위험 [Danger] --- 내연산 [Nae Yeon Mountain]

From Sunday, July 1, 2012

Met up with Ling, Michael, and Andy to go to 보경사 (Bo Kyung Sa - a Buddhist temple in Pohang), and 내연산 (Mt Nae Yeon) to go hiking! We were supposed to meet at 9am, but lo and behold, Andy (the one who planned the whole thing) came late @ 9 30am lol. Anyway- we got on bus 105 to the Intercity Bus Station in Pohang and then switched buses to get on a green bus 150 (i think...) that went all the way to our destination. One way took approximately an hour. Once we got there we ate brunch and headed toward the Nae Yeon mountain and its 12 waterfalls! I think we went to all of them? We started around 12 and came back down around 7 30. Coming straight down from where we were took 2 and a half hours by itself.

 cute little touristy stuff a shop nearby the mountain sold

lol reminds me of the one from COEX aquarium

 grabbed brunch before hiking. pajun for free. aka service

 the many side dishes

 

 the area around the mountain is famous for its bibimbap and karl guksu. This is the bibimbap. was 5000won

this is my karlguksu for 5000won also...but I found a dead spider in it -.-

 

 map of Pohang's famous sites

in front of 보경사 (Bokyung Sa)

 the Buddhist temples that we didn't actually go in because we wanted to hurry to the waterfalls

 drinking water place in front of the Buddhist temples. Andy and Michael actually drank

 frollicking in the waters 

 uh... in case of drowning?

 Me and Ling checking out the view while on our way up 내연산 (Nae Yeon Mountain)

 

 waterfall?

 ok...3rd waterfall reached?!

 if you look really closely, there are people rock climbing on those cliffs!!! brave souls

 lol the guy just went under the "Danger" sign

 waterfall #6. beautiful!

 there were tiny fish in the water. you can also catch them with your hands :o

 Andy dove in and swam to the caves

 Ling on the bridge directly across from waterfall #6

inscription in Hanja (Chinese characters) on the rocks near waterfall #6

 

 then we proceeded to climb a really steep path towards waterfall #8 and the rest of the waterfalls (we skipped waterfall #7). there were significantly less people on this trail

 tombstones? not really sure... they were on top of a boulder that we climbed on top of. maybe someone may have fallen off? it's a really scary drop

left is the boulder that we were on and on the right is an insanely high drop to where waterfall #6 is. got dizzy even daring to look down

 puddle of water on top of the rock with a lot of insects breeding

 passed a few of these where you add a rock to the pile for good luck

 our grueling journey to waterfall 8

 yay! waterfall #8 :) Andy swam and dove and went toward the cave. I went in a little bit and the fish were nipping at me I think... or swimming past me. We rested a bit here before continuing on.

 Ling on a makeshift bridge we found

 legit bridge

hm.. near waterfall #9 but we didn't really see it until we were on our way down the mountain

 another rock pile that I am adding a stone to

 the river we're following

lol Andy wanted to go Tarzan for a bit.

 

 

 the highest we got I think... then we decided to turn around because we didn't want to miss the bus to go home

 the guy that was sorta our unofficial guide back down the mountain. he was so nice!

 

 back @ waterfall 6. if you cross the bridge you get to waterfall #7, but we saw it from the top anyway.

 not sure which waterfall this is... I think one of the first 4

 water that I got from the farthest up in the mountain we got. I didn't drink it, but Andy did bc he was super thirsty and he thought I was going to drink it too. Looks pretty clean though and he didn't get sick so I'm assuming the water is safe?

 

 내연산 (Nae Yeon Mt) map

 then caught the last bus from the Mt back into downtown Pohang around 7:45pm and then we got a taxi to Hyoja Market to find somewhere to eat. Arrived @ 땅땅치킨  (Ddang Ddang Chicken). It was the best chicken I've had in Korea and possibly ever. We got Set 1 and it comes with 2 chicken dishes for 15000won. The one above was really unexpectedly spicy and crunchy.

part of set. mmm crunchy and sweet?

 then we went to a Mandu (dumpling) place nearby. they steamed it right before them served them. mm 3500won

 then went to a bakery also nearby in Hyoja Market that is well known in Pohang called 마인츠돔 (Mainz Dom). Bought a pizza looking like bread - that I ended up never eating bc I was full and forgot about it... had to trash :(    .... and I also bought croissant looking like breads that were actually not croissants but just regular sweet bread. -.-

 haha BakHa Satang from Rooftop Prince! we found it @ a supermarket in Hyoja Market.  We went there to get ice cream - the usual drill.

 today is coffee ice cream! Ling's fav melon bar. 

So... I have approximately 15 mosquito bites on my legs- mostly from Burning Friday

 

therefore, I bought 물파스 (Water Pas) to put on them. was 1500won @ a store near the mountain. it is pretty much sold everywhere.

식당 [restaurant]

From  Saturday, June 30, 2012

Today woke up fairly late, around 2pm? Then chilled doing nothing and watching an episode of the Korean Drama starring Gong Yoo and Lee Minjung with Ling and Katie. The day went by pretty fast - then met up with English Group leaders and Professor Cho for dinner at a Chinese restaurant in Gwangju (it has a very historical background, being the capitol of the Silla Dynasty - way back when all of Korea was split into the 3 great kingdoms). It was a really nice course dinner and it was the first time I had jellyfish and shark I think. The table had the whole Chinese spinning center top thing going on. Didn't take much pictures unfortunately. Planning on going hiking tomorrow with some people from Campus English.

막걸리 [Korean rice wine]

From Friday, June 29, 2012

Today = burning Friday (as the POSTECHians call it).

Didn't go to lab today as the primer takes time to deliver, and so went out to lunch with Katie and her room mate at the good cafeteria. Then met up English group at 7 at library as usual. Read another CNN article, this time on Queen Elizabeth and some sort of "monumental" handshake, and then watched episode 2 of White Collar. We also played cards (President) and discussed some topics that we had not yet discussed that the students wanted to write their papers on that is due next Friday.

After, my students were busy, so I hung out with a huge group of other people in our Program - namely Katie's and Ling's groups. We went to a restaurant, had some makoli and soju (both Korean drinks), and anju (food you eat while drinking). Then we hopped on over to a Chinese restaurant and had some really strong 50% alcohol Chinese drink... hm, it burned a lot. Then went to NRB (노래방 -karaoke). Students are hilarious. One randomly pulled out a water bottle from a sketch electrical cabinet and said claimed it was a common resource for all Postechians (you can refill the water bottle at a machine in the NRB). NRB really makes you thirsty. A few students completely broke out of their shells @ NRB. After like 3 hours there (the lady there is so nice! she kept adding time as service. we only paid for an hour) we finally hitched a ride home on a taxi because it was raining. Out til 5am lol wow, Postechians know how to have a good time.

 doing laundry today with Ling and Katie. we used the boy's (floor 1) because girl's (floor 11) seemed dirtier...

 yea.. everything is in Korean -.- called Peter for help lol

 macaroon my student gave me during meeting ^^ 

 drinks to drink mm 

 deck of cards for 8000won. insane.

then after group meeting, separated, and went to seljong bin (not completely sure about name) with a couple other groups. makkoli and cider combination mixed by Cutie Baby lol but actually I think makkoli by itself may taste better? Katie agrees. this makkoli (막걸리) was made by Postech I heard?

 jjan! (toast)

 kimchi jigae (so good here! definitely one of the best)

 another type of makkoli

 pajun as anju (side dish while drinking)

 ice cream

 mmm today's = shark. Katie's melonbar

 Hyoja Market - where we hung out that night

 Ling "died" as Postechians /Koreans call it

 really strong Chinese drink that is 50% alcohol D:

really small probs bc the drink is so strong

Chinese soup as anju

NRB (karaoke) after

무서워 [scary]

From Wednesday June 27, 2012

Pohang, outside of POSTECH, is scary. Saw three instances of extreme cursing / yelling just today - my first time going outside of POSTECH. Seems like this may also be exacerbated due to the harsh accent many people have here? Or maybe I was just extremely unlucky to witness these all in one day, back to back.

Went to the Immigration Office in Pohang today... for pretty much nothing...And it was exhausting finding that place also since we got off on the wrong bus stop. Had to walk for 15 mins or maybe more, asking strangers for directions, until the map that we got from Estella became of some use. For some reason, the bus didn't have any of the bus stops said out loud or in any foreign language (usually they say it in English and Chinese or Japanese). This may have been because the bus driver was in a hella crappy mood. He even stopped the bus in the middle of the road to fight - that almost turned physical- with another driver. Never have I seen this before. By the time we got there, the Immigration Office was closed, because it seems like a universal lunch time in Korea is from 12-1pm. So went to a nearby 7-11 to chill instead.

Also, at the Immigration Office in Pohang, one of the workers there was all out yelling at another worker in another room. It was really scary actually...Like why do you have to yell in that manner when visitors are right outside? Or even yell in the first place? Are there not other ways to discipline?

Anyway, then went to the main SK service store in Pohang to get a SIM card for Ling's phone, but her phone doesn't work with SK for some reason (perhaps it runs on a different frequency? but the SK lady couldn't even look up the phone on search engines bc of the mysterious brand lol). It would work on Ling's iPhone if she could get it unlocked. Here again, an elderly customer got really angry for some reason that was out of the SK lady's control, and the elderly lady started blasting the SK lady with awfully loud curses. Jeez.

KT is better and cheaper though. I paid 5500won for my SIM card from KT back in Seoul, whereas Ling paid 10000won application fee and another 8000won for her SIM card (a SIM card that currently has no use). So, because of all these complications, we didn't get back to POSTECH until 5 ish? So Buddy said I should rest and just come to lab tomorrow. What a super nice buddy. ^^ Then @7 went to meeting as usual.

 bus driver and this fool stopping in the middle of the road to yell at each other -.-

라면 [ramyun] selection @ 7-11

 Ling's on left; mine on right. both were 1000won each I think

 We also got 돼지바 [Pig Bar] @7-11; 3 for 1800 won. 

 stopped by GS supermarket on our way back

 mmm chips / snack aisle

 haha what a design for a chip bag

 shampoo = same as in US? almost

 so expensive. watermelon for 16800won. wtf.. 

 6 apples for 9800 won?!

 2 apricots for 5980; one bundle of good grapes for 11980won. fruits are expensive.

 bus route for bus 105

 driving in Korea... looks like he's going to drive into the bus

 then went to group meeting @ 7pm - library. had drinks. mine is the short coconut one. they were all 500won each I think from the vending machine on the 6th floor of the library. we discussed some more on topics for their essays i.e. plan b.

 outside deck on 6th floor of library

 Ghana chocolate from vending machine on 1st floor of RC. there's some of these SAME chocos for different prices bc the vending machine is going crazy. . i.e. 600won or 500won or maybe even 700won.

my goodies I got from GS market