The Powerful Dragon

This route at our local climbing area, aptly named "Powerful Dragon", is a doozey, for lack of a better word. Holly decided to take on this project, and has had the pleasure of working it time and time again on cooler days (i.e. the one weekend where the mercury dropped below 30 degrees C). She also has the privelage of toting her very own camera crew to document her efforts (i.e. a band-aid of a husband who is recovering from an injury, who coincidentaly poses as the cheering squad).

Please visually enjoy this journey, it has claimed a lot of effort, sweat, and skin. I have had the privelage of watching it firsthand!


BTW - The climber in the red shirt is our friend Hang Sun, who is a local hardcore climber, chef extraordinaire, and the nicest woman in Korea. She also happens to be our neighbour. We are lucky to have her as a great friend!

Don't get in the way of this shredder!!

In early August Holly and I made our triumphant return to Song Jeong Beach, where we were met with excellent baby-waves (perfect for beginners like us!) and throngs of people on tubes, boogy boards, windsurfing apparati, and the like. To say the beach was crowded would be the ultimate understatement.

But by some stroke miraculous fate, we hung around the beach long enough to see the clock strike 6:00 pm and the beach subsequently empty at an exponential rate. I guess the two lifeguard guys hugging on a sea doo, blowing whistles at people like their lives depended on it, were enough to scare away most people.

The beach devoid of life (except surfers), the water's concentration of urine dropping quickly, and the sun ducking at a pretty darn quick pace, Holly began to work her magic. This wave monster was caught on camera a couple times (with a waterproof camera, might I add), owning the beach like it was put there with the sole purpose for her to give surf lessons to onlookers. I had a great time watching her this fine evening. It all came together and we left that night with enormous smiles that can only come from an activity such as surfing.

The Maze of Confusion

On our last day on Jeju Island, Holly and I shooting pictures left and right with our nifty disposable cameras, we stumbled upon an a-"maze"-ing maze on the north coast.
The maze sat silent, yet somehow it managed to taunt and challenge me without a single spoken word. The maze reached deep into my soul and figuratively latched on with a 'tentacle-like', antagonizing fervor. After 2 long seconds of reflection, I was compelled to put up an honest effort at cracking its code, so to speak...

It was a deep and powerful journey, one that required me to summon all my nerve and navigating capability, called me to question my manhood, and took me to the lowest of low places men dare not speak of....

FINALLY, (after consulting the map and my wife) I reigned victorious, ringing the victory bell with the last of my strength. The triumph that ensued was the sweetest sensation, and one that few have ever achieved. This was one of humanities' crowning moments. The event parallelled others of its like: Hillary and Norgay's first ascent of Everest in '53, and Armstrong and Aldrin's moonwalk in '69.

Needless to say, I was riding a wave of exhilaration and self satisfaction when I planted that Canadian flag deep in the heart of the beast...in the center of that ominous, green challenge that some refer to as a maze, I claimed my victory, a victory for my fellow country-men back home.

For some strange reason I was then quickly escorted off the property and to the parking lot, with the staff claiming that my emotional outburst was scaring away potential 10 year old customers.

These days, I lay awake at night thinking of that ever so brief and beautiful task I was summoned to complete. I have opened a door to a whole new world for societey to explore as an activity of leisure...

I am now waiting for someone to write about my accomplishments in Wikipedia. Yup, still waiting, but it'll happen soon, I just know it.

Tour de Jeju

Matt and I spent our second day on the island cruisin’ the streets on ultra high tech mountain bikes (chazif) and our new super high tech camera (as in disposable camera). We also found some sunscreen that wasn’t made in Korea, and off we went. We spent most of the morning checking out some gorgeous waterfalls near our hostel, and a historical-folklore museum that had a few translated descriptions but we got the main folklore story translated in a cartoon they played on a big screen. Ancient Chinese travellers searched this island for the herb of eternal life.

The waterfalls were absolutely refreshing since the weather was SO humid, and we felt more like slugs than actual people on our bikes. Matt in particular was suffering from the heat. I think he might have been mistaken for a waterfall himself a few times as beads of sweat poured down his face, arms, legs, etc. at ALL TIMES! Poor guy, I should have gotten a Gatorade I.V. for him.

An interesting side note about the waterfalls (and Korea in general) is that the women hear are like mountain goats! You watch a mountain goat scramble over rocks and think, how can they do that on those little hooves? I sat at one waterfall in particular and marveled at the finesse and balance of the throngs of women hopping precariously from high heel to high heel on these slippery rocks. Their boyfriends/husbands were not far behind snapping picture upon picture of their perilous beauties (narcissists are more than welcome in Korea). I’m not talking about some little wedge heel here. These were bonified spikes! I peered down at my own feet, which were cradled in chacos sandals (specifically designed for hiking), and they seemed so happy and safe. I don’t know if it was the heat, but I swear in that moment I heard my feet whisper ‘thank you’. :)

In the afternoon the heat was over taking us, and we needed to go for a swim. Matt and I thought we would try to bike towards Jungmun Beach, the beach we had visited the day before. We pushed off and instantly enjoyed the breeze in our face. I peddled away with all my might, realizing that we were almost constantly traveling downhill! How great! We took a detour on the beachside road…more downhill! I felt like a kid on my bike, loving the moment and all the sensations of the wind, the speed, and the scenery. I started yelling back to Matt, “Isn’t this great? Wahhhooo!”

No answer from Matt.

I slowed and peered behind me, I could see that Matt was trying to penetrate my skull with dagger glares. You all know how infrequently Matt throws a glare, so I wondered what was wrong. He informed of something I already knew, “Holly, all this downhill isn’t going to be ‘wahoo’ on the way home”.

Interesting point Matt, but the kid in me only egged him on as I flapped my wings, wiggled my bumb and did the best impression of a chicken I could muster with only one hand.

So we proceeded with me in the front, still feeling the heat of Matt’s petulant glare on the back of my head. We could see from the landmarks that we were nearly at the beach. Maybe only ten more minutes on the bike. All of a sudden, this huge sandcastle-looking structure (literally) appeared in our view. As we approached we saw a sign which described the building as the Museum of African Art. WHAT? In Korea? The Hermit Kingdom? I don’t mean to sound negative, but Korea is totally a monoculture society. They eat, live, and breathe Korean culture. But nestled in this sandcastle was a museum of African Art? We had to check it out.

It was amazing! The first floor was a photography exhibit of wildlife and people of African. All the photos were beautiful, so clear and vivid. The second floor had sculptures, traditional jewelry and clothing. The third floor had hand carved wood pieces of benches, tables, statues, and a gift shop. Finally the basement had a live drumming show with three men and one woman. The men drummed many songs as the women (who was so incredibly beautiful), sang and danced. She moved like a wild animal, so fast and crazy. It floored both Matt and I…we loved it. Matt forgot about the impending bike ride home after the drumming show! The only thing that was too bad about the museum is that our disposable camera ran out of film! Hmph.

We made it to the beach and relished in the cool waters and setting sun. After lamenting over the ominous ride home we decided to give it our best shot. It was a slow start back to the main road (not the detoured way we came) which was a long, gradual uphill. After only twenty minutes of steady uphill things started going downhill…again! Somehow, the ride was mostly long and downhill, so we bombed it with pure relief. I don’t know if our guardian angels tilted the island for us, but we managed to go mostly downhill both ways! It was such an awesome day!

The casualties of our vacation

We spent our first day at the most popular beach in Jeju called, Jungmun Beach. It is a beautiful stretch of sand backed by large cliffs of volcanic rock, and lush, green vegetation. The sun was beating down on us, and we were both getting our ‘sweat on’ in a serious way. Not that we weren’t prepared for the sun as I had responsibly bought SPF 35 WATERPROOF sunscreen (made in Korea) and slathered over both of us like the dickens. We also rented a tacky umbrella for the day (to prevent the broiling of our pearly white skin), and I even took the added precaution of wearing a t-shirt over my shoulders. Alas, all this was in vein. After an awesome day of swimming, exploring the beach, and card playing (I beat Matt at crib nearly 100 times, I swear) we were lobsterfied (causality number one). I guess the moral of my story is that Koreans know how to make cars, cell phones and spicy food, but they certainly do not know how to make sunscreen!

Of course during this amazing day at the beach we had to take many pictures. We still marvel at the novelties of a digital camera, especially when your camera is “all weather” and it can go anywhere with you! The camera captured the beautiful beach, the card game victories, the sea shells and our beautiful white skin totally exposed. It even caught the amazing underwater world and my charming husband in a quality photo (see picture).

Now, the funny thing about all weather cameras is that technically, they aren’t all weather. If you want further information about this, I can send you the link for the Olympus 710 Stylus All Weather Camera Warranty. Apparently these cameras do not like going in the water, regardless of the fact that they have an underwater function and we swear the guy (that sold us the camera) said they can go in the water. Oh, they can go in the water…but water damage is NOT covered under warranty. I pledge now to always read the fine print. To think of all the juicy details that only exist in the fine print world…I’ve missed out on a lot of those details in my life, and I’m not about to miss out on anymore! Our wonderful camera became causality number two much to our dismay.

Thankfully our memory stick likes water, and we were able to save the pictures of our day!

Our first night in Korea's version of 'paradise'

Flying into Jeju Island from the North gives this view. As you can see, most of the island is visible from the sky, it's that small. The island is basically a big extinct volcanoe, culminating in one tall and prominent peak (Halla mountain) that stands about 1900 m above the ocean. It's the tallest peak in all of Korea, so this mountain-crazy country holds this peak in high regard.

After getting off the plane in Jeju city on the North of the island, we hopped on the "airport limousine" bus that took us around to a 'tiny town' (population 90 000) called Seogwipo.

Here we passed by the cheesy resort complex area, with rooms ranging in price from 200 -5000 US dollars a night. We opted for the $2o per night hostel across the street from a beautiful waterfall (good enough for these cats! It left more money for important stuff like locally grown tangerines...mmm) .
The waterfall was in a great little park with many volcanic rock statues of 'dolharubang' (stone grandfathers) that originated back in the days of an ancient Korean dynasty. Holly made friends with one of these little guys.

We also saw this big green insect. I am no entomologist (bug dude) so I don't feel comfortable calling it a beetle... but it looks like it packs a mean bite. Crazy stuff for sure. He bit me and I fainted. Holly caught me in her arms before I hit the ground.