Chasing Summer: Gangwondo, Day 2

WARNING: A LONG POST... (sorry, I didn't mean to....)


We didn't wake up to the insistent alarming of our cellphones at 4a.m. but to the still loud chatters of that noisy group at 6 in the morning... And of course, I gave the fattened mosquitoes what they asked for the previous night. I just made sure blood stains were removed from the tent...

We breakfasted at a restaurant that gave us a view of the river. Bees and bugs were everywhere. While checking the Mureung Valley's tourist map (which the restaurant owner gave us), I suddenly noticed about 3 bees hovering around me. I kept still for a while not to excite or make them angry but when one landed on my leg, the scream that I've been holding back eventually shrilled throughout the restaurant. I immediately struck it with my cap. It scared the other 2 and they all flew away.

After breakfast, I changed into the white shirt I used the previous day to avoid further encounter with bees. They got attracted to either of my floral pink blouse or delicately scented sunblock...Besides, we planned to get a dip in the cool water anyway...

So we got ready for the hike. We had to pay entrance fees (KRW5,000) again before entering the so called "Grand Canyon of Korea"... We actually paid a KRW2,000 for encamping/parking fee when we entered the valley.

The first thing that greeted us was a natural spring. We emptied out our bottles and refilled them with the refreshing water. We got a better view of the Samhwasa Temple buildings too. From what I understood from the restaurant owner earlier, the temple buildings here were rebuilt many times already since their establishment during the Silla Dynasty...

I just love viewing traditional Korean houses or Buddhist Temples against the mountains. They seem to belong together...

Temple building tiles visitors can write their wishes on for a fee... No time to check the souvenir shop nearby.... The Haksodae (I forgot the translation but it has something to do with cranes living atop the stones in the early times).... An elder couple did their best to climb up just to feel the water and get a better picture. We did too but I still chose to post this one... Maybe summer is just almost over hence the almost dry falls... Trails were made more beautiful and friendly for women who still wanted to hike in their...er.. stilettos.. Believe me, I met a woman in a formal dress about 1km from here... Anyway, this is just normal here.. I also saw women in high heels at Mt. Bukhan. Among the ascending trails made easier to climb...
They volunteered to be my models...kkkk.. A view of a canyon to my left...
The view to my right...We crossed a bridge to get to the other side.... I now wonder why they don't look high enough in these pictures but believe me, they actually do... The Yongchu twin waterfalls... It was actually frustrating at first because we've been like walking for 2o minutes already when I saw a sign saying "Yongchu waterfalls 2km away"... (In my mind, I imagined walking from the Epiphany Church to Jack's Restaurant back home) But it was still worth the hike. I'm just so sorry it was only this morning I realized that I haven't taken a picture of it worth uploading here. And I sat there watching it for like about 15 minutes...
A better view of the of the falls to the left... See that green railing up there? Yeah... he's a daredevil in a Banaue shirt, haha....the photographer too coz she also went beyond the railings... kkk The Nine Dragons Waterfall... Still called Yongchu Waterfalls... I should have moved to the left side bank, the view would have been better as I've seen from other pictures of it online... So having seen the 3 out of 4 waterfalls, and with much desire to hit the waves of the seas, Alex and I decided to head back... We stopped at nearby quieter streams to relax or dip our tired feet... I saw the smallest frog ever, about pea sized. I was about to take it's picture but Alex scared it away...

We didn't see any swim spot on our way up but we did on our way down... Hearing the screams of joy of these young men prompted us to follow their lead...

Me in one of Alex' boxers... See this slab? We did our best to lie down but the current was strong.. If we get carried away, we would be dropping to about 6 feet deep water... It was easy to change into our dry clothes. I have a multipurpose sarong with me..(It was my sister's and she left it when she went to Singapore. Her trash is my treasure...)

The water was really cold but I enjoyed it. Alex didn't really swim here... He said he'd save his energy for the beach...

Called the Mureungbanseok Slab... It was midday and people who didn't come here for a climb surely came for a swim...

A video of a part of the slab I've taken earlier...

I checked the souvenir items at the Temple before finally leaving the grounds. I wanted to buy one particular pretty pouch but I really found them too expensive. Oh, it really felt sinful to buy such a small pouch for KRW16,000... Honestly, I was tempted to pay for it already but Alex suddenly entered the shop... Haay....

It was lunchtime by then so we went back to the same restaurant because of their superb meals. Yeah, he ordered the same thing for himself (the one we had at breakfast) which I later found out as a "hangover soup" while I had a hearty bibimbap with original doenjang jjigae... Their other side dishes were generous enough for the hungry and the variety was good aside from a radish kimchi and a Korean cabbage kimchi...

After that, I fixed our things in the car while Alex rested under a tree and chatted with 2 Korean ajummas who kept on smiling at me whenever I looked at them... Only to be told later by Alex that they advised him we better not have children for reasons which I think will be better told on a later post...

And so we headed to Chuam beach... Alex wanted us so much to go to that secluded corner to the left but my goodness the jagged rocks were too much for me... So he lost interest when I insisted I won't be following him down there... We went to the sandy part of the beach but it wasn't inviting enough for him compared to the area pictured here so we decided to drive along the coast..

But bottlenecks on the 2-way road made the supposed to be liesure ride sour so we just parked the car, got his changing clothes and went to this beach where he finally swam...

We left the area about 6pm and headed back to Gangneung about 50km(?) away. When we reached the express way, we, stopped by the Okgye service area/rest stop for Alex to check his map and of course, to get a final and panoramic view of the beaches we visited earlier. And to my dismay, I actually haven't taken their pictures, I only realized it now. Anyway, this rest stop is a destination itself....

A souvenir shop...
A view from the lower view deck...

Upper and lower view decks at the back of the rest stop...

Ah... Leaving this place at past 7pm, and seeing Alex always looking at his back as we headed for the car gave me a feeling that Alex wasn't done with this vacation yet... I asked him what he wanted us to have for dinner and he said "can we cook noodles at Pyeongchang rest stop?" I said okay. He looked tired from driving but he looked alive when he brought out his portable LPG (net weighing 230g) and matching gas range I can only hold with my palm.. He still meticulously set up a picnic area again. He cooked his noodles while I went to take out some food from the "foodcourt." I told him we lost about an hour again but he said he was relaxed and happy...

We left Pyeongchang rest stop at past 9pm and arrived home past 1am (Monday). This could be our last travel for this season... But autumn is his favorite season... I hope he'll bring me again to places he only calls "grand" or "spectacular"...... (of course.....mountains....)

Chasing Summer: Gangwon-do, Day 1

Last Friday night, Alex called and instructed me to pack for "camping" when I get home. I asked him why and he said the company has given him a 2-day day off so his companion invited us to a trip to Gyeonggi-do. I reminded him that we rarely get day offs together, or time together (since his mom lives with us and his brother's family always visits us) so we'd better travel on our own. After an hour, he called again and said we're going to Gangwon-do instead... Just the two of us... Hurray!!!

So we retired early (early? he got home by 12mn and I got home by 10 and he still researched online for spots really worth visiting) that night when everything on my "packing list" was crossed out (yes I do this because I've become very forgetful). I made the list during the 30-minute ride on my way home.

We didn't wake up at the 4am alarm though. He finally got up before 6 and pulled me off the bed. After rechecking things and a simple breakfast, we started the 200+ km drive from Incheon to Gangneung via Yeongdong Expressway. We stopped at Pyeongchang service area or rest stop for an early lunch.

The sky, mountain trails and pine trees and their scent reminded me much of home... We spent about an hour here... I got fidgety when Alex wanted us to stay more. He said I'm always in a hurry and I told him back I thought that's what Koreans like... After a hearty lunch, we continued with the trip and I was just happy to take this picture while Alex stopped the car to check his tourist map... (the Hangeul confused me though...)
And after a few minutes more, we finally arrived at the twin sister city of Baguio City.... ㅋㅋㅋ
On our way to Gyeongpo beach, we stopped by this lake (gyeongpo lake?) to take a picture...
Gyeongpo beach... We were surprised to see the beach.. er... almost this empty(?). As usually shown on tv these days, the beaches are swarming with people but the summer vacation is almost over and most people have already availed of their leaves...

The view to my left: The view to my right: Isn't he cute??? (just another Korean guy on a floaty...) I loved the color of the sand against my slippers...(sige na nga flipflops)...Swimming didn't interest me. I was just satisfied to see the east coast of Korea since I've already seen part of its west coast. I was more excited to see the Mureung Valley Alex mentioned earlier. You see, my swimming lessons in high school, from 1st-4th year didn't improve my abilities at all...I'm still scared to swim in waters past my chin deep... So we just walked along the beach for about half an hour, sat under a tree for sometime and headed to the valley...

We dropped by Cheongok Cave (a natural limestone cave) in Donghae. We also passed by a road going to the Namyangju Studio Complex we agreed upon to visit the following day (which didn't happen). It was a long drive from the beach so the cool air from the cave that greeted us was really refreshing.

The cave entrance.... really.... See? Lining up for helmets... I told you... The wet floors were slippery...Alex blamed it on his made in china slippers... I blamed it on the slipper's age... On the walls are framed precious rocks found in the cave... One spectacular view: curtain shaped stalactite... Uh, from what I understood from the tourist information guide, golden bats live in the cave.. I didn't expect much from the cave. If you've seen or been to Sagada's Sumaging cave, you'd say that this cave is small and still young... (and we are speaking of hundreds of millions of years here, haha...)

When it comes to food, Alex is sooo picky. We already reached the valley, with restaurants near the park's entrance, but still turned back to the nearest town for dinner. We've been driving around for half an hour already but we couldn't find a place he fancied. We ended up crossing this street to get to a driver's restaurant that served what turned out to be really delicious meals...coz he was satisfied... Our destination... I'm always ready for a climb....

It was almost night time (sun sets late at this time of year) when we decided to look for a place to set camp...

When our tents were all set, we went out for a walk, checked the items from the souvenir shops lining the entrance of the park, bought beer and soda and headed back... Though full, we had to stay up until 10pm to again consume the KRW10,000 worth of u-gyeopsal Alex bought. It's really more delicious this way: gogi, kimchi and garlic all on the hot stone grill...

We planned a really busy Sunday so we decided to sleep early. But mosquitoes messed with this Cachero so I ended up muttering "ked demmit" while searching for their entrance and my goodness, Alex was so tired maybe that he forgot to close the ventilation hole. I applied a lot of ointment to drive them away. Even the strong liniment smell woke up Alex. We were trying to catch sleep again when a group of late arrivals started making noise and talked like they owned the place and that nobody was sleeping. I checked the time and it was already 1am.. I was waiting for someone from the other campers to shout "joyonghiiiiiiiii!!!!!!!!" (keep quiet) but nobody did... So I just imagined myself doing it over and over and over until I finally fell asleep....

Just Got Married: Lee Young Ae

At the health club this morning, all the Korean ajummas were tuned in to the entertainment news of KBS2 channel of their respective tv monitors. I was as usual on my stationary bike (a bit far from the treadmills) so I just satisfied my eyes with the pictures of Lee Young Ae being flashed on the screens... I thought maybe she's getting married or whatsoever as the last video clip shown was when she modeled for Andre Kim's wedding dress collection...

With curiosity needed to be satisfied (of course she's Dae Jang Geum), I checked hancinema.net for fresh entertainment news when I got home. And there it was, a news that Lee Young Ae married...

Oh, what a surprise secret/private wedding indeed. It took place last 24th. The groom is a Korean-American only named as Mr. Jung who works in the American IT industry...

Congratulations and Best Wishes to the new couple...

Model Fail, Make Up Fail or Too High Expectations?

When you're a morena living in Korea where fair and white skin matters, you would be absolutely delighted to see a cosmetics shop with a big poster of a model like her....



Yes, no other than Beyonce Knowles modeling her own House of Dereon...

You see, they only sell about 2 to 3 shades of foundations, pacts and loose powders here so it's really hard to find one suited for my skin tone. But when I checked Dereon's counters, they didn't even have a shade that would supposedly suit the model's skin tone.

I told the salesclerk they should at least sell 2 more darker shades for the Dereon because it's being modeled by Beyonce herself. It would be more appealing to foreigners, like me with darker skin tone, finding it hard to look for foreign cosmetic products that are not that expensive (their mineral foundation and pact are priced at KRW 25,000 and KRW24,0000 respectively, not bad). I checked out the leading department stores here but as ate Betchay said, it's really better to buy them online coz they're too expensive offline...

Baviphat is a new cosmetics line, endorsed by FT Island, and they just opened a branch at Bupyeong Underground Shopping Center. In addition to their own products, they also sell the House of Dereon's. They both have "mineral" make ups.. BUT they don't have a shade darker than the usual no.2. Plus, they're scented so that's another minus... ^_________^

But here's a plus: They sell their skin care and other products in big and small bottles. It's really great for ladies who want to try all the products they could have their hands on to out there... Don't we all experience buying skin products in their regular bottles only to find it hard to continue consuming them when we feel they're ineffective...

I was tempted to buy their 8mL BB cream for KRW2,000 but thank goodness I didn't for they gave me samples of it when I payed for my purchases.

For the moisturizing body mist that comes in a really cute container and the triple eyeshadow (for my sister) I bought 30% off, I still got a sample of their Dereon Beyonce Hyaluronic Acid Mask Sheet, samples of their BB cream and powdery sun cream... (You won't usually get that from cosmetic shops on sale)...

Anyway, I'm done with BB creams. So I'll just send these stuffs along with the countless others I have here already to my friends and relatives asking for samples... May nagdonate pa nga eh, haha....

Baviphat will be on sale until this weekend. So for those who want to check their products, you still have much time to avail of their 30% off...

Actress Choi Jin Sil's Ashes Stolen

Who didn't cry with Choi Jin Sil as Maeng Sun Yi or "Betsy" in the drama "My/A Rosy Life?"

Ah, our home then would turn into a battlefield when my mom and younger brother, with me waiting for the result, would argue or bicker for what shows to watch on primetime since my mom was a fan while my brother and I wanted to watch something else. My mom's 15-year old tv in her room had given up (on purely gma7 and qtv11 shows??? ㅋㅋㅋ) so we had no choice but to give in to her and watch with her in the living room as well with our limited free time from all that studying.

An article about the late actress Choi Jin Sil's ashes being stolen really caught my attention this morning while browsing through some Korean entertainment sites...


How could some people be heartless? Being intoxicated and all that, it's still crazy to go smashing someone's tombstone and still crazier to be stealing the ashes.. Will they do that if she wasn't cremated? Really scary....

This incident reminded me of my then newly burried paternal grandfather's ashes insolently taken out of his tombstone too. The hooligans thought maybe they could get something precious from the ashes. Disappointed, they scattered some of the ashes around the area. Luckily, one of our elementary teacher's family went to the cemetery the following day. They saw my then still in elementary youngest brother, Tim, and informed him of the heart-rending incident. Without fear, he went to the cemetery and did his best to recover the scattered ashes and temporarily fix the destroyed small tombstone...

I just hope this didn't happen to her ashes too. It would be really heart-wrenching for the family...