Alex | Back in Seoul

December 19, 2008August 8, 2018

Trip to Beijing

As you may have notice, I don’t have so much time to update my blog lately. As many other blogs, this one is turning into a mere log of my trips around Asia…

It doesn’t help much to solve this, but here are some pics of my last trip to Beijing with Alex. Nevertheless, I promise to tell you more stories about Seoul as soon as I have some free time again (work, Korean exams, job interviews, etc. have been keeping me busy all this time).

First funny picture of the trip. Two workers made turns to carry each other in this little car… in the middle of a four-lane avanue.

Entrance of the Lama Temple.

With Alex, my travel mate.

InTiananmen, undoubtedly one of the must-see spots in Beijing, where in 1989 the famous revolution about the Chinese communist dictatorship took place (more info here: video 1, video 2).

Another view of Tiananmen, from the top.

At the Silk Market (where more than Silk, all kinds of fake products are sold). I bought these two girls a pair of fake Adidas for 60 yuan (9 USD). Kind of expensive, but they were so cute…

A hair shop in the middle of the street?

What would Mao say about this…?

Of course, we also visited The Great Wall of China.

One of the hobbies of Chinese people is the artistic writing of Chinese ideograms. At the huge Summer Palace, this woman spent the whole morning writing with this stick that she dip into a bucket with water. Obviously, after a few minutes, the characters were gone.

This seems to be another hobbie of Chinese. I don’t know how to call that.

Right before going back to the airport, a picture with “The Nest” at the background, where Usain Bolt made history with his record.

Of course, I can’t leave without thanking my friend and coworker Peque, great friend and better person, who arranged our housing in Beijing and showed us the city’s nightlife, and my friend and Korean-mom Ga-Young, who made time in her busy student schedule to meet us and spend some time with us. Hope I can see you guys again soon! 🙂

August 26, 2008August 8, 2018

Trip to Malaysia

Lately I am traveling a lot… which means I don’t have much time to update my blog, study Korean, or keeping in touch with friends.

Anyways, this trip’s goal was basically diving in Sipadan, which we couldn’t because we didn’t know that there is a one-month waiting list to dive there. But at least we got to dive in other closer islands and we finally got our PADI Open Water Diver License.

We decided to stay at Semporna, a town on the east coast of Sabah, in Borneo. From there, you can take a boat to many small nearby islands which are pretty good for diving. There is not much to see in this town, though. Most tourists here come solely to dive.

With Alex, ready for some snorkeling.

That’s me, diving.

And that’s me with my friends, diving.

This is what I call paradise 😀

Sunset in Semporna.

Floating houses. Many people in Semporna live on the sea… literally.

Once we got sick of diving, we flu back to Kuala Lumpur, and spend a couple of days there. The city isn’t one of my favorites, but I liked the mix of cultures and religions that you can see on the streets (Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc.). We decided to pay for a guided tour, which probably was a good idea because it was raining most of the day and it felt quite nice to move around by car instead of walking.

Main gate of the Royal Palace, Kuala Lumpur.

Partying with Marcos in Kuala Lumpur.

In front of the Petronas Twin Towers. One of the least original pictures to be taken in KL. By the way, according to Wikipedia, the second tower was built by the Korean company Samsung Engineering and Construction.

We spent the last day of the trip in Malacca, a very nice colonial town two hours and a half drive south from Kuala Lumpur. This city was colonized by the Portuguese, Dutch, and British. Therefore, Malacca seems anything but an Asian city.

There are these tuk-tuks decorated with flowers everywhere around Malacca taking tourists around.

Christ Church, at the Dutch Square in Malacca.

On the way back to the airport, we stopped at Putrajaya, a kind of artificial city where the government is moving most of its official buildings. There is a big mosque and selling of alcohol is forbidden in the whole city.

In front of the Prime Minister’s office, in Putrajaya.

View of the Putra Mosque at night.

July 12, 2008August 8, 2018

Trip to Tokyo

This was a lightning trip we made to Tokyo a few weeks ago (yes, I know I keep without updating my blog, sorry…). For such a short time (we arrived on a friday night and came back to Seoul on sunday afternoon) we saw quite a bunch of places (Harajuku, Shibuya, Roppongi, Akihabara, Asakusa, etc.).

The big amount of bicycles you can see in Tokyo amazes me. Although it’s one of the most densely populated cities in the world, Tokyo has so many streets for pedestrians and many times reminds me of any European city.

We all know how much Japanese like fetishism. In Asakusa market you can buy college girls’ boobs that you can eat 😛

Finally, more than two years after I graduated from ISU, I met my friend Chiho again 😀

We could see a traditional Shinto wedding at Meiji Shrine, very near Harajuku Station.

Takeshita Street, one of the most mopular streets in Tokyo, where you can also see many cosplayers.

With Thanita and Chiho at a sushi-restaurant.

¿What the heck is a 2CV doing in Shibuya? They say in Tokyo you can expect to see anything 😀

Having dinner in Shibuya, from left to right, Harumi, Thanita, Pablo and Satomi. (Thanks to Thanita who spent hours looking for a restaurant with room enough for almost 20 people we were!)

At Asakusa Temple, from left to right, myself, Itzíar, Ciro, Alex, and Jairo.

July 2, 2008August 8, 2018

Trip to Gyeongju

Some days ago we went to Gyeongju (경주), the old capital of the Silla Kingdom. We went on a minivan that we rented between 8 people and travelled for three days and two nights.

On the way to Gyeongju, we drove by Pohang (포항)… where is all this? Right here:

In Pohang, we went to the Bogyeong Temple (보경사, Bogyeongsa) and spent the first night at a resort called Ocean Views at the Wolpo Beach.

Woman praying to Buddha at the Bogyeong Temple.

Coincidentally there was a Buddhist funeral going on at that moment. I was surprised to see a black hanbok as they are usually very bright and colorful.

From left to right, Jairo, Alex, Ciro, and Itzíar.

Jairo, Alex, and Ciro at the river. There were also some waterfalls, but they were a little far, and it was getting dark:(

After visiting this temple, we went to eat raw fish. Being Pohang a coastal city, it is popular for its cheap and fresh raw fish. Next day, we left for Gyeongju:

In the island in this picture, Munmu King is buried. He was the first king of Korean Unified Silla period.

Korean Countryman at work (what you can see on the background are rice fields).

At the beach you can buy fresh and cheap seaweed…

…and also dried squid (those things hanging).

These ayummas were having fun drinking soju and makgeolli.

Under these tumulus there are some old Korean kings (their corpses actually).

We also went to the Bulguk Temple (불국사, Bulguksa). These stone piles are supposed to be made by monks when they pray (I think they put one stone every time they pray). But being this such a tourist temple, tourists were the ones who put the stones.

After four kilometers climbing on foot from the Bulguksa, we arrived at the Seokguram. This is the view from the top.

Seokguram Buddha, one of the most popular buddhas in South Korea.

An this is where we stayed in Gyeongju, a mini-ville in the middle of nothing (this is their website).

May 8, 2008August 8, 2018

Trip to Thailand

Sawatdee!!

Here are some pictures of our trip to Thailand. All of the ICEX interns in Seoul have spent six days relaxing in paradise-like beaches, from the pool to the beach and from the beach to the pool, drinking shakes for less than a dollar, and besides, Alex and I, got our diving license (the PADI Scuba Diver) 😀

Overall, the trip was great, although it was so hot and humid all the time. I imagined Thailand much more “Asian”. Sometimes I thought I was in South or Central America instead of in Asia.. I guess it must be because of the tropical weather;)

The six ICEX interns, on the Thai Airways airplane.