Epic Fail

Well, well, well...I totally effed up real bad.  I haven't written about my vacation with Cathy, Hedy and Alex in Yangshuo yet, and now I'm on vacation again!  Right now, I'm in Bangkok doing some training in Muay Thai with Kru Suphan again.  To top it all off, not only did I miss posting about Yangshuo, I went to Nanjing and Shanghai in November.  Lots of stuff has happened at the school too.  I'll have lots of time to blog once I'm in Seoul, so maybe that's when I'll actually sit down and write.

Gangnam Style!

On the way back to Wuhan for this current school year, I stopped through my favorite city in all Asia: Seoul.  I haven't been to Taipei yet (which is my new course heading come January 2013), but I'm going to call it now: Seoul is better, even during rainy season.  To my friend who disagrees (you know who you are), sorry, but Seoul is much cooler than whatever Asian city you think is cooler.  If you want to know why I love Seoul so much, perhaps you and your boyfriend can meet me and Cathy there one day?  Just a thought.

My last meal in North America. Fitting that it 
included some Boston Lager.

This time around, my friend Sue had a cleared up schedule, so her and I hung out quite a bit.  Seoul is such an awesome city, and what better than to have an old friend show you the sights?  I also rented an iPhone 4S just for shits and giggles, yet it proved to be invaluable.  I came to love the iPhone quite a bit, but just the other day (it's now Halloween 2012) I became a traitor and purchased a Samsung Galaxy SIII.  I have to say, I love them both.  However, Cathy got a Galaxy SIII.  My colleagues Clara and Meighan put pressure on me to get one.  Sue swears by it.  Heck, her fiancee Kwangseok works for Samsung!

Checking out the urban art near Naksan Park

Upon arrival, awesome times ensued.   I went to check out the urban artwork around Naksan Park, hang out in jjimjibang, and visited the eerie Seodaemun Prison. I also had my fill of coffee and donuts during the days I got rained out since China is devoid of good donut shops.  Unfortunately for me, there were quite a few of those days since Seoul experienced a ridiculous amount of rainfall while I was there.

In no particular order, let's start with my walk around Naksan Park.  Quaint little area, filled with urban artwork that's either really pretty or worn and neglected.  Cathy was curious about that neighborhood  and since she couldn't meet me in Seoul, I went to check it out for her.  It proved to be a very photogenic area!  I was stuck at the top of Naksan Park due to heavy rain, but had a broken conversation with a Chinese tourist.

Artwork around the Naksan Park area.

The outside of Seodaemun Prison

I went to Seodaemun Prison on my last full day in Seoul.  I tried to visit it before, but it was closed during my first visit.  This time, I got in, and holy s**t was it worth my time.  I seemed to have forgotten that the Japanese didn't just mistreat Chinese during Imperial Japan, but they committed atrocities to everyone else they invaded as well.  Korea was no exception.

Seodaemun Prison was built as a prison for political prisoners during the Japanese occupation.  Needless to say, a lot of atrocities and deaths occurred at this prison.  It was well used by the Japanese as well as the military government immediately after WWII and the Korean War.  Many patriots of Korea met their deaths here, often in brutal and agonizing ways.

The interrogation room.  Many Korean patriots spent their
last few hours of life being psychologically tortured
by Japanese agents.

Some of the models and artifacts in the prison were pretty graphic.  There was one that had a Japanese torturer drowning a bloodied up Korean prisoner hanging upside down.  Another display had torturing devices - everything from torturing racks to small closets that the Japanese put Koreans into for days. You might not think that one so bad, but these closets were specifically designed so that the occupant could not properly stand, sit, or lie down.  The occupant would be in an awkward position for days.

The one thing that really got to me was that some prison guards would simply beat people to death if they felt like it.  Seriously, I'd rather get shot.  It's a lot quicker and cleaner.  Why the hell would someone beat another person to death with a club when they're already arrested?  In such cases, an attacker has to continue hitting a victim who is not resisting to actually kill him or her.  Knowing that happened in Seodaemun prison made me sick. Other torturing methods included burning and sticking things up private parts, hammering nails between fingernails, and putting prisoners onto a spiked "dog house."

A torturing device used by the Japanese.

Some prisoners of Seodaemun Prison.

It's easy to forget that South Korea has been burdened with atrocity and war in its recent history.  I wanted to go to this prison so I would not forget that ugly part of history.  It proved to be the right thing to do.

Mugunghwa, South Korea's national flower.

I did other things in Seoul too.  Aside from going to jjimjibang, I took a trip to the Trickeye museum, which proved to be really entertaining.  I hung out with a new friend who I met in Boston the month prior to returning to Asia. She happened to be going to Seoul around the same time I was going, so we hung out at Lotte World and around Garosugil in Gangnam.  After my little episode in Vancouver with a .357 Magnum, I really wanted to go shooting again.  Apparently there was a shooting range in Lotte World Mall, and both of were pretty excited about the prospect of firing lead downrange, but it was closed down.  We went ice skating instead.  My traveling tradition of drinking Guinness was fulfilled after we had burgers.

The Trickeye Museum

At a burger joint with a my new friend Jiso.

After burgers, we washed 'em down with rounds of  Guinness on
Garosugil  in  Gangnam.  Silliness ensued.

My home stay.  The sweet old lady that ran the place reminded me a lot of Sue. 
She was well-traveled, spoke English, and smiled a lot.

The view from my homestay.  I stayed near Korea University.

Some members from one of Cathy's favorite bands, TVXQ.

Hanging out with Sue on Sejongno.  Before that, I sat in a
jjimjibang for about 3 hours.  Totally worth going, even in
the middle of summer.

Apart from the really great shopping around Seoul, I also enjoyed having conversations with my new home stay host.  My last home stay in Seoul was unavailable, so I chose another location near Korea University.  It was really nice, and the mother was such an awesome cook.  She fed me huge homemade breakfasts!  Half the time I didn't have to eat lunch because breakfast was so filling.  I guess she was used to cooking that way because she raised two sons.  She also spoke English and was well-traveled across North America, much like my friend Sue.

Like I said earlier, Sue had her schedule all cleared up by the time I arrived, so we hung out a lot.  I showed her around Vancouver twice, so she showed me around Seoul twice.  Fair deal.  Visits with Sue usually circle around food.  The first choice was easy: Korean barbecue with her fiancee Kwangseok.  Unfortunately, Kwangseok's schedule at Samsung is so busy, he couldn't join us on adventure during weekdays.    And so it was up to Sue and I to go on a crusade across Seoul to eat delicious food.

Korean BBQ at its best - dining with Kwangseok and Sue!

Samgyetang. It resembles Cantonese juk 
and Filipino arroz caldo, but with  ginseng.

Sue making me try some radish kimchi at the Samgyetang
restaurant. 

Nomnomnom!! Tteokbokki!  Definitely one of my favorites.

After a hard day of duty free shopping, Sue and I relaxed 
in a ye olde Korean bakery.

A neat place in Insadong. You can write messages and post
them anywhere you want.

My "lunchbox" dinner was a typical lunch for a Korean school kid
from back in the day.  Kimchi and rice was standard.  Cuts of 
meat meant I would be from a rich family.

Makegeolli. Thanks to Sue, it's become one of my favorites drinks.

We had our final dinner at an underground eatery.
Kwangseok managed to join us!

Some sort of tofu.

Fried appies

One of the places that we went to was a coffee shop in the hills around Jongro-gu.  There was no subway nearby, so we had to bus into the neighborhood and then walk up a mountain.  The coffee shop used to be a set for various Korean soap operas.  One series called Coffee Prince was particularly famous, and thus made the coffee shop very famous too.  Sue and I stopped there to have a coffee and look at the gallery.

The cast of Coffee Prince.  Cathy loved this show and
suggested we go to the film location made coffee shop.

Sue figuring out where we're going.

The Coffee Prince filming place proved to be a bit elusive,
but Sue found our bearings.

Unlike other coffee shops in Seoul, it wasn't too busy. It was in a secluded
neighborhood surrounded by lots of mountains and trees, more or
less made for rich people.

Taking pictures around the gallery.

Berry cheesecake and a hot cappuccino.  Perfect for
...um....a summer day?

Near the end of my time in Seoul, Sue and I went to an area called Samcheongdong (삼청동).  We reenacted "the good ol' days" with a glass of wine and a nice long conversation late into the night. The last time we shared some wine together was in Vancouver back in 2009.  It's always a pleasure talking to Sue over a bottle of red.  In a way, she kind of acts as my personal psychologist.  Too bad it takes me going to Seoul just to have a session! Thanks Sue for being a good ear and an even better friend.

Sue and I in Vancouver back in 2009 drinking wine out of a
water glass and a coffee mug.

At 삼청동 (Samcheongdong), years later.

Unfortunately, it rained hard for a couple of days.  The ground was wet and we couldn't have a beer and fried chicken picnic on the bank of the Han River.  According to Sue, hanging out with beer and chicken next to the river is a favorite among Seoulites.  I believe it, and to be honest it was one of the things I was looking forward to doing in Seoul when I left Vancouver.  Since we didn't do  it up on the Han River, I decided that my last meal before heading back into China would be beer and chicken.  @Sue: Next time I'm in Seoul during summer (or when you and Kwangseok visit me in Vancouver), we'll eat beer and chicken. We'll eat so much that we won't want to have chicken for weeks!

Beer and fried chicken at Incheon International Airport.

During my five week holiday, Sue and Kwangseok are getting married.  I'm so happy for both of them, for they make a hell of a couple.  It was too bad Kwangseok had to work so much while I was there. I wished he could have come with us on our foodie tour of Seoul. Alas, it's Korea.  They work long and hard hours there, much like what Chinese workers have to suffer through in China, Cathy being no exception.  As for Cathy, I hope one day she can come with me and enjoy my favorite city in all of Asia, and finally meet my awesome friend Sue.

Seoul, I'll see you in February.

Point Five Zero

Vancouver, Early August 2012...

Some of my friends have been wanting to fire some lead down range for a while.  I've never fired a real gun in my life, so I figured why not?  My old self defense instructors insisted that although a person may hate guns, he or she should still be able to use one if they have to.  I couldn't agree more.

Desert Eagle....Point Five Zero.  No, it's not my old band.  

Too bad some friends of mine weren't available at the time, but you can't please everyone, eh?  Nonetheless, my buddies Jeremy and Mark were up for blowing off some steam, so we went to the gun range in PoCo.

We were a bit early, since the morning was reserved for gun club members, so we decided to have an early lunch.  Jer Google mapped a small but delicious Mexican diner nearby.  I gotta say, a great day out with your friends would involve going to have lunch there (I don't remember the name, but there are signs), followed by some gun slinging.  Fun times will ensue.

Jeremy firing off a 9mm handgun.

Mark doing the same.

We figured since we were there, we might as well go all out.  We got a nice "buffet" of weapons by choosing 2 guns each and sharing ammunition.  I got a 9mm handgun and a .357 Magnum. Jeremy went for .44 Magnum and a shotgun.  Mark opted for the .22 and 9mm.  We also got to fire 2 rounds of a Desert Eagle .50 each.  Needless to say, it was a cannon in handgun form.  It was brute force.

Jeremy went crazy with his shottie,
unloading all his slugs within seconds.

Killing a fat zombie with my weapon of choice -
.357 Magnum Revolver.

Overall, my favorite weapon was the .357 Magnum.  It wasn't as awkward as the .44 Magnum, and for some strange reason I could shoot straight with it. Despite it's great power, it had a smooth recoil.  When I got back to China and told Cathy I wanted a .357, she got so pissed off.  You should have seen her facial expression!

I had such a fun time at the gun range, I'm bound to do it again.  I wanted to go to a range in Seoul with a new SK friend who I met in Boston, but that fell through.  Anyhow, If you're ever in a major city with me, mention the word "gun range" and we'll be off towards it that weekend.

Pahk the Cah in Hahvahd Yahd! Part 3

No images for this one...I'm on my old laptop which don't have my Boston pics.

Okay, according to a friend, I've fallen behind in my postings on here big time.  I guess I was just waiting for someone to say something in order to get my ass into gear.  I'm still writing about my trip to Boston which happened 3 months ago.  I haven't even began to talk about my second trip to Seoul, or my latest vacation to Yangshuo with Cathy and my friends Hedy and Alex.  They'll get here.  Just you wait...

Cape Cod, a quiet fishing village, was our next area to explore.  We rented bikes a few miles out of the town and biked around the area.  Needless to say, the place was stunningly gorgeous - crisp clean air, white sandy beaches, small piers filled with multicolored sailboats, and a hell of a lot of greenery.

As the day rolled on, Rob and I became increasingly competitive on the bikes.  We needed to race against each other.  Eventually, and unfortunately, our sibling rivalry reached a point where we more or less ditched Adrienne for racing towards the village proper.  Adrienne opted for sitting and swimming at a nearby beach without us.  Sorry Adrienne.  It's a Parungao thing.  It's bound to happen in the future again, so you might as well get used to it!

And as suspected, I won.  Okay, I have to give Rob a bit of credit.  He overtook me in the last mile, but I still managed to squeeze out a victory.  After returning the bikes, we had dinner at a small dockside restaurant serving up the local fare: lahbstah boil, clams, oystahs and Samual Adams Beah.  Gahd, I love the Bahstun accent!

The next day was our last one together, but I didn't have to get to the airport until the mid afternoon.  After checking out, we decided to check out the Samual Adams Brewery.  It was awesome, and made me really miss my wine-making (brewing and wine-making share some similarities).  We got to do a beer tasting and kept the glass in the end!  Our guide was really cool, and very knowledgeable about the brewing methods used at the brewery.  It also happened to be her last day on the job, so she shotgunned a pint with her colleague in front of the crowd.  Too fun!

In general, I must say I was very impressed by Boston.  It's such a livable city.  Definitely one of USA's best.  I'd go back in a heartbeat if I had the chance.  Flying out East for a 5 day vacation with Rob and Adrienne was great fun and well-deserved.  I don't know when's the next time I will see them, but I sure hope to see them again when I go back to Canada next year.

Pahk the cah in Hahvahd Yahd! Part II

At the JFK Memorial.  We read up on Jack's win over
Tricky Dick (Nixon) and the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The JFK Memorial had one of the biggest
American  flags I've ever seen.

After, we set a new course for Harvard.

Lunch was burgers and unlimited mint iced tea. We then
went to buy ivy league campus wear for Mom and Dad.
Mostly for Dad.

We went on an official Hahvahd Yahd tour, which was free and
ran by undergrads.

Uhhh....Hogwarts?

This place was really cool.  Okay, it wasn't
the huge one in NYC, but it still is worth
taking a look.

OMG! This thing's HUGE!!!

A great thing about the Natural History Museum was all
the hilariously posed papier mache and taxidermy animals.
Many were smiling. Some looked just straight up weird. 

We had a nice talk with a professor of anthropology
and his assistant. They were studying some ancient
canoes from Alaska. Also, Adrienne's jaw dropped when we
came across the library. I guess she's not used to such
a massive repository of literature and resources at her uni.

Photo bomb!!!

After Harvard, we trained it near Fenway Park
to have burritos at a joint my brother's friend
suggested.  It was perhaps the best burrito I've
ever had in my life, and the price was right too.
Notice it's as big as my umbrella.

After dinner, we saw a Red Sox game.  It's a hallowed institution
in Boston, so we figured why not? They were playing the Detroit Tigers.

The place was full-house, standing room only.  I'm not
a baseball fan, but the crowd was great and watching the game
was fun!  I really liked singing "Take Me Out to the Ball Game."  

We left at the bottom of the 9th. The Sox were losing and
no bases were loaded. I had a great time regardless.