Gyeongju - Part 1

On a very early Thursday morning, we hopped on a bus and headed for Gyeongju city. We left shortly after 6am, but because of our weird hours, we were not tired.

Got ma ticket!

This city was the capital of Korea during the Silla dynasty. It is also one of the only cities that did not have all of its monuments destroyed by either the Japanese occupation, nor the Korean war. So, we are going to check out some rad UNESCO monument sites.

Along the way, we got to see some farm land. Sort of reminds me of back home, except there are mountains, and the farms here are a lot smaller. It's mostly all rice, but the levels they need the land to be at for proper irrigation is pretty cool.

After arriving, we rented the crappiest car possible and got a move on. This car had this annoying GPS that had this whole start up music sequence that lasted 30 seconds. It would also complain whenever you would go over the speed limit, like your mother was sitting there shotgun. It also only took LPG gas. It had its own gas tank for that which took up most of the trunk and we were worried the whole time it was going to explode on us.

Deathmobile.

Then we stopped for a bite to eat. Gyeongju is famous for tofu soup so we had the most amazing meal here. That fish on the table was amazing too. You literally had to try it to believe. Seafood is amazing when it comes straight out of the ocean. Saskatchewan needs an ocean.

3 days later, and I'm still thinking about this meal

Next, we went to Gyeongju Bulguksa. This is a Buddhist temple constructed in 774. It was burned down several times and rebuilt every time to its exact original architecture.

Walking up to the entrance gate with a baby, who doesn't look at the camera.

We are not allowed to take pictures of any of the Buddha statues inside (well, we have one but promptly got a scolding from a monk... I won't post it out of respect). So most of these pictures are just of the monuments and buildings in the courtyard. Inside each of these buildings is a gold statue of Buddha and beautiful artwork. It is also filled with candles. Non-scented ones I presume.

Here's a different part of the courtyard:

Tripod + Timer = Family shot!

Entering and exiting the temple, there is a beautiful huge pond garden.

I saw fish jumping out of the water, but of course I can't take a picture of it you silly sally.

Next we went to Seokguram Grotto. It's an amazing monument of Buddha and is considered to be an amazing piece of art. It is completely carved out of Granite. So we drive for 30 minutes up a mountain in our piece of crap car. The road is long and winding. We have to dodge buses, and it's starting to get foggy, cause well... it's clouds. We are driving up a mountain. We finally make it there and see the gate entrance.

Temple in the sky.

But we can't see the grotto just yet. We find out we have to hike uphill for another 20 minutes. At this point, the air is thin, it's freezing cold, and we are in shorts and flip flops because we plan very poorly. Everyone else is bundled up and we are the only crazy people underdressed (baby is very warm in blankets. DO NOT CALL SOCIAL SERVICES!). Non-the-less, the walk heats us up. We are Canadian. Cold doesn't stop us.

Before my mom says anything, I was a gentleman and pushed the stroller. This was just for the photo.

So we get up to the main area and there are a ton of crazy kids there because there is a middle school tour going on. It is extremely loud here. I'm sure Buddha is rolling in his tomb.

ARE WE LOUD ENOUGH?!?!?

All the lanterns are out because it's Buddha's birthday coming up soon. It's not like Christmas, but it's a national holiday and you can go to a temple and monks will give you free tea.

Colourful Radness

So, we have another short climb 5 minutes (this time without a stroller, carrying the baby by hand because it's rocky steps the whole way). OMG let's recap! Driving a long winding death wish road, hiking, crazy kids, more hiking... The suspense must be killing you. It was for us. We travelled far and long and endured pain to see it... so here it is. Here is the picture we got of Buddha carved out in the granite which resides in the Grotto:

What?!?!? That's it?

Yup, that's it. The Buddha is inside that building and it was pretty amazing. This is all we can show you because... you guessed it. Can't take pictures of Buddha. I know this is a lie because we took 9000 shots of him in Thailand years before, but there must be different rules here in Korea.

For those who can't use google, here is a photo. Professional photographers get a pass for some reason:

Anyways... That's enough blogging for today. I'll post part 2 in a few days. Are any of you even reading this? Leave a comment if you are.

In Korea, Jet Lagged.

You may be asking yourself why it has taken so long for a post to appear. Sohee and I are experiencing some of the worst jet lag ever. Jet lag is challenging, but with a baby, it is at level: "Professionals only. Do not attempt.". Basically, whenever we think we have gotten on track, we have a baby that is up and ready to play at 3am. We are sort of on schedule now... less naps during the day and waking up at 5-6am instead of 3am. So, let's start this off from the beginning:

We fly out at 5am from Regina. We stumble onto 3 planes, then get blasted across the Pacific ocean at sound crushing speeds. Hannah did pretty good on the flights, but it's just really hard for the parents to relax when taking care of little ones. But some moments are perfect. If you don't find this next picture adorable, there is something seriously wrong with you:
Through the magic of blog, we are now in Korea after 2 layovers, and 14 hours of flight time.

What's up Korea?!?!

After customs and all that fun stuff, we find out that our Korean bank card doesn't work. Moreso, I can't remember the pin#. Because it's a Friday afternoon, the bank can't resolve this until Monday... so stuck without money, we find out that Visa is accepted everywhere these days. Boom. Catch the bus, and another hour and a half, we are finally in the city. We meet our friends, Mihee and Leon, who will be letting us stay with them.

The next few days are a blur. We left on a Thursday and arrived on a Friday. Our sleep schedule is messed to the nth degree. I have no idea what day of the week it is anymore. I'm also culture shocked once again. I have to start getting used to the big crowds of people, the traffic, the concrete jungle of high rise buildings, and the air pollution. But it's not all like that. There are a ton of parks and beautiful nature stuff right in the big city. In our zombie state (we likely woke up at 3pm this day) we took a walk in the park. This park is pretty big, and it has a bridge over the highway. There are also a ton of gym machines a long the way to stop and work out. But not today. Just going to enjoy the flowers n' stuff with my wife.


During one of our night zombie states, we went to the night market (Dongdaemun, I think). This market has a ton of knockoff (illegal) brand name clothing and handbags. Basically everything you can think of. We still have no cash at this point, so we were just scoping the area, as it has a lot of crazy buildings with pretty lights.
I stopped to enjoy the food. I'm eating a Korean pancake here.
I'm gonna keep this post short as we have another long day ahead of us. I'll have lots of stories and pictures of our adventures, so stay tuned for more.

I will be Back in Korea in May 3rd!!! Exclamation Mark!

I am pleased to announce that this blog will be active again as I will be returning to Korea on May 3rd.

Bookmark this page for updates on my latest shenanigans.

I'm in Korea... AGAIN!

This blog post comes from the future. 14 hours in the future. I haven't been able to blog much yet due to jet lag and having such a busy schedule, but what I do have for you is gold. Let me start from the beginning...

Our flight was long and tiresome, with a layover in Vancouver, then an hour bus ride from Incheon to Seoul. I slept alot so this time I wasn't as jet lagged as before... however I was fighting a sinus cold, so the air pressure in the plane pretty much killed me.

When we first arrived at her parents place, they took us out for our first Korean meal: Budeh Jiggae. It's basically kimchi soup with ham in it...

I absolutely do not look like I just traveled across the Pacific ocean

We then decided to sleep. It was only 6pm, but I needed to adjust to my new hours and such. We awoke at 8am and went grocery shopping so we could eat breakfast. Breakfast is like a supper meal in Korea, so we bought ingredients to make squid stir-fry. It's actually really tasty!

Yum! Spicy Tenticles for breakfast.

It was a good meal, but man, I was still tired, jetlagged and sick; so I went back in bed. While I was sleeping, Sohee decided to do some shopping and bought various clothes for our night out.

I awoke 8-10 hours later and I was pretty much fully recoverd from the lag, but my hours were all screwed up. We then decided to get our haircut at a salon. Normally, a haircut for men is only $5, but because I was in a salon, it cost $15. Still a pretty good deal.

We went out for supper and had samgyopsal (Korean BBQ). Sohee's good friend Sujin then met up with us. Sujin and Sohee then proceeded to consume a vast quantity of alcohol as per korean culture. They hadn't seen each other in a long time, so it was sort of emotional and whatnot:

After that, we met up with Kitaek and his friend. Kitaek lived with us in Regina and he is a really good friend. We went to a "Hof" (pub), and had a few more drinks and of course... more food. You can't just go to a bar and drink, you always have to order some food. I'm not sure if it is a law or something, but that's just the way it is. It was a ton of fun. Like a lot of great and simple moments in life, I did not capture this moment on film. But it's always good to have nice old friends and nice new friends just sitting around chatting and laughing at everything. Even if it is mostly in Korean and I'm lost in translation. We then went to a night club to dance and party more. The club had a short lineup which was very appealing because most of them had a extremely long lineup (Disneyland style). The bouncer ID'd us all, but I was the only one that padded down for weapons... so maybe it was a little racist, but after they found out that I was only carrying a super dangerous wallet and a sharp jagged cell phone, they let me in for free. Haha. All the Koreans I were with had to pay $10. The security also laughed at my hoody "Muhan Dojeon" (a Korean comedy on TV). As we go to the basement of this club playing gansta rap music, I noticed that 1/2 of the people were GI's from the American Military base. I guess that's why I was padded down. We then partied there for a few more hours, but then I got tired quickly, so I only lasted 'till 4am (They usually party until sunrise). For some reason, I woke up 4 hours later, wide awake. Jet lag is a mysterious thing.

Ulsan

Sohee has some friends there who she taught ESL in Regina, so the very next day (from clubbing) we go to the train station. We had some time to kill so we checked out some kiosks at the station. I found these earings with a swastika. Strange to my foreign eye, but the symbol is a buddist religious symbol here in Korea.

We then boarded a train to Ulsan. It's on the other side of the country. Seoul is in the NW part of the country and Ulsan is in the SE corner along the East Sea. The train ride was sort of long (almost 5 hours), but I guess considering that it's on the other side of the country, that's not so bad. The train is very comfy with lots of leg room. You have access to all the cars, so you can walk around for quite a while. It also had a small bar/restaurant, pc rooms, and karaoke. Wicked awesome. While Sohee slept, I studied Korean and found a new hobby... taking pictures of random people at the train stops. I don't know why I found this fascinating, but it was seriously a good time killer.

Random Dude

Random Ladies

I also took some pictures of the country side, but it doesn't look like country side. It seems like you never leave civilization in Korea. As you tour along the tracks, the city just turns into a very small town with a couple of small rice fields, then it turns into a city again.

We finally arrived in Ulsan and the weather was gorgeous there.

At the Ulsan Train Station.

Sohee's friend picked us up and then drove to a restaurant downtown where all of Sohee's ESL students (about 15 of them) were waiting there for us. It was really neat because they took time out of their busy schedule to come and spend the evening with us. The food was really good too. It was this soup with noodles, seaweed and potatoes. It basically tasted like cream of potato soup, but much better.

After the meal, we went down some of the busy streets and looked at the night life. The streets was really small, but it was architecturally so beautiful... with cobblestone, LED lights in the ground and random fountains. There were also a ton of people about because there are lots of hof's, clubs, restaraunts, and karaoke rooms around this area. We then went to a karaoke room to sing, eat, and drink more. We were there for quite a long time and everyone in the group sang at least once. It was super fun.

After a few hours, we then roamed the streets some more and found this game area that was outside... most of them were games of power (kick a soccer ball as hard as you can, punch a bag as hard as you can), and there was also a batting cage. I did all this stuff and it was quite fun.

We then made our way over to another restaurant for more food and drinking. I can't believe none of these people are fat, because we had 3 full meals in the span of 6 hours. More stories and drinking ensued and it seemed like everyone was having a good time.

Some of them were really tired and had a little bit too much to drink.

He also took off his pants.

We then decided to leave as it was almost 3am. We said our last goodbyes and everyone went home. Sohee and I stayed at a "Love Motel"... a cheap but really nice hotel. It had a big LCD TV and a computer which was really cool. All for only $40.

The next day, three of her friends from yesterday picked us up and drove us around the city. We drove by some ship building sites, and it was crazy. This is one of the biggest ship building cities in the world and it shows. The ships were insanely huge, and there were so many of them. The ships are almost little cities themselves. Fogive me for the quality as we snapped this photo from a moving car.

We then went to Daewang-am park. This park was very pretty with huge trees, little shops, and some live music.

The little shops also sell bugs that you can eat!

There were also some pretty cherry blossoms that were actually in bloom, so we decided to take a picture of them. I never saw them 2 years ago when I was here because they bloom only in April and the beginning of May.

We made our way down the path (about a 20 min walk), and we eventually got to the end where there was a light house, and then further down... very beautiful rock formation along the ocean. They had set up a little trail with a few bridges to connect the rock formation. With the waves crashing and the ocean being so blue, I felt like I was in the Gulf of Mexico, not Korea. It was crazy nice.


We then headed to the whale museum. You can learn all about whales and their habitat. We were running tight on time, so we just basically stopped for about 30 min.

There was this fishing boat on display, so Sohee and I decided to set up a "Titanic" pose.

The crazy/weird thing is that across the street there are many whale restaurants where you can eat whale meat. I found it kind of insane that on one side of the street they show the beautiful natural whales and the importance of conservation, then on the other side... they straight up eat them. I don't have a photo... So here is a random one looking out into the port.

We then headed down to the other side of the city (almost took an hour to get there) and took pictures of the most south east part of Korea. This is where the sun first rises in Korea, so it is popular with New Years Day. It also had the biggest functioning mailbox I have ever seen. You can actually go inside it to write your letter/postcard. We didn't stay long though, because it was insanely windy.

That's what she said.

We then headed to the beach so I could touch the pacific ocean. The beach also had this crazy island, that connects to the mainland when the tide is out. The tide was in at the time we were there so we saw people holding their shoes in their hands so they could get to the island (it was shallow water).
We then headed back into the main part of the city. I took a picture of this centre piece in the middle of this round about.

The sun looks ginormous.

One of Sohee's friends' parents in Ulsan also owns a restaurant. It was the most delicious Daejigalbi (Korean marinated pork ribs) I had ever had. I asked him what was different about it and what exactly was in it... and he said it was a secret. Damn. There is no way to replicate this at home. I guess it's a good excuse to return one day, because it is really THAT good. I think maybe brown sugar was in it... or maybe soy sauce... It's really hard to describe the taste because it was unlike anything I had ever tried. There were also a ton of side dishes with kimchi, garlic, and sweet potato.

After we said our goodbyes, we took the bus back to Seoul because the train was all sold out. The bus took about the same amount of time... but it only stops once, and there is no bathroom. So you better hold it, or pee in a bottle.

Anyways, I better rap this up because I'm wasting away the day. Stay tuned for more Korean goodness!

PS. I'll be posting videos on Facebook (for some reason I can't post on youtube as they have a verification ID law in effect). Also more photo's as well. http://www.facebook.com/sohee.y.metzler

PPS. Please leave a comment! I want to know your thoughts, questions, and if there is anything you want to see as I could not post all the pictures. Also, I want to know if anyone reads this blog or if I'm just wasting my time. lol.

RELAUNCH!

Stay Tuned! This blog will relaunch as I am flying to Korea tomorrow for more traveling awesomeness.

I'm curious to see how much has changed, and how much has stayed the same... but most of all, I'm excited to see my in-laws again.