Backpacking Northward Part 2: Da Lat

Second stop: Da Lat
Distance from Ho Chi Minh City: 306.6km/190.5 miles
Time spent on bus (from Mui Ne): 5 hours
Time spent in Da Lat: 2 days, 1 night

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We made our way to Da Lat from Mui Ne in a minivan rather than the usual sleeper bus, whipping around curves and climbing steep mountain ranges. As usual, our driver was driving as fast as he could, passing people in front of him, even when he couldn’t see if there were other vehicles coming the opposite way and there’s a 500 foot drop next to us. Despite this, we did manage to see some incredible vistas along the way.

We rode in this deathtrap of a minivan for what seemed like eons, then eventually arrived in the gorgeous and haven-like city of Da Lat.

Da Lat is situated in the mountainous countryside and is 4,900 feet above sea level. While driving through the city in the minivan, we were instantly blown away by its beauty. It was rich with color, from the pastel paint on the buildings to the plethora of flowers on almost every inch of the city.

We arrived in the late afternoon and decided to walk around a bit. We instantly noticed how cool the weather was. It was only around 70 degree Fahrenheit, which was a nice break from the impossibly hot and humid Mui Ne, from which we just came. We explored the nearby night market, which was bustling with hundreds of locals and a few tourists as well. We tried the Vietnamese popular banh xeo, which is a fried pancake stuffed with bean sprouts, green onions, egg, and various other ingredients. We had tried it before, but it was particularly delicious here… maybe because it had twice as much stuff inside!

After the night market, we decided to turn in early, since we had a long day of touring around the city the following day.

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We started our tour at around 8 a.m. with, ironically, the same bus driver as the one from Mui Ne the previous day! And, of course, he drove just as carelessly and wildly as the day before. At least there were no mountain ranges to climb this time.

Our first stop was a palace, which we never heard of, really, and I still don’t know it’s name– even after Googling it! It was pretty on the outside of the building with the many flowers and so on, but inside, it was just a house with some old furniture. Not anything particularly interesting to us.

Our second stop was a well-known church. It was a rather useless stop for us, considering we don’t really care for seeing churches; that, and we didn’t even get to go inside it, so we stood outside and stared at it for twenty minutes or so. But, we were able to see a nice view of the city from the back.

Our next stop was one of our favorites: a tram car ride over the city. We sat with a Vietnamese couple who was super friendly and enjoyed taking both secret and obvious selfies with us throughout the ride. They were great companions during our tram car ride, even though we didn’t speak the same language. The ride was also absolutely mesmerizing! To our right, we were able to see the bright and colorful city of Da Lat, sitting cozily among the mountains, and to our left, we could see untouched mountains. It was one of my favorite sights during our entire trip.

After the tram car ride, we went right across the street to a Buddhist monastery, which was undeniably beautiful, but as always, overrun by tourists.

However, whenever we weren’t swimming in loud and constantly camera-shuddering tourists, it was quite peaceful.

After the monastery, we were taken to a famous waterfall down the road. I thoroughly enjoy waterfalls, but this waterfall was pathetic. We had to climb down a mountain, which took almost thirty minutes, among–yep, you guessed it–hundreds of tourists. Then, when we finally reached the waterfall, it wasn’t even large or spectacular in any way! It was small and incredibly anti-climatic. And, as always, crawling with tourists. Needless to say, we immediately climbed back up the mountain to get the hell out of there.

We then made our way to one of our most anticipated stops: the Valley of Love. The Valley of Love is an enormous area dedicated to love and it’s decorated with a vast amount of flowers, statues, fountains, and even mazes! It was placed almost on the side of a hill, which you could easily climb down among large, brightly-colored butterflies and some more eye-popping flowers. There was a pond at the bottom of the hill, where you could float on swan boats with your love and admire the scenery.

Remember the Vietnamese couple from the tram car? We found them again at the Valley of Love and they insisted on taking pictures with us! 

The Valley of Love was such a wonderful place to be, especially with the person you love. It was so well-kept and there was a surprise around every corner. I mean, even the bathrooms and benches were aptly decorated!

The second to last stop of our tour was spent at a large shop. The only reason we went was because tours in Vietnam force you to go there with hopes you’ll buy something so that they could get a commission. Annoying, but what could we do?

The last and final stop was the old train station. It was built in 1938 by French architects, like much of the city had been. It was cool, I guess, but nothing too astounding, to be honest. It was once again covered in tourists.

We took a small amount of pictures, then returned back to where the bus picked us up. We then instantly hopped into a cab and headed to the Crazy House, a place we’d been looking forward to since before our trip!

The Crazy House was pretty much what its name implies: a crazy house. It has winding stairs, tiny and oddly shaped rooms, and various other spectacularly odd sights. On the top of one area of the Crazy House, you could see the city of Da Lat, which was, as always, absolutely beautiful.

After waltzing around there for a while, we decided to head to a popular cafe that we heard about to wind down and get some grub. It’s a cafe that’s in an old train car situated on old train tracks! It was very rustic, homey, and played only songs about trains with walls covered in old train pictures and newspaper clippings. The food and coffee were surprisingly delicious! The staff was kind and friendly towards us, which is always a huge plus. And a neighborhood cat came in and jumped on my lap for a cuddle, which was a lovely addition to our experience there!

My furry new friend and I! Can you tell that I was happy for some unexpected kitty cuddles?

By the end of the day, we were absolutely exhausted. We returned to our AirBNB and relaxed, then fell asleep. The following day, we headed to our next (and incredibly far) destination.

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Have you ever been to Da Lat? What was your experience like there? What was your favorite place in Vietnam? Do you desire to visit Da Lat?

Thank you for reading! Next stop: Hoi An!

Backpacking Northward Part 1: Mui Ne

Considering we hadn’t discovered all of Thailand when we lived there (do you believe we missed Chang Mai!?), Matt and I decided early on to not miss anything in Vietnam. After working for weeks straight and saving up some cash, we went on a backpacking excursion northward by bus from Ho Chi Minh City and made various stops along the way. This post is dedicated to our first stop along the way.

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First stop: Mui Ne
Distance from Ho Chi Minh City: 215.3 km/133 miles
Time spent on bus: 3.5 hours
Time spent in Mui Ne: 3 days, 2 nights

This was our first experience with a sleeper bus. Sleeper buses are buses with three rows of reclined seats with two levels on each row. The overall idea of them is relatively smart. You can recline and relax, look out the window, possibly use the bathroom if you need to, sleep with comfort, etc. However, they weren’t as practical as they seem…in Vietnam, at least.

Sleeper buses are, most of the time, hot. Bus drivers love having the AC as low as possible if not completely off, even if it’s 125 degrees Fahrenheit with humidity outside and everyone is dripping sweat, including themselves. The seats are far smaller than you would hope as well. They were slightly uncomfortably small for me and I’m average height in Asia. But, if you’re taller than me, sleeper buses will undoubtedly be uncomfortable. Matt is almost six feet tall, so he was scrunched during every sleeper bus ride we took. And the bus drivers like to drive like they’re in Grand Theft Auto, so that doesn’t help.

Aaanyway, we arrived in Mui Ne around midday and instantly noticed upon exiting our bus that it was unbearably hot. Ho Chi Minh City is hot, too, naturally, but not as hot as Mui Ne. After walking about fifteen minutes in blinding heat from the bus stop to our motel we found on AirBNB, we dropped off our stuff and got some sandwiches by the beach at a surprisingly deserted restaurant/bar.

That day, we decided to relax a bit, then go on an adventure the following day. We booked a tour to see the sand dunes, which Mui Ne is known for.

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We took an afternoon tour the following day and saw a fishing village, which was not spectacular to be honest, then saw two different desert-like areas: the White Sand Dunes and the Red Sand Dunes.

Fishing Village

We were completely astounded by the natural beauty that was the White Sand Dunes once we arrived. There were towering mountains of sand right before our eyes and what was particularly amazing was that there was a lagoon right next to the sand dunes! It was unlike anything we had ever seen before.

We could’ve rented four-wheelers, but they were $10 for 15 minutes! We thought that was ridiculous, so we decided to just run around on the sand dunes and climb them ourselves. We tried to climb the tallest one at one point, but near the top, we got whipped by these non-stop powerful gusts of wind and sand, so we decided to climb down real quick!

This was the sand dune we tried to climb! See the wind blowing the sand at the top?

After a surprisingly exhausting hour of running up sand dunes in the blazing sun, we were taken sand-covered to the Red Sand Dunes, which were sadly not nearly as thrilling as the White Sand Dunes. From the tops of these dunes, you could see the ocean, which was a wonderful sight, but there were unfortunately vendors crawling all over the place, constantly bombarding you and trying to sell you anything and everything. There were also tons of tourists as well, which always takes away from the magic of experiencing anything in the world.

After the Red Sand Dunes, we were finally taken back to the bus stop, where we walked back to our AirBNB motel. That night, our kind hosts and two other guests made us a spaghetti dinner, which was delicious! We got to chat with them and eat spaghetti, which was a wonderful ending to our stay in Mui Ne. Oh, and play with the extremely friendly cats that lived there!

A note on our meals in Mui Ne: we ate at this small tiki-like restaurant called Sindbad. The food was outrageously delicious and the staff was so friendly! The food was also cheap and had excellently sized portions! We may have been in Vietnam, but we ate gyros, Greek salads, and hummus with pita the entire time we were there with zero regrets. So, if you’re in Mui Ne, DEFINITELY eat here for at least all of your meals!

Our overall experience in Mui Ne was a great one that we will won’t soon forget. However, since we went in the summer, it was extremely hot and deserted for the most part. The nightlife was nonexistent at this point, since it was the low season, so if you are looking for some excitement outside of the sand dunes, I’d head to Mui Ne at a time when it’s NOT blisteringly hot and deserted!

Have you ever backpacked in Vietnam? Did you visit Mui Ne? What was your take on it?

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Thanks for reading! Next stop: Da Lat, one of our favorite stops in Vietnam!

Home, Sweet Home: Ho Chi Minh City

Hello again, readers! I apologize now for my hiatus, but I have been outrageously busy with work and–naturally–a bit lazy. Go on. Judge me.

…Finished? Wonderful! Let me fill you in a bit on my shenanigans.

Matt and I are currently in Ho Chi Minh City and have been since late January and have been loving it! Among the numerous districts in this city, Matt and I reside in District 1, the center district with the most foreigners and most things to do. We live in Japantown, which is wonderful because we are surrounded by cozy Japanese restaurants with all the ramen we could ever want! Plus, there are Vietnamese places to eat as well and we go there a lot and get various (and often mysterious) meats with rice and/or Banh Mi. There’s also many other places to eat and places to visit within walking distance.

What have I been doing since I got here over four freakin’ months ago? Excellent question! I (and Matt, of course) have started working for an online English tutoring company called VIPKid that’s based in Beijing, China. We tutor kids one-on-one through video with the aid of a powerpoint presentation. And guys: it’s seriously the greatest job I’ve ever had. I get to choose my own hours, I work from wherever I want as long as I have WiFi, get paid a dumb amount of money for it, and get to travel anywhere I want while simultaneously making money. What more could I possibly ask for?! It’s the perfect set-up all around and I’m extremely happy about it! Anyway, Matt and I have been working a ton lately in order to save up money to travel all through Vietnam for 3-weeks (which is coming up real soon!) and a new country sometime in the near future!

We’ve also been sightseeing a bit during our down time. We’ve seen a bit of HCMC and a little bit outside the city as well. I’m excited to post separate posts on those stories in the near future as well, but for now, here are some pictures of some things we’ve seen inside the city thus far:

 

January:

District 1: Walking Street, Ho Chi Minh City Hall, Street Food Market

February:

Saigon: One Immense Chaotic Blur; Matt at an outdoor restaurant (one of many) with some grub; A bridge between District 1 and District 4; four pictures taken in Chinatown; a kebab stand; me and some friendly schoolgirls at a school I worked at for a day; Me holding some coconuts and coolers!

March:

In the Smog, Not Really Clouds: Bitexco Tower

A photo shoot with some adorable (and quite sweaty) kiddies

As for April, we actually went on trips, so I won’t post those pictures just yet! I’ll save them for other posts, as well as some others that I omitted above.

So, how is Ho Chi Minh City, all-in-all? Well, I both love and hate it simultaneously. The city is bustling during the day and there’s so much to see, taste, smell, and witness. The city is bursting with things for you to experience every moment of the day, which starts at 5:00 a.m., by the way. The people are kind, friendly, and helpful. They are always excited to hold a conversation with you and learn about you, even if they only know the sentence, “What yo’ name?” Everyone’s curious about where you come from and what you’re doing here of all places. However, sometimes all of that can be a little overbearing. The streets can sometimes be too “bustling” and noisy. And I mean, really, extremely, irritatingly noisy. Horns blare every moment at what seems like nothing. There are motorbikes everywhere, even on the sidewalks, dodging a red light or a one-way street, but not dodging the pedestrians walking on them. Trucks, buses, motorbikes, and cars fly into intersections after their light had turned red 10 seconds ago! Needless to say, “safety” isn’t observed in traffic. And sometimes the offer of “Motobike?” every three feet on your walk home from the gym can be irritating as well. Oh, and there’s negative nightlife. The entire city shuts down at 10:00 pm, which is a huge let down because I enjoy an occasional night out until 5 a.m.! I’m still young, damn it!

However, Ho Chi Minh City/Saigon is a wonderful place to be. I am not ashamed of it nor upset by it. I have had some seriously wonderful experiences here and met some life-altering folks as well. I love it, even when I hate it (yes, okay, alright, for the love of god, we hear you and your horn!!!!!). I’m extremely happy we are here and wouldn’t change our time here at all.

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I hope that this post aided in explaining what I’ve been up to lately! I will (hopefully!) post something again very soon! Stay tuned folks. Thanks for reading!

Celebrating and Wandering: New Year’s in Beachy Busan

We had a few days off from work for the New Year, so Matt, a couple of co-workers, and I decided to head South to see Korea’s other large city, Busan.

When we arrived, we immediately walked along the beach. For a very late December afternoon, it was relatively warm and the sky was cloudless. It was a mesmerizing sight for us to see and feel– especially since Sejong had been so bitterly cold!

During our two night and three day stay, we experienced some both wonderful and tantalizing things. Wonderful to witness and enjoy, but tantalizing in that we’d have to only enjoy it for a short while until we returned to the frigid, dreary, and dull Sejong.

December 31st

Our first day was an ideal day for me because it involved three things I thoroughly enjoy: friends, the beach, and cats. Oh, yeah. I finally witnessed my first cat cafe and, let me tell you, it was like something straight out of a dream!

A lovely juvenile addition to some beach scribbles

“Kitler,” who peed on one of our sweatshirts

This is Bong Bong, one of the most precious and loving felines around

After that, our New Year’s celebration was a rather calm one, involving our own cheap fireworks on the beach and some brews in a local bar during the countdown, which we, being so painfully American, initiated. The fifteen or so Korean patrons joined in with us after a moment of complete confusion and promptly clinked glasses with us.

January 1st

Starting bright and early (painfully, might I add), my friends and I headed to a popular beach where thousands of people gathered to watch the sunrise. Matt unfortunately didn’t join us because he was too exhausted…and hungover, naturally! As the sun rose, music blasted through speakers while a plethora of colorful balloons and lanterns were lifted into the gradually-lightening morning sky to ring in the Year of the Monkey.

Needless to say, after that, we rushed back to our hostel and collapsed back into bed!

When we finally rose in the afternoon, we instantaneously went for some much-needed brunch, then later to a seaside temple. Unfortunately, our bus was stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic, so we ended up getting there at night.

I apologize for the blurry and dark images

January 2nd

The following day, we went to my favorite sight during our vacation: Gamcheon Culture Village. This village is absolutely spectacular. Cascading along the mountainside, the village is a rainbow sea of houses of various sizes and shapes. Among the houses are numerous hidden alleyways and alternatively open streets, both of which hold gems of cafes, shops, and eateries. We walked along the street with hundreds of other people, stopping to take in the views and snapping pictures along the way.

We decided to stop at a small cafe with retro nic nacs and get some passionately-made and delectable alcohol. Surprise– not coffee! While enjoying some drinks on their deck, we enjoyed the view.

That night, we went to a bar and had some seriously delicious food and drinks from a bar called Sharkie’s. On our way back to our hostel, we walked along the beach. It was a wonderful way to end a great vacation.

The following day, we made the trek back to Sejong with heavy hearts.

The Lantern Festival in Seoul

In late November, Matt, a fellow co-worker and friend, and I made the trek to Seoul in order to see the lantern festival on the Cheonggyecheon stream in the downtown area. The festival is held in order to commemorate Buddha and Buddha’s birthday.

On the bustling streets above the stream, there were bountiful food vendors, serving delectable treats ranging from fried potatoes wound and spread on a kebab stick to roasted chestnuts to even churros!

We had some of this guy’s chicken and it was phenomenal!

Along the stream, which flows just between and below the streets of this specific area of downtown Seoul, there were various sculptures made primarily of the paper material used in lanterns. Artists displayed their luminous and magnificent works of art at night for passersby at which to gaze and learn the historic stories behind them.

Just some of the extravagant artworks

Paper lanterns people were able to make themselves and place in the river for good fortune

Matt, me, and an igloo of white umbrellas 

It was truly an experience I won’t soon forget. However, as for the evening and early morning spent in the city afterward, I can’t exactly say the same! 🙂

 

Korean Barbecue

It was a necessity for me to write a post on Korean barbecue because of its popularity and its mouth-watering, delectable, and savory flavors. …And I’m salivating already.

Our first night in Sejong City, Matt and I were invited to join a few other people from our job for some Korean barbecue. In our jet-lagged and weary state, we joined and ate some food wrapped in lettuce leaves. Due to our delirium, we didn’t quite grasp how juicy and flavorful the food truly was. 

About two months later, a couple of other teachers, Matt and I were deciding what to get for dinner one night. I suggested Korean barbecue, since I remembered that it was relatively good the last time I tried it, but since I couldn’t quite recall how good it was at the time, I wanted to give it another go. Everyone agreed and we all met up at the local barbecue joint.

We sat down at a table with a hole in the middle. Tara ordered some meat, beer, and soju for us because, after all, it’s not a meal in Korea if you don’t have some alcohol, too! The waitress left and quickly returned with a plethora of dishes. Some were side dishes, such as kimchi, pickled onions, thin sliced fish omelettes, spicy shredded scallion salad, and Korean coleslaw. She also brought a long plate filled with lettuce and partitioned plates of salt, garlic cloves, and a flavorful and mild red sauce.

A man with a bucket of hot coals appeared, then placed it into the hole in our table. Then, a grill plate was placed on top of it and the vent above our table was pulled down close to the grill. Suddenly, our raw pork and beef showed up, too! Seriously, everything is so quick in restaurants in Korea, it’s miraculous. Without hesitation, Tara picked up pieces of beef and pork and placed them on the grill.

After only a few minutes, the pieces were ready to eat! I picked up a couple of pieces of meat, which were dripping with juices, and placed them onto a leaf of lettuce. With my chopsticks, I added some salt, red sauce, onions, and shredded scallion salad to my leaf. I rolled it up and bit in and… wow. Just wow. The meat was so fresh, so juicy, so flavorful, I was just blown away. The meat in America has got nothing on the meat here, especially barbecue. Seriously. 

I proceeded to eat a lot more stuffed leaves and drink a nice amount of Cass beer and soju. I stuffed myself to pure happiness and it was perfect. I never wanted it to end! And I most certainly intend on returning there ASAP! 

Have you ever had Korean barbecue? What was your experience? 

Zombies, Drinks, and Familiar Faces in Seoul

During our break from school for the Korean Thanksgiving, Chuseok, some fellow foreign teachers, Matt and I decided to take an excursion to Seoul. Matt and I were thrilled about this because we hadn’t yet been to Seoul. Plus, we were going to go to an amusement park and have an undoubtedly enthralling night out in the city.

We left around 9 a.m. via bus with everyone and got off at a train station, where there was a god-sent-like Dunkin’ Donuts. After refueling, we hopped on our train. No, it wasn’t the fast train. However, it was the “medium” train, which travels almost as fast as the KTX (fast train), so that was fairly exciting.

Fun fact: while traveling in Korea, especially by train, talking loudly is interpreted as rudeness. So, don’t be shouting loudly with your friends. A couple of our friends received some nasty looks for conversing at a reasonable decibel (you know, for America).

On our way, we managed to see some beautiful Korean scenery right outside our large-paneled window.

Another fun fact: when being a foreigner in Asia, anticipate people taking pictures of you. While on the train, one Korean fellow seated in front of us was taking a lot of selfies, which were actually mainly comprised of our faces. In retrospect, I wish I took a picture of him taking a picture of us. Or, at least made an unforgettably horrific face into his camera. That would’ve definitely made the ride a bit more interesting.

Next stop, we got off and jumped onto a subway train (thank the gods one of us was handling the navigation because I honestly was confused the entire time. Kudos, Tara!). Their subway trains are also fairly clean, spacious, and comfortable! So, that’s a nice plus.

Eventually, we made it to Everland, a Korean theme park, which was at the time holding a 50% discount on all tickets for foreigners! After handing in our tickets, we made our way through the park.

Who the hell is this lady?

German town-like replica

In the German town area

In case anyone was curious, I’ve become gradually more terrified of heights as I’ve grown older (am I ancient or something!?), so rides no longer attract me as they used to. However, fortunately for me (and unfortunately for the people I was with), there were lines of impatient people zigzagging all across the park, so not many rides were ridden. Me? Zero. But, I was mainly there for the Halloween-themed evening anyway.

Halloween parade floats!

Beheaded person (notice: Patrick in the background, killin’ a photo op)

My favorite part of the evening had to be the haunted house. I went in with Tara (who led the group again, like the champ she is!), Patrick (her boyfriend and another teacher), and Matt. We went inside train-style with our hands on each others’ shoulders, already quivering in fear, since we were hearing plenty of blood-curdling screams coming from inside while we were on line.

Once inside, we noticed its theme was a haunted asylum, filled with fake blood, rickety stretchers, dark lighting, and people dressed impressively well as inmates. The people followed us as we walked (more like ran) through the maze, jumped out at us, and honestly just scared the ever living shit out of us. We screamed. A lot. It was hands-down the best haunted house I’d ever been in. A+, Korea!

I also thoroughly enjoyed the zombie dance. Employees were dressed impeccably as zombies and were dancing zombie-style to background music within a circle of intrigued park-goers. They would occasionally quickly sprint at the unknowing crowd, causing plenty of jumps and screams. It was an awesome fifteen-minute show!

Zombie dance (sorry for the blurry shots)

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After Everland, five of us made the trek to Itaewon, an area of Seoul city, which was about two hours from where we were. When arriving in Itaewon, we changed in a coffeehouse’s bathroom, had some food, and waltzed to a street littered with bars. We drank some 711 soju on the street corner (we’re classy) and decided to go to another bar a few blocks away.

On the way, a passerby caught my eye and turned out to be an old friend, with whom I grew up! What a small world, huh? I come from a small town with a population of 5,000 people, I move to Korea, and the one night I’m in this one particular area in Seoul, I run into someone from my hometown. How is that even possible?

So, obviously, considering the very unlikely circumstances at hand, he decided to come with us and brought one of his friends along with him. We arrived at a bar called “Thursday Party,” which apparently is notorious for wild foreigner shenanigans.

It had to be documented that we, in fact, found each other in Seoul!

It was honestly a great time! I had many drunken conversations with people from all over the world, such as Africa, Thailand, and native Koreans! Everyone was super kind and talkative. It was such an eventful, yet hazy, evening. Or morning, really.

At around 5 a.m., we left Thursday Party and wandered the streets, looking for a hostel to stay in for the night. We went to one that one of us was familiar with, but it unfortunately had no room available for us. So, instead of being logical and looking for another hostel somewhere else, we made the decision to make the three hour-long trek back to Sejong.

We took a cab, then the KTX (yes, the fast train!), then another cab. Finally, at 8 a.m., we arrived back at our apartment and knocked out immediately!

How about you guys? What are your experiences with Seoul?

Jajangmyeon (Black Soybean Noodles)

During my first month in Korea, my main food of choice was black soybean noodles, considering I didn’t (and still don’t) know much about Korean food and what’s good. They’re simple, cheap, filling, and delicious! 

We waltzed into a small restaurant during one of our first work days. Why? Because there were pictures of their food items along with cheap prices. Therefore, our hunger and wallets led us inside immediately. It turned out that we really enjoyed the fried rice we ate!

One day on one of my breaks, I decided to head there for some sustenance, but I really wasn’t in the mood for fried rice again. I decided to go out on a limb and try the dark-colored noodles on the menu, mainly because they were noodles (I love noodles) and they were only $3! Obviously, I had to have it.

After waiting only a couple of minutes, the waitress brought me a large bowl of noodles slathered in dark, chunky goop and a pair of scissors. I looked up at the waitress like a helpless, lost puppy and she picked up the scissors, stuck them in my noodles, and cut the noodles up. Why? Because the noodles turned out to be super long and when they’re cut, I wouldn’t choke on them! So, that’s smart.

After she left, I grabbed some chopsticks from the drawer in the table (yes, Korea is amazing and provides you with your utensils and napkins in a drawer on the side of your table) and dug in. Let me tell you: it was delectable. Usually, I’m not into creamy and thick sauces, but this was delicious. It had chunks of pork with diced carrots, peas, and soybeans that fit in so well with the noodles. I was in heaven! I gobbled that up so fast, I’m not even sure I breathed the entire time I was eating them.

Unfortunately, it’s a very heavy dish, so it felt a little uncomfortable in my stomach afterwards, but it was honestly so worth it! I’ve eaten it a ton of times since then and I’m sure I’ll eat it a ton more times while I’m here! I definitely highly recommend them. 🙂

Jajangmyeon with a side of radishes for a palate cleanser 

A Summation of my First Month Living and Teaching in Sejong City, Korea

Surprise! I now live and work in South Korea and have been for about a month now. And you know what? It’s honestly been an amazing ride thus far.

Here’s a bit of the background story:

Matt and I made the decision to come here to teach rather quickly and at an inconvenient time. We had just moved to San Jose, California in July to start a low-paying, high-demanding, and uninteresting after school job. While subletting there for only six days, we dropped hundreds of dollars on just living and surviving there and realized we’d need to spend a lot more in the near future on things such as a car, car insurance, an apartment (deposit and rent), and so on. We immediately realized what a ridiculous and poorly thought out decision we had made. It wasn’t so ridiculous just because of the job, the low pay, or the expensive lifestyle of San Jose, but it was mainly because we both desperately wanted to teach abroad again– and knew that before even moving to California.

Pretty stupid, right? Yeah, we thought so, too, but, I have to be honest: I had felt so relieved once we made the decision to look for teaching jobs in Korea and again when we landed the job we have currently. Fortunately, not much time had passed between the two, either! So, while we were subletting in a house in San Jose, we were getting our documents together for Korea, taking cabs here and there and back again. It was exhausting, but immensely exciting!

After our month-long sublet was over, we returned home to New York to see family and friends for a month. Then, we made our trek across the globe to South Korea!

Anyway, we’ve been in Sejong City, Korea for a month and it’s been wonderful. I’m still overwhelmingly relieved and glad we made the ultimate decision to come here and teach for a year. Just to sum up four weeks of Korea, here’s a list of stuff after we arrived:

• We landed at Incheon Airport in Seoul.
• We stayed at a random hotel in a pretty deserted part of Seoul Province (Seoul is significantly larger and more wide-spread than you would have imagined, since there’s a Seoul province and a Seoul city).
• Ate some food where we first experienced Korean food and their amazing plethora of side dishes

Side dishes!

• Knocked out from exhaustion
• Got a ride from the hotel owner back to the airport, then got a bus from the airport at to Sejong City
• When we arrived in Sejong, we were picked up by a worker from our hogwon (private school) and driven to our hogwon immediately, even though all we wanted to do was relax and take a shower!
• We had to stay with the people who we were replacing for about a week until they moved out (inconvenient, yes, but not bad because they were really nice and helpful). But, after that week, we got to have a three-bedroom, two-bathroom, clean, rent-free apartment to ourselves! (I’ll make a separate post about that in a little bit!)
• Our job had us watch the other teachers teach the day after we arrived, even with our jetlag. Apparently, this is common in Korea.
• We started teaching a few days afterward and it’s way better than teaching in Thailand. The kids care (generally) and so does the administration, which is so important. However, breaks are extremely rare during the work day. But, I honestly don’t see that as much of a negative because the day flies. Oh, and our day starts at 1:00 pm, or 2:00 pm, depending on the day of the week. So awesome.
• We explored Sejong and discovered that it’s beautiful, both naturally and industrially.

What’s this guy riding?

These are everywhere here and they’re terrifiying, but thankfully not poisonous!

This guy is a fun time.

A pizza chain’s slogan on one of their plates: “Love for Women”

I’d really love to know what this sign says…

• We worked for the entire month, having a great time doing so. The people we work with are helpful and sweet, the kids are good and the classes are small, so they’re easier to handle, and the material is easy and fun to teach.
• We went out for drinks in Sejong with a few fellow teachers one weekend and it was a great time! Except for the vomit. Korea works hard and plays hard. And so, they vomit. A lot.

• Matt and I realized that we weren’t really fans of Korean food. I mean, there’s a lot of spam in a lot of food items. Not a fan of spam. Upsetting, but we’re still trying to learn to like the food! We still have eleven months to go, after all. Here’s some food we ate so far:

Some food we cooked in front of ourselves…
Not sure of the name or what was in it!

Silkworm larvae in a Japanese restaurant in Sejong (not yummy)

Vegetable bibimbap! 

An extremely expensive meal (about $43), but it was comprised of lots of pork, which you placed in lettuce leaves, and ate with sauce and side dishes (kimchi is on the far right on bottom). Also, beer and soju! 

Black Soybean Noodles (ah-mazing, actually)

And soju (“red” flavored), which tastes wonderful.
Soju is served with most dinners and drank in shots

• Oh, and for the Korean Thanksgiving, Chuseok, our job gave us four bottles (two each) of French wine! That’s definitely worth mentioning!

Basically, Korea is amazing and totally different from Thailand in so many ways. But, we are loving it and are extremely excited for the rest of our year here! Stay tuned. 🙂

The Captivating Emerald Waterfalls at Erawan National Park, Complete with Formally Dressed Trees and Dead Skin-Munching Fish

After school had eventually ended, the following weeks before our flight home in mid-April were dedicated to the exploration of Thailand.

First stop: Kanchanburi province to see the glorious Erawan National Park!

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Matt, Paul, and I ventured early from our apartment in Chonburi to Bangkok via a couple of minivans, one of which held and later kicked out a belligerent old man with an orange cat on a string. That provided us with a bit of entertainment, that was for sure.

In Bangkok, we took yet another minivan to Kanchanaburi, where we then squeezed into a tuk-tuk and sped and weaved our way to our motel. After arriving at the Jolly Frog, we noticed that there were two twin-sized beds, a fan, a dresser, and a bathroom. It was extremely dingy and toasty (a fan doesn’t do anything to soothe you in the Thailand heat!), but we decided it wouldn’t be the end of the world if we stayed there.

We waltzed around the streets for a bit and saw numerous inviting bars, a 7-11 (of course. No Thai town/city is complete without a 7-11), and a few small shops. Then, we headed back to eat some dinner at our motel, which also had a restaurant attached, and that turned out to be phenomenal! They had Thai food, American food, and, surprisingly, Mexican food! And they did an awesome job with it all.

We then headed out to one of the bars later on in the evening to drink and hang out before hiking in the national park the next day. Matt unfortunately didn’t drink because he was feeling a little sick and didn’t want his cold to get any worse because who wants to hike in Thailand heat and humidity with a fever?

Eventually, we headed back to the room to catch some sleep. Paul knocked out immediately, but Matt and I couldn’t sleep whatsoever. It was stiflingly hot, almost suffocating, and Matt was feeling worse than he was earlier. So, at around one a.m., we decided to go searching for another hotel that had air conditioning. We fortunately did, then went back to our room at the Jolly Frog’s, exhaustively gathered our stuff, scribbled a note for Paul, then went to our new hotel and slept like we had never slept before.

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ERAWAN

Eventually, we rolled out of bed and, although Matt was still feeling sick, he decided that it was worth it to go to Erawan nevertheless. So, we slapped on some light clothes, sneakers, and a backpack, and headed to Jolly Frog’s to find Paul, grab some breakfast, and ride a song tao for an hour to the mountain.

Having a work visa, by the way, has some wonderful benefits! Upon arrival at the gate about an hour later, we had to pay 600 baht each, which is about twenty dollars. However, with our visas, we only had to pay 300 baht altogether. Pretty sweet deal!

Anyway, we started to hike up the mountain and marveled at the beauty of the multiple and individually awing tiers of Erawan falls.

During our hike up the mountain, we noticed that several tree trunks were heavily decorated in formal Thai clothes! It was a very interesting sight and, don’t quote me on this because this is kindof hearsay, they supposedly were tied there to religiously honor the park and nature overall. 

I have to say that, as typical as it may sound, the final tier of the falls was my favorite. You could look up and see a far above cliff, heavily grooved from years of erosion from the waterfalls, and past it, the blaring sun and clear blue sky.

Paul and I went swimming in the final tier, which was such an amazing swimming experience. The water was freezing, which was completely different from the gulf of Thailand we had swam in before, but it was perfect, since we were so hot. It was a very light blue color, holding white-colored rocks throughout. Within the water, fish swam peacefully, but they actually gnawed on your body to “manga” on your dead skin! It was a strange sensation, feeling tiny fish lips sucking on my skin, but it wasn’t all that horrible. It was honestly more startling than anything, since you don’t usually expect a fish to nibble you and help you in a way!

It was wonderful relaxing there, floating and admiring the natural beauty all around me. I soaked it in as fish pricked my skin while I did so. Eventually, we got out and headed back down the trail and I said goodbye to one of the most beautiful parks I’d ever witnessed.