The Running of the... Koreans?

Since coming to Asia, I’ve adapted to life as a functioning illiterate quite well. Phrasebooks, picture dictionaries and a big smile have become a regular part of my interactions with people. If a restaurant has a menu with pictures, it’s like striking gold. If a bank clerk even says ‘Hello’ to me in English, I immediately like them more than the rest.

While Korea certainly has more English in every day life than China did, there are also many more rules regarding formal social behavior here. From bowing to elders to pouring drinks using two hands, I’m constantly watching everyone around me to know just what exactly I should be doing. And so, when attempting to make it on the last train home last night, my fate was completely in the hands of the other passengers.

After stepping off the train at the interchange station, there was a blaring announcement over the loudspeaker. I thought I understood it. I thought it said that the train going to Madeul Station (the station before my stop) was coming. In retrospect, I have no idea what the announcement actually said. However, I sensed urgency in the announcement because it acted like a start gun for the 100 meter Olympic sprint. In something akin to the running of the bulls, everyone who had been on the train went charging down the stairs, dashing along the corridor of the line-change and plunging down another set of stairs to the train platform.

Since I could hear the rumblings of a train on the other line, I immediately followed pursuit.

I’ve also become quite good at running for trains and navigating through large masses of people since living here. I zigged when everyone else zagged and made it down the second staircase in record time. When I reached the train platform, I found a few sheepish looking runners and… no train…

It seemed that the announcement was for the train heading in the opposite direction.

Rules are Rules

From the Lamphu Guesthouse, Bangkok

Beach Bummin'

After a day in Bangkok, it was time to move on to Koh Chang. This involved a 6:00am wake-up call, a 20 minute late bus, a 6 hour bus ride, one ferry and a ride in the back of a truck to Koh Chang Lagoon Resort, where, unlike in Bangkok, they still had our reservation. It was set to be the perfect beach holiday.

There was soft white sand, shady palm trees, and calm water. With four days of relaxing on the beach infront of me, I couldn't have been happier. And then I woke up Saturday morning and heard the most dreaded sound anyone on a beach holiday could hear - raindrops on the window.

I pulled the blankets back over my head (the air conditioner was on extra-freezing-mode) and hoped that I was dreaming. Two hours later, I woke up again and everything outside was quiet. I slowly pulled the curtains back, fingers crossed, but found only gray skies.

And that's how it stayed until the day I left to go back to Bangkok. So much for that perfect beach holiday.

Bangkok

I had been in Bangkok for less than 24 hours, had slept not quite enough but rolled out into the sunshine anyways to go to a one of the most delicious breakfast places I’ve encountered while traveling these past two years. After devouring a tasty mushroom and herb omelet and downing the second-best pineapple shake of the trip (the best pineapple shake would be had the following day), Kelly and I made our way to Wat Phra Kaew for a touristy morning.

While meandering through the park on the way there, I noticed a man in neon-green-short-shorts and unbuttoned flannel shirt carrying a paper lunch bag. That’s an odd combination, I thought. Before this thought process could go any further, the man moved the paper bag from in front of his groin to reveal the contents of his lunch (if you will).

I gasped, averted my eyes and tried to cross the street as quickly as possible.

While shoving a protesting Kelly into oncoming traffic, she managed to ask what was wrong before a motorcycle almost took her out at the knees. Stepping back on to the curb and waiting for traffic to subside, I explained what I had just seen. She turned around, saw the guy (and his lunch) and said he was still looking at us. We immediately plunged into traffic and ran across the street away from any men in odd combinations of clothing.

An Interview Interlude

Taking a short break from updating about the trip to answer Jen's "interview questions".

The Rules:

1. Leave me a comment saying, "Interview me."
2. I will respond by asking you five questions. I get to pick the questions.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and an offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions

The Questions and Answers:

1. What is the best thing about living in Korea?
If I have to pick just one, I’d say the friends I’ve met here.

2. What is the most frustrating thing about living in Korea?
Saving face, the complete lack of vegetarian options at Korean restaurants, how expensive everything is compared to the rest of Asia and how cold it is in the winter. Oh, and how long it takes me to get anywhere from Nowhere-gu… that's more than one though...

3. What do you miss most about home?
Family and Friends. Having an oven to make pizza and chocolate chip cookies. Automatically understanding everything I see/read/hear.

4. What was your favourite part of your trip to Shanghai?
The familiarity of the city. Knowing how to get everywhere, delicious restaurants, where to go to buy things, and being able to communicate with people in Chinese.

5. What are you passionate about?
Chocolate. Also, learning/teaching. Travel.

The Questions for Jen:

1. What was something you found different about China (as compared to Korea)?
2. What was the best moment of your trip to China?
3. If you could eat only three foods (choosing just one would be too difficult!) and one drink for the rest of your life, what would they be?
4. Who taught you how to knit and why?
5. Where will you be five years from now?

The Offer:

I'm no Barbara Walters but I'll ask you questions if you want me to.

Wo ai Shanghai... Most of the time

Before I left to travel, I made a list of things I wanted to do while in Shanghai. The number one item was to eat at my favourite Chinese restaurant in Pudong - Smart Noshery Makes You Slobber. This place was a staple in my Shanghai dining. It was cheap, the food was always hot and delicious and best of all, there was an English menu (the owner spoke fluent English and French). It wasn't uncommon for me to go there 2 or 3 times a week and order the same 3 or 4 dishes each time. I loved the place.

The plan was to head to Smart Noshery for dinner on Saturday night to celebrate a triumphant return to Shanghai. So hungry that my stomach was eating my backbone, Kelly and I braved rushhour traffic, the Nanpu Bridge, and the worst weather Shanghai has seen in years to travel all the way back to Pudong for dinner.

I knew the rapid pace of change in Shanghai. I knew that what is there one day can be completely gone the next. But I almost cried when I saw the locks on the doors.

The taxi ride to Blue Frog in Superbrand Mall was the most depressing 15 minutes of my life. I couldn't believe that I would never again be able to order mapo dofu - bu yao ro - in the sticky booth with the tables that I always cracked my knees on because they were too small.

Smart Noshery, this ones for you!

On the Road

As I sat on the flight from Seoul to Shanghai early last Saturday morning, I realized that it had been almost 5 months since I had last been on an airplane - this is the longest period of time in the past 2 years that I've stayed in one place.

Although it's only a short jaunt - Shanghai for 3 days and Thailand for 5 (plus a day of travel on either end) just about everything that could go wrong, has.

The flight to Shanghai was turbulent and upon arriving in Shanghai it seemed that the city was getting the worst end of the global warming stick. It was snowing, sleeting and dipping below freezing in a city that hasn't seen snow for almost 2 years. Then it snowed, rained, hailed and everything in between for the 3 days I was there. Not to mention that the heat in the hostel room didn't work.

Trying to leave Shanghai was a whole other nightmare in itself. Flights were backed up from the past 3 days of poor weather, the airport was filled with stranded travellers and my flight had ceased checking in until further notice. Further notice turned out to be 3 hours later. Add on another 3 hour wait for the flight to depart put me in Bangkok at close to 1:00am Shanghai time. Arriving at K.C Guesthouse in Bangkok, the "friendly" manager informed Kelly and I that they were over booked and consequently didn't have room for us but they had "conveniently" found us another place to stay... at double the price. "Not impressed" didn't even begin to cover it.

Expecting nothing but the worst (and hoping only for the best), I travelled the 6 hours to Ko Chang from Bangkok (which, incidentally, felt like the shortest bus travel after the 36 hour bus nightmare of Vietnam '07). Arriving on Ko Chang, the lush green mountains and warm temperatures immediately put me at ease. The resort was easy to find, it's on the brighter side of decent and the beach is only minutes away from the room. Not to mention the amazing air con and satellite TV! Travel luck finally seems to be on my side.