a pack of cigarettes costs more than $10.00/pack. If a person really wants to smoke, then he/she will be able to find the extra 500 KRW/pack, which can be directly diverted to the NHIC.

No Politics Allowed
One extra benefit to this simple proposal: directly depositing the proceeds will prevent the political wrangling that always accompanies the use of tax proceeds. Observers of any political system in the world know that when there are extra funds available for government use, it gets wasted. A law which prevents this by directly moving all proceeds from the tobacco tax would prevent more needless political debate, whose outcome will change every time the parliament changes in Korea.

—

www.seoulgyopoguide.com www.twitter.com/thelostseoul

Goseong- Land of the Dinosaurs!!

Sunday 27th March, 2011

Today we are heading to the town of Goseong, better known as Dinosaur Village. It is the largest Dinosaur fossil site in the country and footprints from these creatures can still be seen today. I got our backpack ready, Daniel got the cameras ready and off we went to meet Jenny, Neil, Barry, Tiger, Emma, Damon and Bernie. It was one big group of us wannabe dinosaur explorers.

We followed Damon in his car and went through the scenic route. About an hour or so later, we stopped at a beach for some sight seeing and to stretch the old legs. The beach was nice, but ohhh sooo cold. There were a couple of people walking around and fishing and even some ladies cleaning the beach, which was nice to see the Koreans take pride in their beaches. Emma was having a great time playing in the sand, while most of us couldn't feel our fingers anymore lol.

Beach near Jeju

shops at the beach near Jeju

Back in the car, our next stop was the Dinosaur Museum. I was so excited. I've neevr done or seen anything in relation to dinosaurs and I just found the whole thing fascinating. As we drove into the driveway, you could see giant dinosaur sculptures guarding the gate. a $3.00 (W 3,000) parking fee was required and entry to the park only cost us W3,000 each. so cheap!
us and the awesome view

us and the awesome view

Entrance to the dinosaur museum

climbing the Dinosaur ribcage

me and my dino friend

too cute the two of them!

In my belly now!!!

The location is just breathtaking. Set a top of mountain, the view is fantastic. You can see the beach below and the ships in the distance. It was very green and lush and the flowers are starting to bloom, which makes for a beautiful contrast. Once we had our tickets checked, we entered the gates of the Dinosaur Museum. As we entered inside, we are guided by arrows on the floor as to which direction we should go in. The museum is 3 levels high. On the first floor, you can read all about fossils and research. The 2nd level, they talk about the different dinosaurs- which were the predators, their characteristics and habits. On the 3rd floor they had an interactive section, mainly for kids. They also had a blue screen, so you could have you're photo taken with some dinosaurs. Kinda cheesy, so Daniel and I kinda had one done haha!!

Guess who's bigger!

He's coming to eat you!

me and T-rex, yup, he would've squished me!

Once outside, you can do the museum in about an hour, we bought some snacks from the cafeteria. Towards the water, they had a pathway leading to an observatory deck. As we walked along, they had life like dinosaur sculptures and play areas for the children. It made for some really good photos, especially the views. I'll tell you what, these dinosaurs had prime location!
T-Rex!!

T-Rex!!

Triceratops in an arty formation...

From the observatory deck, we walked down the path which led to the beach. There was a walkway connecting the the beach and as you walked along you could spot the footprints left by these magnificient creatures. It's amazing that they vanished millions of years ago, yet, they can still be seen today.
Us amongst the Dino footprints

Us amongst the Dino footprints

Dinosaur footprint!!!

view from the walk way heading towards the footprints

I'm so glad we went to Dinosaur Village. It's nice to be able to go away and know that you've seen the remains of giant lizards. Plus the slipper dip going back to the carpark was- AWESOME!!!!!
Slippery dip Tahnee!

Slippery dip Tahnee!

Hunting Action Monster Hunter

Goseong- Land of the Dinosaurs!! remains copyright of the author Two Otters, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Bulgoksa Temple

Saturday 26th March, 2011

Today, Jenny, Tiger, Emma and I planned to go see a temple, which according to our trusty map is situated somewhere near the Deadong Department Store and some mountains. I met Jenny just after 10am and we walked over to Tiger's apartment complex. She lives in a very high rise building and the view of the main street and surrounding is just awesome. We had a cup of tea as we prepared for our day trip. Jenni packed a lunch for us- Baguette roll, cheese, tomato, cucumber and mayoniase and for dessert... a bite size apple pie! She's thought of everything.

We started walking towards the main road. We estimated it would take us about 60 minutes to reach the Bulgoksa Temple which is located within Gaeumjeong Park. As we walked and chatted, the streets were quickly becoming busier, as most Saturdays are. We've noticed there are more outdoor stalls and markets now that the weather is warming up. And what a nice change it is. For the first time since I've been here, I've had to take my jacket off. I could feel myself sweating as we walked up the hill and because the pavement wasn't smooth, it started to feel more like a workout than a leisurely stroll.

I have to say walking and cycling are the best ways to get around the city. You can get to most places within a decent time frame and you get to see so much at the same time. As we started to move away from the main road, we started to pass through big apartment complexes and schools. We had now reach Korean Suburbia. It's like any other suburb really, except, you don't see houses. It's very rare that you do. I think you only see houses in more outer city areas, where they would have more land to build on. The apartments here are very small and look pretty standard from the outside. I'm not too sure what they would look like on the inside. Although in saying that, Tiger's apartment is so spacious and beautiful and the view...did I mention the view? I guess it really depends on the are that you live in, in regards to housing sizes.

After a while, we came to a traffic light and a sign that read (in Korean) Bulgoksa Temple 500m ----> excellent, we were on track. What we thought was 500m, there were a set of stairs. So we went up them. We came to a clearing with some exercise equipment. Just to make sure, Tiger went over to ask this lady, who was in the middle of a gym session, if we were heading the right way. Luckily we were, and she motioned to us to keep going up the mountain. So we did. The climb was unstable, and we were worried about Emma, but she was doing fine! Jenny and I were the ones huffing and puffing (after today, I'll be going to the gym more frequently and on a diet)

About 15 minutes later, we reached the top of the mountain. What we saw was...... different? lol there was no Temple. or any signs saying there was a Temple nearby. We were instead standing in the middle of a tiny forest surrounded by exercise equipment. Strange we thought. We went the right way and everything. It was one of those moment where you thought to yourself 'damn... I was so close, yet so far away'!
The forest Gaeumjeong Park

The forest Gaeumjeong Park

The view from top of the mountain at Gaeumjeong Park

After a few minutes, another guy arrived, ready to work hard on the exercise equipment. Jenny approached him with our map and asked him where Bulgoksa Temple was, as she pointed to the picture on the map. He seemed to understand us and pointed down below. And would you believe it, we were standing just above it, as between the trees, you could make out the rooftop of the Temple. We made it!!! We were so happy. It was so lovely sitting there amongst the trees and nature. Apparently squirrel's live in Korea, so I can't wait to come looking for them. As you may know I absolutely LOVE squirrels. They are the cutest things ever and I was lucky enough to encounter many of them on our trips to New York and Florida last year.

We decided to have lunch in the forest before going down to see the Temple. I helped Jenny make the sandwiches while Emma made some new little Korean friends. The two boys were roughly her age and they chased and played together. It was really cute watching them and eventually when we left, they traded chocolate biscuits. Ahhh it's so easy making new friends when you're a kid!
Temple painting

Temple painting

Temple Tiger painting

We had to walk through the forest abit more to get to the Temple. Once we got there. it was truly a beautiful site. They were renovating, but that didn't phase us. We walked past the entrance and made our way to one of the Prayer rooms. We explained to Emma what is was and Tiger was able to give us some insight into the Buddhist beliefs. We lit a candle and said afew prayers, before we stepped outside and walked over to the other prayer rooms. Each one was different and unique in it's own way. I love the animal paintings and the influence they have in the Buddhist religion.
Bulgoksa Temple entrance

Bulgoksa Temple entrance

Inside the Prayer Room

Jenny and I bowing

It was now getting late and we were due home to see our hubbies. For some reason, the way back always seems alot quicker than getting there! Must be because when you venture out, you are unsure of where you're going so it seems to go slower.... Before the big roundabout, we said our goodbyes and I headed over to the Emart Mcdonald's to get myself a well deserved Oreo Mcflurry!

Temple Tiger

Temple Dragon

Temple Tortoise

Bulgoksa Temple remains copyright of the author Two Otters, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Baring all in Busan

This weekend was another trip to Busan full of great memories and new experiences. We arrived Saturday in the afternoon. I left Steve at Sasang and headed back down in the subway to meet up with the girls for a shopping day in Nampo. For me, this was much needed girl time! I have not had any girl time since moving to Korea. It was really nice and refreshing. We walked around Nampo window shopping and stopping at shops along the way that looked cute or unique. I finally went makeup shopping and was pleasantly surprised to find cheap and high quality makeup that matched my skin tone. I also bought a very awesome James Bond shirt, new spatulas (much needed), and pretty spring nail polish. We finished our girls outing with cupcakes at Red Velvet. I had the most heavenly tiramisu cupcake. We met up with everyone for dinner at The Pan and had delicious meals of pasta. I had tagliatelle with mushrooms in cream sauce and although I was not running in the race, I enjoyed the carbs just as much as everyone else. Afterward, we had an evening stroll to the Busan tower to take in the night view of the city. We had our earliest bedtime yet in Busan, in preparation for the race.
Red Velvet cupcakes (clockwise: tiramisu, mint, red velvet)

Busan Tower view

Saturday morning, up bright and early, on the subway by 7:45 am. We arrived at Olympic park and were surrounded by tents, runners, balloons, thousands of people. Groups of runners stretching and warming up. Race day excitement all around us! We found the Waeguks tent and everyone prepared for the start. Everyone went to the starting line and I went off on my own to find the best place to take photographs of the race. I was happy being a spectator and photographer for the day. Running is just not my thing and someone has to be at the finish to cheer and take photos, so I gladly volunteered for the job! I cheered enthusiastically and documented everyone's finish and felt so proud of my friends. I smiled as I was an American girl in a sea of Korean people, cheering for all of my Waegukin friends. Afterward, our group reunited, we had a celebratory coconut water and moved on to the Wolfhound for victory beers and a good post-run meal. Breakfast, burgers, beers, and cheerful celebration of everyone finishing a 10k. Everyone wore their medals and I felt proud to be surrounded by champions.
10k Photos!
the Waeguks (foreigners)

starting line

Steve's finish!

post-race runners

post-race coconut water

beach victory photos

We made our way to a spa on the hill as we walked along the sunny beach. I was excited and a bit nervous for this experience. Even before moving to Korea, I had spa on my list of things to do here. We arrived at the scenically located Vespa Spa and each paid our w8,000 (about $8) entry fee and received our locker keys and pajamas. Girls and boys separated and we planned to meet back up in the communal area. We made our way through the locker room. I stood at my locker, hesitant to undress in front of these two friends that I am still getting to know. I have never even seen my best friends from home naked, let alone girls I have only know for a couple of months. I undressed and felt awkward initially, but realized that this is a cultural experience and is not meant to be strange or uncomfortable at all. The spa was packed with women, families, and friends. We went to the shower area for a thorough shower and then off to the room of many tubs. Tubs of varying temperatures, all overlooking a scenic view of ocean, mountains, and city. It was an unbelievably freeing, relaxing, and truly cleansing experience. After talking and soaking for a long time, we met the boys in the sauna area. We all sat in our pajamas, drank iced tea, relaxed in the saunas, and napped. The boys, looking amazingly relaxed and refreshed, asked if we had been "scrubbed" yet. They said that they all had and that we must. We went back to the girls area and prepared to be "scrubbed", me being the only one of the three that had never been. I will give you a brief descriptions, this will probably sound very creepy and strange. I lay on a table, completely exposed, as an older Korean woman stood over me. She put on exfoliating gloves and scrubbed my entire body, more thoroughly than it has probably ever been scrubbed before, ridding me of every piece of dead skin. Afterward, she rubbed my skin with a soothing oil, and dumped buckets of warm water over me. It was the most relaxing, refreshing, and strange experience that I have ever had. It felt amazing and the most clean that I have ever felt as we left the spa that day. I am so happy that I was able to have had this spa experience, despite my initial hesitation and fear of being naked in front of others.
view from the spa (taken outside of course)

—

teaching english in korea.
blogging here: www.teachingintherok.blogspot.com

Auggie Talk Episode 7: Body Image

Hey everyone,

Auggie Talk Episode 7 is up. This episode was created in response to this video:

Hear my response, share your own, and be sure to give the above video along with Arirang TV a big THUMBS DOWN!

Until next blog,

~Auggie

Ailurophile

My dreams have finally came true. I have been wanting to check out a so called "Cat Cafe" since I learned such a place existed but didn't know where to begin the search. Thankfully a friend who is also cat crazy (or wait, I may be the only crazy one) showed me the ropes at the kitty cat heaven in Gangnam (near American Apparel out exit 6, there is usually a guy dressed in a cat costume at the exit, he knows where to go.) I can honestly say it was everything I had hoped and wished for, plus more. Hot chocolate and a zillion cats napping, and frolicking about, well mostly napping. Until the rightly named "Cat-father" brought out the chicken that is. That is when the real action began. They were everywhere, over your head, under your feet, on the table, all the prepositions in the book! It was madness I tell you, and I loved every minute of it.

For a person who loves animals, especially cats, like I do, this is the place for you. Usually when out and about I befriend all the stray animals I can find, we all need a little loving. The alley cats in my neighborhood have a different idea of love and they do not want to cuddle like my Philippina island cat, Ginger. Although these cats were a little stuck up if you ask me (not that you did, what a creepy blog about cats this is turning out to be) since they are all pure bred and used to being adored. Some wouldn't give you the time of day. Others just needed a little patience and a safe haven from all the ruckus and they were all over your down coat. Cats have such different personalities you see...... oh geez, this is getting sadder by the sentence.

Check out a cat cafe, you probably won't get fleas.

Love,
the crazy cat lady

I made myself right at home....

We made a new friend, he really liked Hadley, and her down coat...

So dang cute!!

Thanks ms. Hadley Elizabeth for the lovely photos of all the cats :)

—

Ellie Teacher

onedayillflyaway.com

I love big cities. And I love mass transit. Most of my friends...

I love big cities. And I love mass transit. Most of my friends know that I prefer taking the subway rather than taking a taxi. It’s cheaper, it’s easy to navigate, and I don’t have to talk to anyone (I know that makes me sound anti-social, but… meh). In most countries I avoid taxis like the plague, and Korea has been no exception.

A while ago I lost my purse in a Busan subway station. This is a photo I took while waiting for the employees to bring my purse to the station I was at.

The employees are so efficient! I told them what station and the approximate time I lost my purse. Within minutes I was watching myself on the video screen, about ten minutes prior, sitting on a bench waiting for the subway train. When the train arrived, I watched myself get up and leave my purse on the bench. I wanted to reach into the video screen and slap my prior self. Still, no harm, no foul, because my purse was brought back to me with no missing items.

—

About

Hi, I'm Stacy. I'm from Portland, Oregon, USA, and am currently living in Busan, South Korea. Check me out on: Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram, Lastfm, and Flickr.

Life in Korea: the M-bus

Author’s note: Life in Korea posts are aimed at the newer expats among us. If you have a more experienced perspective to offer, the comments are wide open!

Photo credit: ajnews.co.kr

Ahh, the M-bus. While not interested in waxing poetic about a public transportation system, the M-bus stands alongside Seoul’s already-excellent bus system to make getting around Gyeonggi-do (the province surrounding Seoul like a doughnut) that much easier. In essence, the M-bus system connects Gyeonggi-do to Seoul - something also done by some red buses and a smattering of the subway system. Where the M-buses excel are the routes: judiciously arranged to make use of the expressways instead of the back roads, and connecting the up-and-coming / still-growing areas to the capital city.

Since I haven’t found a page listing these various bus routes, I decided to put one together myself – note that while I aim for 100% accuracy, this page may be updated / edited without notice. If you take these buses, note any fun stuff or important stops in the comments – I haven’t tried them all out!

M4101 = Seoul > Seongnam > Yongin

Major stops: Hansung Apt. (Yongin), Yangjae intersection (near Yangjae station, line 3), Hannam bridge, Sungnyemun (AKA Namdaemun), and Jeongpyeong / Suju elementary school (first / last stop in Yongin)

M4102 = Seoul > Seongnam / Bundang

Major stops: Migeum station (Bundang line), Jeongja station (Bundang line), AK Plaza / Seohyeon station (Bundang line), Hannam bridge, Sungnyemun (AKA Namdaemun),

M4108 = Seoul > Seongnam > Yongin > Hwaseong / Dongtan

Major stops: Metapolis (Dongtan new city), Hannam bridge, Sungnyemun (AKA Namdaemun), Euljiro entrance, Samsung Plaza (Jung-gu), Seoul Station bus transfer area.

M4403 = Seoul > Seongnam > Yongin > Hwaseong / Dongtan

Major stops: Metapolis (Dongtan new city), Kyobo Tower / Sinnonhyeon station (line 9), Gangnam station (line 2), Yangjae station (line 3), Yangjae Citizen’s Forest.

M5107 = Seoul > Seongnam > Suwon > Yongin

Major stops: Gyeonghui University, Yangjae intersection (near Yangjae station, line 3), Hannam bridge, Euljiro entrance, Samsung Plaza (Jung-gu), Seoul Station bus transfer area.

M5609 = Seoul > Ansan

Major stops: Ansan station (line 1), Star Plaza, Guro Digital Complex, Yeouido bus transfer area, Boramae station (line 7).

M6410 = Gwacheon > Gunpo > Seoul > Siheung > Anyang > Uiwang > Incheon

Major stops: Seocho station (line 2), Gangnam station (line 2), Yangjae station (line 3).

If you can read Korean, check out the full list at http://www.gbis.go.kr/service/guide/guide1.action?cmd=myBus (click on Bus Search, then type the bus number that interests you, or type a capital ‘M’ to see all the M-bus routes mentioned above)

As always, there are a couple of pros and cons.

They’re the same price as the red buses, and based on the same price structure. In other words, carrying that T-Money card will still pay your way, and still gets you the same free/cheap transfers to other buses or the subway system.
They make comparatively fewer stops, making them faster than the red buses in many cases.
Phone chargers and comfortable seats. ‘Nuff said, though the former aren’t found in every bus.
Once every seat is full, the driver will NOT let more people on. This can be seriously annoying during rush hour, and may drive you back to a red bus during those hours.
The queues for these buses can get long, and signage is inconsistent. In a busy place like Gangnam, it’s hard to tell which line is for which bus – if you can’t figure it out from the signage, ask someone waiting in line. After you’ve figured it out, make a mental note of which store or shop the bus stops in front.

Do you ride the M buses? What do you think about them?

© Chris Backe – 2011
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

This post was originally published on my blog, Chris in South Korea. If you are reading this on another website and there is no linkback or credit given, you are reading an UNAUTHORIZED FEED.

—

Oneweirdglobe.com