Life Post-Korea

Well, here I am! I seem to have trouble updating this thing... But that just means I'm enjoying life and not sitting in front of a computer, or at least that's what I'd like you to believe. :)

I have left South Korea and will always look back fondly on all of the memories and friends I made there. But it's time to look forward. Who knows, I may have some stroke of inspiration and write follow-up posts about Korea. But for now I'll put this blog to rest and start on my new adventure:

italymel.blogspot.com

Time for some Zen...

 

On a beautiful Saturday morning in Korea, I made my way to Seoul to join Adventure Korea on another trip. Instead of the exhilaration of white water rafting and bungee jumping, this trip was time for me to free my mind and learn about something I've always been curious about. We arrived at Sudeoksa for our temple stay around 12:30pm and time to explore the temple before the program started. Sudeoksa, located in Chungcheongnam Province, is absolutely stunning. I felt one with nature immediately.

At 2pm, we had were given our temple clothing and met the nun that would be with us for the program (Sudeoksa is a predominantly female temple). Then we were given a bag with string and beads to make a necklace. We were shown how to bow properly and every time we bowed, we placed a bead on the string. We repeated this until we had performed 108 bows, and 108 beads were on the necklace. My legs were pretty sore the next day! Then we had a cafeteria style dinner- all vegetarian! The nun told us that Buddhists don't eat meat because when animals die, the pain and suffering they felt will carry on. If the meat is ingested, this negative energy will continue on to the consumer.

 

Next, we listened to some hypnotic chanting, drumming, and bowed in a 1,000 year old building.

That night we made lotus flower lanterns. The lotus flowers are significant in Buddhism because they grow from dirty, muddy water, yet they are very vibrant and beautiful. We put flashlights in our paper lanterns and walked around outside in the dark before meditating under the moonlight. We went to bed around 9:30pm to prepare for a 3am wake-up call.

At 3:30am we bowed in the 1,00 year old building again and I felt enveloped by the monks' chanting. Then we stretched, did breathing exercises, and meditated before the big ceremonial breakfast. This meal was very spiritual and interesting. We said some chants before eating, had to eat in silence, and the food had to be placed in certain bowls. We also had to eat every bit of food. We cleaned our bowls with only a few cups of water. The nun told us a story of the "Hungry Ghosts" with necks as thin as needles who can only eat the water we rinse our bowls with. So we must eat every bit so the water these ghosts drink will be clean.

After breakfast we hiked up Mt. Deoksoong and saw some amazing views of the city below. While hiking, we collected some fragrant leaves for the "Fallen Leaf Tea Ceremony."

Then it was time for lunch and to go home!

I can't emphasize enough what an eye opening experience this was. Buddhist traditions are truly unique and seem like something everyone should strive for. I recommend anyone and everyone to do a temple stay in Korea, and Adventure Korea was very organized and that made the trip much better. I feel so great and refreshed after this weekend. My only regret is that I didn't do a temple stay in Korean when I first arrived. I learned so much and I would have loved to bow at the other Buddhist temples I have visited in Korea.

Well, this was definitely a highlight to my two years in Korea. I will never forget this experience!

Seong bool ha sayo! (성불 하세요!)

(Roughly translated: "Attain enlightenment/nirvana!")

*Videos curtousy of of Patricia Skully at Adventure Korea*

Same Same, But Different...

This year Korean Thanksgiving, or Chuseok, fell on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday... which meant that most people in Korea got a 4 or 5 day weekend. YAY! Having only 6 weeks left in Korea, it is now the time to check all of the things off of my "to do in Korea" list. And a stay in Korea wouldn't have been complete without a trip to the "Hawaii of Korea," Jeju Island.

I took the trip with Seoul Hiking Group and made my way to Seoul Friday night. We took a bus to Wando, followed by a 3 hour ferry to the island. The first stop was to see a rock the looks like a dragon head. I didn't really see it...

Then we made a quick stop at the beach before heading to a horse show that reenacted the life of Genghis Khan. The people riding the horses did some really cool tricks.

Then we headed to Loveland... Well, this place was supposedly created for newlyweds honeymooning on Jeju Island to "break the ice" and act as a sort of sexual education course. The statues were ridiculous!

That night we had a buffet dinner that night and hung out in a nice area by our hotel.

The second day started with a trip to Jeongbang Waterfall. It was a gorgeous day and it wasn't long before I started to swim near the falls. What a rush! We did a little hiking along the beach, pretty views. Then we went to Ripley's Believe it or Not and a Teddy Bear Museum. The Teddy Bear museum was cute. They depicted different moments in history- like the sinking of the Titanic, the knocking down of the Berlin Wall, etc. all with stuffed bears!

I saw one more waterfall before we headed to the hotel. We ate some great Indian food at the "Raj Mahal" and hung out by the hotel again that night. We ended the night with a great Noraebang session!

For the 3rd day we started off going to the green tea fields. We rode around in golf carts and had some green tea in a cool cave cafe.

Then it was time for horse riding! I was actually pretty frightened by the horse I rode. He seemed really wild and started racing another horse... not so much fun for me!

Then we went to a park and escaped the heat for a while in a cave.

Then we hiked up to see a crater. That was a great view. That night we had a BBQ on the beach, complete with bonfire, and relaxed.

On the 4th and last day, some people opted to hike Mt. Halla ( a 7 hour hike), some people opted to relax on the beach, and I opted to SCUBA dive. We took a boat to Mun Island where we relaxed, went scuba diving, and soaked up the sun. Then it was time to go home! Overall this trip was great. It was lovely to see an island in Korea with so much to do and see, but still have time to relax on the gorgeous beaches. Not quite "Hawaii"... but still amazing!

Ain't no mountain high enough...

On September 2nd I decided to check out Mt. Seorak, South Korea's 3rd highest peak, and possibly most beautiful Autumn destination. I had heard so many things about the beauty of this place so I had to go. We arrived at 3am and immediately started hiking . The first hour of this hike was mostly upstairs... and it was brutal for me. But I knew if I got passed this I could hike the next 11 hours. The sun came up and the weather was foggy and rainy at first, but eventually it cleared up and the sights were gorgeous. The last four hours of the hike was waterfall after waterfall and gigantic, breathtaking boulders. It was nice to finally see some nature in Korea!

 That night we camped on a beach in Sokcho, had breakfast and lunch there, then headed home. I was sore for 7 days after this trip!! But focusing your mind and body into something as tough as this is very rewarding... A feeling like nothing else. :)

An adventure in Korea

A group of 10 of us from Pyeongtaek decided (very wisely) to spend this gorgeous Sunday up north rafting and bungee jumping. I had such an amazing time. We went with the group Adventure Korea who set up bus transport from Seoul, organized rafting, a buffet lunch and bungee jumping for the brave! For me nothing could have gone better that day! Loved it!!

A crazy, wonderful dream...

I knew basically what to expect from Thailand: amazing food, friendly people, and gorgeous scenery. But Vietnam was unknown territory. My only plan was to take the airport minibus to a hostel I had heard good things about and take it from there. When I arrived at Hanoi Backpackers' Hostel I was blown away. The whole vibe of the place was just... perfect. I checked into a dorm room on the 6th floor and immediately met tons of awesome people. Everyone I met was friendlier than the one before. The hostel has superb drinks and a killer menu to choose from. The 5th floor has a small bar, internet, a pool table, couches, and bean bag chairs galore to relax on while watching movies on the giant flat screen TV. I can't rave about it enough. Hands down the best hostel I have ever been to. Oh, and this hostel is on Ma May street, be careful if you want to come here... there are two in Hanoi and the other one is not as cool. :)

It's been a couple weeks since my trip and everything is starting to run together, but I'll try my best to give day-by-day highlights...

Day 1: This day consisted of walking all over Hanoi just exploring and getting used to the crazy traffic and the constant, headache-inducing honking. I saw some pretty rivers and lakes and had a great time hanging out with new friends.

We had wonderful meals. I got stir-fried spinach with garlic and I literally could not believe how flavorful it was. A quick Google search leads me to believe the name of this succulent dish is called rau muống xào tỏi.

At night we went to a bar called Cheeky Quarter that was okay, but found some fun places to dance like Bucket Bar.

Day 2: The next day there was a barbecue at the hostel. While everyone else got burgers I was still craving Vietnamese fare so I opted for a vegetarian restaurant called Tamarind. I ordered the waitress' recommendation, vegetarian phở (noodle soup). It was really refreshing. I had missed cilantro!

That night I saw a live "Water Puppet" performance. I can honestly say that it was the most unique piece of theater I have ever seen. The music was gorgeous... definitely worth a visit, if just for the novelty.

Day 3: Today was the day to relax! I mostly hung out at the hostel, played pool, and watched movies. Just what I needed! I had a really good fish stew that was popular in the area we were in. I believe it was called Chá Cá. MMMmmm!

Day 4: I wandered over to Hoa Lo Prison which used to detain Vietnamese people during French occupation. It was okay, if you're on a tight schedule I'd skip this one. For lunch I went to a vegetarian place that specialized in faux meats called Com Chay Nam Tam. I highly recommend this place! They had a bunch of different course menus to choose from. Everything was prepared so elegantly. Definitely worth a try!

Day 5: Halong Bay!! We took two double-decker boats out out to Halong Bay and kayaked, swam, explored a cave (bats included!) and had an all around unbelievably fun time. I went with Hanoi Backpackers' Hostel and they really made it a fun night for all. Also, I would highly suggest going for 3 days / 2 nights. One night wasn't enough!

Day 6: The boat ride back from Halong Bay was stunning! I didn't want to leave. I got back to the hostel and had a nice, relaxing evening with my friend Lauren. We ate at a restaurant called Aubergine where I had the sesame encrusted eggplant. So good!

Day 7: I woke up and did a little shopping before spending a couple hours at Chùa Bồ Đề Orphanage in Hanoi. This was without a doubt one of the most rewarding things I did on this trip. The kids were lovely and cute and it felt so nice to be able to put smiles on (some of) their faces!

The baby that never smiles

That night a bunch of people from the Halong Bay trip went out for a lovely meal. I ordered a roll-your-own-fish-wraps thing that was amazing! It was a huge platter of rice paper, Vermicelli noodles, vegetables, breaded fish, and fresh dill and cilantro, along with other spices. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

Day 8: Museums galore! Out first stop was Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum. It's only open from 8am until 10:30am so we got an early start. His well-preserved dead body looked like a wax figure. It felt very strange to be ushered along with guards standing at full attention. If you whispered or moved to slowly, they'd show their authority by giving you a stern look... scary! But at least the time in the Mausoleum was a welcomed few minutes of air-conditioning in a city I was constantly sweating in. Then we walked around a bit before heading to the Ho Chi Minh Museum. Part dear leader, part modern art; interesting for sure!

We looked around the Temple of Literature for a bit before heading to lunch. We ate at KOTO that was highly recommended by many guidebooks. I had a falafel (Pretty sure this was my first non-Vietnamese food the whole trip). The falafel was pretty good, but the amazing thing was my mint-ginger drink. Heavenly!

After lunch we were off to the army museum. Blah, blah weapons, blah blah. But there was cool plane wreckage that actually looked like art and great views of Hanoi from the hexagonal tower. Although we initially wanted to check out the museum of Ethnology I felt like if I saw one more display case I'd go a little crazy. So we headed back to the hostel.

After walking around all day our appetite was ready for some extra fancy dinner. We went to "Green Mango" which seemed like I left Vietnam and came to a lush restaurant in a posh city for a while. Entrees ranged from $8 for simple pasta dishes, to $25 for filet mignon. We went all out. It was my last night in Vietnam after all. Lovely evening...!

The last days: I headed to the airport for my flight to Kuala Lumpur for what was supposed to be a 9 hour layover. I had fun exploring the city, eating yummy noodles, seeing the Petronas Twin Towers, and checking out Reggae Bar again! Transportation took longer than anticipated when I headed back to the airport so I missed my flight and had to spend one more night in KL but didn't do much. The next day I was back in Korea recovering from an epic trip!