Also, happy 87th Scott!
..... I mean 17th....
Friday, November 26, 2010
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
The Eagle Has Landed
(I'm the Eagle)
So I made it to Korea. It was a long flight, but it wasn't so bad. I got to watch Toy Story 3 again plus some other crap movies. Korea's immigration was ridiculously easy and their airport is ridiculously nice. The country feels hyper-capitalist, it's crazy crowded with ridiculous amounts of competition. On one street you can have 5+ stores all selling the exact same sports gear, in Gyeongju they have literally dozens of stores all selling the exact same traditional bread - it's nuts! You can't walk ten feet without seeing a line of cabs waiting to drive you anywhere. But the country is also extremely westernized and it's really easy to get around. Most people speak some English and most signs are in Korean and English. The country is kind of an enigma, despite the obvious wealth (all new cars, huge new apartment complexes, everyone has an Iphone), it also feels downtrodden. I can't really explain it, but imagine if Mexico and Stockholm merged together, then you might get Korea.
I met up with Stephen Stone in Chuncheon. He took me out for Korean (no shit) with some of his Korean friends (all very nice people) and it was excellent. Some kind of Chicken and Rice Cake platter with supposedly mild spice (I don't think I'll ever try spicy Korean food). Then he showed me some traditional Korean drumming (of course!) that he and his friends play in their spare time. It was fun, I got to try my hand at it, though I'm not very good.
Yesterday, I took the bus (Korea has a excellent bus system) down to the historical city of Gyeongju, where the Silla empire originated. It's a pretty neat place, there's a lot of old ruins of old fortress walls (not much remains) and tons of massive burial mounds around town. You can go inside one of the burial mounds which was pretty neat. They've also partially re-built Anapji Pond, which is this large old wooden fortress with a nice Japanese-like pond in the middle. I had this Kuro Saamba dinner which is like 24 (!) little dishes that you can mix and match to your heart's content. Included are different sauces, tiny crushed crab, different fish, chicken, beef (I think), vegetables, dumplings and more. All this for onle 9,000 Won (like $7), plus all the plates were refillable for free. It was very tasty, but a bit much for my stomach to handle, so I went back to my motel early for a well-deserved rest.
Today I'm heading out on a tour of some of the more far-flung sights around Gyeongju, then it's back to Chuncheon and onwards to Seoul where Steve and I will wander around for a couple days.
Questions? Comments. Feel free to post them, I like hearing from you folks back home. Enjoy the cold! :)
So I made it to Korea. It was a long flight, but it wasn't so bad. I got to watch Toy Story 3 again plus some other crap movies. Korea's immigration was ridiculously easy and their airport is ridiculously nice. The country feels hyper-capitalist, it's crazy crowded with ridiculous amounts of competition. On one street you can have 5+ stores all selling the exact same sports gear, in Gyeongju they have literally dozens of stores all selling the exact same traditional bread - it's nuts! You can't walk ten feet without seeing a line of cabs waiting to drive you anywhere. But the country is also extremely westernized and it's really easy to get around. Most people speak some English and most signs are in Korean and English. The country is kind of an enigma, despite the obvious wealth (all new cars, huge new apartment complexes, everyone has an Iphone), it also feels downtrodden. I can't really explain it, but imagine if Mexico and Stockholm merged together, then you might get Korea.
I met up with Stephen Stone in Chuncheon. He took me out for Korean (no shit) with some of his Korean friends (all very nice people) and it was excellent. Some kind of Chicken and Rice Cake platter with supposedly mild spice (I don't think I'll ever try spicy Korean food). Then he showed me some traditional Korean drumming (of course!) that he and his friends play in their spare time. It was fun, I got to try my hand at it, though I'm not very good.
Yesterday, I took the bus (Korea has a excellent bus system) down to the historical city of Gyeongju, where the Silla empire originated. It's a pretty neat place, there's a lot of old ruins of old fortress walls (not much remains) and tons of massive burial mounds around town. You can go inside one of the burial mounds which was pretty neat. They've also partially re-built Anapji Pond, which is this large old wooden fortress with a nice Japanese-like pond in the middle. I had this Kuro Saamba dinner which is like 24 (!) little dishes that you can mix and match to your heart's content. Included are different sauces, tiny crushed crab, different fish, chicken, beef (I think), vegetables, dumplings and more. All this for onle 9,000 Won (like $7), plus all the plates were refillable for free. It was very tasty, but a bit much for my stomach to handle, so I went back to my motel early for a well-deserved rest.
Today I'm heading out on a tour of some of the more far-flung sights around Gyeongju, then it's back to Chuncheon and onwards to Seoul where Steve and I will wander around for a couple days.
Questions? Comments. Feel free to post them, I like hearing from you folks back home. Enjoy the cold! :)
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Prelude
So, in 7 days I'm heading off to South-East Asia. I'm flying via South Korea, so I'm going to stop in and visit Stephen Stone for a bit. Then I'm going to travel through Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand. I'll try tp update this thing at least once a week, but we'll see how things pan out.
Anyway, stay tuned for future updates, and I appreciate any feedback.
Anyway, stay tuned for future updates, and I appreciate any feedback.
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