tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2427300106486536182024-03-09T05:54:59.273+09:00Karori to KoreaAnnahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18134376340796707037noreply@blogger.comBlogger209125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-242730010648653618.post-23392876900591448912013-09-25T16:30:00.000+09:002013-09-25T16:30:23.412+09:00Thailand<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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It's taken me too long between posts again, but whatever! Before Tom jetted off to Mexico we went to Thailand for 10 days and spent most of it on Koh Phangan (the time not spent on Koh Phangan was travelling to and from our house and the island!). </div>
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We've been to Thailand before but this was our first time on Phangan - home of the full moon party and a bunch of Australians in fluoro. We opted out of staying at Haad Rin, the main beach, instead booking at <a href="http://thongyangbungalow.com/" target="_blank">Thong Yang Bungalows</a> which fit our three criteria - cheap, right on the beach and good food. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We fought over the hammock quite a bit.</td></tr>
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The beach itself was lovely but the swimming was a bit crap -very shallow and painfully rocky. Here's the view at low tide, right before the full moon.<br />
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We still had a marvellous time. Tom planned out his Mexico travels and I read 5 books and we both drank a bunch of beer and Sangsom and ate a lot of the delicious food offered up by the restaurant at Thong Yang. The owners had a few dogs including two very cute puppies who spend most of our vacation fighting each other. </div>
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The sunset from our/my apartment isn't great, so it was nice to bask in a few good ones while we were there.</div>
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I also celebrated my 29th birthday! Tom and I went to an awesome beachfront restaurant and I got to eat one of my favourite foods - laab gai. A dish which can only really be described in a gross way - meat salad. I also had a delectably spicy ginger mojito AND there was a surprise market in the town next to the restaurant so we loaded up on cheap pad thai, peanut satay and mango sticky rice to take back to our bungalow for a midnight snack. Awesome.</div>
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We didn't stay cooped up in the bungalow the whole time. We visited Haad Rin twice - it's gorgeous, but I wouldn't want to stay there unless I was an insane party animal. Surprise! I'm not.<br />
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The first time we visited, those dark clouds in the photo above burst into one of the most intense rain storms I've ever seen. Tom and I were stuck in a bar overlooking the beach for a good few hours waiting for it to let up! After it eased, the bay was especially pretty - a big rainbow arching through the sky, the sand dazzlingly white against the dark clouds... great stuff. 10/10, would visit again. </div>
Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18134376340796707037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-242730010648653618.post-2799500190853436652013-09-12T16:00:00.003+09:002013-09-12T16:00:57.994+09:00Back to it.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Sorry for the giant delay. My last post was in May and then things got hectic. June was maybe one of the busiest months I've had in several years, July was a giant puddle of heat and melting and August included a 10 day trip to Thailand for my birthday. We're now twelve days into September and I feel like I should update anyone who uses this blog to keep tabs on me and Tom and our Korean life and such. </div>
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On the first day of June, Tom and I hosted the first of four <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Come_Dine_with_Me" target="_blank">Come Dine with Me </a>dinners, based on the TV show which is linked in that highlighted text. My sister has these dinners in New Zealand, and because Tom gets a kick out of cooking AND editing video, we set up a challenge with four teams that stretched out over two months because of how busy our June was. We cooked French food, mostly Tom but I helped a little and we came in third place. Tom made an excellent (profanity laden) video of the experience which can be found <a href="http://vimeo.com/73443555" target="_blank">here</a>.</div>
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Also in June we were lucky enough to be visited by not one, not two but THREE people. First to stop in was Tom's Dad, Martin, who managed to score bargain return trip tickets through Grabaseat and visited for about ten days. He mostly hung out in Jecheon seeing a few sights but we ventured to Seoul during the weekends. A highlight was seeing <a href="http://karoritokorea.blogspot.kr/2010/11/photos-from-garden-of-morning-calm.html" target="_blank">The Garden of Morning Calm</a> again. It's gorgeous but stinking hot in early summer. </div>
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A slightly less expected highlight was seeing ten thousand people inflate plastic shopping bags, tie them up and put them on their heads. This happened at a Seoul vs Busan baseball game, I expressed confusion to one of my baseball crazed students who assured me it was all fine and normal. Quite.</div>
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A week after Martin's departure we were joined by our lovely friends Steph and Ollie who arrived separately from the UK on their ways back to New Zealand and Australia respectively. Steph and I had a great weekend in Seoul visiting Lotte World and catching up and while I was working during the week Steph even managed a day trip to <a href="http://karoritokorea.blogspot.kr/2011/03/not-safe-for-work.html" target="_blank">Haesindang Park</a>!<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Steph's first Korean Barbecue!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the log flume at Lotte World. </td></tr>
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The four of us (Tom, Steph, Ollie and me) spent a weekend in Seoul visiting all our favourite hotspots and only hotspots as it was a mean 32 degrees. I got a nasty ear infection but wasn't too sad about it as it meant sitting in an air conditioned Doctors office while Steph, Ollie and Tom looked through Gyeongbukgung Palace in searing heat.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At Vinyl - our favourite Hongdae bar.</td></tr>
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In between drinking (to keep hydrated, I swear) we went to a cat cafe, a dog cafe, ate at a few good restaurants and did as much walking as we could stand. After several cat cafe visits I've learned that your best bet for some cat action is to buy food and you're immediately the Pied Piper of cats, at least until the food runs out.<br />
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After the insanity of June, July is a bit of a hazy blur. It got stupidly hot and we ended up not really cleaning our apartment for two months as moving away from our fans was too difficult. We did enjoy a few lovely trips to Taksajeong - a swimming hole about 15 minutes out of Jecheon and we cat-sat for a week too.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja9G7MPRnFAlWcY24svNY2crWsKVygXIrTErz4qkSHDuPVQlQpnduZ5L9zU3vpxaeizskWyliyMwX4z6fmmIyCVOXx3Q9ckAajq_uPs7u-aRkFUdWEBmhR5f2i0FdYuvQtxx7BTQh2DLA/s1600/photo+1+%25287%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja9G7MPRnFAlWcY24svNY2crWsKVygXIrTErz4qkSHDuPVQlQpnduZ5L9zU3vpxaeizskWyliyMwX4z6fmmIyCVOXx3Q9ckAajq_uPs7u-aRkFUdWEBmhR5f2i0FdYuvQtxx7BTQh2DLA/s640/photo+1+%25287%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taksajeong! Small middle school contingent using the rope swing on the left.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBY5XF87ksIMxe7lwLUp_HVO7B08akJSSZXQMTU_7hzOjaMSDRECC5vo9EUVx7wpof7dXGleWhe37doFgjx6RnBOGdKe6LIWQCbyByaVCWSzN5ochxtWDBRoymbd09lwLFDIy8_oIGTS8/s1600/photo+2+%25287%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBY5XF87ksIMxe7lwLUp_HVO7B08akJSSZXQMTU_7hzOjaMSDRECC5vo9EUVx7wpof7dXGleWhe37doFgjx6RnBOGdKe6LIWQCbyByaVCWSzN5ochxtWDBRoymbd09lwLFDIy8_oIGTS8/s640/photo+2+%25287%2529.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our house guest, Talia.</td></tr>
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We also had some really crappy news in July. Tom and I intended to renew for another year in Jecheon. My renewal went fine, but Tom's school told the Education Office they didn't want to keep him on. The non-renewal was handled really, really poorly - I knew before Tom did for some stupid reason. We spent July trying to get Tom another position in Jecheon and couldn't, and Tom was never really given a decent or understandable reason for not being renewed.<br />
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Korean public school contracts usually don't get renewed for one of three reasons - the person they've hired is a complete dropkick, the school has run out of money or someone higher-up isn't a fan of the employee in question. For various reasons I'd say the answer is behind door #3, as there's another teacher at Tom's school now and I believe my boyfriend is an awesome dude. It's been pretty tough for both of us. For various reasons, I've elected to stay on and Tom left on September 1st. He's now in Mexico doing cool things and making me jealous. I'm adjusting to living by myself and looking forward to seeing both my sisters in a mere two weeks!<br />
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I posted above that we spent time in Thailand, will make a separate blog post about that in due time.<br />
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Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18134376340796707037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-242730010648653618.post-87461248678333864002013-06-04T17:28:00.000+09:002013-11-28T15:03:24.433+09:00Things for sale<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Below are clothes for sale. If you're interested, PM me on Waygook. I may not see if you comment here.<br />
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Prices and sizes are listed, everything is from a clean, smoke-free home. Postage is a flat 5,000 within Korea and I will combine postage if you buy more than one item. Pick up is from Jecheon in Chungbuk, 40 mins from Wonju.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJJU3PKyY66JoNShE1TPbqzKMtDcxEFSNXtZUoSs0uGyshdelpF_vZFBzgB8MCWSUYdG_s9Gyr0ei9m9AJOT85fRAOfPl1G1NvziyrcdGZQYDvzDkxMcUqlcd_DFjj-e75QlSx82X5HYk/s1600/DSCF8605.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJJU3PKyY66JoNShE1TPbqzKMtDcxEFSNXtZUoSs0uGyshdelpF_vZFBzgB8MCWSUYdG_s9Gyr0ei9m9AJOT85fRAOfPl1G1NvziyrcdGZQYDvzDkxMcUqlcd_DFjj-e75QlSx82X5HYk/s640/DSCF8605.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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ASOS halter tankini set, 5,000 won. UK 20, worn twice and in excellent condition.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYiA1_5bQ0D3adeaP82F6fE6x0NLvVYXIIp_8nQKw6rNYc2tEPUx7ECXvbbQdTXFQJHigPeOVj_9VfwgyTKUtyQiqFyldntA0UDlQ8GRUGB3v2_SXaOV9MuNLFyeMr-vyHhOvjMJQZ4Ig/s1600/DSCF8608.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYiA1_5bQ0D3adeaP82F6fE6x0NLvVYXIIp_8nQKw6rNYc2tEPUx7ECXvbbQdTXFQJHigPeOVj_9VfwgyTKUtyQiqFyldntA0UDlQ8GRUGB3v2_SXaOV9MuNLFyeMr-vyHhOvjMJQZ4Ig/s640/DSCF8608.JPG" width="640" /></a> Korean no-brand cardigan. 5,000 won. No size but fits me and buttons up. Very warm and comfy.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmSUlhGAQWJJBkcB3EsN9sCx_mRowzNZ8NjAvH2duwgFnA6ts6qrX_f4Sk7WBbZWUBkb7Evs3Tm7x8HmVMvKdMIGhBu8kv9TrGFIdZN6VsIFbikAn7gRPDKn_70kLGyhaxIg1XCV1312k/s1600/DSCF8609.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmSUlhGAQWJJBkcB3EsN9sCx_mRowzNZ8NjAvH2duwgFnA6ts6qrX_f4Sk7WBbZWUBkb7Evs3Tm7x8HmVMvKdMIGhBu8kv9TrGFIdZN6VsIFbikAn7gRPDKn_70kLGyhaxIg1XCV1312k/s640/DSCF8609.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Glassons (NZ brand) orange cardigan. Size 16 but fits me!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgExaZaykM_s4VtVFHHM5HUuAvK8zwvF2YElcSP_7BBRsvvl-8vyU7MaU1ohVrvtcsBhPXrY5hBRfmXbk8elUkajvraWBFyJv1RwNNI9TQ4AMEy5cFhOqc1nIBgVWu8wNO6lB0JI-pvGhU/s1600/DSCF8613.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgExaZaykM_s4VtVFHHM5HUuAvK8zwvF2YElcSP_7BBRsvvl-8vyU7MaU1ohVrvtcsBhPXrY5hBRfmXbk8elUkajvraWBFyJv1RwNNI9TQ4AMEy5cFhOqc1nIBgVWu8wNO6lB0JI-pvGhU/s640/DSCF8613.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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ASOS Curve 3/4 sleeve blouse. UK 22. 5,000 won.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_8YGwYxhRoFWsD2h0T6kH7pRacfDvXCS5PQHh7xefUTIIf-Wt9BxxHpufekCqC7TYpcYMCJEw0TxHzrLLFKzWmPaPRO548eqUtatUWbETTqIkmAtTG1rE8WRV4iPnuEta8aVC3h8Y034/s1600/DSCF8615.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_8YGwYxhRoFWsD2h0T6kH7pRacfDvXCS5PQHh7xefUTIIf-Wt9BxxHpufekCqC7TYpcYMCJEw0TxHzrLLFKzWmPaPRO548eqUtatUWbETTqIkmAtTG1rE8WRV4iPnuEta8aVC3h8Y034/s640/DSCF8615.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
Kathmandu (NZ) Altica Thermal sweater. XXL. 5,000 won<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWpiCVaBxSkxdWgCRmJtZ5V8cCtA9TzqcUwKxdScwgzV_dDAa9NvAcZ6rf42YyGA3H15RGamSPczBSGRrR7EHCddbRElIDllIhLsvtMB_r-EbmEyPIApWnE4zSBJal9cqR9HPaAv5h-AA/s1600/DSCF8616.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWpiCVaBxSkxdWgCRmJtZ5V8cCtA9TzqcUwKxdScwgzV_dDAa9NvAcZ6rf42YyGA3H15RGamSPczBSGRrR7EHCddbRElIDllIhLsvtMB_r-EbmEyPIApWnE4zSBJal9cqR9HPaAv5h-AA/s640/DSCF8616.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
Spotty shift dress. Made in Vietnam, a little faded but in great condition. 5,000 won.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib5LWoeL7wA3lXUknJfZYuR1V_wP3MK0231VMsrueXljQSWQWtv5Yhe3VbGiDdq5r9_8jW6CWJi7UsrudtrCvoG936zvbFtRlB-zVnjbmtPbZO2VxbqLJttgrOPr5RfQPZZTg11avCnoE/s1600/DSCF8617.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEib5LWoeL7wA3lXUknJfZYuR1V_wP3MK0231VMsrueXljQSWQWtv5Yhe3VbGiDdq5r9_8jW6CWJi7UsrudtrCvoG936zvbFtRlB-zVnjbmtPbZO2VxbqLJttgrOPr5RfQPZZTg11avCnoE/s640/DSCF8617.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
ASOS stretch party dress, UK 20. More orange than the picture. 5,000 won.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVO0Aw5t8NXe2pz-vdaFjjgWm98BTTXXWxl904XlF-TJyJaop2F7jr_S8I4IjjlNsO64GPOJAo7ndE1vwGgIEShJxw_XFghLiKxWN4sZvDl8FtKHT7Rj_3MkaGhR_XrcBlmS90JCU9pS4/s1600/DSCF8620.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVO0Aw5t8NXe2pz-vdaFjjgWm98BTTXXWxl904XlF-TJyJaop2F7jr_S8I4IjjlNsO64GPOJAo7ndE1vwGgIEShJxw_XFghLiKxWN4sZvDl8FtKHT7Rj_3MkaGhR_XrcBlmS90JCU9pS4/s640/DSCF8620.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
No label knit sweater, bought on Gmarket. 2,000 won. Free size, very stretchy.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB1-R6FfOP7oZzP3fkDQ5yqTK8auHqmVz5s0Y6DNm5A422voyqd8WnbpxXftbEL-VdqJ7IGXZGbhB3mWuFisaOVJGBr4wZqpyV-XbsdC-lpKpbN003MkiSJYjQv8LlVbSXPZoTzlCqZl8/s1600/DSCF8622.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB1-R6FfOP7oZzP3fkDQ5yqTK8auHqmVz5s0Y6DNm5A422voyqd8WnbpxXftbEL-VdqJ7IGXZGbhB3mWuFisaOVJGBr4wZqpyV-XbsdC-lpKpbN003MkiSJYjQv8LlVbSXPZoTzlCqZl8/s640/DSCF8622.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
ASOS short-sleeved peplum dress in forget me not print. UK 20. Peplum is hard to photograph so it's flipped up. 5,000 won.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmRF4mKbzr-Y3pKLf_5O-v0enum3QVz30-BxwdkSPfUMmoizDZEX0_wOIAe9pgqgW813IzL-ZZXu59KoJ81xrX-gm1tLsPKs9jIgZpgCSAVK7Hwdbk4-Yz_YQmeEc5w5FU3OC1BMlLPoM/s1600/DSCF8624.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmRF4mKbzr-Y3pKLf_5O-v0enum3QVz30-BxwdkSPfUMmoizDZEX0_wOIAe9pgqgW813IzL-ZZXu59KoJ81xrX-gm1tLsPKs9jIgZpgCSAVK7Hwdbk4-Yz_YQmeEc5w5FU3OC1BMlLPoM/s640/DSCF8624.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
Cort CM 15G amp. Great condition. Free but pick up only.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibB8-GehR_hTy6Cq4NcIHNH3LZlfxwwzKUn5nKGDWeqHU8rlzr1bPNuCmtF6I16rqksrw860kz05Y82nLtJUgbopDLJXbBVdAYZtTxmhAILytO7-PtiZfkyzsHx0rRyqLfqOTDivpP5dM/s1600/DSCF8625.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibB8-GehR_hTy6Cq4NcIHNH3LZlfxwwzKUn5nKGDWeqHU8rlzr1bPNuCmtF6I16rqksrw860kz05Y82nLtJUgbopDLJXbBVdAYZtTxmhAILytO7-PtiZfkyzsHx0rRyqLfqOTDivpP5dM/s640/DSCF8625.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18134376340796707037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-242730010648653618.post-27658166934358592332013-05-31T16:55:00.001+09:002013-05-31T16:55:36.456+09:00My Workplace<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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It's kinda weird for me that I <a href="http://karoritokorea.blogspot.com/2010/10/my-classroom-buan-elementary-school.html" target="_blank">first wrote</a> about my classroom nearly three years ago. Some days it feels like I've been in Korea this whole time, and our 5 months travelling + 6 months in New Zealand were just glorious dreams featuring inexpensive sauvignon blanc and restaurants that serve food other than Korean or 'western.' This time around I don't have the luxury of an English Room so I spend most of my days in the Kyumushil - teacher's room or 'Kyocera office' according to Google translate.</div>
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I recently gave up school lunches and while everyone was out eating cafeteria food I took a few pictures to show y'all. The lunch thing was a long time coming - last year I loved them, this year I'd been living on kimchi and rice and trying not to kill everyone when my blood sugar crashes at 3:30pm every day. It's been a month off the cafeteria and I feel happy, healthy and more tolerant of late afternoons. I do get stared at a lot more and I've had to explain what couscous and quinoa are to my workmates.</div>
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This is the view from the office - my co-teachers desks and the school field. For the first 6 weeks of my employment, the kids gathered here every day and sang and danced to Gangnam Style. It was hell.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMZmrzH6zE-TjuTJWw47CZ8uqy8y0sxaOn06Rkxp-A_wAWVqBZQv9OkZCnbFBJ-3MgOWCDrXAd6_lz3EiMpsZxzhHqBmLK4dEuEDJIAJgMLTyqwELee4PBuBL6FpyHoazfYTnHsSuVbhY/s1600/photo+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMZmrzH6zE-TjuTJWw47CZ8uqy8y0sxaOn06Rkxp-A_wAWVqBZQv9OkZCnbFBJ-3MgOWCDrXAd6_lz3EiMpsZxzhHqBmLK4dEuEDJIAJgMLTyqwELee4PBuBL6FpyHoazfYTnHsSuVbhY/s640/photo+3.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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My vice principal sits at the head of the room, in front of a board which covers the monthly events and the breakdown of students per class. Currently we stand at 1170 students, I teach 446 of them. I probably know around ten by name. Jangnak's the biggest school in Jecheon and we have a lot of students, but we had a hundred more last year - evidence of Korea's declining birth rate. </div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYgZlVbHgXlvqI4gWUa-QxjvvoReGbLRMLidTRn9DDugUWP1jy4i0aOkGUeHocEuQY3O4mBCpE-gdQAIN0xeW2kjtiJxjHRb4P8F1FoDIENuu-4oWmTWLqSfolQvRA1WgYScDgmwYVQus/s1600/photo+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYgZlVbHgXlvqI4gWUa-QxjvvoReGbLRMLidTRn9DDugUWP1jy4i0aOkGUeHocEuQY3O4mBCpE-gdQAIN0xeW2kjtiJxjHRb4P8F1FoDIENuu-4oWmTWLqSfolQvRA1WgYScDgmwYVQus/s640/photo+4.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sorry so blurry!</td></tr>
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My desk has a delightful view of shelves stacked with books I have never seen anyone even touch. The yellow cushion on my chair plugs into a USB port on my computer and heats up! It was an absolute lifesaver - even in -14 degree temperatures, the office windows and doors are opened daily to air the place out. Having a completely hot butt was amazing.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0-T4FpKQSr6GQ-VXW56dV5yHpMIgO8Y381425FpqRUQFvKI84RcwWRH53NKqw2av6veUQMjxkW6GOGWGyt6ioIepO703XXHqeZStnxuFQSugIEjr3hUVcF96MC9r-wrQuE0ZsLapGFhU/s1600/photo+5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0-T4FpKQSr6GQ-VXW56dV5yHpMIgO8Y381425FpqRUQFvKI84RcwWRH53NKqw2av6veUQMjxkW6GOGWGyt6ioIepO703XXHqeZStnxuFQSugIEjr3hUVcF96MC9r-wrQuE0ZsLapGFhU/s640/photo+5.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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My desk is always this messy, much to the delight of my neat-as-a-pin co-teacher.</div>
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For a peek into my classroom (which I put on Facebook last week) here's a pic of my students. To indicate they've finished work, they either have to put their hands on their head, make a sign language turtle - like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iodf9rli8ps" target="_blank">this</a>, do a Vulcan Hand Salute or their favourite - Batman faces!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXiCk-gBt-LvyFLrP3aOgAML2ZO8lolxe48yl_Jnt31p81EfMWcKiNMbY0xQ671tXv2B8Sm4AlXhHk608VC9DtF5bOW1WqeNSwD_6JjAoPiswbIGHucXttbbZ8FywWnJNPb89yofqBjjc/s1600/photo.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXiCk-gBt-LvyFLrP3aOgAML2ZO8lolxe48yl_Jnt31p81EfMWcKiNMbY0xQ671tXv2B8Sm4AlXhHk608VC9DtF5bOW1WqeNSwD_6JjAoPiswbIGHucXttbbZ8FywWnJNPb89yofqBjjc/s640/photo.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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It's my favourite too. </div>
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Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18134376340796707037noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-242730010648653618.post-74639431785806167672013-04-27T16:40:00.000+09:002013-04-27T16:40:00.102+09:00Korea From My Phone<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvAg0cMayPTgnriMLAUmOtfZzDfT9f1v5rfJrOeU22bVk60gj6zH_Hya25G4b7Kcl_yKROySEtAiQq95pcSFzZOevZkDI4sjeBG9e0iJ-fz2fqkM1MvAqZMv0g1MC6p8YvTwE7D1zktp8/s1600/photo+1+(3).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvAg0cMayPTgnriMLAUmOtfZzDfT9f1v5rfJrOeU22bVk60gj6zH_Hya25G4b7Kcl_yKROySEtAiQq95pcSFzZOevZkDI4sjeBG9e0iJ-fz2fqkM1MvAqZMv0g1MC6p8YvTwE7D1zktp8/s640/photo+1+(3).JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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Super sweet and friendly dog near our apartment. If I walk past, I always stop for a few pets and to be jumped on!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMTFS8DcZ8K7s_GLBf_hKQz9jh_t2h6BzhhCnj10shtmuYT2JRtFenrzjHq3veuyW9PC9cRqF7UMLUY9yp5oRvecmJHib047NQntjalA-Q3MTPNOB6E6quqz41wSiQeI8nQcMth0eDUcg/s1600/photo+2+(4).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMTFS8DcZ8K7s_GLBf_hKQz9jh_t2h6BzhhCnj10shtmuYT2JRtFenrzjHq3veuyW9PC9cRqF7UMLUY9yp5oRvecmJHib047NQntjalA-Q3MTPNOB6E6quqz41wSiQeI8nQcMth0eDUcg/s640/photo+2+(4).JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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We went and camped on a beach for a friend's birthday a month ago. It was cold, windy and miserable but for a while the wind died down, we lit a fire and had a great time. Then the police came, told us to move, it started rainy and was miserable again. Fun times!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcoT8CBrliQTWzeEEmrxac-r8ROmedhbi2PCLrFjzVAPuYtONOSqtivm23SPQ_YWihcRXM4pDlGa0jHqENMfFVe6JbYevBJOJTKDT8rxLe9-0CBqav3Ram39u9xWuAUvdXQccxrDmbC1o/s1600/photo+3+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcoT8CBrliQTWzeEEmrxac-r8ROmedhbi2PCLrFjzVAPuYtONOSqtivm23SPQ_YWihcRXM4pDlGa0jHqENMfFVe6JbYevBJOJTKDT8rxLe9-0CBqav3Ram39u9xWuAUvdXQccxrDmbC1o/s640/photo+3+(2).JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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Check out what I found at our local Emart for $1.60. Wish they had the black version though. Mmm.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrnyIIwdKS4htiEbUSM5GViKYht2eWSLb-0sR84Pbj58sMI9XkiRSkGRwnqqcsnUbz2jzKOlj2EXDFMvSJGo_Wlsvp6Z7l2ZeToidXE-EZisoRUS_z1SG2VNPBdpn01nFOIPG6SW5f900/s1600/photo+3+(6).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrnyIIwdKS4htiEbUSM5GViKYht2eWSLb-0sR84Pbj58sMI9XkiRSkGRwnqqcsnUbz2jzKOlj2EXDFMvSJGo_Wlsvp6Z7l2ZeToidXE-EZisoRUS_z1SG2VNPBdpn01nFOIPG6SW5f900/s640/photo+3+(6).JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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Exercise machines at the park in town also come with a kid-friendly seat. I thought that when you pedaled the seat might spin around but no such luck (I'd make a terrible parent).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxWD5bHfSzFl3oQUVCGQCdm08JBd0pi4N2ABrYnrO_33ZUvRzFj5n5aOEqLXspQ0bPAJV63z_9MfVK0ZJAx4NTKFbM6IEEsSYyp4V2-qprZwvs9NXAF9MdnQnSOQlVHe_nFW3qGEYLoqQ/s1600/photo+4+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxWD5bHfSzFl3oQUVCGQCdm08JBd0pi4N2ABrYnrO_33ZUvRzFj5n5aOEqLXspQ0bPAJV63z_9MfVK0ZJAx4NTKFbM6IEEsSYyp4V2-qprZwvs9NXAF9MdnQnSOQlVHe_nFW3qGEYLoqQ/s640/photo+4+(2).JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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Tom and I went to the local university campus for some Quiznos (Subway-esque sandwiches) and walked home the long way. We spotted this cat exploring the rice paddies and nearly, nearly got a cuddle! See if you can spot us in that photo.<br />
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One of the glories of spring! Umbrella Condoms! You put your umbrella in them and it prevents dripping, hurr hurr. </div>
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Yesterday I left school, and this cutie (who couldn't have been older than three) was minding his toddler sibling. I was looking for their parents and waved, and got a big wave and an 'ANNYEONG!' from the kid in the pram, and a proper bow and 'ANNYEONGHASEYO!' from the babysitter. It was so impossibly cute and refreshing - most kids are a little scared of me - that I forgot to change out of my work shoes. I had to walk back to school which prompted another round of bows, waves, and 'ANNYEONG!'s and then my brain exploded from cuteness. I'm dead now.</div>
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Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18134376340796707037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-242730010648653618.post-86365323295228764932013-04-25T16:33:00.000+09:002013-04-25T16:33:07.529+09:00A Flower Through Concrete<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Korean winter is so bleak and miserable and cold and awful that spring arriving is just positively joyous. I think because New Zealand weather is so changeable all year round, I don't appreciate the difference between seasons because it's relatively imperceptible. In Korea, it feels as if a day ago it was winter, and now it's spring, and when summer hits it's the same - one day it's breezy and cool, the next it's humid and awful. It's odd having such defined seasons.</div>
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Anyway, the best thing about spring is undoubtedly the blossoms. In Buan we had to <a href="http://karoritokorea.blogspot.com/2011/05/belated-and-obligatory-spring-blossom.html" target="_blank">go to Gimje</a> to see them, but Jecheon's main street is lined with beautiful, petal-laden trees. <a href="http://karoritokorea.blogspot.com/2012/10/barely-travelling.html" target="_blank">Cheongpung Lake</a> is also ringed with cherry blossom trees - we were going to visit over the weekend, but it rained on Saturday and then when a ten minute bus ride took thirty minutes because of insane traffic, we decided to just appreciate the flowers near our apartment instead.</div>
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My phone is utterly crammed with pictures, here's a few of the ones I really like.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6kiJKn7OzdbNI80t9J7tb8OVDYeCjlelRSXDCKZhBNPQJL0YUMhe0cL_bHALcTvxNbpBHJ7KHCQ1uyEgKIVD0zv1So_84zENRLQwNcCkfB0KWHj_PIXq6FV2dyRTbtbZn4rtJz5_3KJY/s1600/photo+1+(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6kiJKn7OzdbNI80t9J7tb8OVDYeCjlelRSXDCKZhBNPQJL0YUMhe0cL_bHALcTvxNbpBHJ7KHCQ1uyEgKIVD0zv1So_84zENRLQwNcCkfB0KWHj_PIXq6FV2dyRTbtbZn4rtJz5_3KJY/s640/photo+1+(1).JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidJQkgZPvRTEYmc2t5HQ0tRd5Ii6bQbRYuYUjJcSrQBWEiFvHqANPRcO2J3AqWA4ZGHG6tYS2Dp0W_giILZUsKDK7HryjhMFpOBYUac1k9iJnBmhq2XsPwS6923htffZlq0QOutzR-FxY/s1600/photo+1+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidJQkgZPvRTEYmc2t5HQ0tRd5Ii6bQbRYuYUjJcSrQBWEiFvHqANPRcO2J3AqWA4ZGHG6tYS2Dp0W_giILZUsKDK7HryjhMFpOBYUac1k9iJnBmhq2XsPwS6923htffZlq0QOutzR-FxY/s640/photo+1+(2).JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl9jNTOaFbukno3moAYT7_0-ICMVr_oI1BESJSiJ1gUT8d5Y3b5MzlUKmHNkAKck5SLNgq0aFYdqd71FQaaHO9aoBJFM0t312qKnKQ064sTNj8MmjCPMtPEbPQEJbqNveGA4WNDOd7pH8/s1600/photo+2+(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgl9jNTOaFbukno3moAYT7_0-ICMVr_oI1BESJSiJ1gUT8d5Y3b5MzlUKmHNkAKck5SLNgq0aFYdqd71FQaaHO9aoBJFM0t312qKnKQ064sTNj8MmjCPMtPEbPQEJbqNveGA4WNDOd7pH8/s640/photo+2+(1).JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQnyUPfSD76UqrBein7-Rg5GYK-bW9AAa8zPUn_FFywcI5iW_R6xHoBXPwkuMo_XIZkU_XdEfTQG8pb-CX2mpcS1bD8saGJJqz9h_oagIZ-I8lyMMV63c9tka6g325K-DEj3teT6fanxE/s1600/photo+2+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQnyUPfSD76UqrBein7-Rg5GYK-bW9AAa8zPUn_FFywcI5iW_R6xHoBXPwkuMo_XIZkU_XdEfTQG8pb-CX2mpcS1bD8saGJJqz9h_oagIZ-I8lyMMV63c9tka6g325K-DEj3teT6fanxE/s640/photo+2+(2).JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLFxq8SmAjLB_3TgPMMe27x6fjsFayHAu15A8fTabyOkLSv30SlFQD56J82pW7E9OZB4K9wv423V0sDWBQYnx4fIxqJG32FHMTubXPeA2XN84fC56CF9D5jn0v7KphyphenhyphenTw-xCRqyC2pU_c/s1600/photo+3+(4).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLFxq8SmAjLB_3TgPMMe27x6fjsFayHAu15A8fTabyOkLSv30SlFQD56J82pW7E9OZB4K9wv423V0sDWBQYnx4fIxqJG32FHMTubXPeA2XN84fC56CF9D5jn0v7KphyphenhyphenTw-xCRqyC2pU_c/s640/photo+3+(4).JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18134376340796707037noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-242730010648653618.post-78046634112089540542013-04-18T16:18:00.000+09:002013-04-25T16:33:25.962+09:00Stuff and Things<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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I've kinda dropped out of this blogging malarkey. Not that I've been hugely busy - I have been busy though, doing courses part-time online, dealing with my co-teacher going on maternity leave and training her replacement, maintaining a social life - but busy in Korea isn't anything like busy in other parts of the world.</div>
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This week my students have mid-term exams, and like every other time they have exams it involves two lessons pre-exam where the teacher goes over everything in the exam to ensure all students pass, even if all they're doing is memorising the answers they've been given. Mercifully, this is handled by the Korean teacher so I have three days of deskwarming and time to do all the things I've actually had time to do anyway.</div>
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A couple of weekends ago I was visited by my friend Abi who I went to high school and worked with in Whangarei. Abi was on her way to the UK where she's doing her obligatory OE and she got cheap-ish flights through Seoul. I bussed up to meet her on Friday night where we crammed ALL OF THE THINGS into a weekend.</div>
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We stayed in the Jongno area - cheap love motels, history, street food - and hit up my favourite touristy spots. We went to <a href="http://karoritokorea.blogspot.com/2010/12/insadong.html" target="_blank">Insadong and Ssamziegil</a>, the latter has recently installed a kind of 'lover's walk' a bit like <a href="http://karoritokorea.blogspot.com/2011/03/steph-face-6-months-in.html" target="_blank">Namsan Tower</a> (fourth picture down). Instead of locks of love, couples can buy small plastic disks and tie them to the walls of this walk. I went a few months ago and the walls were patchy and barren, but since November they've been utterly covered. </div>
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The Saturday was unfortunately a bit rainy and miserable, so we trudged around under $3 umbrellas which broke shortly after purchase. Very close to Insadong is <a href="http://bukchon.seoul.go.kr/eng/index.jsp" target="_blank">Bukchon</a> Hanok Village, a suburb full of traditional Korean houses (Hanok) which is actually really ritzy. I always get a kick out of the traditional juxtaposed with the new so fingerprint ID locking systems on an intricately carved Korean gate just tickles me pink.</div>
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We walked around for an hour or so, stopping briefly in an odd little museum/hanok where we saw small carved wooden figurines and Abi got to try on a hanbok - traditional Korean clothing.</div>
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As we left the village to head back to Insadong, Abi was interviewed by a middle school student about her reasons for visiting. Sometimes it's frustrating - like yesterday, when I was having a discussion with my friends, and the neighbouring table kept asking us weird questions - but generally I really get a kick out of letting people try out their English on me. The student's Mum asked us for a picture so I got one too!</div>
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Later in the evening I got a chance to do something touristy I've neglected since settling in to Korean life - the night-time Seoul bus tour. I've wanted to do it for yonks! Unfortunately it wasn't the best, maybe because it was ridiculously rainy and I was freezing. The highlight was Namsan Tower, but we only got a ten minute stop there, and it's a 6 minute walk to the tower from the car park! We took a few quick snaps, I like this one of the tower in the fog.</div>
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We spent Saturday night eating tasty food and drinking soju at two different DVD Bangs, before rising at a respectable hour (cough, cough, super late) to explore on Sunday. Fortunately the sun was out and it was reasonably warm. We visited <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gyeongbokgung" target="_blank">Gyeongbokgung</a> and saw a few spring blossoms, it was beautiful! </div>
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Abi's a big sports fan so after the palace we hopped on the subway and headed to Jamsil Sports Complex for some <a href="http://karoritokorea.blogspot.com/2012/10/chuseok-in-photographs.html" target="_blank">baseball</a>. I really enjoy the games here and was pleased we'd decided to go - the stadium was absolutely packed and we ended up blocking a stairway, clutching tallboys of beer and cheering on the Doosan Bears.<br />
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We left a little early to skip the crowds and went to our last stop - Gangnam. It's kinda compulsory to visit thanks to .... that song... but there's still some cool stuff to do. We went to a cat cafe I'd visited <a href="http://karoritokorea.blogspot.com/2011/01/fluffy-piece.html" target="_blank">in Korea part 1</a>, and they had new cats! I've never been particular about wanting to own a certain breed of cat but after this visit I really, really, hopelessly want a Scottish Fold. They're just so boss. This grey guy clearly owned the place and was the main focus of my affection.<br />
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I had a last meal of Shabu Shabu with Abi (we crammed in SO much food, it was extraordinary) before heading home on the 9pm bus and being zonked for the week following. It was a great weekend, and big thank-yous to Abi for being my test audience for Korean travel. My lovely friend Steph is visiting in June so I've got another subject to try out before setting up a travel agency!</div>
Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18134376340796707037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-242730010648653618.post-51162076709129032242013-03-28T16:59:00.000+09:002013-03-28T16:59:22.244+09:00Spring is Springing!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Although it's still cold, it's been less cold than the horrors of November - February and there are signs of one of Korea's two good seasons - spring. I even went without my coat one day last week! Amazing. School is back in full force which has meant feeling super tired/lazy in the evenings and weekends in. I ventured out last weekend and bought myself an assortment of weird planters from my favourite shop - Daiso.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvbCwj4twdo3U32Lg1eW5mbFFPQVqmyruWhtYrqDcKgtzUOZ9gb6cbibbWkXOd0Uxrj1ps-_iRtgRIMhudin5WxrWHipFQau4UyDMJDxCJXsdaOmEP77R3t4qJa1kCjoHhLuQlt2VlgrM/s1600/2013-03-18+23.19.39.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvbCwj4twdo3U32Lg1eW5mbFFPQVqmyruWhtYrqDcKgtzUOZ9gb6cbibbWkXOd0Uxrj1ps-_iRtgRIMhudin5WxrWHipFQau4UyDMJDxCJXsdaOmEP77R3t4qJa1kCjoHhLuQlt2VlgrM/s640/2013-03-18+23.19.39.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Asparagus, blueberries, basil, tomatoes, strawberries. </td></tr>
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Each kit costs about 1,000 won ($1.10 NZ, man the exchange rate isn't doing good things for me at the moment.) Inside you'll find everything you need to get planting.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Left - right - seed baggie, earth, pot.</td></tr>
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The basil and asparagus came with a bag of loose soil, but the blueberries, tomatoes and strawberries came with little dried pucks of compacted earth, quite a bit like those coin-sized flannels/face towels you sometimes get, somewhere. I emptied the pucks into the pot, topped them up with water and after a few minutes I was greeted with what looked like a fresh turd of earth in each cup.<br />
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There's about three seeds per planter, so I followed the instructions and I'm waiting patiently for them to sprout. I've also rejuvenated our herb garden from last year - the sage, thyme and oregano survived the winter, I'm on crop 2 of basil and coriander.</div>
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It's not quite gorgeous cherry blossom season yet, but there's dots of colour poking through the grey and brown landscape. Korea isn't pretty in winter so I'm glad for the change. </div>
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Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18134376340796707037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-242730010648653618.post-20687656164030501642013-03-17T16:15:00.000+09:002013-03-17T16:15:00.282+09:00Some Hong Kong Random<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB7W8qizsofKTKwtO9yMiapvMIxKKvX8t7METemigwsJbI9L5eEEL-k3kiFLkJZuJAdDsniEtmDCqxFKXxpQD-0vHu-2tXhHfw2_jchHowJPhRPb1yYr5a5LgYh_-uIlZJnOTG6Hp9XLA/s1600/2013-01-27+11.50.35.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgB7W8qizsofKTKwtO9yMiapvMIxKKvX8t7METemigwsJbI9L5eEEL-k3kiFLkJZuJAdDsniEtmDCqxFKXxpQD-0vHu-2tXhHfw2_jchHowJPhRPb1yYr5a5LgYh_-uIlZJnOTG6Hp9XLA/s640/2013-01-27+11.50.35.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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One of the streets seen from the Mid-Levels escalator.<br />
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I think this was practice for a cultural day, or something. There was a large-ish group of women, dressed up and dancing. Nearby there was another group practicing a hip-hop routine.<br />
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Herb-heavy jelly at Yum Cha. <br />
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The local TAB/Bookies on Lamma Island. Everyone was huddled under a tiny, smoky canopy watching horse racing on a TV which is locked into a metal cabinet when not in use.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheKkKwKKXQHjQ2iPtTOp6hkVNaGeKq6wVE0_t08Li6qBK7NLR8HVKrW5rK8t46heKneideQ1EfSikN_1XzQ1VkzoWazhsR3DFMM7o-XnxJIdMJQcGZF8fi2qUkLq4-Cj9XSN6IZFvv07k/s1600/2013-01-27+17.05.43.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheKkKwKKXQHjQ2iPtTOp6hkVNaGeKq6wVE0_t08Li6qBK7NLR8HVKrW5rK8t46heKneideQ1EfSikN_1XzQ1VkzoWazhsR3DFMM7o-XnxJIdMJQcGZF8fi2qUkLq4-Cj9XSN6IZFvv07k/s640/2013-01-27+17.05.43.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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I've always wanted to see a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoduck" target="_blank">Geoduck</a>, because they're so weird. I think I'd forgotten that they're huge too - these are around 40cm long, including the.. uh... protrusion.<br />
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In the lead up to Chinese New Year, many of the stores were guarded by mandarin trees laden with perfect fruit. I thought they were fake until I saw one which had been harvested by a passerby.<br />
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Bright lights in the back seat.<br />
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Tons of super cheap vending machine knick-knacks. I bought several and I've posted them home to the lucky few.<br />
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My last meal - airport BBQ pork buns, bubble tea and custard tarts. I really need to find some dim sum in Korea.<br />
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Hazy Hong Kong as I fly out.</div>
Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18134376340796707037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-242730010648653618.post-86167027046775927132013-03-15T15:57:00.004+09:002013-03-15T15:57:56.831+09:00A little more Hong Kong<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Sorry for the sporadic blogging, school has started again and I've gone from doing nothing to being zonked from teaching. Hong Kong seems like it was forever ago unfortunately, and looking through these pictures makes me miss it.</div>
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On my last full day in Honkers (it's a real nickname for HK, I swear), Sandy and I took the subway to Lantau Island to see the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tian_Tan_Buddha" target="_blank">Tian Tan Buddha</a>. Lantau is almost on the end of one of the subway lines, and close to Hong Kong Disneyland so the train was full of tourists for both places. Although the area outside of the station wasn't crowded, and it was a weekday, the line to get to the Buddha was ridiculously long, we waited for over an hour (fortunately there was wi-fi, thanks Hong Kong!). </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Allllll of the tourists.</td></tr>
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There's multiple ways to get to the Buddha but I think the gondola we took is the most popular. It offers some sweet views over Hong Kong's hilly terrain, and is ideal if you've got a thing for airports. Hong Kong can be pretty smoggy but the day we went was clear and fine and cloudless. Plus we shared the gondola with someone who was taking pictures with an iPad, something I find endlessly hilarious.</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMERsHdp_BNV1Nz7A2ujh-SVOv_r-iUSqUww346W1Hca4ZNOIw7o7BUrL2NL7iheAqGxjjBwDBb1jDyfItmLeZfSguoDcBmT02cQgDjWuIa_08sXrnxBD4rdE5XNpblZ_dfQcT8NTLxHk/s1600/2013-01-29+14.12.27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMERsHdp_BNV1Nz7A2ujh-SVOv_r-iUSqUww346W1Hca4ZNOIw7o7BUrL2NL7iheAqGxjjBwDBb1jDyfItmLeZfSguoDcBmT02cQgDjWuIa_08sXrnxBD4rdE5XNpblZ_dfQcT8NTLxHk/s640/2013-01-29+14.12.27.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Buddha in the distance.</td></tr>
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We disembarked from the gondola after a brief but beautiful journey, and made our way to the Buddha. As I said above, it was a spectacular day and all I could see of the statue was an outline while we climbed. </div>
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When we got to the top, Sandy and I posed for some customary Steph facing and then had a look around.<br />
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Statues making offerings to the Buddha. Every flat surface on these statues (especially the lotus blossoms they're kneeling on) was covered in coins.<br />
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The view from behind the Buddha - a bit hazy, but still gorgeous.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blue skies and brass.</td></tr>
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After basking in the sunshine for a while we headed back down. <span style="text-align: justify;">The area at the base of the Buddha is super touristy, there's a ton of restaurants and souvenir shops lining one street. This is where I indulged in some weird candy purchases, postcards and some snacks. Specifically these babies:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQa0v28Lrmk2E7ayrope9_L8YK2eXs0pRWARABlnlcVEm3D6oGn8WeDChXWKS9Gnf67rt26JvNVVfw-trZlr3LoeYF4YPz4D_RvskI9-Jpnl6yRceek4kMkwMSPNb97wZMzfITWuCRgf8/s1600/snax.bmp" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="546" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQa0v28Lrmk2E7ayrope9_L8YK2eXs0pRWARABlnlcVEm3D6oGn8WeDChXWKS9Gnf67rt26JvNVVfw-trZlr3LoeYF4YPz4D_RvskI9-Jpnl6yRceek4kMkwMSPNb97wZMzfITWuCRgf8/s640/snax.bmp" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: justify;">On the left is a totally crap Mango flavoured 'Drumstick,' or 'Trumpet' as they are more sensibly called in New Zealand. It was a hot day and I was excited about nomming on something cold and refreshing, I ended up binning this one (rare, for me. Something has to be truly gross before I stop eating it.) I looked around for a replacement and was elated to find the objects on the right - frozen, sugar coated Hawthorn Berries. I ate a ton of these when we were in </span><a href="http://karoritokorea.blogspot.kr/2011/02/im-clueless-about-how-to-begin-telling.html" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank">Beijing</a><span style="text-align: justify;">, and I've looked for them fruitlessly (har har) since. I even thought I'd found some in Taiwan and was crestfallen when what I'd bought was pickled sour plums. The frozen version of the berries isn't as good, but it was close enough for me. </span><br />
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<span style="text-align: justify;">We hopped the gondola and then the subway back to Hong Kong central, and attempted to get the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_Tram" target="_blank">Peak Tram</a> for a sweet sunset view of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. The line was, again, atrocious so we hopped in a cab and saved ourselves a few dollars and a lot of time.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crowded taxi and tram queues.</td></tr>
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We reached the summit as the sun was setting, bought ourselves a glass of wine and watched the light show. The view was astounding, and my camera is (still) really crap at night pictures so this is what I'll offer. Just go to Hong Kong, it's rad.<br />
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After a coffee and some time to write postcards, we went out for an incredible Mexican meal and my time in Hong Kong was pretty much done, save some frantic shopping for goodies the morning before my flight. I had such an awesome time, I'm really looking forward to when I can return. </div>
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Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18134376340796707037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-242730010648653618.post-19499997081218613052013-03-07T13:32:00.000+09:002013-03-07T13:32:00.741+09:00Lazy Touristing<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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After Sunday's badass tour of Hong Kong, we opted for a lazy Monday and what better way to lazily tourist than hop on a double decker bus and take pictures from it. Sandy and I headed down to the waterfront and got a <a href="http://www.rickshawbus.com/en/home/index.html" target="_blank">Rickshaw bus</a> ticket each (50 HDK = $7.85 NZD) and some seats up top. We spent a couple of hours winding through the city listening to commentary from tinny speakers and enjoying a cool breeze and sunshine. Here's some pictures:</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_krCMfJRxxbFc7yscfTlHFvF-vJon8NF4dCMOjHOMuB0xVzh88PJYkFpO-4Edth9nwmVendrHk6md11B0oVpBvzcDQQLvhloxcT8kW_Vm31i0cqdn5wpOgt4a-Lv9RhU6CcxSDYD8fq8_/s1600/2013-01-28+13.10.52.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_krCMfJRxxbFc7yscfTlHFvF-vJon8NF4dCMOjHOMuB0xVzh88PJYkFpO-4Edth9nwmVendrHk6md11B0oVpBvzcDQQLvhloxcT8kW_Vm31i0cqdn5wpOgt4a-Lv9RhU6CcxSDYD8fq8_/s640/2013-01-28+13.10.52.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tram/Bus altercation.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmo0xdgvOd8fjbF1lbz4qrVh71r9o7tQSkkl7Kv0TGMVeI4qCoPmGOPbFUMwoP5T5AgUTJ8CdlFRMNmh1X5fSsly5X-1r2EY0PgTU652M07HGRN9m0z1T3KuPSpqGmwrCrAhue1hZOdZZ7/s1600/2013-01-28+13.11.33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmo0xdgvOd8fjbF1lbz4qrVh71r9o7tQSkkl7Kv0TGMVeI4qCoPmGOPbFUMwoP5T5AgUTJ8CdlFRMNmh1X5fSsly5X-1r2EY0PgTU652M07HGRN9m0z1T3KuPSpqGmwrCrAhue1hZOdZZ7/s640/2013-01-28+13.11.33.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Temple we didn't visit #2.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_W6BWRwmPvjXHB-PN2Ga6ieKFrqOPLbwtPxO0lLMwnjpF16VEQ371lh5g5sGbQhwuBCTj8YhwsAiBz4P9KMXEPHTA0B10SOAr6ox1z9wfCYWoLGFWG5s2uDHuxRxVvvhne_Scd4Z8Ld53/s1600/2013-01-28+13.36.46.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_W6BWRwmPvjXHB-PN2Ga6ieKFrqOPLbwtPxO0lLMwnjpF16VEQ371lh5g5sGbQhwuBCTj8YhwsAiBz4P9KMXEPHTA0B10SOAr6ox1z9wfCYWoLGFWG5s2uDHuxRxVvvhne_Scd4Z8Ld53/s640/2013-01-28+13.36.46.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgZhNRzDu_XLcBu0jC6mLF_GZc5v7DOLL4186Ke52F3CD9Q527Gch6Vc2kEBftZ2oNF3auzLSoY4UAILjCS631u4RJU4sed6ht9hHhcSMc9hJrqDlexsHKFy1YAmg8-VuKbgx4FXOG8k7X/s1600/2013-01-28+13.38.19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgZhNRzDu_XLcBu0jC6mLF_GZc5v7DOLL4186Ke52F3CD9Q527Gch6Vc2kEBftZ2oNF3auzLSoY4UAILjCS631u4RJU4sed6ht9hHhcSMc9hJrqDlexsHKFy1YAmg8-VuKbgx4FXOG8k7X/s640/2013-01-28+13.38.19.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18134376340796707037noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-242730010648653618.post-74236978417487781782013-03-04T12:17:00.002+09:002013-03-04T12:22:53.398+09:00Boxes, Beaches, Beers, Bitter Tea and Bright Lights<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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My second day in Hong Kong was a Sunday, and one of the first things I saw when we left Sandy's apartment was a bunch of what can only be described as cardboard box villages. Hundreds of forts had been constructed and they lined the walkways and overpasses as we headed towards the waterfront. Sandy explained that Sunday is the one day per week that Hong Kong's domestic workers have off. As these women aren't paid much, the common thing to do is meet friends with plates of food and packs of cards and spend the day in box forts chatting and eating and enjoying each other's company. </div>
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I gawped unattractively into as many of the forts as possible. Some of them were seriously impressive, although Sandy told me that the best are outside one of the buildings in the downtown area - we didn't make it there, so I'll have to visit Hong Kong another time for the full effect.</div>
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Our first proper stop was for Yum Cha. Oh my god, I love Yum Cha, especially since I've started eating meat (sorry, people who still think it's weird). I haven't found a Yum Cha/Dim Sum place in Korea, and Korean Chinese food is nothing like what I've had in New Zealand. </div>
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The restaurant we visited was super popular and we had to wait a bit over an hour for a table, crouching on the stairs outside the restaurant and waiting for our number to be called. At one point a full bridal party came in to eat, still in their wedding regalia. It was hilarious watching the bride hitch up her voluminous skirt and maneuver her way through the tables and around the carts. Having Yum-Cha-ed several times in Wellington I know that a long wait means damn good food and I wasn't disappointed.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tastiest item - soup dumplings on the right.</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjprAuqPySVj1ClW9I5vk19jH5UZ5YxTuRhzChkhd73AfGA4S8dOce8H9z-ZQNgEvsDIemLxvEDIrGhlIOqTfVMpNntQ68szVPRmHelvXqOgDencv2fnsWeMgLJOE0UFYyB1L-goNDEsNlP/s1600/2013-01-27+13.51.00.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjprAuqPySVj1ClW9I5vk19jH5UZ5YxTuRhzChkhd73AfGA4S8dOce8H9z-ZQNgEvsDIemLxvEDIrGhlIOqTfVMpNntQ68szVPRmHelvXqOgDencv2fnsWeMgLJOE0UFYyB1L-goNDEsNlP/s640/2013-01-27+13.51.00.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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We stuffed ourselves silly (as is appropriate for Yum Cha) and hopped on a ferry to <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamma_Island" target="_blank">Lamma Island</a>. Lamma's a bit of a Hong Kong hippie enclave, it was a change of pace from Hong Kong island in the most literal sense. There's few or no motorised vehicles on the island, and most people travel by bike or on foot. The ferry pier was stacked with hundreds of bicycles waiting for commuters to return home and collect them.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicqoqefpD3CJ-P9nrZ7bb0_OG-Vvo-WnITyh-DOxYE-yH5QlW0Jq8E7ZM48YbOP8eZgFbisgHn9aS3MdubGq1gLi8I4WQelv_8Tft51Wy166upq-gRHsXvvfJjWLvChspzMPmGNtyLl8B_/s1600/2013-01-27+15.00.02.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicqoqefpD3CJ-P9nrZ7bb0_OG-Vvo-WnITyh-DOxYE-yH5QlW0Jq8E7ZM48YbOP8eZgFbisgHn9aS3MdubGq1gLi8I4WQelv_8Tft51Wy166upq-gRHsXvvfJjWLvChspzMPmGNtyLl8B_/s640/2013-01-27+15.00.02.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Sandy decided we'd walk to the beach which is about 15 minutes from the main town centre. First, we picked up some supplies:</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sandy is about half as excited as I was.</td></tr>
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We got lost on the way to the beach (an incredible accomplishment, the island is tiny) and found a small temple. Sandy negotiated a decent price for an offering and then we both forgot to go back and donate when we had appropriate change. Oops. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lamma Aquarium</td></tr>
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Despite getting lost on the first try, once we found the right path the route was pretty straightforward and we ended up on a small, pretty beach ringed by seafood restaurants and hikeable hills. We sat down, drank a NZ beer and watched the people go by. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg_IM2gDq6mwHjrUNm_ZfKQ6EVb8Mf0lHuJ7k-xzBBjYMfjww277Khhi9qzoJ4hFBT-YG3QclxkI8SH00PQx2erHwXbhJhkvQqGja0QwOk3_w7_A3gGPF6GM2tAcuafFutzmRWuuPy8spB/s1600/2013-01-27+15.57.46.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgg_IM2gDq6mwHjrUNm_ZfKQ6EVb8Mf0lHuJ7k-xzBBjYMfjww277Khhi9qzoJ4hFBT-YG3QclxkI8SH00PQx2erHwXbhJhkvQqGja0QwOk3_w7_A3gGPF6GM2tAcuafFutzmRWuuPy8spB/s640/2013-01-27+15.57.46.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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I got hungry on my walk back to the ferry and bought a Hong Kong style egg waffle. I think I prefer the frosting-laden, sickly-sweet <a href="http://karoritokorea.blogspot.com/2012/11/korean-things-i-have-eaten.html" target="_blank">Korean version</a> and I ended up attempting to feed most of it to Sandy and Lamma's stray/random dog population. The dogs weren't keen on it so maybe I got a bad one.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigC757A_XSTTeggQgefBZrIPd_tHN9oSdKmAR-87FggTyvQLd3gGnNFR2W8KcHcsnWFPTyYni60dnM6qN2aHIdftVZhodIRbOROSVk9bqm2o1pQWZ0JSRxpMh7w2nI9mtlK2A5Q1X2yFph/s1600/2013-01-27+17.00.15.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigC757A_XSTTeggQgefBZrIPd_tHN9oSdKmAR-87FggTyvQLd3gGnNFR2W8KcHcsnWFPTyYni60dnM6qN2aHIdftVZhodIRbOROSVk9bqm2o1pQWZ0JSRxpMh7w2nI9mtlK2A5Q1X2yFph/s640/2013-01-27+17.00.15.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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After Lamma we took the subway to Kowloon and visited <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langham_Place_(Hong_Kong)" target="_blank">Langham Place</a> (a mall) purely to ride the Longest Escalator I've Ever Seen. We actually had to ride a few short escalators to get there, and each time I kinda rolled my eyes and thought 'this escalator is tiny,' but when we finally arrived I was too scared to be snarky. There's two, and together they span eight floors and go up 76 metres. There's some pretty long escalators in Seoul too, but they're usually hidden away in odd subway stations, not crammed full of shoppers like this one. We got to the top and then went right back down.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1IErYaHj88mgyi47lPB5lJ4yI1i0mSL9kT8z9dPsCge3use5toArKvtARwUniUyMszf_q-Q_PgJgll_NoPd4ke2OIip8hLtXqo8eTch8eBUHIiNdCmE9jILgKA5MYcuzpYCLD1VVchZCV/s1600/2013-01-27+18.38.04.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1IErYaHj88mgyi47lPB5lJ4yI1i0mSL9kT8z9dPsCge3use5toArKvtARwUniUyMszf_q-Q_PgJgll_NoPd4ke2OIip8hLtXqo8eTch8eBUHIiNdCmE9jILgKA5MYcuzpYCLD1VVchZCV/s640/2013-01-27+18.38.04.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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After the escalator, Sandy took me to a little hole in the wall store for my first of two bitter teas. It's apparently good for your health, but it tastes awful and I wasn't allowed to leave until I'd choked it down. After looking around the shop for a bit I realised that I think it contained turtle. Turtle!</div>
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We went for a bit of a shop but I'm not much of a market fiend so I didn't buy anything and I took a series of terrible blurry pictures of lights and signs. After a long day of walking and not eating, we stopped at a fast food place and got bitter tea #2 and a pineapple bun.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFMJwMGhrufOSK_j3dWcC4viFs84XiEVshQ8qCPsPbH4bo2EAyxOSK6TxqVUaLzuY_uKjMklsL8jAa7Xvxg_Xl7Gy8VabYRbVms45emcc91YIj6QaVh17jIkJs5MtJGSaOdGq1yTqbRHy0/s1600/2013-01-27+20.00.47.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFMJwMGhrufOSK_j3dWcC4viFs84XiEVshQ8qCPsPbH4bo2EAyxOSK6TxqVUaLzuY_uKjMklsL8jAa7Xvxg_Xl7Gy8VabYRbVms45emcc91YIj6QaVh17jIkJs5MtJGSaOdGq1yTqbRHy0/s640/2013-01-27+20.00.47.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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This version is a super strong, milky black tea, not a turtle infused herb concoction like earlier. When Tom still drank tea he'd say 'there is no strong tea - only weak men.' I'm here to say there is strong tea, damnit.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbegbLXsyT3yMNXKhAPN8c_WOmVW89tP4NLP2N1mMZxeVPMy2PHstea8M-9r0u_RHTnmpTkWWRsbkX6hUEiUvL1T2NieHC_XECX2cSTqj_BInbfbNltsoxvPEfTDF3vbUEwTyDUvVxFnzr/s1600/2013-01-27+20.04.20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbegbLXsyT3yMNXKhAPN8c_WOmVW89tP4NLP2N1mMZxeVPMy2PHstea8M-9r0u_RHTnmpTkWWRsbkX6hUEiUvL1T2NieHC_XECX2cSTqj_BInbfbNltsoxvPEfTDF3vbUEwTyDUvVxFnzr/s640/2013-01-27+20.04.20.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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We took the ferry back to Hong Kong Island and checked out the lights before making our way back to Sandy's to drink some soju and head to bed. Not a bad day.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLIt3A3YydbrdKvUW8tOtDSSuWbekU_guVRPuwh-RbVPDotnCxcTbXx90jWwaJA1QVXPlgkz8JDysRVsTzttqe5fEBzoL9DgCBEdAec9pHhysFnikZnkTExNMl0UYL9_T_-Y1g7LFOcN9T/s1600/2013-01-27+20.48.38.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLIt3A3YydbrdKvUW8tOtDSSuWbekU_guVRPuwh-RbVPDotnCxcTbXx90jWwaJA1QVXPlgkz8JDysRVsTzttqe5fEBzoL9DgCBEdAec9pHhysFnikZnkTExNMl0UYL9_T_-Y1g7LFOcN9T/s640/2013-01-27+20.48.38.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18134376340796707037noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-242730010648653618.post-37001259126134886982013-02-26T14:17:00.001+09:002013-02-26T14:17:06.088+09:00Out of Jecheon.<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Sorry for the blogging delay, I don't have any excuses as I haven't actually been teaching. I've been at work 40 hours a week but I've only taught around 12 classes since the end of December. I've watched a lot of TV shows - The Vampire Diaries, Face Off, Castle, Cougar Town - I've almost completed a crochet blanket, I've played a ton of Bejewelled Blitz and I've eaten several bowls of snail soup.</div>
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Tom and I had to split up some of our vacation time, primarily because his principal is a bit of a <strike>dick</strike> nice person. We got to go to Taiwan together, but had an extra three days of holiday to spend apart. As a result, Tom went to Japan for a bit and I jettisoned off to Hong Kong for an awesome long weekend.</div>
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I've wanted to visit HK for ages, not just for the food (okay, it's a big part of it) but also because one of my besties has lived there for almost 6 years. A week before I was due to leave I started to freak out because I hadn't done any planning. I got in touch with my friends <a href="http://frybreadandsushi.blogspot.kr/2010/05/hong-kong.html" target="_blank">Dan</a> and Kim who had both visited Hong Kong and Sandy before and both of them responded with a resounding OMG SANDY IS THE BEST TOUR GUIDE EVER. They were right.</div>
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Sandy collected me from the airport and we took the train to Hong Kong Island where she lives. My friend had recommended I take the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central%E2%80%93Mid-levels_escalators" target="_blank">Mid-levels escalator</a> while I was visiting and conveniently it's the best way to get to Sandy's sweet apartment. Along with being generally pleased to get away from Jecheon's -17 temperature, the area around Sandy's place is full of awesome restaurants and cafes and cool stuff to look at. We dumped my backpack at her apartment and went to a cafe where it was possible to order a FLAT WHITE. I knew I wasn't in Korea any more.</div>
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Because we hadn't seen each other in 3 years (!) we spent the afternoon and evening chatting like crazy and in between managed to fit in a tram ride to Causeway Bay, a dim sum dinner and an abortive attempt to catch the Peak tram. I think I was too busy being amazed to take many pictures, but I do have these:</div>
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Blurry, blurry picture of Causeway Bay at night. Super-popular shopping area and possessor of the World's Busiest Street, according to my guide.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUOP7tb6obh5TdYmNuVH482k5-0B43wiTCW6bWuMP5cjwxPOAg2wz4wo2OVZ9p5-Oi5Qk_HIsQ6gowxr-Zh9Sk_dz1MYjmfPTnxF-qoC2gEInU_uSdsO9y-HfTa2gLatyiJoNHCUXCV3fx/s1600/2013-01-26+18.29.41.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUOP7tb6obh5TdYmNuVH482k5-0B43wiTCW6bWuMP5cjwxPOAg2wz4wo2OVZ9p5-Oi5Qk_HIsQ6gowxr-Zh9Sk_dz1MYjmfPTnxF-qoC2gEInU_uSdsO9y-HfTa2gLatyiJoNHCUXCV3fx/s640/2013-01-26+18.29.41.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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Super sad that although I haven't had a land line in over 3 years, I didn't buy one of these bedazzled torso phones.<br />
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Even sadder I didn't buy a bedazzled toilet phone or that awesome Rolling Stones-esque lips phone (the tongue is the handset. So many regrets.</div>
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I have a bit of a thing where when I visit a new country (or a new city, who am I kidding?) I like to look at a supermarket. I am not sure what the draw is, I just like to see what's available, what the most popular items are and what you can pick up for next to nothing. It's something I share with my Mum, but it could be from the numerous supermarket jobs I had between the ages of 16 and 23. </div>
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Living in Jecheon isn't so bad but I remember talking to a friend when I was living in Buan, and she was too lazy because the shop was a 15 minute walk from her flat and she really wanted a coke or something. I had just lived a Monty Python type scenario, where I'd completed a 6 hour return trip - nay! - QUEST! - to get cheese from Costco in Seoul, battling freezing temperatures and bulk-sized food-obsessed crowds of Koreans. 15 minutes to the dairy in summer? Luxury.</div>
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So, when Sandy took me to one near Times Square, and I was almost overcome. Hong Kong has amazing supermarkets, like Chaffers New World but with more international items. I remember Sandy telling me she was happy I was so easily entertained as I squealed over Arnott's Shapes and 50 cent dragonfruit and Bundaberg Ginger beer. I even took pictures. Sad.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfTzwEYbDpZeZYsY4pLX_xGsYGhtGWMzVgDhcNx-aYC68hK8T6nQ9Ov284KPC8MmzchWJtoHP2Ir-HUTcgVUSFdK3lFi8XINsiLQGPzeHUeSrxg-ZXy2dpCEAQ6t0SxA8ENKA9Ejmli31D/s1600/2013-01-26+19.38.20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfTzwEYbDpZeZYsY4pLX_xGsYGhtGWMzVgDhcNx-aYC68hK8T6nQ9Ov284KPC8MmzchWJtoHP2Ir-HUTcgVUSFdK3lFi8XINsiLQGPzeHUeSrxg-ZXy2dpCEAQ6t0SxA8ENKA9Ejmli31D/s640/2013-01-26+19.38.20.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">24.80 HKD = $3.85 NZ</td></tr>
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We finished my first evening in Hong Kong with a pint of cider (CIDER!!) and a glass or two of New Zealand wine (NEW! ZEALAND! WINE!) and then passed out ready for day 2.</div>
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Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18134376340796707037noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-242730010648653618.post-87093085200451275692013-02-08T11:51:00.000+09:002013-02-08T11:51:00.443+09:00Story Dog<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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A couple of months ago I went to Seoul with my friend, to show her the ropes and hopefully visit <a href="http://karoritokorea.blogspot.kr/2011/03/bow-house.html" target="_blank">Bow House</a> again. Alas, like many of the places we visited in Korea 1.0, it was closed, so I got my nose pierced instead.</div>
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And then a few weeks ago Tom and I got some awesome news - a new dog cafe had opened in Jecheon! It's above a puppy shop I already knew about, so we had to visit. The puppy shop sells small, fluffy designer dogs (nothing bigger than a miniature poodle) so I wasn't completely surprised when the only dogs on offer at the cafe were bite-sized. As the cafe had just opened, we were pretty much the only customers so we had our pick of mini dogs and we took advantage.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggq4qvq3Q9poLtaBxmcizHPE_iTbB5ZEQD3x20nt8aaYPdQKvXUhz7zCBcgOzmGpkdwXTwBf5rtoiKTFmxCMOmM7A_3LUbbKKe32X-8DsOUq1ifQjhbNlyHLdqHdn-9IPsnWDPUVvcqDgi/s1600/photo+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggq4qvq3Q9poLtaBxmcizHPE_iTbB5ZEQD3x20nt8aaYPdQKvXUhz7zCBcgOzmGpkdwXTwBf5rtoiKTFmxCMOmM7A_3LUbbKKe32X-8DsOUq1ifQjhbNlyHLdqHdn-9IPsnWDPUVvcqDgi/s1600/photo+1.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOb09a629M2wcT8Yiu4QTrM3W7EmcMpE3PaaAOeVDot0TXzrUN4R7F4sj94eCpx5IQrh0VB-6vd0cqNmCAMtDQdwdhyphenhyphenYQOm37BjrSMD6AjRavgCBNnjup128lhEwit0W6SVlN8c9EFj89O/s1600/photo+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOb09a629M2wcT8Yiu4QTrM3W7EmcMpE3PaaAOeVDot0TXzrUN4R7F4sj94eCpx5IQrh0VB-6vd0cqNmCAMtDQdwdhyphenhyphenYQOm37BjrSMD6AjRavgCBNnjup128lhEwit0W6SVlN8c9EFj89O/s1600/photo+2.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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All the dogs in the cafe were total bitches, and there was a sign outside advising customers not to bring male dogs into the store - I am fairly certain the cafe dogs are also supplying the store downstairs, if you know what I'm saying.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAHIVCv5VBKGIIYTiucQ3oBZBXczaBX8GsjXTNqS60wu7snx7VyZ522fl4Z7lxsc5_MayXhPHgJDDNHnYlMqcDaRiZHJAmbd0XNIlKioGVcp2Y4lKr0U5HT1qckeJtmh1g0-wbxwuJ5ifm/s1600/photo+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAHIVCv5VBKGIIYTiucQ3oBZBXczaBX8GsjXTNqS60wu7snx7VyZ522fl4Z7lxsc5_MayXhPHgJDDNHnYlMqcDaRiZHJAmbd0XNIlKioGVcp2Y4lKr0U5HT1qckeJtmh1g0-wbxwuJ5ifm/s1600/photo+3.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Half Bear Half Dog</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjISAAxXgwo1OS8EMsAXBlOysbNQwkd9if2DX98TaJ_jbV3KIpMzoGUACqRx7u2UrKXLnN0csqDUekgo3FjZk49hYXnqbIb616s_kwuFmkL0yVHRnrsoC0eU6vgkonFlKeqRDGXemJTMBl9/s1600/photo+4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjISAAxXgwo1OS8EMsAXBlOysbNQwkd9if2DX98TaJ_jbV3KIpMzoGUACqRx7u2UrKXLnN0csqDUekgo3FjZk49hYXnqbIb616s_kwuFmkL0yVHRnrsoC0eU6vgkonFlKeqRDGXemJTMBl9/s1600/photo+4.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk0ZCnqAPjtQf0NkU7M7WNtJy2z_IWCJQMRTnbi8ZKbkCyY0hPqJ8JOIlZON2c4ZCBIZ-sLxOGJc1FYYuUaMINhVnzQyPa8BHfHKTn6aQ60NnzwNe7IFf_MXmlTol2WpUFnOdjO8ruxnyA/s1600/photo+5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk0ZCnqAPjtQf0NkU7M7WNtJy2z_IWCJQMRTnbi8ZKbkCyY0hPqJ8JOIlZON2c4ZCBIZ-sLxOGJc1FYYuUaMINhVnzQyPa8BHfHKTn6aQ60NnzwNe7IFf_MXmlTol2WpUFnOdjO8ruxnyA/s1600/photo+5.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">ALL OF THE DOGS</td></tr>
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We went back yesterday with some friends and learned there's also a cat cafe in Jecheon too! That's this weekend's plans sorted.</div>
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Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18134376340796707037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-242730010648653618.post-54064661658476945442013-02-06T14:14:00.000+09:002013-02-06T14:14:00.541+09:00More Taiwan Random<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Okay, this is the last of my extensive Taiwan posts! Some more random pictures for your enjoyment (?)<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5AAYvrpbbqaO4WJ0k2zOW5kpdl8w9h5psEZ4fIKDxHdfIXdnxD3eUY3DlPpuBtiCQoHVjkmjH9Fd-RAx__QuuU2mGjfTuEw6bLa41ZK1BI10KL5UHbyIbSaDx76I3aYRtgzlYCjtgqUaO/s1600/DSCF8481.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5AAYvrpbbqaO4WJ0k2zOW5kpdl8w9h5psEZ4fIKDxHdfIXdnxD3eUY3DlPpuBtiCQoHVjkmjH9Fd-RAx__QuuU2mGjfTuEw6bLa41ZK1BI10KL5UHbyIbSaDx76I3aYRtgzlYCjtgqUaO/s640/DSCF8481.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Disgusting.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzDSLBRN3S_1xgfaC9GvCAJKxkqySf3N_w3EWHTohjksue08gHQFre7zMTKk4oLLqImDZhwdDanlUMgwFWlAOs4BT0Bmur-a3rvzwoPDf9qw70_YsLOXH5qOFDyjIRHNC789o6CHjUQGSq/s1600/DSCF8518.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzDSLBRN3S_1xgfaC9GvCAJKxkqySf3N_w3EWHTohjksue08gHQFre7zMTKk4oLLqImDZhwdDanlUMgwFWlAOs4BT0Bmur-a3rvzwoPDf9qw70_YsLOXH5qOFDyjIRHNC789o6CHjUQGSq/s640/DSCF8518.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Aboriginal museum near Beitou Springs</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxlYEvNC5fBt6DCBUYiZoZzoJ4XdeqN1UGW2ihKcnXZ9wkzcP5xVl91n9ODNd7ul81QZKKOuiX4XN3FEK_WbBG0bUjv8fZKAO9_9kWASkN0gRalVLlmBkX6PAUEf8yTxSofyIwJwTRRCBx/s1600/DSCF8523.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxlYEvNC5fBt6DCBUYiZoZzoJ4XdeqN1UGW2ihKcnXZ9wkzcP5xVl91n9ODNd7ul81QZKKOuiX4XN3FEK_WbBG0bUjv8fZKAO9_9kWASkN0gRalVLlmBkX6PAUEf8yTxSofyIwJwTRRCBx/s640/DSCF8523.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">DJ Exercise Equipment</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivl6Em6F6cnERpPE02AUXSgz-_Fv5CNz4ZcqAqSBWRAVTQaOb-PMNu50xd8DzU_FVNzGz2JCG-bZH_yXN6yoT8_fZqZML53oVAZewFQ4IicHJxJIPLjoETbKLTo8chd30XJdnPiF3PgMtC/s1600/photo+3+(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivl6Em6F6cnERpPE02AUXSgz-_Fv5CNz4ZcqAqSBWRAVTQaOb-PMNu50xd8DzU_FVNzGz2JCG-bZH_yXN6yoT8_fZqZML53oVAZewFQ4IicHJxJIPLjoETbKLTo8chd30XJdnPiF3PgMtC/s640/photo+3+(1).JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I friggin' LOVE <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calpis" target="_blank">Calpis</a>, an unfortunately-named Japanese soft drink. This is the sour version, and it's REVOLTING.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG9jAwcHpuRi6b7b25Ur3gZbKRkFRMyT73Tc0VUh8ftv1tAX0QoMsScHLvk2UYloNg_JTnZDyay39dg-yhf5KFmhH_DTrLucC8MdyY01lgbuM3YrxrFdEbplPwNs-Wi9bcKN27fqPIIoAU/s1600/photo+3+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjG9jAwcHpuRi6b7b25Ur3gZbKRkFRMyT73Tc0VUh8ftv1tAX0QoMsScHLvk2UYloNg_JTnZDyay39dg-yhf5KFmhH_DTrLucC8MdyY01lgbuM3YrxrFdEbplPwNs-Wi9bcKN27fqPIIoAU/s640/photo+3+(2).JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Modern Toilet's handbasic\n</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXjsMEZkVZR5fIgwhw1ay8EOd9XSaKN8TsGf-lvnbFGNcOmMkqEk8dBEDqDuT-ueyNmttrOYz_1AKUPcDaZi-2Uf4QsJf3R0MDWTQp1VCv3msulWbsjai_cHRMjScKnxFbRBjApfBlxDto/s1600/photo+3+(3).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXjsMEZkVZR5fIgwhw1ay8EOd9XSaKN8TsGf-lvnbFGNcOmMkqEk8dBEDqDuT-ueyNmttrOYz_1AKUPcDaZi-2Uf4QsJf3R0MDWTQp1VCv3msulWbsjai_cHRMjScKnxFbRBjApfBlxDto/s640/photo+3+(3).JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bizarre art in Taipei Main Station</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxuRWdZkxgvo-oaw4KwDZ12mE4kY0nNsAyVqVbeWCdWDaBdO3KHRYTNt9CVibWiqyZUy4SGU_jD8YbbZ5syHGtiFjJo_7VSLrxTcqOwJemBGDdDkPeNYo9lKH21WS66hkBC8N2rXh9NZcQ/s1600/photo+4+(3).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxuRWdZkxgvo-oaw4KwDZ12mE4kY0nNsAyVqVbeWCdWDaBdO3KHRYTNt9CVibWiqyZUy4SGU_jD8YbbZ5syHGtiFjJo_7VSLrxTcqOwJemBGDdDkPeNYo9lKH21WS66hkBC8N2rXh9NZcQ/s640/photo+4+(3).JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Okay, this isn't Taiwan - it's a rotating toilet seat protector in Incheon Airport.<br />For pervy reasons, the shutter sound on Korean mobile phones can't be deactivated, so someone heard me taking this.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF9E-3DFraGqYAkJvcgSkL1RdHOCVaRSR9tOAapDSoBglhaFuDxI567tzKoEeYDSzIyZVZt1H5YmzTXDnx6hHWSf6ml1fDD9E0x2CfurMyIvI5MIk3pJxpcvpoJ9PwXT-6I9UPPIbaIGaw/s1600/photo+4+(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiF9E-3DFraGqYAkJvcgSkL1RdHOCVaRSR9tOAapDSoBglhaFuDxI567tzKoEeYDSzIyZVZt1H5YmzTXDnx6hHWSf6ml1fDD9E0x2CfurMyIvI5MIk3pJxpcvpoJ9PwXT-6I9UPPIbaIGaw/s640/photo+4+(1).JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maybe (definitely) Asia has messed with my taste buds and I thought this was good.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkdM-jnNysGs5qFyauo8cZqjFVOwDrnx3Ydub9COAo3VRghXfaw8aQnv_C-hQa-nOxdhASrcQxHnKIkzFzs7UDqJBIMHmYpDVX-Av-KZUs_yReJMgAeVQktW46QT-NFf_6d2abbz4dUOHV/s1600/DSCF8264.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkdM-jnNysGs5qFyauo8cZqjFVOwDrnx3Ydub9COAo3VRghXfaw8aQnv_C-hQa-nOxdhASrcQxHnKIkzFzs7UDqJBIMHmYpDVX-Av-KZUs_yReJMgAeVQktW46QT-NFf_6d2abbz4dUOHV/s640/DSCF8264.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This dude.</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj50CySBI1erzd98HhKcZnzqHz7IW8IAUlqp4NhG76d63hdOOziMOSZ3nFA8wEOHOOmvWJYgMhEPwvilObKLwwLiwPnF4R51UKaaMQKbmpb-_FfKnspu53xdnPYhhSIwMNo4J_l0_BD5qno/s1600/photo+2+(1).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj50CySBI1erzd98HhKcZnzqHz7IW8IAUlqp4NhG76d63hdOOziMOSZ3nFA8wEOHOOmvWJYgMhEPwvilObKLwwLiwPnF4R51UKaaMQKbmpb-_FfKnspu53xdnPYhhSIwMNo4J_l0_BD5qno/s640/photo+2+(1).JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Terrible fruit beers.</td></tr>
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Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18134376340796707037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-242730010648653618.post-29256005576622166342013-02-04T13:28:00.000+09:002013-02-04T13:28:00.027+09:00Taipei 101<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Our trip to Taipei would not be complete without visiting <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taipei_101" target="_blank">Taipei 101</a>, once the world's tallest building and still the world's tallest building which looks a bit like bamboo. Taipei isn't as skyscraper-clogged as other big cities so 101 stands out like a sore thumb and you can see it from (almost) anywhere in the city. Here's the view from our hotel room:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVdWAsw5KIgAYcaru3a0rgjkZPyETw56XOoTquEjadgEfTGvGx08OSEzb8dx2rgwMRlnYLo2gb4EIbdL1wbsIVOUK8l10og5QVZWlnIxM30MxxIWEB9ErTpnGNh6vufxxi4TMr3uLejHvn/s1600/20130105_123730.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVdWAsw5KIgAYcaru3a0rgjkZPyETw56XOoTquEjadgEfTGvGx08OSEzb8dx2rgwMRlnYLo2gb4EIbdL1wbsIVOUK8l10og5QVZWlnIxM30MxxIWEB9ErTpnGNh6vufxxi4TMr3uLejHvn/s640/20130105_123730.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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We took the subway as close as possible and then a free shuttle bus to the base, walked around a bit, visited the SUPER SLICK mall right next door and didn't go up. It's about $25 NZD to take a super fast elevator to the top and look around, but Tom's scared of heights and I'm cheap so we literally took a hike.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuf_4Gg1-ZeRNfP_KVI6UP-zyKb7-lnasJIj43-GtzkKikdxgvK94w-WdrSszIkOnqRPYzjZGnwMV4r6X2S02arn2GFO0Ot68Y_VyVB4xQW_KdZpczIJQd0fDyEju1HU00ZJIYf8B47MGb/s1600/taipei101.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuf_4Gg1-ZeRNfP_KVI6UP-zyKb7-lnasJIj43-GtzkKikdxgvK94w-WdrSszIkOnqRPYzjZGnwMV4r6X2S02arn2GFO0Ot68Y_VyVB4xQW_KdZpczIJQd0fDyEju1HU00ZJIYf8B47MGb/s640/taipei101.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: justify;">About 15 minutes walk from Taipei 101 to the base of </span><a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g293913-d2019764-Reviews-Elephant_Mountain_aka_Nangang_District_Hiking_Trail-Taipei.html" style="text-align: justify;" target="_blank">Elephant Mountain</a><span style="text-align: justify;">, one of four (I think) animal-themed mountains around Taipei which are popular hiking trails. The trail to the top is relatively short and takes 15 - 30 minutes depending on your fitness level. Guess how long it took me! It's not so much a trail as a set of never ending steps that go on forever and help you lose your will to live. Nevertheless the view from the top is AWESOME and FREE, two of my favourite things!</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOv7CRFyd98ervFRUkIUWEa_W_SZqQKdSey8Q_o2NfzLmw2N38Szghljfb3XmsSVsvjy5WKT8OYMEHzQSzld9EvtVtMWr_ci68T7ozW_E6vxEGK2t8VstJVnHFZB6FIkj2WF4kkTFi-QFI/s1600/DSCF8541.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOv7CRFyd98ervFRUkIUWEa_W_SZqQKdSey8Q_o2NfzLmw2N38Szghljfb3XmsSVsvjy5WKT8OYMEHzQSzld9EvtVtMWr_ci68T7ozW_E6vxEGK2t8VstJVnHFZB6FIkj2WF4kkTFi-QFI/s640/DSCF8541.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZit1b69ZwqXL5DCaP2UGMyW75r99mJMiTVISzCJJMsSn4ajHUSDjGvunh56Hr-DG_WwqG0mhXA-kjhpq6qXECi0r15dIhFpJFcOQiogjDtIuaoUyJ_Q5RHezgfHY1MULh5isLh_Fvy6QE/s1600/DSCF8532.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZit1b69ZwqXL5DCaP2UGMyW75r99mJMiTVISzCJJMsSn4ajHUSDjGvunh56Hr-DG_WwqG0mhXA-kjhpq6qXECi0r15dIhFpJFcOQiogjDtIuaoUyJ_Q5RHezgfHY1MULh5isLh_Fvy6QE/s640/DSCF8532.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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We chilled out at the top eating dried mango and trying to take a picture of ourselves but we're both terrible at it, so here's the best one:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6DoliiA7NIdd7fzaAfD3iLatqIwbWjHJU8t0MgWH7c3nlF-q9W2jd-LaTiIerwtW0e4JeZur27E-TPx_jdlxAnE6QyiPSKEkT1JAyjihaDHC2nIZHxnfZtRNfEyMS-LGcOGQB0QhSljOh/s1600/DSCF8535.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6DoliiA7NIdd7fzaAfD3iLatqIwbWjHJU8t0MgWH7c3nlF-q9W2jd-LaTiIerwtW0e4JeZur27E-TPx_jdlxAnE6QyiPSKEkT1JAyjihaDHC2nIZHxnfZtRNfEyMS-LGcOGQB0QhSljOh/s640/DSCF8535.JPG" width="480" /></a></div>
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We headed back down the hill and saw this awesome dog on the way down. Judging by the sticker next to his hidey-hole it's a popular hangout and stare at the hikers spot.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy-9_LborxBHG8EGhiT-l14jayZ8DiH4PFznUAVgFTZC52rGoS1biGykEX1F4OlWIBIMSe-MBm5lLAUjIuATgzo5fDST9PQ1yxeHCjMRRDJQoKT372tWFlEKmtRLilxDSpS4_qrVc4RRhH/s1600/DSCF8544.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgy-9_LborxBHG8EGhiT-l14jayZ8DiH4PFznUAVgFTZC52rGoS1biGykEX1F4OlWIBIMSe-MBm5lLAUjIuATgzo5fDST9PQ1yxeHCjMRRDJQoKT372tWFlEKmtRLilxDSpS4_qrVc4RRhH/s640/DSCF8544.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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Related - I have never seen as many pet dogs as I have in Taiwan. So many people would carry their tiny dogs through food markets, up hills, around shopping malls... everywhere. Korea's comparatively pet-free and I really miss being able to interact with animals on a daily basis, and Taiwan helped me out in this regard. Neat.</div>
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We got back to Taipei 101 with slightly shaky legs and took this obligatory photo:</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia3qe-aNFbtfI2YITVdZ_D6Dx00vhadxLHSbOc_3OzE3ExJ9fXwbAooi5hiy_oWtU_zJ-ZqRDIL-LMaLt9oZFZRF4GvGPcHinLrmhSJw2efnTGiC-29aqVCqcv5UgdtsspeKfos8gPHn5v/s1600/photo+1+(3).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia3qe-aNFbtfI2YITVdZ_D6Dx00vhadxLHSbOc_3OzE3ExJ9fXwbAooi5hiy_oWtU_zJ-ZqRDIL-LMaLt9oZFZRF4GvGPcHinLrmhSJw2efnTGiC-29aqVCqcv5UgdtsspeKfos8gPHn5v/s640/photo+1+(3).JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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We attempted to take the same free shuttle back to the train station, and ended up on a tiki-tour through random suburbs which had a lot of temples for some reason. Too afraid to disembark randomly, we waited a good half hour until the bus came to a different subway station and we got off. Fortunately we weren't horrifically lost, it just took a little longer to get back to Taipei Main Station and on a train going to Keelung. </div>
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<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keelung" target="_blank">Keelung</a> is a port town about an hour out of Taipei, and we went for it's night market which is meant to be the best in Taiwan. It was absolutely pouring down the whole time we were there, but the food is really good. Tom tried Oyster pancake and we had some incredible pork buns. Nom.</div>
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And that was pretty much that. Our 9 days in Taipei were enjoyable, but as you may have guessed it wasn't the greatest holiday - Taiwan is geographically very similar to New Zealand, and it's cities are very similar to Korea so it wasn't the comfort-zone-expanding holiday I'd hoped for. If we weren't from New Zealand and if we hadn't travelled through Southeast Asia and if we didn't live in Korea I think I would have been more enthused. The food was excellent though. </div>
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Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18134376340796707037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-242730010648653618.post-71112190109664483972013-02-02T13:39:00.000+09:002013-02-02T13:39:00.174+09:00Soaking up Taipei (It's a Pun!)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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If you're looking to meet older Taiwanese men, this is the post for you.</div>
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I found <a href="http://tripologist.com/asia/5-free-things-to-do-in-taipei-taiwan/" target="_blank">this blog post</a> before our trip and Beitou Hot Springs was immediately put at the top of my list of things to do. Unfortunately we had a bunch of things to do first, but on the Friday before we were to head back to Korea we hopped on the subway and headed out of the city to get steamy. </div>
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Beitou is on the outskirts of Taipei and the metro ride out to the springs was beautiful, as the mountains started peeking through the buildings and everything got a bit greener. When we reached Beitou Station we disembarked and got on a train kitted out like a steam room with 'hot tub' touch screen computers giving you info about the area.</div>
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The train only travels one stop and is purely for those headed to the Geothermal Valley area, it's cute though. We followed the crowds to the public hot pools which are a ten minute walk from the train station. As soon as we got off we could smell the sulphur in the air!<br />
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For pervy reasons, you aren't allowed to take pictures of the springs so I will just have to use the magic of words. If you don't like words, I've put some random pictures in too!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTmtDZU5Pq9MXAruNT8KHtWFYf9wVd4l1HyUCKyWKjWMhZceeX-PxD8Mj1fCB6T82JtNERQ076aQAp8gkJ4uhcQZ3frlW-LHZq2BWCWvtI__wtdUe8soWm1tVlaAXyiLi6L-V8ycWxVD6y/s1600/DSCF8211.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTmtDZU5Pq9MXAruNT8KHtWFYf9wVd4l1HyUCKyWKjWMhZceeX-PxD8Mj1fCB6T82JtNERQ076aQAp8gkJ4uhcQZ3frlW-LHZq2BWCWvtI__wtdUe8soWm1tVlaAXyiLi6L-V8ycWxVD6y/s640/DSCF8211.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Taiwan loves crane games. I saw more crane games in Taiwan than I have in my life. <br />
It also loves the excellent cartoon Adventure Time!</td></tr>
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After you pay your 80 TWD ($3.30) you head to the changing rooms and put on your togs. Apparently that's unusual as most hot springs expect you au naturel. You can also buy spandex atrocities at the gates if you've forgotten your suit.<br />
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The pool complex isn't extensive, just 6 pools varying from ice cold to 46 degrees. Although the internet assured us that weekdays weren't busy, each tiny pool was packed with at least 20 people, mostly comprised of older Taiwanese men who had a good old stare at two curvaceous white people in their midst. We started in the coldest warm pool, a bathlike 35 - 37 degrees. Due to the crowds, it was difficult to get a seat around the rim so we bobbed in the middle instead.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNeqUjoiiDJ7sN78C99PBc5tsCpyJKhqpktB9ITTbH503TdjsUMvH_lcDtwnABwtLCycUC8KQ2b6-qi1cI5okY3WjuoRIoGELKtA0hg449YGXta2bfHoJv0-AEgXJRym74CLRBAOQxpSWS/s1600/photo+5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNeqUjoiiDJ7sN78C99PBc5tsCpyJKhqpktB9ITTbH503TdjsUMvH_lcDtwnABwtLCycUC8KQ2b6-qi1cI5okY3WjuoRIoGELKtA0hg449YGXta2bfHoJv0-AEgXJRym74CLRBAOQxpSWS/s640/photo+5.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This one had Dong Chim (Poo Needle) Dolls. You might remember him from <a href="http://karoritokorea.blogspot.kr/2011/01/delicious-poop.htmlhttp://karoritokorea.blogspot.kr/2011/01/delicious-poop.html" target="_blank">Delicious Poop!</a></td></tr>
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I hadn't tied my hair up and got yelled at by the sole attendant, whose job it seems is to hand out rubber bands to dummies like me, and tell people off for only going into the pool up to their knees (seriously.)<br />
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After a few minutes, Tom wanted to go into the hottest pool - 44 - 46 degrees. I walked with him to the top of the complex - the water falls from the top pool to the bottom, cooling as it goes - and noticed many men with bright red skin that turned a normal colour around their upper chest area, a distinctive water line.<br />
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We got in. Wary of the attendant we immersed ourselves and almost immediately felt feverish. It was SUPER HOT. There's clocks through the complex as you're not meant to spend more than 15 minutes in each pool, so we watched the clock and dared each other to last an additional 30 seconds. I think we were in the hottest pool less than 4 minutes, but it felt like a burning eternity.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw0d_6GAY1zluI33fCPuLEWf_n00fFCd1-YYzWtfpyEJIrstDjoD8xj2Kjc6kr2E1kpdnXYyxMYRd2tC6VajvLoI_o2VZsSZeMj-NiVoq0Tbk5XiwukVn7MZ2m9XBNjBoCAi-z97Xk3pKp/s1600/photo+2+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiw0d_6GAY1zluI33fCPuLEWf_n00fFCd1-YYzWtfpyEJIrstDjoD8xj2Kjc6kr2E1kpdnXYyxMYRd2tC6VajvLoI_o2VZsSZeMj-NiVoq0Tbk5XiwukVn7MZ2m9XBNjBoCAi-z97Xk3pKp/s640/photo+2+(2).JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A little bit of Korea, to remind us of home... Gangnam Style!</td></tr>
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Lobster red and sweaty, we got into one of the ice pools to cool down. I haven't been to a jimjilbang in Korea, but I had heard that going between hot and cold temperatures like this can have a euphoric effect - and it's true! After a few minutes in the cold pool I started to feel pretty happy with myself and unable to stand up. It took a few minutes after that before I'd settled down and needed another hit! We were in the pools for about 2 hours, hopping between each one and getting high. Not a bad way to spend an afternoon!<br />
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The public pools are open for 3 hour slots at a time, so we left early to beat the shower queues and went for a walk. A short distance from the pools is the source of the springs in the area - a large green sulphur pool surrounded by suburban homes and sulphur-infused mist.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Still a bit high</td></tr>
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Water from this pool supplies the public baths and all of the hotels in the area which offer private baths (for much more than 80 TWD). We followed the stream downhill and back to the train station, and for ultra cheap travellers there are a few spots you can dip your feet in and take a soak for free!<br />
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On the trip back to the city we decided to stop in at our third Taiwanese market, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shilin_Night_Market" target="_blank">Shilin Night Market</a>. It's the biggest in Taiwan (I think) and also... a bit lame! It's incredibly spread out and labyrinthine, with a lot of stalls selling everything from food to clothes to tattoos, but the things we ate weren't very tasty - I think we were spoilt being so close to Raohe.<br />
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We did try deep fried milk, which tastes like a crispy vanilla-ish pudding and is a little bit addictive. We also tried the opposite end of the spectrum -<span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px; text-align: start;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stinky_tofu" target="_blank">chòu dòufu</a> or stinky tofu. The smell of the tofu permeates most of the night markets and reminds me of walking past a sewer in the middle of Korean summer. Fortunately for this analogy, it also tastes like what I'd imagine a hot sewer would taste like. Never. Again.</span></span><br />
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We also saw this cool dude being cool:<br />
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The food was so unsatisfying we ended up doing the same thing we did almost every night - back at Raohe getting treats! Nom. </div>
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Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18134376340796707037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-242730010648653618.post-82578848029983402542013-01-31T11:04:00.000+09:002013-01-31T11:04:00.769+09:00Exploring the Pingxi Line<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Our visit to <a href="http://karoritokorea.blogspot.com/2013/01/my-favourite-day-ever-ever.html" target="_blank">The Most Amazing Place Ever</a> was actually a stop on the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pingxi_Line" target="_blank">Pingxi Line</a>, an old coal train line that winds through small towns and beautiful scenery, about an hour from Taipei. After we left Houtong, we tried (and failed) to buy day tickets and ended up getting tickets to Shifen, a few stops from Houtong and the site of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shifen_waterfall" target="_blank">Shifen Waterfall</a>, the 'Niagara of Taiwan.' </div>
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I'd read that going anywhere on the weekend in Taiwan was a nightmare, so I wasn't expecting the train to be so busy - all of the seats were taken, including half a carriage being occupied by a particularly repulsive family that reminded me of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Here_Comes_Honey_Boo_Boo" target="_blank">Honey Boo Boos</a>. We were relieved to disembark and explore.</div>
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Shifen is really tiny and the bulk of the township crowds the edge of the train line, the awnings from the stores almost brush the carriages as you travel through. It looks pretty cool as well.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sorry, more cats first.</td></tr>
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The trains are hourly, so during the downtime people walk along the tracks like it's no big thing.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wishes on bamboo outside one of the stores.<br /><br /></td></tr>
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The Pingxi area is famous for their annual Sky Lantern festival, held in February. Not to miss out on potential dollars, you can set Sky Lanterns off whenever you want to - the colour of your lantern helps orient the wishes - red for good fortune, pink for love, orange for money, and a catch-all rainbow lantern for the indecisive.<br />
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Despite the rain there were several people setting off lanterns which would careen damply into the buildings on either side of the tracks before escaping into the open air.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inflating the balloon.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Off it goes!</td></tr>
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We ate a quick meal and then set off in search of the waterfall which was meant to be a 15 to 60 minute walk, depending on which blog you read. Ours turned into about an hour of walking, because the 'excellent signage' didn't exist. If you're at this blog looking for directions to the Shifen Waterfall, look elsewhere. I can't even tell you where is good because all of the blogs I read were wrong. Sorry. Get a cab.<br />
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We started out what I thought was the right way only to discover it wasn't, and then ran into a man who tried to tell us ... something ... and then started laughing because he couldn't and gave up, and then we followed some other people who were going the wrong way, and then we finally found it by going through an area I later discovered said 'do not enter.' Wonderful, and not at all irritating in the pouring rain!<br />
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Eventually we did find it, paid a few Taiwan dollars to get in and went exploring. The falls have a large and rather odd park/entrance thing around them, with a lot of fake wood panelling and absurd sculptures. The falls themselves were insane - 40-something metres wide and loud and a bit ugly from the rain.<br />
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We returned to the station wet and grumpy and instead of continuing we went back to Houtong for some more CAT!<br />
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Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18134376340796707037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-242730010648653618.post-18657203653976952092013-01-29T10:38:00.000+09:002013-01-29T10:38:00.189+09:00My Favourite Day Ever Ever!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Before we went to Taiwan I had a few days at my school with nothing to do except scour blogs for things to do in Taiwan. I'm pretty glad I had that time because although there's a lot of posts about Modern Toilet and Taipei 101 and Taroko Gorge, if I hadn't had a stupid amount of time to spend on the internet I wouldn't have found out about the most magical place in the world, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Houtong_Station" target="_blank">Houtong</a>.</div>
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There isn't even any information about Houtong in that link, except to say it's a train station. It's so much more.</div>
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Houtong used to be a mining town and then when the mining jobs died out, the town died too. Until a few years ago, when the remaining residents decided to adopt all of the stray cats it could find and become a Cat Town. A Cat Town! So awesome. Tom and I are both total cat people so it was a given we'd visit.</div>
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We got up bright and early and caught a train from Songshan Station to Houtong. The day was utterly miserable and rainy but we were mostly undeterred. We left the tracks and as soon as we got into the station there were kitties! </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cat themed signs were everywhere - these are in the station</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Station Kitties! Tom sets to work petting all of them.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I'm not excited AT ALL.</td></tr>
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It was absolutely pouring with rain so we took shelter in a clearly very new tourist attraction which was about the town's old mining history. I had great difficulty faking interest in a giant diorama explaining the mining process, so I left that to Tom and got to cuddling one of the cats who was sitting in the doorway.</div>
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This guy was so beautiful, and just loved being hugged - every time we tried to put him down he'd burrow into your neck and cling on. Naww.<br />
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We left the mining exhibit and headed back to the station to be greeted by this kitty. Tom picked it up and gave it a cuddle. There were a few older men in the station who kept speaking to us in Chinese and pointing at a weird staircase which we eventually realised went over the train tracks and to the actual 'cat village.'<br />
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Although it was absolutely pouring with rain, the kitty below made a valiant effort to cross the (uncovered) bridge and follow us to cat land. We could hear him wailing as we walked on in search of more cats.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This dude was pretty angry, and I think he was appointed the mayor or something. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Determined to get cuddles and pats, this cat followed us for almost the whole time. </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Houtong from above.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMC0Z4hflLnRfyqNiA7okc_vNzM0-WL4fwEb8Ap63a1LLYBuUKMIVFSZCMrp5risfWuML_m53hrjAThc8_tmpxcq2QzmQ072V3CVbn4TjXi6pK9i1ii4jABGO9bA1UKqjEZH5e0uCt9yCb/s1600/DSCF8460.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMC0Z4hflLnRfyqNiA7okc_vNzM0-WL4fwEb8Ap63a1LLYBuUKMIVFSZCMrp5risfWuML_m53hrjAThc8_tmpxcq2QzmQ072V3CVbn4TjXi6pK9i1ii4jABGO9bA1UKqjEZH5e0uCt9yCb/s1600/DSCF8460.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Find the cat!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEVGNF5U0cwHk6vGRDz7RaeQuEVkrCNyt5M4jBxDi-ryILpVJVaTNuyhrMt2tnnGSqeXHqXd9qp_6UX2MGD6_reGQMlovSnM66YYlSEc_I9Wkiu1xMZJR0hS3D6XRSkKIB-kLkQ0P5b30k/s1600/DSCF8467.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEVGNF5U0cwHk6vGRDz7RaeQuEVkrCNyt5M4jBxDi-ryILpVJVaTNuyhrMt2tnnGSqeXHqXd9qp_6UX2MGD6_reGQMlovSnM66YYlSEc_I9Wkiu1xMZJR0hS3D6XRSkKIB-kLkQ0P5b30k/s1600/DSCF8467.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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We stopped to take shelter under someone's balcony and play with the three or four cats which were hanging around. Every few minutes, another cat would pop up until there were about eight cats climbing all over us! Eventually, the woman who lived there popped out bringing even more cats with her! She didn't speak any English but explained which cats were pregnant, which were just fat and which one was the meanest - the fluffiest one in the picture below.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb50Gage4e3ktR7x-vLS-07RqrvCEGRf2rZBf77O7Qu3pRKaXHE-GbYkWrACeOnZwtplNi4M_TLMUaixQ8Kh7ARbo4EUbn7wpqMrJQRjbgXrvknwH2vQ4Jv-DjqCvsmvZqgsUhdD_28Hry/s1600/photo+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb50Gage4e3ktR7x-vLS-07RqrvCEGRf2rZBf77O7Qu3pRKaXHE-GbYkWrACeOnZwtplNi4M_TLMUaixQ8Kh7ARbo4EUbn7wpqMrJQRjbgXrvknwH2vQ4Jv-DjqCvsmvZqgsUhdD_28Hry/s1600/photo+2.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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After a few hours of snuggles and ear scratches we reluctantly got back on the train and continued exploring.<br />
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As a note - we ended up visiting Houtong later in the day, and the cats weren't as cuddly the second time. This could have been due to more visitors coming through, or because it was so rainy. But a pro tip -visit early in the morning on a weekday, and you'll have your pick of cats. This also works for Cat Cafes too. </div>
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Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18134376340796707037noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-242730010648653618.post-8689194427851750912013-01-27T10:18:00.000+09:002013-01-27T10:18:00.331+09:00Taipei Random<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
More pictures that don't really fit in anywhere.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgqOwPaoTmnpsE6ODXrfNQYu9oesnNQSuargABYZYRedw1P3e0zEDhSa_JhZBmHLXHm1XcmXfXsucD6Tuj2uhkPA0uJjigoaj5TjUwL1kFhi2qx3Qtg6eRrotTFkiGENa9XMMz482AGzJK/s1600/DSCF8364.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgqOwPaoTmnpsE6ODXrfNQYu9oesnNQSuargABYZYRedw1P3e0zEDhSa_JhZBmHLXHm1XcmXfXsucD6Tuj2uhkPA0uJjigoaj5TjUwL1kFhi2qx3Qtg6eRrotTFkiGENa9XMMz482AGzJK/s1600/DSCF8364.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">*snicker*</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu3sSpNnai7Qo7bkFggmZpj-pTGa1E1E7OlEHMZ61s1GoVJCqElTTKxePkAPVZM2vQqLol8N-HC8DlHU9rUzap8gjvi-wbPcTwDIljbVVAGi8IfES_nI1qRQHu8d2ibbQPrB1rRocmS_Kg/s1600/DSCF8384.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu3sSpNnai7Qo7bkFggmZpj-pTGa1E1E7OlEHMZ61s1GoVJCqElTTKxePkAPVZM2vQqLol8N-HC8DlHU9rUzap8gjvi-wbPcTwDIljbVVAGi8IfES_nI1qRQHu8d2ibbQPrB1rRocmS_Kg/s1600/DSCF8384.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ximending</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3zX0yGDJH8F3fwwnHmIUjdS95z9ZWWlLyw6mgNP4j03hEeipiRNnA6suHe1h8tHFXoHvyrGLBF2dF800_Dp44KEitkyMYqWpZkxEeImFUbA2ete_FanYGbN5hrOL8ndlqEjFeoOZR5Qcp/s1600/DSCF8418.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3zX0yGDJH8F3fwwnHmIUjdS95z9ZWWlLyw6mgNP4j03hEeipiRNnA6suHe1h8tHFXoHvyrGLBF2dF800_Dp44KEitkyMYqWpZkxEeImFUbA2ete_FanYGbN5hrOL8ndlqEjFeoOZR5Qcp/s1600/DSCF8418.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Anti-harassment subway ad. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcH3mBgmrtuRuBAw5ry9bMaC8nKSxDV7IMzt1wSopLal3sHSr3Bb6Y5OkUgyfgSfMd4kKhTIacqygzFM-o7DIGc-1_zg_teONNH8YKwePJ0jCxxQGFKvslTGZfnQFJQd4i41h-e-hWsj0G/s1600/DSCF8386.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcH3mBgmrtuRuBAw5ry9bMaC8nKSxDV7IMzt1wSopLal3sHSr3Bb6Y5OkUgyfgSfMd4kKhTIacqygzFM-o7DIGc-1_zg_teONNH8YKwePJ0jCxxQGFKvslTGZfnQFJQd4i41h-e-hWsj0G/s1600/DSCF8386.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ximending Street Art</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1MRaBIR20g1forAc4cL4PyNWFc4_ZNd1d0L-GJ6YIAPgJuQwgttR2FceGbV1Yge_Bm298vZCh3zHedFLlPRCkkXxXfxqDZf7YfGDAOXokOue4RxtJm_aGsCOiB9HgneFkYrOfZL0_qCXa/s1600/DSCF8419.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1MRaBIR20g1forAc4cL4PyNWFc4_ZNd1d0L-GJ6YIAPgJuQwgttR2FceGbV1Yge_Bm298vZCh3zHedFLlPRCkkXxXfxqDZf7YfGDAOXokOue4RxtJm_aGsCOiB9HgneFkYrOfZL0_qCXa/s1600/DSCF8419.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our hotel was in the clothing district. </td></tr>
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Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18134376340796707037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-242730010648653618.post-37096147677363344952013-01-25T09:51:00.000+09:002013-01-25T09:51:00.060+09:00Taipei Touristing<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Our second day in Taipei was far more productive than the first. Armed with maps and metro cards we set out to do all the things and did pretty well. </div>
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Stop number one was the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chiang_Kai-shek_Memorial_Hall" target="_blank">Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall</a>, a monument to the former President of the Republic of China (just read that on Wikipedia, so it must be true.) The memorial is set in a large garden and while we were exploring it I slid down a bridge and took several layers of skin off my knee which kinda altered my mood for a bit. I sat down and wrote some postcards while Tom had a good look around.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Steph Face/general displeasure post-knee graze.</td></tr>
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The stairs to the top were closed (there's 89 of them, because Chiang was 89 when he died) but we could take a lift to the top. A lovely woman explained the significance of many of the items in the room but I forgot to take pictures and forgot all of the facts except for the stairs thing. Sorry. For more comprehensive touristy information, look elsewhere.</div>
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After the hall we set off for <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ximending" target="_blank">Ximending</a>, a popular shopping district which reminds me of the popular shopping districts I've been to in Korea. We were here for two reasons only:</div>
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<a href="http://qiito.com/place/12658-sophisca-candy-gift-shop-xi-men-branch" target="_blank">Sophisca Candy Shop</a></div>
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<a href="http://www.moderntoilet.com.tw/en/about.asp" target="_blank">Modern Toilet</a> </div>
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Again, I'm a bad tourist and I forgot to take pictures of Sophisca - it's a small and kinda expensive candy shop, which specialises in chocolate condoms and sticking plasters, and marshmallow sanitary pads! I bought a few boxes and when I finally manage to send gifts home there will be some included.</div>
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I didn't forget to take pictures of Modern Toilet, because it was too hilarious. It's a restaurant with a toilet theme - the seats are toilets, the tables are made from bathtubs, the food is served in miniature toilet bowls and ceramic squatters and the drinks are in plastic urinals you can take home after your meal.</div>
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I'm not sure if they were sticking to the theme, but the food was shitty - expensive, not tasty - and the service was similarly crap (hyuk hyuk) but it's a restaurant themed around toilets, so how could I not go, you know?</div>
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After Modern Toilet, we left Ximending for a little bit of (more family-friendly) culture and went to <a href="http://www.lungshan.org.tw/" target="_blank">Longshan Temple</a>. Longshan's a small interfaith temple and although I've been to a lot of temples in my travels - soooo many temples, you guys, you have no idea - I really enjoyed Longshan. It may have helped that we got there during prime prayer time but it was small, crowded, vibrant and beautiful.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz3Q8KboB-n-ZhldDWXet4vALShryF2bPOo-1Xcb9GzyvHa_-GPCCr62Rj0-KloY_m8pwArz-FmTZmuv2uKMLWmQ1ztsBT96egrwwl4yQ67PHPlG54BGFrAd4rj6-XCtR7Kd7diuSvKe8j/s1600/DSCF8389.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz3Q8KboB-n-ZhldDWXet4vALShryF2bPOo-1Xcb9GzyvHa_-GPCCr62Rj0-KloY_m8pwArz-FmTZmuv2uKMLWmQ1ztsBT96egrwwl4yQ67PHPlG54BGFrAd4rj6-XCtR7Kd7diuSvKe8j/s1600/DSCF8389.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Longshan is a congregation point for elderly Taiwanese men who just talk a bunch on plastic stools. </td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSvnKLG0RcwPnGnIMnvoI4aY2Ij07TOdbisgNa4MsKj9KsPVm_4voTcUbvKhOb_KG6D4-CyMb-74kCVS0_UbeFHP8-t65OKrAEbS7KaWvqG956mEnmyrJ-o7w_c9Rya95bKTRUegkJ0QCY/s1600/DSCF8393.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSvnKLG0RcwPnGnIMnvoI4aY2Ij07TOdbisgNa4MsKj9KsPVm_4voTcUbvKhOb_KG6D4-CyMb-74kCVS0_UbeFHP8-t65OKrAEbS7KaWvqG956mEnmyrJ-o7w_c9Rya95bKTRUegkJ0QCY/s1600/DSCF8393.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSyF5l3C5ElzJ1jFAFmq7ftwjsOb9IFd_vxfYjFqd49EuDYv935U3pQHWVFmEIb5sdoZ8UUPJKThRAhcRILS7yQAHZBgNPyQtf1HwR-ftc-vst4u1oNNHHzi7LSgVR1V-jEZ5VJibRPF0v/s1600/DSCF8410.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSyF5l3C5ElzJ1jFAFmq7ftwjsOb9IFd_vxfYjFqd49EuDYv935U3pQHWVFmEIb5sdoZ8UUPJKThRAhcRILS7yQAHZBgNPyQtf1HwR-ftc-vst4u1oNNHHzi7LSgVR1V-jEZ5VJibRPF0v/s1600/DSCF8410.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tom updating his twitter account. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSbtXgv2rp_r8F2b2efvtWkjE_aX_tb5L6iafT16RPMK8o0Z6yjbHOm0iZ09cncbh23zPXv5VHoDkvRbl-nA_hEH8BDWbCKgqiB_wElBvuORPdEDo6lW3B8o3tFR2u1zbU4tzAlX9R-o0z/s1600/DSCF8414.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSbtXgv2rp_r8F2b2efvtWkjE_aX_tb5L6iafT16RPMK8o0Z6yjbHOm0iZ09cncbh23zPXv5VHoDkvRbl-nA_hEH8BDWbCKgqiB_wElBvuORPdEDo6lW3B8o3tFR2u1zbU4tzAlX9R-o0z/s1600/DSCF8414.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cool dog.</td></tr>
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Our day of touristing ended with another meal at Raohe Night Market and a crappy American movie before sleep. Not bad.<br />
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Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18134376340796707037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-242730010648653618.post-60141606696900384062013-01-23T09:50:00.000+09:002013-01-23T09:50:00.398+09:00Taipei<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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After a couple of nights in Hualien we hopped a train back to Taipei. Incidentally, the reason we'd gone to Hualien first was because over the New Year period the cheapest Taipei hotel we could find was $150 USD. No thanks. After the holidays we managed to track down a place for about $50/night and headed back to the capital to stay there. You know how I talked about trains being standing room only in my first Taiwan post? The train back from Hualien was worse than the one there. It was like this for the entire three-hour journey:</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1i9MEPLdvx3iJh7u7mIM3BN5w8mXFE9SGuNiLUUMf-fLnoqQ5kgg7s8jVWk4O5wMS5x541OeSWsrxBq92UQ8LB2ujCqi9xqXqEk00M5Cmpf6YbuMyaJBObOfxknPN9nu_jyavGBmO5uYT/s1600/DSCF8352.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1i9MEPLdvx3iJh7u7mIM3BN5w8mXFE9SGuNiLUUMf-fLnoqQ5kgg7s8jVWk4O5wMS5x541OeSWsrxBq92UQ8LB2ujCqi9xqXqEk00M5Cmpf6YbuMyaJBObOfxknPN9nu_jyavGBmO5uYT/s1600/DSCF8352.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can you see an appropriately sad-looking Tom?</td></tr>
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Although we'd planned on arriving in the city and storming it, we ended up in our hotel room sitting on our butts and napping. Our hotel was pretty far from the city's nightlife but it was a 10 minute walk to Raohe Night Market, so after sufficient recovery time we went and picked up some snacks for dinner, something we'd end up doing almost every night. I don't seem to have any pictures of the market or the food we ate there, except for this one:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqYgBqWYsxL3HKV0oMW0h2JD8ppvPHdD3UZzPRwzYFbtXY2Q-aU4gANBWSFo5Qp5Z8SIWqpbkHcHGMB8Nrwjq3KRBzrHzM0gOGKkLWqwNZW3Vo1hwIXs57rJAQy1leSjJ9n_kBItiK86io/s1600/photo+4+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqYgBqWYsxL3HKV0oMW0h2JD8ppvPHdD3UZzPRwzYFbtXY2Q-aU4gANBWSFo5Qp5Z8SIWqpbkHcHGMB8Nrwjq3KRBzrHzM0gOGKkLWqwNZW3Vo1hwIXs57rJAQy1leSjJ9n_kBItiK86io/s1600/photo+4+(2).JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deep fried Oreo. OMG.</td></tr>
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Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18134376340796707037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-242730010648653618.post-56975618181047875102013-01-21T15:04:00.000+09:002013-01-25T14:18:57.321+09:00Taiwan Random <div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Here's some pictures which don't warrant posts of their own.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMGpTzIlOgnOQgk83F-rycr1JVu8_BRcrbGvqlxt5s533_3IW7tjDXP5iqLDL7O4SU4r_fzAURRXGPxaI1LvXSXg8imBPBIxJHK2VhKZG_7pR_4_WRObt4NEbsJbgeV-r_MCjc9zHSeb1e/s1600/DSCF8272.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMGpTzIlOgnOQgk83F-rycr1JVu8_BRcrbGvqlxt5s533_3IW7tjDXP5iqLDL7O4SU4r_fzAURRXGPxaI1LvXSXg8imBPBIxJHK2VhKZG_7pR_4_WRObt4NEbsJbgeV-r_MCjc9zHSeb1e/s1600/DSCF8272.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Up close and personal with my Taroko Gorge lunch.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTKnqTjfOUmwHi-8f2wASX8tz7OooE39ZEhd5TKywTm-tAPW8e5Fid2fjTne0kOm0_iUDIltcB4tfzZYgLQbtcA4kRWBarO3Sz8_7v5M87xLKLBGwDgpUdx5_wYDn1DugkWalYa6tid_fU/s1600/DSCF8348.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTKnqTjfOUmwHi-8f2wASX8tz7OooE39ZEhd5TKywTm-tAPW8e5Fid2fjTne0kOm0_iUDIltcB4tfzZYgLQbtcA4kRWBarO3Sz8_7v5M87xLKLBGwDgpUdx5_wYDn1DugkWalYa6tid_fU/s1600/DSCF8348.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Alllll of the TV monitors on the bus.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYhTloYln4LiDczTmCUBzUDQtlFYtwkTbufkeEVT-c96MkAI3vJvmXXQKHvkHRy8rSatm_CAWiE1ycGpd7jhi6oEe3e7ZmP7mvQc_lmwmDWZlWWwZgxiC47-mOAkF13PxPOitXDI1L1qBF/s1600/DSCF8337.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYhTloYln4LiDczTmCUBzUDQtlFYtwkTbufkeEVT-c96MkAI3vJvmXXQKHvkHRy8rSatm_CAWiE1ycGpd7jhi6oEe3e7ZmP7mvQc_lmwmDWZlWWwZgxiC47-mOAkF13PxPOitXDI1L1qBF/s1600/DSCF8337.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The other side of the Pacific. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5pFyethHkCGlVcVihXpZFf6YdTYAkeDM85XpILy-5n11VdZazhSq2yBtuXWBgfezIH9TUpHpmxtNx94tXfvUIRRYzjREDwJ7WD92amDbMZU1JQmqy-olZcfVwGwKqzeKX-Z4JDuc6H3BJ/s1600/photo+1+(2).JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5pFyethHkCGlVcVihXpZFf6YdTYAkeDM85XpILy-5n11VdZazhSq2yBtuXWBgfezIH9TUpHpmxtNx94tXfvUIRRYzjREDwJ7WD92amDbMZU1JQmqy-olZcfVwGwKqzeKX-Z4JDuc6H3BJ/s1600/photo+1+(2).JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">White Men toothpaste</td></tr>
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Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18134376340796707037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-242730010648653618.post-16562709427517829412013-01-19T14:39:00.000+09:002013-01-19T14:39:00.147+09:00Taroko Gorge-ous!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
After a blah start, Taroko Gorge got good. The roads were narrower and here and there tunnels were carved into the rock.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvHEj2HFBrm4j_zbodheh-UNJWKkAR6hXuVHxzGJp_dsyKs-i1NNX-fJ49g-w72J-s-JzHVf2gIThdVdtLrS8UHU8tAnER3J_r5L1Pj4mo1u1j7dFXtVrOdUvx1Ar1g2M3YNgkVHTSEaNQ/s1600/DSCF8243.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvHEj2HFBrm4j_zbodheh-UNJWKkAR6hXuVHxzGJp_dsyKs-i1NNX-fJ49g-w72J-s-JzHVf2gIThdVdtLrS8UHU8tAnER3J_r5L1Pj4mo1u1j7dFXtVrOdUvx1Ar1g2M3YNgkVHTSEaNQ/s1600/DSCF8243.JPG" height="640" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spot the cars!</td></tr>
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One of the last stops was my favourite. The beautiful <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eternal_Spring_Shrine" target="_blank">Eternal Spring Shrine</a> overlooking the river gorge and nestled in a lovely little spot with a spectacular view - enough to awe even the most jaded, headache-riddled travellers from New Zealand.</div>
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Nice one, Taiwan. </div>
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Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18134376340796707037noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-242730010648653618.post-721926549900137132013-01-17T14:09:00.000+09:002013-01-17T14:09:00.022+09:00Taroko Blah<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Taiwan Vacation days 2 and 3 dawned cooler and rainy. We were pretty wiped from day-long transit to Hualien so opted out of strenuous tourist activity for exploring the town on foot. Breakfast was a curry at a Pakistani/Indian restaurant we happened to walk past. The proprietor was fairly curt to us but kept the Taiwanese customers laughing hysterically. My palak paneer included a slice of processed cheese!</div>
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Hualien township is fairly small and moderately interesting. I saw these cool things:</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRiA_Hhvi38tU2XU2IJLLjsx0W2Kp5CWklPSlWIyfVxRp5uZpncibA__VQHxLoVEV4NMNbgD8hb5t4o-YLtAtdn3JO_mbBAUJcuYJifnI5iHjflxtosbMAb8TTwg1MNGOir9VTxysfojLp/s1600/DSCF8219.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRiA_Hhvi38tU2XU2IJLLjsx0W2Kp5CWklPSlWIyfVxRp5uZpncibA__VQHxLoVEV4NMNbgD8hb5t4o-YLtAtdn3JO_mbBAUJcuYJifnI5iHjflxtosbMAb8TTwg1MNGOir9VTxysfojLp/s1600/DSCF8219.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dog and scooter standoff.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBGsN_nyYmMtoKG9UTBF-Hvf7-CE2vEX-AVCg8JGZKESvJjscgzVCbHRU8aIl_FKMo08CtetTvJJtBaX8GalG_jel8CBXJIvcScdO7wFLi4G-qqMUGQTV_2bmtL-OIVZOQd-SqOiatpO6c/s1600/DSCF8224.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBGsN_nyYmMtoKG9UTBF-Hvf7-CE2vEX-AVCg8JGZKESvJjscgzVCbHRU8aIl_FKMo08CtetTvJJtBaX8GalG_jel8CBXJIvcScdO7wFLi4G-qqMUGQTV_2bmtL-OIVZOQd-SqOiatpO6c/s1600/DSCF8224.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Road workers in Taiwan wear neon cone hats! (That's a cluster of them on the truck.)</td></tr>
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Day 3 we woke up early and were herded on to a bus for our tour of the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taroko_National_Park" target="_blank">Taroko Gorge</a>, which is half an hour outside of Hualien and one of Taiwan's biggest attractions.<br />
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My first (and lasting) impression of Taroko Gorge was pretty blah. If you're not from New Zealand and you haven't been to countries in Asia other than Korea it might be amazing but the drive through the Rimutakas is more interesting.<br />
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Add in:<br />
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I had the biggest headache of my liiiiiiife that day;<br />
The tour was completely in Chinese when I had been repeatedly assured it was in English;<br />
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And you have one very bored and angry tourist in the back of the bus.<br />
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I mean, it's still pretty:<br />
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I enjoyed this:<br />
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Tom was also unimpressed:<br />
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Fortunately the sights improved as my painkillers kicked in. More another day.<br />
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Annahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18134376340796707037noreply@blogger.com0