Im quite tired of traveling. Pick a bag, buy a bag, take care of bags, luck bags, open bags, close bags, pack bags, smell like a bag, sit in bags, take the bus with bags, take the plane with extra bags, suffer the heaviness of a bag, report lose bags, sleep on bags, smoke crushed cigarets from bags, dress clothes from bags, step on bags, go to immigration with bags,  caught drunk with bags, pack milk on bags, promise for your bag that you will pay the hostel fee, drop by the MoMa with bags, Bubble tea in Torontos China Town with bags, take the ship with bags, run with bags, walk with bags, bend on your nice with bags, write down your name on bags, argue with the fly attendant with bags, register bags, love bags, hate the bags, seen your ex gf with your bag, say good bye to your gf with bags, say hello to your mother with bags, take a very expensive taxi cab with bags, ride the Shinkasen with bags, ride the underground with bags, the ttc with bags, the seoul metro with bags, lufthansa with bags, ryan air with bags, the beetle with bags, amsterdam trance house techno fest with bags, smoke weed with bags, take coce with bags, drink a beer in Munich with bags, Tim Hortons with bags, sit on a internet cafe in berlin Hauptbahnof and search for hostel and browse the face book at the same time with bags, eat a chocolate danish with bags, run with bulls with bags, drink two beers in Munich with bags, bar hopping with bags, Brussels red district with bags (not a very smart idea), climb the Mayan Sun pyramid with bags, sauna with bags, find your lost friend with bags, take photos with bags, record the blonde Norwegian girl getting naked with bags, eat 삼겹살 with bags, lunch ラーメン with bags..

I guess the big, heavy, smelly, broken, bag is your best friend after all…. 

As much as I like myself I like samgyeopsal — no doubt  

Gapyeong and Naminara Republic

Gapyeong for Lovers 

It was late night Monday when I arrived to Gapyeong, It is small county not so far away from the metropolis. The town is fresh and open with a forest kind of look -  with lots of mountains, rice and kimchi farms. 

It was my B day and my Gf got the idea of renting a Pension (a small house for lovers - pink walls and pink bed), there are hundreds of this little houses around Gapyeong, usually a bus takes you to the house but it was pretty late and buses were out of service so she manage a plan to get there. 

The pensions are located deep in the forest where it is dark and quiet - I was even able to see the stars, the place looks like a fairy tale scenery. It is a very cool place to have a BBQ and some drinks with your most beloved company. 

Naminara Republic

Next morning 11:30 am a bus picked us up in front of the pention and it went all the way back to the main bus station in Gapyeong, it is quite funny to see how the bus lift only couples (so korea). 

We arrived into the station - to take a tour bus, it is not a real tour bus but it takes you to all the tourist attractions for only 5000 wons. ;

Petite France,  a small area with tiny houses  with french design, it is quite famous among korean people. 

The Garden of Morning Calm, it is a big forest with lots of gardens and roads, very calm place to sit and relax (it is packed with tourists). 

Republic of Naminara, my personal favourite - it is actually a small island, we had to take a ferry ( 8000 won if you are foreigner) to cross, during the summer time is possible to take a cable car. 

I loved it -  bicycle rentals, lots of places to take pictures, cafes, bicycle roads, a famous Jazz festival during October. we had so much fun, I recomend this place on a sunny Sunday, it is better between 12 and 3 pm, try to bring a small lunch, restaurants can be expensive.. 

Directions - Chuncheon Station - Gyeongchun line. 

Drinks in HO Bar !

‘You lookin’ at me?’ Fake book soothes race relations

Discover - China Town & Wolmido 

Everybody that comes to korea knows Incheon because of the Airport, surely not everyone knows that Incheon is home of the only China Town in South Korea and much more than that. Last weekend I had the chance to visit Incheon and it only took me an hour and fifteen minutes by subway. 

China Town

As soon as i walked out from the subway station I could see the  entrance of China Town, it is a big gate with lions and dragons. There are numerous tourist taking pictures and buying suvenirs in the street. It is a good place to visit during Saturday or Sunday, make sure to bring your camera cause the place has tons of kodak moments. 

It is a hill and after a good walk it was time for something to eat - some chinese food it is a most but there are lots of restaurants where to pick, the menus are in the windows and everything looks familiar, I picked a restaurant that I saw on internet (not the best choice). The bill wasn’t that bad ( $25 for two people) 

* Shark fin on its menu 

Wolmido

It is located about 15 min. bus trip from Incheon and it is a major getaway for koreans during the weekend, you wont see many foreigners cause is not a very popular destination whatsoever it is worth the trip. 

When I got off from the bus I had to walk for about 10 min.  soon I started to hear people screaming and yelling, there is small amusement park “play hill” more like a town-fair.  There are about ten rides but one of them is call “Apollo Disco”, holly shit what !@#!@ ride. It is something like a disc that doesn’t have any seat belts and spins and bounces for like 30min. but the good part is that the guy with the controllers makes fun of the people who is having a bad time inside the ride !! you have to see it by yourself or you can ride it on your own risk. 

Walmido has restaurants, shot games, fire works at night and a very nice boulevard where you can enjoy the view of the sea. There are also cruises that go all the way to the islands. 

Directions - 

China Town : Take the Seoul metro to Incheon Station, China town is right in front of the station. 

Wolmido: Incheon Station, take buses 2,23 or 45 to Wolmido Island (is the last stop) 

Note: Last train to Seoul DownTown leaves at 11: 45 

TOP PICKS - Whats poping in the Seoul dongs !!!

Driven by the forces of the nature I merged myself into korean FASHION, I wanted to discover what’s happening in the asian peninsula. Surprisedly  I found a great variety of tentative good looking trends. 

I make a small list of what’s cooking and boiling !

Boys Trends - 

Whats in ?

Slim pants; from top to bottom, some like it better with bell cut (love the H.K. 70’s style, Bruce Lee hair cut and a pair of brown shades).

Tops; V neck T-shirts , non specific brand name shirts, all kinds of hoodies with prints (teddy bears)

Footwear; Oxfords Brown and Black ( fix hill, to make it look taller) , moccasin (not to many but some) and surely the New Balance ( wow what a great comeback for this brand), some guys prefer Nike or Adidas but the design is the same ” Tom Hanks 80’s “.

*Toms — this brand is not doing so well in S.K. -  to flat and the lack of extra inches. 

Girls Trends - 

Hills - in their majority black ones with pick point. 

Ballet Flat - minimal ones, not like the Japanese ones. 

New balances, Nikes and Adidas - bright colors, black with orange, or grey with yellow,

A part of the girls population is strongly influenced by looking older and professional, this girls tend to wear extra make up and big size accessories, handbags, lighter outfits.

What’s staying?

• - Preppy style
• - Water proof apparel 
• - slim jeans

What’s leaving?

• - Hip Hop style ( loose jackets and pants)
• - Fun local fashion - the entry of giant brand names. I guess it was matter of time. 

What’s comming?

• - Denim shirts
• - Dr. Martins 
• - Army hair cut
• - Leather jackets 
• - Cheap brands like - H&M  and its low quality  products. 

Ok, it’s been a week since I arrived to Seoul, South Korea and I just unpacked my stuffed to stay for 2 months. I don’t want this to become just an other blog about “my life in SK and K pop”, I think thats nasty. ( don’t take me wrong i love it) 

 I think there are plenty of english teachers out there that update their blogs in a daily bases with all kinds of clichés about Seoul. Im in search of something more interesting to the eye, something that is not even lonely planet material ( not so lonely anymore). Going to be hard but with the help of my Korean friends and BIZARRADAR, I will be able to make it. 

The plus that makes me think that I will succeed is that Im Mexican and thats probably my best line, I have a very different way to see things and mostly  cause i have an entirely different spirit ( PARTY PEOPLE) …… Im just saying this cause usually every foreigner comes from either an English speaking country or an Asian country. 

Let’s make this as interesting as possible, I promise i wont complain and i wont exaggerate things. I will just accept this place as it is.