Vietnam: Exploring Solo & Sapa

Day #6:
My train lurched in Lao Cai Station at 6 AM. I woke up from my deep sleep at around 5:55 AM! Wham! Just in time to stick a toothbrush in my mouth, while cramming my silk liner hurriedly into my day pack. Being a solo traveler separated from my trekking group, the last thing I wanted was to be the last one off the train and left! My Swiss roommates were further behind schedule than me, though. No one was prepared for a quick evacuation. Sleep was good, despite the violent rocking and intermittent screeching of wheels against the tracks.

The #1 disadvantage of solo travel:
Duh, I was alone. Filing off the train in a backpacker’s fog, I searched the sea of backpackers for “familiar” faces. Nothing. No one (more…)

Vietnam: Hanoi Impressions and my overnight train to Sapa

Day #5:
Another day wasted in transit. My flight from HCMC was only 20 minutes late, but the $8 “Vietnam Airlines” airport shuttle (recommended by my Lonely Planet book) took up to two hours!  With so many  scam businesses using plagiarized signs of reputable companies, it was hard to trust I was boarding the correct shuttle at the airport.  Anyways, all I needed was get to the Old Quarter in Hanoi, so I could board my 3 day/4 night Sapa (more…)

Life on the Mekong Delta: Cai Rang Floating Market (Part III)

Day #4:
The other day it rained a lot, making aspects of our sightseeing a challenge at times; today the weather… great. By 10AM, we were at the Cai Rang Floating Marketplace (open 5AM-11AM), one of the most heralded markets in the Delta region. Boat traffic. Murky waters. The activity of boats and local merchants, selling produce was already (more…)

5 Tips for New NETs in Korea

Comic by Luke Martin of ROKetship (I love his comics on being an expat in Korean culture!
Check it out and have a laugh!)

So the new troops are rolling in! Yes, a new batch of EPIKers just arrived in Daegu this Thursday to fill the district’s request to have at least one Native English speaker (NET) in each school starting this semester.  It’s all a part of the Korean Ministry of Education‘s  eager plan to boost the country’s appetite and  mastery of English.

To fellow EPIKer’s of my generation:
Woo hoo! We made it to the six month mark! Through good times and bad, we rocked through it to this far and (more…)

Photo: World’s Worst 3rd world Toilet

Imagine if you had to go to the bathroom at night?

Found in the Mekong Delta region in Vietnam at a rice noodle factory- an old outhouse and rural brother to the asian squat toilet. How is it done? You go inside that box and straddle on the tree branches and watch out below! Don’t worry about there being traces of your last night’s dinner, the fish below are there to help you out.

Did I have to use this? Thank God, no. Fortunately for tourists and Vietnamese, the western toilet (with bedee) has (more…)

ADVENTURES & SIGHTSEEING

Life on the Mekong Delta: Rice and Life (Part II)

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…

ADVENTURES & SIGHTSEEING

Life on the Mekong Delta (Part I)

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.

Ho Chi Minh/Saigon

Saigon’s Photogenic Nights

HCMC is beautiful at night and can be very photogenic. Everything is either lit with a neon glow or fine with being shrouded in darkness. The Vietnamese don’t mind… it’s all good. It’s like mood lighting…

GETTING AROUND

Ho Chi Minh’s Motorcycle Madness

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 …

GRRRL TRAVELER Challenges*

The Good, the Bad & the Inevitable of a Beginner Solo Traveler

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

GRRRL TRAVELER Challenges*

GRRRL TRAVELER’s Travel Challenge #2: Becoming an Expat

My GRRRL Traveler Challenge #2 is here with a 3-day contest to find the next GRRRL Traveler Challenge. Finding the GRRR! to embark upon bold new adventures which remove us from trusted and worn paths, can feel both, terrifying and exhilarating.

ADVENTURES & SIGHTSEEING

Photo Tips: Add Spice to Your Travel Gift Souvenirs

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?

ADVENTURES & SIGHTSEEING

Learning to Ride a Motorbike in Thailand (Pt II): 6 Tourist Safety Tips to Riding a Bike Abroad & a Monk’s New Robes

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.

Travel Gadgets

Tech Toy Review: Best Camera for Solo Travelers in 2010

There are few things I’m truly jazzed enough to recommend, but I’m all raves about my new Samsung ST500. It’s my 3rd month using it and I’ve been taking it around with me… everywhere! For the solo traveler, blogger and adventure flashpacker, it will make your life and travels, both lighter and easier. I highly recommend it.

GRRRL TRAVELER Challenges*

Nomadic Chick’s Interview w/ GRRRL TRAVELER

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

Teaching English

Video: My First Day at a Korean Elementary School

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.

Korea

10 surprising facts about Korean schools

10 Things you didn’t know about Korean Public Schools – some of them will surprise you!

EXPAT LIFE

Korean Love Story #1: Where’s my Yellow Dust face mask?

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…

EXPAT LIFE

Pass the Paper: an Expat’s Blame Game of Experiencing Culture Shock in Korea

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.

EXPAT LIFE

Getting a Korean phone (when you don’t know the language)

When you’re new to a country, the last thing you want to deal with is extraneous stress and confusion with important things… like cellphones and phone plans. Still, when that one person whom you were told would help you set up the necessities of your brand new life, can’t lend simple advice or is reluctant to take any responsibility outside of work hours, what do you do? Whatever it takes.

EXPAT LIFE

Just Show Me Pictures! The Simplest Things that Slay an Expat (Part II)

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.

ADVENTURES & SIGHTSEEING

Naked in a Korean Bathhouse

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

EXPAT LIFE

Just Show Me Pictures! Dealing with Language Barriers (Part 1)

So I’ve decided to start a short series, conveniently titled “Just Show Me Pictures!” about battling language barriers and culture shock in Korea. It’s suspect that generally 90% of expats suffer culture shock and depression because the familiar is replaced by the foreign and you must live and endure, compromised lifestyle for a lengthy duration. Language barriers are the beast which only adds to this frustration.

EXPAT LIFE

Confronting Korea with my Waygook card

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.

Korea

Korean Love Story #2- Kitty Pink: Going to a Doctor in Korea

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.

ADVENTURES & SIGHTSEEING

Solo Busan & my fishy weekend tour

…I didn’t know if I was serious with myself about going to Busan for the weekend or even if I wanted to do it solo! 9:30a Saturday morning I woke up and realized- Yes, I was and so off I went! My sightseeing itinerary however, was a giant question mark… On the train, my quick-sketch brain drew 3 main goals for my two-day trip: a) experience sleeping at a jjimjilbang; b) explore the Jalgachi Fish Market; c) take a walk along Haeundae Beach. What I experienced within this two day weekend was much much more…

Art & Lifestyle

Foot-friendly nail salons in Seoul & the Dashing Diva

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!

ADVENTURES & SIGHTSEEING

Finding Seoul: 7 Places to Make you Fall in Love with Seoul

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.

EXPAT LIFE

Just Show Me Pictures! Downsides of “Dynamic Korea” & the EFL Workplace (Part III)

Living and working abroad as an English teacher in a foreign country may seem glamorous and easy. That’s what I thought. In reality, acclimating to a foreign lifestyle and workplace system isn’t always as simple or smooth as you expect it to be. But what about the difficulties and frustrations for the English teacher within a foreign workplace?

Daegu

Escaping to Seoul: Getting there from Daegu

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

EXPAT LIFE

Being a Vegetarian in Korea: The Costco Honeymoon begins… (Part III)

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?

Events, Festivals & Nightlife

Video: Cheongdo Bullfighting Festival

This is a late post but here it goes… Every March, the small village of Cheongdo (30 min from Daegu) awakens to host the Annual Cheongdo Bull Fighting Festival. No, this is not like a Spanish bullfight with a matador and lots bloodsport. This is bull vs. bull (and seldom will one die in the ring).

EXPAT LIFE

Sex and the “Special” Korean

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?

ACCOMODATIONS

Finding love in the Korean Love Motel (Pt I)

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.

ACCOMODATIONS

Finding love in a Korean Love Motel (Pt II: Digs & Dives)

Without further ado, I’ll introduce some of the digs and dives from our Korean Love Motel Tour. Apologies in advance for the shoddy photos. Much of my instances were low-lit/dark and I wanted to be quick in taking them (guess the only real shady thing about the love motels was me!). Here’s a brief look at some gems we found:

ACCOMODATIONS

PJ Hotel sells Seoul ’boutiques’ with simple urban chic

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!

ADVENTURES & SIGHTSEEING

Jeonju & the Love I might have let get away…

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-

EXPAT LIFE

Just Show Me Pictures! The New Illness of a Newbie Expat

Just when I think I’ve finally escaped my Korean Crud attacks and colds, there’s a new symptom in town… Okay, this is month #5 and I guess I can no longer call myself a “newbie” expat. This doesn’t mean I don’t experience moments when I feel like I’m still a beginner to life here. While I should be finding my teaching wheel and workload fairly greased as I’ve had a proper acclimation period, these days I actually find myself…

EXPAT LIFE

Just Show Me Pictures! The Coffee Prince & Korean Cafes

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.

ADVENTURES & SIGHTSEEING

Gunsan’s Bewitching Seonyudo Islands

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…

TRAVEL NEWS

Video: The Truth about Budget Travel

Got this youtube video from a friend and just had to re-post it here. The video claims to be occurring in 2oo7, but let’s just call it a premonition for the near future. With continual airlines fees and price tags placing additional barriers on budget travel…

Korea

ESL Summer Camp is upon us!

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

EPIKers under surveillance, DMOE plays parole officer

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.

Teaching English

ESL Summer Camp Updates from the Superhero Factory (Part I)

Tomorrow is the last day of my first camp! Hooray! Teaching summer camp is fun, but hard work- especially when you’re teaching 2-3ish two hour classes a day! Seems I’m churning out more little Superheroes than I am monsters!…

Korea

ESL Summer Camp: From the Superhero Factory (Part II)

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

EXPAT LIFE

5 Reasons to Join your Expat Community when Living Abroad

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…

ADVENTURES & SIGHTSEEING

Learning to Ride a Motorbike in Thailand (Part I)

My first attempt at mastering “alone in a developing country”, was my greatest achievement in the past year! And of my many travel highlights on this journey, learning to ride a motorbike was one of them…

Teaching English

ESL Summer Camp: From the Monster World

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!

EXPAT LIFE

August Updates: Summer’s 3 Monumental Moments- Writing, Travel & Ending ESL Summer Camp!

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

EXPAT LIFE

Is Expat Life a Possible Cure to Solo Traveler fears?

Tick-tock… Vietnam. I leave this Friday! I’ll be launching solo again. I’m excited because I don’t know what to expect or how things will play out. While the unknown can feel a bit intimidating for a solo traveler, it’s also exciting.

GETTING AROUND

Packing Tips for Traveling Light in the Summer Heat

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…

ADVENTURES & SIGHTSEEING

Solo Travel Vietnam: 8 Tips on Budget Tours

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.

EXPAT LIFE

August Updates II: Back from Vietnam and Expacked!

I’ve just returned from backpacking Vietnam, during summer monsoon season- what a wet, wet, wet and sweaty adventure… I must have lost 10 pounds of water weight! Now I’m back in civilization, where a warm bath and a bed, without a silk liner woos me…

Daegu

Hello Vietnam! What? You cancelled my room reservation?!

“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.

Ho Chi Minh/Saigon

Xin Chao, Ho Chi Minh City! You remind me of Korea.

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…

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