Daegu

Well, to my grand disappointment, I have finally admitted to myself that there just isn't any financial way for me to make it to Japan on this trip. I'm so close, but it isn't going to happen. This is going to really destroy my credibility with all of the people I told I was coming. I thought I could pull it off, but I erred by coming to Korea first rather than Japan. Therefore, I won't be here too much longer. I'm heading back to Thailand on the 27th rather than the 5th as I don't want to impose too much longer on my 3 hostesses. Tomorrow I am heading to Daegu to visit Will, another Korean whom I befriended in Seoul. I'll just stay there one night before coming back to Seoul.

Yesterday, I saw King Kong. While it did have some flaws, I'm tempted to call it a fantastic remake. Over three hours and I didn't even notice it was that long. Perhaps, that is all that really matters, how long it 'feels'. Good stuff.

I visited Gyeongbok, which was built during the Chosun/Joseon Dynasty sometime towards the end of the 14th century. As my luck would have it, the place was closed and I'm not sure I'll get over there again this trip, but I suppose its possible. The place is huge. Just looking at the outer and inner gates and the maps, the word palace seems a bit weak. It used to have hundreds of buildings, but many of them have been destroyed and rebuilt so I have no clue how many are there now. Oh well. I bet it would have been pretty amazing. Instead, we went in the palace museum next door which was boring and small as far as museums go.

Smokers Die Already!

I've been sick for about two weeks or so now. I'm quite sure its a direct result of my being around people that smoke too much. It started one day after I went out for about 2 hours with a group of people, most of whom smoked. We sat outside, but I was just surrounded by it and suffered badly for a few days following. That along with the fact that I walk through or sit in smoke every day in CM. What its like for me now that I've been away from smoke for a few days is almost identical to when I quit smoking some 6 years ago. Its like a cold, where your sinuses are constantly expelling fluids. For the 2 days before I left Thailand I woke up drowning in my own saliva at 4 or 5 in the morning. Its mighty unpleasant. So I can't breathe as well as I should, and on top of that, varying amounts of yellow goodness are attempting to ease their way from my lungs to the nearest place that I can spit them. Nice eh? It feels a lot worse than it sounds.

Maybe I should move to Bhutan?

Giant Falling Balls

I was at MBK (huge shopping complex) in Bangkok on Tuesday night searching for warm clothes when I saw a big commotion. People were lined up along the railing on the 5th floor. I looked up and saw that on 6 and 7 the railings were also full of people looking down at something. It took me a few minutes to squeeze my way in, but there was a giant football (soccer) on the 2nd floor escalator platform. There was a guy lying on the ground. Police were trying block off the escalators leading to and from the platform. At first I didn't think much about the ball and I was wondering if he jumped or fell. As it turned out the giant football which was hanging form the ceiling (7 or 8 stories up) fell onto this escalator island and hit one guy on the head. The ball was perhaps 3 or 4 metres high. This is where it got kind of funny. After the person was removed (alive or dead, I have no clue) a swarm of police attacked the ball. About 10 of them literally tore the ball apart in a few minutes. Inside was a large metal crossbar frame which obviously is what made the ball more dangerous. In less than 10 minutes, the giant ball was swept up and the frame was carried away and everyone went back about their business. Crazy stuff.

Korea is Cold

It is about -10C today. I arrived last night.

The house is very small. A hallway, with a bedroom and a bathroom. The shower leaves something to be desired. It hangs very low on the wall so I have the option of holding it up over me or crouching really low. At least there is hot water, but the room is really cold. The insulation in the bedroom is good, but the bathroom seems like it is almost outside. Speaking of outside, I looked in the fridge this morning and discovered it was empty. Lana, one of the girls understood my dismay and opened a sliding glass door that led to a tiny alcove that sits outside with another window. This is where they keep all of their food. It is colder outside and it saves electricity I guess.

Korea

I bought my ticket today. I'm going to Bangkok tomorrow morning and I fly early on Wed. Stopping in Hong Kong for a bit and then arriving in Korea around 8:30pm. I'm not sure how long I'm staying yet. I am on the waiting list to return on the 27th or 28th, but the only open flights were 25th, 31st and the 5th. I went with the 5th, so I may not be back until then. I assume I'll make it to Japan during that time, but not sure on the dates yet. I'd like to go there for Christmas and possibly New Years. We shall see.

韓国へ行く！ 日本も行くらしい！

So things have been a bit hectic lately. I've been sick all week, it made my 8am finals a little less than pleasant, but I'm sure I did fine on them.

I'm hoping to go to Korea and Japan next week. I actually have a ticket booked from Bangkok to each of them, but I haven't decided which I should go to first. The problem came in when I discovered that it would be cheaper for me to fly 2 seperate roundtrips to Japan and Tokyo then going rt to Japan, then from there rt to Korea. Sounds rather inefficient to me. Anyways, my friend pointed me towards yahoo.co.jp and of course I found a return for 75 bucks, as opposed to 500+ if I search in English. Of course, now I am learning towards Korea first, as this would give me a chance to be in Japan for Christmas, and possibly New Years if I end up staying that long. But I'm not sure if Korea will have the same low-cost flights or not. I certainly hope so.

Anyways, as I'm going to Bangkok on Tuesday and I'm not sure where I'll be or if I'll be writing anything before next year. I will if I have time or pictures.

Outside Warm Up - Luk Muu