Today my mom and sister returned to Canada. They were in Korea for 3.5 weeks and boy, did they do a lot! We tried to take advantage of all the time we had. I'll attempt to recap.
The first weekend that they were here was spent in Cheonan. We played some ultimate frisbee with our Cheonan group and then went out for shabu shabu. Mom was struggling with the chopsticks, but surprisingly, she liked the kimchi! Sunday we headed out to Independence Hall for some history and scenic pictures.
Post ultimate smiles!
Post ultimate eats!
Independence Hall: Entrance and Korea Flags
The next week, they headed out to Seoraksan National Park to do some serious hiking and then to Seoul for shopping and a templestay experience. JM and I had some frisbee games that weekend, so we did not join them, but we all met up again after the weekend for our Chuseok break in Busan.
Templestay outfits!
Touring Gyeongbokgung Palace
After Chuseok, the four of us took an evening trip into Seoul to see the Nanta cooking experience. I had read some great reviews of the show online (it is Korea's longest running broadway show) and was excited to go to the theatre. Audience members are often pulled up on stage and lucky for us, we had aisle seats! So both Sarah and JM were called up. Sarah had to pull a barrel off some guy's butt and JM had to make mandu on stage as part of a competition. His team didn't win, but he was given a picture and a chef's hat as a souvenir. It was a great show - highly recommended for some amazing chopping skills and laughs!
Finally, our last trip was a long weekend in Jeju. Sarah and Mom took the ferry and I flew up after my last class. We rented a car that Sarah drove (!!) and it was by far the best decision we made. It was so convenient to have the freedom to travel when and where we wanted. We grabbed a tourist map and started circling places we wanted to hit. We planned out three days: east side, hiking Hallasan, and the west side. Jeju is an old volcanic island, Hallasan is a dormant volcano, so lots of sight seeing revolved around awesome lava rocks, formations, tubes, and cones. We stayed at the very cute Breakfast at Tiffany's B&B and our hosts were lovely people. Nice view from the rooms, log cabin style with the smell of pine. Very relaxing!
Jeju - Beautiful volcanic island
Day 1: Seongsan Ilchulbong, a tuff cone also called sunrise peak, has a great view of the ocean. By far the coolest part of the trip was the 1km long lava tube we walked through. A UNESCO world heritage site, this was such a unique geological wonder that all I could do was wish my grandfather was able to experience it with us.
View from the top of Seongsan Ilchulbong
Lots of stairs on the way back down
View of Jeju from the tuff cone
The entrance/exit of the lava tube. The ground caved in here, and that's how they found it!
Mom and Sarah walking through the tube
Melted rock
Day 2: Hiking Hallasan in the rain and sleet. Not as much fun as it sounds. Hallasan is the tallest mountain in Jeju, but sadly, we had no view at the top.
We made it to the top!
Day 3: The west side brought with it the amazing seashell museum/gallery (this was my favourite place), a hilarious waterfall (road drainage), a chocolate museum, and finally, the beach! A cute setting, where the beach was quite private and you had to climb down the escarpment to get to it.
The artist not only displayed seashells, but she created art out of coral, bronze, and seashells.
This was the most spectacular gallery I've ever been to.
Three little mermaids
The world's greatest waterfall [*cough - road drainage*]
In Korea, there are so many distractions for drivers that appear not to be illegal, it's astonishing. If you stand on the street and watch drivers go by, over half of them will be on their cell phone. Talking, texting, watching videos, taking self portraits, checking their hair; you name it, I've seen it. In addition, many cars have GPS screens/screens for the camera on the back of their car that have satellite capabilities. So I've had taxi drivers who are watching TV while they are driving! It's insane.
This particular one made me very uncomfortable. My bus driver was texting while driving a huge bus with lots of people. He was swaying over the lines and approaching cars a little too close. It bothered me, but what could I do?? I don't know how to say 'Please put your cellphone away' in Korean, and while this action is apparently illegal, the police NEVER enforce it and if caught, the penalty is a $50 fine. THAT'S IT. So in a country where everyone and their dog have a cellphone, how does that teach anyone social responsibility?
It doesn't.
PS. After taking this picture, he heard the click of my camera and looked over his shoulder before putting the phone down. In Korea, all cellphones make the 'click' sound when taking a picture so that you cannot sneak a picture of someone (ie: everyone has the right to know a picture is being taken of them). Apparently that's how you get someone to stop texting and driving!
The trip that was months in the planning ended up being something a little more local than originally anticipated. My mom came to visit for her 50th birthday, and since JM and I had 5 days off (yes, Chuseok holiday fell right on my mom's birthday!) we had planned to do something exciting. Since 20 million people displace themselves from Seoul to get to the hometowns of their ancestors, traveling around this holiday is insanity. Think Christmas, times 100.
I had been fortunate enough to snag us some seats on the KTX to Busan, a coastal town with nice beaches, culture, and mountains to climb. It suited us as the perfect local place to go and get out of Cheonan. I also found a great online deal for the Novotel Ambassador hotel, right on Haeundae beach. We had ocean view rooms, king size beds, and gorgeous weather.
View from the rooms!
Thursday we relaxed on the beach. We wanted to have a bummy beach day, so we took a picnic with cheese, meat, crackers and fruit and lounged the afternoon away. The waves were so much fun to play in. They were huge and you didn't have to wait long to get knocked over and tons of sand in your bathing suit. Unfortunately, late in the season the ocean gets some "bugs" as Korean call them and they are a little picky, sort of like small jelly fish stings. Luckily, they didn't affect us too badly and we body surfed in the strong current.
Enjoying the waves!
Friday was my mom's birthday and she really wanted to go for a hike. So we woke up, ate cupcakes for breakfast (Sarah and I surprised my mom with cupcakes we baked before the train - we still don't know how she didn't smell them), and headed off to Jangsan, a mountain that was within walking distance from the hotel. We took the longest, most convoluted way to the top possible, but the hike was really pleasant. Not over crowded like most Korean mountains, or too steep, and there was a guy selling popsicles at the top! I've never been so happy to see a man with a melon popsicle.
Mom went for a morning walk on the beach
Sarah making cupcakes - well .. eating the batter
Sarah and JM - hula competition! This was in a small exercise park at the start of the hike.
Back stretch! We also had quite a few rock slides to climb over.
Popsicles at the top!
That night we went out for a Brazilian barbeque dinner, some Baskin Robbins ice cream, and to top it off, a norebang jam session. For those who don't know, norebang is the Korean karaoke. We rented a private room and had our choice of what songs to sing. I think my mom enjoyed her 50th celebration!
The things you can get your mom to do if you promise her ice cream ... he he.
Saturday was a bit of a bust. We went to a temple that was recommended on TripAdvisor as a must see, and sadly, it was not. Much too crowded and touristy, exactly the type of attraction I hate to be caught at as a claustrophobe. But we made up for it Sunday morning with another beach day and then some Busan culture in the afternoon. All in all, a great trip!
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