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?

Well, there goes my back

So, after many many times picking up the kids, throwing them in the air, spinning them around and never having a problem, I finally pulled some back muscles and could hardly walk. This happened on Friday and I was hoping it would go away and be better but it only got worse. Well, I went to a doctor, got some x-rays to see if my spine is OK, and it is, just that the curvature at the bottom is kind of gone cuz of the tension in my muscles. So I did a bit of physiotherapy but it didn't seem to work. On Monday, I told my bosses wife and luckily there's a acupuncture clinic just next to the school. During lunch I went there and wow, it was amazing. First, she used these electric currents to massage my muscles, then acupuncture, and then did the suction cup things. Now my back is a lot better and I'm going to go in a few more times, but it looks kind of scary cuz where the suction cups were now there's huuge hickeys there. Definitely works tho and am glad this place is so close by and really cheap.

Travel Plans

Alright, so, after my friend Jody came back from Thailand and showed me a bunch of her amazing pictures and told me her travel stories, well, the travel bug bit me again. This time I'm actually going to plan a trip in advance instead of deciding on a whim and having only a couple of weeks of planning. I wanted to do a tour of meditation centres after January of this year and when I finish my contract at this school I'm going to take a couple of months and do that. Now, the dilemma is, do I want to go through Europe and get back the needed mojo from civilisation, or shall I brave it and do that here in Asia. Well, I'm looking at both options. So far, I've found out information from countries in Europe and a tour would be: Spain, France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Poland, Romania and then finally back to Korea to start another year of fun and craziness. Now since the European Union, you can get a universal train pass for a couple of months for a decent price. This would allow me to travel to any of the 18 countries in Europe at any time for 2 months. Amazing!!!! In Asia, the countries where there's a possibility are: Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Philipines, Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong and China. Not all will be on the final list but these are the choices. I have to wait for schedules and plan out a plausible route, also, see what the price and time differences would be between Asia and Europe. But this trip is totally possible :). It would be an amazing experience for sure!

Yaay

Well, I joined the gym and today was the first day. It was really hard to get myself up and go to the gym, especially on a Monday evening. I was so tired and I was getting a headache, but I said, that's it, I have to go. It was great. Well, It took a while to let the people at the front desk know who I am and that I've already registered I just had to pay. And then one of the trainers told me to follow him and he showed me a machine and just told me to get on and run for 30 minutes. It was great. I'm glad he kind of pointed me in the right direction. It was a great workout and I was sweating like mad. After that, I started communicating with a woman from there and we kind of figured out that we both like squash and they have squash courts there so using sign language we decided to go play for about 30 minutes. Wow, I was so exhausted by the end. It was nice though and she said she's there ever evening so that's perfect. I'll have a squash buddy every night and go workout and have someone to chitchat with, even though it's pretty hard since I speak very little Korean and she speaks very little English. In any case, I'm glad I joined that gym :). Now I can do something productive in the evenings during the week.

Homesick

Well, today has had to be the lowest point in my whole time being here. There's nothing wrong really, but I'm just feeling so homesick. I want to be with my family, my friends, hear familiar voices and take part in the familiar activities. I guess it didn't help that I found some songs online by total accident. I stumbled onto this song that I used to love when I was really little and remember I used to listen to it and dance in the living room: Dan Spatarul "Drumurile Noastre", oh and so many others that I remember... Compact, Mihai Constantinescu, Stefan Hrusca, Mirabela Dauer, Angela Similea, Ilie Micolov, Catalin Crisan, Madalina Manole, Laura Stoica, Gabriel Cotabita, Ducu Bertzi, Loredana Groza. These are just some I found and remembered, but I'm sure there's more. Oh, what a wonderful childhood I had. I see pictures from life back home and miss so many of the small mundane things that happen there. I miss having my dad's BBQ and eating my mum's awesome salads. I miss talking to them, or arguing with them, I miss the familiar smell of the house, the sound of the highway in the back yard, the sunny weekends spent lounging around the house. Anyways, it's been 6 months already, so what's another 6 months :). Tomorrow is another day and I'm sure I'll be in a happier mood.

Love you all and miss you so much.

Thailand (July 30 to August 6)

Wow!! What can I say, true paradise. Amazing food, amazing beaches, clear blue and warm water, super cheap shopping, relaxed atmosphere... It was real paradise. Too bad it was so short. I spent most of the time in Phuket on Patong beach, and just one day in Bangkok for shopping. Here are the pics :).


Funky reflection of the plane


Well, since I was on my own, these are the only kinds of pics I can really take. So this is me on an elephant :)


Huuuuuuge palm trees. WOW!!




That's me, holding on for dear life as the driver jumped off to take a picture.


I was trying to get on the elephants head. She didn't really care much.


This is on a crazy boat going to Phi Phi island where they filmed that movie "The Beach" with Leonardo DiCaprio. I never thought I would get sea sick, but damn, that was one bumpy ride.


The sand was sooo fine. Unbelievable.






A strange fruit... looks cool








Reggae bar. There are many everywhere.


Patong beach. Palms and white sand... soo beautiful.






I asked someone to take a pic of me. Am wearing all clothes I bought there. Super comfy stuff.


Feet shot.


My two piece swim suite. Was hard to find my size but finally found one.


See my tan?


I had a freaking huuuuge cockroach in my room. Freaked me out. Well, you can see my shoe and the size of that thing. Took me like 20 minutes to corner it, spray it with insecticide and squash it. Damn thing.


On another boat.


This was on Coral Island where I went scuba diving. Soo beautiful I didn't want to leave.


Me getting ready for para sailing. That was one tiny vest.


Of we go.. wheeeeee :D






Some little shrine. That's as much sightseeing I saw in Thailand. I went for the beach and the shopping there :).

Sand art. I was bored and thought I'd make something, this is what it turned out :)

Again me on the beach. Ooooh, soooo nice :)

In the airport in Phuket. Foot diaries. I should make a whole album of foot shots :)

Tuk tuk in Bangkok. Those things are soo unsafe but they still drive faster than the cars.

The floor of the tuk tuk.

Me and my flying hair in the tuk tuk.

The weekend market in Bangkok. Super cheap and nice shopping. I spent all day there and bought sooooo many nice things :D.

Foot massage. This was the only pic I took but in Phuket I went to soo many massage places. Fell asleep a few times :).