Jeju-do, DMZ and other Korean Adventure Plans

I just booked the tickets for Eric and I to go to Jeju-do during his visit, we'll be on the island from the 26th-28th. The tickets were so cheap! Thanks to Lonely Planet, I found Eastar Jet, I'll probably use them for other travel as well--tickets to Thailand were half the price as on any other website.

The day after we get back, Eric and I will be staring down the guards of the North Korean Boarder (as long as nothing goes wrong and the non-refundable tour isn't canceled due to conflict).

I'm reading through the Lonely Planet Korea for things to do in Seoul, and trying to keep in mind that it will be freezing cold here.

Overall, I'm really excited and just a little nervous about how we'll bare the cold. I'm trying to make a list of all the weather-proofing I need to do (there's a breeze in my apartment, not just a draft, a breeze). I'll need to buy a space heater as heaters don't exist in Korea. And my shower doesn't push out hot water when on full blast, so I'll have to get that repaired (and I want to get that done before December for myself as with the space heater). The bathroom sink works fine, so I don't know what's up with the plumbing.

Tomorrow morning, I'm going out with a large group of teachers and friends of teachers to look at the fall colors (there are 40 of us and we chartered a bus to Chungbuk Danyang) and climb around in a cave. I made some soup for lunch tomorrow as I'm not eating rice at the moment and we'll be going to a temple for food.

Oh! And I got some Vega! Turns out Vegan Essentials does have it, I just couldn't find it because their search function isn't as good as Google. It's pretty sweet (stevia and chicory root, not sugar--I'm not eating sugar right now either), but the vanilla gets overpowered easily and I add cinnamon to the mix to get some spiciness into the mix. And I weighed in at 146.4lbs yesterday! That's without exercising and basically planning my meals around greens, and cutting out sugar and flour.

I am still in and out of mourning the loss of Worf, but I don't think it's hit me completely due to the distance. It was difficult watching an episode of Farscape that had a creature being hurt and the cries sounded like that of a kitten in distress. I don't understand what would make someone want to kill a cat, and I'm sorry Worf didn't get to live longer and share more Snuggie snuggles with me.

Updated Chickety China, but

Chickety China Part 5:Wednesday is up, but it posted as older than my rant about weight gain. So, check it out by scrolling down!



****Same thing with Part 6, since I started writing it on the 22nd it posted as the 22nd.****

Thailand Turmoil

So, it turns out I might not be able to make Thailand happen just now. Eric has his ticket to come out here, so that's exciting! The only problem with Thailand is December is peak season and tickets are around 700$ each. I think it would be wisest for Eric and I to bum around Korea. It makes me feel like a failure in a way, because other people are going places and I could have made it happen with the prices that were up a month ago, but maybe it's better this way. I can always add it to the list of places I need to see when I finish my contract.

Traveling is proving to be more difficult than I thought it would be, I don't have nearly enough time off to do trips out of the country. And the time off I do have is all round the same time so there isn't any relief economically.

*sigh* If the travel agents I contacted can get me a better price, I'll jump on it.

The good news is, no matter what happens, I get to spend my Winter holidays with Eric! New Years makes four years of being in the healthiest, happiest relationship ever!

Chickety China Part 6: The Final Episode in Beijing

Janetta and I had both decided, before the party, that we wanted to take Thursday slow. It was our last day in Beijing and we just wanted to relax until we got on the train to Qingdao. So, we went out in search of the Pearl Market so she could buy jewelry. I was much kinder to the shopper than the Silk Market had been, but there was the downstairs area that had clothing and accessories and the same pushy people. Janetta was able to buy a ring and two pendants for decent prices.

Then we went on a mission to find her a new dress for a dinner she was attending for a friend's birthday. The shops we had passed on the way to the Pearl Market proved to be too expensive, so we got on the bus to go to the Silk Market once again.

We got to the Silk Market with our mission in mind. I thought I'd get a winter coat, since I'd seen some decent ones and knew I could talk the salesgirls down to 200 yuan, but I had to keep cash on me for the massages Janetta and I had planned for our day in Qingdao. I couldn't get the ATM to work, and neither could Janetta, so I told the girl I wouldn't take the jacket. Her response? "You're rubbish! Go home!" Beautiful people working that place.

Janetta didn't see anything she liked and I was getting tired. Finally, I saw a really cute fake lace dress, pointed it out to her and the problem was solved! Woo! Now to get out of that place.

Janetta checked her watch and noticed we still had time to hit up the park behind the Forbidden City before we had to meet up with the Belgians to go to the Night Food Market (where she wanted to eat a scorpion or something like that). I really wanted to see the park, since I was told it has a 360* view of Beijing.

Janetta paid for a cab to the park and we paid the tiny 2 yuan entry fee. My advise to those going to Beijing--go to the parks. They are beautiful and inexpensive. This put the Summer Palace to shame and we only walked to the pagoda with the view and back out. It was beautiful! It was quiet! It was very green. It turns out, this park was where the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty hanged himself after murdering his family while the people were breaking into the Forbidden City. There's a plaque where he (according to legend) realized what he did and forced his servant who had fled with him to kill himself and then he killed himself. And now, it's a beautiful park were children, locals and tourists can run around or relax under a tree.

We saw a woman singing Chinese opera (or maybe folk songs, but it sounded grand whatever it was) under a small pagoda. She was just singing it through a small speaker with her phone/MP3 player playing the accompaniment. There was no hat or basket for money, she was just performing. It was different from anything I'd ever heard before, but it was beautiful. There was a man doing something like Qi Gong in the same little pagoda and occasionally it sounded like he was chanting a harmony rhythm.



I would have loved to have gotten to spend a day in that garden, but alas, we had to go. This is were the day got a little tense. We had decided to take a cab back to the hostel, rather than walk again, so we were looking for an area to flag one down.

When we crossed the street to the side where all the cabs seemed to be, we were (of course) swarmed by the rickshaw drivers (both those with motorized and pedal-powered rickshaws). We were curious about the price of going on a motorized one (usually I'd be all for the pedal-power, like those in San Diego, but the men powering the pedals looked about 70 years old and I couldn't bring myself to use them as beasts of burden), it turned out to be about the same as a taxi, so we went for the experience of riding in a rickshaw--having shown the map from the hostel with the address in Mandarin.



We climbed in and (I) prepared to die in this tiny, gas soaked moped with a case around it.
We were weaving in and out of traffic, narrowly missing the cyclists and buses all around us, when we realized that he wasn't turning the right way. The driver took us through the "historical" housing--aka alleys--and then (thank god he didn't take my kidney) dropped us off outside of a restaurant in an area we didn't recognize. Janetta started to freak, but I told her to wait a second. I took out the big map of Beijing and pointed to where our hostel was, then showed him the 15 yuan we had decided on; then I pointed outside and shrugged my shoulders with a confused look on my face and put the money in my pocket. He looked confused. I said "Tienanmen?" with a searching look and gestures, then pointing to the map. He replied, "Yes."

This whole dance went on for a bit, then I told Janetta to get out and we'd ask directions and not pay the guy since he hadn't done what we (assumed to have) had agreed upon. She told me to give the guy 5 yuan, I sighed and did so as it was China and he probably needed it more than we did.

We walked along for a while, then got directions from the owner of a restaurant and double checked with some tourists coming from the direction we were headed. Turns out, he had dropped us near the Night Food Market (which is where we were going after returning to the hostel to meet up with the Belgians), and it was no closer to our hotel than the park.

We walked as fast as Janetta could, which wasn't very fast in my standards and she was the one all flustered about being late to meet the Belgians. We got there, it wasn't a big deal that we were five minutes late, and we set out again, in exactly the same direction from which we had come.

The Night Food Market was not on my to-do list, since I was under the impression it was going to be a bunch of animal products and people eating them, but it was our last night in Beijing and I didn't want to lose Janetta. I was the navigator in Beijing (and failed as one in Qingdao later as my 'East' and 'West' are flipped due to the whole flying 'West' to go to the 'East') and got us to the market.

The market was disappointing for everyone, it was basically street food and a crowd of tourists. There were two stands with fried starfish, snake, and other atypical animal products, but no scorpions. Janetta was disappointed since we had heard from
some other folks at our hostel that they had eaten scorpion--but they also mentioned going to a disappointing food market before finding the one they wanted. Janetta paid for some fruit on a stick, but the price was too steep for me. Then, I saw a stall with bigger fruit for half price and thought I had hit the jackpot--turns out the fruit was disgustingly crunchy and so sour I couldn't eat it and I would have been better off getting fruit when Janetta did.

As we strolled back toward the hostel, I had this feeling that I really should have checked the time of departure again (I usually read tickets two or three times on the day before and of departure so planning can go off without a hitch, but hadn't this time), so I pulled out the tickets. It turns out the train was leaving an hour earlier than we had thought it was. So, again, we were rushing back (read: I was trying to rush us and the others were lallygagging and Janetta was flirting with one of the Belgians and being all bouncy and cutesy and then getting distracted by flashing lights on kids' toys) to the hostel to collect our things, get a cab and get on the train.

After we (finally!) got back to the hostel, and got our things, we waited (yet again) so Janetta could say goodbye to Sven (I get it, I would have wanted to do the same thing had it been me, but that doesn't mean I wasn't annoyed). We had the front desk person write the address of the train station in Mandarin and English so we could flag down a cab and get going. We got on to the street and tried two different cabs but both the drivers said they couldn't/wouldn't (I don't know it was in Mandarin and gestures) take us there. So, we rushed to the subway (for real this time, though we were weighed down with our bags) and got on with a shitload of other people with bags headed toward the train station.

We made it in time, sat down to wait, had a few minutes of not rushing and had to stand up to board the train. We were looking forward to the bunks of a night train and got to...our seats. Seats? What? Yes, 9 hours of sitting up, the seats didn't recline at all, and the tiny table between our row of seats and those across from us didn't go all the way across so we didn't have any to lean forward. And, the aisle was filling up with people who were---bringing in folding stools and breaking out poker cards. This wasn't going to be comfortable.


So, the ride wasn't comfortable, but if I had been prepared mentally for the situation, I would have been able to deal fine, but as it was it was miserable and I couldn't wait to get off of the train. The 9 hours felt like they went on forever. And it was during those 9 hours that I saw the poop stick, a stick in the bathroom that was browned on one end. I'm assuming to get stubborn solid waste down the hole of the toilet. It was a terrifying bathroom.

We got into Qingdao super early in the morning and we had to change our plans of leaving our things with the coffee shop folks again since the bridge to that side of the station wasn't open and we didn't want to walk around again. Stay tuned for Part 7: Denouement.

Ugh

I'm back up to 151.8lbs. I have to get back on the fitness train if I want to be 130lbs by Christmas. I was feeling kind of sick today, so I gave myself a pass at the needed exercise.

Today dragged a bit, but I'm trying to stay upbeat and improve my teaching while improving upon myself as well. All without stressing out, of course! I'm hoping to sleep this thing off and be able to work out tomorrow along with organize my apartment. It's still got the "I just moved in, if you need something check all the bags and boxes" look.

I'm searching for ways to make my French fantastic and get my violin playing in gear over the next year--podcasts are my current mode of exploration, blogs and e-books will be added in next.

I should be off to bed, but had to vent my frustration that my laziness is kicking my fitness plans out.

Tomorrow is another day! I can shed these pounds if I really want to. I can be fit, French-fluent and a musical wonder. I can be a fun teacher within this system that is beating me into the rote machine that I dread.

Chickety China Part 5: Wednesday

OK, back on track with telling you my adventures (now a month old) in China.

Wednesday (the day after the 10k hike and bee attack) Janetta and I woke up before nine so we could trek to the Summer Palace, then the Lama Temple before heading back to the hostel for the Fall Festival party. The Summer Palace is an hour bus ride away, but only 40 min by subway. Janetta feels more comfortable on the bus, and I feel more comfortable on the subway but I didn't mind the idea of the bus since it meant we would be getting a free driving tour of Beijing out of it. So, we got onto the bus and sat down, taking in the changes between neighborhoods as we passed through the different rings of the city. We passed through some more Western looking areas, with streets that reminded us both of our hometowns (well, it reminded me of L.A. more than Tucson). It was a beautiful clear, blue-skied, sunny day and we were loving that we could see the sky so easily--unlike in Korea where the buildings block it out.

The Summer Palace tickets (much like those for the Temple of Heaven and different tourist places in China) were divided into five different sections--One for the main entrance and four smaller perforated tickets for the areas of the grounds with their own gates. I recommend buying just the main entry ticket and the ticket to see the Buddha Tower, it will save you 30 yuan and you won't be disappointed with missing the "Garden of Harmony and Virtue" that isn't a garden at all, but a museum to the (I'm not kidding) heating and cooling systems of the palace. We skipped the street at the north end of the palace that had a separate entry ticket and the gallery, but I don't feel like I missed anything--the lake (in the main area) and the Tower are the main things people seemed interested in.

Anyway, onto the beautiful Summer Palace!

This palace was built so the king would have a place to go that had greenery, since the Forbidden City had hardly any plant-life. As soon as I saw the human-cultivated lake in the middle of the grounds, with the iconic willow tree branches sweeping down to brush the water, I knew this was my favorite site thus far into our trip. I felt this huge weight leaving my chest. I had been starved for the beauty of greenspaces and water since moving into Bupyeong. Not only that, but even though you could hear the traffic of the city if you got close to the outside wall of the Palace, it was very muffled and the further into the grounds you got, the less you could tell you were in one of the most populated areas in the world. I had also missed silence--even with the windows closed, I hear the traffic seven stories below me as if I were on the first floor. With the window open, I might as well be sleeping on the street.

The more we walked in this beautiful place, the more I felt revived--sleepy as I was. As we got to the Tower of Buddha (or the Fragrance of Buddha... I can't remember), I was just amazed that so many older folks, with their hunched backs and tight hamstrings, were able to make the walk up the massive hill. The tower and temple next to the tower were beautiful, we weren't allowed to take photos of the interior but it's what you would expect--golden Buddha statues and statues of others following the teachings of Buddha, fruit offerings and incense.

The more we walked around the lake, the more dreamy I felt-I was ready to take a nap and the calm feeling I was getting from my surroundings compounded with my need for sleep and made walking difficult, but as we climbed up the steps for one of the bridges with a pagoda at the top I was able to wake up and get back into the groove of things--I was hungry. At this point, Janetta and I were just wanting to find our way back to the exit so we could find some thing to eat and our way to the Lama Temple before we went to the hostel.

We decided to take the subway back, since it would be faster and about only 1 yuan more than the bus. It was an experience, I thought I had seen crowded public transit before, but no. China has smaller subways than Korea and the States, and it seems there are more people trying to ride on it. You are standing up close and personal with so many different people (keeping in mind the pickpocket warnings are real here) and trying to make sure you can get out the door (or even to the door) for your stop. We made it to the Lama Temple without any hiccups, but we did have to ask for directions a couple of times, just to make sure we had turned the right way when coming out of the metro.

Walking down the street toward the Lama Temple, we passed shop after shop selling incense and prayer beads along with other religious items.
We bought our entry tickets (which came with a mini CD I have yet to play...if I can find it I'll let you know what was on it) and walked through the gates. Marveling at the giant bell, endless incense and praying people and the multiple Buddha statues. Janetta kept asking questions I thought I should know the answers to, but it's been so long since I studied the practices of Buddhism that I had to tell her not to trust what I was saying and that there was much I needed to look up.

The Lama Temple was built by a king so he could hold impressive religious ceremonies. In the final temple, there is a huge statue of Buddha made out of a single piece of wood that's over 1,000 years old. We weren't allowed to take photos inside, it was impressive, but it didn't feel holy to me. Most of these places were starting to feel gaudy. I loved the courtyard and the sound of the bell, but you could pay to ring it and it cheapened the experience of a supposedly religious place. I enjoyed the temple, but both Janetta and I were ready to head back fairly soon after going through it all. I really want to read up on some of the different sects of Buddhism, there was an exhibition of different statues of Buddha and bodhisatvas that included things like demons and sex--things I didn't ever associate with Buddhism.

I'm glad I went to the Lama Temple, but disappointed it didn't have that certain feeling of awe I was looking for.

We pushed back onto the subway and headed hostel-ward. We got there and collapsed into the cushy red, velvet chairs around one of the big tables in the common area and watched as the employees set up the dinning tables for the "festival." I noticed dishes were coming out and that I couldn't tell if some of them were veggie friendly or not, so I asked them and it turned out that half the food was vegan and the other couple of plates were obviously meat (whole fish and chunks of meat), and that the whole meal was free for those who got a spot at the tables before it was all gone! I claimed the perfect spot between two veggie dishes and in front of some moon cakes (delicious!). We chowed down after the chef and our MC for the crazy games after the food made a speech about how wonderful it was to share this meal with people from all over the world, on a night when most Chinese were dining with family. Then we got down to drinking. We got free Tsingtao as long as we batted our eyelashes and giggled, and until the hostel filled up with more people.

Then the games began. There was a small talent portion of the night, the owner of the hostel (Leo himself) was dancing to Lady Gaga (my goodness, the amount of times I heard "Poker Face" and "Paparazzi" made me a little nutty), one of the front desk women did a traditional Chinese harvest festival dance and there was a conga line of drunkness out the door of the hostel and onto the street. They had cheesy prizes for those who won the games (how many peanuts can you get into this bowl using chopsticks--Janetta won some stickers; a balloon pop--Janetta won something else; drinking competition--I joined so I could lose and slowly enjoy the huge bottle of Tsingtao at my own pace afterward; and other fun silliness). After the party (and the Gaga) got less amusing, a group of us headed over to the other hostel (365) to drink some more and talk without Gaga interrupting our attempts at changing the music (pretty much everyone in the hostel other than the folks who ran it were trying to change the music at some point and it would always get put back on "Poker Face."

We closed that bar down, and walked back to the hostel, chatted until Leo came out and told us he had to close the common area for quiet hours, then we walked across the street for dumplings. The shop only closes for about an hour between 2-3ish in the morning, then they open up in time for the people coming back from the bars to sober up a bit on the food. We sat with am American guy who has been living in China for a few years now and speaks a fair bit of Mandarin. He was a bit awkward, but all was explained in that he carries his Bible everywhere and wants to be a missionary--he must have been uncomfortable with some of our conversational topics, but we all got along pretty well. At this point (4am) I was crashing and ready to go to bed.

I had been chatting with an American who was traveling around before moving to the UK to be with his girlfriend. He's my age, had majored in Computer Science, made enough money from a job he didn't care for to travel for a few months and relocate to the UK before he took up that same job again. Talk about awesome! He was telling me about how wonderful the Kindle was and I was set on buying one (when I came home, I found out Darcey Spears--my former YRUU adviser and permanent life mentor--was going to send me her old Kindle, perfect!) Yes, I'm now Facebook friends with Lawerence, he's doing a "Communist Leader Tomb Tour" totally unintentionally--he hit up Lenin's tomb and was trying to see Mao, but had the same problems Janetta and I had due to the holiday.

I went to bed after a really awesome day.

Chickety China Part 4: The Great Wall

On Tuesday morning, we woke up early to get breakfast at the hostel and meet up with the group that was going to do the 10k hike on the "Secret Wall"--a portion of the wall that wasn't touristy and was supposed to have a great view. I quickly ordered my coffee and toast with beans (mmm, simple, but tasty) and Janetta ordered an American Breakfast and a latte (I had flashbacks to working at The Baker, but their American breakfast is slightly different as is to be expected in a different restaurant). The food took a while to come out and we had to take it to go or miss the bus to the Wall. I was able to finish my coffee in a nice relaxed fashion though. ^_^

We had to walk a few blocks with our guide to pick up some folks from another hostel, and then we got on a small bus rented out by Leo's. The bus ride took a couple hours and the AC was on full blast even though it was chilly, because the bus apparently didn't have the ability to defrost the front windows without freezing us all. It was bearable though and Janetta and I got to chat with some cool dudes from Belgium (yes! I have a contact for when I relocate to Europe and want to drink good beer!), though we had to talk over the ever increasing volume of the South Park episodes being played on the buses TV.

We got to the Wall, and that's when the stairs started. I swear, China is made of stairs and not enough of them go down, it's like going through an MC Escher. After the eternity of the climb up to the Wall to start the proper part of the hike--and it was a hike as this part of the Wall wasn't maintained in the way the more popular parts are and there were trees, shrubs and flowers growing out of this historical piece of defensive architecture--we paused to hear a brief history of this part particular part of the wall and the legend behind a huge break in it. The part of the Wall we were on was between old Mongolia and China and was built by farmers who lived on practically no food, many died and were buried in the Wall. There was some story about one of the emperors during the Ming Dynasty having previously been a farmer who worked on the construction of this part of the Wall who went crazy eating nothing but dumplings when he became emperor because he couldn't have them during the construction. The legend about the hole in the Wall was an angry or grieving (I didn't catch which) wife ran into it as a response to something her husband did or after he died (I'm great at this, I know).

The hike started off with more stairs. Going up, I was ready to turn around after 2 minutes of stair climbing, but I started a mantra of, "Nice ass" and I pushed through. When we got to the actual hiking part of it--with the mud and the trees and the dangerous holes for stairwells--I was quite happy to go the 5k up and 5k down the Wall. It was a misty, surreal, Lord of the Rings kind of day but the view when there was a break in the clouds was impressive. The Wall slithered its way across green hills and there was a town on the old Mongolian side of the Wall.

We passed through six watch towers on the Wall, some run down to nothing but the foundation of the tower and others still mostly in tact. It was sweaty and slippery, sometimes dangerous and totally worth it. I met some really cool people on the way up--chatted with an Israeli architect on holiday, the Belgian beer lovers (they spoke Flemmish, and it's close enough to Afrikaans that Janetta could speak with them, but I got no French practice *sigh*), some South Africans teaching in South Korea (we're Facebook friends now), and random other people from the UK, Argentina and Norway (we didn't talk as much, but they were cool).

While climbing down the slope to the stairs that would lead to the road we would walk down to get to the bus (why it wasn't in the parking lot where it dropped us off I don't understand), I was stung by a bee. This is the second bee sting since coming to Asia. I don't know why they are running into me, getting trapped in either my sunglasses or hair (this one made itself a trap in my dreads and when I undid my hair to try and free it, it stung me) and killing itself while make my life a little more painful. I was the third or fourth person to walk through this group of bees, and I was nervous because it sounded like a swarm and coming from a place with Africanized bees I have learned to avoid buzzing bushes. When I realized there were probably 40 bees on each side of me, I told the folks in front that I really needed them to go faster, but they couldn't because the way was steep and muddy. I didn't think to turn around. I kept on and I'm really lucky I wasn't actually in a swarm because I probably wouldn't have made it down the Wall if they had all gotten aggro and stung me. I now freak out at flying, buzzing things but don't feel as much pain with bee stings as I used to.

The fee for the hike also included lunch at a restaurant on the way home, it was decent and only a few of the dishes had meat in them. It was served in the traditional Chinese way of rice in the middle and lots of veggies and protein to choose from on the outside edge of a lazy Susan in the middle of the table. After lunch, most of the bus slept on the way back to the hostel.

When we got back, Janetta and I were too worn out to do much anything other than shower (this was when we started to go upstairs to use the communal showers with hot water rather than clench our teeth through the icy shower available in our room). Then we got some beer and chilled in the common room and chatted with more folks (I made more Facebook friends!) and went across the street to the more happening bar to hang out with our fellow hikers.

It was a good day, even if I looked like a lunatic asking people--who didn't seem to care/believe that I was stung by anything--to check if there was a stinger visible so we could pull it out of my head. Ok, maybe I'm still working on not being mad that people doubted I had been stung, but the rest of the day was pretty good.

'On the Road' 50 pages in

I've started reading 'On the Road' by Kerouac. I've feared this book for a long time, simply because I already wanted to travel and felt like I was trapped and unable to do so. Thanks to Mr. Vinyl (my Senior year AP Lit teacher) shoving the Beats in my face I'd read 'Dharma Bums' and 'Howl' and talked about the wondering lifestyle presented in the stories of train hopping, but I didn't dare purchase, borrow or peak inside 'On the Road,' I was angsty enough and my feet were already itching when my eyes met the interstate.

Finding myself living in another country, I felt I was ready to tackle the book, though I always thought I would read it while traveling the US, sleeping on the beaches and hiking in Yosemite ala 'Dharma Bums.' And, being all caught up with the show 'Mad Men,' despite feeling that it lacks depth and plot but has amazing fashion and intriguing references to important historical events, I think it's interesting I chose to read this piece of literature. Maybe I'm more influenced by the show than I thought? Oh, America in the 50s and 60s, what a crazy time.

I'm 50 pages in, and I have to say that I love it. It's not what I expected. Kerouac doesn't make travel seem easy and beautiful, and he clearly points out the different hardships of it and the absurdities of himself and his peers. It is addictive and I had to talk myself into putting the book down, I want to keep reading it and wish I could stay up all night and day reading from "the scroll." It flows well, it isn't just a stream of experiences, but there are a few points that seem unclear until reading further on.

I am glad I waited to read it until I'd seen a bit of the world on my own, I probably wouldn't have noticed the hardships so much as the adventure if I had read it earlier and I'm curious to see if re-reading 'Dharma Bums' would yield a more grounded interpretation. It doesn't seem as mystical as I previously thought the work of the Beats to be, it just seems like an honest observation of life--which is how I believe it's meant to be seen. Nobody's a prophet, just an observer.

Sandel Baram

Sandel Baram, Organic Wind, is a fantastic all vegan, organic buffet near me. It's Korean food, made with vegan, organic ingredients. It's delicious! Sadly, the hours aren't that great for my schedule, they're open Monday-Saturday for lunch and only offer dinner on Friday nights. It's 15,000 won a person, and that includes drinks. Not bad for all you can eat organic food that's delicious!

Where the tasty magic happens


Plate 3, not the best presentation

To get there you can walk or take the number 24 bus from Baegun Station to the stop for the high school after the Hyundai apartments. Headed towards Baegun Station, you have to look for the galbi restaurant across from the high school, if you get to the Hyundai apartments, you've passed it.

Walk toward the galbi restaurant, pass it and head down the hill to your right. You will see Sandel Baram at the bottom of the hill, it's a gray building with a seashell-like exterior.

Just so you know--

The 'Chickety China' bloggin's will probably about 5 entries.

That is all.

~Sarah