Ukrainna - Inna from Ukraine

Chiang Mai – province of wonders.

noreply@blogger.com (Inna S) — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 16:01:00 +0000

My introduction to Thailand started with Chiang Mai. I felt in love with this beautiful province. Unfortunately for me I stayed there only 3 days. So my advise for those who decide to discover this part of Thailand is to spare at least 5 days. For me, I know for sure that my next trip to the land of Thai I’ll dedicate one week to Chiang Mai.

Chiang Mai is situated on the North of Thailand, with pretty mild for this par of the world climate. My Thai friends warned me that I should take some warmer clothes because it’s gonna be cold. For me who’s been living in a cold Dublin for so long, any temperature bellow + 18C is hot. So you can imagine that + 23- +25C was a real paradise. While I was sitting is shorts and strapless top in the bar and sipping my Chang beer (local brand), some Thai were wearing coats and boots. No kidding. But honestly speaking, the climate on the North is just perfect. Not crazy hot in the summertime and very pleasant in the winter.

A traveler like me would also appreciate the proximity to Myanmar, Laos and Vietnam and the richness of the nature. If you like active holidays then Chiang Mai is just for you. Lots of possibilities for rafting, jungle tracking, hiking, swimming in the waterfalls, climbing and God knows only what else. Oh, you will probably enjoy the elephants!

Let it snow!

noreply@blogger.com (Inna S) — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 08:57:00 +0000

Never in my life I've been confronted to a +30C or more december. It feels very odd. Since last 2 months I feel like I am dreaming all the time. Feeling of "virtual reality". All around is glimmering and shining, warmth and music in the air. This Christmas felt like a big joke. But what an experience!

This Santa Clause sat in one of the Singapore malls waiting for the crazy kids to take picture with him. Oh mine, I don't feel jealous at all.

Do you like orchids?

noreply@blogger.com (Inna S) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 08:02:00 +0000

Singapore Botanic garden is famous for its orchids: more than 1000 species and 2000 hybrids. It was a real festival of colors! Enjoy!

Escaping from Singapore to Lombok

noreply@blogger.com (Inna S) — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 05:42:00 +0000

Once I realized I'd go crazy here working 14 hours a day I decided to take a break. Chandra, my colleague from Singapore who has now moved to California, has suggested me Lombok as the paradise on earth. Three days in paradise sound classy.

Lombok is a closer neighbor to Bali and surrounded by Bali sea on the North and Indian ocean on the South. One of the few airlines that fly to the island is Silkair what makes it less touristic, and so more quiet, than other islands in the region.

On my arrival, by 22.00 I realized that the resort I've booked is 1.30 ride from the airport. Shit, I was so tired. You can imagine my Indonesian vocabulary is equal to none. Luckily I met this very nice Singaporean couple: Sara and Abraham (very Biblical, yes) who helped me bargain for the car. Abraham speaks Malay because if his origins which is very close to Indonesian official language (Bahasa). We agreed on Rp 230 000 (equivalent of €16).

My driver did not speak a lot of English neither and we were riding in silence. But I did not feel comfortable to sleep. I tried to engage a very basic friendly conversation, bla bla bla, without lots of success. At some extend the topics "supply" (like Do you like Lombok? Where do you come from?) was exhausted. After 20 min of drive the car suddenly stops and the driver says: I have to go. Back soon. Where do you think did he go? To the mosque! He stayed there maybe 10 minutes. During this time I was pretty nervous. Well, 22.30, in the middle of nowhere, my telephone does not work and I don't speak the language. Plus I have no clue which way I should go in case of trouble. Thanks God (or probably Allah this time) he came back and we moved on. Every time I saw a mosque on our way I was wondering whether he'd stop for a prayer again. Luckily it did not happen.

Actually traffic in Indonesia does not exist. I would rather call it CHAOS. Never was I so freaked out! For you to know, Indonesians mostly use motorbikes which is more affordable in country with an average annual salary from $10000 to $15000. Motorbikes are everywhere, they don't respect any rules, many of the bikers don't wear helmet and they would usually exceed speed. The latest estimates of traffic mortality that I've found show 30 000 people per year.

How happy I was when we arrived! My Novotel resort was the best place I've ever spent my holidays in. Because it was low season, the resort was half occupied which made it pleasant without crazy kids running around as it's used to be in resorts. My day I was spending mostly in or outside the pool, reading and enjoying the Indonesian breeze. Have a look at pictures!

My cute room

Restaurant and bar

where you enjoy happy hours & Bali cooler :)

On this very spot they projected movies every night!

Many hours spent in the pool.

The best toilet ever

noreply@blogger.com (Inna S) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 13:15:00 +0000

Lucky or not I've moved from one place to another one week ago because company's lease has ended. No complains. In the old place it was 24th floor, in the new one it's 26th. I have better view, bigger room but no swimming pool. But as a compensation I've got the coolest toilet ever. On Friday we celebrated my housewarming and all people checked the toilet at the first place. They would spend quite a while over there and would come back with WOW face. Ah! Curious to see the place?

So it looks like this during the day. And when the night comes down on Singapore i see the lights and wave to all passers-by. Actually I am not sure if they can see me for two reasons. Building is "protected" by the smoky glass and, secondly, not sure if people would bother to look all way up to 26th floor. Well, maybe my neighbors in front?

Dear friends, this is not all. The best part of the best toilet ever I can see every morning and day and evening just in front of me.

I know that I look silly with that camera but I did not know how better adjust it.

Now you all know how fancy my toilet is. Waiting for you to come over and try =)

Closer to equator

noreply@blogger.com (Inna S) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 15:05:00 +0000

Esplanade, venue for performing arts.

Singapore Flyer, still have not tried.

The life is quite different closer to equator. There are no seasons. But just because things are not the same. Like those subtle differences between hot & cold of which you are already aware. In Alice's Adventures in Wonderland she imagined that people who live below equator walk on their hands. We are almost equator but for me the whole environment reminds more about Gulliver and Lilliput. Not necessarily in terms of size but the whole conception of mentality. I'd like to mention some of the things that makes me an odd person and that at some extend are changing my perception of things, life and myself.

First, sizes. I feel gigantic here. Even though my Asian friends warned me that with so many expats Singapore is quite good with European measurement standards (clothing-wise or/and people-wise. Partially there is some truth here. But most of the time I feel like an odd-ugly-over sized Robot-Duckling-Gorilla. Even tall girls here are super tiny and transparently thin. Some days ago I put high heels (that in reality are not even high, but just 4cm) and it brought me sort of "huge" feeling. No need to tell that for the local measurements I am "L" size. Good for me they have ZARA, Pull & Bear etc. Then I also experience the same weird thing as in Korea: sinks and showers in most of the places are oriented to an Asian consumer. Sinks make me bow lower and lower (especially in the office building) and showers hit my head. Oh yearrrrhhhh.

Second, politeness. People here are extremely polite and nice. Difficult to believe it's real. Here I also have to watch my language. My English speaking friends know me as "F..." and "S..." person, French friends as "M...." and "P.....", stopping on this languages. Every time I say "fuck" my self-consciousness (whatever's left of it) punches me from inside.

Thirdly, apparently, I don't know how to enjoy life and I discover here the real meaning of the word "leisure" and the Epicurean lifestyle. The newcomers to Singapore are like me: walk super fast, very direct and aggressive. And we think this makes us cool, professional and highly organized. So far I've learned that NO. Singaporeans are super efficient without being all of the mentioned above. They are relaxed, cheerful, slow (but in a positive way). People here probably love & cherish themselves more. FYI, Singaporeans are quite effective compared to many European "lazy-style" countries.

Fourthly (for girls only), weather has an influence on my sleep but also on my hair. It's very curly but I manage to deal with this far from equator. Here when humidity varies between 75% to 100% my styling capabilities to straighten my hair seem vain. Walking through beauty stools in supermarkets I've discovered tons of lovely Japanese hair-care products. I would have never thought such products would ever exist. But they are! One of the cool brands is Liese (li:say). Like this spray I've got. And this hair cocktail. Or this other Japanese brand: LUCIDO-L. Now I am a happy owner of this foam for hair straightening and this wax. You can see some of my preferred products on this pic! Seriously, never in my life I have has such a variety of hair product.

Still more stories to come. Keep in touch and stay tuned :)

Helloween à-la South-East Asia

noreply@blogger.com (Inna S) — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 11:19:00 +0000

It's all started on reception with tiny and nice teddy bears being imprisoned and put evil masks.

We had Sleeping beauty and 7.... Giants. Giants were too big to be on picture.

Lady Ga-ga came too with her body guard from NY police.

We also had one Muay Thai fighter.

In the office people love pets! Who won, by the way, prize for best male costume.

And then dodgy people like this, just wearing masks and not making efforts in dressing-up.

It was also one person who dressed up like someone else in the office.

Everyone enjoyed the party!

Hot & Cold

noreply@blogger.com (Inna S) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 09:14:00 +0000

For the last 7 days this song is constantly in my head.Cold is in the office, in my apartment with the air cond. turned ON, in restaurants and bars, in cinemas, in MRT. Hot is outside including swimming pool. I can't think about anything else an the moment. Really looking forward getting more than 5 hours sleep =) ... 'Cause I'm hot then I'm cold.

Getting used

noreply@blogger.com (Inna S) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:55:00 +0000

Little by little I am adjusting to Singapore: though heat, humidity, food and something more. Still have to figure out what it would be. More importantly, I like it a lot. For example, here I can access to much more things that in Dublin. Since last 5 days I've done more than for the last 5 months in Dublin. Let's just start with this great Da:ns Festival! Today we went to see hip-hop and modern step show with my new team (sort of unofficial off-site). Just because it's Halloween, I've been invited to a party on Sentosa. It's really cool place for a nightlife. Personally, have not checked yet (start on Saturday) but going through various online sources you can quickly figure it out. In one word, you'll never have enough. Well, that's what I am telling now =)

OK, humidity and heat are killing me less than say 3 days ago. I sleep more than three hours now. It's too cold with an air cond, and too hot without. Difference in temperature between inside and outside is quite significant and unusual. When I go outside I feel like I am defrosting. No kidding! Positive development: my skin is getting brown and I look less like a ghost. I do also swim in the pool in the morning before going to work, hehe :)

My dear team members (Ruth, Nopparat and Jeanie) introduced me into Thai food. Nopparat is Thai and the best adviser for Thai food and drinks. The tofu I had It's OH SO SPICY!!!! The only consolation, all microbes in my poor body died. I almost died with them. I had also tasted an incredibly weird Thai iced tea. Should try it again...

When walking to MRT in the morning takes me just several minutes. Knowledge of shortcuts contributes to my "localization".

On my way to MRT through Clarke Quay

Pictures are takes at 7.00 am. Look at this light!

Tourist boats take you for 30 min on tour every evening

I end with showing you this nice view from the office located on 38th floor. As I said earlier on my FB profile, you can see Indonesian islands from one side, and Malaysian coast from another. Unfortunately my camera is not good enough to show clearly both.

Singapore adventure: first impressions

noreply@blogger.com (Inna S) — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 08:04:00 +0000

View from my room in Liang Court Hotel

Same view in the morning

Getting off a supermarket and again drinking coffee. But this time I am wearing flip-flops, short and top with straps. People around me are Asians, Europeans, Americans. They all look relaxed, holiday mode. Four women next to me are talking about fashion. Another two men and a woman are discussing about some investments. Couple of younglings are sitting here with their laptops (all of them Macs). Air conditioning is quite aggressive here because when you go outside +35C and 55% of humidity will hit you immediately and you’ll be sweating in 3 minutes or less. This is Singapore.

I read many articles and blogs about Singapore. My friends talked to me about this country. But the best stuff is to experience it yourself.

Singlish

First in taxi from the airport but then many times outside work I realized: I have no clue what the local people are talking about. You have to concentrate, and then concentrate a little bit more, and to really concentrate, but you’ll be asking again and again: Excuse-me, can you please repeat what you’ve just said? (two times already). I wonder when I’ll get to understand Singlish properly.

Yesterday morning what stroke me the most was people’s ignorance about their own city; nobody of 4 people who I stopped on the street could give me directions to the metro station. Well, I took a cab all right. In the evening we had diner with some of my new colleagues. I told the how surprised I was. Do Singaporeans ever use public transport? They all laughed into my face. Neither of 3 words (metro, subway, underground) ment what I really was looking for. The correct answer was MRT. So if you ask for SUBWAY, they think about the fast-food shop. Underground make them think of some partisan movement. And metro, they don’t really use this word. Lesson #1 learned.

I like the way they approach strangers: uncle and auntie or sister. Uncle you’ll address to any “unknown man”. Auntie to a much older women or better sister, and you’ll make her day. Singaporeans also use this word “lah” in the end of almost every sentence: What a weather-lah! Did you read this bool-lah? It’s funny, you think like you live in comics.

Singaporean myths

All of us have this image of Singapore as a country of freaks who go to jail as they chew the gum or drop an empty bottle on the ground. I am just out of a supermarket and, yes, I have NOT seen any chewing gum so far. Neither I noticed someone chewing it on the streets or in the office. But you CAN eat, drink and smoke on the street without going to jail. Friday night after we were waiting for the cab with my new work buddies we saw an accident. Bus broke taxi's bumper! And know what? Police did not show up immediately as I've been told. We were standing there for more than 5 minutes but no signs of local forces of order. More than that I saw garbage on the streets. People here look human and behave human!!!!! But TRUE that Singapore is the cleanest place I’ve ever seen including my room.

Weather

Oh yeah! It's hot babe, +35C & 75% of humidity. When I wake up my head feels heavy and my eyes explode. Wondering when I'll get used to it? But those conditions are definitely nicer than the Dublin eternal-November weather. Here it's eternal-July.

Today I went down to the swimming pool to get some color on my pale-blue skin. I was sweating already in 3 minutes after getting out of water. Yesterday I showered 4 times and changed my t-shits twice. Now I seriously start worrying about my whole garde-robe which consists of 12 t-shirts, 2 skirts, 1 short and 2 dresses. The only solution I see here is to go for a hard-core shopping next weekend :) Not unhappy about it.

Local Parliament

I can still write and write. So many things happened in those 3 days: my cultural thirst has been satisfied with Da:ns Festival (I've already bought tickets to all performances), yesterday I went to my first Singaporean milonga, I've also walked 10 kilometers exploring the city, food tasting (yammi!). But I would rather keep it for my next post.

Second part of my rhetorical conclusions:

noreply@blogger.com (Inna S) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 21:58:00 +0000

Oh my God, there were tons of things that I loved and loved and loved:

Likes:
- food! Korea is a country for me where I can eat days and nights. Food is very varied and in this super country you can eat basically everything: from fish to lotus roots and mini-shrimps and weird bugs. And the taste! I've come along indescribable flavors that now I miss so much. I will definitely write more about Korea food. Since I came back I keep on cooking Korean stuff. Despite all my bad expectations Asian supermarket in Dublin is one of the 3 best I've seen on continent so far;

- hospitality that is so forgotten in the West. People were soooo eager to share their homes, cars, food etc. I've met so many new friends traveling across the country during three weeks as Irish people living in Ireland for two 1/2 hears! I was so moved by the openness and total trust of the people I've met. This made my trip so secure and so educative in the same time. Thanks for the Korean hospitality I took the most of it!

- sense of responsibility. This quality is slowly dying here in Europe. People would rather close their eyes and not giving a shit about a thing. Koreans feel this pride of being responsible for something and usually execute what should be. For example, when people I asked directions did not speak English or found it complicated to explain they would go with me and show the place;

- respect. Probably coming from Confucianism and Buddhism respect to people and things seems to me be a natural part of every person I came across. I never felt offended even though I went through some situation where I've got totally mad. When I lived in the temple we went for a walk in the mountains. Spider net was on our way running from one branch to another. Sunim took the spider off the net and put him on the leaf. Only after that we pursued our walking meditation. That gesture was so cute but so far from my spoiled European mind. Almost never (apart from some places in Busan) I saw any sign of vandalism. That's probably the reason you see vending machines everywhere with all possible things you can imagine. I say WOW!;

- sport fever. In all park where I've been you will always find a spot with the equipment for physical training. So young and old, girls and boys are all practicing. Many people in Korea hike. The number of hiking shops in Jeju only is superior to the number of pubs in Dublin. Just to give you an idea :) But often this sport addiction goes to a funny edge. People would buy the most expensive gears to look even more "sporty".

Overall, I became a fan of KOREA!!!! And I encourage everyone to consider this country for your holidays.

But here my trip to Korea has not ended. I keep on learning Korean language and cooking Korean food. My friends are sometimes tired of my "Korean" remarks. Then nobody is perfect.

Hope you have found something useful for you about Korean. Do you have a Korean experience yourself?

Some rhetorical conclusions:

noreply@blogger.com (Inna S) — Sun, 24 May 2009 23:16:00 +0000

Since I came back to reality, digested my trip and my emotions I’d like to make some conclusions.

The most important one is that I am in love with Korea. But maybe it’s because being a tourist is always easy: making quick and sometimes subjective judgments.

I was thinking what I would bring with me as “likes” and “dislikes”.

Dislikes:

- too much garlic man. I know, I know, garlic is energetic, good for health and so on. But apart from giving me bad taste in the mouth for half-day I have some stomach disturbances. I mean I have nothing against it but in very reasonable proportions. Garlic is something particular to Korean culture, seriously. When you walk along the street on a hot or even warm day you’d smell garlic from everywhere. So not good for the real food aesthetes;

- not much room for individualism. Korea is indeed a community society, a sharing society. They do all in groups. Well, the majority of things. And in the same time, everybody is supposed to like it. Just look at the food: it’s destined for sharing. If you eat on your own you are very likely to leave a half. At least, you are a good eater (like me, I was leaving 1/3). That’s why any difference in Korea is seeing as something unusual, weird, sometimes inacceptable. Funny episode happened when I was walking through Namsan park one day. It was my third day in Seoul or so and all cherry and plum trees of the city had been covered with blossom. Loads of people were in the park enjoying the incoming spring and taking pictures. But they all took pics only from several spots in the park. They were all politely waiting for their turn and then ‘click’, next. The same phenomenon I observed in various parts of Korea. It looks like they take it seriously. The same thing happens for shopping. When a group of Koreans enters a tourist shop or duty free shop most of them tend to buy exactly the same things;

- Koreans never (or almost never) say ‘no’ or show they can’t do something. Ok, I called my friend asking him for our next meeting. The first thing I did was asking him whereas he could talk. He said yes, but what he said did not have a clue. We were misunderstanding each other and I was asking him the same question several times he gave me different answers. I said that I would call later. 15 min after he sends me SMS saying he was driving and could not talk!!! Small things like that happened to me constantly. And what was annoying that people totally refused to recognized their inability to do something or if they would not understand what I needed or provide me with some information. Well, it’s all about ‘loosing one’s face’ but quit often they were loosing their face exactly because they refused to give up;

- not many places where one can get really nice coffee. I was struggling with my nature trying to like tea but no, man, no. And Starbucks is not a solution either. Coffee took a grip on me. Well, then the only thing to do is to open my own café in Seoul one day;

- and one more thing that I really hated. One always waits until the traffic light for pedestrians turns green. How many times during my trip I’ve got nervous, almost neurotic waiting for the green light. And on the top of that I could not cross the street in the middle~ ! Always only on indicated places. Grrrrr! But I try to look at it at the training for my patience. oooOOOOooo

Karaoke in Busan

noreply@blogger.com (Inna S) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 10:43:00 +0000

Bad weather kept me 1.5 extra days on Jeju. All flights have been canceled. Only one ferry per day goes to Busan and it takes 11 hours! I decided to take it being already fed up with bad weather.

Ferry Cozy Island took off at 19.00. When I saw the ferry and then the storming sea I mentally thought about Buddha.

Well, this ferry was particularly old and dirty. I has second class bed which means we were 8 in the room and slept on sort of shelves. Still we were lucky. Because the third class slept on the floor, 10 to 15 people per room of the same size as ours. I met Chris from Zuric who also traveled around Korea and who shared the same room (I am even afraid to call it a room). We decided to stick together and drink beer until we don't know either we shake because of it or because of the storm. Many people were probably knocked down by both.

We had 4 boys in the same room. Two of them were playing with me a shooting game.

Luckily next morning we safely "landed" in Busan.

The only thing I can tell about this city is that I don't like it. Unclean, stinky and vandalized. Maybe it's because of the Russian community? :) Hehe. But seriously Russian have a dirty reputation here. Many girls are prostitutes and English teachers who come from Stated or England (especially blond ones) have bad times running away from the local man.

Well, maybe me being to harsh on Busan. But I really did not feel it. There are several nice parks around. Chris tried to cheer me up (we traveled around Busan together, thanks God. I had one stupid accident with an elderly man who offered me to go to his place. Thanks God, Chris was around).

So we took the cable car to Geumjeongsan, one of the most popular hiking area.

In Busan I met my colleague from Paris who visited his girlfriend. So after some nice Korean barbecue we went to sing karaoke. It was quite a blast! We had a separate soundproof room and could eat as much ice cream as we wanted. And then music carried us on its waves until very late...

Five day market

noreply@blogger.com (Inna S) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 10:18:00 +0000

After visiting the world in 1.5 hours, we went to Five day market. In fact, John had to open his coffee shop, so there were only ladies. Since John's wive was not speaking English well, Bonita was my translator.

Five day market is a traditional Korean market since 15th century. On Jeju it's held every 5 days starting from every 5th of the month, so on 5th, 12th, 19th and 26th. Farmers from all over the region come to this open-air market.

Oh My God! Here you can get anything: from pins and tooth paste to wooden furniture.

First, we had some bread. It looks sort of gluey and unattractive. But containing some honey inside the taste is delicious.

Then we passed the stoles with Korean traditional remedies...

... and delicatessen.

Jeju is famous for its varied sea food.

You could also buy all sort of kimchi and side dishes.

This I have not tried but it's an equivalent of Korean hot dog. Tiny pancake made of almost transparent slices of fish. Before consuming you grill it for a while. Everybody has it as snack here.

In the very end of the market one find a corner with pets =)

Miniland

noreply@blogger.com (Inna S) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 09:22:00 +0000

And again I have met super nice people. This time in Seogwuipo.

As usually I was wondering around the city and looking for a coffee place. By the way, I think of maybe starting a tour guide on coffee places around the world?! Vetro coffee came on my way which happen to be in Lonely Planet. The owner of the coffee shop put nice copies from Lonely Planet on the window and then I started looking for it in the book. The place is very quiet. You can feel it's taken care of with lots of love. I came with my laptop and as usually this place had Wi-Fi. Actually, almost all places where I've been have wireless. It could be a Soviet slogan: Wireless for everybody~!

We started chatting with John and quickly became friends. I would come to Vetro for breakfast and night-fest :)

One of the parts of my Jeju plan was visiting Mini-land, the miniature park. On my last day in Seogwipo John offered to go to Mini-land together with his family.

His daughter Bonita, 10 y.o., told me that I am her big sister 누님. She was so cute!!! She spoke great English. When we drove in the car we played Nintendo together. It was this game where you have to cook something. Super good thing for learning language! I was learning names of different ingredients from this game.

Bonita being smart girl noticed that in 1.5 hours we've traveled around the world for really small money. This Miniland was not bad indeed. Mostly they've displayed miniatures of Korean and Asian architectural "wonders". But Buckhinham palace, Eiffel Tour, Statue of Liberty, Sidney Opera honorably stood there as well.

They even had a "nature corner" with pigs, ducks and gods.

Jeju activities

noreply@blogger.com (Inna S) — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 00:42:00 +0000

Four days on Jeju and I've done quite a lot and I've made new friends!

Oh, I forgot to mention several important things about Jeju. It's considered a Korean capital of tangerines! Tangerines are everywhere, you can get them in any shop or market. Jeju inhabitants produce tangerine jam, tangerine soda, tangerine candies. If you are lucky to be around during the harvest period you can even participate in picking tangerines!

Haenyo, (해녀) women divers is also something unique to this island. This profession is dying slowly, but there are still some women divers, I've got the number 3 000 from some local tourist information. In the past women started exercising this profession because they were exonerated from paying taxes. Since haenyo's life is tied to the sea. Unfortunately I did not have a chance to see any haenyo.

Another particularity of Jeju are the weir statues, harubang.

I have to say thay Jeju had been developing its own particular culture because of long period of isolation from the continent. So this type of statues is particular only to Jeju. Their role is to protect against evil forces. So people would place them in front of their houses.

Many harubang statues can be found in Mok Seog Won, an open air art gallery and museum. I've also discovered those strange figurines called Dong-ja-seoks.

People put them on graves in order to protect the spirit of a dead person. Almost all of them are holding some objects in their hands in case the dead needs something in the "other" life. They sometimes are smiling, sometimes they look angry as so to please the dead or/and to scare bad spirits. I find them very very cute.

I like this ones particularly

Another challenge for me was hiking!!! Now I know I really hate hiking. Olivier, I won't come with you to Morocco this year, sorry. Sincerely, I don't think the result is worth the effort. But well... So, I've climbed this Hallasan mountain. I really really really wanted to see the volcano crater. But for some technical reasons the 2 km track heading to the crater was not accessible. Such a waste. So far I walked 3 km each way which took me about two hours (each way).

On Hallasan I saw a deer, got a sunburnt and made new friends: Adam, SeongJun and MisDon. Together with my new friends we've spent two nice evenings. As always having nice food.

Jeju: first experiences

noreply@blogger.com (Inna S) — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 09:58:00 +0000

That's how I look all the time here: smiling, happy and sunny.

General impressions of Jeju: small island where you travel easily either on bus, taxi or car. It's easier to rent a car but if you don't have a license like me you can use the first two. Taxis are relatively cheap. You can get from Jeju-si (the capital) on the North to Seogwipo on the very South for 25 000 won

Lovely that I am traveling during the low season: everything is available, no crazy tourists. I love it!

One can easily find cheap places for a night. Like, for example, love motels. Interesting fact. Loads of those motels include per hour rates. The price of one night varies from 20 000 won to 40 000 won (between 10 and 23 euros). Quite affordable. Most of the love motels have a super kitsch set-up, like this one, for example.

Rooms contain all you need to look fresh after leaving the motel: tooth paste, shampoo, hair conditioner, hair dryer, hair gel, combs, facial cream and lotion, and small machine with condoms, 1000 won only =) The only annoying thing for me is a cigarette smell since it's allowed to smoke inside.

My trouble again was money withdrawal. I tried 5 or 6 different banks (even those suggested in Lonely planet) but no result. I started being a little bit uncomfortable in this situation. But just before I was about to give up and take a cab to the airport some bank gave me my money. Well, I man has to do what a man has to do: shoppping! Jungang underground shopping center is operating until 23.00 :) Something crazy to see. Millions of mini-fashion shops, some shoe shops, shops for cosmetics. And food! Oh mine, all those tiny and nice things that you can eat here! I am eating all the time, all sort of things (dead, alive and just unbelievable). It's all very tasty.

This is soooo good with beer!

Ferry Wando-Jeju

noreply@blogger.com (Inna S) — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 09:12:00 +0000

Temple stay came to an end, I went to Jeju, the biggest island in Korea, an autonomous province and the holiday place of many Koreans.

Before leaving Mihwang, I went to say goodbye to Juji Sunim, or in other words the CEO of the temple. One of the nicest person I've met so far during my trip. Well, honestly everybody I meet on my way is sooo SUPER NICE to me. I've been soooo lucky.

He made me matcha, special powderes green tea. It's consumed only on special occasions or for treatment of special guest. I felt honored.

As you can see from the pictures the preparation of this tea is also very special. And the taste is weird and special as well. It tastes like a slightly bitter foam.

When I told juji sunim I go to Jeju he immediately called the captain of the ferry! Networking is a good thing guys :)

The captain, Mr Kim, was equally nice to me. I've been treated like a president. I had my own suite and even had diner with the crew!

Mr Kim showed me around. He gave me a basic lesson on navigation and navigation tools!

When we arrived on shore Mr Kim kindly drove me to the nearest hotel area and explained me how to circulate on Jeju. Here took the beginning my 4.5 days of tour on Jeju

In the temple: day 5

noreply@blogger.com (Inna S) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 23:40:00 +0000

Thursday

Departures are sad. At least for me. Every time I leave the place I feel like I leave a part of my heart in the place. Even in Dublin I have this weird feeling. Five spiritually intense days in this fantastic place were tearing my hear apart. When I put on my secular look we made picture with people who enlightened my stay in Mihwang

Making a conclusion on the temple stay I would underline several things.

1. Temple food contains no garlic!!! Monks eat strictly vegetarian food and no ingredients that are considered as "disturbing for the mind and body". Funny thing. When I complain about the dose of garlic in the food Koreans usually say: Garlic is energetic! Hahahah =) Well, maybe...

2. Temple experience brought me resistance regarding such tough conditions as lotus position, early wake up at 3.40 five days in a row (and still feel jumpy), food without garlic (hehe). Overall my survival conditions have straightened!

3. Jetmaster or jedmaster comes from Buddhism. I did not have enough time to research more on this but I trust people in the temple who told me about it. If this information is wrong please correct me. Jetmaster is an enlightened monk, the one who is close to nirvana. In each temple there is a cemetery where the jetmasters have been buried. There is also one in Mihwang.

Lea told us a story about one of the jetmasters. I don't remember his name in Korean but it means something like Snow on the Mountain Top. He lived approximately 200 years ago. He was an anarchist monk: he did not obey the rules of temple. He grew his hair long, he drank, he ate meat etc. But he was enlightened nevertheless (ha, all rules have exceptions) and died reaching the nirvana. So the monks in Mihwangsa put this quite "modern" stuppa for him.

The stuppa contains many symbols. Salamander, crab, fish, duck and turtle signify the origins of Buddhism from India. Buddhism came to Korea through sea therefore so many 'swiming' elements.

Monster is here to protect the calm of the jetmaster.

And the door as you can see is opened.

Yes, the departures are sad. But I was glad to learn so much within the walls of the temple. One day I might be back.

In the temple: day 4

noreply@blogger.com (Inna S) — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 00:58:00 +0000

Wednesday

Today I can be proud of myself. I did not sleep during the day. The schedule 3.40 – 22.30 worked perfectly on me. Yeah, I think I’ve adapted to the temple rhythm of life. Unfortunately, I don’t see my life in a temple. But now when I think about it I could possibly stay in a temple for 2 or 3 months maybe. It would be another great experience and I could learn more of meditation, yoga and why not more temple martial art.

Every day after breakfast we have some work to do. The other day it was cleaning the Main Hall. Today around 7.30 a.m. we worked in the garden taking off the weed and stones from the earth. At 9.30 we has another project: preparing lanterns for the Buddha’s birthday. How much I regret not being in Korea for this big day. This year Buddha’s birthday is on May 2d and I leave on April 27th. But well, next time. Who knows?

So, in the temple they have tones and tones of lanterns, approximately 15000. At the first place, our task was to take off the old paper from the lanterns. Task number two to clean the metallic lantern base from glue. In the end, we had to put on the new paper on this metallic base. Honestly, I would not do it on my own, but together with the big crowd it was much more fun. Especially when you don’t speak Korean at all and they all making jokes and laughing all the time. Again, Lea was there and she translated some of the jokes to me which caused be-lated laughter like 5 min later. But then they guys were laughing at my be-lated reaction to a joke.

After the lunch a funny adventure happened to me. For those who travel to Korea it’s important to know that you cannot withdraw money in any ATM. Weird, hein? In Seoul, for example, I had to go to a specific branch of a bank where they had ATM that accept international card. Sebastien, my colleague from Google who travel to Korea last year, warned me about this issue and advised to withdraw as much I my bank allows me to. I actually did, but one detail slept out of my mind: I did not exactly remember how much I had to pay for the temple stay. In my calculation I would have 100 000 won left. But again, the Murfy’s law exists even in Korea. I did not have those 100 000 won. I was a little bit worried to be moneyless after leaving temple going to Haenam (the closest “big” city) and looking for a bank.

Luckily yesterday somebody arrived to the temple for only one day. Seo JunYeong was a doctor, orthopedist, having a break from the crazy work. Just after lunch he was heading back home, to Kihme, near Busan. Using the occasion I asked him if he could give me a lift to Haenam, which is 20 km North from Mihwang temple. Jun kindly agreed. But he did not expect (me neither) that in Haenam, after checking out 5 different banks I did not manage to withdraw anything. All ATMa refused to accept any of my three cards!!!! Ohlala. I felt bad stealing his time, and he also felt bad not being able to help. Buddha was with me =) because I had some euros that I could exchanged as an alternative to staying “poor”. So Jun took me the lift back to the temple after successful learning of bad banking system in Korea.
Here again, I’ve never seen such a generosity and willingness to help in any other country, Korea being my 20th or 21st country. People are super kind, super responsible and curios about foreigners. Vincent, a guy from tango in Seoul, told me that Koreans are always nice to the foreigners but not all the time to themselves. I have to trust him on this.

So my money search made Jun loosing 2 hours but we’ve spent this time learning each other’s cultures and had a nice talk.

Our today’s tea ceremony was special. Lea could not stay with us so we have been left to ourselves and the providence trying to find the common language with the Sunim. That’s where dear Jin Hyeong helped a lot. She is the one who wants to become a monk and is now assisting in the temple. She was really cute and did her best so our conversation could succeed. And it did! We made many jokes and had a great time. The Sunim was telling us a story about his interest to English language. He recalled that may years ago when he was already a monk, he met this very beautiful foreign girl (he did not mention the country) who was an English teacher. She has such a big and pretty eyes that all he could do was to look at her. His hears was beating so fast every time he saw her. This heart beating, as you can imagine, was not really good for his carrier as a monk. So he avoided her. But since every time he has to deal with foreigners he remembers those eyes…. Oh!!

Well, we talked about lots of other stuff. Unfortunately it is my last evening in Mihwang temple.

In the temple: day 3

noreply@blogger.com (Inna S) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 22:25:00 +0000

Tuesday

Today I was sick ‘( My poor body refused to integrate into the Buddhist style of life either it was the acceptance of such integration. I went though the morning chanting, breakfast, walking meditation in the mountains, community work until lunch. I felt terrible pain in my head, sort of high pressure. My legs could not move. I wanted to throw up and could eat only rice. So I went back to my room and slept until 6.00. It was like a black hole. I don’t remember how long I slept (in fact more than 6 hours), I had no dreams. But after I came back to normal going for the evening chanting and tea ceremony.

Oh, this tea ceremony. If you knew how cool is the whole atmosphere and the process itself. Tomorrow I will have a “private class” on how to deal with tea. Can’t wait!

Tomorrow is also my last whole day in Mihwangsa.

In the temple: day 2

noreply@blogger.com (Inna S) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 22:24:00 +0000

Monday

The beginning of my first day was quite an experience and started around 3.00 a.m. I was so tired yesterday that went to bed at 9.30a.m. I felt hot during the night and did not manage to sleep properly. 4.00 a.m. is the usual morning chanting time. Even if I wanted to stay in bed I could not. They started ringing the huge bell outside and afterwards a monk walked around the temple territory with a smaller wooden bell Mok-tak stroking it with a wooden stick. With the absolute silence around the ringing was rather loud and was even better than normal alarm.

The first challenges of the day were struggle with not falling asleep and not started yelling of pain since my muscles are not used to certain positions.
Just in the beginning of the morning chanting I felt terrible. My body was refusing to stay in the lotus position. I was yawning every 3 minutes. Nevertheless I greatly enjoyed it. As I mentioned there is one huge bell standing outside. There is also a smaller one inside. The Sunim was stoking the bell and singing some suras. It was so beautiful! Sitting in this Main Hall, smelling wood and incense, listening to the chanting in a very beautiful language (unfortunately meaningless for me at the moment), seeing colorful paintings on the ceiling and walls was so powerful. Honestly, Buddhism is now taking more and more the shape of an aesthetic way of life than only great philosophy and a cool religion.

After the morning chanting we had an hour of yoga. This I like the best. The room for yoga/meditation session looked totally like in movies. With just one huge difference – it was for real! I though about Kill Bill. The session started with 30 minutes meditation in the lotus position. That’s where my poor legs suffered. Again. I was not able to sit like this for more than 10 minutes. But I endured my task until the end. Tough but doable. The rest of the session we did various exercises. So much fun! For a minute I imagined the orthodox priest doing yoga in his super heavy clothing and then drinking tea with the believers.

Breakfast was served at 6.30 a.m. and was incredibly tasty. Rice and 5 side dishes like seaweed, lotus routs, kimchi and tofu, and soup. Well, I have already fallen in love with Korean cuisine. Hang on guys; as soon as I am back to Dublin do expect Korean diners and tea ceremony.

After the lunch we commit for some community work. It can be so different. Today, for example, we cleaned the Main Hall. Lunch is served at 11.30 a.m. and free time again until 6.30 which is diner time. And then the life circle starts again with the evening chanting, walking meditation and tea ceremony.

In the temple: day 1

noreply@blogger.com (Inna S) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 22:06:00 +0000

Sunday

Super good news: there is broadband in the temple! So I will narrate my temple adventure.

It did not take me long to get to the temple. 5 hours by bus from Seoul to Haenam. And then another bus took me immediately to Wonsung, maybe another 25 min. From Wonsung 6km by taxi and I am in Mihwansga. The very first impression was breathtaking. I’ve never experienced something similar before.

Temples are usually built in retreat and calm places. When I entered the Mihwangsa temple I had this feeling of overwhelming space.

Mihwansga is a traditional Korean type of temples. The temple was built high in the mountains. When the weather is nice and the sky is clear you can see the sea.
The approximate plan of all temples is more or less similar. In Mihwangsa the Main Buddha Hall stands above the big square courtyard. The main chantings (in the morning, before lunch and in the evenings) take place there.

Several smaller halls are spread around the main one. I asked what is their function. As I learned in Buddhism temples you meet different types of halls depending on the type of temple, on various roles that the temple exercises for the community etc. The temple decides the purposes of each hall and dedicates it to one of the Buddhas. For example, in Mihwansgsa one of the halls is called Myung-by-jeon or Judgment hall. In Buddhism a soul of a dead person is hanging around for 49 days. So during those 49 days the family prays for the dead person’s better rebirth.

Meditation hall and hall for tea ceremony are kind of the must of a temple.

Bells are important part of Buddhism ceremonies. One of those, the huge one stands in some sort of pavilion. This bell is struck to tell time and to call for prayer. In the morning the bell is struck 28 times and in the evening 33 times. No idea what the meaning is.

Here and there you see the houses for temple stay people. My friends, the civilization goes very well along with Buddhism. First, there is a broadband. Well, not in all houses, just in the room of people who stay longer period. Then all houses are heated. I’ve counted 5 shower rooms, several toilets and two washing machines. Monks use cellar phones and there are 8 plugs in every room. Honestly, a religion that goes in line with our changing word has my respect.

Here is the house where I live and respectively my bed :)

I walked around about an hour. The view from the temple is magnificent. I was sitting on the stone stairs watching the sunset. The big red sun was slowly drowning into the river. Many birds sang in the same time and the wind nicely touched my face. It was a perfect place for me at this moment. I was happy!

Then we had a prayer time, or chanting. People who came here for a temple stay are very few, maybe 5 or 6. Lea is here for a longer stay. She’s been here for two months now and will probably stay more. She is Korean but since I don’t remember how long she lives in the States. She is my dear guide here and translator. Without her I don’t know what I would do. Jun Min came here ofr couple of months before his exams to the University. He says he can concentrate here better. I can understand why =) He wants to become a veterinary. He is shy but he speaks English very well. I’ve already asked him to make a linguistic exchange during my stay. One other girl, Jin Hyeong, is here to become a monk. As she explained, she has right to assist to a women monk during 6 months. Then she can finally decide either she really wants to become a monk or not. And then she has to study during 4 years if she goes ahead with her choice.

After the prayer we have what is called the walking meditation time. What is this? It’s the type of meditation that gives one’s body a break after the long sitting. Walking meditation is my favorite one for sure. For the moment my body is not very well adapted to the lotus position. We are walking along the courtyard, our steps following our breath. Walking is quite enjoyable, walking and listening to the silence.

After the walking meditation we went down to the library to finish the day with tea ceremony. Tea ceremony is all about engaging your five senses. Ears hear the water boiling. Nose smells the aroma of the tea. Eyes see the color, tongue tastes the flavor while fingers feel the warmth of the cup. Drinking tea proved a chance to talk with the sunim.

We were 6 including the sunim. Hopefully Lea was here to translate!!! Then the sunim (Buddhist monk) asked me why I am here and what are my questions to him. Oh mine! I had so many questions that I did not know where to start. So first I started from really general and philosophical ones. But little by little those transformed into more narrow and detailed. The Sunim is super cool person. He is very deep and easy-going in the same time. He makes jokes all the time. This was my second admiration for Buddhism during one day. During our conversation Sunim was making us tea and answering my sometimes controversial questions. It looked like a therapy but in the same time everybody felt relaxed, we drank tea, laughed, made silly faces.
Really, the only thing I have to tell to summarize: I am happy to be here, now, with these people, at this time of year. I had so many expectations and it looks like those come real.

I will survive!

noreply@blogger.com (Inna S) — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 03:56:00 +0000

For the last three days I've been living in one lovely neighborhood, Insadong. Chul, my friend's friend, showed me this place on my very first day. I liked it so much that I decided to move here next day.

These pictures does not not reflect the whole spirit of this place. For the moment I have not taken more photographs of Insadong. Just to give you an idea. The main street, Insadong-gil, curls down the neighborhood and millions of small streets hide on the both sides of it. One can easily get lost for a while. But luckily there are several skyscrapers that help with orientation. Tones of tiny shops and restaurants catch your attention. You go from one place to another spending all morning or day within one street.

Yesterday when walking to the hotel from Insadong-gil I suddenly noticed one small but funky coffee place and was saved from not having "european style coffee" in other places than Starbucks. Saved! Saved! I could possibly live in Millimeter Millimgam or MMMG. The first place in my life where I saw Happy Hours for coffee!

The atmosphere is very particular and nice. Tables, chairs and cups are all different. They have also tiny shop with vintage stationery. First time in my life ate green tea muffin! If I lived in Seoul I would survive!

Namsan Tower & Locks of Love

noreply@blogger.com (Inna S) — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 06:50:00 +0000

On my third day in Seoul my friend took me to Namsan Tower. The tower is situated on the top of Namsan Mount. It's a cute mini-mountain in the center of Seoul. We parked downhill and took the cable car to the top. The trip was amazing!

The length of the cable is around 600m. Very impressive, fast and high! For the way on the top the line was huge. And what was also very impressive that people were not rushing and hurrying to get into the cable car. They stood in line and would not jump ahead of you. Maybe in a long term it's annoying (what I really doubt) but I like it a lot: good manners and education of Koreans. Again, maybe it's because I've just arrived and this impression is so fresh and I like it. But good manners make no harm to anyone.

We got off the cable car and walked to the tower. And then Jaehee showed me what is called Locks of Love.

Couples come here and lock little locks to the fence surrounding the Tower. They usually write the promise of love on the lock and then throw away keys. Nevertheless the notice on the fence says something totally different.

Well, personally ... I found it a little bit pathetic but in the same time cute. What I really like is how iloveu is written in hangul: 사랑합니다