Food For Thought 2: Think Harder

Home is Where the Heat Is.

Holy cow, Ottawa. Way to welcome me back with sweat.

Apologies for being lazy with the blogging on this trip. Will do a handful of post-trip-blogups, followed by Pizza.

The Sidekicks

With every meal in Korea, side-dishes are served.

This.. is their story: *cue Law & Order theme*

The Cheonan

Interesting times to be following the news in Korea. As you may have heard, there was an incident here back in March, where a South Korean warship - The Cheonan -mysteriously sunk. The tragedy was unofficially blamed on the North, and there has been much anger over the loss of 46 lives.

All men in South Korea have to do two years of military service, so whenever these types of losses occur, it really is something that cuts deeply to all Korean families. These 46 could have easily been anyone's brother, son, or friend.

Today, the official report from an international-body of observers concluded that the blast was from a North Korean torpedo, emerging from a submarine. This leaves the South in the difficult situation of having to form some sort of response (not only to quell anger, but as a detterent to the North), and yet not escalate this conflict. The last thing anyone wants is to respark fighting between the two Koreas, but given the volatility of the North of late, there is a possibility it may come to that.

The Huffing and Puffing continued, as the North declared that they would "respond to reckless countermeasure with an all-out war of justice" according to the BBC. 

The mood around here does seem to continue to be indifferent, though, (at least, in regards to those threats). A lifetime of threats will probably do that to someone - Lets just hope that the no-all-out-conflict 'streak' continues.

(Will be back in Canada in five more days)

Food For Thought

Rosie

Seoul Return

Early in the week, I returned to Insadong; a sector within Seoul known for its traditional Korean goods. Bought a few gifts, and toured some popular sights I'd seen before (including the hard-to-pronounce Cheonggyecheon stream).

Did a bit of hiking yesterday, which was fun. It's funny; any Korean you see on the 'Trails' (which are not all that challenging - picture below) are fully decked out in almost identical, hardcore mountain climbing gear, so I got a few looks for my dressed-shirt + black pants.

At the end of the trail is a shack with a view that would be quite beautiful of the region, if only it wasn't so smoggy. On a clear day, there are these great mountains in the background to be seen - but those days are unfortunately rare.

I'm not exactly sure what lies ahead at this point; the temple stay is most likely a no-go (which sucks). Can't say this trip is turning out quite as planned - I may be headed for an early return home.

In the meantime though, I'll do my best to try and enjoy myself.

Cheers

Building Pedestrians

Jeju Island

Spent the weekend in my last un-visited touristic hotspot in Korea: Jeju Island. Jeju is a popular destination for Korean newlyweds, as well as for Chinese and Japanese tourists.

It's historically known as having an abundance of three things: Rocks (It was formed by a Volcano), Wind (It's an island), and Women (???). From what I could tell, the only industry other than the Tourist one that works off of this island is agricultural. Jeju Juices and teas are quite popular among Koreans.

This trip was with Semi and her two sisters, who conveniently had rented a car to facilitate our journey (evidently, the Public Transit on the Island sucks). We started the adventure off at a few popular beaches, though it was deemed too cold to go for a swim; obviously 15 C is more than warm enough for any Canadian, though, but I didn't want to one-up anyone on their home turf.

Next, we came upon a gigantic field of the plants used to produce Green Tea. Accross from that was a tourist-centric factory explaning the process of harvesting, drying, and redrying tea leaves. Though it seemed like it was very involved, there was unfortunately very little English actually available. This is not uncommon in places where few English speakers will visit, though it does allow one to use their imagination. If I chose to decide that Korean Green Tea is made by mixing the leaves with tears of hardened criminals (to give it that tough taste), who's gonna tell me I'm wrong?

We proceeded to visit a few scenic places that became popular through Korean dramas. That's where I learned that my new camera has a Panorama feature! :

Sunday, we went and did some Kayaking (Photo not found, for fear I'd accidently do a panorama of the river-floor and be unable to rescuscitate the camera); It wasn't a very challenging course, but it's been awhile since I was in any kind of canoe, so it was quite welcome.

Finally, we visited a Folk Village that explained how the inhabitants of Jeju lived 100 years ago; It's amazing to think how recently these 'matress' and 'electricity' things actually reached some people; not to mention the Internet. It would be interesting to explain Starcraft to a Korean Hunter of the time.

Flew back in early enough this morning (it's about a 50 minute flight); All in all, a satisfying trip-within-the-trip. Posted below are a couple of videos from a very.. er. Unique meal, if you're interested.

Not quite sure how the rest of the week will play out, but Saturday will be the anticipated Temple Stay at a Buddhist Temple!

Have a good week.

A Moving Dinner

Tomatoman

In my absence, a new hero has risen. Plastered all over Won Dang (my old school's neighbourhood) are signs of the new Korean Saviour: Tomatoman.


It's definitely strange to be back; The athmosphere is a bit like going back to High School after all of your friends have graduated. Things are mostly the same, but feel slightly off.


The flight from Vancouver to Incheon was uneventful, though painfully long. Had time to watch four movies, five TV episodes, the entire new 25-Track Broken Social Scene album, as well as attempting to nap for three or four hours.


Will be spending the weekend on Jeju Island, which is off the south-western coast of Korea. Should be fun!

Vancouver!

Now awaiting: Vancouver - > Incheon.

Safe and sound so far. I severed three toes and four fingers, but a 5 hour flight was more than long enough to reattach them. Nothing else to report.

See you tomorrow.

The Toronto Surprise

Was off to a merry start this morning (Waking up at 4am to catch the Ottawa-Toronto flight at 6). Got to Toronto, and I didn't have a seat assigned for the following Toronto-Vancouver flight; As it turns out, Air Canada likes to overbook. Out of the 250ish people in that plane, I was one of only three turned away. Nevermind that I booked back in February.

The flight couldn't even be rebooked for today, so now I have a surprise day-long layover in Toronto. There is a compensation package, though: Free hotel, three meals, and a 500$ travel voucher valid for one year.

Not bad - but it still sucks; I'd rather be there on time.

C'est la vie.