June 20 - July 15: Big Fat Blog
Okay, I managed to do it again...I actually went a full month this time with blogging as the last thing on my mind. I really do have semi-decent excuses (okay, not really), but I will not even break them out.
Instead of trying to catch up on the past few weeks, I have decided to call this a blogging vacation...a bit of a hiatus of sorts. Let by-gones be by-gones...besides, not a whole lot happened, and instead of spending time writing seven or eight meaningless and boring blogs, I'll just cram it all into one! That is, what I can remember!
So the weekend following the big rock climbing excursion to Wonju, I allowed some friends to talk me into meeting them that Saturday morning in Itaewon to lay out at the Hamilton Hotel pool. We got there early, around 10:00 am, in order to score a good spot, as we have heard rumors that it can get quite crowded in the summer. Unfortunately, the weather was completely dreary and the pool and the surrounding deck were a nightmare. We paid $10 to lie on mats on the side of the pool, with dodgy Korean men in G-string speedos stepping over us and screeching children splashing us with water from the pool.
The view of Itaewon from atop Hamilton Hotel.
On another note, soccer season finally ended, so I have had a lovely little break from the Sunday afternoon duties of "water girl." I have also enjoyed my newly freed Tuesday and Thursday evenings to try something that I have not done in ages...relax!
Well, unfortunately, I did not get the opportunity to celebrate July 4th...I actually never heard of any festivities other than Canada Day. The Saturday night preceding the 4th found me eating an egg burger (a hamburger with a fried egg on top...I honestly was not even that hungry, not to mention that I do not even like hamburgers, but I just had to try it), and Sunday morning found me hugging the toilet. Not pretty. Without going into the sordid details, I was completely, disastrously, someone-kill-and-put-me-outta-my-misery sick for five days. I was only able to start eating food again (and by that I mean clear soup and oatmeal) on Thursday. Gotta love taking risks with Korean street vendors...never again!
Another view of Itaewon...you can see the mosque in the distance.
Last Sunday, the 10th, I finally did a hike that I have been wanting to do since I got here...Gwanak Mountain. I went with a few other people, with some Korean climbing pals as our guides. The hike was quite intense, with some steep inclines, but it was very refreshing for the approximately seven-hour duration. Of course, the mountain was packed with people carrying their hiking sticks and decked out in fancy hiking gear (as is the Korean custom), but we did manage to come to a few semi-secluded spots in the hike. Unfortunately, I did not have a camera, as I would have loved to have captured some of the amazing views from the top!
Instead of trying to catch up on the past few weeks, I have decided to call this a blogging vacation...a bit of a hiatus of sorts. Let by-gones be by-gones...besides, not a whole lot happened, and instead of spending time writing seven or eight meaningless and boring blogs, I'll just cram it all into one! That is, what I can remember!
So the weekend following the big rock climbing excursion to Wonju, I allowed some friends to talk me into meeting them that Saturday morning in Itaewon to lay out at the Hamilton Hotel pool. We got there early, around 10:00 am, in order to score a good spot, as we have heard rumors that it can get quite crowded in the summer. Unfortunately, the weather was completely dreary and the pool and the surrounding deck were a nightmare. We paid $10 to lie on mats on the side of the pool, with dodgy Korean men in G-string speedos stepping over us and screeching children splashing us with water from the pool.
The view of Itaewon from atop Hamilton Hotel.
On another note, soccer season finally ended, so I have had a lovely little break from the Sunday afternoon duties of "water girl." I have also enjoyed my newly freed Tuesday and Thursday evenings to try something that I have not done in ages...relax!
Well, unfortunately, I did not get the opportunity to celebrate July 4th...I actually never heard of any festivities other than Canada Day. The Saturday night preceding the 4th found me eating an egg burger (a hamburger with a fried egg on top...I honestly was not even that hungry, not to mention that I do not even like hamburgers, but I just had to try it), and Sunday morning found me hugging the toilet. Not pretty. Without going into the sordid details, I was completely, disastrously, someone-kill-and-put-me-outta-my-misery sick for five days. I was only able to start eating food again (and by that I mean clear soup and oatmeal) on Thursday. Gotta love taking risks with Korean street vendors...never again!
Another view of Itaewon...you can see the mosque in the distance.
Last Sunday, the 10th, I finally did a hike that I have been wanting to do since I got here...Gwanak Mountain. I went with a few other people, with some Korean climbing pals as our guides. The hike was quite intense, with some steep inclines, but it was very refreshing for the approximately seven-hour duration. Of course, the mountain was packed with people carrying their hiking sticks and decked out in fancy hiking gear (as is the Korean custom), but we did manage to come to a few semi-secluded spots in the hike. Unfortunately, I did not have a camera, as I would have loved to have captured some of the amazing views from the top!
Finally, it has been raining NON-STOP for the past month. When I say non-stop, I mean coming down in droves morning, noon, and night...I find myself incessantly humming "Rain, Rain, Go Away...Come again another day!" They were not kidding when they warned me about monsoon season...I am hoping it clears up for the weekend, though...I am heading down to Daechon Beach (with probably every other foreigner in Korea) for the annual "Boryeoung Mud Festival"... I cannot wait!!!
Allrighty, then! This concludes my one-month hiatus from blogging! I vow to do much better from here on out...
posted by Tiffany Joiner @ 8:20 AM
0 comments
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home