Seoul Vaccination

Not too long ago, I took my first trip into Seoul. I had no expectations other than it's one of the biggest little cities in the world. I'd say that's about right, it's about the size of Los Angeles proper with the population of New York. The few things I did know from some former colleagues is that they'd rather visit Busan (see Chuseok 2k14) and I think I would have to agree with them after a two night-two day stay.

I arrived on Friday afternoon, having booked a place via airbnb.com (check that site out if you're ever wanting to stay at whatever destination you're planning to stay) and thought what a crazy looking subway map that was; I figured Guangzhou would have prepared me for anything... and it did, kind of. With the help of my smartphone, I was ready to navigate and get to my destination on my own. The owner of the place I was staying then began to badger me and asked where I was and said I should just get a taxi (I'm on a public bus headed there). I do, whatever. Lots of confusion ensues.

You see, the owner took a few days off to visit Japan while his dad was around. There's me talking with the owner in a taxi, the owner talking to the taxi driver AND his dad while he's in Japan, and his dad is trying to talk to me in very broken English. I get there eventually.

Friday night arrives and I decide I want to check out the Gangnam district (known famously for that super popular Korean song). It isn't as crazy and flashy as I thought it would be, maybe I was in the wrong part? There are people drinking out in the streets and none of them look like international visitors, so I keep looking and walking until I run into these two guys traipsing cluelessly through the streets. I befriend them and we decide to begin our journey of finding some decent joints for dinner and drinks. These two guys work for Tencent; if you've never heard of Tencent, they're very popular in China for their messaging services QQ and WeChat (the Chinese equivalent of KakaoTalk). There was a lengthy debate on elevators and floors since one of the men was from Spain and they consider the first floor the ground floor and the second floor is the first floor, etc.

Saturday morning comes and I decide I want to watch my alma mater, Fresno State, play college football. I walk down the extremely steeply graded hill to a cafe, get a coffee, muffin and hook myself up to watch Fresno State vs San Diego State University. My Bulldogs won and that left me in a good mood the rest of the day. I take my things with me and explore around some bustling hubs of the city and a huge pocket of expats swarming in the Itaewon district. I walk out of there and about an hour and a half later, I've walked four miles and find a bike shop that sells Brompton bicycles (my favorite). An old Fresno State dorm mate also lives near Seoul. With both of us having Filipino blood, I thought let's dine Filipino...

We do, and it was delicious. We walk in and it doesn't feel like a restaurant, but the atmosphere resembles that of a typical Filipino household. We're warmly welcomed in and given our food. After we were done eating, we were invited to stay for their rosary prayers and potluck afterward. We decline since it was getting late. But, I did get to meet a whole bunch of Filipinos wanting me to go to their church and hook me up with other single Filipino women after them flipping out that I'm a single 29 year old male.

Sunday morning comes around and I go check out. Nothing really too eventful, but going to the bus station and almost getting lost in the process because I took the right subway line to the wrong direction.

My overall impression of Seoul isn't all it's cracked up to be. Maybe I wasn't looking at the right parts. But, it's just way too crowded and to get from one part of the river across to the other side, it's about an hour just because of traffic congestion. I like it a little more out in Gwangju where things are a bit more close together, destinations and even the people.


NOTE: This post was written about 2 months too late. I've been a very busy man and I apologize.

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Alleycon 2k14

Ah, comic book conventions. As long as the comic book was invented, so has the comic book convention... Okay, not really, but conventions do have pretty deeply sown tradition through the annals of time. 

There are comic conventions in Seoul and Busan, known as Comic World, since 1999 which are up to their 128th and 89th events respectively. They are up that high because Seoul holds their events every month whereas Busan is held bimonthly. Although the anime/comic/manga demographic in Seoul is booming, I feel once a month is overkill to be hosting events and cheapens the novelty of conventions as such. 

Anyway, back to Gwangju though. Gwangju held their second annual comic book/video game/sci-fi/nerdfest known as Alleycon just this past weekend and they're doing it once a year, which certainly makes it feel a little more special in that it happens annually. I wasn't here last year and was invited by a colleague whom is an avid fan of Game of Thrones (as am I) so much so that he cosplayed as one of the characters, Grey Worm, if you've been watching any of the latest season.

The first thing you see walking in: BMO!

We arrived Saturday morning to a very modest start (mind you this is a one day event). People getting set up and a local restaurant The First Alleyway setting up a food truck outside for people to have breakfast sandwiches... which also is where the name Alleycon comes from. Their restaurant has a great atmosphere with great food and drinks and most importantly, BOARD GAMES! I digress though, back to Alleycon...

Book swapping and selling

I meet a few new people, walk around the first floor with a tea vendor, comic book artists, book sellers, and others. The fourth floor contained a Dungeons & Dragons room that would be used all day as well as a lecture hall that would be used for Skype with a comic book artist living back home, musical performances, question and answer panels, and the ever-popular cosplay contest. 

Settlers of Catan with some new acquaintances

The top on the fifth floor would be where gamers would find their Eden: a video game room set up with an Xbox for Halo, a Wii for Super Smash Bros., Wii U that would have a variety of games such as Mario Kart 8, PC Gaming... and right next door would be for casual board, card, and role playing gamers to try new games, meet new people, or have a nice friendly competition. Across the hall is where things got a bit more serious for competitive gaming.

Super Smash Bros. Four Player Frenzy

Though I had ample time to get a costume ready, I was just too bogged down with work to get something ready. I'm sure that next year, work will come at me a little more smooth-sailing so I could get a costume ready and participate and hopefully win the crown next year. I've already got something in mind.

My Colleague's Cosplay of Grey Worm

When Hyrule and Metropolis combine

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Chuseok 2k14

Hello again everybody, it's me Ryne!

Sorry for the lack of posts, it's been a long holiday weekend which lead to a two day school week and back into the weekend. I (and other colleagues) used that to our advantage and went off east into Busan, to a neighboring island Geoje the next morning and ferried to a botanical garden island called Oedo and back into Busan before taking off back for home. That's Chuseok lite digest... and a video

Here's the long version:

We start off Saturday morning, it's the 6th of September and I'm doing last minute packing, double checking, triple checking... and head off to the rendezvous for a cab to pick us up at 10:15 am to take us to the bus termintal for an 11:05 am departure. Needless to say, our cab showed up at 10:45 and we missed our bus. An inauspicious start, I felt, especially after being spoiled by the meticulous planning of my friends still in China, Becky and Neal, where plans are foolproof and there's small room for error. Anyway, right as we arrive to the bus terminal, we see all the buses leaving. Ugh. We go in and buy new tickets to leave at 11:30 am instead.

A coffee, Dunkin' Donut, 15 minute rest stop, and several dozen selfies later we find ourselves at the Busan bus terminal. We taxi about half an hour away over bridges into the other side of Busan at Haeundae Beach where our hostel awaits. We check in, settle our bags, and decide to go exploring.

Art inside our hostel

I love the feeling of walking into a new city for the first time... and I'm glad there are a lot of them to experience that over and over again. We find the beach, enjoy the water a little bit, and walk over to find food for dinner. On our way up the beach, was a commercial shoot which I'm assuming was a beer commercial; they kept yelling action and about 20 fit looking actors would run through a staged beach party full of picnickers and umbrellas. Up the street we discover a lively little street market full of live seafood, vendors selling foods on sticks, cocktails out of coconuts, everything! We eat some eel in a restaurant then continue eating more as we traipse down the market.

Eel for dinner

Street vendors

The inside of the room in our hostel. It's that small and still fits four people!

After having a Turkish Ice Cream man show off his entertaining abilities, we hang out once more on the beach to enjoy the night sky and people in the distance shooting off fireworks. THEN to sing at a noraebang which is conveniently located four floors below our hostel!

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Day 2 found us starting our day good and early at about 5 or 6 am to leave for Geoje at 7. We head back over to the bus terminal to catch a bus to Geoje then a cab ride over some hilly terrain and winding roads to another, more secluded beach. This time, however, we'd be meeting four new people (there's four of us already, so that now makes 8) to board some kayaks and paddle around the sea for a few hours.

A view from Oedo

Hours later, we buy some tickets to a nearby island called Oedo, known for their botanical garden. The ferry captains tour us around to show us some other, smaller islands before dropping us off for an hour and a half. Once there, it's up to you to decide how fast or slow you want to go as long as you're back at the wharf to catch the boat back. The landscape was awe inspiring and the views spectacular to see past the island into the deep blue sea and the amazing mountainous vistas off in the distance.

Coming back, we hang out a little with our new found compatriots in an unfinished hotel they're staying. It's a bizarre place to be: part studio apartment, part guesthouse, part cafe, part restaurant, and a gorgeous view on top of all that. A couple of drinks, fried chicken, and pizza and off we went back towards Busan. With their help of asking Koreans down the street to help us find a taxi, a kind stranger said no taxis really drive out that far into the village, so he was kind of enough to drive us without hesitation back to the bus station. We pool all our Korean together to try to entertain the stranger and he does the same. Making it just in time to catch the final bus, we head home... AND I forget one of my favorite baseball caps from my university on the bus.

Look closely and you can see a hummingbird looking for nectar

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Day 3 was very nice and was the official Chuseok day (it's a harvest festival to celebrate the moon as in most Asian cultures). There really was no plan until I remembered a message from an old friend about his favorite temple to visit outside of Cambodia. So we did that. This place was very nice, I've never seen a temple placed on the edge of the sea before, so it made for some beautiful photography. Being there on Chuseok made it a little more special to see that Korean people like to go out praying for their thanks of harvest.


















I had seen something on a map about a raw fish street that sounded great for lunch. This ended up an hour and a half later by taxi to Jagalchi, one of the largest fish markets in Busan... which unfortunately was closed. One of the gambles you take traveling on a national holiday I guess. We end up eating some very good Korean food anyway and head back by subway towards Haeundae Beach to wind down on the beach with our own set of fireworks to celebrate Chuseok.



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Our last day, Tuesday, was nothing much but a travel day to get back home. It's strange, despite living out here a little over one month, I missed Gwangju. It feels like home now. This is my community now. That's not to say I miss California, China, or any other places I've lived, I do, but it's strange how much I'm loving life out here.

Hostile cat or hostel cat?

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TV Abroad

Sports: where would I be without it?

When living abroad, it's nice to have a taste of home with television. Most people I know use a VPN and Netflix or Hulu or any other streaming service site to get their tv fix when living overseas. Sometimes, though you just need that fix to watch Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives or Conan O'Brien or The Weather Channel for whatever reason. Getting live TV is nearly impossible or incredibly difficult unless you're looking for sports which you can find almost anywhere with a quick something-something search. I'm not a fan of it because I never know which sites are trustworthy or not.

I own the top model which is now discontinued.

That's why I use Slingbox, it will become your best friend living abroad for those that love to watch TV. How it works: At home, like where your permanent address is (such as your parent's house), you buy this box, hook up the included cables from your cable box (YES, the prerequisite is you need a TV cable plan), plug in the phone jack that leads from your router to get it on the internet (the higher end model is Wi-Fi enabled), set up an account, and configure it so you can figure out the cable TV provider and BOOM you can watch TV anywhere you want with your computer for no additional charge! There are even Android and iPhone apps that you can purchase for about $15. I had the Android app and it was crucial when there was something I needed to watch while I was on the go.

Live TV with a fully working remotely remote control and a rockin' mullet from John Stamos

There are some downsides to it however. Firstly, this is connected to one cable box, so if someone, say your dad, wants to watch TV, you'll be watching the exact same thing he'll be watching AND vice-versa. So if you log in and the box is already on, you can secretly freak him out by changing the channel. Second, there is something like a ten second delay from the moment it's broadcasted to the moment it's shown on your monitor. That's really not a big deal though for this huge convenience. Third, again, you have to have a cable provider... or I guess be very good friends with that manager who owns local the Buffalo Wild Wings and hook up the Slingbox to one of their myriad of cable boxes and their internet.

Watching TV live is a different challenge while abroad. You need to adjust for the time. I'm a huge Fresno State football fan (I will not talk about their decimation tonight) and will sacrifice any amount of sleep to watch them, win or lose. My Korea time trick is to take the time (Pacific Time) add 4 hours and switch AM to PM or vice versa. Thus, games that are aired at 4:30 pm (like the USC/Fresno State game pictured above) it is 8:30 AM for me in the next day. It gets very difficult for NFL games since those first games will start at 10:30 AM Pacific Time on Sunday morning which will be 2:30 AM for me in the next morning. THAT IS, unless you have DVR, which I don't have; that would make life even more luxurious if I had that.

So for those fresh new expats that are fretting about moving and are worrying about TV or sports, I highly recommend investing in a Slingbox. I honestly don't watch it often, only when there's something I really need to watch, but this is definitely one of the greatest technological inventions (along with Skype and Facetime). AND! You don't need a VPN to have it to work (Yes. Even in China.)

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First Mensiversary!

I've been busy this last week, but today marks my one month of living in Gwangju already! Wow, how the time flies! Just this day last month, I was getting settled into my apartment and getting shown around the school, my classroom, and getting to meet a few of the students doing summer school. Since then, I had a teacher prep week, taught my first two weeks, and have been doing a lot (A LOT) of planning lessons. It's a bit challenging to teach a combined class of kindergarten with 3rd graders, but it's also kind of fun to stretch my imagination for what would be not too hard for the little ones and not too "kiddy" for the bigger kids.

I did go out to the grocery store tonight to buy some things for a barbecue tomorrow night, which should be a good night. Inadvertently, I bought some donuts, presumably old, discarded Dunkin' Donuts (this grocery store has a Dunkin Donuts inside it). So, maybe I'll have one of those to celebrate my one month of living out here in Korea... I better hit the "Publish" button before my computer dies. I left my charger back in the school office. Good night!

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Blame it on the Boogie

The first week of the new school year came and went, and boy did it feel like three weeks went by! Anyway, to celebrate, some colleagues and I were just going to go do some dinner. Dinner happened, which was delicious. I sure love that I get to eat more greens out here in Asia than I ever did back home in the US.

Afterwards, we decided to do 노래방 (Norae bang) aka Singing Rooms aka KTV aka Karaoke. The culture in Asia versus the West is to sing with your friends in little private rooms as opposed to singing in front of an entire crowd of drunken strangers. A lot of people seem to prefer the former, I like doing both.

The way it works: you go and tell them how many people are in your party and they find a room suitable for the size. You have a timer counting down on the television set, once it hits 0:00 it automatically gives you another 30 minutes, which you'll pay later. In the room there are tambourines you can play with, you can ring a bell for service, and at the end of your songs you're scored on how well you sung (I hit 100 5 out of 6 times!) We stayed about two hours mostly because we wanted to maximize that time limit, but would accidentally start another 30 minute session. They have a pretty vast selection of Korean, English, and Japanese music. Some of the English music I've never seen in US bars before like Weezer's "Across the Sea" or Muse's " Time is Running Out"; then again there was also a few glaring omissions that were my go-to favorites like "New York, New York", "Minnie the Moocher", and "Walkin' on the Sun".

That two hours of singing took it out of us and we went down the street to a restaurant open until the wee small hours of the morning for some more food. This place was known by a colleague for their "fire chicken" some extremely spicy poultry, but tonight we decide on this meter long skewer full of meat, potatoes, peppers, mushroom, pineapple, and spring rolls. Below the skewer is a skillet with a portable camping gas range. You take the food hanging from above, cut it into pieces and cook them. In the back is a buffet to grab extra things you want like watermelon, noodles, garlic, spicy peppers, and fresh eggs.

I'm nearing my one full month of living in Korea and it's been treating me excellent so far! Tomorrow begins the second week of school. Time to get more learning on!

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First Day of School: Done!

I was a little nervous last night coming into this morning. I made sure to get enough rest by sleeping early. This inevitably lead to waking up in the middle of the night to scratch lingering mosquito bites or some new ones, I can't tell from my irrational neuroticism of mosquitoes, but that's for a different blog entry. Anyway, even with a good amount of rest, I still managed to hit the snooze button twice. I'm always paranoid about the snooze button and what happens if it were to never go off again, leaving me late for work. Thankfully, work is only a 5 minute walk away from my apartment, if that.

The day started off with some flashes of lightning and rumbling of thunder with a nice little dose of rain. That didn't detract me from putting on my suit and bow tie to dress for success. I started with my fifth grade music class, then a little time to prepare for the afternoon with 4th grade, a new music appreciation class, orchestra, and an assembly. Walking back home, I collapsed straightaway into my bed for a nap to revive, though I'm afraid that might leave me awake longer tonight than I'd want.

Tomorrow starts day two and I'm still shaking off a little bit of the dread seeing that most of my students are very well-mannered and know a good amount of music. That makes my life a bit easier, but at the same time has to give me more things to find for them to learn.

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Gwangju? More like Gwang-brew!

Having lived in southern China for the last year, beer selection was extremely limited with barely passable beers in Tsing Tao, Harbin, and Pearl River. The end of my stay, however, saw some familiar bottles I've had before making it into restaurants such as Rogue Brewery from Portland, OR, Rochefort Brewery from Rochefort, Belgium (listed in a 2012 issue of Men's Journal as one of the world's top 25 beers. Read here.), and Sierra Nevada Brewing in Chico, CA. This is not to say that China didn't have beer at all; there was. In fact, one of my favorite spots was in Zhujiang New Town in Guangzhou. If you ever find yourself in the area, check out The Strand Beer Cafe off the Wuyangcun metro stop. The owner, David Strand brewed all the beers "in-house" (actually somewhere a bit away from his bar) and that was the closest I've ever gotten to tasting craft beer since living back in the US. Before his bar, was a South African bar, Moutia, whose owner Martin was a South African wine and South African beer merchant. Those were quite delightful as well.

Fast forward one year later and I'm here in South Korea, unaware and ignorant to the beer scene. In a store not too far from me are beers you can definitely find in your local grocery store such as Lost Coast Brewery from Eureka, CA, Hoegaarden Brewery from Hoegaarden, Belgium, and Samuel Adams from Boston, MA. After growing fond of the beer scene in my hometown of San Diego, CA, mind you it's an acquired taste to build up those IPA muscles, I just can't drink lagers since they lack that "hoppy" kick to the tastebuds. Stumbling into a popular expat Canadian-owned bar in Gwangju, The First Alleyway, there is a small but high quality selection of beers including those brewed locally in Seoul.

Let's get to it, shall we?

First up, we have Craftworks' Jirisan Brewery Moon Bear IPA from Seoul, Korea. It had that hoppy kick I was looking for as well as a sweet, citrus kind of flavor that pleasantly took me by surprise. Overall, it will definitely do its job in keeping me satisfied for my IPA fix.

Next up, also from Craftworks is Buk Han San Pale Ale. This was a lovely little beer, reminiscent of a California beer from Firestone Brewery. There was a nice full flavor without being too full of its self. If Amber Ale is one end of the ale spectrum with IPA on the other, this Pale Ale leans closer to that of IPA.

I know they may not be brews that I'll find back home, but it's nice to know that I won't have to digest another sip of Tsing Tao or worse yet, Pearl River. It's even nicer that if I want, I CAN get a legitimate taste of home, granted it costs a few dollars more, but it's nice to have that peace of mind.

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One Down, Something-Something to go.

Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Ryne. I'm no stranger to the blogging world, though I've taken quite the hiatus from documenting my thoughts, photos, and general ramblings to the internet thanks to *certain* social media conglomerates. I meant to start this a year ago when I was living near the gigantic Chinese city of Guangzhou (population 14 million). Perhaps I'll throw in some of my travels from there onto here in due time. Anyway, I've gone from Guangzhou to, what I've recently discovered is its sister city Gwangju in South Korea.

From this Facebook screenshot of the Places sections, you can see the numerous places I've either lived or visited. In the order of places lived it's San Diego, California to Adak, Alaska to Agana, Guam to Bremerton, Washington, to Yokosuka, Japan to Fresno, California to Guangzhou, China and finally to where I am in Gwangju, South Korea. Sprinkle in visits to Hong Kong, Kunming, New Orleans, Boise, Vancouver, Hiroshima, Manila, Seattle and it's not too shabby of a travel resume. Though, I have yet to visit anywhere outside the Pacific Rim. That will soon change now that I've met some amazing colleagues that have lived in Colombia, Turkey, South Africa, Toronto, and various parts of England.

Interests include food, both cooking and devouring, sports, gaming in any sense of the medium, music (seeing as I am a teacher in the field), cinema, television, and crossword puzzle solving and puzzle construction (I ran a puzzle blog for a time as well). So, you may see some of these more mundane items among the exotic things you probably came here for... I mean, it's called BulgogiSpot for crying out loud!

With that first post finally out of the way, let's get this blog hitting on all cylinders! 

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