as the title of my blog clearly indicates I have now been in Korea for exactly six months, which means there are six months to go before I come home.
this past week after getting back from holidays has been, to say the least, lacklustre. Unwilling to admit my homesickness, I chocked by blues up to going to school and then sitting around doing absolutely nothing. You see, this week at school was "Graduation Week" for the kids moving into high school. There is a bunch of stuff for teachers to do, prep and paperwork for the ceremony. I knew I had no classes so I was planning on getting my stuff together for my first few weeks of lessons come March when the new school year begins. All gung-ho on Tuesday, I stepped into the school to discover that the teacher's room had been gutted, effectively leaving me no place to work (as I am entirely dependent on computers now). Aaaaanyway, I got sent home the first two days, then sat through a grad ceremony I didn't understand, then today I was expecting a closing ceremony for the younger grades, but in turned out that those only happened by class, with homeroom teachers. So, once again I sat around at school with my thumb up my butt feeling useless.
THEN!!! Oh yes, my tale of woe is woeful no longer!!
My co teacher and I had planned to go for lunch, go shopping and catch a movie. Man, it turned into the day that would renew my spirit. We had lunch at TGIFriday's (a huge chicken caesar salad...oh western food...) then went shopping, mostly just for food. Ever since I brought home-made cookies to the school my coteacher and a few others have been asking me how to make them. Koreans generally don't have ovens in their homes so a homemade cookie was quite new to them. So I helped her pick out the proper ingredients for making said cookies, although she has yet to buy an oven :P. After shopping we decided against a movie because there were no good english ones playing. We drove back to Boseong, got some dinner then went to a noraebang and sang our hearts out for a good 2 hours. It was ridiculously therapeutic. We sang everything from the Beatles, to ABBA, to Outkast to (no jokes) Britney Spears.
I love my coteacher. We are quite opposite in personality but we never run out of conversation and once she discovered my penchant for silliness she joined right in! w00t!
She actually said to me today..."You're not normal."
Please raise your hand if you already knew that.
Friday, February 17, 2006
Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Vanessa on the Road (Thailand and Singapore)
hola everyone! I hope this blog finds you all well and lovely. So, blogging about the past three weeks is going to be lengthy, but I'll just keep it on the interesting stuff, mmmkay?
Singapore
Carol and I stayed in a hostel in Little India. We arrived at the hostel at about midnight, which is not ideal when one is travelling, but hey, it was an adventure. The first thing we noted about Singapore was the smell. It has many different smells and all of them are delicious. Mainly it's the fresh smell of constantly watered greenery. Where we were staying also featured a lot of Indian Food smell, which is also quite enticing...but I digress.
The next day Carol and I wandered the streets and made our way through a market. Things were pretty busy because of the up-coming holiday (Lunar/Chinese New Year). Later in the afternoon Arieh met us at the hostel. Oh mercy, it was a glorious reunion. Seeing one of your favourite people on the other side of the world is initially quite surreal. I pinched his ass to make sure he was real.
He took us to an area called Clarke Quay, which was, as the name suggests, right by the water. All along the quay were bar and restaurants where the night life is really, uh, lively. We hung out there with a bunch of his friends eating, drinkin really good beer and just being generally silly. Grood times.
Side Note: Cars in Singapore, quite surprisingly, yield to pedestrians. After 6 months in Korea, Carol and I had gotten used to running for our lives.
The next day was Lunar New Year's Eve. We started the day by going to a Buddhist monastery. It was supposed to be a guided tour, but the guide was a no-show, so we just wandered around. Afterwards we met one of Arieh's friends, Jessie (a very cool gal) and went to Chinatown to check out the midday festivities. The crowd was impressive at this point, but NOTHING compared to the crowd later that night. To take a break and put our feet up we headed to Boat Quay (same idea as Clarke Quay, only just down the road). Spent the afternoon relaxing and eating there before psyching ourselves up to go back to Chinatown. Oh mercy. I can't even describe the complete THRONGS of people. it was like a volcano erupted, only instead of lava, it was people. Not actually my scene, but I'm glad I experienced it. We headed back to the Quays to watch the awesome fireworks show.
New Years Day we headed to Sentosa Island, an island made into one giant tourist trap. Here there is a giant statue of a Merlion, the country's national animal. It is a lion's head on a fish's body. Yeah, make fun of the beaver now, jerks. We took a cable car to the island and then walked around, determined not to pay for anything...which is difficult to do on a tourist island. We did a nature walk, went to the beach then caught a water and lights show at night. The light show was interesting when they had the water and lights synchronized to music. Unfortunately it was ruined by a really annoying animated monkey...damn those monkeys!!! We capped the night off by heading to Clarke Quay (again) for some margueritas and mexican food.
Our last full day in Singapore was by far the best. Minus the huge crowds and line-ups that come along with a national holiday, the zoo ruled. The Singapore zoo is quite interesting in that most of its inhabitants are not in cages or behind fences. They are separated from people by moat. This means that we are able to see them a heck of a lot closer and better. I got some good pics for sure. One particular primate, a mandrill, gave us quite a show. He was pacing back and forth and then stopping and started, *ahem* servicing himself. It was like a car wreck, I couldn't look away. It was pretty much a big "F U" to the crowd, or at least, that's how I interpreted it.
That night Carol and I went to the Night Safari, which is basically a specially rigged zoo that showcases all the nocturnal animals. It was quite interesting. The best part was walking through a cage with free-flying fruit bats. Those things are enormous! Bigger than my head, no jokes.
The next day was a travel day, we got on a plane and went to Thailand. From Bangkok airport we had a driver from the resort pick us up. Our driver was a one-armed dude with an ancient car who drove more than 130km/h. Answer yourself this - when a guy with one arm is driving and he answers his phone, who is controlling the wheel?!?! It was most terrifying for Arieh who was riding shotgun. You braved it well, my friend.
Bangkok
First day at our lovely resort we lazed around and did a whole lotta nothin'. *sigh*
After our relaxing day, we rented motorbikes and went to the near-by national park where there was supposed to be some pretty amazing caves. We did this 400m hike up and around and over and finally, dripping with shvet, we made it to the caves. I'm not exaggerating when I say that it was one of the most breathtaking, awesome things I've ever seen. There were gigantic caves in the mountain whose ceilings had naturally eroded through. Because sunlight and rain could enter, there were large oases of trees in the center of each cave (there were three or four connected caves). I'm sure that a person could spend days or weeks in there and still find new and different ways to look at it. Amazing. That night we got a little drunk and hung out on the deck at the resort. We also made Arieh walk the plank. Alright.
Next day we got up to watch the sunrise. Then we bummed around all day - what a life. At night we played scrabble and Arieh won...but not by much!!!
Then it was time for Arieh to leave us and get back to his life in Singapore *tear*. Carol and I roamed around Hua Hin, the tourist city that was closest to our resort. We shopped and then went to this really great dinner/show. We ate the most delicious Thai meal outside and watched traditional Thai dance and music. The dancing tells a story, but it was completely unlike ballet. We got to participate in the dance at one point. We the lady asked us if we wanted to join, it took me a second register what she meant, then I said, without blinking "yes". Carol had no say in it :D
Two days later, Carol and I went on our elephant ride. It was wholly disappointing. We thought we would get to interact more with the elephants, but it was a pretty sad ordeal. The elephants just didn't look happy and once we were on top we felt kinda guilty. We know there are better places to do it, where the elephants are happier. If I ever do it again, I'd go to one of those places. That night we hit the Night Market. Cheap everything...woot! I was unsure of my ability to barter, but it just started coming out!
Our last day a the resort was spent in sloth. A sort of a calm before the storm that was Bangkok.
We arrived in Bangkok mid afternoon and were hell-bent on finding our way to our hotel without just taking a cab. With a little help of a kid stranger, we found the right bus and found our way! Yay!! We aren't dependent! We got settled in our room then went our to meet our friend Heather, a fellow teacher in Korea. We shopped on Khao San Rd, the backpacker central of Southeast Asia. I equate Khao San Rd with Pleasure Island from Pinocchio. It's where kids go to run amok and then turn into donkeys. You see people from all walks of life there...young kids backpacking, "lifers", middle aged people, families, and just plain weird people. Carol and I were pretty straight-edged for Khao San Rd.
For our time in Bangkok Carol and I decided that walk tours were the way to go, as taxi drivers and tuk-tuk drivers (i will explain later) are not to be trusted. Over our three days there we visited the major Buddhist temples and got lost a bit. It was tiring but quite fun.
H'ok, so a tuk-tuk driver is like a taxi, only the mode of transportation is somewhere between moped and carriage. They are everywhere and they will stop at nothing to convince you to ride with them. the first question they ask is "do you need tuk-tuk?" In a normal place a simple "no" would give them the message that you did not, in fact, want a ride anywhere. In Bangkok, however, this question is always followed up with "Where are you going?" Well, my friend, it's none of your goshdarn business where I'm going, as I've already told you that I don't need a ride!! Carol and I found this out the hard way, by first trusting in the kindness of strangers and engaging them in conversation about where we were headed. By the end of our time there, we were weary of taking out Carol's Lonely Planet for fear of being accosted by someone trying to sell something under the pretense of "helping". I, unfortunately, got good at being rude.
Phew. So there is my trip in an enormous nutshell. I know I kinda skimped out on Bangkok, but it was really just a three day blur of walking, temples and shopping. I had fun, Carol was a great traveling buddy and I'm glad to be back "home". I'm going to sleep now.
zzzzzz
Singapore
Carol and I stayed in a hostel in Little India. We arrived at the hostel at about midnight, which is not ideal when one is travelling, but hey, it was an adventure. The first thing we noted about Singapore was the smell. It has many different smells and all of them are delicious. Mainly it's the fresh smell of constantly watered greenery. Where we were staying also featured a lot of Indian Food smell, which is also quite enticing...but I digress.
The next day Carol and I wandered the streets and made our way through a market. Things were pretty busy because of the up-coming holiday (Lunar/Chinese New Year). Later in the afternoon Arieh met us at the hostel. Oh mercy, it was a glorious reunion. Seeing one of your favourite people on the other side of the world is initially quite surreal. I pinched his ass to make sure he was real.
He took us to an area called Clarke Quay, which was, as the name suggests, right by the water. All along the quay were bar and restaurants where the night life is really, uh, lively. We hung out there with a bunch of his friends eating, drinkin really good beer and just being generally silly. Grood times.
Side Note: Cars in Singapore, quite surprisingly, yield to pedestrians. After 6 months in Korea, Carol and I had gotten used to running for our lives.
The next day was Lunar New Year's Eve. We started the day by going to a Buddhist monastery. It was supposed to be a guided tour, but the guide was a no-show, so we just wandered around. Afterwards we met one of Arieh's friends, Jessie (a very cool gal) and went to Chinatown to check out the midday festivities. The crowd was impressive at this point, but NOTHING compared to the crowd later that night. To take a break and put our feet up we headed to Boat Quay (same idea as Clarke Quay, only just down the road). Spent the afternoon relaxing and eating there before psyching ourselves up to go back to Chinatown. Oh mercy. I can't even describe the complete THRONGS of people. it was like a volcano erupted, only instead of lava, it was people. Not actually my scene, but I'm glad I experienced it. We headed back to the Quays to watch the awesome fireworks show.
New Years Day we headed to Sentosa Island, an island made into one giant tourist trap. Here there is a giant statue of a Merlion, the country's national animal. It is a lion's head on a fish's body. Yeah, make fun of the beaver now, jerks. We took a cable car to the island and then walked around, determined not to pay for anything...which is difficult to do on a tourist island. We did a nature walk, went to the beach then caught a water and lights show at night. The light show was interesting when they had the water and lights synchronized to music. Unfortunately it was ruined by a really annoying animated monkey...damn those monkeys!!! We capped the night off by heading to Clarke Quay (again) for some margueritas and mexican food.
Our last full day in Singapore was by far the best. Minus the huge crowds and line-ups that come along with a national holiday, the zoo ruled. The Singapore zoo is quite interesting in that most of its inhabitants are not in cages or behind fences. They are separated from people by moat. This means that we are able to see them a heck of a lot closer and better. I got some good pics for sure. One particular primate, a mandrill, gave us quite a show. He was pacing back and forth and then stopping and started, *ahem* servicing himself. It was like a car wreck, I couldn't look away. It was pretty much a big "F U" to the crowd, or at least, that's how I interpreted it.
That night Carol and I went to the Night Safari, which is basically a specially rigged zoo that showcases all the nocturnal animals. It was quite interesting. The best part was walking through a cage with free-flying fruit bats. Those things are enormous! Bigger than my head, no jokes.
The next day was a travel day, we got on a plane and went to Thailand. From Bangkok airport we had a driver from the resort pick us up. Our driver was a one-armed dude with an ancient car who drove more than 130km/h. Answer yourself this - when a guy with one arm is driving and he answers his phone, who is controlling the wheel?!?! It was most terrifying for Arieh who was riding shotgun. You braved it well, my friend.
Bangkok
First day at our lovely resort we lazed around and did a whole lotta nothin'. *sigh*
After our relaxing day, we rented motorbikes and went to the near-by national park where there was supposed to be some pretty amazing caves. We did this 400m hike up and around and over and finally, dripping with shvet, we made it to the caves. I'm not exaggerating when I say that it was one of the most breathtaking, awesome things I've ever seen. There were gigantic caves in the mountain whose ceilings had naturally eroded through. Because sunlight and rain could enter, there were large oases of trees in the center of each cave (there were three or four connected caves). I'm sure that a person could spend days or weeks in there and still find new and different ways to look at it. Amazing. That night we got a little drunk and hung out on the deck at the resort. We also made Arieh walk the plank. Alright.
Next day we got up to watch the sunrise. Then we bummed around all day - what a life. At night we played scrabble and Arieh won...but not by much!!!
Then it was time for Arieh to leave us and get back to his life in Singapore *tear*. Carol and I roamed around Hua Hin, the tourist city that was closest to our resort. We shopped and then went to this really great dinner/show. We ate the most delicious Thai meal outside and watched traditional Thai dance and music. The dancing tells a story, but it was completely unlike ballet. We got to participate in the dance at one point. We the lady asked us if we wanted to join, it took me a second register what she meant, then I said, without blinking "yes". Carol had no say in it :D
Two days later, Carol and I went on our elephant ride. It was wholly disappointing. We thought we would get to interact more with the elephants, but it was a pretty sad ordeal. The elephants just didn't look happy and once we were on top we felt kinda guilty. We know there are better places to do it, where the elephants are happier. If I ever do it again, I'd go to one of those places. That night we hit the Night Market. Cheap everything...woot! I was unsure of my ability to barter, but it just started coming out!
Our last day a the resort was spent in sloth. A sort of a calm before the storm that was Bangkok.
We arrived in Bangkok mid afternoon and were hell-bent on finding our way to our hotel without just taking a cab. With a little help of a kid stranger, we found the right bus and found our way! Yay!! We aren't dependent! We got settled in our room then went our to meet our friend Heather, a fellow teacher in Korea. We shopped on Khao San Rd, the backpacker central of Southeast Asia. I equate Khao San Rd with Pleasure Island from Pinocchio. It's where kids go to run amok and then turn into donkeys. You see people from all walks of life there...young kids backpacking, "lifers", middle aged people, families, and just plain weird people. Carol and I were pretty straight-edged for Khao San Rd.
For our time in Bangkok Carol and I decided that walk tours were the way to go, as taxi drivers and tuk-tuk drivers (i will explain later) are not to be trusted. Over our three days there we visited the major Buddhist temples and got lost a bit. It was tiring but quite fun.
H'ok, so a tuk-tuk driver is like a taxi, only the mode of transportation is somewhere between moped and carriage. They are everywhere and they will stop at nothing to convince you to ride with them. the first question they ask is "do you need tuk-tuk?" In a normal place a simple "no" would give them the message that you did not, in fact, want a ride anywhere. In Bangkok, however, this question is always followed up with "Where are you going?" Well, my friend, it's none of your goshdarn business where I'm going, as I've already told you that I don't need a ride!! Carol and I found this out the hard way, by first trusting in the kindness of strangers and engaging them in conversation about where we were headed. By the end of our time there, we were weary of taking out Carol's Lonely Planet for fear of being accosted by someone trying to sell something under the pretense of "helping". I, unfortunately, got good at being rude.
Phew. So there is my trip in an enormous nutshell. I know I kinda skimped out on Bangkok, but it was really just a three day blur of walking, temples and shopping. I had fun, Carol was a great traveling buddy and I'm glad to be back "home". I'm going to sleep now.
zzzzzz
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