After our trip to the Aquarium, my “travel companions” left for Kyoto and Nara (which I would highly recommend as you really can do Osaka in one day). Completely drained from our whirlwind adventure the day before, I headed back to the hostel for some chill time. I met a really cool girl from England…
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Weekend Warriors vi: The Penis Bar
Yes, you read that right: The Penis Bar. I don’t think anyone knows the real name of the bar in Seomyeon that has a giant wooden penis outside the entry, but it’s where the generation of teachers in Hwamyeong that came before me would frequent almost every weekend. After nearly 6 months, this was my…
Seoul vs. Busan
As you may have guessed by now, The Toronto Seoulcialite actually lives in Busan, not Seoul. The terms of my transfer from Gwacheon to Hwamyeong are confidential, so blabbing about it all over my blog or any kind of social media would be a giant faux pas. The bottom line is that I live in…
A real Thursday Party and Velocity Fitness Busan
Yesterday was a big day. I arrived at 9:30 AM at work where we immediately left for a field trip to the Busan Climate Change Educational Center. As a climate change center it of course limited the aircon and man, that was a hot day for a pencil skirt. The kids loved the morning, and…
Weekend Warriors: Any excuse for Champagne
I have always been the type of person to think that your birthday is just one day. I mean, it’s the DAY of your birth that’s to be celebrated – not the weekend, week, or month. It turns out that my friends are amazing and know how to make an entire week better than I…
Japan iii: Osaka in One Day
Osaka can, in fact, be done in a day. Had I worn appropriate footwear I really would have checked everything off my list and have been off to Kyoto for Friday, but I opted for flats and that was not the brightest idea so my advice for you if you’re just here for the pictures…
Japan ii: The first night
We checked in around 8 PM at J-Hoppers Hostel in Fukushima after a 70 minute ride on the JR line from the airport. I thought that we had all booked spaces in the mixed dorms, but my friends had gone ahead and booked a triple room for themselves. J-Hoppers offered me a space in the…
Japan i: Fly Peach
Getting to the airport for my mini-break (sorry – “summer vacation” from Wednesday – Sunday) was perhaps the easiest and least stressful travel-related thing I’ve ever done. Last Wednesday I slept in, did a load of laundry, rocked Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred, packed, and took the subway to the airport. From the time I…
WW iv: Busan, Beer, Beach, Birthdays
I always get excited when there’s a reason to celebrate. To me, a special occasion is a festival, a new pair of shoes, real cheese at the grocery store, good wine on sale, quality mushrooms, and good people. Save a new pair of shoes, I’ve been celebrating a lot lately. Some fantastic people have had…
Weekend Warriors iii: Typhoon Nangka
I’d like to preface this post with the fact that we have been VERY lucky in Busan. We have had some rain and high winds but even that has not deterred us from heading to the beach and swimming in the rain. Living in Hwamyeong, we truly are Weekend Warriors. We live in a bubble…
Losing weight in Korea
The Korean diet is SO healthy…not! While on a bus the other day a friend and I started flipping through timehop and then through old photos on Facebook (“ohhhh my gosh BABY KATE!” was the reaction). My birthday (coming up August 6th where I’ll go from 27 Western age to 30 Korean age) is…
Rubber Ducky, you’re the one!
photo courtesy of Ondong Kim After a wonderful morning seeing ancient tombs, a beautiful observatory, dressing up in traditional clothes, and walking through gardens and fields that went on for miles it was suddenly lunch time. I expected to have to board the bus again and venture 20 minutes or so to our next destination….