Weekend Report
The weekend started off nicely, with my friend Erik arriving from Busan. Although he left on Saturday evening, we were still able to do quite a lot. (Right... Erik is an engineer not a teacher, so he works more. And sometimes even on Sundays.)
Friday night, we went first to Big Dave's to wish him a happy birthday. From there, we went to ... Julianna's (of course). We decided not to stay out too late, since the rains had let up and we were hoping to go on a bit of a hike on Saturday. Although we would have liked to have gone to Songwangsa, I wasn't completely sure how to get there by car. Armed with a map that doesn't show most of the roads and directional signs in Korean, we made it to Seonamsa, a different, smaller temple. I do love Seonamsa, though. It's not as flash or big as Songwangsa, but is nice nonetheless. From there, we headed back to Suncheon for lunch (extremely spicy bibimbap!) and then on to Suncheon Bay. A couple of u-turns later, we found ourselves walking on a raised boardwalk snaking through a field of reeds. There were hundreds of crabs running around under us, and some were even being "harvested" by the Koreans. Hoping for a nice view, we walked up a trail, even though the humidity was rising (sheer torture for a Norwegian and a Canadian!), and were a bit disappointed that, once we'd reached the top, there was nothing to see except the trees around us (too bad, it would have been a bit of a reward). It was still an awesome walk, really beautiful and definitely worth a second visit.
In an "Only in Korea" moment, we got free cookies from the Cappuccino lady. I think she deserves her own post, seeing as she gives me free cookies, kiwi shakes, onion juice (ugh), extra espresso shots etc...
After Erik went back to Busan, I went back over to Big Dave's, where we sang quite loudly to Doug's, Helen's and Matt's guitars before heading over to Julianna's (hmmm, maybe I need a new hobby) to watch the most amazing World Cup match ever - Sweden vs Germany. For those of you who are keeping track, Korea is no longer a contender, having lost to Switzerland... anyway.... the Sweden vs Germany match featured some of the most gorgeous footballers ever who sometimes took off their shirts... I think I annoyed Matt a bit by pointing this out every 3 seconds or so.
And speaking of new hobbies: I've decided to buy a guitar and learn to play AND finally learn the fine art of chess AND learn Chinese. Maybe I should work on my Korean a bit more too. I'm understanding more and more every day, but still need to work on it.
Finally, it was great to have so many comments on the post where I announced my trip to Beijing. Be sure to check out Myrianne's and Frederic's blog (new link) where they will be posting information about their trip around the world... The site is in French, but the itinerary is pretty clear. And, let me give a shout out to the total strangers who are reading my blog and sending me e-mails to tell me that they are enjoying it!
Friday night, we went first to Big Dave's to wish him a happy birthday. From there, we went to ... Julianna's (of course). We decided not to stay out too late, since the rains had let up and we were hoping to go on a bit of a hike on Saturday. Although we would have liked to have gone to Songwangsa, I wasn't completely sure how to get there by car. Armed with a map that doesn't show most of the roads and directional signs in Korean, we made it to Seonamsa, a different, smaller temple. I do love Seonamsa, though. It's not as flash or big as Songwangsa, but is nice nonetheless. From there, we headed back to Suncheon for lunch (extremely spicy bibimbap!) and then on to Suncheon Bay. A couple of u-turns later, we found ourselves walking on a raised boardwalk snaking through a field of reeds. There were hundreds of crabs running around under us, and some were even being "harvested" by the Koreans. Hoping for a nice view, we walked up a trail, even though the humidity was rising (sheer torture for a Norwegian and a Canadian!), and were a bit disappointed that, once we'd reached the top, there was nothing to see except the trees around us (too bad, it would have been a bit of a reward). It was still an awesome walk, really beautiful and definitely worth a second visit.
In an "Only in Korea" moment, we got free cookies from the Cappuccino lady. I think she deserves her own post, seeing as she gives me free cookies, kiwi shakes, onion juice (ugh), extra espresso shots etc...
After Erik went back to Busan, I went back over to Big Dave's, where we sang quite loudly to Doug's, Helen's and Matt's guitars before heading over to Julianna's (hmmm, maybe I need a new hobby) to watch the most amazing World Cup match ever - Sweden vs Germany. For those of you who are keeping track, Korea is no longer a contender, having lost to Switzerland... anyway.... the Sweden vs Germany match featured some of the most gorgeous footballers ever who sometimes took off their shirts... I think I annoyed Matt a bit by pointing this out every 3 seconds or so.
And speaking of new hobbies: I've decided to buy a guitar and learn to play AND finally learn the fine art of chess AND learn Chinese. Maybe I should work on my Korean a bit more too. I'm understanding more and more every day, but still need to work on it.
Finally, it was great to have so many comments on the post where I announced my trip to Beijing. Be sure to check out Myrianne's and Frederic's blog (new link) where they will be posting information about their trip around the world... The site is in French, but the itinerary is pretty clear. And, let me give a shout out to the total strangers who are reading my blog and sending me e-mails to tell me that they are enjoying it!
posted by Ms Parker at
5:59 PM
8 Comments:
Don't buy a guitar-- I'll give you mine! There's no way that bringing it back to Canada will be a good idea for me. Buying it seemed like a good idea at the time, but I never got (and won't get) my ambition off the ground. I wish you more luck than I had! If I ever want to get a cheap gueetar in future, I'll just have to take another trip to Thailand...... ;)
By
Jen @ Light Enough to Travel, at 7:19 PM
Hi Its MOM Well after all these years maybe your piano lessons will have paid off & I hope you excel in the guitar as well as you did in piano. Will you be singing along? EEEEK! Love MOM
By
Anonymous, at 9:46 PM
Thanks Jen! I was afraid of making such a commitment too - and I probably won't get very far with it.... or maybe I will.
I will NOT sing along. Don't worry, Mom!
By
Ms Parker, at 7:05 AM
with Jens guitar you can sit onyour balcony strumming late at night and it will be like breakfast at tiffanys.
By
Anonymous, at 2:42 PM
Nice. Sweet post. Sounds like a rammy-jamma weekend. We'll give you the details if we are coming to Suncheon this weekend for the Celebration of Canada! If we do, it will certainly be by train...less of a barf factor!
By
Brent, at 4:36 PM
my huckleberry friend... something something something... mooooooon riverrrrrr la, lalala laaaaaa
By
Jen @ Light Enough to Travel, at 6:02 PM
Jennifer? Are you speaking in tongues?
Yes... Brent and Stephanie MUST come to Suncheon again! And then... I MUST go to Mokpo (I'll try to wedge it into my schedule of trips to China, Malaysia, learning guitar....)
By
Ms Parker, at 6:21 PM
No, just doing a bad Audrey Hepburn impersonation...
By
Jen @ Light Enough to Travel, at 9:47 PM
Post a Comment
<< Home