Rice- the staple of the Asian meal. Ask any Asian and they’ll tell you, meals are never complete without it. Being part Japanese-Hawaiian, I was raised with rice on my dinner as the staple, over bread, potatoes and pasta. In Korea, it’s always on my school lunch tray and in Vietnam, well…

I did a 2 day-1 night tour of the Mekong Delta with Delta Adventures… $19! (couldn’t you just cry?) No shocking travel stories or freakouts, all went smooth. When you’re on a tour, everything is controlled by the itinerary. If you’re like me, the only thing you’ll wrestle with that an itinerary doesn’t always allow as much free time to explore a place a bit as you’d like. And with life in the Delta revolving around rice, river channels and river commerce, you’d need time to see what makes these people tick! …if you were me.

Just how crazy is motorcycle culture in HCMC? It’s insane! In HCMC the two-wheeled chariot populates roughly 90% of the roadway (highways included). Thus, the Vietnamese are as comfortable on their motorbikes, the way L.A. folks are in their cars. In fact, the motorbike is the family station wagon in Vietnam. Motorcycle garages …

A summary of the good, bad and inevitable of a beginner solo traveler and leaks of my upcoming Grrrl Traveler challenge.

Souvenir gifting is often “a hit or miss” practice.
When a friend brings back a travel souvenir for me (and it’s not edible or chosen with my personality in mind), it can sometimes feel like, well,… junk! Likewise, I know there are times that I can be a “souvenir junk” gifter too! Perhaps I might occasionally nail a person’s personality with a souvenir; but most often, my gift souvenirs are flawed upon purchase. The reason?

Located on the outskirts of Pai (Thailand) is Suntichon Village, also referred to as the Chinese Village. The village is a small cultural site… Video is of the ferris wheel.

Updates on my bon voyage to Korea, my packing, my schedule and my interview with Nomadic Chick.

No teaching today- most of the time I spent online in the teacher’s room, but here is a short video I quickly threw together of some of the highlights of my first day.

Seeing face masks on my students in class or on passing pedestrians on the subway and Daegu streets have become a norm for me here. They are so common and readily available, that most of them even come with a cute or colorful design to make them more appealing, stylish and friendly to fun. Before Korea, Asians wearing face masks was something I just didn’t understand. On my JAL flight over here, seeing people donning face masks ellicited personal notions that mainland/F.O.B Asians (depends what side of the line you’re standing) must be hypochondriac freaks for styling sick masks Post SARS. Now, the potential culprit is revealed…

So you live in a new country, you’ve got a new job, you’re working out the variables of navigating new food, new work relationships, cultural and communication barriers… so why are you depressed? Welcome to culture shock. Nothing you do can prepare you for what you think you will or won’t experience when you move abroad.

Living as an expat, you get to realizing culture shock comes in daily life-sized capsules called Language Barriers.; but unlike vitamins, these will eventually wear on you. They mimic your inability to sometimes do the simplest things. Do you feel stupid despite your MFA degree? Yes. Can you erase this feeling? Not easily. To an expat living in a new country, it’s the everyday, mundane things which quickly become your greatest enemies.

Falling in love with the hammams of Morocco, I wanted to see if the Korean spa/bathhouse experience held any greater punch.

So last week, I did something very un-Korean…I told my co-teacher, in a very truthful and direct manner about my reasons for resenting her. It was inevitable. I was pointed at the tip and I knew I had nothing to lose. Nothing at all- Money, love, friendship, job, a city, a country..? When you have nothing to lose, you have nothing to fear. Nada. Nietz. Zip. A perfect time to gamble for “change” with the odds in your favor.

So I finally did it. I got that shot in the butt thing that other EPiKers and newbie expats have experienced when they went to tthe hospital for their ailments. Yes, I got my pat on the butt and a butt shot.

As a traveler trekking all around on foot, there are times you get to feeling like a bit of a rag doll Cinderella. If you’re like me and possess backpacker-explorer mentality, you’re on your tootsies from sunrise to midnight. Your feet probably wears some serious Grrr and looks like it to!

So I’ve been holding out on you. I’ve been away from my post (pun) for a bit and in that time, I’ve been to Seoul four times. Yes, count it- four! I was right– I don’t hate Korea, just banal suburban existence and a bad start. Why do I know this? Because I love Seoul! Call me a big city snob, there are some parts of the cosmopolitan girl that can’t be snuffed no matter how broad- minded I aspire to be.

Transportation options if you’re going from Daegu to Seoul. What is the cheapest and most reliable method?

I take back what i said in my first Daegu Costco blog about it being “eh”. I’m glad I’m a Costco (pronounced: Co-su-tu-co for your cabbie) member! Why? Their stock of imported foods didn’t expand, new “tech toys” didn’t hit the shelves. As far as I’m concerned, Daegu Costco hasn’t changed since the last time I visited it. So what did?

Last Thursday was the Sex and the City 2 premiere and what better excuse for us, expats to have a girl’s night out? It wasn’t only the opportunity to indulge in some fun sex-forward fluff, but the freedom to do it in the middle of Korea, where the subject of sex whispers of “taboo”. So what’s up with Sex and the Korean?

Home is where I lay my head is a true saying for me, but “I just want somewhere to lay my head for the night” are words you’ll seldom hear uttered from my lips. While I enjoy staying at guesthouses/hostels, as much as I do a 4- 5 star resort hotel, what inevitably tips my excitement scale is an accomodation, which carries a unique experience or exceptional flavor. Enter the Korean Love Motel.

When you think of staying in an international city like Seoul, there are few hotels you think you’ll get for under $100/night and if you do, people might caution you to it being a love motel. So when my sister found a deal on Orbitz and booked my family into a hotel which didn’t have a website, for $83/night, I had all the reason to be a little reluctant. The good news is this– remarkable gems in cities like Seoul, doesn’t always have to come with remarkably high price tags and you don’t have to be a king in order to stay in a palace!

I seldom seek regret when it comes to the cities I’ve chosen to live in, except for now… It’s no secret that I’ve been making every effort to travel on the weekends. Aside from my inexpressible gasping-for-air-need to get out of Daegu, brought on by the culture shock I underwent my first months here, I actually think Daegu is-

I was in Seoul for my birthday weekend with my friend, Chance, when the urge for Sunday morning brunch struck. Our cafe requirements? “Funky, trendy, Seoul-ish” . But then the same conundrum that always arises around food, did. What to eat?… no, WHERE.

Just off of Gunsan (a port city in the Jeolla-buk region), you’ll find the Seonyudo Islands, a popular tourist spot and a cute chain of some 20 islands. It’s name means “islands so beautiful that God admires it”, and this in the summer’s morning mist at first glance, seems like it would be true. But maybe I just wasn’t doing it right…

During summer and winter vacations, many Korean schools put on English Summer Camps, where NET’s teach the kids how to have fun… in English. Mostly I hear, it’s games, games, games all the way! This coming Tuesday I start my first English Summer Camp! Yay!! But I’m also nervous…

Korea steps up surveillance towards sex crimes against minors and on a similar and related note, there’s new news of how the DMOE will enforce EPIK’s NET summer work hours.

So the moment you’ve all been waiting for…. Showtime! Just how did my little Superheroes do?…. Last day at Joonang’s English Summer Camp and it has me wiped! Perhaps I’m just pre-menopausal or in need of a better multivitamin; these past 4 days have been fun, but draining. This could also have to do with the summer heat though. It’s hot. Daegu hot…. which is close to New York City 90′s hot, but still incrementally better

I used to think of expats as isolated bunch, desperately clinging to each other to shield themselves from their foreign environment, but that’s not been the case. Many expats are very accepting of their environment and open to making local friends; unfortunately, that’s not enough for survival or sanity, sometimes…

It’s the second day of English Summer Camp at my school and woof! Teaching six classes a day takes energy and my students nearly killed me on day one…

Unlike the previous camp, my Superhero lesson was annihilated. It’s probably a lot worse in my mind than it was, but I definitely did not create superheroes– I felt like I farmed monsters!

Updates: Published in Daegu Pockets, the conclusion to Summer Camp and my next big GRRRL TRAVELER adventure…

Summer is probably the easiest season to pack for. It will strip you of any excess or bulky layers, whenever you think of them and as most travelers know, there’s no such thing as packing too light. But what if you’re traveling to a culture with conservative dress values? Do you still pack light? Yes and No…

For the female solo traveler, Vietnam shouldn’t be an intimidating or scary country to travel. While the country is still developing, it’s no longer as ‘off-the-beaten path’ as one might like to think or romanticize; and while large, Vietnam strives to make travel easy for the tourist. Commuting between main cities is easy and cheap via public transportation. And if it’s an attraction, you can bet there’s a budget tour for it, as tour operators are everywhere, vying for your business and ready to assist your travel needs.

“Do you know that Vietnam is a Communist country?” my mom added before parting on Skype. Timing. She’s like that. This is my second big solo trip to a developing country, she’s concerned for my safety and her method of care is to instill fear, rather than courage… at the last moment.

Vietnamese motorbikes here aren’t loud, but several of them ripping through the streets in evenly-paced intervals, can equivocate a handful of Harleys. A motor stampede. I awoke from my sleep because my cavernous room echoed thunderous vibrations. That’s what you get from a room with a front row seat…