Hello,
So we got off the bus and was picked up straight away by this nice man called Truman, because he is a True Man apparently. We went over to our Hotel and were shocked. Mahinda got his own room with a double bed and we all went upstairs to find mats on the floor. It was disheartening. It was also at that point when we looked around that we realised we were in THAT type of motel, say where married men may come for some alone time or with a female caller. This assumption was due to the videos left for our viewing pleasure and some of the channels on TV...
Moving on, we went out for dinner to a vegetarian place and the guy ordered for us. Loads of food got brought out and we munched away, I tried many things such as pumpkin soup, acorn jelly, tofu and peppers until I was full. Only then did we realise that was only starter and our main arrived with rice and broth and pancakes. It was nice but we were really really full. Then came out a cake dessert and rice cakes, it was a feast for a king and cost about 7BP each, crazy. We had tea to settle our stomachs and Truman told us stories about Korea and the symbolism. For example, the sun is the man and the woman is the moon because of the cycles. Also we are made of three parts on our body, also that 12 is a really important number in Korea. It was amazing to learn and we were quizzed on it.
We then retired to our hotel and to our rooms. Helena was flicking the channels and we found an American show called 'the biggest tool'. It was the funniest thing I've seen in my life. Mainly about guys who cheated on their girlfriends and were in therapy. Every week they had to pass a test to gain and infidelity badge, it was hilarious. Mid-way through a girl showed up and announced she was the real girl friend of one of the guys, not the girl who he was there with. We were in stitches and at the end they had to vote off a guy. This week it was Joey who was told he was just a Tool.
We then watched Miss Korea and I told scary stories about fan death before we went to bed.


GOOD MORNING! BA BA BA BA BA BA BA BA DA DA DA.
Even Helena looked like she wanted to kill Caroline for her alarm. We got up and showered and dressed and returned our room to the normal state. We left the items in the room well alone and met Truman outside with Mahinda. We ate on the way to Bulguksa Temple and when we got there mainly just wandered. There they had many national treasures but we were a tad fed up as we've seen many Temples this holiday. It was still great to see and very calming atmosphere, I just love the smell of the chanting rooms. We got quizzed by Truman on things and he prodded us with a foam finger if we got something wrong.
Next we went to the Seokguram Grotto, a UNESCO site where we climbed up a hill and saw this large Buddha that was hidden from the Japs and the Confucianisms for many years in a mountain. You aren't allowed to take photos but it was really large and impressive. Afterwards we wrote on a roof tile, I wrote in Welsh and our tile got placed on the International row, it was lush to see all the different messages from around the world.
Afterwards we went to the folk village to look at some pottery and then onto a restaurant. Like yesterday it was vegetarian but only a main course. Mine was yummy, a salad and grass and rice. Truman gave us his business card, Origami made by his wife and we all had very strong Cinnamon tea. We were then given a lift to the bus station where we were travelling for 4 hours from Gyeongju back to Seoul. It was long but good as we got to look at the photos that we'd taken on the bus, Mahindas taken loads, mainly unflattering ones.
I got to gangnam shopping station and we all went our separate ways, I hung on to look round the shops and bought a new skirt. This lady, the shop owner then started laughing and prodding my boobs while saying HUGE! It was funny and she called everyone over to admire the goods. She then proceeded to laugh as she found out my bra size and gave me a hefty slap on the bum as I left the store, quite funny.
I'm now at home and very tired, alot has gone on in Pusan and Gyeongju.
Logging off for now,
Angharad

Labels: bras, busan, grotto, gyeongju, love shack, motel, pusan, seoul, stores, touching, truman, UNESCO

I got up and we had a bowl of cold water between us to wash. We agreed it was the lushest sleep ever though. We got dressed and met Mahinda outside, we then went to the Kitchen and met the children. They were so cute and it was hard to learn that they were orphans as it's still a very taboo thing in Korea and Japan. It's very nice as the people take out their free time to look after the children and teach them. We found out afterwards that the majority are orphans, given up by parents because of shame. It was quite shocking to hear.
We had breakfast, rice, and then got in this bus with the others and drove to this amazing temple. There we met up with three cute children who'd just come back from America and were the children of the Rehab lady. Their English was perfect and they acted as our tor guides and our translators. We walked around for a bit and done more prayers before getting some lunch, rice.. again, before being taken to this land with millions of Lotus flowers, it was really pretty and we met an awesome monk for tea. He was so cheeky and pretended to scare the children. The monk was the head of the monastery and had such a great vibe about him, he was really interested in us. We had lots of photos with him and he took me to a place to take a nice photograph.
We then drove about and dropped the Japanese to the airport before being taken around Tesco, it was so weird to see Tesco in another country.
We then got dropped at our hotel for tonight, it is SO cool. Me and Caroline are sharing a room and Helena has her own. We have a twin room, HD television (which has BAD videos on it... for free) , computer and air conditioner. It's costing us about $30 which is amazing as it's right on the beach. We went out for western food and shared a big pizza and some chips which was good before looking at this band on the beach. It was cheesy but really good to watch, we're just so chilled out at the moment.
Me and Caroline decided to sneak out for a night out. We went into this building and started walking up the stairs trying to find a place. We heard lots of men cheering and got escorted out in a nice way. It was only afterwards that we realised that we were trying to enter a mens strip club. It was quite hilarious looking back but scary at the time! In giggles we went looking for more places but ended up having very strong drinks and a chat in the hotel bar. Now I'm drinking $1,6%, vodka and lemonade in a can, it's quite funny.
Earlier we were walking across the pier until Caroline pointed out these fish that look abit dodgey. I'll let you work out what they look like.
Logging off for now,
-Angharad

Labels: beach, busan, chilled, cocktails, funny, strip club

So I got up really late and was in a bad mood as I was late and realised that I'd packed things that couldn't be taken on the plane. Mam rung me then and I got stressed out and couldn't find my stuff to go to Busan. We rushed breakfast and got a bus to the tube when I held us up by topping my card up. We gota taxi from ChungMoro to university then I had to do walk of shame into the class. The lecture was boring but I finished Katie Prices book that I borrowed off Caroline. We then got to eat some food and sort stuff out before meeting with Lucy who is leaving to go home on Monday. We managed to get a tube to the airport and had toast and bought some biscuits. We are staying at a rehab centre for children with learning diffuculties. We got on the plane and was down before we could look around and laughed at the fact the plane was tidy and rocky.
Mahinda, Helena, Caroline and myself got picked up at the airport by Mr Park and Mahinda tried to talk to the poor boy although he did not speak english. We went into Busan town and were surprised to go to a resturant. Unluckily for us it was a seafood resturant and bought out optipus and crazy fish. I got sick and me and Caroline left, it was creepy. We walked along the beach which was really really nice.
We met up with Helena and talked for a while before meeting back and going in the car to the Rehab centre. The owners had got fruit for us and we met our Proofessors mother, father and sister. It was really nice and we met child experts from Japan. The others were really shocked to find that Mahinda can speak Japanese. We had a translator but only for Japanese to Korean and not for English. It was akward as they were talkiong about us but we coludn't respond.
We couldn't believe our luck when we got a big room and bunk bed each, it's really comfy.
Anyway, I must go,
Logging off for now,
Angharad

Labels: airport, alive, areoplane, bunk beds, busan, Fish, japan, rehab, sushi, tired

Hello,
So we got off the bus and was picked up straight away by this nice man called Truman, because he is a True Man apparently. We went over to our Hotel and were shocked. Mahinda got his own room with a double bed and we all went upstairs to find mats on the floor. It was disheartening. It was also at that point when we looked around that we realised we were in THAT type of motel, say where married men may come for some alone time or with a female caller. This assumption was due to the videos left for our viewing pleasure and some of the channels on TV...
Moving on, we went out for dinner to a vegetarian place and the guy ordered for us. Loads of food got brought out and we munched away, I tried many things such as pumpkin soup, acorn jelly, tofu and peppers until I was full. Only then did we realise that was only starter and our main arrived with rice and broth and pancakes. It was nice but we were really really full. Then came out a cake dessert and rice cakes, it was a feast for a king and cost about 7BP each, crazy. We had tea to settle our stomachs and Truman told us stories about Korea and the symbolism. For example, the sun is the man and the woman is the moon because of the cycles. Also we are made of three parts on our body, also that 12 is a really important number in Korea. It was amazing to learn and we were quizzed on it.
We then retired to our hotel and to our rooms. Helena was flicking the channels and we found an American show called 'the biggest tool'. It was the funniest thing I've seen in my life. Mainly about guys who cheated on their girlfriends and were in therapy. Every week they had to pass a test to gain and infidelity badge, it was hilarious. Mid-way through a girl showed up and announced she was the real girl friend of one of the guys, not the girl who he was there with. We were in stitches and at the end they had to vote off a guy. This week it was Joey who was told he was just a Tool.
We then watched Miss Korea and I told scary stories about fan death before we went to bed.


GOOD MORNING! BA BA BA BA BA BA BA BA DA DA DA.
Even Helena looked like she wanted to kill Caroline for her alarm. We got up and showered and dressed and returned our room to the normal state. We left the items in the room well alone and met Truman outside with Mahinda. We ate on the way to Bulguksa Temple and when we got there mainly just wandered. There they had many national treasures but we were a tad fed up as we've seen many Temples this holiday. It was still great to see and very calming atmosphere, I just love the smell of the chanting rooms. We got quizzed by Truman on things and he prodded us with a foam finger if we got something wrong.
Next we went to the Seokguram Grotto, a UNESCO site where we climbed up a hill and saw this large Buddha that was hidden from the Japs and the Confucianisms for many years in a mountain. You aren't allowed to take photos but it was really large and impressive. Afterwards we wrote on a roof tile, I wrote in Welsh and our tile got placed on the International row, it was lush to see all the different messages from around the world.
Afterwards we went to the folk village to look at some pottery and then onto a restaurant. Like yesterday it was vegetarian but only a main course. Mine was yummy, a salad and grass and rice. Truman gave us his business card, Origami made by his wife and we all had very strong Cinnamon tea. We were then given a lift to the bus station where we were travelling for 4 hours from Gyeongju back to Seoul. It was long but good as we got to look at the photos that we'd taken on the bus, Mahindas taken loads, mainly unflattering ones.
I got to gangnam shopping station and we all went our separate ways, I hung on to look round the shops and bought a new skirt. This lady, the shop owner then started laughing and prodding my boobs while saying HUGE! It was funny and she called everyone over to admire the goods. She then proceeded to laugh as she found out my bra size and gave me a hefty slap on the bum as I left the store, quite funny.
I'm now at home and very tired, alot has gone on in Pusan and Gyeongju.
Logging off for now,
Angharad

Labels: bras, busan, grotto, gyeongju, love shack, motel, pusan, seoul, stores, touching, truman, UNESCO

I got up and we had a bowl of cold water between us to wash. We agreed it was the lushest sleep ever though. We got dressed and met Mahinda outside, we then went to the Kitchen and met the children. They were so cute and it was hard to learn that they were orphans as it's still a very taboo thing in Korea and Japan. It's very nice as the people take out their free time to look after the children and teach them. We found out afterwards that the majority are orphans, given up by parents because of shame. It was quite shocking to hear.
We had breakfast, rice, and then got in this bus with the others and drove to this amazing temple. There we met up with three cute children who'd just come back from America and were the children of the Rehab lady. Their English was perfect and they acted as our tor guides and our translators. We walked around for a bit and done more prayers before getting some lunch, rice.. again, before being taken to this land with millions of Lotus flowers, it was really pretty and we met an awesome monk for tea. He was so cheeky and pretended to scare the children. The monk was the head of the monastery and had such a great vibe about him, he was really interested in us. We had lots of photos with him and he took me to a place to take a nice photograph.
We then drove about and dropped the Japanese to the airport before being taken around Tesco, it was so weird to see Tesco in another country.
We then got dropped at our hotel for tonight, it is SO cool. Me and Caroline are sharing a room and Helena has her own. We have a twin room, HD television (which has BAD videos on it... for free) , computer and air conditioner. It's costing us about $30 which is amazing as it's right on the beach. We went out for western food and shared a big pizza and some chips which was good before looking at this band on the beach. It was cheesy but really good to watch, we're just so chilled out at the moment.
Me and Caroline decided to sneak out for a night out. We went into this building and started walking up the stairs trying to find a place. We heard lots of men cheering and got escorted out in a nice way. It was only afterwards that we realised that we were trying to enter a mens strip club. It was quite hilarious looking back but scary at the time! In giggles we went looking for more places but ended up having very strong drinks and a chat in the hotel bar. Now I'm drinking $1,6%, vodka and lemonade in a can, it's quite funny.
Earlier we were walking across the pier until Caroline pointed out these fish that look abit dodgey. I'll let you work out what they look like.
Logging off for now,
-Angharad

Labels: beach, busan, chilled, cocktails, funny, strip club

So I got up really late and was in a bad mood as I was late and realised that I'd packed things that couldn't be taken on the plane. Mam rung me then and I got stressed out and couldn't find my stuff to go to Busan. We rushed breakfast and got a bus to the tube when I held us up by topping my card up. We gota taxi from ChungMoro to university then I had to do walk of shame into the class. The lecture was boring but I finished Katie Prices book that I borrowed off Caroline. We then got to eat some food and sort stuff out before meeting with Lucy who is leaving to go home on Monday. We managed to get a tube to the airport and had toast and bought some biscuits. We are staying at a rehab centre for children with learning diffuculties. We got on the plane and was down before we could look around and laughed at the fact the plane was tidy and rocky.
Mahinda, Helena, Caroline and myself got picked up at the airport by Mr Park and Mahinda tried to talk to the poor boy although he did not speak english. We went into Busan town and were surprised to go to a resturant. Unluckily for us it was a seafood resturant and bought out optipus and crazy fish. I got sick and me and Caroline left, it was creepy. We walked along the beach which was really really nice.
We met up with Helena and talked for a while before meeting back and going in the car to the Rehab centre. The owners had got fruit for us and we met our Proofessors mother, father and sister. It was really nice and we met child experts from Japan. The others were really shocked to find that Mahinda can speak Japanese. We had a translator but only for Japanese to Korean and not for English. It was akward as they were talkiong about us but we coludn't respond.
We couldn't believe our luck when we got a big room and bunk bed each, it's really comfy.
Anyway, I must go,
Logging off for now,
Angharad

Labels: airport, alive, areoplane, bunk beds, busan, Fish, japan, rehab, sushi, tired