Tea for Two and Two for Tea...

Yesterday I went on a trip to a green tea farm with some co-workers. Our boss decided to be nice to us by offering one of the work buses and a driver to us for two trips of our choice around the area. I had wanted to go to the tea farm for a while so I jumped at the chance to go, despite having to get up at 9am on my day off. It takes about an hour and a half to get to Boseong from Gwangju but it was a pleasant trip as the massive bus only had about 10 of us in it. The farm was small but very picturesque. The tea grows on the mountainside in long rows of bushes that are a very rich green colour this season. We didn't need much time there to get the idea but still it was a good experience. The strange thing to me though was the burial mounds within the plantation. The thought of tea growing in close proximity to dead bodies seems odd to me, even though it is inevitable everywhere. We also went to the beach area as well which is dreadful this time of year, not to mention very cold. We also went for lunch at a Korean restaurant that serves green tea-fed pork. Everything in Boseong is made from green tea. Hope you enjoy the pics as much as I do.

Will Teach For Food...

I was delighted to discover yesterday that the astronomical price of broccoli in South Korea has gone down. Hooray. It used to cost $4 for a head of broccoli half the size of one in Canada. Now, my favourite vegetable only costs about $2 for the same amount. I'm goin' to be green with energy while this wonder of a veg is in season. I hope you Canadians know how lucky you are. Koreans seem to consider mass quantities of vile radish, various indescribable grasses (probably snipped from the lawn out back) and bizarre looking "twigs" to be vegetables. It's a bleeding shame, I say.

I went to Mokpo yesterday on my "vacation" day from work. My school seems to consider a day off due to scheduling conflicts to be a "vacation" day for us...even though it's a Thursday. If you ask anyone about Mokpo they will tell you that there's nothing there and it's the place you go to when you want to catch the ferry to Jeju-do (Honeymooner Island). We went up a small mountain and saw many pagodas and "bauis" (rocks) along the way. It was scenic but very frustrating as our maps were second-rate and basically lied to us. Then we went to the "beach" which was literally (LITERALLY) 20 metres of sand in the middle of a wharf. It was so bad it's comical. I'll post the pics as soon as I get them. I still have to get a cable so that I an charge my new camera. sigh.

Gyeongju, South Korea

In September I had one of the best weekends that I've had since being in Korea. I went to Gyeongju in the North East of South Korea. Gyeongju was the seat of the ancient Silla dynasty in Korea. The town is a haven for tourists who are both western and Korean. It was the first town that I've been to in Korea that really felt like a touist attraction and somewhere that had been planned or at least groomed in a thoughtful manner. Even the gas stations there have rooves that look like ancient temples. The town is quaint and wonderful for renting a bike or strolling down the boardwalk through the lilies. There are lots of ancient tombs that basically look like giant grassy hills and there is one that touists can walk right into. You can take a carriage ride around the area or decide to shop in the bustling downtown area. The town had the perfect mix of old and new to me and it was a lovely change of pace from the aesthetic monotony of Gwangju or Seoul.

Hong Kong Diaries Continued...

For the sake of consistency I have kept my blogging to a bare minimum this month. Chuseok vacation was about three weeks ago and I still haven't properly uploaded pictures---although I have tried on a few occasions only to be slighted by the internet gods. Anyhoo, Hong Kong was quite the trip full of the usual highs and lows. The flight there was amazing with champagne and lamb and comfy seats. We decided to buy an "Airport Express" card for the subways which lets you take this brilliant subway from right in the airport all the way to the main area (Causeway Bay) round trip as well as three days unlimited use of the subways. We had a pretty hard time finding our hostel (as expected) and I personally had a bit of a fit when I finally saw it. It wasn't all that bad really but at first it was a total drop in luxury from the business class flight and I had a wee twinge of a freakout. Then the walking began but luckily I packed many back patches for this trip so that I could keep walking!

Hong Kong is an extremely busy city. Even the escalators and elevators move faster there! It is overflowing with ex-pats which means it is also full of amazing food and wonderful shopping. I ate tons of western food and basked in the glory of everything western that I could find. I also had a blast in the grocery stores---including a gourmet one in Kowloon (mainland China) where I got salami from a deli counter (unheard of in Korea) and ate it with fresh cheese and bread! (You have NO idea how amazing that is after living here for almost 8 months!).

We also went to Lantau Island to see the "Big Buddha" and went to a temple and a street of antiques on Hong Kong Island. We took a tram up to the top of Victoria Peak to look down over all of Hong Kong which was spectacular except that it POURED with rain and we couldn't really take pictures and had to stand in the downpour for at least an hour waiting to get back down!

I went shopping in Kownloon and bought some shoes and a Roots yoga sweater for 50% off! I was so happy to see the Canadian label and doubly happy to get a discount. (ga-ka juseyo as they say in Korean "give me a discount!"). The sad thing is that with age I am turning more and more into my brother Mike and left the sweater in the taxi when I got back to Gwangju at 4am before work at 7am. boo.

There was also a lantern festival going in which didn't turn out to be amazing to me. We had a hard time getting to see the major "fire dance" and only saw the remnants of the smoking incense. We also walked and looked at the "Avenue of Stars" and saw a statue for Bruce Lee. The lanterns around the Avenue were second-rate at best.

Overall, Hong Kong was a cool place to see---great if you're skiddish about heading to Asia from North America for the first time. A great experience but I never really have to go there again unless I'm really rich and want a shopping vacation! I'll try to post more pics to my flickr account soon.