Leavers weekend / Woobang land

Friday I met up with Sam and Susan to take their old table stove off their hands.  Moved a cupboard in my kitchen and discovered that a pretty chunky corner of it is more mould than anything else.  Love it.  Hagwon boss said on Monday he'd repair the wallpaper (still waiting).


Last years February EPIK teachers left this weekend so headed out in Daegu Friday night.  Went to MF and met up with Erica as well as one of Charles' friends - Jay.  Or as he liked to say "Its the 10th letter of the alphabet, count them out with me, A, B..).  "Douchebag alcoholic" status clinched when he put sunglasses on.  Headed to 노래방 to belt out show tunes over some 소주.


Saturday I had a pretty bad hangover.  Was waiting for Charles who managed to explode his toilet.  Headed to 우방랜드 in the evening.  Rode the "skylift" to Daegu tower.  It was cold, and Daegu looked cool in the mist.  Befriended some high school kids in the line for one of the rides.  Taught us some Korean slang and we ended up riding a few rides together.  Korean kids find even the simplest phrases and words funny, but the moment you use some Daegu slang its hilarious.

Ulsan weekend / Yangsan Skiing

Headed to Marks in Ulsan Friday night after work as we were going skiing.  Saturday morning we met up with Olivia and Aiden and then picked up Stacie to go to 양산.
It was about an hour away (although we got lost, and discovered this great little restaurant which we decided to try on the way back).  Olivia and Aiden were snowboarding whilst Mark, Stacie and I were skiing.  Mark decided the first person to fall over had to buy the first round of drinks.  Needless to say he was the only one of the skiers to fall over.



Saturday night we got back quite late but we had some herbal highs (caffeine, guanine and sugar pills) so had one of those and joined Couchsurfers and some newbie EPIK teachers.  Put in my application with footprints so hopefully next year I'll be public school too.


Sunday we watched the Couchsurfers in the Korean Ultimate Frisbee.  Teams had come into Ulsan from all over Korea and despite it being cold the sun was out.  Even managed to get a little pink from lying out watching the frizbee in the afternoon.

Seoul

Headed to Seoul last weekend, usual Friday-night-in-Hongdae-out-until-6am business.  Tried out a couple new clubs (theres this tiny one, almost a literal translation of when the french say boite (box) for nightclub thats always PACKED).


Saturday we headed back to the war museum (last time we just went to the bodies exhibition).  Its quite an impressive building, with loads of stuff including giant wooden boats.  Its free too so would definitely recommend it.  After we had lunch in Itaewon, had drank coffee and caught up with Paul for the first time in ages.

Sunday we hit the Samsung art museum in Itaewon which was worth it just for the building architecture and the GIANT SPIDERS that looked like something out of war of the worlds.  I got shouted at for taking photos in the gallery (when I was caught I was actually taking a photo of the spiders outside but apparently  no photos means no photos) so have now invested in a silent camera app that doesn't make this obnoxious fake camera click sound.  Whoever invented that should be hung and drawn.  Or photoed for hours and so subjected to the irritating sound he created until his ears bleed.

Quiet Weekend

Not much happened this weekend.  It was Julians birthday on Thursday so we went out for Sushi (see photo).  Quiet dinner in 각산 and an early night.  Saturday headed down to the Traditional Medicine Market before joining the YMCA to check out Daegu's oldest cinema.  After that we headed to the big cinema to watch the latest Mission Impossible film which was surprisingly good.  Out to MF and Thursday 2 on Saturday.  Late start to Sunday, headed to 울산 to spend 3 hours with another 2 couples playing Elfenworld at a board game cafe.  Did organize going to Seoul this weekend and Skiing next!

Singapore (Fri-Sun)

We got across the border into Singapore and headed to Clarke Quay to meet up with our third and last couchhost Carol in a small bar by the river.  Drinks were more expensive than in Malaysia (which was a lot more in turn than Korea).  Clarke Quay was very disneylandesque.  Mark said it reminded him of Las Vagas but with asians.  Went to an "irish" bar called O'Mulligans (or O'SomethingMcIrishy).  It was the most expensive pint of strongbow I've ever had but it was kinda worth it.  Spent a while suggesting songs to a poledancer.  Aparantly "your sex is on fire" would give the wrong message at a strip club.

Saturday Mark and I took in a bit of Singapore - mainly the Orchid garden as well as the rest of the botanics.  Singapore is famous for their Orchid hybrids and names them after visiting diplomats.  Saw Queen Elizabeth, Princes Diana as well as a few others.


In the evening we grabbed KFC and drinks at a CS party.  Met loads of travellers and a few locals.  Then we met Marks friend Kai who took us on an evening tour of Singapore.  We drove around for a while and then headed onto Sentoza island.  Walked around Universal Studios and took the monorail (Sentoza is essentally an island theme park).  Then we hit a couple of the gaybars, including a mainly Chinese oriented place which was surprisinly busy considering it was new year.
We slept terribly (our small room had no windows so the aircon was murder).  Sunday we checked out Little India for lunch and grabbed lots of cheap delicious spices to bring back.  Then we headed out to Harbour front to enjoy the sunshine and view of the sea and ships.  Spent a while on the roof in the sunshine.


Managed to get stopped at Quarantine coming into Korea.  They checked 4 times but I was running a fever.  Turned out it was just the flu but seriously panicked as I had to get to work.  Managed to travel across to Malaysia and back but left my wallet on the train at DongDaegu station.  Got it returned to me but after all that running around I ended up with only enough time to change my shirt and put on aftershave before work.

Melaka (Thurs-Fri)

 Melaka is a small seaside town a couple hours from KL.  It was first colonized by the Portuguese, then the Dutch, and finally the British before Malaysian independance. 


We were couchsurfing with a girl called Ty who stayed at a kinda apart hotel complex with a few pools, mini-golf and a hot sauna.  First thing we did was get changed into our swim stuff for a relaxation session.  First was various ways to say hello which got people giggling and helped us learn everyones names.  There were 3 spanish people there - a middle aged couple and her dad.  He was retired and had never left Spain before so they were travelling the world with him.  Afterwards we had a traditional Melaka meal - really tasty spiced fish.


Friday we headed into the old town, stopping to see the old city wall (Porta de Santiago) and a portuguese era church (St Pauls).  Wandered around these amazing gardens at a museum nearby.  Took in a puppet show at the Zheng He (鄭和) museum.  He was a mariner, explorer, diplomat and fleet admiral, who commanded 7 voyages to Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and East Africa.  The puppet show was the best part though!


A quick swim in the pool and after that we got a lift through to the Malaysia border post at Johor Bahru.

Malaysian Jungle (Tues-Thurs)

Tuesday we got up super early at 6am so we could be picked up for our day trip.  2.5 hour drive into the jungle and we got to the Tempurung caves.  We spent a while with the tour (the guide insisted on pointing out any rock formations that looked like animals or faces).  After that we went off the path and actual caving.  We followed the river all the way back to the mouth of the cave, crawling along the stream on our bellies with a head space between the water and the ceiling.  There was even a marble slide bit.

After we got out we piled into a jeep with our guide and headed deeper into the jungle along windy single lane paths to have lunch at at the Perak Riverbug whitewater rafting centre.  Enjoyed the scenery for a bit after lunch before driving upstream to the start of the 10km course.
The whitewater rafting was really fun, 14 in total, swam around in the river for a while, splashed our tour guides and generally enjoyed the sun and water.  Maybe someday we'll try a much harder course.  Got back late that evening and headed to KLCC again to meet Vina (our host for the next two nights).  Had some coffee and Mark tried to get the biscuits he liked from M&S.  We were pretty knacked so early night.

Wednesday we went out to the Elephant Sanctuary.  We were too late to ride one, but fed and petted a few.  We got to bathe with the elephants in a  river.  Were meant to put mud and wash them but ended up sitting on and splashing them instead.  We then headed to a Deer Sanctuary to feed them.  There was a bit of a petting zoo there so fed the rabbits and held a big snake.

There's a big weekly CS meet in KL so we went to that for dinner.  Met some of the locals and ate some good food.  Headed to the bar after that, Vina got me and Mark this crazy shot thing that they set on fire, pour down a bottle whilst you quickly try to drink and avoid slurping on the fumes.  Absinthe, Amaretto and some kind of liquirice spirit defintely got us tipsy!
Late start to the day Thursday, had brunch and Mark taught Vina's aunt how to fold a paper crane.  Her Mom (a retired teacher) then insisted on testing her to see if she could remake it.  It looked a little demented but still good.  Then we got the coach out to Melaka from KL.

KL (Mon) Botanics, Orchids and Bird Park

On Monday Mark and I decided to explore the area nearby as well as wander around the botanics area.  Walked around China town and went to book our white water rafting and caving.  The Orchid garden was lovely and then we went to the KL Bird park - advertised as being the largest covered bird park in the world.  Watched a show in the amphitheater - usual tricks but was impressed by the bird that could do maths.
We walked back round past the Central Mosque and a few other of the historic buildings.  Got caught in a downpour going back.  For supper we headed out to KLCC and had a nice dinner at the back of the towers.  Theres a big nice pond and gardens there.

Kuala Lumpur (Fri-Sun) Weekend and Batu Caves

It was Chinese (Lunar) New Years so I got 2 days off from work.  Decided to use up 3 of my precious holidays so I could have 9 days off traveling. Had planned on just taking the bus directly there but they were all sold out on account of the holiday  so I booked the slow overnight train instead.


Had drinks and food Friday night with some friends before getting a lift from Willy and Julian to the train station.  The overnight train would've been quite pleasant if not for the two old men sat behind me drinking 소주 and arguing.  Decided to grab breakfast in Seoul Station - there were a few Americans there, one of which spent the entire time moaning and vomiting. All the while her friend was trying to stop her getting more puke into her hair "she's been doing the same for me since freshman year". Classy girls.

Got checked in and bought a power adapter. Met Jim and Carrol.  Jim had got the train a half hour after me but had pushed and ran to the gate. They told both Jim and Carrol the gate closed 20 min before it did so after all that running he was there before boarding started.  
Airasia are low budget so no free meal or entertainment despite the 6 hour flight.  Glad I had my tablet and South Park.  Landed and got into KL quickly though.  Was meant to meet Jess at the KL towers at 4 but it was closer to 5 by the time Jim & I got out there.  Found Jims hostel in Chinatown and met Jess, Stanton and the bf at KL station.  Supper at Nandos was good then Mark and I found a hostel before heading out to Karaoke with Jim and a pile of KL CSers.  Failed at singing KPop but had a good laugh.

Sunday we got the train north of KL to the Batu Caves which is the most popular Hindu shrine outside of India.  After climbing the 272 steps (sadly we weren't there for the piercing festival) we headed into the Dark Caves for an hour long educational tour.  Saw (and heard) loads of bats.
Ate some delicious veggie Indian food nearby - using a banana leaf for a plate and our hands to eat.  For dinner met up with a couple CSers and drove to a nearby town.  Had this big delicious sweet naan thing for pudding.