Day 13 - Beomeosa, Haeundae, Two Dozen Quail Eggs and Makgeolli

The next morning, Anna and I woke up nice and early to tackle a full day's itinerary: Beomeosa (Temple of the Nirvana Fish (I youtubed 'nirvana fish' with high hopes and got nothing. Smells like potential viral video spirit to me)), hiking up Geumjeongsan, Haeundae Beach and I'd also promised to make a proper ramen dinner with some traditional Korean rice wine (Makgeolli). Unfortunately, I had run out of clean clothes by that point so I was left wearing my one dress that I bought in Japan. A bit impractical for the 7 kilometer hike awaiting us at Geumjeongsan.

We took a very windy bus up Geumjeongsan to get to the entrance of Beomeosa and it was absolutely gorgeous. The difference between Korean and Japanese Buddhist Temples are pretty striking. While Japanese Temples are very serene and stoic, the Korean Temples are very colorful and vibrant. Koreans also have this funny mountain fetish, but here, I'll let photos do most of the talking in this entry.

traditional Korean garb

fun fact: according to Korean folklore, all the world rests on the back of a turtle

since Anna is super awesome and an aspiring environmental defense worker, she knew a
ton about agriculture and explained to me that these red berries were actually wild strawberries!

The Temple complex is pretty massive, so after doing a full circle, I started to get hungry. As soon as I opened my mouth to mention it, a woman came up to us and ushered us into a large building making the universal utensil-scooping-food-into-mouth gesture. And this is how we learned that all big temples have a cafeteria that serve anyone free food! Boy, do I love Korea.

They handed us a big metal tray and from then on it was buffet style rice, kimchi beansprouts and beansprout soup. All vegetarian, in Buddhist tradition. It's very rude to leave food on your plate so we polished ours off. In the midst of this feast, we were approached by a middle aged Korean man who was as curious as he was eager to teach us all about Korean culture. He had studied English in Canada and was absolutely delightful. I mean, a real, genuine joy. Walking us to the start of our hike, he looked at my dress and said, "You know, it's a pretty difficult hike."

But we made it to the very top!

North Gate

After taking the long way back down and taking a bus to the subway station, we started heading to Haeundae Beach.

Heading back to the hostel, we picked up some groceries. We grabbed packages of ramen, bean sprouts, makgeolli and quail eggs. Quail eggs? They were cheaper than normal ones! The problem was that we ended up getting two dozen of them, meaning that we'd be having quail eggs for breakfast the next morning as well. We finished our meal, drank our rice wine and hung out in the common room watching the world cup game with a few French guys who gave us the dirty low down on world cup politics. "French football is played by a bunch of fourteen year old girls."

Day 12 - Strangers on this road we are on... Wait, but don't I know you?

Sitting at Hakata ferry terminal, I was about three hours early for my ferry. Naturally, no one else was there, giving the massive building a very eerie feel. I wandered around a little bit, getting lunch at an upscale restaurant on the top floor with rather subpar dining before I settled down on a bench. Within the next hour, hordes of Korean tourist groups with giant visors, giant suitcases and giant perms came flooding into the terminal. The once hauntingly, lonely terminal floor suddenly became a lively, rather loud beehive of activity.

I glanced at my ticket which was kind of coolly labeled seat 1A. It was a very relaxed three hour ferry ride into Busan that felt more like a plane ride than a boat ride. But that's because this was no ordinary ferry; it was the hydrofoil beetle! Meaning it rides above the water! It more or less looks/works like this:

Here's a friend I made:

Arriving in Korea, it was wonderful being surrounded by a native language that I could understand (even at an elementary school level). The subways were a cinch and I found my hostel in no time. It was located in the middle of a university town, full to the brim with bars and clubs and karaoke and internet cafes. The hostel itself was simply a converted apartment. As I was being shown into my room, I noticed a couple sitting on the floor. In fact, they were very same German couple I'd shared a room with the first nights in Tokyo! A "Hey, don't I know you?" was exchanged and followed by loud exclamations ranging between, "Oh my God!", "Such a small world..." and "I swear I'm not stalking you." I found out that they were going on a bicycle tour throughout all of Asia and had just finished Japan. How sweet is that?

The couple was sitting on the floor consulting a map and speaking to a girl about my age. We introduced ourselves; her name was Anna from Germany. We decided to get some dinner together so we ventured out and picked a Korean barbecue joint, soon finding out that they specialized in duck and pork. Luckily, neither of us are picky eaters, so we dug in and I taught her how to eat Korean bbq with all the fixins (for a free Korean food consultation, contact me via email and pay for the dinner). We talked, and I learned that she had been working in Australia for a year after finishing the German equivalent of high school. After a year of hard, manual labor, she was on her way back to Germany for university. What brought her to Korea was simply curiosity and a when-in-Rome spirit. She had a connection in Korea and figured it'd be a shame to be in a country without actually seeing it. We became fast friends and made plans to go out to Beomeosa Temple and Haeundae Beach the following day.

Day 11 - Fukuoka: O Glorious Ramen Land

The next day, after thanking the Lee household for their enormous hospitality (and loaning me some cash), I said my farewells to Osaka and the comforts of home living. I got on the Japan Rail system for the last time to get to my next destination: Hakata, Fukuoka where one night at a hostel and a ferry to Busan, South Korea awaited. Fukuoka is a big port city with tons to do, but unfortunately, I only had one night. I got to my hostel at around noon, took my shower, noodled on their guitar and asked what was good to do in the neighborhood. Immediately, they said ramen. ramen ramen ramen. Luckily, as a college student, I quite nearly live for good ramen. And Hakata boasts some of the best. They directed me to this place by the station called Daruma. For cultural context, Darumas are traditional dolls that look like this:

I bought a bunch of them in Tokyo. They are symbols of perseverance and good luck and are modeled after Bodhidharma, founder of Zen Buddhism... which I find hilarious. These are the angriest looking dolls I've ever seen.

I ordered a bowl of pork ramen from a machine (obviously), handed the counter my receipt and was given a steaming hot bowl of fukuoka ramen within ten minutes. The fumes were perfectly intoxicating and borderline nauseating with richness. After taking ten enormous bites, I remembered this blog and you few, darling readers and had the wonderful foresight to take a picture of my spoils.

Mind you, future Fukuoka-goers, this ramen is not for the faint of gut. I can't remember the last time I finished a meal feeling like I was going to vomit out of overindulgence. But it was so delicious, I couldn't stop!

Meal had, I headed out on the town. There was supposedly a very famous underground shopping mall that was very beautiful and impressive. But I couldn't tell you - I never got there. I did end up in many mall basements that I thought were the underground shopping mall. I was tantalized by the desert aisles and the ridiculous Japanese kitsch culture.

After a night of some serious noodles, and some serious window shopping, I was ready to wind down back at the hostel. Unfortunately, this was not the case. I was instead accosted by my new bunkmate, a Japanese chorus teacher from New Mexico, who thought me the proper receiving end of her talk-box. I woke up early next morning to get to the ferry terminal. The hostel owners took some photos of my departure.

Goodbye, Japan! Helloooo motherland!

Day 10 - A Day at University

University of Southern Cali...Kansai?

Without a definite itinerary in mind, Professor Lee invited Owen and I to sit in on one of her classes at Kansai University. She was teaching a small, English-only research seminar class for freshmen itching to practice their English. The University was on top of a pretty substantial hill lined with students getting ready for their final projects and summer breaks. The campus itself was pretty nice - stucco Spanish inspired buildings, a green main lawn, koi pond, strategically placed benches. This being Owen's former University, I was given a tour of the library, the department buildings and of course, the cafeteria where we indulged ourselves. Over lunch, Owen explained some parts of his thesis to me on Japanese-Korean relations. I remember specifically learning about a sort of displaced generation of Korean immigrants living in Japan who are currently undergoing an identity crisis of sorts. One bowl of microwaveable rice with a side of chicken teriyaki later, we were in front of Professor Lee's office, wondering if she forgot that we were coming.

We followed her into her class. It was decently sized with students' desks arranged in a square and a whiteboard at the front of the room. There were only about 10 students in total, the four boys all sitting in fraternity on one side of the room and the six girls seated on the opposite. Being one of the last days of class, their final research project was due - the basic presentation where they had to research anything that captured their interest and create a presentation to share with the class. Basic, but the catch? It had to be entirely in English. Professor Lee introduced us as native English speakers. We would be the real test of their English proficiency. "God," I thought, picturing myself trying to give a grade-A presentation on the Cold War in Spanish, "I'd be peeing myself." I introduced myself like the somewhat nervous, weirdo I am, making a lot of hand gestures, jokes and smiling against my own will. Gee, I hope they liked me!

We continued around the circle introducing ourselves. I was surprised to see quite a few Korean students (about three or four) and how closely knit the class was. Nobody was excluded. Even the relationship between Professor Lee and her students was quite intimate and familiar. It helps that she has a wonderful personality and sense of humor. You could tell how comfortable students felt in her class. They all took their turns standing up and giving their powerpoint presentations on things ranging from basic Psychology to Korean unification to Free Trade. They were pretty impressive in both the subject and delivery. A few of them had better English (and were thousands of worlds more intelligent) than some of the things I've seen in, oh say, Yahoo News article comments: "Burning of quran will stop if Obama give proof that he is no muslim by eating Pig meat infront of Camara. You know true muslim does not eat Pig meat." Why do I still read these things? Same reason why I am addicted to Jersey Shore, I guess. Maybe I have low self esteem. Regardless, the students at Kansai University were very cool and the class, not so different from American Universities.

In today's news:

bacon, ladies and gentlemen.

Catch Up

I'm back in New York already! Oops. Where did I go?

I apologize (mostly to myself because God knows nobody else is paying any attention to this blog) for not having updated since Japan but laptops become a bit unappealing when there's a whole world to discover outside your door. So now that I'm finally home (and taking a semester's leave of absence), I've got loads of time to put to good use. The next couple of days will be dedicated entirely to blogging, friends, resumes, losing the wicked amount of belly fat that I've gained and petting my dog.

Now, where did I leave off?

Days 8 and 9: Easy Segues from Japan to Korea

The day after my trip through Nara park, I checked out of the hostel, saying farewell to it's very kind owner. She was an impressive woman, running the entire place by herself - checking guests in, doing all of the cleaning, answering all the calls, maintaining security, etc. I was heading for Osaka and had, at this point, about 2,000 yen left in my pockets (that's about $20). A word of advice for future travelers: Japan is expensive. Be prepared to overspend your budget twofold.

I was very excited for this leg of my trip in Japan because I was getting to stay with close family friends - Professor Eunja Lee and her husband and teenage daughter. Being in a home would be a nice change. Arriving at Shin-Osaka station, I fidgeted around the payphones, finally getting the damned thing to work and called them up to receive a seemingly complicated slew of directions. The phone call ended abruptly when I could no longer provide for the payphone's insatiable appetite for 100 yen coins. I looked down at my scribbled directions.

"Uhh..."

They were, however, wonderfully thorough and easy to follow. I got to my destination where I was picked up by the professor and her husband on bicycles (though not without another elaborate tango with the Japanese payphones). Again, I looked kind of ghastly. I'd run out of fresh clothes (by fresh, I mean decent smelling) and (secret) I wasn't wearing a bra. Date me?

My bag was loaded on the back of one bicycle and I rode on the back of the other. There's nothing like a cool bicycle breeze after all of that walking. When we got to their house, I was introduced to Owen - a former student of Professor Lee, native of England but now living in Australia and in Japan to do research for his thesis. He was also staying as her guest.

We chatted it up and sat down for dinner. I love home cooked meals, especially when they involve kimchi. I missed that beautiful, spicy, red crunch attacking my tastebuds a lot. Despite my appetite for adventure, the familiar was also very welcomed.

I was talking to the teenage daughter, HaeJung, about school in Japan. She has a very interesting education, actually. Raised in New York, we've known each other since we were little. She spent her early, formative years speaking English in the New York public school system and speaking Korean at home. A few years back, her mom got a job teaching at Kansai University at they all moved to Japan. HaeJung didn't speak a word of Japanese when they got there. I think that's so brave - I can't imagine how much angst I'd have, being a teenager in a country where I couldn't speak the language. I would break so many things in the house. She's now fluent in English, Korean and Japanese, playing the saxaphone and trying to find her place in the thick bureaucracy of Japanese high school. So neat.

The next morning, Owen took it upon himself to take me around the Osaka area, introducing me to the local culture and history. We went out to Osaka Castle first which was pretty impressive, what with its giant moat and massive stone walls and gold ornamentation. Owen explained how the castle was deeply imbued in Korean-Japanese history, which was the rough of his thesis. Inside the castle was a museum where I was further able to learn about emperor Meiji, the Summer Wars and Japan's first invasion of the Korean peninsula.

It was really pretty interesting, though by the end of the eight story history lesson, I was ready for some good old brain rot. After a short snack break where I was introduced to the magic of Takoyaki (super hot balls of fried dough filled with squid and topped with saucy goodness ummmm), we headed to the aquarium. Owen also happens to be an avid diver and snorkeler with a really good vocabulary when it comes to marine life! So I got to hear some really cool stories to relate to all the different species of fish and underwater mammals I saw swimming behind the thick wall of acrylic glass. The manta rays hypnotized me. We also got to see whale sharks feeding. They look like hoover vacuums, it's really insane.

After that, we met up with the Professor and her Professor friend at the train station to get dinner. I was introduced to a dish called Okonomiyaki. According to Wikipedia, it is a Japanese savory pancake whose name literally translates to "what you like cooked". I can't really write this part of the entry without producing a lot of drool. Stop talking about food, Shannon. I'm kind of hungry.

Day 7: deer in Nara are less shy than the people

It had been a week since I had left home and I'd already felt like a different person in some respects. I'd met so many different people and had so many new experiences every single day that I'm having a hard time keeping track at this point. After checking into my new hostel in Nara, however, I was starting to really feel the anxiety and loneliness of being really alone. It seemed that each hostel I went to was progressively quieter and quieter. To overgeneralize a race: Japanese people are very shy. There wasn't much interaction with humans while I was in Nara - I had a good amount of fun, but it was mostly had with deer (they were EVERYWHERE!!!!!)

I'm being kind of harsh.

Perks: It was really tourist friendly, easy to get around and generally nice.

I visited Nara Park which was really neat and paid visit to the giant Buddha in Todaiji Temple. I think photos will better illustrate this day so I'm going to break off my reliance on text here...

okay... this is the point where i was basking unabashedly in 6 year old dreams coming true.

precocious deer, shy japanese

hi again

hold on a minute - I had a spiritual experience.

Despite the fact that the Daibutsu was like an active beehive of tourists, there were a few seconds that swept me off my feet. Before you enter the temple, there's a giant pot full of burning incense creating this thick veil of perfumed plumes. You walk through, squinting a little because smoke is sometimes unkind to the eyes. There's a moment where the cloud lifts revealing the giant holy body, hands poised to preach where you can't help but stand in awe, whispering a faint "wow". But that's just me talk-talk-talking.

(photos didn't really capture the size, but you can rest assured that these guys are massive)

ate my map...

On the way back to the hostel, I got to order for myself in Japanese! Well not really in Japanese... I ordered in broken English with Japanese words of courtesy thrown into the mix. Either way! I wasn't entirely sure of what I had ordered but it was very delicious - oiishi des! And eating alone was an interesting experience involving a lot of people watching and getting to eat as sloppily as I dared.

Days 5 and 6: Celebrity Rehab and the Beatles

Here is my current predicament: I'm in Korea already and I haven't even recorded half of what I've done in Japan! The moments are already slipping through the cracks in my memory. Of course, seeing as I'm watching the world cup (England vs. Slovenia), a Nike ad shows up. "Just do it," it says.

Right...

So the first ever post on this here blog mentioned me being on the shinkansen from Tokyo down to Kyoto. Back to that! It was really neat seeing the landscape change from the tightly knit concrete grids of the city to the classic Japanese mountain landscapes and miles and miles of rice patties. I've made the photo sizes larger after realizing how tiny and nondescript they've been. Sorry!

rolling through tokyo

!! imagine THIS being on your commute to work

I got to Kyoto station sometime around 8 pm. According to the directions on the hostel website, the next mode of transport was a bus. I asked the station master who, to my misfortune, didn't speak a word of English but managed to tell me that the "basu" no longer stopped at that station and that the hostel was about an hour's walk away. By this point, it was night-dark out and seeing as I was a total stranger to this quiet Kyoto suburb, I didn't exactly feel good about wandering. I walked into the local convenience store and struck out again - though the elderly man behind the counter was sweet and as helpful as can be, he also only spoke Japanese.

This was the first time I panicked; my thoughts a blizzard of expletives.

Finally, I mustered up the guts to walk into the local beauty salon to ask for directions. I say guts because I looked absolutely abysmal and the kids working in the salon looked absolutely pristine and shiny. I managed to "sumimasen" my way into their hearts and they called me a cab.

The hostel, as it turned out, was in the middle of nowhere and had the look and feel of a celebrity rehab facility. Here's what I rolled up to:

Through the glass windows, there was what appeared to be a studio with several people doing ballet. That's right. Ballet. I checked in with the same feeling of feeling like the ultimate ugly duckling trekking mud all over this pretty establishment. Not actual mud, of course. That's disgusting. The inside of the hostel was even more impressive than the outside if you can believe that. I threw my things into the corner of my bunk and got lost trying to find the bathroom.

I hung out in the lobby (see above photo) afterward, feeling the need for some sort of social interaction and a hug companion:

I found both! I struck up conversation with a group of 8th graders from Alaska who were on a school sponsored exchange program. I thought that was really cool (despite the fact they were 8th graders). After talking to them for a while about how Japanese food can be sometimes scary and other times amazing, I went back to my room where I met my bunk mate: a student from SAIC! I love art school, sometimes. We chatted it up about things to do in the area and went to bed. She left me a nice note with all her contact info. I should email her...

The next morning, out for a breath of fresh air in the hostel's COURT YARD, I started talking to a guy.

Rob was from Liverpool, which I gathered from the fact that he spoke like a member of the Beatles (you know... that band). He had been traveling all throughout Asia, mostly throughout the south-east. Having no plans for the day, I decided to join him on a day trip up to the orange gates of the Inari Shrines (the inspiration for the similarly colored (but dissimilarly ugly) gates in Central Park all those years back). Neither of us were prepared for the stairs. They were endless...

shrines to the fox gods!

cat

each gate has a prayer written for each day

hi!

back of rob

view from the top

We got back to the hostel at around 4 pm where I promptly packed my bags and started off again. I had just gotten off the bus a mere ten minutes before and the bus driver picking me up from the hostel happened to be the same one who dropped me off. He recognized me, and I recognized his dry, monotone beehive drone voice. He would make a really fantastic film character, I think.

My next destination was the neighboring city of Nara - a little day trip taking about an hour and a half to my next home where the rickshaw drivers roam; where the deer and the [japanese school children] play.