Int'l Fireworks Show. THEY LIT THE BRIDGE ON FIRE.

After a really nice night in Wolmido, the following night was spent in Yeouido Park, on Yeouido Island in Seoul for the annual International Fireworks Competition. I attempted to go to this last year but only caught the last 15 minutes or so. This year we did it right.

Getting to the park around 4pm, we laid out a few blankets, secured a big spot, and popped open about a half dozen soju bottles and wine. We had magazines and newspapers and enough stuff to kill a few hours until the boomies started. And let me tell you, it was worth the wait.

Rumor has it that China, Japan, the US, and Korea sink money into this and call it a competition of sorts. Basically - its an hour long firework display with a 10 minute intermission. The first half was what you'd expect from a pretty good show:




The second half did something I've never seen done before. Sure, crazy fireworks of all shapes, colors, sizes, and sounds - BUT - Korea took it one step further. This city has about 20 bridges over the Han River that runs through the middle of it - and it took it upon itself to LIGHT ONE ON FIRE. Traffic is still pretty heavy over this bridge during the show and the next thing you know, its raining fireworks from the bridge into the water along the whole thing (at least a kilometer long). Seriously one of the coolest things done, well, ever.



If you're around next year - make sure you plan this out well in advance.

A Trip To Muuido.... err I mean WOLMIDO.. Oops.

Goal: Use three day weekend for Korea's Foundation Day to go to Muuido. The tiny getaway island that's south of Incheon off the Northwest Coast of Korea.

Transportation: Seemed easy enough... take the airport bus to the airport, hop on a local bus, take the ferry to the island.

Accommodation: Beach huts all along a beach where the tide rolls out so far you can't tell the difference between ground and sky.

What actually happened? Well, we did ALL of that, except somehow either wound up at the wrong ferry terminal OR we got there so late there might have been the ferry we wanted and didn't realize it. But the one we took had a nice view of the sunset...


Either way, we wound up at WOLMIDO now MUUIDO. And to the average reader that might not seem like a big difference, BUT Muuido is an island whereas Wolmido is a little coastal wharf town on the mainland west of Seoul. SO we went all the way to Incheon island for nothing really. But it's always random when you pull up and see this:




BUT we ended up making the best of it. Found a hotel (there are only Korean Love Motels in the area, and they were all rather expensive at 60,000w for the night considering they're love hotels), and then went on our way. We walked around the boardwalk for awhile, playing carnival games, and then riding rides (bumper cars being my favorite). This place LOVED its pirate ships, btw:


The hardest part of the evening was finding food. We wandered into a couple of restaurants, hoping for some really fresh seafood, but after getting quoted 80,000W for King Crab (which can be bought in Busan for 20,000W) and then not having any english menus around as far as knowing what we're ordering, we gave up and just went to a bar and had beer and barfood.

It was a quick little trip, just one night really, but definitely a fun thing to do on a weekend evening. And Saturday we just took the subway back into Seoul for a nice lunch. A getaway without really getting away...

Oh and did I mention this place was home to the only Korean drag queen I've seen the whole time?

The Philippines - Cities, and Hobbits, and Islands - Oh My!

This time last year I was a wide-eyed and bushy-tailed newbie to Korea. I had been here for about 3 weeks by the time Chuseok rolled around and took advantage of the 5 day vacation by heading down to Gyeongju - a veritable museum without walls. While it was a really interesting couple of days, for the most part it was pretty quiet since Korea basically shuts down during their version of Thanksgiving. Getting food was a bit difficult, and the transportation on the way back was the worst trip I've ever encountered. THIS year I vowed to get the hell out of Korea and that's exactly what I did by heading down to the Philippines.

We flew out Saturday morning into Manila and we had just missed a pretty big storm from the looks of how wet everything was. We walked around to find a hotel in the Malate area of Manila and ended up getting a room with no windows but a giant mural of London. It was only for a night, so it wasn't a big deal. We went out in search of food and found some of the best Filipino food I had all week. This amazing rice adobo stuff wrapped in a banana leaf - incredible.

We just spent the day walking around, trying to find the Hobbit House - the jewel of the Philippines as far as I'm concerned. The entire waitstaff is comprised of Little People. It's a quiet little place with a stage that hosts really good acoustic cover bands. Can't wait to get back there someday.

On Day 2 we left Manila and went to Tagatay/Talisay/Lake Taal/Taal Volcano (a place by many names really) and then Day 3 we went to the island of Puerto Gallera and Day 4 was spent heading back to Manila and the Hobbit House before flying out. It really was one of the coolest places I've ever been to.

The thing I loved about the whole trip was the fact that it was kind of unwritten. I had bought a Lonely Planet book (which came in handy more times than I can count) but the locals were the ones that made the trip. They told us how to find things and where to go. And the transportation options were incredible. We took a $2 bus ride 2 hours to talisay, and then a tricycle ride to the lake, and then a jeepney to the next bus, only to take a ferry in these boats that are completely unique to the Philippines to get to Sabang. And then we hired a van to take us back to Manila so we didn't have to take a 4 hour bus ride. The whole thing was just incredible and I'd do it again in a second.

Enjoy some pictures ;)