Mmm Malayisa!

Last April my wife Bora and I were able to secure ten wonderful days off from work and decided to spend our well-deserved vacation in peninsular Malaysia. There were a number of different reasons we chose this region for our holiday; it was accessible, the food sounded good, the culture seemed interesting, the food looked tasty, the weather was supposed to be good, and the food was very appealing to us. No bonus points for figuring out what our priority was on this trip.

We flew into Kuala Lumpur and then onto Penang with Air Asia to begin our trip. Penang is an island, but we spent spent all of our time in the main city, Georgetown. We got a cab from the airport to the Yeng Keng Hotel, where we were staying, with very little difficulty. It is a very atmospheric, recently renovated old Chinese shophouse. The courtyard cafe at the front was especially inviting. By this time the dinner hour was upon us, and we were in for a treat.

One of the great things about Malaysia, and Penang especially, is the blend of Malay, Chinese, and Indian cultures. Even though Georgetown is supposedly the most Chinese of major Malaysian cities, we opted for Indian food for our first night. We were not disappointed. We happened into a roomy place in a neighbouring building called Kashmir. Walking in was like walking into some sort of family party in an eccentric uncle's basement (it was a basement, it was night, and he never took off his Gaddafi-esque sunglasses). The servers were very slow, but friendly, and the beer ice cold - a true blessing in the tropics. Between a lamb curry, chicken tandoori, and some samosas there wasn't anything that wasn't totally delicious. If we lived in Georgetown I imagine we would go there quite often, but we had many other destinations in mind for further meals so once was all we managed on this trip.

The next day we had some nasi lemak for breakfast at the hotel and headed out to explore Georgetown a bit. We found some interesting colonial buildings and museums, but it has hot... really hot. After wandering around a bit more we popped into cafe for a pre-lunch iced coffee and Tiger beer. The food here looked quite good, but we had a destination in mind for lunch. We made our way back toward out hotel past various mosques and interesting markets all in search of delicious Chinese-style bbq'd pork. Now, I've had a fair amount of pork in various formats and of varying quality over the years, but the stuff we got at this place was truly transcendent. The place we chose was called The Sky Hotel, which is on a main road but not very well signed. Bora went to the front and pointed at some various pork parts and I ordered a couple Tigers. I'm not sure exactly how they barbecued this pork, but however they did it was perfect - crispy skin, tender meat, and good flavour. After this combination of heat and a lot of tasty pork it was time for a nap.

For dinner we headed out to the Red Garden Food Paradise, which is an hawker centre (food court) composed of 50-60 food stalls in a market setting. From the research I did some people seemed to complain that this wasn't an authentic Malay food food court, mostly because it was aimed at tourists and the food wasn't as tasty as other places around the city. This may or may not be true, but we certainly didn't have any complaints about the food at the Red Garden, and the location was perfect for us. We both decided to go for Chinese and with the help of a very accommodating 70 year-old(ish) stall owner we got our food, and the Carlsberg and Tiger vendors are constantly roaming between the tables. To be honest the choice was quite overwhelming; it would be enjoyable to come with a big group and sample a dozen or so different dishes. In the end Bora decided on some wonton soup and I had some pork fried noodles. It wasn't as good as lunch, but still quite good. The shear volume of choices made us want to come back and try some more things.

So we did.

To start our last day in Georgetown we wandered around some markets in the Little India district and had some very unremarkable Indian food for lunch. We headed back to the Red Garden for dinner, mostly because it was cheap, tasty, and there were about two dozen dishes we each wanted to try. Bora went for Malaysian food with a fish head laksa and I went for Indian with a chicken biryani. This was our last meal in Georgetown and the next day we were off to Langkawi.

Langkawi reminded a lot of some of the islands of Thailand, which shouldn't be surprising given how close it is to the Thai border. We stayed in a nice little resort, The Beach Garden, which was located right on... the beach! To be honest we didn't do a whole lot when we were on Langkawi. The whole island is a duty-free zone, so we enjoyed prices considerably lower than the rest of Malaysia. The food we had there was alright, but certainly not nearly as good we had in Penang. However we did have some outstanding prawns and red snapper at a Chinese place one night. When it came to weather our luck ran out a bit, we got some rain almost everyday. Like most of the tropics it would rain incredibly hard, but only for a short period of time. Usually we would wake up, get some breakfast, find some chairs on the beach and read for a while, come in for food and/or drink when the rains came, then head to bed. Repeat.

Probably the most interesting thing we did on Langkawi was a tour of the mangroves through Dev's Adventure Tours. I would highly recommend this operator, our guide was very knowledgeable and passionate about the area. And just looking at other groups going out at the same time as we did, I got the feeling we got a much more interesting experience than other people did. We saw a bunch of wildlife: a viper, proboscis monkeys, a monitor lizard, a small crocodile, a couple hornbills, a bunch of brahminy kites, and a few huge white-bellied sea eagles. Other groups were feeding these birds, which is quite bad for them for a number of reasons (chicken is hard for them to digest, discourages natural hunting skills, etc.), so we were quite happy not to feed them. All in all we saw some cool animals, learned a lot about the mangroves, and got soaking wet. A great day.

After four days in Langkawi we flew back to Kuala Lumpur and drove down to Melaka. Melaka is a very interesting city, and we wished we had more than our 1 and 1/2 days there. We stayed in the Jonker Boutique Hotel, which was located near quite a large night market. We wandered through this market both nights we were there, and Bora really enjoyed the shopping while enjoyed sitting off to the side with a cold Tiger doing some people watching. On the morning of our first (and only) full day we found a great little dim sum place, Low Yong Mow, for breakfast. Servers would come around with the dim sum and you just picked what you wanted. I don't know what most of it was, but all of it was delicious. The pork dumplings (one thing I could identify) were especially memorable. After breakfast things started to get hot, really hot. We walked through the old town for a while and saw some old churches, fortifications, shophouses, etc. which were quite interesting. But after not too long it was just too hot to be outside anymore, so we ducked into a great little cafe, The Baboon House, where we were able to get out of the sun and have a couple cold Myanmar Beers. After that a nap was definitely in order.

After dinner and a good night's sleep we awoke early to catch our bus back to the airport in Kuala Lumpur. This was certainly an enjoyable, but short trip. I would probably go back to Penang, just for the food. I would definitely go back to Melaka and spend some more time exploring that city, hopefully when it wasn't quite as hot. As for Langkawi, once was enough.

A Quick Jaunt to Hong Kong

Well the new year, Chinese New Year that is, is upon us. Now that means I actually got a bit of time off work. With this time Bora and I decided to head down to the balmy (relative to Seoul) metropolis of Hong Kong. Most of the flights were completely booked, but we were able to get a package deal through Cathay Pacific and a Korean travel agent. It's not my preferred method of travel, but it was the only option this time.

I started walking to the bus stop around 5:15am Wednesday morning, and after meeting Bora there, we were off to Incheon and our great metal bird to Hong Kong. The flight was uneventful... except for the food poisoning I got from breakfast. Therefore I was saddled with a stomach bug for most of the trip, but that's enough about that. We had found out at the airport that our hotel had been changed, from one in a reasonably central place in Kowloon to an out of the way (if there is such a thing) part of Hong Kong Island. This rendered a lot of my research useless, but we made the best of it. We arrived at the hotel around 3pm, and didn't really do a whole lot for the rest of the day. We did a bit of shopping and wandering around the streets of Hong Kong as the locals prepared for New Year's Day on Thursday.

The next morning we got up and headed out into the city. The streets seemed unusually quiet, but it was New Year's Day after all. Our first stop was Victoria Peak, which was quite nice with a great view of the harbour. It would have been spectacular on a clear day, but was definitely a nice place to wander around for a couple hours. After that we headed to one of the architectural marvels of Hong Kong: the Bank of China Tower, which may be the coolest looking building in the world. It was closed, but I took some pictures and was harassed by some very capitalist Buddhist monks. This hard-selling monks seem to be a good symbol of Hong Kong. A mix of Eastern traditions in the temple to capitalism that is Hong Kong.

After this we headed into the subway and over to Kowloon for some shopping in the Mong Kok area. This was a part of town that reminded me a lot of the markets of Seoul; so the crowds weren't too overwhelming. After a little money spending we went to the restaurant area of Kowloon known as Knutsford Terrace where we dined on Chinese food and Irish beer; truly a world melting pot. Next we made our way down to the water and tried to intercept the big parade for the holiday. We did manage to find the parade, but also found it quite disappointing and quickly made our way back to the hotel for a well deserved rest.

We (mainly me due to stomach bug) were quite lazy, but did get moving in the early afternoon. We took one of the world's great ferry rides: the Star Ferry from Hong Kong Island to Kowloon. After this we walked around Tsim Sha Tsui and did some more shopping. After some of this it was time to grab some food, and an unspectacular Chinese dinner was on the menu. That was the end of the night, and the end of our last full day in Hong Kong.

The next day we had a little bit of time in the morning and went in search of dim sum. Unfortunately we couldn't find a single place within a five block radius of the hotel. By this time we had to head to the airport for our return to frigid Korea.

Hong Kong definitely ranks as one of my favourite cities in the world. I really wish we'd had more time, and that my stomach was behaving for the trip. However there is one easy way to quash these feelings: go back. Bora and I have already started making preliminary plans to go back for Christmas '08.

On another note one of, if not the, most historically and culturally important buildings in Korea was destroyed by arson last weekend. Here's a link to the latest BBC story in case you missed it: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7240220.stm

And Then For a Long Time Nothing Happened

Yes, nothing of any interest has been going on in my life. I've been doing nothing other than teaching. I had been planning to spend Christmas in Qingdao, China but my boss opposes the idea of me actually using the holidays in my contract. However there are multiple lights on the horizon. Firstly I've got a few days off work for Chinese New Year, and Bora and I will be travelling to Hong Kong for a nice mini-vacation. After that I'll be back at work for two weeks and then... Canada! I should be back in B.C. from Feb. 24/25 to the end of March. Starting in April I'll be back in Korea, but at a different job. I've taken a job just outside Seoul in the city of Incheon. That's all for now, but look for something around Feb. 12th or so about Hong Kong.

Hmmm, What Have I Done?

And the answer is: not much. Work has been super busy, seven days a week... not too fun. However my extra class is quite good, I teach one of the more advanced classes, and we're studying 'A Wrinkle in Time', which was hard for me as a native speaker at this age; and nearly imposible for my class. But 2 of my 3 new students signed up for regular CDI classes; which is most important. This really is a business, not a school... students can get away with anything as long as they pay the bills. Enough of the company line.

I saw an amazing soccer game, even if the stadium was 3/4 empty. Bora and I grabbed the train down to Daegu to watch Bolton play Guadalajara; and Nicolas Anelka is world class. Simple as that. When he came on the game changed. Instantly the defense focused on him and opened up innumerable chances for the other Bolton attackers.


Other than that I haven't been doing much; this stupid job is draining my soul. Peter was back for a few day; and he, Adrian, and I had some good times.

Last weekend Bora and I went to Myeongdong, a big market area in Seoul. It was fun, but very busy.

Petering Out

As you may have been able to infer from the title of this entry, my friend Peter is in the wind. He did his year, and is off to see East Asia now; well as much as he can pack into one month. Before he left we had to observe that ancient english teacher tradition: the going away dinner. In Peter's case we got a bunch of folks together and feasted on Galbi (basically marinated pork strips that you cook at your own table) at a restaurant that Peter and I both were frequent guests of. After a delicious meal we headed to local live music venue: the Led Zeppelin Bar. Unfortunately the Korean jam-band playing that night was only marginally better than the sound of nails down a chalkboard. Next on the agenda was a rainy cab trip to one of the big party areas of Seoul: Hongdae. After an hour or so of walking around in the rain looking for a perfect spot, we decided to hunker down in Brixx. This Arab-themed bar is quite laid back, and a good place to chill out for a while. Bora and I called it a night reasonably early, but the rest of the lads stayed out partying until the sun came up.

A few days later Peter was at my apartment dropping of a massive box, which now almost fills my kitchen. I agreed to store some stuff for him; and if he doesn't come back I can sell it all for a tidy profit haha. Later in that day I was out for dinner with a few co-workers around 11pm when I got a text on my phone from Peter. He was on the ferry from Incheon to Tianjin, China and he reported that the boat was quite comfortable. Getting these reports and providing some advice from my own Asian travels gave me a twinge of wanderlust, there certainly is a lot more of Asia to see. On the top of my list now are (in no order) Hokkaido, Hong Kong, Singapore, Bali, Tibet, and Nepal. I've got a week of holidays to use, so we'll see where I end up.

The weekend before Peter's dinner Bora and I made an outing to the zoo. It was alright, definitely nothing spectacular. The cages weren't as small and miserable looking as I'd imagined, but it's certainly not up to the standard of the zoo in Toronto. Afterwards we met up with Peter and ate a Korean delicacy I'd never tried before: live octopus. Now before you freak out, they've cut the octopus up but the tentacles are still flailing about madly as you grope at them with your chopsticks. It was actually quite tasty, but very chewy. They also tended to suction on to your tooth as you were chewing them.

So that's what's been going on. I'm going away for the day on Sunday to some mountain lake north of Seoul and will hopefully be able to get some good pictures there. The following weekend I'm headed down to Daegu for a much anticipated soccer game. Keep the comments coming.

A Couple Weeks in Seoul

It seems like time to update this blog, but not much has really happened. We just started a new semester at work, so that means things have been pretty crazy. I have almost all-new classes, but I got to keep my favourite one (the most advanced one at the school). I'm actually teaching them college-level English, and some of the subject matter is... suspect at best. However, I do get to practice my french; one of my students lived in Paris for eight years.

Enough about the job, two weekends ago I went and saw an Andy Warhol exhibit in a really cool part of Seoul I'd never been to before. Allegedly the CEO of Samsung lives somewhere nearby. I also visited Africa that day; Bora, Peter and I accidentally ventured onto the grounds of the Angolan embassy on the way home from the gallery... any embassy of a country that has a machete on its flag is not a place I want to trespass. But the big news came after the moderately interesting Warhol exhibit; I bought a Nikon D-40! I got a fairly good deal on it, and have been very impressed with it so far. After a couple celebratory pints at the local BeerHunter Peter and I walked back to his place. This took about 30min. and led us through some of the most derelict apartment blocks I've ever seen. How they are still standing is beyond me; I certainly feel sorry for whoever lives on the 8th floor of a building with no elevator!

Last weekend Bora and I checked out Gyeongbukgung; probably the most famous palace in Korea. Back in its heyday it was easily the equal of the Forbidden City in Beijing (and the layout is very similar), but the Japanese destroyed 300 of the 330 buildings in the 16th century. Perhaps that, and thirty-five years of occupation (1910-45) have something to do with the continuing animosity between Korea and Japan. Regardless, it was a truly beautiful place and a great test subject for my new camera. After that Bora and I met Peter and we ate blowfish, or according to that restaurant "swellfish", and no one died of fugu poisoning.

Tomorrow is wednesday, and my regular day off. This week it also happens to be a national holiday: Memorial Day. The holiday honours soldiers that died in the Korean War, but also oddly falls on the anniversary of D-Day. To celebrate I plan on having a nice glass of wine. For some reason, wine has gone super-cheap in Seoul. I'm not sure why, but as of last weekend most of the big stores have started selling good wines for cheap; and I mean $5 for a bottle that lists online for USD$25. I'm not sure why this is, but I'm going to stock up; so if you're in Seoul check out the local Lotte, E-mart, Shinsegae, etc. And in July I'm going to get to see some world-class soccer! There's a big tournament coming to Korea (peacecup.com/eng) and I plan on attending the Bolton Wanderers (England) vs. Chivas Guadalajara (Mexico) game and the tournament final. The tournament also includes top teams from Italy, France, Argentina and Japan. Lucky for me the most expensive tickets are only $100! And that's for VIP all-access stuff! Look forward to some great field level photos of English, French and Mexican international players!

It's Been A While...

Time has flown by here in Seoul; next week I'm 25% finished my second year here. Most of my time has been spent working, parent/teacher meetings were especially time consuming. I have tremendous admiration for the teachers at my old school who had to deal with parents every month; six hours every three months was enough for me. Apart from that work is going quite well. One book I'm teaching is "The Roots of Rock & Roll". For these classes I've been bringing my laptop in and playing some music; Fats Domino, Ray Charles, Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, and Chuck Berry to name a few. In the lecture that mentioned both Pat Boone and 'protest music' I naturally played Dylan over Boone.

Other than work I have been out and about the last few weekends. Three weeks ago Bora and I went to Namsan, which literally translated means 'South Mountain', however these days it finds itself in the middle of Seoul. Centuries ago it was a watchtower, attempting to protect Seoul from invaders. Nowadays it's a nice spot for a view of downtown Seoul... if the smog isn't at its usual level. Bora and I took a cable car to the top, which consisted of me looking at everything and her shutting her eyes in terror; it was fun. The view from the top was decent, but unspectacular. We walked down the mountain, and that was quite nice. Anytime you can see trees and hear birds in Seoul is cause for celebration in my books.

Two weekends ago was 'Children's Day'; an excuse for parents to buy/do whatever their kids want. Bora and I tried to think of somewhere that wouldn't be popular on such a day. We decided on Myeongdong, a shopping district in central Seoul. District doesn't quite do it justice; picture everyone in your high school... stuffed in a single locker, and you'll grasp what Myeongdong is like. We chose very wisely, this was the third time I'd been there, and easily the least crowded. Bora did some shopping, and I tagged along to watch to Myeongdong human zoo.

Last weekend was a rainy one, so Bora and I went underwater. By that I mean to one of the biggest aquariums on Asia, at one of the biggest malls in Asia: COEX. It was expensive, about $17.50CDN, and they had some interesting things... but it wasn't worth it overall. One thing that was worth it was the turtles; I have never seen such large turtles in my life. I've been to fair variety of zoos, aquariums, etc. in North America, Australia, and Asia; and the turtles were the stars here. They also had a Eurasian Beaver that was going crazy trying to get into the neighboring enclosure with a Siamese Crocodile; I almost freed it in a patriotic fervor, but thought better of it.

After the aquarium we were naturally craving seafood, so we picked up our friend Peter and hit a delicious shellfish restaurant here in Guro. Following that we met up with Bora's sister and went to a bar for beers and fishcakes. All in all, a great night.

No exciting plans for the future, just working. You may have noticed the lack of pictures with this posting, my camera had been loaned to Bora's sister for a tip to Japan. I have it back now, but it's just not the same: a new one may be in order. I think I'll probably pick up a Nikon D40 shortly, body and lens should only set me back $450 here. So hopefully the quality of photography on this blog will go up shortly.