February 29, 2012

From the first time I laid eyes on Annabelle and claimed her as my own, I knew she was something special. While her exterior hinted her years, she was young at heart. Willing and more than able to glide up, blast down and slice back and forth, she brought joy with every twist of the throttle. I also knew that one day I would have to part with her, no matter how much I tried to tell myself otherwise.

I tried to put it out of my mind but as my departure date got closer I contemplated what to do with Annabelle. I thought about bringing her back to Canada with me, I thought about keeping her in Korea so I would be prepared in the event of my return, I thought about jumping her off a bridge or pushing her down a mountain so she could go out in a blaze of glory but I didn't advertise her.

By and by I had a number of people came along to inquire about her status, I mentioned that I would keep them in mind once I made up my mind. I came to the conclusion that it would be selfish to let Annabelle waste away when she could bring joy to someone else. We agreed on the time and a location that the exchange would take place.

I watched my class graduate the day before, there by finishing my last day of teaching, so I was free to spend all day saying goodbye. I slept in a little and, needing to run a few errands, took Annabelle up town to pick up some last minute things and stopping at Young's Bap one last time to pick up my favorite, two rolls of chamchi kimbap.

Having picked up everything I wanted before heading back to Canada, Annabelle and I set out to make the last of our time count. There would be time to pack up later, there would have to be, we had been blessed with a beautiful day and it would be a shame to waste it. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and all, as far as I could tell, was right with the world.

We took off with no set plan or direction, we went where ever the roads took us, just being together was enough. Contrary to many of the other good-byes I had already experienced the mood was not as somber as one might fear. Annabelle was as playful and full of spunk as ever, as if she didn't know what was to take place later that day. I played along as to not give anything away, I did not want to disappoint her.

We were as good a team as could be. Slicing through corners stronger and faster than ever. At times she would tease me in to thinking we were going too fast, only to laugh on the exit knowing that more was possible. This only urge me faster around the next. It was pure bliss.

It wasn't all go, go, go. We stopped when Annabelle was thirsty, we stopped to gallivant on a few beaches, we stopped(but mostly slowed a little) to gaze out over the beautiful scenery. But it was mostly go, go, go.

We saw all the sights that could be seen from the road, but didn't matter, I was with Annabelle. We traversed mountain passes and blasted through valleys, but it didn't matter I was with Annabelle. We rode the East coast from South to North, but it didn't matter I was with Annabelle. The whole while she whispered sweet nothings in my ear as we rode(as only her 125cc engine could).

But as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end and while I did say we set out without a plan, that was a lie. We were headed off the island for the last time together, for Tongyeong, which became clearer every passing kilometer. But I wasn't going to let her go quietly. We blasted off the island, hitting our highest top speed yet, 110 km/h.

Due to our blasting we were a little early which meant we had a little more time, time that I did not intend to waste. The entrance to the town was located in a little valley, with the highway rising up on either side, at the top of either side was an intersection.

If you can't already picture what we did with the extra time that is alright because I will tell you. We blasted around the 3 kilometer loop as fast a we could do. First down, then up, then a u-turn; repeating it for the remainder of our time together.

When our time was up, we made our way to, what I thought was our meeting point. As you may have guessed from the previous sentence, I though I knew where it was but when I went inside I realized that it was not the right place. I did not know how to get to our agreed upon meeting place.

Without a cell phone, phone number, or address, Annabelle and I frantically took to the road to find the right location. Thinking I may have taken the wrong exit in to town I back tracked only to find that we had taken the right exit. I looked for a place to turn around but it wasn't easy as we were on the highway.

I finally spotted something that looked like an area to turn around but upon slowing down and looking closer it was not to be. I geared down and looked to get back in to the flow of traffic. I spotted my entrance and twisted the throttle.

Annabelle made a sickening mechanical report and despite the increased revs refused to speed up at all. I piloted her safely to the edge of the road and turned her off hoping that what had just happened was simply a figment of my imagination. I waited a while and started her back up. I shifted her in to first, nothing. I went up to second, she pulled a little bit but quickly let go. There was a similar result with third, fourth, and finally fifth gear.

For many, this would have elicited feelings along the lines of anger, frustration or worry but all I felt was peace. This response may sound unnatural as this event would have deeply troubled my heart had it been at any other time. But now it was as if on cue, Annabelle would have wanted it this way. It was as if Annabelle was telling me that she could not and would not live with out me.

I rolled her off the highway and behind a gas station, where I found a small patch of open gravel at the top of a hill. I gently rocked her kickstand down one last time, and help her slowly down to rest on it. Having travelled a total of 29105 kilometers, 4800 of those with me, Annabelle and I said goodbye for the last time.

I placed my riding pants and jacket in the saddle bags, put my helmet on the backrest and walked away knowing that Lord Alfred Tennyson was right when he said, "'Tis better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all."

That day was February 29, 2012.

The End is Nigh

I am back in the motherland called Canada and, as some of you already know, it has been for a good two weeks. I have taken the time to rest, catch up with friends and process what I experienced the past year.

Upon my return the question of what would happen to this space on the internet arose. Seeing that the internet is not running out of space, I will leave it up. Having left out many parts of my experience in Korea one option would be to continue expelling them until the needle on my story tank read E. I will not do this.

Instead I will conclude a story that started a full twelve months ago; a story that changed my time in Korea from mediocre to mind blowing; a story that gripped my heart and refused to let it go. That story is, of course, the story of Annabelle.

Thank-you for your encouragement and support over the past year. I don't think that I speak for myself when I say, it has been quite an adventure.

Mission

I mentioned the other day when talking about the grand open that I was on a mission. This was what I was after:

The shop that holds the title for Korea's best pizza now also lays claim to Korea's biggest pizza. SkyBori Pizza in Suwol. While SkyBori is a chain, none of the other shops, or any pizza place in Korea, make pizza like this for the price.

If you are in the area stop by and give it a try, you won't be disappointed. It is just across the new bridge past the LG and Samsung buildings. Also the owner's wife speaks great English and is always down to chat.

Message in a Bottle

Ever since I heard that it was possible I have wanted to write a message, put it in a bottle and throw it in the sea. I was reminded of this a few months back but being winter it was "too cold" to take Annabelle to the sea. But seeing that my time was short I decided to go ahead with the project regardless of the happenings outside my windows.

I bought a bottle that I felt would be perfect for this type of enterprise and went about disposing it's contents to prepare it for it's work. I also looked in to ocean currents and where my message would have the most chance of reaching some far away place. Once that was all in place I set about writing the note.

Now there is a percentage of the population that would say this is child's play, tomfoolery or nonsense but I didn't ask what others thought of the idea so I don't know what percentage that would be. I am not the most creative person but wrote the note as best I could imagine a five year old writing it.

As per message in a bottle regulations I included my name, my address and the date. I did not include my age for fear that it would impede a reply. Everyone wants to write to that five year old boy waiting for a reply, boy will they be surprised... I also did not include any form of internet communication. If I wanted more emails I would reply to my family more often, I want a letter that I can touch, look at and mount on my wall.

With everything in place I called Annabelle and we set off. My research on ocean current were inconclusive. Seeing that I would be hurling it from the shore I was worried that I wouldn't be able to get it far enough out. So I decided that the best way to give it a proper start would be to throw it from the bridge between Geoje and Tongyeon. (The Geoje Busan link bridge would have been better but I did not have a legal way of carrying it out.)

I took a glorious ride out to the bridge and found that there would be no stopping to get sentimental, I would need to heave it from the bike as I rode across. I took a few passes to determine the best place to throw it from as well as to have a minimal amount of traffic observing. About the fourth pass everything came together and as they say, "felt right", so I let it fly.

Worst case, I get charged for littering, but from what it looks like here I should be safe. Best case senario I  receive a letter in the next fifty years or so and we become best friends. I can't wait!

Grand Open

This past week they completed a project that they started this summer. When I started in Korea there a rundown lot that I passed everyday, with a small corrugated metal mart in the middle and a small waffle fish stand. A few months in they started to dismantle the building and clear the lot making me wonder where I would be able to find edible Korean seafood...

In it's place came a large footprint of what would, in a few short months, become a LG electronics store. It is the Korean equivalent of a Best Buy or Future Shop. It is strategically placed in a affluent, growing neighbourhood right across from a Samsung store of the same nature.

This past week they had their Grand Open as they call it in Korea and while I don't quite understand it, it is all quite interesting. First of all, most electronics stores in Korea have some sort of noise(some call it music) coming from external speakers to infiltrate the otherwise calm(not so much) of everyday Korea. But because it is a grand open they need to push the limits of what their speakers can handle.

Next you add a guy on stilts. No one is sure why, but research show that if you have a guy on stilts you are more likely to attract more people. It's either that or cause more accidents in front of your store. Then you have a clown. Just an ordinary polka dotted, red nosed, cone hatted, baggy panted, frowny faced clown. This store took it one step farther by having a gorilla suited guy to make a full set of musketeers.

And if that is not enough to draw you in they also have lights and streamers and tents and banners and prizes and specials and gifts.

To combat LG's enticing tricks, the Samsung store across the street was doing their best to sell electronics by blasting music and employing a couple of ladies to dance on a street side stage.

What do these gimmicks have to do with selling electronics? I would love to know.

I was almost tempted to set foot in the establishments but unfortunately(or thankfully) I was on a mission.(More on this later)

You can also see from where the picture is taken that the bridge is finished.

Boats!

Due to my new location I got to see this the other day on my ride to work! A ship entering port! While a simple thing in itself, having not grown up with it, I was(and still am) pretty excited about it. Something so big, so close, moving so slowly.

New Home

My school decided that it was best for them to have me out of my apartment a week before I come home. When asked where I should stay they said that I could move in with them... dream come true. I declined. Thankfully one of my friends was kind enough to take me in. This is the view from the table where I eat breakfast. Yes it over looks the sea... not too bad.

Growth

I showed you a while back that my attempt at a garden was a bit of a failure, or so I thought. As I was cleaning up my apartment I noticed that in neglecting a few potatoes and an onion they had begun to do, on their own, what I, with tender loving care, wasn't able to do in summer.

They were growing!

I think this summer I will just buy a bunch of vegetables, put them in a basket and forget about them for a few months. It seems to work as well or better than all the work I put in to making a garden.

Balmy February

It is February and so I thought that I would let you know that it hit 15 degrees Celsius here yesterday. Here is a picture of the street by my school.

Not much to see here but let me tell you, I had a few hours with no class in the afternoon so I escaped the building. I had a legitimate excuse as I needed to see the dentist and while it filled my cavity, it did not fill all my time.

I managed to find enough time(without looking to hard) to spend another 75 kilometers with Annabelle through the winding mountain roads that I will so dearly miss. Not enough time to stop and take a picture though, I had to go through the tunnel in order to make it back in time for class.

Today it was back down to a chilly 8 degrees. Got to take advantage of the the opportunities while they are available...

Abe Factory

Judging by whats in the windows this place has taken a bit of a nose dive but many years ago today this place produced a gem.

Happy Birthday Dad! Thanks for teaching me a thing or two!

(I couldn't find anything that said Amy but I hope you have a swell birthday too...)

Watching Cranes

This past week I was invited to brunch at a friends house, while the biscuits and sausage gravy were ridiculously good, I enjoyed watching the cranes almost as much. They were like giant ant walking to and fro working, slowly but surely.

Behind My House

Behind my house there is a driving facility. I have been up there many a time to light off fireworks and run around. In the evenings it is a relatively quiet place to think and relax. Behind that is a hill. I see it almost daily but up until now I had not the desire nor the time to explore what lay on its slopes. That was until a few weeks ago.

You see the plan was to go down to Geoje Sea Spa, the local jimjibang(public bath), for a soak, but upon seeing how full the parking lot was I decided I would save that for another night. So I started off on a walk up the road behind my house instead.

It was paved at first but very quickly turned to gravel as it wound its way along a barbed-wire topped fence that borders the local army reserve training facility. After a while the path dropped me off at the bottom of a hill that looked all set up for war "games".

After cautiously continuing through the training area I arrived at a star shaped open space with trails leading every which way. I chose to take the one that went up and this is what I found.

I'd say this was a close second to the public bath...

The Oldest Car in Korea

This is the oldest car in Korea, it has to be. Well maybe not but it is the oldest car that I have seen in the year that I have been here. I was so shocked that I felt I had to take a picture.

It is interesting as this car is probably only 15 years old but as all the other cars are 10 years or less it really stuck out. There could be some interesting depths to dive in to looking at what it says about a culture where every one feels they need a new car but instead I will stick to wondering where all their old cars go?

Taiwan - Concluded

A few sights, many delicious meals and a little recovery and it was time to hit the road again, this time to Jiaosi. Jaiosi is a small city just over an hour south of Taipei. The plan was to rent scooters to cruise all day and soak in their hot springs all night.

We took a bus that was carrying us and only two others so it felt like we were living in luxury with our own private bus.(Just being in Taiwan was luxury) We got to Jiaosi and the whole city was hopping, people filling the streets, fire crackers blasting off from the side walk right in front of our feet. It was great.

Because the New Year we had a bit of trouble finding a place to stay. But just when it seemed that every place was booked we found a great little home stay. We rented our scooters, 24 hours for less than our lunch at Burger King had cost, and went on our way.

The first day we arrived late in the afternoon so we dropped off our stuff at our accommodations and hit the town. We found a great chicken restaurant that cooked whole chickens in small domed huts on the ground. The taste was unreal! The most flavourful chicken I have tasted in the past year by far. We also got a bunch of vegetable side dishes, fantastic meal.

With our stomachs satisfied it was off to relax in the hot springs. At Jaiosi hot springs (and possibly many other places) you rent a private room for a certain amount of time that has a couple of tubs in it. It was great, we set one to hot and the other to hotter then sat back to soak it in.

When our time was up it was off to get our feet massaged/pedicured by fish. It was the first time I had done something like it and it was great. The place we went had a bunch of pools so we could sit around them and chat while suppressing the urge to squeal and squirm. The fish were plentiful and hungry meaning that I usually had over ten fish on each foot.

We wandered the town to see what else it had to offer but it seemed that it was getting ready to sleep so we too retired to our abode.

The next day we were up at the first crack of dawn, well it was raining but we tried our best. Breakfast finished at 9:00 and we wanted a piece of it. If you remember from my other Chinese breakfast experience in Wulai, there wasn't a lot that I was willing to eat, granted I was sick but still. The breakfast in Jiaosi was even more Chinese which meant super salty black tofu, rice porige, meat powder, an interesting vegetable dish and other things that I tried to forget. It was something else.

But something that was really good was the coffee. Our host was a roaster who ordered and roasted his own beans from all over the world for himself and others. He made us a number of different samples and while I am not at all knowledgable when it comes to coffee, I do know when something tastes good to me and his coffee tasted good to me.

Following breakfast we headed out on the bikes. We had only rented 3 scooters and so we were doubling which was great as half the time we could look around and enjoy the scenery. The other half of the time was spent trying to keep raindrops from clouding our vision while we blasted down the highway at a speed that a 50cc engine can only deliver at full throttle. It actually rained most of our time in Jiaosi which led to a lack of pictures and a better cough.

We NOS'ed it up to the coast and were greeted to a beautiful beach with very surf-able rolling waves. We parked the bikes for a short walk on the beach before continuing our blast. The scenery was pretty nice in that it was similar to Geoje, the road winding it's way along the coast, an untied shoelace between the mountains and the ocean. We travelled up until we felt our time was up and then turned around and enjoyed it again.

We stopped for lunch at a popular seafood restaurant right across from Turtle Island(check it out, it seems like a great place) and were greeted to many curious faces. It was either our skin colour or our get up as we were covered with colourful rain gear and dripping wet. Had the most delicious meal of the day(I want to say week but we ate so much good food I can't) fish and scallops and prawns and soup and vegetables and and and...

We made our way back to the city, bought a few treats, and fireworks, went back to the house to pick up our stuff and made our way back to Taipei, with just a quick stop in a field to raise some ruckus with a little smoke and noise. We actually stopped twice, once for the fireworks and once because one of the scooters wrecked in to a ditch due to a kickstand malfunction. Thankfully the Lord protected and the damage was limited to a few rips and scrapes.

Back in Taipei we watched a little NFL and then it was off to bed as I had to leave early the next morning. Woke up, had breakfast, caught a couple of buses, a plane, another couple of buses and was back in my apartment in time for dinner.

That was Taiwan. I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

Taiwan - Taipei

The next few days were spent in Taipei. This was nice for me as it was a bit of a slower pace which allowed for some recovery. Due to the great(and ridiculously cheap) public transportation system, we were able to get from our accommodations in New Taipei to Taipei City with ease. With a network of buses and subway lines you can get most any where you could want to go in the city at almost any time.

We went to a hot spring that I completely forget the name of but it was obviously the oldest and most famous other wise we wouldn't have bothered to go. It was a neat set up with the hottest pools at the top with the lower pools getting progressively cooler as the water trickled down. After which we went for a delicious Japanese ramen dinner that looked like this.

Sunday morning James took me to the English service at the church where he attends the Mandarin service and I really enjoyed it.

It was Chinese New Year and so seeing that this was an important date and we were staying with a Chinese family we got treated. They took us to a restaurant that was serving a special meal for the holiday. Let me tell you it was quite the experience!

We walked in to a room full of Chinese, we were the only foreigners and we sat down to a ten course dinner. That's right, ten! We started eating and the food kept coming. When we had gotten the first five course and were close to getting full we asked about where we were in relation to the end. They let us know that we were half done. It was something else!

We also made the obligatory trip to Taipei 101, which is the tallest building in the world, had we visited two years ago. Alas it is now only the second tallest, but it is still pretty tall. As it worked, it was cloudy the day were went up but seeing as we would have no other chance to see it we took a ride in the worlds fastest elevator(Seoul Tower claims to be, but is slow in comparison) to look in to clouds. Another part of our 101 experience was a beer float as a result of a buy one get, one free. It is just like a root beer float except that instead of root beer it is beer and instead of tasting good it tastes peculiar.

This is a damper, Read all about it here.

Taipei is the real deal. It has enough sights, activities, shops, and people to have the title, "An Ideal City". I would agree, Taipei is certainly an ideal city.

Taiwan - Wulai

With breakfast settling in our stomachs we headed out to see what Wulai had to offer. Our first stop was the river side hot springs. To find them, cross the main walking bridge, take a right and then in fifty meters take another right down some stairs. Follow the stairs down to the river, take a right and you will walk right past the man made pools filled with natural hot spring water that is running down the mountain.

It was really neat as it looks like there has been much time spent to make it what it is. Right along the riverside in the rocks you will find small man made pools that fill up with water from the mountain. You can relax in them until you get to hot, then take a dip in the river to cool down.

I decided not to participate due to it being outdoor. I didn't want to expose my wet self to the cold air for fear of getting sicker, so I sat on the side and took in the scenery. It was in one word, beautiful. It is a very lush mountainous area, the river cutting through the middle, a few older apartments along the opposing bank and the calm quiet that comes with few people.

One of the locals ended up coming to me and talking with me in pretty good broken English, real friendly fellow. Told me all about him self, the area and the pools. He also insisted I follow him while he showed me what he said was the best sauna; a surprisingly nice hut of tarps and sticks that instantly fogged the glasses upon lifting the flap of a door. He seemed to be some sort of caretaker of the place so it was neat to be welcomed in this way.

From there we headed up the hill to take a look at the local waterfall. It was worth the trip.

Seeing the waterfall reminded us that we it was just about time for lunch so we snagged a spot at the local restaurant complete with a view of the waterfall. We each got a plate with a ton of food for about $3, it was unreal. By this point I was feeling a little better but decided that if I ate some food perhaps I would recover even quicker so I had my first real meal in Taiwan. My plate came with a smoky style tube meat and it was quite delicious.

It had started to drizzle shortly before we stopped for lunch and it had continued but we decided to press on and check out park with another waterfall just down the road. It was a nice ride down the road for a short way and then a gravel path till the entrance to the park(I don't remember the name). From the gate we had to abandon our bikes and walk, it was an easy scenic trail just above the river that took us to the base of the waterfall.

If we were to compare it to the previous waterfall I would say that I was disappointed, we had to pay money and walk to see something that wasn't even as big. that being said there it was a triple tier waterfall and we were just looking at the bottom tier. There were trails up to view other parts of the waterfall but we were to tired and short on time to explore that option.

From there it was a bit of a grind. We decided that we did not want to stay another night in Wulai and so it was time to move on. It was also at this point the the food decided to let me know that I shouldn't have eaten it. As a result I veto'd going to a village we had talked about as it was twice as far as we had already gone so that meant it was time to bike back to Taipei and return the bikes.

Thankfully because we had more uphills on the way there, the way back had only two major uphills and many, many long downs. Nevertheless, by the time we got back to the bike shop I was cooked.

A big shout out to Alan's Mountain Bikes where we rented the bikes. They were super friendly and more than capable of shooting the breeze in English, they gave us a great deal and helped us out with everything we needed, the bikes were in great running order and we didn't have any trouble. If you are going to be in Taiwan and are thinking of renting a bike check them out here.

After we returned the bikes we made our way to our place of residence during our stay. I was so sick by this time that I was down to basic functions only, it took all my concentration to follow the others to where we were going. I had to think about every step. If I wanted to look at something to the side I had to stop and look because I couldn't walk and look. Definitely the sickest I have been for quite some time, but God gave the strength to make it to where we needed to go.

Took a quick dip in the spa at the apartment we were calling home and then called it a night. Perhaps tomorrow will be a better day.

Taiwan - On the Ground

I landed in Taiwan and made my way to find out if I would be allowed in to the country due to my lack of foresight. Turns out that because I am Canadian, I do not need one. Good news. On the way from the plane to customs I stopped at a flu screening desk but was waved right through. I guess I didn't look sick enough. I followed my directions and caught a bus to Main Station in Taipei City. 

I was immediately blown away. Coming from Canada, I think that the construction going on in Korea on a daily basis is pretty nuts. But right after we got on the highway the construction started and didn't stop for the next 40 miles. Turns out that they are constructing a light rail to connect the airport with metro but the scale of it was pretty nutty.

At Main Station it took only a few minutes to find the guys. We had planned to leave on a bike trip when I arrived but the plans had changed after my bout with the sickness. Having vastly improved from the state I had been in, I convinced them that I was good to go so after a quick bite to eat it was off to rent some bikes.  

By the time we got the bikes we had been traveling for a while and waiting for the bikes to get set up and I was starting to feel it again, the fever was back with a vengeance, but I suppress the call to recover by asking myself how often I went on bike trips through Taiwan. Not often enough. We left just as night was falling and what a ride it was. I didn't feel much better but biking was a distraction so I soldiered on, gulping down the water and taking full advantage of the much to infrequent rest stops.

 

A few hours of following the winding roads, climbing their way through the mountains, we found ourselves in the town of Wulai. If I had done any research I would have known that this was a place to put on the old itinerary. It was a beautiful town up in the lush mountains that had natural mountain fed hot springs. Thankfully someone else and done their research.

We found a nice little restaurant that offered a delicious sounding platter of dishes that was enlarged with the bargaining of our Mandrin speaking friend. Needless to say, I did not feel like eating and so I spent the meal with my head in my hands on the table, healing.

After dinner there were a few errands to run but I, not so politely, cut them short by letting the crew know that it was time to find a place to spend the night else I would shutdown on the street. I had had enough, I was finished.

After a bit of a climb up a hill we managed to find a fairly nice room at a place called Spa World (or something like that) with a king sized bed, 3 portable beds that they brought in and an attached steam room. For how I was feeling at the time it was a great deal and breakfast was included. 

Breakfast was not to my liking, but they did have bread which made of my whole breakfast.

What will the day bring? Stay tuned to find out.