Insadong Art Night: Pictures!

Insadong Art Night!

My Korean friend Rebecca, who is an artist, was displaying her painting at an art gallery in the art conscious area of Insadong in Seoul. She invited Kim and I to attend at the gallery and it was well worth the trip. We went to go see Rebecca, who was so excited that we came, and we looked around the gallery and saw all of the paintings. They were excellent and Rebecca's was really interesting. She explained to us that she envisioned a series of plants and animals that used to live on earth, but because of human destruction they became extinct. This was the basis for her painting. Her painting is of a tree that she pictured living in the forest. We discussed about how the eyes of the tree looked human and almost ashamed of what they have done to nature on earth. Also the manner in which the deer and the rabbit are looking at you (the viewer of the painting) saying "It's your fault." It was very interesting to know what artists actually draw about, because everyone sees something different.

After the art show, Rebecca, Kim, Jay, and I went for tea at one of the tea houses (which are all famous) in the Insadong area. There were live birds flying around the tea house as well as many different setups around (including a table which was a big bowl with fish in it and a sheet of glass on top). It was great tea and I had a great time.

When we were leaving we went to look at all the ceramics that were in the shops in the area. Rebecca explained about all of the ceramics and the different patterns. Kim ended up buying a beautiful tea set that has Cranes on it, the tea set is very traditional and Korean.

All in all, it was a great night and a lot of fun.

Trip to the Philippines

Early Christmas morning I arose with my bags packed and headed excitedly to the Airport. Why, you might ask? Because I was going to be boarding a plane early that morning heading toward Manila and the Philippines for a week. Arriving at Incheon Airport in Seoul, I boarded a plane directly to Manila. In that 4 hour period, I went from -25 degree weather to +25 degree weather. It was fantastic! I had to get the shorts and t-shirts and Bercks packed so that I could enjoy the beach! Once we landed in Manila we had to board another plane to the Number 1 beach in the world - White Beach, on Boracay Island. This was a beautiful setting on an island that could only be accessed by catamarans. We had to fly to Kalibo airport and then disembark and board a bus to drive for another 2.5 hours before we got to take the Catamaran.

I was checked into a lovely resort called 'Alta Vista de Boracay.' It was really cool and had an open air waiting room, open air dining room, and open room lobby. The resort was great and after checking in we showered (after a FULL day traveling) and went into the city where we had a fabulous Christmas dinner, on the Beach. Literally, on the beach. Our table was in the sand about 15 feet from the thundering waves washing up on the sand that felt so great under my feet.

The next few days were spent looking and searching around the gorgeous island that has the #1 beach in the world on it - The White Beach. Although the sun wasn't shining through the clouds, it was still 25+ degrees outside and the weather was so warm. The beach was gorgeous (as seen in the pictures). The next few days were spent Parasailing, Jet Skiing, getting Massaged, and hanging out on the Island.

When it was time to check out of Alta Vista and head back to Manila, we packed our bags and headed to the airport. When we got to the airport, with no x-ray machines for the bags, and no metal detectors for the people (nor were they searched), we went to check in. The airline attendant noticed that Laura (one of the travelers in our group) and I were not on the flight for December 28th, but January 28th! So we were placed on Standby. It was very nerve wrecking as we were in a country not knowing the language, far removed from society (there was nothing around the airport) and three hours away from Boracay Island! I inquired as to how full the plane was and they were overbooked by 3 people. We thought we had the worst luck ever and we wouldn't be able to get on the plane. Luckily, five minutes before boarding we were called to the ticket counter and we were given Business Class tickets for the flight! That was a nice surprise and ended the day well.

In Manila we just toured around the city, which was pretty disappointing as there wasn't much cultural activities, just mainly bars and malls. There was a great party that we attended on New Years Eve (Manila is in the top 10 places in the world to ring in the New Year). We went to a hotel ball room where Richard Poon (Number 1 live performer in the Philippines) was playing as well as another band. There was a giant 5-star meal as well as an open bar and laser light show. It was the best way to ring in the New Year!

New Year's day it was back to reality and we boarded the plane, after a week long trip to the Philippines, and back to Seoul! I would definitely recommend going to the Philippines and would love to go back soon someday.

Philippines Pictures

Bar on the Beach in Boracay


Hotel Lobby!


Restaurants on Boracay Island

Sun setting on Boracay


Sun setting while I was getting a massage on Boracay Island


Prices of the Massages


Beach area, Boracay Island, Philippines


Catamaran, Boracay, Philippines


Me with a drink "Good for 2-3 people"


Fantastic Beach!


Beautiful water, Beautiful beach, beautiful time!


Catamaran to get to Boracay Island

At Kalibo Airport. First impressions of non-metropolitan Philippines


The Kalibo Bureau of Customs - And the Baggage Inspection Area. No, they did not have x-ray machines or metal detectors.


Seoul's Incheon Airport

N Seoul Tower

I've been pretty bad at keeping my blog updated, I know, but there are going to be a lot of blog updates that will be coming in the next week to get everyone caught up. In this blog post I will be taking you back in time to the weekend of December 7th, 2008! Yes, 2008! It seems like such a long time ago, and it is. I can't believe it's already February 2009!

The weekend of December 7th, Kim and I couldn't figure out what to do, so on an impulse we decided to go tour around the n Seoul Tower. It is a beautiful tower that served many purposes, such as communication and keeping watch for the North Koreans attacking. In the grounds of the park there are many things to do, such as a botanical gardens, a traditional Korean village, and a hike up the mountain. Since it was pretty cold out and on the verge of snowing, we decided that it would be better to take the cable cars up to the top of the mountain. Because of time constraints, we also didn't visit the Botanical Gardens, or the Korean Village, so stay tuned for another post from the Namsan Park. When we got to the top of the hill and reached the tower, we were able to walk around the complex. There were some interesting things, such as Fire warning signals to signal for the North Koreans that were attacking (these can be seen in the Disney Movie Mulan). If they spotted the North attacking, they light the stack that signals the other tower and that tower lights and signals the next tower and so on. Soon the entire city knows they are under attack. This was very interesting. But to the main part of out visit, the tower. We purchased our tickets and then took the elevator to the top where there is an observation deck. We went up the tower just as the sun was going down, so we were able to get views of when the sun was still a bit up and also a night view of the city. Both were fantastic. The city's skyline is very interesting during the day and lit up at night! There are so many lights and neon signs all around the city that it looks phenomenal from the top of the tower and a clear evening.

As we were coming down from the observation deck we were pretty hungry, so we were able to eat dinner and a quaint little Italian restaurant and it was very pretty watching the snow come down. We had our three course meal, courtesy of Duncan, Carolyn, and Marcia (Thanks!) and it was a very good evening.

N Seoul Tower Pictures