February 18, 2008
On the streets of Insadong
An afternoon of lazy brunches, coffee, and shopping....very Sex In the City!
A woman holding a funny lookin balloon!
There are loads of Starbucks here in Korea, but this was the first one we'd seen with the sign actually in Korean.
A woman holding a funny lookin balloon!
There are loads of Starbucks here in Korea, but this was the first one we'd seen with the sign actually in Korean.
Lunar New Year Ski Trip....and what a trip it was!
So here in Korea the Lunar New Years is a big holiday. We were going to go to Japan, but it would have been very expensive. So we decided to go on a skiing trip to the mountains of north eastern Korea. Of course I wasn't going to ski!!! Luckily I met Amy a week before and she wanted to go but wasn't interested in skiing either! We had big plans, but that all changed with a LITTLE accident on the slopes....read on.
Here we are on our way in the bus in the morning, feeling a little rough from the night before's celebrations.
I was amazed that in all that open space in the mountains, that they were still building big apartment buildings for people to live in. You rarely see houses here in Korea, but I thought for sure we would see more in the countryside. Guess not.
Me and Amy killing some time while everyone got their gear.
Some yummy looking snacks in the corner store. Mmmmmm dried squid!
Pic of the slopes from afar.
The hard core snowboarders. Me and Amy were having no part of that!
The view out our window of our hostel room! Pretty sweet eh!
So our ski trip was quite eventful. On the second day, after a relaxing morning, we were all supposed to meet up for lunch. However, around noon we found out that our friend Sonya had a bad fall on the slopes and was in the medical room. We headed right over and she was in huge pain. What a fiasco. The doctors didn't really know what was wrong since they didn't have an xray machine there but thought that her shoulder MIGHT be dislocated and wanted to attached weights to her arm. It was awful. After much deliberation and translation, we finally decided that she had to go to the hospital. So I spent the better part of my birthday in an ambulance and at the hospital with Sonya, Nikki and one of the Adventure Korea staff Young, who was the saviour of the day. Theres much more that goes along with the story, but I'll leave it at that. Sonya ended up having to take the bus back home the next day.These are some pics of the pizza party we had in the room that night. After we went to a pub and Amy played happy birthday on the piano and the entire bar sang to me. It was good times.
Ben and Amys mysterious plastic glove.....I'm goin on a ski trip and I'm gonna bring two bottles of baileys, purple hair dye, inappropriate shoes, a bottle of kahlua, and my camera!
A few shot around the mountain cottage we stayed in.
Time to warm up on the heated floors.
Alberto trying to warm up in the massive PARTY ROOM, our room for the night. Very big and everyone sleeping on the floor Korean styles!
ICE FISHING: one of the most hilarious parts of the trip. I was determined to catch a fish, that was until they gave us these little tiny plastic poles and when they couldn't break a hole in the ice by smashing it with the iron pole they brought, we just had to find our own hole. I was still pretty optimistic until we found out that no one had ever caught a fish on that river....EVER IN THE HISTORY OF THE RIVER!! Good thing we brought some beers with us!! Had a great time anyways and loads of laughs!
People trying to find a hole in the ice to drop their hooks.
The first catch of the day...a piece of ice!
Sitting safely on our rock and not on the ice, with drinks in hand. There was now way we were risking falling in, as some people had!
Catching the BIG ONE.....that got away!!!! Ha ha!!
That night we had a big Korean style bbq around a big bon fire. Followed by lots of soju and beers. It was a very cold night, but loads of fun, despite the domestic disturbance guy and the really drunk fire walker guy.
With our knight in shining armour...Young...our translator at the hospital, one of the Adventure Korea staff.
The biggest rice pot I've ever seen!!
Here we are on our way in the bus in the morning, feeling a little rough from the night before's celebrations.
I was amazed that in all that open space in the mountains, that they were still building big apartment buildings for people to live in. You rarely see houses here in Korea, but I thought for sure we would see more in the countryside. Guess not.
Me and Amy killing some time while everyone got their gear.
Some yummy looking snacks in the corner store. Mmmmmm dried squid!
Pic of the slopes from afar.
The hard core snowboarders. Me and Amy were having no part of that!
The view out our window of our hostel room! Pretty sweet eh!
So our ski trip was quite eventful. On the second day, after a relaxing morning, we were all supposed to meet up for lunch. However, around noon we found out that our friend Sonya had a bad fall on the slopes and was in the medical room. We headed right over and she was in huge pain. What a fiasco. The doctors didn't really know what was wrong since they didn't have an xray machine there but thought that her shoulder MIGHT be dislocated and wanted to attached weights to her arm. It was awful. After much deliberation and translation, we finally decided that she had to go to the hospital. So I spent the better part of my birthday in an ambulance and at the hospital with Sonya, Nikki and one of the Adventure Korea staff Young, who was the saviour of the day. Theres much more that goes along with the story, but I'll leave it at that. Sonya ended up having to take the bus back home the next day.These are some pics of the pizza party we had in the room that night. After we went to a pub and Amy played happy birthday on the piano and the entire bar sang to me. It was good times.
Ben and Amys mysterious plastic glove.....I'm goin on a ski trip and I'm gonna bring two bottles of baileys, purple hair dye, inappropriate shoes, a bottle of kahlua, and my camera!
A few shot around the mountain cottage we stayed in.
Time to warm up on the heated floors.
Alberto trying to warm up in the massive PARTY ROOM, our room for the night. Very big and everyone sleeping on the floor Korean styles!
ICE FISHING: one of the most hilarious parts of the trip. I was determined to catch a fish, that was until they gave us these little tiny plastic poles and when they couldn't break a hole in the ice by smashing it with the iron pole they brought, we just had to find our own hole. I was still pretty optimistic until we found out that no one had ever caught a fish on that river....EVER IN THE HISTORY OF THE RIVER!! Good thing we brought some beers with us!! Had a great time anyways and loads of laughs!
People trying to find a hole in the ice to drop their hooks.
The first catch of the day...a piece of ice!
Sitting safely on our rock and not on the ice, with drinks in hand. There was now way we were risking falling in, as some people had!
Catching the BIG ONE.....that got away!!!! Ha ha!!
That night we had a big Korean style bbq around a big bon fire. Followed by lots of soju and beers. It was a very cold night, but loads of fun, despite the domestic disturbance guy and the really drunk fire walker guy.
With our knight in shining armour...Young...our translator at the hospital, one of the Adventure Korea staff.
The biggest rice pot I've ever seen!!
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