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.

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

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.

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.

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.