We interrupt our regularly scheduled program...

Last night was insane! Chris and I went into Seoul to meet Mark (Lampy) after work. He's a friend from Guelph who stopped by Korea while touring Asia. We met him and his cousin at Gecko's in Itaewon, then went to grab a bite to eat. We got way too much food, as we were all trying to make sure Lampy sampled Korean delicacies.
Once we had eaten our fill, we set about the task of finding a new bar to hang out in. We chose Rocky Mountain Tavern, which is the Canadian bar. We stayed there until they closed at 2:30am, and then headed off in search of more entertainment. Itaewon never sleeps! Our search took us past hooker hill, and I quickly realized this was not just a name. I've never seen anything like it. It was basically a street of houses filled with prostitutes. Then, we turned down the street and found ourselves in a tiny gay district. Though it may be tiny, it is significantly larger than Korea wishes it was, as homosexuality is still very frowned upon here. We ended up going to "Trance" with a bunch of other people. It was a transsexual bar. They were very friendly! Chris took to his new environment quite well, laughing and dancing, while Lampy and his cousin stood as close to the door as possible looking super uncomfortable. We danced a bit, and I made friends with one of the "ladies". It was a riot, and I was having a blast! Priscilla queen of the desert was playing on the t.vs and there were awesome '80s songs playing. It was a really crazy and interesting atmosphere, but we didn't stick around super long.
Our next stop was "Polly's Kettle" which was rather empty. There was recent hip hop music playing along with videos, and we made friends with a rather brazen little Korean man. Let's leave it at that. *shudder*
By the time we left the Kettle, it was almost 4am. Only an hour and a half to go until the subway opened and we could go home! As we looked for our next temporary hangout, we were informed there was a gay bar right across from us that was for our private use! Well, we walked inside and saw what they meant, it was empty! We sat there for a few minutes looking at the interesting artwork, and left to try another place. We ended up at "Always Homme" much to the dismay of the fellas. The owner was suuuuuper gay and loving it. He was calling everyone honey, and kept saying bitchy things. It was hilarious. He joined us at our table for a while and some crazy conversations took place. Chris got 'married' to the guy sitting next to him, who was very nice and could speak nine languages! He picked a fine husband for himself, let me tell you. I can't wait to get the pictures from Lampy, he has some classic ones!
When the lovely hour of 5:30 finally arrived, we made our way to the subway station in the pouring rain. The guys bought some roadside hamburgers and we finally made our weary way home. It was a long uncomfortable subway ride, but Chris and I finally got home at 7am.

One thing is certain: Lampy had a night to remember! I just can't believe we had such a crazy-ass time in super conservative Korea!

The epic China voyage: days 3 & 4

.:Day 3:. July 17

The morning of our 3rd day in Beijing we got up super early and squeezed our way into the subway, headed for the great wall. China has a lot of people (duh, eh) and there were huge lineups to get in and out of the subway!! Finally, we got to the bus station and caught the bus to our next transfer point, where we had to foil the evil karate villains and get on the next, tinier bus. Good thing Iain knew enough mandarin to understand when people were trying to rip us off! The villains, for example, were trying to get us into their little van to drive us to a commercial part of the wall (we wanted a deserted part). They had a very convincing brochure of the wall from the early '90s, with "no bus" written on it in official-looking ballpoint pen. How we weren't swayed by this brilliant ploy, I'll never know. Perhaps it was their appearance that tipped us off. I suck at Boggle. They were right out of a movie. The short fat guy with the cigarette hanging out of his mouth as he spoke, miraculously clinging to his lip, and his lanky, dirt-stached companion. We were expecting Jackie Chan to fly out of a building and save us at any moment. Our saviour came in the form of a young lady who spoke near-perfect English, always a treat when we're in no-white-man's land. We knew we were clearly out of the tourist zone when an old grandmother opened her bus window wider to stick her head out and continue staring at us as her bus drove away.

Anyway, we found the right minibus, and five hours after our journey began, we found ourselves in a charming little town at the foot of the wall (You can see it behind us in the picture). We had a light lunch, and set off for our hike. The plan was to hike on the great wall itself for a good six hours until we reached the next village and stayed there for the night. Well oo la di da. That would have been fancy indeed if we could have managed to actually get onto the wall. Problem was we were in an area where the wall isn't maintained, and is falling apart or has lots of growth on it. We walked around for a while hoping to find a clear way on, but it was all looking pretty dangerous. The good news is the conservation area we were walking in was gorgeous!

An hour or so later, we got tired of going in circles and headed back to the boat renting place we had seen earlier. Some nice English speaking guys also helped us get directions. Good ol' English speakers saving the day again! We found out that we could actually get ON the wall from the next village, about a two-hour hike away through the forest. So, off we went, into the unknown! There were a few paths to follow, and we didn't pick the right one on our first try. Eventually we found one that seemed right and continued along. We crossed many rivers, and Chris and Iain even got up onto a very precarious chunk of the wall for a bit! After about an hour and a half of walking, Chris stopped dead in his tracks:
C: "Guys...a GOAT. A freaking GOAT?!" *camera whips out* "I've got to get closer for a picture!"
N & I: "uhh....a goat? duhhh...uhhh...huh?"
G: "BAAaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh!!!" *RUNS AWAY*
Bigger G: "snort, snort"
C: "A F!%ing BIGHORN! AHHhhhH!" *RUNS*
N: "F$%#ing RUUUUUUUNNnnnnnnn!!!" *RUNS*
I: "Aaaaaaaa!" *RUNS*
C, N & I: "wtf?"
N: "What the....DUCKS?! SO MANY DUCKS?!"
I: "Holy crap!"
N: "A PERSON! AHhhhh! What is happening, where are we? Who is that?"

So basically, we stumbled upon a guy living in the middle of the forest with a few goats and a hell of a lot of ducks. He also had lots of barking dogs, one who was all club-footed and huuuuuge. He had bottles of beer cooling in the stream, and was sitting as his little table smoking what looked like an opium pipe. Sketchy much? Thankfully, he was only too happy to point us in the direction of the village, and allow us to walk through his crazy animal hideout unscathed. Phew! The path leading from his place got considerably wider and eventually became a road. We followed it until we met some children fishing in the river, and a crazy old man killed the hell out of a huge snake while Chris attempted to talk to him. We asked the kids if we were on the right track, and they said yes. Mere moments later, we were in Xian Tun Ji, reading an English sign about how beautiful it was (though we could see that for ourselves). We found someone and began asking her how to get ON to the wall. She sent her son to fetch the only English speaker in the town, and pretty soon we had a group of people gathering around to observe the crazy foreigners who popped out of nowhere! The girl was super nice, and she informed us that the wall wasn't far at all. In fact, she walked us right up to it! Hiked us right up the mountain in her little sandals!

Finally, the WALL!! We hopped right on and started climbing! It was incredible having it all to ourselves!



We spent a good couple of hours climbing from guard tower to guard tower, and almost slipping to our deaths a few times (hehe, mom). The whole time while staring down the steep mountain, I couldn't help but wonder if a) the Mongols would actually try and invade here, and b) if they got as far up the mountain as this, would an extra few feet of rock really stop them? But hey, I'm no expert or anything. It just seemed like a ridiculously difficult place to invade, let alone to build a huge wall!
Suddenly, the wall abruptly ended when it hit the side of a mountain. We could see it continuing in the distance, but our portion was done. As it was getting late, we thought we'd head back to the cute friendly village of Xian Tun Ji, where we had spotted a few guesthouses earlier. After almost getting lost again, we finally made our way back just as it started to rain! We knocked on a random door with a guesthouse sign, and lo and behold, it was the English girl's house! Her family (which included the fishing children!) was in the middle of eating dinner in the courtyard. They stopped everything and welcomed us into their home, made us tea and set us up in our room. We also had a huge feast prepared for us by the super-cute mother. It was absolutely delicious! The whole family was helping out, we even saw the father kneading the dough for the fresh flatbread we were given! I felt bad for interrupting them in the middle of dinner. They were SO friendly and welcoming! Over to the right, you can see Iain and Chris enjoying our huge feast. It was one of the best meals I've had in China, and boy did we ever earn it with all that hiking! With our bellies full and a nice warm place to sleep out of the rain, we happily settled in for the night.

.:Day 4:. July 18th

The sound of a rooster crowing woke me up at 3am, and kept waking me up every 15 minutes or so afterwards. Not just one rooster, oh no. The neighbours' roosters were getting in on the action too, having a jolly little rooster conversation. Did people in the old days actually get up when the cock crowed? 'Cause man, 3AM! When the dog started barking around 8am, I finally gave up. Chris, Iain and I sat in bed for a while laughing about our crazy day and marveling at how we were awoken by a rooster party deep in rural China.
An hour or so later, we had a delicious breakfast prepared fresh of course. This included peaches that were picked right from the tree! I took a peek in the kitchen and saw the mom making us noodles from scratch. I couldn't believe she was all decked out in a chef's outfit too! The meal was delicious, once again.
After breakfast, our hosts called someone to come pick us up and take us to the nearest town where we could catch a bus back to Beijing. The bus only came to Xian Tun Ji every few days. When the driver arrived, we paid our huge bill for the night. Three people, two delicious meals, super friendly hosts, all for a grand total of about $16 Canadian. Wow. We left them a nice tip, and were on our way!

We were on a super windy (and bumpy) road in the mountains. I thought my teeth would rattle right out of my head! The scenery was beautiful though, and we were still so cheery from our amazing experience. We got on a mini bus headed for Beijing, and settled in for the ride. It was playing the most horrendous Chinese comedy show thing I could ever imagine. It was LOUD. The woman's voice was piercing a hole in my brain, and Iain and Chris just laughed. HOW did it not bug them? I swear it was my kryptonite, that damn sound. I was actually relieved when the bus broke down, because I no longer had to listen to that screeching. :P We sat on the broken down bus for a while, but promptly abandoned ship when another bus drove up a while later. We had places to go and things to see! No time for dilly-dallying!

Back in Beijing, we visited the Lama temple and got ready to take the overnight train to Ping Yao, our next Chinese destination. Stay tuned for the next post, days 4 and 5: Ping Yao!!

The epic China voyage: days 1 & 2

I just spend a fantastic, hectic, delicious, smelly, and beautiful nine days in China. I've sorted through the hundreds of pictures I've taken, as well as those from Iain and Chris. I will attempt to let them stand for the thousands of words I could very well write. I have to post this in parts, because there's just TOO much to write!

*As usual, click on all pictures to see larger versions*

.:Day 1:. July 15th

We arrived in China around 2:30 local time and Iain met us at the airport. We went back to his place and had a truly delicious meal, which was the first of many we were to have in China. Afterwards, we set off for the Summer Palace. It was gorgeous! Also, BOY was it ever HOT out. Korea was a refreshing oasis in comparison.
After the Palace, we had another fantastic meal. Chris tried Beijing (Peking) duck for the first time, and we all ate too much again. This would prove to be a trend. When four people can buy more food than they can eat for about $11, overeating is inevitable. ;)
After dinner we went out to the trendy bar area (Houhai) where Iain and his roomates hang out. It was a beautiful place, right along a canal with lots of seats along the water. When Chris fell asleep sitting up at the table, we decided to call it a night.

Judie, Chris and Iain in Houhai

.:Day 2:. July 16th

This day we set off early, eating some delicious alleyway dumplings before squeezing onto the packed Beijing subway. We were already sweating through our shirts! We went to see Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City.

We kept getting asked to pose in random pictures all day! Iain was telling us that many Chinese tourists come from towns where they've never seen a foreigner. Ahh, to be celebrities. ;)

As you can see, the Forbidden City is nothing of the sort anymore.

Later on, we explored some other parts of Beijing and visited our first tea shop. The lady was super nice, and we tasted some great tea. I bought a lot. Korean tea is ass.

After another delicious meal, we headed off to see the famous Chinese acrobats! Yes, all those plates are spinning, and always were! They never dropped a single one. I was wishing they would, just so that I could be sure it was real. ;) My camera ran out of batteries at this point, but let me assure you the show was mighty impressive! After this, we called it a night.

Stay tuned for day 3, one of the craziest, most exciting days ever! :D

Monsoon season: rather unpleasant indeed

Well, typhoons are hitting the south coast of Korea and we're feeling it up north! We had a gorgeous sunny day on Tuesday, the first I can remember for a long time. The weather has been overcast and spitting rain for a couple of weeks now. Today was a typical rainy day, but I only learned just how bad it was when I got to work. Our coworkers told us that our subway line was closed due to flooding! Here I was, picturing a flood somewhere deep in a tunnel for a couple of metres or so. You know, the kind of thing that isn't a big deal but they cancel service to err on the side of caution. Then, I saw this picture:


This is Jeonbalsan station, two stops down the line from us. It is where we get off to go to La Festa. LOOK! The water is pouring down the stairs, down onto the platform and into the RIVER where the tracks are supposed to be! GAAAAHhhhh!! Insane!!! As one might expect, it is also ridiculously humid. When we got to work on Monday all my loose papers in the teacher's room were wrinkly and wet-feeling. I cannot even imagine the horror that would have been my hair had I not gotten the glorious magic straight! Oh me oh my.

Luckily, Chris and I will escape the wrath of monsoon season when we head to China on Saturday. I'm SO excited! I will not be able to update my blog whilst there, since the Chinese government blocks blogger. Hey, if that's not a good excuse I don't know what is! ;)
No worries, you can expect a typical Nara-like saga upon my return on the 23rd of July.

Now, to tackle the pile of report cards!

*think dry thoughts....think...dry...thoughts*

The wonders of the internet

Well, I think it's about time Osker had his own webpage!



Of course, I won't actually sign up.....YET!!! MUAHAHAHahahaahah-I'm a loser. :(


In other less lame news, Chris and I found out we get an extra week off in October! YAYyyyy time for another vacation plan. Thailand will be in November or December, so we're thinking of places to head in October. Weee I can't think of a more desirable task! :D

Hello home!

Google maps sure has gotten a lot better! I was tinkering with it today and took a peek at the ol' hometown!

Ta daaaaa!

(Click to enlarge)

The red circle is home sweet home, and the blue one is the river by our house. The green circles are Osker's favourite spots to run (and mine too!). Ahhh I miss all those wide open spaces. The yellow is public school, and the pink is high school. Yay tiny town!

Public Service Announcement

To anyone and everyone who says "youse"
(ie: youse guys, did youse have a good time?):


You are a cretin.

Canada Day

I did not do the typical fireworks and outdoor party thing for Canada Day, mainly because this option was not available. Instead, I headed to Itaewon to hang out with a bunch of fellow Canadians! Lisa, Erika and I trekked out there to meet their friends Mark and Alex. (Chris went breakdancing, as he usually does on Saturday). Our intention was to eat supper at Gecko's, then head over to the "Rocky Mountain Tavern" which is a Canadian bar. Alex and Lisa did a reconnaissance mission to the Rocky Mountain, and found it to be filled with the sort of people who are scantily clad in Canadian flags. I didn't need to be reminded of what I don't miss from home, so we stayed at Gecko's a while longer.

When deciding where to move the party to next, it was discovered that I had never been to a noraebang! This is a karaoke type bar, but you get your own room with your group of friends! They're quite popular in Korea, and can be found on almost every street corner. We headed to one just down the block, which I'm told was rather seedy. Everyone was telling me that they're usually like tiny palaces, but hey, this one seemed alright to me! We booked a room for an hour. It cost $3 a person, not including the beer and stuff. The rooms were cute, there was a table and benches and air conditioning, and even a disco light that spins when you sing! We got right to the business of picking songs. Alex got right into it, he was really fun and enthusiastic about it all which was infectious! I really liked the fact that we had our own little room, so I actually sang a bunch of songs! Unlike at La Maison, where I just go to watch (and laugh) at others who attempt it in front of a huge crowd. Oh the courage that takes! I could hardly muster up enough to sing in front of four people, but once I did....I was addicted. I was belting them out like nobody's business. I was wishing Chelsea was there to sing her ass of to "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey with me, like we did all last summer! I also knew that I would be dragging Kirsta to so many of these things in the near future, as well as Josee if she ends up visiting me.
We were having so much fun that we decided to stay for another hour. When that hour was up, we just kept noticing free minutes appearing on the counter. Apparently that is common, to get a free half hour or so. Yay Korea and free things all over the place! :D

Me, Lisa, Erika, Alex and Mark

Well, we stayed out so late that we missed the last subway home! For some reason, the subway stops earlier on the weekend. Pshhh. Lisa and I were trying to figure things out, when suddenly this young Korean guy who spoke PERFECT English started helping us. It always surprises me when that happens, because I'm so used to assuming that no one speaks English. That is only true of older people though, the young generation has been learning English in school and many of them do immersion programs in Canada and the U.S. We made a game plan with him, which included a plan B and a plan C. When we were chucked off at the last station of the night, we set out trying to find a cab and/or a bus to take us home. While in the mob of people going up the stairs, I got smacked in the leg with a huge heavy basket full of peaches. Ow! It was a heavy sucker, and this lady was trying to carry that thing up the stairs by herself. Lisa helped her carry it up, and she gave us all a peach to thank us! Then, it turned out she was going to the same end of town as us, so she helped us find the right bus to take. Woo hoo, no $40 cab ride!! It sure did help having a fluent Korean guy figuring things out with us, let me tell you! Being stranded at midnight an hour from home in a foreign country is usally far less pleasant and peach-filled. ;)

I think this was the best Canada Day ever!