Another post about...

So another week has gone by. I've said good bye to friends i never set out to make and never thought I would ever get attached too. Two oaks from South Africa who were pretty damn awesome bros. After the good byes and going away beers we hopped on buses in our own directions, them to Inchon to catch a flight south and me to Busan to spend a few days on a beach soaking up some rays.

Although, that being said I am jumping a few days ahead of my self. Last week we had a field trip and the lunch for the field trip was amazing. Smoked salmon wrapped around sprouts. Mmmmmm makes me miss Jody, Caleb, Jordan, Hannah Marx (Smith) and Alaska....

Had a wicked awesome going away dinner for one of the other guys (Ben German) who left last week as well... Roasted duck on a skillets with onions, garlic and plethora of seasonings and spices.

And then to top my week off one of my kids brought a gerbil to class in her pocket... She kept wiggling around and when i finally asked her why she pulled it out with the biggest smile on her face.. not sure what exactly i was expecting but it wasn't this... Ahahahah life has a way of making me smile.... a lot

And on the Menu today

 This weekend has been one gastronomic joy ride after another. Starting Friday night with Bulgogi soup after a late night hike.

  

Followed by pancakes, bacon eggs coffee and made from scratch blue berry syrup

Topped off with a mini stop having Johnny Walker Black for dirty cheap and sipping on it while watching the sunset over the islands in Uncheon Bay

And then we had dinner Sunday night at a buffet full of exotic crazy awesome foods. Inside the bamboo and banana leaf are this starchy rice that tasted like oatmeal with raisins. Then there are escargot on the bottom right corner of the plate and all sorts of other delectable.

On this plate we have squid, raw marinated crab (amazing for the record), beef tartar, jelly fish ceviche  smoked duck and then some sort of roe cake with mackerel on top (the yellow looking thing behind the jelly fish) in the back near the bowl of soy sauce.

5.4k... that's only like 3 miles right?

Alright so last weekend i went for a hike. I dragged some friends along and convinced them it wasn't that big of deal. I mean, according to the Korean Nation Parks page, its only 5.4 Kilometers and while they list is as strenuous i cant imagine it being all that bad... Plus they said Wulchulsan was ridiculous as well and that wasn't so bad. Turns out, i ate my words on this one. This hike was insane, the picture don't even begin to do the trail justice. Literally 5.4k on ragged rough uneven wobbly all natural stairs. 5.4k (3 miles roughly) of stairs made out of rocks, chunks of wood, landscape timbers, the occasional wrought iron stair case for 20 or 30 feet up over a cliff edge or something too steep to simply walk/crawl up. Only to get to the summit and literally have to use your arms legs and practically teeth to make it to the top because it's so steep. To say this hike was insane would be an understatement.  But man do i feel accomplished after doing it. Bring on the world. Jirisan 0 me 1.

                                              The over all goal... where we're going... the top...

Our lamp post marking our campsite

 The view from half way.

  And in typical Korean fashion there is a coffee shop at the rest area right before the temple.

My Wish List

Ha so i realized this after i already had it typed up but most of my poems start with My too and so i wonder if you'll read this thinking it's somehow a poem of some sort... its not... trust me... it's literally a wish list of things (mostly books) that i want in my life and miss dearly.

Serious Straw Bale: A Home Construction Guide for All Climates

The Fifty Dollar and Up Underground House Book [Paperback]

The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It [Hardcover]

Cordwood Building: The State of the Art (Natural Building Series) [Paperback]

Strawbale Home Plans [Paperback]

The Barefoot Architect [Paperback]

Building With Cob: A Step-by-step Guide [Paperback]

The Cob Builders Handbook: You Can Hand-Sculpt Your Own Home [Paperback]

Earthbag Building: The Tools, Tricks and Techniques (Natural Building Series) [Paperback]

The Straw Bale House (Real Goods Independent Living Book) [Paperback]

The Hand-Sculpted House: A Practical and Philosophical Guide to Building a Cob Cottage: The Real Goods Solar Living Book [Illustrated] [Paperback]

Mini Farming: Self-Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre [Paperback]

The Art of Natural Building: Design, Construction, Resources [Paperback]

Building Green, New Edition: A Complete How-To Guide to Alternative Building Methods Earth Plaster * Straw Bale * Cordwood * Cob * Living Roofs

The Natural House: A Complete Guide to Healthy, Energy-Efficient, Environmental Homes

The Annapolis Book of Seamanship, 3rd Edition Revised [Hardcover]

Start Sailing Right!: The National Standard for Quality Sailing Instruction (Us Sailing Small Boat Certific) [Paperback]

Sailing For Dummies [Paperback]

A Voyage for Madmen [Paperback] 

Dove [Paperback]  (thanks you Kelci)

Sailing Alone around the World (Penguin Classics) [Paperback]

Trekka Round the World [Paperback]

Around the World Single-Handed: The Cruise of the "Islander" (Dover Books on Travel, Adventure) [Paperback]

A soup for everything that ales you

Alright so im slightly under the weather at the moment but hoping to be up and on par again soon. This head cold has got me down in the dumps. but i went to the doctor today and got some meds... The cool thing about Korean is it cost me 4000 won (like 3.50 US dollars) for medication.... the down side is, well... there isn't any to be honest, they just need to proof read the stuff before they post it on boxes.








On a less depressing note, i've been eating some awesome grub here recently. I was worried at first because it didn't seem like people got out much here but i was warned to wait until it warms up a little more and it would change. And they were right. These people keep very busy here. My weeks are quickly blown away by countless events, parties, dinners and things to do. Further more there are usually options of things to do and who to do them with. Yeosu has a very healthy sized population of foreigners and so it is always easy to find something to do.  For example, this weekend involved a beach barbeque party, hiking, a Beetles themed birthday party, more beach grilling out today and then all topped off with an amazing low country style boil with crab, shrimp, corn and potatoes... good times good times... alright so most of these pics of from tent restaurants which are just super awesome little natural disaster tents they setup permanently and run business in, usually restaurants or bars...

This is soup. The name is Hajeongok (doubt i spelled it correctly but they call it hang over soup) and it is amazing. Not to mention it comes with all of thee sides... so you pay 5 bucks for a steaming bowl of soup and get an entire buffes of sides to go with it...






This other one is called bolgolgi soup. and it is equally amazing. with an almost sweet/savory light broth and marinated beef strips with glass noodles and some peppers and onions. Same price as the other and out of this world.








And this is raw Abalone, i wouldn't recommend this to anyone i liked but am still glad i can say i ate a few (2.5 who ones to be honest, couldn't finish my last one). They are chewy to the point i would describe it as crunchy and i spent the following 24 hours (while never actually throwing up) feeling sick to my stomach. With the taste equivalent to only what i could describe as the ocean. Taste wise it was quiet nice for sure. Just between the slim and the crunch i couldn't do anymore than that. I was told they are good for stamina and should eat a few a week if i wanted to be a good Korean... thanks but no thanks...

Veggies!!!

So Im growing Beans and Peas in baked beans cans running strings up to my ceilings.

 And then i rigged up an 3 gallon fish tank and lid to work as my aquaponic system and im grown tomatoes in there.

 I put in a few Tetra to add fertilizer to the plants and they're doing to opposite of North Korea's missiles (which means they're shooting up)

I've also got Cilantro, Basil, Thyme, Rosemary, Parsley, Bell Peppers, Jalapenos, Broccoli, Three or four types of tomatoes, Dill and Oregano all growing in 1.75 Lt beer bottles...

Word Chunder

Wow, Feb 28th... Really... Guess I've been busier than i thought. Sorry bout that guys. Not sure if anyone even follows this anymore, Don't blame you if you don't. Nothing has happened on here in like two months, so it's understandable if I've fallen off the radar.

Well the Cherry Blossoms came and went in a weekend and they were amazing to say the least.

        Also so since we've talked last I've started hiking on a regular basis. By regular i mean every other day or so. And the usually on the weekends i go do a bigger hike with a more rewarding view or something. There is a hike right in the middle of Yeosu, Mount Goobongsan (321m) and i do it a couple times a week after classes. I've started a hiking group here and have about a half dozen people who hike with me on a fairly regular basis now too!

 We call ourselves the Walking Dead...
There are actually like 9 or 10 of us just the three of us started hiking together a lot and it's grown since then.







 
The views from Goobongsan

The views from Pongwasan (translates to Fire Tower Mountain.. san = mountain)

Last week i went and hiked Mount Wolchulsan. It was amazing. This ragged rocky granite mountain just rose up out of no where amidst all these fields and small green hills. They built this bright orange suspension bridge from two of the peaks and from the bottom they look like they're so far up but once you hike it you realize they're closer to the bottom than they are to the top... Either way the hike was amazing and probably one of the most fulfilling things I've done since I've been here.

The following day instead of vegging out and resting the day away after are killer leg work out we decided to go to the Bosesang Tea Fields on the way home and make the most of our weekend. That was just more torture on our knees but totally worth it in the end. The tea fields were dope and the fresh green tea ice cream at the bottoms was amazing in and of it self.

I'm liking Korea more and more on a daily basis. They turned on the fountains down the main strip through Yeosu today and i will get pictures of them soon for you all...