Nam Han San Seong (South Korea Mountain Fortress)

Let's start with my biggest domestic accomplishment in awhile. I managed to make a birthday cheesecake for Mike sans oven. It was pretty darn delicious if I do say so myself!



This weekend Mike and I went to 남한산성. We did a pretty good hike and the weather was absolutely perfect! Blue skies, and it's that time of year where the air is clean and crisp without being too cold. I loved it, it was so energizing.

Here I am climbing the wall to take a pic. It was a pretty steep fall on the other side there, but I wasn't scared!

Look at those skies! You're spoiled in Canada. Most of the time we get gray.

I like climbing!
After all the climbing we stopped at a restaurant that I knew made really good 손두부 (hand pressed tofu). Also some 비빔밮 bibimbap, 야체 veggies and various 김치 kimchi dishes.


So while hiking I bitched at Mike for wanting to take a road on the way back (bitched because I thought we were going the opposite way we should, AND because if hiking I don't want to go on pavement). Anyways, turns out after climbing the steepest hill known to man we found one of the nicest temples I've seen here. Top 3 for sure. Don't tell him that, though.


The whole place was manicured more than most temples I've been to in Korea. Plus they had dogs!



We also found a little river and followed it. Notice how well I cropped out the broken beer and soju bottles out of the picture. Seriously people, treat your environment better! Especially pretty environment.
Walking on the inside of the fortress looked mostly like this, with paths that were steeper as well as rockier along the way. If walking on the outside, it's considerably taller. I like being on the inside because, I dunno, I can throw some tar and feathers on anyone who causes trouble from up there.

Would YOU invade a country that has this guy guarding the gates?! Didn't think so.

Stairway to Heaven, Korean Style.

Stolen from Mike, I think this is AWESOME. It's Stairway to Heaven done using Korean traditional instruments. I really like Asian instruments. I say Asian because I feel like there is a strong similarity between them all, but I don't feel the 가야금 is any better or worse. I actually probably couldn't tell the difference. Anways, here you go:

http://www.nme.com/video/id/AuqKOib93lE/search/%EA%B0%80%EC%95%BC%EA%B8%88

I didn't do much this weekend aside from fight the rain, as I'm getting over a cold. I'm starting to feel a little better, however.

Chuseok 2008

This was my third Chuseok in Korea (Thanksgiving) and this year we only had a 3 day weekend, and my money has been really tight (thanks to the stupid exchange rate!) so Mike and I decided to make a Seoul weekend our plan. Instead of having to worry about travel to and from our area we got a cheap hotel in the center of the city. We hit our favourite spots, and some pics are below.

Here is a view of our classy alley way that our hotel was in. We stayed at a 'Love Motel'. They're basically for Koreans and are rented by the hour for times of love. We take advantage of them for their cheap rates, but do not rent by the hour.

We hiked up Namsan to get the the tower as well. We have gone up there before but took the cable car. We opted for walking this time. It wasn't really so much a hike as climbing a bizillion stairs, but it was nice with some good views.

At the top we stopped for a beer. Along the edge of the tower were these locks placed here by couples in love. In Korea they really love all that cutesy love stuff.

Here is a view of Seoul from the top. Though Seoul has a ton of people it's crazy how close everything is. Yet I continue to get lost all the time. I think it has to do with the lack of street names and gridded streets.

In Jogno. Piano Street, I guess? Anyways, it was kinda near our hotel and while walking we found it. We also found an awesome Indian bar with fountains, private rooms and curtains.


In Insadong, at a tea house/cafe. I'm having Oh Mi Cha (Five Taste Tea). Famous in Korea because it has, well, 5 tastes. I thought there was only four, but to add to the sweet, salty, sour and bitter, they added pungent. Which is a smell, right? I dunno. It's good.

We also went to Jongmyo Shrine. These shrines/temples/palaces are all over the place and usually we pop in if we're walking by, even if I've been before. It's only about a buck to get in each time and I feel like it's a waste not to go in. Mike and I were talking about how nice it is to go inside and escape from the craziness that the city can sometimes bring. I always mention loving the juxtaposition of old/modern, hectic/peaceful that Seoul has.

There is a park in Seoul (actual name is escaping me now) that I refer to as 'Old Man Park'. Not to be confused with a man with the last name Park. HA! I'm not funny. Anyways, tons of old men are here all the time. They play games, drink soju, sing trot. Occasionally trick birds into sitting on their hand. I like to watch old people, like the old people watch the birds.

Walking to our hotel we came across this guy doing some calligraphy.

Anyways, it was a good weekend. I think that the weekend was way too short. Last year we had 5 days off, but a Monday off is still nice. It's my last holiday until I go home to Canada in December as I'm using all of my holidays to be home in time for Christmas. Time is going by quickly and I was thinking about some things that I want to do in Korea before I leave. A short list:
- go to a baseball game in the afternoon
- go to Soraksan
- stay in a pension with some friends
- go to the DMZ
- take Mike to Namhansanseong

I think those are the main things, but I'm sure I'll remember/come across more opportunities later.

Jeju-Do

This weekend Mike and I went to Jeju. It's an island off the south coast of Korea. I have wanted to go here for three years but just never got around to it. Since my time is running out here, I guess it's lit a fire under my bum to get things done. In anycase, we went for a few days, short but good days.


Here is a temple that was on the east coast of the island at Ilchubong. We went here to climb a volcanic crater and this temple was pretty much right beside it.
This is the view while we were going down from our hike. Sorry, my pics are always in the wrong order! Seeing the water and cliffs were really nice. Mike told me stories of what I'll see in the east coast of Canada when I go to see where he's from. I'm pretty excited!

Here's a view of the trail. Us going up.

This is a view of the crater from afar. It was pretty, but the climb up was better than the crater itself.
This is us near our hotel in Jung-mun. Apparently at this very spot they filmed a dramatic scene from a Korean soap opera! Hopefully Mike and I do not experience such drama. Here's hoping.
This is our hotel, the Suites. It was really very nice, though we went for an expensive buffet at the Shilla next door, and that hotel kicked our hotels ass.

Our first night we walked around trying to find some food we would like to eat. There was lots of seafood, but not exactly the seafood Mike and I are into. In the end we found this place and Mike had black pork galbi, and I had some red snapper. Mike will now run you through the process of galbi.

First, cut up your meats and grill it. Enjoy some banchon (side dishes) while you wait for the cooking to be complete.

Don't eat it too soon!
Next, carefully place your meat on a leaf, with some garlic and samcheong.


Finally, stuff it in your mouth!

Since I'm still really not into the meats, I enjoyed my fish. It was yummy!

Palm trees! Seriously, though we were still technically in Korea, I kinda felt like I wasn't. There were semi-tropical plants, the weather was awesome, and the people were so nice. I suppose it can be attributed to being in the country as opposed to in Seoul, a big city but it was still a really nice break.

Our first stop on the trip was to Jeju Loveland. It's a park with sexual/love statues all around. Here is a woman feeding a gochu (red pepper) to a clam. Gochu is Korean slang for a mans, uh, pepper. I think you can figure the rest out for yourself. Take notice of the stylized burial mounds in the back, complete with nipples!


Mike, checking out the statue. I think there was a tv up there, seriously!



Those were some of the tamest pics/statues from the park.

The rest of the trip was just eating, walking around and relaxing. It was great! I was pretty sad to get back to Seoul, it was raining and working yesterday was incredibly tiring. This weekend we should take it easy, and then the weekend after is Chuseok and we actually have a long weekend. Woo~