Australia

This country is soooo huge. I got a bit spoiled in Korea. 

I wanted to be at the top of the country one day, and the bottom the next, it was no problem, just a super affordable bus ride away and a couple of hours with my charged ipod, and I was set.. but here is just unfathomable and expensive to do such an expedition. I was talking on skype to a friend who is in a little dot on the map called Kintore. It's a speck, really. A red, dusty speck. A bit of a dream to photograph, with this amazing spectacular earthen colour, and the local people so full of character. So i had this bright idea to pop over and hang out there for NYE... bzzt! 

Her father (I was over at the family's house for din dins and catch-up time) told me it was an $800 ish/ 2 hr flight to Alice Springs, and then a 7 hour drive.

Nevermind.

But I really, truly would love to head out there.

This family is sooo awesome. I worked for them when I was in University on my days off from school, and they are the most well-traveled people with the biggest hearts, and actually run this really amazing organisation called World Outreach, so the father was in Pakistan during the floods, told me about the amazing sights in Calcutta, and want me to come with them to Bangladesh on their next trip there. Of course I'm so in. It's really inspiring to talk to people like this and to know that i'm not completely bonkers to want to see so much of the world.

Photos

a dude blinking in Japan. I was dissapointed with this shot at first ...but now I really love it.

If you want to check out more photos, I'm doing my best to pop a new one up on this business everyday -> http://snap-krackle-pop.tumblr.com/

and one of my favs to check out is this Korean jem ->
http://kimjongillookingatthings.tumblr.com/

It's exactly what the title promises.

SHARKS

So this is my surprise!

I got driven to the local aquarium (it's pretty radical), and after exploring and going through there for a bit, we were led over to another area to put on wetsuits, given training on how to use the equipment, and then sent into the aquarium waters with the sharks, fish, GIANT sting rays, and a whole other smattering of sea life.

FUN!

What a rad present for Christmas. So stoked my brother listened to me saying I didn't want any present I couldn't pack into my bag with all my other stuff (I don't even know what country I want to live in next year yet), and he was really workin' the creative juices and came up with this gem!

Soup-rise

As I mentioned before, I'm back home for a stint over Christmas, and slightly beyond. I've got a job and am working managing a photography studio while I'm home (it's not as glamorous as it might sound), and am taking the day of work wednesday because my Christmas present from my brother is some sort of a surprise. 

I L-O-V-E surprises! Sometimes ... often... more than whatever it actually is. So all I know is i need a swimsuit, towel, and sense of adventure. My brother is a pilot/ likes engines, so I'm lead to the following conclusions:

#1.Parasailing

#2. Scuba diving (he recently got his master divers licence for scuba diving)

#3. Jet ski adventure

#4. Something lame and not nearly as bourgeois like a surfing lesson.
#5. skydiving into the ocean.

sooooo curious to see what it turns out to be!! They even tried to tell me today what it is (I've been told what to bring, that it's been paid for and can't be changed to another day, and that we're meeting at the beach). My family is RADICAL.

On another note, my parents (mostly Mum) are completely bonkers for Christmas tradition, and two of the biggest are baking way too many treats, and buying a new ornament each year to represent the year past. I have two this year; a camera, and a globe! The plan, cheesy as it may sound, is to mark a little 'x' on all 26 or so countries I've been to up to this point on my life and then breeze past it next year! I have this desire to get to 30 countries before I'm 30, so my bike ride through the middle east next year will be perfect as long as I can raise enough money for this amazing event. (http://followthewomen.chipin.com/follow-the-women)


I'd ideally like to donate some of my photography, and have a show while I'm in Australia and donate the proceeds to the event, but it's a lot of organisation which I'm finding a little hard to juggle with a job, family-time, Christmas, and catching up with friends I haven't seen in the last few years, but HAVE to do since I'm really passionate about this cause.

I want to go back to Turkey

Aussie Adjust

I've been back in Australia for 2 days now, and am finding that I have to adjust being back home more than I ever thought I would have to... whoops.

I miss speaking Korean - I've been speaking it daily for the better part of a year now, and I keep wanting to use it in conversation like I'm accustomed to doing; but stop myself a breath before, because I know it'll mean nothing to whom I'm speaking with. I think mostly though, I'm getting accustomed to small talk again - I'm so used to the largeness of Seoul, and the lack of wasting time. Everything there is 'bbali, bbali', which means 'quickly, quickly', so here I am back on the lovely Sunshine Coast, where everything moves at a comfortable and slow sunny day pace, and everyone stops to have a chat to you. I know it sounds like a dream, but it doesn't mean you don't have to adjust to suddenly being back at home with the parentals, and a culture that you haven't lived in for more than 6 years. 

I definitely like who I've become though - traveling has made me more world-conscious, knowledgeable about mostly random and quirky things as well as the odd useful tidbit, and have a gathering of amazing friends stretched all over the world. I am SO stoked to be home for Christmas, and honestly, really happy to have a break from the whole 'figuring out where to sleep' thing I had to do everyday, as well as having a break from sleeping on the floor of my friends kitchen. I don't mind any of that stuff, but it's great to have gone from that, to now stretching out in a queen sized bed, and my white cat following me from room to room and sleeping on the pillow next to me.

In China

This airport in Guangzhou sucks balls yo.

no computers (i have mine), nowhere to charge anything unless you want to over pay for a coffee in the random Blenz here.

Somehow i got bitten by (but in return killed) a persistent little mosquito. The air here has a fun haze.

Word to the wise: never fly China Southern Airlines if you have more than a minute amount of baggage - they jack you up the arse if you have more than 20kgs total baggage - see a previous post. ALL i could bring was my bike and skateboard and my carry-on luggage. Poo. I'll get clothing in a week or so.

Air China + Bike

Frig.

I saved a lot of money taking a dirt cheap ticket from Southern China Air, and now I see how they make all their money - I've been calling them on and off for the past hour or two, and the whole language barrier makes things even more exciting as you can imagine.

Turns out I'm allowed 20kgs for my TOTAL baggage. Shit baller. I'm takin my bike. I might not be able to take much else. Good thing I found out now before I get to the airport, and just assume it's something like 2 bags each at 23kgs, or the beloved 36kgs two bag allowance that just makes thing un-stressful and 'easy packins'.  They (China Southern) charge $30USD PER kilo over the limit. Talk about getting screwed from behind.

Thank God the Korean mail system is so affordable. I can mail 20kgs home for $40USD. Mind you, that does take two months on a ship, but whatever, I am used to not having much with me anyways. 

Anyone else like to try and find fun ways to get away with more? Lucky it's winter here in Korea, cos you can be sure that I will be layering my clothing like I'm heading for the Arctic, rather than the searing heat of Australia!

The one (tiny) plus, is that my bike box can be as large as 2 meters by 1.5meters, so I guess my bag and my bike are going together in one box. whoopee. Awkward baggage, here I come!

Speaking of all of this, I recently discovered something interesting. There's a whole conglomerate of something known as 'third culture kids', which is basically kids who have grown up traveling and don't particularly identify with one particular culture. It's actually defined a little broader than that, saying it's kids who have grown up in a culture that isn't the same as their parents, but I think the definitions lend themselves more to the traveling kid thing. Check it out.

Das racist

I've been absent for good reason; I did a mini tour de Korea; I caught buses to all the towns I spent significant time and had friends who I had to see one last time before leaving Korea. At this point, the count is dismally down to something around 5 days. So I hung out in Jinju, having fun, making new friends (one Korean girl; extremely inebriated I might add; took a strong liking to me and ended up trying to kiss and cuddle me into a corner), playing pool ad sleeping in a country-side looking area in a miniature chateau/ school where my friend works, and getting up at 7:30am after a big night out.

Das Racist

Next was Daegu, and another all nighter; shooting Das Racist, a rap trio out of New York, before finally making it back to my friends house. She had forgotten Yo pay her utilities bill for far too long, and actually had the electricity shut off for the ONE night I was there. Luckily I apparently watched enough MacGyver as a kid, and not only had a flashlight, but strung it from the ceiling. I forgot to mention that since she had no hot water either, earlier in the night to get ready for the show, I had washed my hair myself in a hairdressers shop after explaining as best as I could in Korean my predicament. Luckily they thought it was entertaining and hooked it up for free. Booyah for getting to use the good shampoos and conditioners for free! I also blow dried it since it's freezing outside these days. This was a major gamble, as sometimes I can turn out looking like a healthy blend of Frankenstein an a chia pet after using these contraptions, but luckily I got a fun rocker look. Phew.

The next morning I was up early again after only a few hours sleep, to go visit my friends family that I had lived with on and off during the summer. Petted the rabbit, had the final (for now) chit chats with the fams, and then was off again to go do a photoshoot with Das Racist. Good Lord, I hope they turn out good. Film always gives me a heart attack that way. Also got some in a thrift store on the good old un-heart-attack giving digital. It was fun. It's a little tricky bossing around three New York rappers, but they're all really good fun guys. I got a new fav saying from one of them, just dropping in 'that's so sexual' at random times. Fun!

Das Racist #2

Then I boosted to Daejeon where I've got some superb friends I met through skateboarding; even though I dreadfully suck at said activity. So we got drinks, played pool, and just shivered our way around Daejeon, and then my friend that night gave me his 'room'; sleeping on the floor in the living room or his family house, and he shared his sisters room. I love Korea.

Das Racist performing in Seoul at the Rolling Hall, in Hongdae

Then back up to Seoul for shooting Tecla and Das Racist (DR) again .... the venue caught on fire!

No big deal, they caught it quickly since Tecla was singing and pointing at it saying it was on fire pretty fast. The resulting fire extinguisher fumes were overwhelming, but still the show went on. DR came on after, and are frigging hilarious. They dance around, try to tell the crowd to say it was during their set that the stage caught on fire, and they really just have fun and make it a fun time.

Bought glasses, left with a free dinner

I'm in Daegu, and wanted to buy one last pair of glasses in Korea, since they're SO dirt cheap (we're talking $50 for the whole lot and a 20 min wait.), so I got some fun over-sized tortoise shells frames from a shop, and by the end of the process had a new friend in the owner, who ended up taking me out to dinner with her friend and introducing me to other shop owner friends in the area. FUN!

Seoul Critical Mass

 

Critical Mass - Seoul

 The third Sunday of every month is the coming together of the Critical Mass in the city. It's apparently been going for 5 years, but by the attendance numbers, you would never know it. On the night I partook in said event, there was approximately 24 adults, and one awesome kid on a purple banana seat bicycle who rode in the centre of the pack, as if we were animals protecting our young on the african safari lands.

check out a video of it here

Follow the Women

I'm beginning to raise funds for the Follow the Women bike ride that I'm participating in April 2011.

Please help promote, donate, or even join this ride, as this is something I am really excited about! 
You can pay with PayPal, using the below, otherwise please contact me, and other arrangements for donations can also be made.

WHAT IS Follow the Women?
Follow the Women is an international non-political grassroots organization campaigning for peace in the Middle East.  Our signature activity is the Pedal for Peace Bike Rides which take place in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Palestine. Click here for FTW’s USA website (opens in new window).

WHO IS Follow the Women?
We are ordinary women, citizens from over 40 countries.   At each bike ride 200-300 females from more than 25 countries converge on the Middle East to bike for peace.  Men participate as medics, mechanics or media.  A U.S. team has been on every ride.  Up to 20 participants are accepted per country team. Riders are expected to agree to FTW's Aims & Objectives (opens in new window)  

WHERE IS Follow the Women?
The international center of the organization is based in England where Follow the Women is a registered charity.  Each participating country has a local resident coordinator who liaisons with the international center. The USA Team, scattered all over the country, has a virtual headquarters by way of this website.

WHEN IS Follow the Women? 
Pedal for Peace Bike Rides occur about every 18 months.

April 16-23, 2004 
September 15-24, 2005
April 6-20, 2007
May 2-15, 2008
October 8-21, 2009
April 16 to May 1, 2011

WHY IS Follow the Women? 
Our main objective is to call attention to the fact that it is women and children who suffer most in areas of conflict, particularly Palestinians who live under a brutal military occupation in Gaza and the West Bank or in stifling refugee camps inside and outside Palestine.  Several hundred women riding on bicycles in the Middle East is extremely unusual.  Our head-turning cycling compels the media to report on the event and interview us and this coverage provides us a platform for our peace messages.  We also have various projects, including building playgrounds for Palestinian children in refugee camps. Our mission is summarized in four simple words:

Go. See. Tell. Act.  

back in korea; korean style

I've been back all of two nights, and last night i didn't sleep. It's 8:22am, and i'm just getting in the door.

These Koreans are hardcore man! The thing is to just stay out so long that the subway starts up again and you can get home. 

It all started when I called my friend, and there happened to be a art installation show on one stop away on the subway, so I just walked over to the abandoned hospital it was being held in, and we got to scope out 5-6 different rooms that had been decked out in different scenarios; from a student who had cheated in school and had to run away (this work space complete with police tape), to an entire room sound-proofed with egg shell cartons and set-up to look like a news room with feeds of a man in white make up and a stuffed monkey discussing ... something. Sorry, my Korean is just not that great yet. They had a great set-up for it all though - they're all art students, and from what I was told, is that it was a srt show not supported by their professor, who they don't seem to agree with for their final exhibitions for their graduate show, so they had their own vision executed here, with live bands, free pizza, and free alcoholic beverages.

From there we boosted to one place, after another, after another, each entailing food and drinking, but some venues having karaoke and giving us a free fruit platter, eating live octopus, or a restaurant with non-stop music videos playing, even though it looked high-end other than that, but met some awesome people, and had an amazing night hanging out with them until the sun rose back in the sky.

I've got to go to bed.

Oh what a night...

Last night was complete mayhem...

To cut the story short, we found out about a party on the island (Lamma Island, off Hong Kong),

And as we approached; guided by flashing construction lights in the pitch black, I whipped out my little video camera to capture our entrance, and 4 seconds later walked into a hole.

Up to my hips I went before I caught myself and scrambled out as fast as I could.

My friend and I raided the first aid kit to patch me up, and then just peaked back home.

I can't believe I fell into a HOLE.

Two countries, two islands

 

Power Station Beach, Lamma Island

Lately I've been on a slight hiatus; a holiday from the arduous task of my .. erm.. holiday. After brilliantly missing my original flight from South Korea to Hong Kong, I finally made it all work the next day and arrived in one solid piece. I've been staying on another island next to Hong Kong island; Lamma Island; known as one of the 'Outlying Islands' of the Hong Kong area, and a real treat since it is a carless, green tropical paradise only a 30min ferry ride from the central station in Hong Kong, but a complete escape from all the mayhem.

Hong Kong IS organized chaos. It's a hilly, efficient, and eclectic city with all the amenities you could hope for all boiled in a Chinese mixing pot. It's good. Really good. I've been describing it as a world city for all these reasons to all those who ask what my opinion on the place is. Halloween a few days ago was the epitome of organized chaos, with the whole downtown area completely congested by decorated and costumed foot traffic, and the police making the most popular areas a one way for said party-goers to ensure nothing like what happened a few years ago happens again, when some participants were trampled to death by the sheer mass of the surging crowd literally plowing over their bodies.

 Downtown in Macau, known as 'Centro'

I also went to Macau, one of the strangest culture mashes I have ever seen - it's a Portugese colonial area of China (now a S.A.R. like HK), meaning it LOOKS like Europe in so many ways, with brightly coloured, slightly decaying buildings, mosaic tiled streets, and portugese foods at hand, but the people are most definitely Asian. It's as if they were supplanted into an area not their own. I loved it; it's not like anything else I've seen anywhere in the parts of Asia I've trekked through. Not just the culture mash did it either - it's also been set up to be Asias answer to Las Vegas of all things, with gaudy, towering casinos blaring their expectedly bright lights. The handy thing here is that even though they have their own currency; the Macau Patacas; they readily accept the Hong Kong dollar everywhere, which is handily currently right on par with the local currency.

I met some other travelers; two Swedes; and we adventured down south to Coloane Villiage. There r e a l l y wasn't a lot there. We scoped out the beach - a blend of tan and black sand mixing with the brown and black sea water - and then explored a hotel that seemed as if it was from a childrens book or horror movie plot. It was a slightly delapitated old five star hotel, complete with missing characters from it's title clinging to the far of the front entrance, then once you walk in, it is fully staffed and just as fully free of guests. We were convinced to check out the 18hole golf course built into the side of the hill the hotel was built into, the indoor and outdoor pools, and the driving range with the deranged cat skulking around it.

Woman in Macau

Missed flight to Hong Kong

I bought a flight two days before my October 21st departure, and really ran Seoul hard in order to catch up with all my friends and past encounters that I could possibly squeeze in (as well as a hang with a random couch surfer who turned out to be flipping awesome!), and what do you know, I ended up missing my flight and unintentionally bought myself one more night in my beloved city of light and sound. I visited an old district of town I hadn't been to since my first trip to Korea; nearly two years ago, and went to the old hang out, where after a split second of being looked at like a lost tourist, I was recognised.

So awesome.

The owner even left me there for about 10mins as she ran home to get a country rice desert to share with me, introduced me to her boyfriend and his colleague, and caught up as much as we could in our broken versions of each others native tongues. Turns out however, that her boyfriend counts English among his list of 5 languages that he speaks, and ended up liking me so much that he even decided to 'adopt' me as a child of him and his girlfriends. This to the point that upon hearing I was headed to Hong Kong the following day, handed me a business card and told me to 'call Daddy' should I need any help or get injured at all. I had a great time, but his non-polyglot friend wasn't of a similar mind an ended up feeling left out of the conversation (which I empathize with, since the remainder of the time was spent in fast-paced, slightly slurred Korean), and ended up standing up to announce that he was bored, ad stormed out in an effort to attract some attention. This is of course, a culture based on honor and respect though, and since he was dining with a superior, it really ended up in him being more ignored and him lurking back in 10mins later with a gift bag peace offering in hand. Whoops!

I decided to take my cue and make an exit to 'meet a friend', and headed over to Hongdae, the pumping arts district next to the university my friend is currently a 4th year student at. I had a few hours until she was done (she's hand weaving a rug of ... Newton(??) with a rice cooker), so I heading into the streets with a self-imposed mission to take photos. This was dashed from my head quickly as the first booth I slowed to peruse had a nice man with a guitar. BAM! we started playing and next thing you know it's attracting customers who are buying things and attributing it to my presence and music, so my new friend gifts me one of his wares (a plastic phone charm back-scratching animal claw) and decided I was his new guitar teacher.

Have I mentioned I'm quite decidedly mediocre at guitar?
...It's just not nearly as common to play here as something like violin or piano.

abandoned lanterns

 

I was playing at a volleyball competition on Jeju Island, South Korea when I found out all the cool stuff you could see from the beach was an abandoned lantern festival that just was left there rather than being taken down.

Obviously, I snuck in, tried to flick the breakers to make the lights turn on to no avail (can you IMAGINE how cool that would have been?!), and snapped some photos I really love.

sucked back in

The odd thing about having lots of free time, is that you really just go where the wind blows, towards whatever happens to pique your interest that particular day.

I had randomly made a friend in a supermarket, ended up meeting up with him and his friends in Jeju city, about 25kms away and spent the day with them, and ended up crashing at one of the girls' houses with her. Next day, I went along to play volleyball on the beach as my last day on the island off the south coast of mainland S.Korea. Next thing I know, I'm joining up to play in the volleyball competition the following week, and deciding to stay at my friend's house until then. So I've been playing tennis, basketball, going for bike rides, and watching the 'Korean Population Control Ride'. I took video of this yesterday, that I'll put up soon. It's my new favourite ride.

Today's plan is to go to Mt. Hallasan, and wander around there for as long as I feel like it, before heading back to play volleyball tonight. I honestly can't wait for the weekend - and who can blame me. It starts at 7:30am on Saturday, ends with a beach dance party and group camp-out on the beach before commencing again on Sunday. Holy crap. I love it here.

The sun is still out and shining in October (I've even been swimming in the ocean, although that takes a little more of the steeled nerves to work myself up to that), and the weather is predicted to be about 71F/20c for this weekend, then the plan for now is to peace out via boat on the high seas on the following Monday and head back to Daegu. The Pusan International Film Fest (known as PIFF) is also on in Busan though, so I'm kind of interested in making my way that way as well, however ...

what a freakin day ....

 

 

 

words will come later.

At the feet of Bhudda

 morning prayers

Last night I slept under the stars again, this time part way up a volcano on the south west coast of Jeju; where a bhuddist temple is located. I was passing by after dark, and couldn't resist stopping, thank God. I wandered up where a bunch of people wearing strange yellow hats and organising flowers were; turns out the next morning was some sort of special event; but either way, I wandered up and let curiousity get the best of me, so I headed all the way to the temple at the top. This temple turned out the be a natural cave formation in this lava dome, with a sweeping archway stretching itself toward the heavens, and a likeness of Bhudda was placed atop a set of stairs lined with tallow candles and lotus casts. It was breathtaking; and my camera battery was dead, so I headed down the volcano, grabbed a fresh battery and headed back up again to capture this beatiful place as best I could. I was completely absorbed in the atmosphere; of the majesty that surrounded me, and the peaceful solitute of the night, and watching the fishing trolleys off at sea; I was definitely staying here the night.

So I camped out, and had a realy good sleep, waking only twice - once to do my best to be avoid being chewed on by a hungry mosquito, and again at about 4:15am to the beatin of temple drums and the gonging of ...well a big, loud gong. Thankfully that lasted no longer than about 15mins, and stayed asleep until I awoke for the sunrise just after 6am, when I hoofed it one final time up the volcano. I was so glad I had gone the previous night, there was now a cleaning lady taking away all the offerings that had been left the previous day, as well as the keen bean early bird prayer warriors, but the majesty of the night and stars glimmering off the cave walls was a bit dimmer in the sunlight. I came back down for another breakfast of champions (this time I was out of crackers), and watched the early morning event that was on, and then watched get torn down what I had seen put up the preceeding evening.

inside the temple at night

                                               inside the temple                                  the mops next to where i slept

Sleeping in a playground

Secretly, I've always wanted to sleep in a playground, especially after seeing this Japanese movie a few years ago where a homeless highschool student sleeps most nights in a slide that looks like a poo.

Ha. Ok, small dream, but whatever. So I slept in a slide last night.It wasn't the most comfortable sleep I've ever had, but better than last night with mr.creeper and waking up every hour just to make sure I was still alone. I woke up every few hours, either to adjust or

because the outside elements had changed - I was a little worried it would rain again, since it had poured a lot the previous day, but instead it was just really windy. I much preffered waking up to the AMAZINGLY clear stars, than a strange old man trying to get into bed

with me. The sunrise this morning was a beautiful purple haze (I'm on the west coast of the island), with gradient shades of clear blues painted across the sky in pastel hues, and an orange burnin sun rising over the volcano in the middle of the island. I ate my champion breakfast of canned tuna and crackers by the sea and black lava rocks that trace the outline of the island. This place is a beautiful dream.

Sleeping under a pagoda

Last night, I had three sleeping plans.

#1: Get taken in by someone

#2: Sleep by the beach under a pagoda

#3: Sleep at a plaground I had passed.

It was raining and due to rain more last night, and as I'm traveling sans tent, I wanted to be somewhere with good coverage, and since noone had taken me in yet (I did a bunch of messaging on couch surfing), I found a pagoda by the beach to crash out under, and had my things all set up for the night, and was just waiting for a few people to head off before crawling back under to sleep for the night. I was being a little more cautious than normal since I was literally surrounded at aft and fro with 'no camping' signs, so I was hoping the
last two stragglers staring off to the sea would hurry up and head for their respective homes.Then one holding a large heavy duty flashlight started heading straight for me, and at first. I thought I was totally busted. Turns out I was, but instead of telling me off, he said a girl would die of cold out here alone and to come stay at his house, which was just  across the parking lot behind the pagoda. I happily packed up and headed after him, bike in tow which got parked outside his side window. Meanwhile we we went inside and watched tv in his room and talked a bit; he just tapping my shoulder every minute or two to get my attention to talk again. This was a really small little place - two rooms and a bathroom and that's it (mind you that's still bigger than the average Tokyo apartment), so we're hanging out talking on his bed.
 

Then he tries to tell me to be more comfortable and lay down; even to the point where he pushed me down, but I just sat back up and said I was happy like that. I went in the other room and set my bed up on the floor, and ten came bck into his room to keep watching the movie, but apparently forgot to flick off my light switch, so he got up and turned that off, and his as well. He was laying down sideways on the bed, and when I readjusted my legs, he tried to tell me again to lay down and share a pillow with him. At this point, nothing seemed too sketchy - he's like a 60year old man who seems to just be typically Korean in the way that the older generations are a bit overbearing with kindness and looking after the younger ones, but I still only hung out for about 30mins before saying i was tired and going to bed at 10:30.

A few hours later, I wake up to him in my room in the dark trying to get into my floor bed with me, tryin to get up on my business. HELL NO. I just told him '안대!' a whole bunch in Korean, which translates to 'no permission', or 'do not do'. Ew. I set my alarm and got up just after 6 and gapped out of there without having done anything but hastily pack my bag and saying goodbye. The irony is that this old pervert had been telling me how there are a lot o unsavory characters on Jeju island and to be careful. Little did I know I would have to  exercise this advice in his own house, just 2 hours later.
Good job, buddy.

Island fever

I'm on Jeju Island. I can tell I'll like it already. I've got a small budget for my stay, so the longer that money can last, the longer I can stay. I slept 12hrs straight last night - crashed at a love motel with 2 friends who left this morning because of school and work commitments, an I literally stayed until the last mintute for check out time at noon because I slept until after 11am.

Now, I've just got to find somewhere to sleep - hopefully for free. I met a cool dude yesterday on the boat ride who rode his scooter from Seoul to Mokpo and saw me at the Jjim jil bang we slept at. Fun! The boat ride got pretty rough towards the end, and I with my land legs and not sea legs wasn't doing so well, so he got me some medicine. The kindness of Koreans always blows me away. He's camping and roughing it as well, so I might see what he's up to while he's on the island.

Also, some people told me about the laca tubes here - since Jeju is a volcanic island; there's apparently hollow lava tubes and cool caves to check out! I'm a bit in love with caves, so I've got to try and find where these are.

Today kicked my ass

Today was intense. I had trouble waking up this morning - I had kind of an uneasy sleep since the other older gentleman in the place was in control of the TV remote (men the world around apparently enjoy this small pleasure in life), and I guess he's a little hard of hearing. I lucked out in a big way though; since there was no one really there, all the sauna rooms weren't operating, so I claimed one all to myself, dragged in two bed mats and shut the door in complete bliss. I could still hear him, but for the most part he was drowned out. Same went for this morning when it was s t i l l going at 9am, so I put in my headphones and kind of just laid there lethargically until close to 11am. I had a breakfast of champions (bought a small milk and alternated spoonfulls of dry cereal and swigs of milk, and a not so tasty can of peach slices.

After strapping my bag down to my bike (have I mentioned I dislike this part of my trip the most?), I hit the road with a bit of a dreamers goal to be in Mokpo by days end, and 100kms later, I made it there. Mind you, there was some stopping, climbing, photo taking, and curious motorists stopping to have a chat, or people yelling "Fighting!" out there car windows, or sometimes just a thumbs up and a "Number 1!" yelled as they were passing by. One of my small victories in life yesterday, was that the tractor behind me could not catch me for the few exits he was on the road for. Booyah. You take what you can get. haha.

The last 20kms into Mokpo was so intense. It was through a hilly range to get to the coastline, and it was a struggle after two such big days, but I made it through. I stopped on the last apex  before my final decent to get some water at a resturant, and ended up having a conversation with the older family sitting around the table, and was even fed for free!

I head out just as the sun was setting, and by the time I got down into the valley, the darkness was quickly setting in, and I managed to blow not one, but TWO tires. I haven't ever blown a tire in the whole time I've had this bike (for a few years), and have even hardly had a flat, so this was a bit of a bummer, but a really awesome biker who happened to be passing right then helped me out to make it go faster. Thank God, because I was really worn out by this point. He ended up showing me where I could sleep that night, and since my front tire was ruined , he said he would bring me a spare in the morning since 700c's are hard to come by here in Korea. So true to his word, he came by at 11am the next day and gave me his repair tire, and then even offered to bike me to the ship where I was going to head to Jeju Island. So off we went, and he showed me around Mokpo, which the shoreline of is completely beautiful - slightly milky blue-green water with old sail boats and fishing boats moored and gently lulling back and forth.

After finding the ship, and getting a ticket, this awesome boy had run off to go get some food for us - I realised later how smart that was, since I was about to get on a boat for 4 hours and hadn't even thought about food. So we ate, said a quick goodbye, and off my boat went!

87.5kms

Today was a big day. I'm in a town called Gocheok, and I biked my ass off to get here. I did it in 6hrs, and pulled into my destination just as the skies had gone from a hazy purple to a burning deep red as the sun withdrew itself away, chasing the next day down behind the mountains. It was beautiful.
Tonight I'm sleeping it a Jim jil bang again - the public bath/ sauna places. You actually can't beat it; it's ₩7,000, which is equal to $6.20 Canadian dollars. So I had a shower, swam in a small lap pool, sat in the jacuzzi for a bit as a treat to my weary muscles, and got a fresh set of clothes and towels for my stay. There's also a common area with the hot/cold/oxygen rooms and a gym.
As forthe last time I wrote, at around 11pm, I found a couch to crash on, and was totally sweet and lucky to be there, because it ended up raining that night and into the next day. I ha one night sleeping out in the rain, and I did not need another just yet. Fingers crossed the weather holds out- forecasts say it's due to be good utility Sunday, but I'm hoping for clear skies for at least another week, unless I can find somewhere free and good to hole up.

I'm soooo beat.

Like Willie Nelson - on the road again

After getting back to Korea a few days ago, I gave myself just enough time to sort some things out, do some work on my bike and have a few nights out and a few sleep-ins before heading back off. I'm pretty excited; as usual. I'm not as nervous about biking alone like I was the first time; that whole fear of the unknown thing kind of eliminated, and now all that's left is the burn to get back on to the road. I'll probably chill for a day or two in the next town before truly heading out, since I made some friends when I last wrapped up the first half when the summer sun started to to really beat into me, and made biking in the majority of daylight hours unfathomable. Even the nights burned a fever, but thankfully now the worst is over, while still warm enough to sleep outside when needed.

Packing is always a little tough. I've got two t-shirts, one skirt and one pair of shorts (all this includes what I'm wearing), some food like crackers mixed nuts, tuna and canned peaches; all with pull tabs for easy access, and I've also got some Korean cookies my friend gave me for the trip last night, and a whole bunch of Cliff bars for when I need a snack. Also in is my three cameras and three lenses. And the film or other accoutrements needed for each. I can't seem to leave any of them behind, since they all suit different moments, or capture the same thing in such a different way.

I also obviously brought bike tools, spare tubes, a compact pump, patch kit etc etc as well as my Bulgarian sleeping bag and tarp. I also got loaned a camel back (a water backpack) which I honestly adore having with me on these trips. I slapped a blue Knog logo on my helmeINSince they're being so ridiculously awesome and supporting this adventure of mine, so I'm all set! As I walked out of the house, I realized I forgot my camera tripod and my waterproof shoe covers but it was too late to turn around or I'd miss the last bus out of town, so hopefully I dont regret that. Plastic bags can make do as shoe covers, but will I regret the lack of tripod? I hope not..

Oh, did I mention it's major holiday here in Korea this week? It's called Chusok, and means everyone floods to their hometowns so the transport systems are completely innundated with thick swarms of people. Hopefully biking on the roads won't be trecherous because of this, but my main worry is that when I want to catch a boat to Jeju Island, the boats might be booked out, so I'm just gunna wing it and see what flies my way.

More of Japan

 In the heart of one of the busiest suburbs of Tokyo, this guy has
probably been people watching for his whole life.

So back to my Japanese escapades, I had a great time there. Obviously, I took a million photos and am still going through them. I need a new computer ... this one is 4 years old, which is eons in computer years, and it takes forever to go through them. Overall at this point though, I'm happy with what I seem to have captured.

My overall impression of Japan was completely wild. I dont think I mentioned before, but the guy who I was traveling with (Ralph - you can see a video of him below), had a Japanese neighbour back in his hometown in New Zealand, and she pretty much pulled all the stops to make it an amazing experience for him, and I was lucky enough to get to partake in the festivities as well. She even did up an itinerary for us for how to best use our rail passes and see the best of what Japan has to offer. What a freakin gangster! We mostly stuck to it, actually, but once the nights ran out of places to stay for free, we skipped off the itinerary completely (in all actuality; we missed our train stop on the express train and spurr of the moment decided to just go with it and stay on the train! Luckily, I have a friend who just happens to be living out in the boondocks a few hours from the North coast of Honshū (the main island mass), so we went out to his REALLY small neck of the woods and had a great time out there at his local haunt and corner karaoke booth. Gotta say though, kid had a ballin house for living alone. You'd never see such a thing in any of the cities.

c'mon, how can you not love this?!

One of the things I loved most about Japan was ..shoot me.. but the bikes. They were EVERYWHERE and a lot of them; as hipster as they may seem; were freakin HOT. They pay through the nose to look that styley, but apparently since the economic downfall, biking has become an even more popular mode of transportation and recreational exercise, hence the being willing to dole out fat wads of cash on your sweet ride. 

 In the clear and in line for Space Mountain!

In the meantime, I'll finally mention one of the things we did that I was so stoked about. This is actually my favourite one, and one of the craziest things I think  I've ever really gotten away with completely in the clear.

We snuck into Tokyo Disney. I won't go into a whole lot of detail, just incase  it might somehow get me in trouble one day, but lets just say some climbing, sneaking, jumping, running, and ninja moves were involved. I actually think we lucked out that it was heavily raining at the time were were doing the actual sneaking; plus the park was really not full. The one bummer was that the Haunted Mansion was closed that day, and opened literally the following day for the Halloween period! Dangit! But WHAT AN AWESOME DAY. We ran around like kids who forgot to take their prozac medication that day, and ran from ride to ride and even rode Space Mountain something like 6 times in a row right as the park was about to shut. Glorious, glorious monumental marker in my life, for sure.

Back to the bike

 

My ride 

So the plan is to begin my ride again tomorrow (if I can get ready in time), or Saturday. I'll try and do a bit more about Japan soon too - there were some amazing things that went down that I left off because they deserved their own sections. I have done some awesome stuff in the past, but one of the things we did was possibly one of my greatest feats of all time. 

In the meantime, I have a new cycling sponsor; the company Knog (knog.com.au), has decided to get behind me as I pedal around the west coast of Korea. I'm also planning to do a bike trip in the middle east starting April of next year. If all goes as planned, I'll be a part of a women's bike ride through the region to raise both awareness and funds for the area, and promote biking for women in areas where they are usually not permitted to do so after they hit puberty. 

Booyah!

Adrift

I'm currently out to sea; staring at the amazing stars and constellations peeping through the big fluffy cumulous clouds that litter the midnight sky. I'm the only one at the bow of the boat, and it's been that way for a few hours; which I completely love. I am even thinking of getting into boat hitchhiking or working on a boat sometime.

We're about 3 hours into our 14hr journey - lots of travel today for me. I was up on an express train this morning at about 10am and going for aost 6 hrs zipping past some of the cities I have been to since I got here two and a half weeks ago - through Tokyo, past Kyoto, Osaka, Hiroshima and a hundred other placesbefore finally making it to Kokura and Shiminoseki to catch the boat.

This one is run by Koreans, not Japanese like my previous one to Japan. Thank God - I couldn't afford to eat a thing on the last boat, but tonight I got a banana milk ans noodles for something like $2.50. I love korea. The prices on the boat aren't even marked up from mainland store prices; that's freaking integrity. This is totally the time to rip off the unprepared; such as me who showed up bearing an orange, a bag of mixed nuts and a mini bottle of wine. Still plan on drinking the wine.

Broke in tokyo

I ran out of money two days ago.

Thank God I finally got a credit card.

Doei tashi mashdae

best travel buddy ever. I got him to do this for a freakin peice of chocolate with a macadamia in it.

I've been in Japan over two weeks now, but it feels like I've lived a few months worth of adventures since I first stepped off the boat and on to Japans terra firma. My travel buddy and I (aka Ralph, the six feet four or five dude who made me sore from laughing on a regular basis) have seriously had a good time. Luckily it worked out that way since I hardly knew the guy - we met 6 months ago when he came through the city I was living in, Vancouver, which was his first city, and then I got to hang out with him here in Tokyo all these months later in his last city. I honestly thought we had only met once, at one of those hole-in-the-wall establishments littered along Granvle street, but since figuring it all out and remembering where we met, apparently Ralph wasnt even at that place, just his other travel buddy Sophie, and we'd met at multiple other locals; one even being my own home. Whoops, my bad. I 100% put it off to the fact that I had just finished that two month Eastern European trip and had only six weeks to pack up my entire Canadian existance before moving to Korea.

After we stayed in Osaka, we went to Kyoto and the family we stayed with not only cooked up a mean feast, but they had a party as well! It was SO ridiculously fun! There was music being played and sung (one of the girls there is a singer and her friend is the guitarist), breakdancing going down in the middle of the living room, champagne bottles being continuously popped open and the vessels releived of their burdonsom liquids. From there we saw shrines, temples, and the traditional side of Japanese life, and then trained out to Hiroshima, where that very life was blown not just apart, but away, and saw the tattered remains of what was left of the lives that lived there. It was heavy, like you felt Big Boy (the name coined for the bomb dropped on Hiroshima) was sitting and staring you down with all the crushed lives and tortured final moments. The hardest part for me was reading the stories of what they went through; what people saw. Stories like mothers yelling a childs name from a bridge where naked young bodies floated by in the crowded river, or how a child with melted skin made her way home after the city was destroyed only to be in excruciating un-quellable pain until she took her last breath in her mothers arms. All the watches were frozen to 8:15, and the shadows of heat were all that was left of others. It was so interesting, the approach that Japan took; not to blame or hate, where most countries would push their side of the story, and talk about the evils of the opposing people group who brought on this attrocity; but instead they were honest about the pains they too inflicted, even having history books from other countries whom they inflicted pain and strife upon, and petitioning that somthing like this; like war; ought to never be an option ever again.

Japan just stole my heart

My first day in Japan was huge. Insane even. I was literally F.O.B.; fresh off the boat, when i hopped on my first train at 9am, and then proceeded to play communication charades with these two adorable Japanese girls. I had to email my friend what time I'd arrive in Osaka so we could meet up, and after a bunch of gesturing, outbursts of laughter and a whole bunch of wrong guesses, we finally connected the dots enough for me to send a quick one liner to my buddy.

So a bullet train and two and a half hours later and I'm in Osaka, waiting for my friend in the designated McDonalds, and already people and clothes watching like mad. Then Ralph shows up with two other girls who are friends of his New Zealand neighbour, and immediately packed us into their van for some adventures. After dropping our bags off at their place we went to an ancient castle surrounded by a moat,Eeent downtown and ate some Yaki soba (octopus balls -sooo yum!), and went to see a band play! I already want to go shopping even though the Yen is at a crazy high at the moment and makingt me so cautious of spending money that I actually only ate crackers on the ship on the way over, and crackers again until after meeting everyone.

Next was a wander on the busy streets, where eveyone is dressed to really impress, whether it be clubwear, harajuku-style or even a bit Tim Burton-esque. I loved it! Afterwards, we headed to the sushi train with their mom (who speaks Korean, so we were able to talk a lot!) and other sister - holy yum. Vancouver, Canada where I was previously living is mad about Sushi and I in that sense was 100% a Vancouverite, so after non-stop Korean food for the last few months, it was totally a welcome reprieve and ridiculously delicious. Plus, there were these toy dispenser things above every table - when you were done with five plates and dropped them into the tables slot, something like a Vegas poker machine would spin and if you won, the dispenser would roll a little vending machine style present your way.

So after all this, the night still wasnt over. We stopped back home for their dad and some supplies, and headed over to the traditional Japanese baths. Its quite similar to Korea, where women and men are separated for the nude bathing part, but they don't gather clothed in a communal part, and there's also no swimming section.

After getting back to the house, Ralph and I decided to go get our wander on the local side streets, which were just too cute to resist, so after grabbing a few beers we settled onto some random tins on the road to drink, but before we even got half way, somehow the dad managed to find us an took us into his local watering hole and bought us another drink. Home at 2am, and an AMAZING first day in Japan. I'm totally smitten.

The excitement before the adventure

Today

I'm catching a boat to Japan.

I have to catch a bus to Busan, then be at my boat, ticket in hand by 6pm.

I'm stocking up on film, and already have an arsenal of cheap food, and soju (korean alcohol) to share.

I can't freakin wait.

My friend and I are meeting up in Osaka, so I have a 3 hr train ride as soon as I get there tomorrow morning. 

BOOYAH.