Highlights of my vacation... Sunday, August 6 to Sunday, August 13

1. Sunday night at 10:30pm Ryan and I started our adventure down to Jeju Island. I took a 4hr train ride down to Mokpo where we met up (Ryan drove his scooter down so we’d have it on the island), killed time, and then took the 9am ferry over to the island. Finally at our beautiful hotel on Jeju Island at 2pm on Monday.
2. Despite my desire to be the best beach bum possible, we went on various sightseeing adventures. My favorite was both the huge garden maze and the massive waterfall. Initially I didn’t want to use the maze map but it was so hot and we were lost in this massive garden. Had many laughs as we past other confused lost people!
3. Froze our butts off as we adventured into this underground cave as a part of our sightseeing tour of Jeju. The cave was pretty cool but too cold… the chocolate museum on the other hand… NO comment. It just sucked!
4. Our days consisted of sightseeing in the morning, swimming all afternoon and then eating out and being lazy in the evenings… it was great. One problem though… total lack of gas stations made added some interest as we flew around on the scooter on an empty tank… more than a couple of times.
5. Most “interesting” part of the trip was definitely when I thought I’d wonder off on my own. I ended up getting lost, walking two hours, getting roasted in the sun and then hitchhiking it back to the hotel. Much thanks to the last car that picked me up… a father, a mother and a 12 year-old girl (Korean) who were so eager to help me and definitely loved the fact that I am a foreigner.
6. Went to some miniature village that has replicas of some of the world’s most famous buildings, smaller versions of course. I saw London, I saw France, I saw…. NO CANADA! Wasn’t impressed and so I tried to play the role of the “ticked off customer”… too funny though. Got to meet Louis Armstrong and Marilyn Monroe though. Ha, ha, ha.
7. Our original room where we stayed for 4 out of the 5 nights was BEAUTIFUL! Standing on the balcony we could see the ocean staring back at us.
8. Considering eating the local food meant eating fish, fish, and more fish, we thought we’d eat at the hotel… big mistake. The centennial breakfast consisted of different breads; the American breakfast consisted of uncooked bacon and was so overpriced! We went in search of some more westernized food and ended up at the airport and out of luck. Finally allowed Ryan to take me out for fish. I chewed on the bones and picked off the skin. It turned my stomach at first so I closed my eyes and ate it. Not bad actually.
9. It was definitely interesting to note the various differences between mainland Korea and Jeju Island, Korea. Jeju seems like it’s own little world, so uninhibited by mainstream culture (like Nike stores, McDonalds). Unlike mainland Korea, they have rock fences, palm trees and I didn’t see any rice fields. Instead, I saw orange tree farms everywhere.
10. Definitely was entertained at the local beach fair even though we only went on two rides. It’s definitely a Korea thing… the ride conductors yelling out funny comments at the riders that is. SOOOO funny! We sat there giggling at them all. On one ride the dude was clearly picking on the chicks and so the poor girls were falling out of their seats and looked so foolish. We went on this huge swinging boat ride and our ride conductor told us his sad story about how he’s here cause his girlfriend broke up with him and so he wishes us the best of luck… thanks. Good times.

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Do I have to go back?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
You're a reptile!
-- Yoonbeer