The trip of my life - Korea & Japan

Korea

Well I was about time I went there. I have met many Koreans before arriving there, some in France and most in Slovenia. I had a boy and a girl that I took care of when they came for exchange. They were simply too nice, so I decided to adopt all the Korean students that were on exchange. It was truly an amazing experience being with them and having fun together. They made the time when I was writing my master’s thesis so much more fun and I will always be grateful for that! We have stayed in contact and even on my short notice most of them replied really fast and were excited to see me again. It feels really good to have such good friends around the world. This is my Korean story.

I arrived in Seoul around midday and to my surprise a really good friend of mine (Sunmin) waited for me there. It was so unexpected and surprising; she is a good friend of mine from France. We spent the rest of the afternoon discovering Seoul, trying different food (tried the best noodles in my life), walking and talking the whole time. It was around 2,5 years since we’ve seen each other and so there were many things to catch up on! She just graduated from University and we talked a lot about the hard life after University that faces Koreans. In the coming days I have heard really scary reality for most of the Korean graduates. For example: for the first couple of years workers have to work around 10h a day/6 days a week or basically work until the boss goes home, cannot afford an apartment because of the high prices and lower wages, the pressure is huge, competition for your first job is really high, etc. However hard the life there is, all of my friends are keeping their heads up!

The first night I slept in a really nice hostel near the place where all the foreigners seem to live. The next couple of days I met another one of my friends from France (Dahye) who showed me her campus and river side of Seoul. The next two nights I had another interesting experience, I actually decided to choose a couchsurfer, a nudist one. I never felt the need to get naked or was quite shy most of time with my body for no apparent reason. Since I’m all about getting over fears, I decided to give it a try and see. I was expecting a lot awkwardness and some strange behavior, but in reality it was a really nice experience. Since you lay everything out from the start, there are no berries and no shyness. It was a surprisingly good experience and I have learned that we should all be comfortable in our own skin, no matter how you are. My host was actually a high ranking army sergeant, buffed African-American that was nothing like I expected. He learned how to leave his personal life and his army life separate and he has a complete opposite person I thought of when I read in his profile that he was a sergeant. He also took two days off and showed me the city or just kept me company where ever I was going. Another thing I learned and will stay with me, so I would really like to thank my host for teaching me to feel good in my own body and not to be shy. Another fear left behind!

The city of Seoul by itself is really neat, clean, beautiful, expensive compared to other Asian countries, and at crossroads between the western and Eastern worlds! My next station was Qwangju in the south, to meet my two babies who live and work there. I took the bus, which took around 3h and was quite comfortable. My two friends (Jynpioh, Minah) picked me up from the bus station (by this time I was really spoiled, always been picked up) and they took me to a really nice Korean buffet style restaurant. I was really excited to finally see them after such a long time and seeing both of them working and being professional is something I wasn’t used to, but a nice change. The delicious shaven ice desserts and the Korean BBQ and hot pot was just the tip of the night. We returned early that night since both of them still had to work the next morning and headed to my next couchsurfing experience with two American teachers. 

The next day I decided I will go to an ancient town Jeonju, only 1h by bus away. It was much more than I expected, I thought it was going to be something small and fake that only looked old, but in reality it was an ancient city that was renovated while keeping most of it in tacked. Jeonju has many small narrow streets with local food stands, national customs, small hotels, and much more. It’s a nice place to spend an afternoon and I also met this old man who took his time to introduce me the culture and history on the place. It was a really nice experience and a nice idel trip

Back in Jeonju I met up with my friend and her boyfriend and we went to her Universities party at the campus. There were so many stages, singers and actors performing, thousands of bottles of beer everywhere…. how it reminded me of my days at Majske igre (Slovenia). I also tried my first rice wine and it was as sweet as promised, yet still not as good as the normal sweet wine. The next day her boyfriend took me to a bamboo forest and it was really nice. There was also a little center that showed multiple ways bamboo could be used. The bamboo forest itself is not that big, but the coolest thing was when we found a place where you could rent out old traditional Korean clothes and walk around. We had such a good time pretending we were kings that others around were ta king photos and we ourselves took too many as well. Just in the moment thing!

The same day my friend took me to Daegu, which is SE of Korea, to meet others that were in Slovenia with him. They actually organized a small get together and I got to meet almost all the Koreans and had an awesome night. We started off with a typical Korean BBQ (Now that’s simply something everyone has to try at least once in their life), some Soju (typical Korean alcohol) and continued out in the bar and ended up in a club to finish it off. It was nice seeing everyone to see how they changed and progressed. I love them soo much, they are all like my family! 

I actually had a host for the three nights there, but unfortunately the first night I spent at my friend’s place since we finished a little too late! The other two nights I spent with a Korean family who accepted me as their own! The hosts day right away called me his son and gave me a hug and we all spend around 4h around the dining table talking and drinking. It was so much fun that the next day I slept over a meeting I had with one of my friends, he would take me to their grandparents’ since it was a big Korean holiday. Even with a 4h delay I managed to come to meet him after getting lost a couple of times. He took me to pay respect to his deceased relatives in their traditional way, as well as his father’s company, some amazing scenic spots and for an amazing local food his grandmother made. Jaeseong thank you for this awesome experience.

On my last day I spent some time with the family and off I went to Busan where I took the ferry to Fukuoka, Japan.

Korea will definitely be destination of my trips many more times. I didn’t have a single bad experience. I do have to admit I was quite shocked by how expensive Korea actually is. Going out to eat can normally be around 20EUR, a coffee more than 3 EUR, transportation around 1 EUR per ride in the cities and between cities around 20EUR depending where you were going. However, I can understand the price, since they are an island and the quality and taste is simply amazing. It’s also a country that can only be compared with Japan and Singapore when it comes to the standards of living and quality of life. Definitely higher standards than Europe! People were always kind to help and seemed nice and kind, yet it wasn’t the most smiley place but that also has an influence on their terrible work situation. I hope for Koreans and all my friends that this situation improves as much as possible. I also have to thank all my Korean friends for giving me such a warm, nice, kind and special feeling of Korea. You are all my family! Love you  

Japan

Japan wasn’t actually on my list of places I wanted to visit, but when a ticket from Tokyo to Venice is less than 200 EUR, you make sure your ass ends up in Japan. As you have guessed it, this was my last stop. I still didn’t want to go home and everything that happened in the last month I have learned changed me into a different person. I only stayed 4 days in Japan so I don’t have much to say but it was a good experience.

I docked in Fukuoka and took the afternoon wondering around and soon noticed the immense order, cleanliness, and a place with extremely high standards. The prices were similar to Korean and it was quite easy to get around since there were many characters similar to Chinese and a lot them spoke English as well. It was already a good start, and I didn’t arrive in Kyoto yet. Here we go Kyoto!

Kyoto became one of my favorite cities. It kept the long history and tens of amazing temples that kept me busy the whole day. It’s simple to get around, rich history, nice people that spoke English, and I place I completely got lost into. Let the pictures do the talking.

Another night bus to Tokyo and meet up with another friend of mine. Well Tokyo really has everything you need from a city. Even from such a huge city I still didn’t feel crowded or stuffed in any way. Except staying in a small apartment of 15m² with my friend. I love the huge parks in such a city and reminded me of New York City, tall building, huge sidewalks, temples and many more was simply Tokyo style! I usually don’t spend too much time in the cities since most of them are very similar, but I like Tokyo because it was something extra and different. So I guess different places do bring something to the cities and make it a little different. My Chinese friend who lives there gave a really great introduction of the city and told me many interesting stories about life in Japan. Even though Japan has a really terrible history, i still believe they have really made a huge step forward, especially with their warm toilet seats that shoot warm water to clean your ass. That’s something everyone needs in their house! It’s a place worth coming back to and actually explore the villages and natural wonders. Until next time Japan.

Conclusion

This trip and my 15 month stay in China have made me into a completely different person, and I would like to believe a better one as well. I gained a lot of knowledge, culture and habits from these Eastern countries. Especially this trip has thought me to take better care of health, body and my emotions. It has given me a completely different way at approaching things which I will use in my future. I can sincerely say I have become less independent of material things and more dependent on myself and knowing what is that I really want from this life. All together I have turned into something I love and will keep loving. A perfect ending of one part of my life and a right start for my next adventure in America. Here is to everyone who has been a part of this experience (both good and bad thought me a lesson) and for all those who kept in contact with me during my time away. Nick loves you!

Off to America…see what awaits me, but first a couple of months at home with my family. But before that, i will introduce my favorite Asian country...

The trip of my life - Philippines

Philippines

I met one of my friends (met him a couple of years ago when I was on travelbuddy.com) from Philippines there and together we went around. I took 10 days to visit two slightly larger islands, as well as Manilla.

I obviously took the cheapest ticket from my Taipei to Manila which was with the Philippine airlines (around 80 EUR) and I arrived in Manila around 8pm and eager to explore this lovely place since I heard mix stories of Philippines from my friends and the only thing I know about them is that THEY LOVE DRAMA! A couple of my friends from Ningbo, China were also from Philippines and whenever I felt Beilun was a place where nothing happened, I would just talk to my Philippine friends and discover that magic of drama. Whenever I was with them I felt like I was living in my own little drama! Despite the drama they are also very friendly, can speak English (a huge plus when you live in a country where no one speaks your language), love to share food and make you feel like one of them.

My decided where we were going and so I left him in charge of planning which island to go to and I took over the small things, like basic everyday things, since I was living the last two months’ day by day. After arriving at the airport I had to get to the city center cos my friend booked a room there. Little did I know the airport was full of people trying to scam me, but luckily I knew what the exchange rate was and since traveling in SE Asia, I knew the price range. After everyone trying to offer me a car for 20 to 30 EUR to the center (20 min away) I knew I had to go out of the airport and hopefully find a cab there and so I went to buy a Sim and off I was on my way out. As soon as I got out there was a taxi waiting for people and at the end I only payed around 5 EUR to get to the city. While I did hear numerous people pay 30 EUR for the ride to the city. Be careful about this scam!!

I spend the night in the area of the city that did seem like a beginning to a porn movie, but even all the dirty old people were very nice. The next morning, we flew to Dumaguete where we began our journey and already you could see many difference from the other countries I visited earlier. For example, there were many more people wanting to offer you a service, bargaining is more common here, some even lied and would tell you their way is the only way even if in reality there is another way to get somewhere, were very Christian, loved to listen to 90’s music and seemed to be poorer than other countries. 

From the airport we took a ride in a taxi, shared with a Swedish woman that owned a club there, to a “port” where the boats were going to a small island “Apo island”. The island is known for turtles. We took an old, falling apart looking canoe with a balancing rod on each side, a motor in the back to the island. The ride was quite an experience and definitely not for those who have sea sickness or are afraid of drowning! Somehow we got to an island (I think it was around 10 EUR per person). The island is around 1km long and 200m wide and there was everything you needed to survive on the island. You had a local village with a primary and high school, small shops, a big fancy house that was called “hotel” and a people were either living out of fishing or tourism which included boat renting and showing tourists turtles and coral reef. We found this nice family that had a couple of room in the attic for guest. Together with the room, breakfast and dinner it was around 9 EUR a day and the food the cooked was really good! We stayed there for one night and returned the next afternoon.

The island has a nice path that takes you to some places on the island which have nice views, as well as some “hidden” beaches. We rented a boat to take us out snorkeling and turtle watching (8 EUR together). The corals themselves were nice, but the hundreds of colorful fishes were took all the attention away and not to mention the main thing, which was swimming with the turtles. Turtles were huge and there were more than 10 there just eating away and really not caring about all those pesky tourist trying to take pictures of them. I really like that the guides there were concerned about their safety and there were basic rules you had to apply in order to keep them safe! Thumbs up for preserving the natural habitat!

Next stop was the Cebu island and we first went to the west of the island to Moalboal where we went to cannoning. It was one of those in spur of the moment thing, we woke up late and I started calling around to see if there are any we could do the same day and of course all the companies had it free and after 10 calls and bargaining we finally found the cheapest deal and took a jeepney to the place in the hills. Once we arrived we made it just when another team was going out, we suited up fast and jumped on one of the motorbikes that took us to the drop off place. In our group we had a couple of University students who were always taking selfies. At the beginning we were making fun of them but it wasn’t long till we joined them and soon we became friends and taking selfies and asking others to take pictures of us. It was soo much fun hanging out with them, really relaxing and not a single moment that wasn’t filled with laughter. The whole cannoning experience was good too, with a couple of high jumps and a lot of sliding.

The next adventure was at Oslob, so we took a couple of Jeepneys and 2h later there we were. Oslob is a small village, but it is very known for whale shark watching. It is cheaper if you book directly at the place where the watching happens, but even in the places close by they sell tickets with the same price and you can rent a GoPro camera for a couple Euros as well. Once there you are taken into the boat with two locals guiding you and you have 20 minutes. You dive and swim around the Whale sharks as they are being fed by other locals. After around 20min you return back and they will burn a CD with your pictures on them. This is nice and pretty, but if I had an option again I would definitely not go. Why? Once again I felt like in China, the whole thing is just being rushed and you don’t get one moment to enjoy, basically like a monkey in a zoo. Take a picture here, swim there, the other side, go in fast, faster, … and after 10 min I told the guy to shut up and not to take any more pictures!! At least I had like 5min of enjoying. But the whale sharks were surrounded by hundreds of tourist swimming and trying to touch them. Basically no respect for animals, or humans for that matter.  Anyways after that we went slowly to the capital (cebu city) and stopped in a couple of small town on the way to the historical buildings and some beaches on the way. We arrived at the Cebu city at night and in the last moment decided to watch the second part of maze runner in the theater and it was the best decision so far. Philippinos are amazing at making a great movie experience, I mean there was screams, loud expressions of every emotion and even popcorn was flying when there was something scary. It was simply too funny to be true!

The next day we took a ferry to Tubigon, which was much cheaper than a direct ferry to Tagbilaran city and a Jeepney from Tubigon to Tagbilaran was only one hour and listening to old 90’s songs was so worth it! After arriving in the city we quickly found a place to stay and went to explore the city center and there were two bigger shopping centers there and everything else was small local houses and some “taller” buildings that were surrounded by concrete/gravel streets with rickshaws and motorcyclists everywhere. Inspired by the motorcyclists we decided to rent one and drive around for two days. The best decision we made during the trip! The nature in Bohol is simply breathtaking and looking at the rice fields and palm trees over them, people working on the fields, small local houses and kids waving at you is really something special! I’ll let the pictures do the talking J

For the next two days we decide to visit the chocolate hills. This was especially nice when on the bike, because when you are getting closer to the spot you start noticing hills that look like little brown chocolate candy, the shape of a boob :P. When you arrive at the entrance of the park you can see some hills that surround you, but when you reach the top of the observation hill there are hundreds of hills with more or less the same shape and size that go all way an eye can reach! When you get down from the main one you can stroll around by foot or bike to the other hills. There are also many small villages that are worth seeing when wondering around there!

From there we continued down to Loboc, where we found some Nipa huts, or bamboo houses for spending the night. These were really in the middle of nowhere, around 10min from the city. Going by the river thought holes bigger than myself and because of the rain also very slippery! But once you arrive there it’s really beautiful and each small Nipa has a bed, bathroom, small porch with a hammock and there is a big gathering place where you can eat, hang out and mingle with others. It’s quite an experience to sleep in one of those! While there we also went zip lining through a scary high valley with more than a 150m drop. Going from one side to the other is quite cool and the beginning scary feeling is soon replaced with an awesome feeling. This place is between Loboc and chocolate hills on the side from the main road. We also went to see Tersier, the world’s smallest primate. They are super shy animals, are usually hidden on the trees and very hard to spot. They are also quite scary at first site, but they won’t do anything expect look directly at you in a really scary way! After spending a night in the Nipa huts we slowly returned to Tagbilaran, stopping on the way and see where the biggest snake in the world used to live and also seen some pythons there. The road back, next to the sea is very beautiful!

From Tagbilaran we also took a local “bus” to the close by island of Panglao. After riding for around 90 min on the bus, which is an experience of its own! We arrived at the main beach (Alona beach), quickly found a super cheap hut and spent the rest of the day walking around the beach and in search for a cheap ticket for the tour of the nearby islands. The rest of the day consisted of drinking avocado shakes, eating good Philippino food and walking around the beach. The next day we went on the tour with the boat, and first we went to see the dolphins swim in the sea and to a small island where we had an option to either see the turtles or the coral reef. We decided to see the turtles, which turned out to be really nice and this time no tourists anywhere! We saw many small turtles as well as some cute small nemo fishes and their homes protected by their parents. We returned back to the boat one hour earlier, so we decided to go to the other side of the island and see the coral reef as well. Passing through some small villages and 5 min later we arrived there. There were some boats close to the beach and we decided to go and see what they are up to and we got there it was the best surprise I had on the trip. There were huge fishes and more than 100 different type, from fluorescent to completely black ones with vivid yellow stripes. I haven’t seen anything like this before, but the best was the huge coral cliff. You swim between the huge fishes and all off a sudden there is nothing else but beep black sea under and hundreds of large animals hiding in the wall. I saw things I’ve only seen in the movies, huge stingrays swimming in the deep sea, sea turtles chilling around and so many more I can’t name. It was such a surprise when once you can stand on the ground and the next you have sea 100’s meters deep. After this amazing experience we went to Zanzibar called Virgin Islands where you could only see the white sand going from one place to another and in between you might see some trees in water and a small piece of land here and there, but simply stunning. Let the pictures do the talking.

We went back to Cebu city where we went to try their sky experience, you basically walk on the edge of a 40^th story building. The experience isn’t that good, because you feel to safe and after a while it feels boring and you are guided so you can forget anything remotely dangerous. We actually stayed there too long and arrived at the airport too late to catch the flight, however we were lucky enough the flight was delayed for 3h!! YESS!!

The last two days I wondered around Manila and on the last day there we went wakeboarding in a park. It was a really cool experience to try that!

I think I will definitely come back to Philippines since there are so many island to explore and wonder around, the rules there are not so strict which means you can really let loose and have fun there. For the whole trip I felt really safe and didn’t have any problems with anything going wrong. Transportation around depends how talkative you are and if you are afraid to ask others. Basically you have to keep asking people where to go and where the bus goes etc., but once you get over that you can enjoy in the way the locals live. For manila I do recommend you search around to find different scams and what to be careful of, but it’s definitely not a dangerous place. I was a little disgusted by how many older white guys go there (mostly for sex or to find a partner) and them getting drunk every day and each day with a younger model. Not something that’s really nice to see! People in general are quite nice and friendly. Haven’t had any bad experiences, so I give a big approval to Philippines.

Next are the last two place on my tour around Asia, Korea & Japan.