Despite having lived here for four years I do still have a list of places I'd like to see, or things I'd like to do, that I have not. Anyway on a cool Friday morning I thought I'd share them in no particular order:
Bosong Tea Fields
- Korea's largest tea fields in the southwest of the country. Apparently very beautiful in spring. Though nothing compared to the ones in China still worth a look.
Geomundo
- an island halfway between Jeju-do and the mainland. It was briefly colonized bu the British and a few graves are still there. It is also a cool, windswept island in the middle of nowhere.
Ulleungdo
- same idea as Geomundo. A volcanic island east of the mainland. Very scenic and very few people.
Jeonju
- Medium sized town with an old downtown core that has somehow survived both the Japanese period and the Korean War. Also a cool university town for a night out.
Nammireuksa
- Home to the largest Buddha statue in Korea but a real pain to get to.
Seoraksan
- Largest mountain on mainland South Korea and apparently a beautiful weekend hike, especially in the spring.
DMZ
- actually not sure about this one. On one hand it is a major tourist sight in Korea. At the same time it is a heavily fortified border keeping two nations apart. It seems like turning that in to armed Disneyland is a bit insensitive to say the least, but it is a piece of history. I'll probably do it, but I'm not sure.
Songdo
-Major trade centre near Incheon and home to the largest building in Korea. Could be a good day out.
Northeast coast
- The whole coast of Gangwon-do. I've never really explored it and i would like to at some point.
Gwangju
- It's the only major Korean city I haven't seen. Not that there is more than a day or two of things to see there.
Hallasan
- Largest mountain in Korea down on Jeju-do. A hike to the top gives you a view of a volcanic lake and the east China sea.
Anyway, i still have time, but I should do at least a few of these this year.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
What's New?
Not much to be honest.
I haven't written much because, since I got back from Seoul, life has been fairly quiet. My days consist of getting up, going to the gym, going to work and going home.
I have set my schedule in place for school after being put in a program I didn't want at first. All fixed now but stressful. I have had observations at work and I passed. Again stressful but easy.
Big news is that my Mom is planning a trip to Korea in early October, so that should be fun.
Otherwise I'm mostly looking forward to the upcoming World Baseball Classic and Opening day in the States and here in Korea. I also have the Philippines in April and school starting just before then.
Anyway, not very exciting but an update for people who I haven't caught up with recently.
I haven't written much because, since I got back from Seoul, life has been fairly quiet. My days consist of getting up, going to the gym, going to work and going home.
I have set my schedule in place for school after being put in a program I didn't want at first. All fixed now but stressful. I have had observations at work and I passed. Again stressful but easy.
Big news is that my Mom is planning a trip to Korea in early October, so that should be fun.
Otherwise I'm mostly looking forward to the upcoming World Baseball Classic and Opening day in the States and here in Korea. I also have the Philippines in April and school starting just before then.
Anyway, not very exciting but an update for people who I haven't caught up with recently.
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
My E-Reader. Books Are Now Obsolete
and I do love books.
But seriously, my new kindle paperwhite is here. Free literature and discount reading plus content available online. A thousand books fit on the thing, and it fits in my large jacket pocket. I have Gullliver's Travels and about twenty other books on their now and they were all free. Reading it feels just like a real book but while those books would take up two shelves on a bookcase they now fit in my hand. I've already sold most of my paper books. I will still keep a few things on paperback (travel guides and some old books I have) but I think i will end up converting 95% of them to e-books before long.
Okay, enough of an ad for the thing, but this is the sort of technology that makes me happy. I live a bit of a nomadic lifestyle, and the idea that I can now fit all my movies, music and books on two or three small devices that fit in a backpack is amazing. I think I can now fit everything I own in a suitcase, a large backpack and maybe a small one too.
There is also something very liberating about getting rid of stuff. Like it's just one less thing we need to be responsible for. Or in this case getting one small item and getting rid of dozens of big heavy ones.
Anyway, if you read much, an e-reader is the way to go.
But seriously, my new kindle paperwhite is here. Free literature and discount reading plus content available online. A thousand books fit on the thing, and it fits in my large jacket pocket. I have Gullliver's Travels and about twenty other books on their now and they were all free. Reading it feels just like a real book but while those books would take up two shelves on a bookcase they now fit in my hand. I've already sold most of my paper books. I will still keep a few things on paperback (travel guides and some old books I have) but I think i will end up converting 95% of them to e-books before long.
Okay, enough of an ad for the thing, but this is the sort of technology that makes me happy. I live a bit of a nomadic lifestyle, and the idea that I can now fit all my movies, music and books on two or three small devices that fit in a backpack is amazing. I think I can now fit everything I own in a suitcase, a large backpack and maybe a small one too.
There is also something very liberating about getting rid of stuff. Like it's just one less thing we need to be responsible for. Or in this case getting one small item and getting rid of dozens of big heavy ones.
Anyway, if you read much, an e-reader is the way to go.
Monday, February 18, 2013
Swapping Books
With my new e-reader on it's way my books have suddenly come to resemble my CD's collection in that category of things that technology has made obsolete. I know that many book lovers will scoff at that, but let's be honest, I can fit 1000 books in my pocket, your 1000 books take up a whole wall. With that in mind I took them down to Buy the Book, a used English book store that also offers trades. While my 10 books got me a mere 30000 won many of them were in poor condition and quite old. I traded them, and 10000 won for two lonely planet guides to the Philippines and India. Not that I plan to visit India anytime soon, but it is high on my "to do" list despite the fact that I know very little about it.
Guide books are also about the only books that I plan to keep hard copies of, despite the fact that internet research is more up to date and often free. Guide books usually offer maps, practical info and the information is, in most cases, not TOO out of date. I used my 2004 Hong Kong guide book in 2009 and all the info was still good except for some of the prices. Also, in some places I have been electricity is sketchy and having a hard copy of all of your info seems a good idea to me.
Buy the Book was also a cool little place. A bit too, shall I say "groovy" at times, with a vegetarian kitchen and reggae music playing the whole time, but a great place for getting English language books at reasonable prices and if you were so inclined to be a vegetarian probably a good option for you (actually the food looked really good).
On a final note, my Indian guide book had previously been owned by a girl who didn't feel the need to take all of her info out before selling it. I had credit card purchase numbers, her email and confirmation numbers on paper she had printed out for her Indian trip. A less honest person could have really taken advantage of that. Let that be a lesson..... on.... selling your old guide books.
Guide books are also about the only books that I plan to keep hard copies of, despite the fact that internet research is more up to date and often free. Guide books usually offer maps, practical info and the information is, in most cases, not TOO out of date. I used my 2004 Hong Kong guide book in 2009 and all the info was still good except for some of the prices. Also, in some places I have been electricity is sketchy and having a hard copy of all of your info seems a good idea to me.
Buy the Book was also a cool little place. A bit too, shall I say "groovy" at times, with a vegetarian kitchen and reggae music playing the whole time, but a great place for getting English language books at reasonable prices and if you were so inclined to be a vegetarian probably a good option for you (actually the food looked really good).
On a final note, my Indian guide book had previously been owned by a girl who didn't feel the need to take all of her info out before selling it. I had credit card purchase numbers, her email and confirmation numbers on paper she had printed out for her Indian trip. A less honest person could have really taken advantage of that. Let that be a lesson..... on.... selling your old guide books.
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
Ask the Indians About That
I was having a talk with an English friend the other night, and the issue of the queen came up. He said to me that he was surprised that Canada kept the queen because a country that is the best model of human rights in the world has this symbol of imperialism everywhere. While I think he is not totally wrong, I pointed out that Canada is not the centre of human rights and equality even with the queen gone. The reason, the Indians.
No let's just start with the obvious. Relations with the native people more or less started with us showing up at their house and telling them that we live their now. There was no justification for this but we had guns and smallpox and they didn't. Anyway we settled well and entered in to trading partnerships with them and things were okay. Then, around 1800, we decided we wanted the whole continent and that was that. In the U.S it was a full scale invasion and genocide. In Canada we were a bit more civil, herding them on to plots of land, signing agreements with regard to that land, then quietly forgetting about many of those obligations and leaving them to their own devices..... Except when we thought, "hey, Indians can't raise children well, lets put those children in the care of a bunch of pedophiles!" which we did, for around fifty years. This slightly abridged history leaves the Indians a forgotten group living in third world conditions in the middle of nowhere.
Now go to the 1960's when a few native groups are unhappy with this arrangement and start to complain, demanding that the federal government honour the treaties it signed.
By the way here is how it works. In a nutshell the Federal government allocated land to the natives which is their land, agreed to by treaty and law. Over the years the government has then purchased some of this land in exchange for services which have not since been rendered in many cases. The thing is, many of these demands are for crazy things like education, running water and heating in winter, something no white community has gone without since WWI. From the 1960's until today their demands have been met with mixed success.\
Now all of this I can deal with (as a middle class white guy) up to a certain point. Imperialism was the norm in 1800 and it's unreasonable to expect better behaviour from people at that time, but what about today? I think the reason that Canada is NOT an example of human rights is NOT the fact that this happened, but the fact that so many Canadians see the Indians as the problem (they shouldn't have dressed that way when Columbus showed up). I mean look at this awesome house we have, quit ruining it.
If Canadians were demanding, in force, something be done now it would be different. Like "fuck Afghanistan, we have people living like that in Manitoba!"..... but where are the charity drives, where is the urgent action? It is nowhere to be found.
This is because the attitude so many have is so outrageous.
-Well in the U.S and Australia they commmitted genocide, did you know that there is not a full blooded Tasmanian aboriginee left? True, Canada did not commit a genocide, but not committing genocide against a group does not constitute doing them a favour.
-They don't pay taxes on and that they own. Well, they got that in an agreement they negotiated. Shame on other Canadians for being such poor negotiators and voting like a bunch of apathetic idiots.
-Other groups assimilate, why can't they? Because they are not like any other group. Everyone else in Canada is there by choice, it's their responsibility to learn and adapt. The Indians are a completely different class of people who had Canada imposed upon them at gunpoint, at the expense of their culture and identity.
-They signed these reservation treaties, they can live with them. True but they were signed under duress. I mean the British/Canadian government were essentially Vito Corleone showing up and making them an offer they couldn't refuse. Despite that, they are not trying to get out of those treaties, they are just trying to balance them and have them honoured. Could you imagine if the Canadian government signed a treaty with Afghanistan and then said "uhh, actually no, we won't honour that." It would be front page news and there would be protests and court proceedings until the end of time. With the Indians? nope.
-They are drunks (seriously). Well if someone broke in to my home, stole all my stuff, sent my children off to get ass fucked by a priest and then told me to sit down and shut up and the police backed them, I would probably want a drink too.
Basically, the attitude by far too many is that, despite everything we know and understand to be right and wrong, the Indians are still the problem. That is akin to seeing women in Afghanistan as the problem instead of the Taliban. I'm not saying that all Canadians do, but I think the majority do lean that way and certainly the prime minister does.
No let's just start with the obvious. Relations with the native people more or less started with us showing up at their house and telling them that we live their now. There was no justification for this but we had guns and smallpox and they didn't. Anyway we settled well and entered in to trading partnerships with them and things were okay. Then, around 1800, we decided we wanted the whole continent and that was that. In the U.S it was a full scale invasion and genocide. In Canada we were a bit more civil, herding them on to plots of land, signing agreements with regard to that land, then quietly forgetting about many of those obligations and leaving them to their own devices..... Except when we thought, "hey, Indians can't raise children well, lets put those children in the care of a bunch of pedophiles!" which we did, for around fifty years. This slightly abridged history leaves the Indians a forgotten group living in third world conditions in the middle of nowhere.
Now go to the 1960's when a few native groups are unhappy with this arrangement and start to complain, demanding that the federal government honour the treaties it signed.
By the way here is how it works. In a nutshell the Federal government allocated land to the natives which is their land, agreed to by treaty and law. Over the years the government has then purchased some of this land in exchange for services which have not since been rendered in many cases. The thing is, many of these demands are for crazy things like education, running water and heating in winter, something no white community has gone without since WWI. From the 1960's until today their demands have been met with mixed success.\
Now all of this I can deal with (as a middle class white guy) up to a certain point. Imperialism was the norm in 1800 and it's unreasonable to expect better behaviour from people at that time, but what about today? I think the reason that Canada is NOT an example of human rights is NOT the fact that this happened, but the fact that so many Canadians see the Indians as the problem (they shouldn't have dressed that way when Columbus showed up). I mean look at this awesome house we have, quit ruining it.
If Canadians were demanding, in force, something be done now it would be different. Like "fuck Afghanistan, we have people living like that in Manitoba!"..... but where are the charity drives, where is the urgent action? It is nowhere to be found.
This is because the attitude so many have is so outrageous.
-Well in the U.S and Australia they commmitted genocide, did you know that there is not a full blooded Tasmanian aboriginee left? True, Canada did not commit a genocide, but not committing genocide against a group does not constitute doing them a favour.
-They don't pay taxes on and that they own. Well, they got that in an agreement they negotiated. Shame on other Canadians for being such poor negotiators and voting like a bunch of apathetic idiots.
-Other groups assimilate, why can't they? Because they are not like any other group. Everyone else in Canada is there by choice, it's their responsibility to learn and adapt. The Indians are a completely different class of people who had Canada imposed upon them at gunpoint, at the expense of their culture and identity.
-They signed these reservation treaties, they can live with them. True but they were signed under duress. I mean the British/Canadian government were essentially Vito Corleone showing up and making them an offer they couldn't refuse. Despite that, they are not trying to get out of those treaties, they are just trying to balance them and have them honoured. Could you imagine if the Canadian government signed a treaty with Afghanistan and then said "uhh, actually no, we won't honour that." It would be front page news and there would be protests and court proceedings until the end of time. With the Indians? nope.
-They are drunks (seriously). Well if someone broke in to my home, stole all my stuff, sent my children off to get ass fucked by a priest and then told me to sit down and shut up and the police backed them, I would probably want a drink too.
Basically, the attitude by far too many is that, despite everything we know and understand to be right and wrong, the Indians are still the problem. That is akin to seeing women in Afghanistan as the problem instead of the Taliban. I'm not saying that all Canadians do, but I think the majority do lean that way and certainly the prime minister does.
Changes to Philippine Trip
One of the big things Mike and I did on Monday was re schedule our Philippine trip. With six days and third world travel schedules it was becoming apparent that we were trying to fit too much in and were going to end up spending half the trip in a bus.
What we opted for was three days in Banaue (two nights) and to cut the north coast of Luzon.
So now the tenative plan is to get to Manila Saturday morning. have the weekend there and take an overnight bus out to Banaue on Sunday night. We will then have two nights there before going back to Manila either via Vigan or the beaches on Manila Bay.
No matter what it will be fun, I just wish we had a month :)
What we opted for was three days in Banaue (two nights) and to cut the north coast of Luzon.
So now the tenative plan is to get to Manila Saturday morning. have the weekend there and take an overnight bus out to Banaue on Sunday night. We will then have two nights there before going back to Manila either via Vigan or the beaches on Manila Bay.
No matter what it will be fun, I just wish we had a month :)
Seoulnal
Well being as last Saturday was my birthday I decided to head up to Seoul to see a few friends, celebrate and enjoy a weekend out of Daegu. I got up Saturday and took the now familiar KTX trip to Seoul, to Haengshin station exactly, and a cab to Mike's place. We then went out to see the local basketball team place another Seoul team. When we got there we found out they were having a "foreigners get in free" promotion. It's an only in Korea one but they were good seats and I had fun, even though we lost by 4.
Then it was downtown meet Bobby, Ange, Chris, Kris and others at Craftworks, Seoul's best microbewery. The best part is that it is non-smoking. Some good food and beer and we were back in Goyang in good shape for the next day.
The next day Mike and I met Chris and Ange in Ilsan and basically hung out at batting cages, board game rooms and whatever else we could find. Bobby joined us and we went out for dinner. It was absolutely freezing in Seoul so I did a bit less sightseeing than I had planned, but it was a blast.
Monday was a quiet day in Ilsan and home early enough to do a laundry and get ready for the week.
A great 31st birthday.
Then it was downtown meet Bobby, Ange, Chris, Kris and others at Craftworks, Seoul's best microbewery. The best part is that it is non-smoking. Some good food and beer and we were back in Goyang in good shape for the next day.
The next day Mike and I met Chris and Ange in Ilsan and basically hung out at batting cages, board game rooms and whatever else we could find. Bobby joined us and we went out for dinner. It was absolutely freezing in Seoul so I did a bit less sightseeing than I had planned, but it was a blast.
Monday was a quiet day in Ilsan and home early enough to do a laundry and get ready for the week.
A great 31st birthday.
Monday, February 4, 2013
Philippines Booked
Well I'm using my week off in April/May for good things.
Mike and I are taking off Saturday, April 27th for six days on Luzon, going from Manila to Banaue to the north coast.
I am very excited as I have never been to the Philippines before. It's also fairly evenly split, with two days in Manila, two in the mountains and two on a beach.
I'm starting to save now as April will involve my first grad school payment and this trip, but with out $250 return tickets this trip is hardly a painful one financially.
To be honest, the Philippines was a last minute decision. Mike called me the Friday before last and said he had four days off (Mon-Thurs) and wondered what I was doing. I quickly booked that week off and we started looking for airfares. before I even got home he had found Incheon to Manila on Cebu Pacific so on Friday when I got to his place we booked the whole thing.
Anyway, we will get back in a 6am and Mike has to work at 3. I'll probably stay with him or Kris on Friday and come down Saturday afternoon to clean up and relax.
I am excited to have something big to look forward to.
Mike and I are taking off Saturday, April 27th for six days on Luzon, going from Manila to Banaue to the north coast.
I am very excited as I have never been to the Philippines before. It's also fairly evenly split, with two days in Manila, two in the mountains and two on a beach.
I'm starting to save now as April will involve my first grad school payment and this trip, but with out $250 return tickets this trip is hardly a painful one financially.
To be honest, the Philippines was a last minute decision. Mike called me the Friday before last and said he had four days off (Mon-Thurs) and wondered what I was doing. I quickly booked that week off and we started looking for airfares. before I even got home he had found Incheon to Manila on Cebu Pacific so on Friday when I got to his place we booked the whole thing.
Anyway, we will get back in a 6am and Mike has to work at 3. I'll probably stay with him or Kris on Friday and come down Saturday afternoon to clean up and relax.
I am excited to have something big to look forward to.
Korean Income Tax Set to Rise
to 18.7% (from around 11% now).
Not a massive increase and still far less than in most western countries, but enough to make Korea less profitable or, to put it another way, to make somewhere like Taiwan or Japan not feel like such a loss.
I will have to wait until my next paycheque to see how bad it really is, but it just seems like yet another push to get me from Korea to another country. As I have said before my school will determine most of my decisions for 2013 but it has really got me thinking more about Taiwan.
Not a massive increase and still far less than in most western countries, but enough to make Korea less profitable or, to put it another way, to make somewhere like Taiwan or Japan not feel like such a loss.
I will have to wait until my next paycheque to see how bad it really is, but it just seems like yet another push to get me from Korea to another country. As I have said before my school will determine most of my decisions for 2013 but it has really got me thinking more about Taiwan.
Incheon Weekend
Last weekend was Kris' birthday so he, Mike and I opted to visit Incheon to see the pier and Chinatown. I had been twice previously but, except for the airport and some island hopping, they hadn't.
It was a lot of fun though way too cold. I love Incheon but I don't think I'll go back before May or June.
We hit the Chinatown for lunch and Wolmido pier for the afternoon followed by Bupyeon at night (that area of Incheon I had never been to).
Anyway, a few pics:
It was a lot of fun though way too cold. I love Incheon but I don't think I'll go back before May or June.
We hit the Chinatown for lunch and Wolmido pier for the afternoon followed by Bupyeon at night (that area of Incheon I had never been to).
Anyway, a few pics:
Giant Nicholas Cage
I mean fifty foot Cage
Chinatown back alley
the tallest building in Korea..... from a distance
Kris enjoying a Chinese lunch
Wolmido
Muuido from the mainland
(it's where the airport is)
Anyway, a great weekend that I hope will be repeated in the summer time.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)