Muiido Island continued...

So here is a picture of the sea with the low tide again. The land is cracked and resembles very dry skin. On the left is a picture of the beach, with the mountains in the distance.

So after Bob and I got to the beach, it started raining, so we ran to a bunch of umbrella things, which turned out to be a restaurant. Starving, we then ordered dwengjang jiggye. The ajummas were even nice enough to give us free green tea (two cups!) and find out when the last ferry left from the island.

We then took a little walk and left, because it started to rain again.

And finally, when we got to Muiido, I jumped in joy (as you can see in this very unflattering picture).

The surroundings were equally beautiful. We were surrounded by mountains and a wide sea, empty save for a few people.

Muiido Island!

So today Bob and I decided to go the beach and study! It was a pretty easy journey that I have carefully documented for my six followers.

On the left you can see the beach that that circles the island upon which Incheon airport is located. Unfortunately, as you can see, it was also a cloudy day but we were determined to go to the beach come hell or high water. Thus, a 30% chance of precipitation had no chance of stopping us!

We chose Muiido because it came highly recommended from the Korea Sparkling website and the blogosphere. It was a somewhat remote island (compared to the other beaches in the Incheon area). So we first took the 1st line to Incehon station, got off, and took a bus. Sketchily enough, the bus dropped us off at the side of the road and we had to walk to a ferry stop that was 20 minutes away along a narrow road. I took some pictures of the sea with the low tide. Beautiful, isn't it?

This was an unbelievably beautiful patio-like level at the Buddhist temple. I believe that people wrote prayers on slips of paper that were affixed to these paper orbs. And juxtaposed with the tall skscrapers of this area near Samseong, it was breathtaking...

Buddhist Temple!

On Wednesday (or was it Tuesday?) Bob and I visited this rather old, around 500-year-old temple called Bongeunsa in the heart of Seoul (take line 2, get off at Samseong). It was unbelievably beautiful despite being in the midst of a city like Seoul. I went for a walk through the woods, meditated for a bit, and was just in awe of my surroundings...

Some lovely pictures to highlight this trip are also around here. If you look above, you can see a beautiful meditation/prayer room at the temple.

The Bathroom Incident

So another horrifying thing- to continue with the BATHROOM STORY. So I walked into Mijje fitness club and asked where the bathroom was because by this point, I needed to pee oh so very badly. The lady at the desk said turn right and then left. I guess I didn't hear the last part b/c I sprinted into the men's bathroom as it turns out, by mistake. For some reason, I didn't notice the urinals or pay attention to them. I went into the stall, sat down, and peed. I then heard a man's grunt in the next stall and was like...oh dear.

I then recalled the peripheral urinals that I had seen when I ran into the bathroom and thought oh good. How do I get out of here without anyone seeing me? So I decided to wait until it seemed quiet. I then opened the door....to discovered an ajashi (middle aged man) using the urinal. He turned around upon hearing noise, saw me, and froze. Not knowing what to do, I just bowed and said jwesonghamnida (I'm sorry) and sprinted out, tripping over something as I ran...The memory still haunts me.

LGBT Festival and Bathroom Incident

Today Bob and I decided to go to the 10th annual gay pride parade in Seoul. We were completely unsure of what to expect, for homosexuality still isn't entirely accepted or even displayed in Korea. We got there around 2 p.m. to find a small area of a business district covered in tents and filled with people handing out free condoms, fans, and buttons (in typical fashion). There was also a stage on which many people performed highly amusing songs, etc - one included a female rapper while another included a group of middle-school boys attired in extraordinarily tight jeans gyrating their hips to some popular Korean pop tune. Afterward, the actual parade began and wound its way through the streets of this business district. After pondering it for some time, Bob and I concluded that venue may have been the result of some political motivations. We watched as businessmen and families stood in shock as the rainbow colors and gyrating lesbians, bisexuals, gay, and transgender paraded by.

I then parted with Bob and went to my fitness club, Mijje gym. Gyms appear to be slightly more expensive in Korea, around 90,000 won a month - if you are seeking decent facilities. Also, women do not appear to go to the gym often or even lift. In fact, the first day I went to the gym, some haraboji(grandfather) looked at me and suggested that because I was a tiny girl, I lift minimally. Today, however, was a slightly different day for I experienced the most shocking and embarrasing thing in Korea thus far...

See in the next post for more details...

A picture of the dish...

So here is a picture of the more tasty dish sampled by the two other light felllows. I just felt that it was necessary to include some lovely food pictures!