Christine Ka’aloa | GRRRL TRAVELER

About GRRRL TRAVELER

Christine is a Camera Operator & Producer for reality TV in North America. She enjoys photography, writing, creating art and traveling off-the-beaten path to remote countries and lifestyles she never thought she'd explore.
Website: http://www.grrrltraveler.com
GRRRL TRAVELER has written 383 articles so far, you can find them below.

Solo Korea: 4 Reasons to become a Solo Weekend Travel Warrior!

Filed under Busan, Interviews by Christine Ka'aloa on May 5, 2010 at 3:50 pm {no comments}

Korea is a pretty safe country to travel if you’re a woman. But being a solo traveler – difficult and delightful can share the same coin. While I thoroughly enjoy relaxing into bonding with fellow EPIKers on group day trips as we weather the inevitable culture shock together; excursions alone while initially dreaded, gives me valuable time to explore, grow and reflect upon my new cultural surroundings at a relaxed pace. Plus, I get to take out the DSLR!

But… I don’t always gave ample time to research my cities. If I’m doing a weekend or day trip, researching accommodations and train times are my only afforded concerns. Why? Take my recent 2-day weekend trip to Busan. I (more…)

Sleeping at a Jjimjilbang (a Korean bathhouse & sauna)

Filed under * Korea tips & stays, Busan by Christine Ka'aloa on May 3, 2010 at 5:17 am {11 comments}

Spending a night on the wooden floor of a jjimjilbang. Photo: Grrrltraveler.
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Where can you sleep for cheap in Korea? For travelers and expats, here’s a cultural and budget tip for you…

A friend once mentioned staying overnight at a jjimjilbang as a way to hurdle hotel costs (which may run anywhere from a low $18-40). Those wishing a weekend getaway to visit friends in other cities or just to tour more regions in Korea, a jjimjilbang is a perfect way to do it, while getting an inside peek at Korean culture. Jjimjilbangs are popular with Koreans; it’s a 24-hour public bathhouse (read here) and board. Some jimjilbangs are enormous and grand, featuring many amenities to occupy your day; others may just offer a simple setting. A jjimjilbang isn’t elite but is like a gym or spa with an open membership. (more…)

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

Filed under Korea, Survival Issues by Christine Ka'aloa on May 2, 2010 at 12:27 pm {6 comments}

Updates:Wanna give a shout out to my fellow EPIKers for giving me a fight on and for passing the 2 month stretch! b) Amanda’s blog confession totally rocked and I thank her for the mention! She’s a tough cookie yet I didn’t know she was undergoing a bit of culture shock as well c) Christo’s 2 month battle without a budge is heartbreaking and angering- we’re all rooting for him! d) Since moving here, I’ve experienced both, good and bad and it’s not my intention to Korea bash. Everyone has different stories to tell. Some have very happy stories, some not. This is luck of the draw; e) I promise I have some fun blogging about my GrrrlTraveling around Korea, I do! I do! It’s been overshadowed until now; f) next weekend, I’m off to Seoul, to pick up my family who will be visiting me in Korea!

The nice nurse at the doctor’s clinic wielding her needle

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 the hospital for their ailments. Yes, I got my pat on the butt and the needle.

Whenever you go to the hospital for something like a cold, it’s fairly standard to receive a shot in the butt.
(more…)

Daegu City Bus Tours

Filed under Daegu by Christine Ka'aloa on April 27, 2010 at 4:25 am {no comments}

: Daegu city bus tour

City Bus Tours are available in almost every city in Korea.

After the Seoul City Bus Tour and the Busan City Bus Tour, I realized that Korea’s probably got a city bus tour for every city! Could the Daegu City Bus Tour offer me anymore excitement? This is what you what you can choose from:

• Regular tour: Six course routes to choose from and goes to various locations like the National Museum, a Currency Museum, Herb Hills Theme Park, the Daegu National Stadium and …a Water Filltration Plant? (just to name some) Okay, they don’t sound terribly sexy places at first, but I’m (more…)

Naked in a Korean Bathhouse!

Filed under Daegu, EPISODES by Christine Ka'aloa on April 18, 2010 at 5:50 pm {24 comments}

: Symbol for jjimjilbang (Photo by Jejulife on Flickr)

“… hot spring facility with cave jjimjilbang, jade and elvan jjimjil rooms, oxygen room and the biggest open-air hot spring in the nation!”

The spa’s ad on my city bus tour brochure enticed me. I heard Koreans spent a lot of time at community bathhouses, but why? The Korean bathing ritual seemed steeped and steamed in a well-scrubbed mystery. Like most westerners the notion of “community bathing” doesn’t spark positive ideas. I had to see for myself..

Palgong Spa & Hotel was the last stop on the Daegu City Bus Tour (near Donghwasa Temple) and my initiation into the Korean bathing world. At 4,500 Won (approximately $4) the hotel’s spa didn’t bore a hole in my bank ; it was a perfect budget tour adventure!

The variety of ways to spend your time being naked.

Some bathhouses can be as modest as a few hot and cold bathing pools, seated bathing stalls and one female masseuse/scrubbers. Others can boast the grandeur of a mega-complex: aroma-scented saunas, heat and ice rooms, green tea and herbal pools, noraebang, dvd rooms, gyms, even (more…)

Jinhae’s Annual Cherry Blossom Festival

Filed under Festivals, Korea by Christine Ka'aloa on April 2, 2010 at 4:10 pm {no comments}

Jinhae, South Korea

Each spring, during the months of late Mar to early April, the town of Jinhae holds their annual Cherry Blossom Festival.

**Why cherry blossoms (Korean: gunhang) ?**

Well, this is what their town is known for and it’s quite unbelievable. Jinhae is at the southern tip of South Korea and is a coastal city with a well-known naval academy and port.

(more…)

Loving Hut: Finally, Love for Vegans & Vegetarians in Korea!

Filed under Cool/Veg Restaurants & Bars, Daegu by Christine Ka'aloa on March 30, 2010 at 9:16 am {10 comments}

What does a vegetarian do when they find a vegan restaurant in Korea? (gasp!)

They fall to their knees and thank the Korean Christian god- I have never been so grateful for a restaurant in my life! A block and a half away from Kyodae subway stop & the Daegu National Education University, there it was- my first vegan restaurant in Korea. To look at a menu with both, pictures (so that you can see exactly what you get ) and dishes without veggie restrictions is enough to make you jump up and down and squeal like a little boy with excitement, while foreseeing your year filled with food again. I immediately (more…)

GRRRL Goes Whimpery in Her New Korean Location

Filed under Just Show Me Pictures!, Korea by Christine Ka'aloa on March 2, 2010 at 3:33 pm {35 comments}

: My Korean bathroom (sink/toilet/shower compressed in the same room) is smaller than my NYC apt bathroom

How do you take a bath in Korea?

Let me tell you how I just did it. I washed over my sink and shaved my legs by propping them up on my toilet lid. Yes, a toilet lid can have more uses than just one when you’re in an efficient country like Korea…

But all smart-assing aside. You haven’t heard peep from me since I’ve arrived in Korea, as I’ve been in an intense transition and it just hit rocky. The “rocky” is something I’m still working through. I’ll fast-forward over my escape from the draft of flu, my partial hearing loss due to airplane travel with a cold and my suspended bowel movement, which had me alarmed for several days. I will blow past my initial romance phase with Korea- my wonderful EPIK orientation, experiencing Korea for the first time and the “Oh snaps, I love being here!“

I’m gonna start my Korean blogging with my first “real” GRRRL whimper… the moment when “yours truly” turned girlie whiny and wanted to book the (more…)

Tech Toy Review: Best Camera for Solo Travelers in 2010

Filed under Tech Reviews by Christine Ka'aloa on February 26, 2010 at 11:31 am {10 comments}

: The new Dual View Samsung ST500

Sometimes equipment meltdowns when you’re traveling can introduce new resources and innovations. When my DSLR broke when I was abroad in Thailand and I had to pick up a new camera on the fly, I didn’t know how fortune found me the solution to my solo traveler woes !

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! I’m seriously in love with it. For the solo traveler, blogger and adventure flashpacker, it will make your life and travels, both lighter and easier. I highly recommend it. (more…)