Too Much Food.

Over the past few days I've been spending a relaxing time on campus reveling in my temporary access to a full kitchen by baking a ton, eating a massive ton, and socializing with friends. 

On Saturday night we threw a dinner party. It was simple enough - we just made pasta. But the addition of good friends and booze made it a fun night. 

Also over the weekend I tried my hand at making Japanese wagashi using this recipe. It was really simple to make and they taste great warmed up with tea.

I also made some banana bread using this simple but extremely delicious recipe. And due to the lack of canned pumpkin in Korea, I adapted my favorite pumpkin bread recipe for sweet potatoes. My British friends told me the concept of eating something savory like pumpkin or sweet potato in a dessert disgusts them, but after trying the bread they had to rethink their views on gourd-based sweets.

Sweet potato bread

And FINALLY, a chance to be extremely fashionable in our fleece Korean pajamas. HOTTAYZ -

Manjanggul Lava Cave and Jeju Hedge Maze

Lava Caves - CHECK. One more thing knocked off my Jeju Island bucket list. On Saturday we started our winter holidays and for the next three weeks I am FREE. On Thursday I leave for Thailand, but before that I have a few days to bum around school, explore the island, and cook/ bake/ drink wine with friends. 

On Sunday we got up relatively early, bused up to Jeju City, and then took the 700 bus east for about 40 minutes to the Manjanggul stop. After walking a few kilometers, we made it to the lava tube entrance. For a mere $2 ($1 for those under 25 years old), you can enter the cold, damp tubes and walk in for about a kilometer. 

We made our way down many stairs into the tubes and I could feel the temperature drop slightly the farther we went. At least during the winter, the temperature difference between the surface and the cave wasn't that different. Mostly it was just moist and cavernous down there...

The footing was a bit sketchy, and the floor was moist and puddle-y. There were dim lights lining the path, but still it was quite dark.

Entrance to the tube

Reading the sign about "Lava Toes."

End of the tube

We walked about a kilometer in, which is as far as the path goes. According to some signs we read, the tube stretches much farther in either direction, and only that one kilometer is open to the public. I know there are other lava tubes on the island, but I've read that the geographical features they house are so delicate they are not open to public viewing.

After the caves we stopped at a Korean restaurant for lunch and then walked to another nearby tourist trap - a hedge maze. It cost less than $2 each to enter the maze, which kept us occupied for longer than expected.

At first we were all gung-ho that we weren't going to use the map they'd given us to find the exit. I had a theory that I'd seen somewhere: As long as we only took right- or left-hand turns we'd make our way out of the maze. This was sort of true in that we made our way back to the entrance, which I guess is technically an exit... but it was also not where we were trying to go. The goal was to reach the middle of the maze and ring the bell. We must've wandered the hedges for an hour before finally giving up and mapping our way out.

We followed the mapped route and within ten minutes we made it to the middle, climbed the stairs, rung the bell, and went home.

SUCCESS after cheating our way out of the maze !!

Mt. Halla

Today I walked to O'sulloc with Anna. The weather was so warm and clear. The view of snow-capped Halla was incredible:

Jeju Loveland

**Disclaimer** There are dirty pictures in this post. Grandma, avert your eyes :0

On our day off Anna and I planned a trip to Jeju Loveland, an erotic statue park. To be honest, I've been wanting to go to Loveland since I learned that I'd be living on Jeju Island. Where else in the world would I be able to go to a place like that? 

We took the bus into town and then taxied down to Loveland. For a mere 9,000 won we were granted access to the site for an extended photo session with various pieces of suggestive statue art. 

ON OUR WAY !! Bus fare from the GEC

Arrived !!

Wonderful sidewalk art guided us around the park

Inspired statuary 

Some may be confused why a park like this exists. What's the point of two acres of land covered in sexy statue art? Two reasons. First, Jeju is home to an almost infinite number of random attractions including and not limited to teddy bear, chocolate, glass, dinosaur, mini landmarks, and elephant museums/ theme parks. Next, Jeju is a hugely popular honeymoon destination for Korean newlyweds. Apparently this park may provide some helpful advice and encouragement, or even just a few awkward laughs, for couples visiting the island. EWWWW. 

Anna and I didn't encounter too many couples. Mostly we just saw women walking around together in small groups and then the odd group of older salarymen poking their heads around that statuary ....UGH bad phrasing.... Thing is, I guess I can imagine going here on a date but it would have to be with someone I could have a really good laugh with. I'd prefer to go with friends.

Moving on. After viewing Loveland, Anna and I went back into the city for Indian food at Raj Mahal near Halla Hospital. This was my second time at this place and it's extremely delicious. I overate. 

Thanksgiving in Korea

Happy Holidays!!

There aren't many options for a Thanksgiving meal here... especially when you live in the middle of nowhere miles away from the city and supermarkets. On Thursday I took a trip to E-mart and came back with a huge bag of food and drink that I couldn't even carry on my own. With the help of a friend I dragged my purchases back to campus and stocked them away for use later in the night -- at the "Thanksgiving feast."

I went over to another American's place and we improvised Thanksgiving dinner by making chocolate chip pancakes, bacon, and mimosas.

Although not traditional, it was still really fun and not much is more American than a plate of flapjacks and bacon.

Korean Face Masks

One of the things I really love about Korea is the extraordinary variety of beauty products they stock in their shops. Makeup here is pretty inexpensive, and shops will sell some weird beauty enhancement items. My favorite thing to do on girls' nights now is slap on a korean face mask.

Although they make you look like a ghost/ cadaver with melty skin, after finally peeling the mask away from your face you are left with skin softer than a baby's butt wrapped in cashmere. 

Jeoji House Dinner

This past weekend my house, Jeoji, threw its first ever formal dinner party. We spent Saturday setting up and decorating the atrium for the meal by dragging in tables and chairs and covering tables in black and yellow paper. Everything came together looking very nice.

When we arrived downstairs for the dinner there were invitation place cards at each seat. Unfortunately some of the students think my name is Kristine..... It's alright.

The meal was provided by the dining services, but it was admittedly better than the cafeteria fare. We had three courses, with the main course being chicken. I overate. 

The staff on duty during the dinner party -- Looking dapper ;)

Night Out in Jeju City

As it was Anna's birthday, we all went into town on Friday night to celebrate. It's kind of hard to go into the city since it's so far away, so going out is kind of a treat. We taxied into town and first stopped off at Wa Bar, a western style bar that has good beer. Next we went to our usual haunt, Island Stone, which has two for one shots on Fridays. We followed this up by a night of dancing and a final stop at Loteria for burgers. Mmmmm.

Lots of cheesy group photos. Feel like I'm back at uni --

Return to O'sulloc Tea Plantation

O'sulloc green tea plantation is a five minute bike ride from school, so it's easy to travel there when we have a bit of free time. We had a small meal at the cafe and then did the touristy thing and posed for a bunch of pictures in front of the giant, teacup-shaped bush. The weather was relatively warm and it was a pleasant outing. 

Jimjilbang - Korean Sauna

I forgot to post about this in all the excitement of traveling to Seoul and abroad, but my last Thursday off before vacation I went to a sauna, AKA jimjilbang with Anna. I was expecting an experience like a Japanese onsen, but it was definitely different than I imagined. 

We paid 9,000 won (about $9) to get in and that allowed us access to the saunas, baths, and upstairs relaxation room. It also got us some swiggity swag prison-orange chic pajamas to wear around the relaxation room on the third floor.

First thing we did was bathe, which was challenging considering the jimjilbang didn't provide anything other than bar soap (unlike onsens which usually provide shampoo at least), and there didn't seem to be any kind of shampoo/ soap/ conditioner/ body towels for sale anywhere. 

It was really nice to relax in the pools after bathing. There were three different temperature hot pools and then a cold pool at the end of the room. There were also a couple saunas. We sat in the "cooler" sauna for maybe five minutes and sweated our asses off. It was horrible. 

Many of the women in the sauna were walking around with sucker welts on their skin. At first I thought it was some strange skin condition but I guess there's a therapy where people vacuum suction their skin and it makes them feel healthier. It's an Asian therapy. I looked it up when I got back from the sauna, but I don't remember what it's called. Regardless it left large circular welts on these women's skin and it looked scary. I bet those bruises last for at least a week....

Once we were done bathing, we went upstairs to the relaxation room and bought snacks, sat in the massage chairs, attempted to do yoga, and laid around. The jimjilbang provides mats for people who want to stay the night or just lay around, so we dragged some mats into one of the warm rooms and properly passed out. 

Even though it was pretty cozy, it wasn't a good night's sleep because there were other people in the room, particularly men, who kept coughing and moving around and snoring. Also the warm room became less cozy and felt more like a sauna as the night progressed. But it was a good experience that I'm glad I didn't pass up. Can't wait to go again! ...But maybe not spend the night...

Our stylish orange PJs 

Chilling in the bone crushers.... I mean massage chairs....

Kyoto, Japan

I had a great time visiting Kyoto. I got to see many friends and pursue my old haunts from back when I studied abroad in the city. Almost three years has passed since then but not much has changed.

On the first night there I met up with an AKP friend, Akane, who is currently working in Osaka. We went out for pasta and parfaits at my favorite parfait place in town -- Karafuneya. This is a place that has a choice of over 300 types of parfaits. I defaulted to my favorite, which is the Japanese style parfait complete with rice balls, green tea ice cream, and red bean. So good.

Later in the week we finally got to go get more parfaits at the famous green tea place in Gion called Tsujiri. Usually people are lined up down the street just to get a seat at Tsujiri, but maybe because we went in the middle of the day on a weekday, we lucked out and were shown to a table straight away. The parfait was delicious, but not really worth all the hype, I think. 

Duh and of course we did puri kura! I love Japanese photo booths even though the majority of the people using the machines were high/ middle school-aged girls...

I also finally got to take a trip to Nara, south of Kyoto. Nara is famous for the deer that wander freely around the park and temple grounds. We went to Todai-ji, perhaps the most famous temple in the area. It was gorgeous and inside was a giant Buddha. The place was infested with school children. As we walked towards the temple we were approached by several deer looking for senbei crackers, which you can buy at stands along the road. The deer can be pretty demanding to get at their senbei, and so the school kids kept buying the crackers and throwing them at the deer and then running away. The deer swarmed around them like smelly ravenous beasts. 

Todai-ji

I think autumn was the perfect season to go to Kyoto. The leaves were just starting to change color and the weather was perfect. it was in the 70s every day, quite warm, and then temps dropped at night . A typhoon blew through the region the day before I got there, so I avoided all the humid, hot, rainy weather.

I celebrated Halloween in Kyoto with Mike, who moved on to Kyoto after a brief stay in Seoul. We met at the hostel I stayed with in Seoul, Ed House, and decided to meet up again in Japan. Such a good idea. Mainly we perused the streets taking pictures with all the people in costumes.

My last full day in Kyoto was on Friday and I met up with my host mom from my study abroad days. She took me out for udon followed by a parfait at this very traditional parfait place in Gion. I wish I took pictures because it was gorgeous. We walked in and removed our shoes right away. We were led to a large room with several tables and were seated on the floor. The room was decorated in the traditional style and had a lot of wood and sliding paper doors. To one side was a wall of windows and outside, a small and peaceful garden. It was so nice to see my host mom again and just chat about everything that had happened since I'd seen her last (nearly two years ago!). It was also nice to realize I could still understand Japanese and speak enough to communicate.