And The Visitors Begin Rolling In

Coinciding with the coldest temperatures of the year, January and February have been host to our first Canadian visitor's in Korea!

January 24th - February 3rd was Irme time.
February 8th - February 19th was Daddy Roman time!

Having visitors was exciting and strange, as we haven't hung out with anyone that we've known longer than 7 months really since we've been here! So having people that are parts of our past was a totally different and neat experience! Especially being able to show them around Korea for their first visit here!

Irme came with gifts of packaged pasta sauce, parmesan cheese, English magazines, chocolate and her witty banter!
We showed her around town, discussed our school politics, played Jenga with 10 year olds, and drank until we could not drink any more. Seriously.

We typically went out until 7 or 8 am, minus a stint we had in Busan (one city over), when we got in at 10 am after a crazy night in meeting up with a fellow x-ringer/Antigonisher, having dinner, hitting up a few bars, and then the casino... If grad week and Irme week didn't kill me, than I don't know what will! It did take about a week to recover though!

Great company the whole way through, whether "drunken" or sober, I think Irme enjoyed her time in crazy So Ko.

After recovering for approx. 4 days, my dad came over for a visit! It was the lunar (or Chinese) New Year, so we had a five day weekend! We took the opportunity to go up to Seoul for the first time, and meet up with my dad who flew in on a Friday night. Jake and I found a reasonable hotel, that was in transition from being a love motel, into a regular motel. The area was a little deserted, but the floors were heated, we had a water cooler in the room, fresh towels and instant coffee and tea every morning, two double beds and free VHS rentals all for $30/night! The stripper club next door was boarded up, and looked like it went bankrupt, hence why our hotel was no longer catering to the hourly customers, but transitioning into a regular hotel. The hallways were still adorned with red and blue lights though.

We picked up an exhausted and almost luggage-less papa Friday night around 10. After recovering the lost luggage at the airline office, we had missed the last bus into Seoul and cabbed it. The next few days we did some Seoul sightseeing. We went to Itaewon, which is a VERY western part of Seoul, where it was actually rare to see Koreans, which was mind boggling for us, but no big deal for my dad. We found some great pub food, bought some Toronto and Montreal Hockey jersey's, and explored for a while.

On Sunday we went to the DMZ on a half day tour. The DMZ (DeMilitarized Zone) is the 4 km that separates the North and South Korean border. It is apparently the most heavily guarded border in the world, as the two countries are still technically at war, just at a ceasefire. The border is guarded with both Korean and American soldiers, who stare at the North, and make sure that the North doesn't cause any trouble. The soldiers on the North side are watching the South 24/7 to ensure the same. We got to check out some of the recently discovered tunnels that the North Koreans tried to dig in order to infiltrate Seoul... seriously strange stuff. It's one of the most bizarre situations in the world.

On our last night in Seoul, at Jake's insistence, we checked out a WWE show, who were conveniently on tour. We actually had excellent seats, and being one of the few english speakers out of 20,000 people, our chants and slogans stood well out and were actually acknowledged by some of the wrestlers. Jake yelled an extremely dated "LET'S GO SPARKY" at low-level wrestler Bob Holly, and we think only he and Jake got the joke.

Roman spent the rest of his stay bumbling around Ulsan, photographing many a Monk and school girl. Our boss, Mrs. An, graciously carted him around, showing him the sights. We took him out on an exceptionally dull night at the bar, leaving him to wonder if we actually had any friends at all. We do, folks. They were just... busy that night.

For those who wish to come over and take part in the Colleen and Jake reality camp, we suggest checking out Kayak.com, one of the best travel sights we've come across. We're already knee deep in it, trying to chart our course back to Canada in the summer.

All the best,

Colleen and Jake

**PHOTOS from FACEBOOK:

• Irme visits pt. 1
• Irme visits pt.2
• Seoul and Roman
• Roman and Seoul, with guest appearances by Ulsan
• Jake -- WWE pics (taken by an uninterested Colleen)
• Colleen's oldies from January **

The Beauty That is Boracay, Philippines.

Hello Hello,
So, the little 9 km long island of Boracay in the Philippines was sooo paradise, that Jake and I are considering purchasing real estate on it's fabulous beach. That will perhaps happen once we get some more degree's / credentials and land wicked jobs, so that we can afford to fly across the world during dry season, and then fly back to Canada in rainy season. The flights would really be the only expense though, as a cabin on the beach goes for about $1,500/year. Yes, that's right. One month Toronto rent in some dingy, basement apartment covered in mold, or a year in paradise.... Hmm. tough call, it really is.
Here, let me convince you more with a picture.

So, yes. Jake and I made the 6 hour trek via Korean Air to the Philippines landing December 29th in Manila. Early the next morning we took another flight, and a catamaran to get to Boracay Island for a 9 day 8 night stay. Boracay is nestled south of Manila, and north of Cebu, and is a tourist paradise, with abundant mango's, sprawling white sand beaches, clear turquoise water and where the rum is the cheapest ingredient in your rum and coke. And of course, it goes without mentioning the tasty local beer San Miguel, sold ice cold at 40 cents a pop. Sound too good to be true? Well, it isn't, but it didn't come without some preceding sketchy experiences...

Our quick and limited view of Manila was all we could take. Somewhere between the cockroach ridden hostel, the coked-out cab driver that refused to put his meter on as he continuously swerved in and out of oncoming traffic, the prostitutes at the convenience stores, the either homeless or drunks passed out in make-shift hammocks strung between two telephone poles on the highway, and the numerous locks, gates, and barbed wire surrounding our hostel, we lost interest in discovering Manila in greater detail and made a beeline for the islands that we had heard were world famous. We stayed in Manila for little more that 10 hours ( 5 of which were spent trying to sleep amid the cockroaches), and then got on a tiny Asian Spirit plane to Caticlan. From Caticlan, we took a weathered but friendly catamaran to Boracay. And then the sand, sunsets, scuba, and mango daiquiris began to sink in.

We stayed at a resort (note that the term "resort" is used very loosely in the Philippines) called Nikko's Resort. It was basic and clean, and we only encountered one cockroach, which (after a brief yelp) we accordingly sprayed with sunblock and kicked him out onto the porch to cook in the hot island sun. He only came back once. We called him Gary. He was an island cockroach for sure though, because he was so slow and lazy we could keep track of him at all times. He'd only move a centimeter or so an evening.

We befriended the awkward front desk employees, and spent the next 9 days in a luxurious environment we will always remember.

While in Boracay we got our PADI Open Water Scuba Diver certifications from French instructor Nadine at Aqua Life Divers Academy. We had four dives, up to a maximum of 17.5 meters. The coral and marine life that we saw, at such relatively shallow depths were breathtaking. All of the marine organisms and species that I have been fascinated with via text books, dissection labs and educational videos over the past years were swimming up to my scuba mask, and curiously peering at my fingers. We are now certified world-wide to dive up to 18 meters on our own. Hopefully, we will be able to use this certification sooner than later, and in more amazing tropical climates like Thailand and Malaysia!

We also celebrated New Years in Boracay, on a beach still warm from the past days sun. We rang in the new year at a Reggae bar, sitting in sand-sprayed bean bags and sipping mango daiquiris (which, yes, Jake and I spruced up with the 20 cent pint/mickey of rum that we purchased at the convenience store-- talk about convenience eh!? haha). It was an amazing night of warmth, sand, tropical senses, loud music, good food, bare feet and fireworks.

This is us after a fabulous New Years buffet dinner for a simple 200 pesos (php), or, approx. $5 Canadian. On our way to our New Years drinking spot.


Our trip was fabulous and usually included searching through the markets for cool shell jewelery, cheap and unique clothes, good happy hour specials (most bars it ran from 3pm - 8pm!), amazing ethnic cuisine from Italian and Greek to Mexican and Indian, a few dips into the sea, sailing, snorkeling, scuba diving, taking pictures, meeting new friends and bartenders and listening to great music well into the night.

So, pictures really can say more than words for this unforgettable trip, so take a look at our metric tonnes of pictures!! They are well worth a peek!

**Colleen's Pictures: One , Two , Three , Four ** **Jake's Pictures: One **

Xoxox