Fall Hike at Naejangsan

Decked out in the latest hiking fashions, equipped with a cup full of silk worm larva in one hand and a walking stick in the other, as soon as the weekend hits, the Koreans head for the mountains. Even with hundreds of mountains in the Seoul vicinity, I still find myself surrounded by masses of Koreans looking to escape the city and experience nature. Rows of spices, ginseng, sweet potatoes, roasted pork, corn, persimmons, chest nuts and a variety of unidentifiable edibles.

Here are some of the pictures.

This is the map of the region with the park and the mountain.

At the base of the mountain is a little village with restaurants, motels, buses and LOTS of people.

Traffic jam. There's no escape!!

People heading up towards the entrance to the mountain trails.

I thought this picture was really cool. These big pots are traditionally Korean. Pretty much every household has at least one of them in which they make chimchee, a sort of pickled spicy cabbage that is said to have incredible healing powers.

No weekend hike would be complete without the local drag queen.

Mmmmm, roasted chestnuts.

Mmmmmm, mini shrimp stew.

Mmmmmmm, silk worm larva :).

So this was the little road that lead up to the park entrance. The colours were amazing.

This pictures is called, "Two foreigners and a red tree".

This tree looked like it was out of a spooky fairy tale.

Dried out river.

These two pictures are taken from another person who went on this hike.

Alright, so I promised a long time ago, that I would take a picture of the very common and super scary public toilets. I finally took a second to snap a shot of the "toilet" at one of the rest stops on the way to the mountain.

Picutres :)

OK, here are the pictures you've been asking for, plus some other ones of me that I didn't get a chance to put up :). Enjoy.


This picture again, it's the right side.


So this is the front of the cupboard.


This is the left side. You can really see a transition from the first one to the last one, how I felt, my mood. It came out pretty well :).


Cake? Did I see cake? Where is the cake? I thought there would be cake... OK I'm going back to sleep if there's no cake.


OK, I found the cake, I'm happy now.


Oooh, I had too much cake... I'm ready to go to sleep now but I can't, I'm surrounded by little people. Awwww, they're so cute tho :).

Cooking and random pics

So finally, after nearly 8 months I have actually cooked something. I bought a whole bunch of different mushrooms, which are really cheap here, some onions, carrots and a whole roasted chicken stuffed with rice, garlic and ginseng. Cooked the mushrooms, carrots and the onions and then mixed the chicken (with stuff) and the mushroom mix. WOW!!!!! soooo yummy :D.

I have also finally decided on my trip for next summer. I'm going to Europe :D.

April 2 - April 13 -- Spain
April 15 - April 26 -- Germany
April 27 - May 10 -- Switzerland
May 21 - June 1 -- Austria
June 3 - June 14 -- France
June 18 - June 29 -- Belgium
July 2 - July 13 -- Poland

Then off to Hungary for a couple of days, then Romania and then back to Korea to start another contract in August. There won't be much time between the countries to go and visit the countries themselves, but I'll have a little bit of time between Switzerland and Austria to travel around the neighbouring countries. I don't know about that yet, but that's something I'll have to figure out when I'm there.

So, here are some recent pictures of me :)


This was a field trip with the kids, and we went on a merry-go-round. Wheeee, look look, I'm riding the horsey :)


Dana the hippie. New hat, new sweater, new jacket, new bag, and amazingly, they all matched. I was very wonderfully surprised :).


That was me around Moran subway station, walking around trying to find the infamous dog market. We didn't find it, but ended up walking through the winding roads and alleys filled with crammed houses and apartment buildings. Very interesting looking.


This was the first day of fall, and I was absolutely freezing. The scarf came out, I wore long-johns and an undershirt.

Where do I belong?

I find I am on a search for a place that will make me work hard and make me want to spend all my time in making that place special. Everywhere I go I don't feel like it's the place for me. Nothing there makes me really care so much as to involve myself fully.

Little Boxes

So here I am, struggling with figuring out what I want out of my life and well, at least I have the assurance of knowing what I don't want. Here's a little graphic demonstration :)

Light at the end of the tunnel

After the brick wall of reality finally hit, I was able to see things clearly, slightly bruised but nothing that can't be cure with the help of some intensive thinking combined with the most natural cure of all... beer. Hahahahaha.

Fresh...

So, after an emotional week, the storm has come and gone, and it's time to rebuild and keep going. It's amazing what impact even the shortest of experiences can have on a character or on ones outlook on life. The bubble is bigger than imagined...

Weekend pictures

So, it's Friday, I just got off of work, it's the day before Chusok (the Korean Thanksgiving), and am wearing these nice jeans, a pink shirt (YES, you read right, I was wearing a pink shirt) and the lighting in my room was really good. These pictures just had to be taken. So here are some of them :).


So here I am in this really nice and comfy armchair I salvaged from the garbage that the next door furniture store threw out. It's actual leather and there's absolutely nothing wrong with it.


Can you see how long my hair is?? Can you see the degree of pinkishness I have become to feel comfortable in?? It's not only pink, but it's baby pink. It's really cute actually :P.


That's me being all silly and such.


Oh my, there's someone on the bed. Aw... so peaceful :)


I also got a very artsy inspiration and I stayed up for a few hours and painted the side of this little ugly cupboard. I got some more colours today so I will finish painting the rest of it :).

Watching myself grow

Four stages of my life, four different countries. A wonderful childhood in Romania, waking up to the world in Canada, realizing my potential in England and becoming emotionally aware in Korea. It is amazing how wonderfully we evolve and even more wonderful to be able to see it and reflect on the experiences and influences of our lives. I am grateful for every experience and every person encountered along the way, whether good or bad, because without them I would not have become the person I am today.

Seoraksan National Park

Ok, so I finally went on another trip with this adventure club. It wasn't as good as the other trips just because the hot springs weren't working and they didn't really inform us of that and the bus ride there and back was torture. Besides that, the scenery was absolutely breath taking. I took some pictures and videos that I'll put up here. Enjoy :).


This is a map of the area and the many trails, rivers and mountains.


I went up the cable cart to the top. Was too lazy to walk all the way up :).


Amazing scenery everywhere.






Found myself a nice rock to pose on :).


It was really windy up there, hence my hair flying everywhere.


I didn't even realize the ocean was just over there. It looks like the world just ends there.


There was a temple with an incredible statue at the base of the mountain.




Wildlife seen in this national park: A squirrel, a praying mantis and a small iguana.


It was night, I was alone, it was cool, I had a beer, I was barefoot, the water was amazing, the sound was mesmerizing, and I was hypnotised. I just stood there for the longest time, couldn't move or look anywhere else.


Hiking path up the mountain along a rocky river.




The classic feet shot :).


One of the many waterfalls in the area.


I had to soak my feet in the water. It was so cold and fresh wow :).




Root labyrinth. The forest was so beautiful and you could still hear some cicadas. Mix all that with the sound of water in the background, and you have a mini paradise.


There were these beautiful bridges all over the place. The contrast of the white rocks, blue sky and brown bridge was stunning.


Found another puddle so naturally I had to soak my feet in that too :D.


On the way back to Seoul at one of the rest stops, there were all these wood carvings. Does it remind you of something or is it just me?