Monday, January 24, 2011

I was prepared this weekend to be sleeping on a freezing, hard, floor, in a tiny room, huddled with all my friends, robbing them of their body heat. As fun as that sounds, the weekend turned out a bit differently.

When our friend Daria invited us to take a pension trip with her, we blindly accepted without any idea of what exactly pension trip entailed. A little taste for adventure got the best of us, and we jumped at the opportunity. We were told that these Korean pension trips are like camping, so we were honestly expecting to rough it.

We were very pleasantly suprised when we arrived at our condo/pension at Daechon beach (up north about an hour from Cheonan). Except for the lack of beds (Korean style...sleeping on the floor), it was just like a cabin getaway you'd find at a nice mountain lodge in the U.S. It was much more spacious than I expected, with several rooms , TVs, a nice kitchen and a couch. Though there were no beds, there were more than enough mats, pillows and blankets we threw into the living room. It was like sleepover stlye straight out of a Babysitter Club book. It was very comfortable and cozy. Outside, we had a tent with a barbeque and table to have ourselves a little winter cookout.

Before settling in, the women (Krystin, Jenny, Daria, Judy and myself) scurried to E-Mart to get grocceries for the weekend. Daria and Judy are Korean so they bought a lot of Korean food to make for us. They were wonderful hostesses! Meanwhile the men (Josh, Andy, Ben and Beagle (a Korean bartender friend)) lazed around, while we shopped. I suppose in a perfect world they should've been chopping wood or something manly.

After shopping, Daria drove us girls to see the ocean. It was absolutely freezing, but beautiful. There is something very calm about a beach in the wintertime.

Daria and Judy really did a nice job taking care of us, organzing the whole trip, preparing amazing meals throughout the weekend. When they weren't cooking and we weren't eating their amazing cooking, we talked, goofed off, relaxed, slept, just passed the time leisurely until nightfall.

Saturday night we had a Korean style cookout. It was delicious, but nothing like a cookout back home. To give you an idea, just picture a big green leaf instead of a bun, little strips of pork instead of a huge hamburger patty, and a spicy sauce instead of ketchup. Oh and of course, throw in some rice. Who am I kidding... there's always rice. And any Korean cookout has beer and soju (comparable to watered down vodka). That is where you can find a similarity between Korean and American cookouts... booze... lots of it.

Once we were so cold that we couldn't feel our toes anymore, we headed back inside. Somehow or another a big dance party extravaganza ensued. I, for one, was in heaven. I love to dance. We all goofed around until we wore ourselves out, laughing so hard, we were falling to the floor in fits of laughter. Though Daria, Judy and Beagle don't speak much English and us foreigners are worthless in Korean, there is no barrier when it comes to genuine smiles, laughter and fun. I will keep these memories with me for a lifetime.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

We went out for Reuven's birthday last night. It was an ordinary Wednesday night out at the bar until about 11:00. The bartenders were mixing drinks, showing off with a little cocktail flair. Then out of nowhere, regular customers started coming up to the bar and adding their own special ingredients such as spit, socks, cake, you know the works.. and thank god, tons of alcohol to get rid of all the bacteria (yeah right). Anyways, like a big dum dum, I thought they were just doing this for fun and games. Why they would mix a big bowl of nasty was beyond me, but so clear to everyone else that it was intended for Reuven to drink. I started to catch on when the bartender, Pooh, filtered this concoction through his own sock and into a nice martini glass. I've seen this kind of thing take place before at army events I have catered to and thought it was beyond odd. But since the army is cult-like, frat-like, I took it for what it was worth. Initiations and rights of passage are all the rage in the army, but to see this kind of thing in your average local bar in Korea was a shock. In a country so conservative at times, I had to ask myself how this was an acceptable social norm.

Monday, January 10, 2011

I've been back from vacation for a week now so I could have written, but January's cold has turned me lazy. If I had a choice, I'd watch Sex and the City episode after episode, which I do anyways in whatever time I leave myself.

As to not bore my remaining loyal readers, I will keep my trip short, only highlighting the main points. Singapore is absolutely gorgeous. It is the cleanest city I have ever seen. They have a strict policy on smoking in designated areas. Chewing gum is not sold, and if imported, Singaporeans are fined 500$. A world without chewing gum? Get real! I can't imagine it, especially as a citizen of a country where we take pride in a wall covered in old, grimy, chewed gum. Check it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubblegum_Alley.

A beautiful river runs through Singapore, with two main nightlife areas on the water known as Boat Quay and Clarke Quay. They were amazing, full of life. The climate was tropical, but mild, around the 80s. Unfortunately for me, a sun worshiper, it was rainy season. A local bartender told Krystin and I on our first night, "December is the worst month to come to Singapore." No regrets. Rain or shine, this city-country still had it all.

Singapore is a British colony, so most everyone speaks beautiful English as well as Chinese and a few other languages. A lot of the younger generation are bilingual and speak their own colloquial English, Singlish. It was amazing to hear everyone speaking in English.

It is a very walkable city. I learned this quickly from my 8am morning strolls, while waiting on my fellow travellers, Krystin, Reuven, Andy and Dennis to wake up. "Like mother, like daughter"...it couldn't have been clearer during this vacation. As much as I've resented my father calling me my mother's clone over the years, I have finally accepted it after this vacation. I didn't lose a minute of travel time. I will never be a museum/cathedral junkie like my mother, but I will soak up every minute of the day exploring. I've inherited her sense of adventure. I'll finally admit it.

On the other hand, I can't see my mother, even in her 20's, dancing till five in the morning in one of the biggest night clubs. I certainly did not inherit party life and late hours from her, that would be thanks to my father, Wild Bill. Holla! Singapore has an outstanding economy, but a beer or cocktail go for roughly 15$ a pop in the more bustling areas, such as Clark Quay. So, when the opportunity presented itself for five free drinks on Ladies Night at this huge club, Attica, I jumped at the opportunity. Plus, I'm a sucker for dancing my life away. Korea isn't big on dancing, and my body was aching for it! Unfortunately, none of my friends were up for it, but that couldn't deter my plans. I went alone, met the nicest Singaporean girls, they took me under their wing, and the rest is history! It was my best memory there!

Eventhough I was up till an unruly hour, I was still buzzing with energy, woke up at 8am again and took off to a teeny island called Pulau Ubin. It's known as the original Singapore, what it used to look like before booming into a modern beauty. The natural beauty of Pulau Ubin far surpassed the modern marvels back on the mainland. I love both areas for different reasons. I rented a bike for 5 bucks and toured around the whole island for a few hours. It was amazing how many different changes of scenery there were. At one point, I was zooming down a hill in the rainforest, monkeys overhead. Next thing, I'm in a big, lush, green field that ends at a rock quarry. A little later, swampland appears out of nowhere and breaks into a beautiful rocky coast, boasting clear, torqouise water. It had a very rustic charm: old, rundown, colorful houses and stores, rusty bicycles forgotten in overgrown grasses, tiny fishing boats tied to rickedy docks. It was such a simple, natural wonder.

Despite Pulau Ubin being my favorite, back in the city, there were phenomenal Buddhist statues everywhere, amazing shopping deals and fantastic food (especially fresh fruit!). One of my favorite areas was Chinatown because of my extreme passion for fashion (aka shopping). We hit the jackpot because during the Christmas season, a very central road known for high fashion shopping, Orchard Road, was decked out in the best display of lights I've ever seen.

Singapore was a wonderful choice, a country I knew nothing about. I hadn't even heard much about Singapore until I flew Singapore Air to Korea. Even then, what did I know... Singaporean flight attendants wear pretty floral pattern uniforms... quite the educated traveller. Such a small country, I really felt I did get the opportunity to educate myself and explore most everything Singapore had to offer.