Kimchi Chronicles
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The Brown Lazers – a review | Gwangju Blog
Blog! Long time no see! What have we been up to, you ask?
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What did the expat teacher say to the kid who got homesick on the first day?
Working at the English Immersion Camp (EIC) was one of the best teaching experiences of my life. I can honestly say that I loved each of these sixteen-year-old boys. This was such an amazing opportunity to get inside the heads of kids I’ve been teaching for over nineteen months. Korea, you gotta stop breakin’ my heart! It’s gonna be so hard to leave in August.
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Geoje Island
거제도
A POW camp, pebble beeches, a botanical garden and the first cherry blossoms of the season! Thanks to Pedro Kim for leading an amazing weekend getaway. We never could have seen and done so much on our own. Our camera’s memory card burned out on this trip so this set is uploaded from our LG phones.
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Kota BharuAfter traveling across the country by land, we couldn’t sit in another van so we booked a flight back to Kuala Lumpur via this awesome city. We had no idea what to expect, but we were definitely impressed. We arrived in the pouring rain, dressed head to toe in plastic bags provided to help us withstand the boat trip from the islands. After searching for some time, we found the sleeping owner of Dinai Lodge. From that point on it was a non-stop foodies tour around the city. Well, we did stop once to explore a war museum, the former city headquarters of Kempeitai, the Japanese secret police. Other than that, we were all over night market hawker stalls, a Thai food festival (what luck!) and Central Market. Everywhere we looked there were delicious, exotic and incredibly cheap curries, coconuts, pastries, and fish heads, too! It was the perfect way to end a trip and induce a food coma to last the plane ride.
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Perhentian Islands
We had no idea how dramatically different this Malaysian hot spot would be at the very end of the off season. The place was a ghost town, or should I say monkey town, especially once the rain started. Adam and I were couldn’t have been more content. We walked along our private mile of beach each morning for a private swim. Then enjoyed our private deck for some serious reading, board gaming, and general relaxation. Our only compliant was the price and quality of food which we had to understand given the demand. The “beer lady” who was the only vendor of alcohol in walking distance, happened to have her shop set up right next to the reservation desk of our bungalow. The Reef Chalets were rustic, but fit our camping mood very well. -
Taman Negara
The only thing I would change about our Malaysian adventure is to spend more time in the world’s oldest rain forest. Untouched by the Ice Ages, this 130 million-year-old jungle boasts the opportunity to venture into virgin territory if you have about a month and a good guide.We went the lighter route by spending the first day traveling to one of the park’s gates by river boat. We spent the next morning weaving through guided tour groups and the afternoon trying to get thoroughly lost. We almost succeeded and found ourselves completely alone, at as far as other humans go. In actuality, the rain forest turned out to be a very busy, noisy place when we stopped to consider all the wildlife around us.The Tahan Guesthouse was pretty charming, especially the host who kept giggling and apologizing for the “local toilets”. Waking each morning to the birds and a call to prayer from the neighboring mosque made up for all the squatting we had to do with our sore hiking legs. -
Kuala Lumpur
KL gets a pretty bad rap which I can’t really say it deserves or not. What I can say is I’d wag my finger at anyone who thinks they’ve seen Malaysia without leaving this city. I can also say that Chinatown and its neighbor, Little India, are worth a day of exploration if you’re using the city as a springboard for the hundreds of other adventures Malaysia has to offer. HOT TIP: Try Lonely Planet’s walking tour of Chinatown to hit a Buddhist temple, a few mosques and a Hindu temple in a couple of amazing hours. You won’t have to look far for diversity here. -
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새해 복 많이 받으세요!
Happy New Year!
Although we spent Lunar New Year in true foreigner fashion, seeking out the few open restaurants and bowling alleys (even a little McDelivery), I came home to a very nice surprise today. Adam’s co-teacher, Mrs. Yoon had prepared a picnic of leftovers for us to share. Her package included homemade 떡국 rice cake soup pictured heating in our slow cooker and fried 야채. The slices of white rice cake in the soup look like coins and symbolize prosperity as well as longevity. They are cut from a long, thick rope of rice cake. The longer the cake, the more years you will live to see. Welcome, Year of the Snake!
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경주
Gyeongju
Gyeongju is the most historical city one can visit in Korea. It’s also, in my opinion, the most quintessentially Korean. Apparently, some of the people there hold on to their heritage by making this city one of the least foreigner-friendly tourist destinations in Asia. I wasn’t sure if my Korean was getting that much better or if enough foreign tourists visit Gyeongju to make “안녕하세요?” sound impressive. I’m optimistic about the former, because Adam and I were the only foreigners we saw for the entire day. It was mostly nice, but a little awkward when we walked in on a group of students practicing English with the electronic audio guide in Wolseong Park.
I should admit I arrived in Gyeongju feeling a bit skeptical. I’d heard from both Korean and foreign friends that it was on the boring side. Since the first bus from Gwangju left a 9:45, it was past my afternoon feeding time when we arrived at the country style bus terminal. Maybe it was my stomach talking, but the first thing I noticed were the dozens of경주빵stores lining the street. Why is bread so popular here? I still have no idea. After filling up on some sub-par금탕while listening to the restaurant staff wonder at our mysterious ability to order soup, I was ready to head into Busan, but I’m extremely glad I didn’t.
The tumuli, burial mounds, of Gyeongju are really nothing short of amazing, even in the winter covered in dead grass. Those at Daereongwon Park are the most impressive. There is even a mound you can enter which has been cross-sectioned so one can see the coffin, relics, and layers of stone reaching over 12 meters, one of the smaller mounds. After meandering through this park and snapping some photos with some admirers (huh?) we went looking for Cheomseongdae. This is the oldest astrological observatory in East Asia and the Eiffel Tower of Gyeongju.
Cheomseongdae is on the grounds of a Silla Dynasty palace, which was never rebuilt. The only other remaining structure is the ice cellar. After peaking into this ironic highlight, we decided the weather was telling us to get inside of a museum. The Gyeongju National Museum is one of the best in Korea and is also completely free to the public. Inside I saw some of the oldest artifacts I’ve ever laid my eyes on as well as some beautifully preserved and well-guarded royal jewelry.
When all was said and done and I had a belly full of homemade makgeolli and panjeon, I would recommend Gyeongju to every foreign expat living in Korea. I think it may be too inaccessible to the average week-long tourist, but it does make an adventurous day trip from Busan. Buses between these two cities cost around $4 each way, so you have nothing to lose!
