Vlog 037: Hanging Out With A Thai Buddhist Monk at the Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul
Visiting the Gyeongbokgung Palace in Seoul, South Korea — and making a pretty incredible encounter in the process!
Beats by Esta.
🇰🇷😻🍲☕️ So much S(e)oul!
Hello everybody!
It’s been 10 days in Seoul, South Korea, and I’ve got a big ol’ crush on this city, this country, and this culture.
Over the past ten days, I’ve gotten to discover multiple facets of Korean life, its food, its lifestyle, and its culture – both old and modern sides. And I’ve been loving every moment and every day.
I do not actually know a lot of close friends who have been to Seoul before – I know that a former friend studied there, and that the lovely Ashley & Jon, two good friends from Brighton, met here in SeoulI believe. They still look fondly on this time!
So, for what it’s worth, I just want to point out that South Korea is criminally underrated.
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Similarly to Shanghai, people here say that “they don’t speak English very well” – except that here,they do know the basics:in Shanghai, I had some trouble getting understood when asking for water. So as a foreigner, it gets much easier to chat, ask for directions, or order at a restaurant.
In addition, I’ve tried to correct my earlier mistake of not learning basic phrases – so I now know how to say Hello, Chiken, Beer, Thank You, Sorry, and a few other useful phrases.
But let’s get back to Seoul itself. The city is more spread out than Paris, as a point of reference, but holds a population of similar size: about 10 million people.
So far, I’ve had a lot of different food – but being solo most of the time, I haven’t had the chance to try a real Korean BBQ – a wrong that will be corrected next weekend, when I get some company, and a very special visitor for a few days.
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In addition to the food, I’ve been lucky enough to meet up with a contact who’s here as a foreign student, and he introduced me to his group of friends: a mixture of Koreans, mixed Asians, and westerners. These folks actually took me out last Sunday, for ChiMek (The contraction of the words Chicken & Mekju – the latter which stands for beer).
It was essentially a picnic by the river Han, which flows through the city. You sit down on the grass, and order from one of the many vendors and takeaway places who offer different variety of fried chicken. From there, they took me out drinking, eating some more, and later, to my very first karaoke! That evening finished at 5:30am, and we waited for the very first metro: I got back to my Airbnb at 6am, on a Monday morning, haha!
Besides that, I was incredibly surprised and excited to discover he local coffee scene: see South Korea is actually a bigger coffee drinker than the USA, and there are coffee houses everywhere. Starbucks and other chains are here, of course, but you can also easily find indie coffee houses that roast their own beans —something else that’s right along my alley.
So I’ve been working from coffee houses from times to times, to get a breath of fresh air. The rest of the time, I’ve been in my Airbnb, living with a family of four, who have been very kind and helpful to me. The children are very cute, if turbulent at times, and it’s definitely a unique experience to live with them and witness Korean life first hand!
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This past week, I’ve focused on my work, of course, but I also went around the dynamic Hongdae neighborhood, just two metro stops away from my neighborhood of Gongdeok – this is a small student town where you can find a ton of shops, coffee houses, bars, restaurants, but also ANIMAL CAFES!
That’s right: in Wednesday, I’ve actually hit a Raccoon cafe, a Sheep cafe, and a Meerkat cafe! This was an incredible and amazingly cute experience, and you’ll be able to watch all of this in the latest vlog (see the first link at the top of this email!)
That’s already a handful, and I’ve got many more Korean adventures planned before leaving this country, so stay tuned for another post in a few days/weeks.
I’m in love with this country and city!
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Vlog 036: The Meerkat Fell Asleep On My Lap
Moar adventures in Seoul:
- exploring the Common Grounds container park,
- going out all night for food & drinks and karaoke, a true Korean experience,
- and discovering the incredibly cute Animal Cafes here in the Hongdae area!
Sticker Obsession
I’m developing an obsession towards stickers and cute things from here in Korea!
Vlog 035: Goodbye Shanghai ; Hello Seoul
For my next destination, I am now in Seoul, until mid-June! I’m already loving it!
Looking back on one month in Shanghai
Hello everybody !
First of all, I wanted to thank those of you who’ve shared some good vibes, of friendly messages and support. As I’m writing this, I’m in my Airbnb, in Shanghai, for a few more days, before hitting my next destination.
Over here, on the blog, you can find the Dubai Vlog, as well as THREE vlogs from my time here in China.
- But first, let's talk about this past month in Shanghai.
It’s definitely fascinating to be in this city, so far out of my comfort zone, and learning to “be comfortable with being uncomfortable” as I tried to explain it to some of my friends, recently.
This past (almost-) month has been very interesting. I’ve definitely felt outside of my comfort zone, in a different culture, but especially more so when it comes to being unable to rely on my English, or speaking with the locals here — in Shanghai, people will only speak English in the touristy and expats area. And even then, it remained a fairly basic exchange, for the most part — not quite a conversation.
It’s also a city where, strangely enough, expats and locals rarely mix. There’s no animosity or conflict, but each enclave seems to live separately from the other.
It’s been hard to keep my vegetarian diet here. First of all, because I do not speak the language. Thankfully, my friend Lincha wrote a line of text, in Mandarin, that I can show when I go to restaurants to look for someplace that will accommodate my diet.
But the biggest challenge has been because I couldn’t get myself to tell my Airbnb hosts. See, they’ve welcomed me into their homes and offered me so much food during this entire month. They cooked breakfast for me every morning, and took me with them on a road trip with their friends and family. And the last thing I wanted was to offend them or put them in a bad spot, feeling like an asshole of a tourist, and refusing their food.
In any case, this has been a great experience, and I think that my blog posts and vlogs reflect that properly.
Thanks again for reading all the way to the end! I’m gonna start packing for my next destination — it starts with an S.
—T
OneMan: "Boris created EU “fake news” 20 years ago"
"Another reason to be uneasy about the revolving door between national-level journalism and politics."
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Vlog 034: Roadtrip, Exhibitions, Food Comas
This past weekend was a bank holiday — and my Airbnb hosts graciously offered to take me on a road trip with them!
Why Obama is supporting France's Emmanuel Macron for President — and why that's so unusual
Great concise piece by Zach Beauchamp for Vox:
The point, then, is that European elections are increasingly no longer about principally European concerns like the size of welfare states.They are about issues that affect the broader stability of Europe and the global order — which America has a huge stake in. As a result, center-left politicians like Obama feel entitled, maybe even obligated, to involve themselves.
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Current status: [😷][http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2093081/shanghai-path-massive-sandstorm-choking-northern-china]
Current status: [😷][http://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2093081/shanghai-path-massive-sandstorm-choking-northern-china]
Finishing to watch Netflix’s The Crown while working on a Survival Guide to Shanghai — anything y’all would like to know?
Finishing to watch Netflix’s The Crown while working on a Survival Guide to Shanghai — anything y’all would like to know?
Vlog 033: An Opera Singer
It’s taken me some time to find a decent enough internet connection to upload this new vlog. After a busy week catching up on work, I spent the weekend exploring other areas of Shanghai!
Just setting up my Micro.Blog => micro.tibz.blog
Just setting up my Micro.Blog => micro.tibz.blog
Shanghainese Outings
After a busy beginning of the week, I’ve finally gone out this tonight, for drinks with friends.
Last week, I caught up with my friend Lincha whom I’d met 6 years ago in San Francisco. She’s now in Shanghai and I got to meet up with her and her boyfriend Matt. We also met some other people, local Shanghainese as well as expats.
Then, after a busy week for everyone, We went out for dinner in a Dim Sum place, and then to a local expat bar held by Louis, a New Yorker who’s been in SGH for 16 years.
Vlog 032: Exploring Shanghai
My first couple of days exploring Shanghai and stepping heavily outside of my comfort zone!
Damn, More Life
If More Life is 1 a.m. in the hookah lounge, Damn. is 10 a.m. the (Sunday) morning after.
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Arriving in Shanghai
Arriving in Shanghai and discovering the city by night…
I left Dubai on Tuesday the 11th of April, and landed in Hong Kong for a three-hour layover at 5am. Needless to say that once I made it to Shanghai around mid-day, I was incredibly tired.
It was an easy process to go through passport check, grab my luggage, and go leave the airport. On my friend Rodolphe’s recommendation, I was going to get in the city not using the Metro but the MagLev, the Magnetic Levitating train that goes up to 480km/h.
It was rather inexpensive and very quiet and efficient to get inside the city. And it honestly didn’t feel like it was going that fast if I’m honest.
As I arrived at the station, I found a taxi pretty fast, and despite his lack of English, I was able to show him my Airbnb hosts' address and instructions.
Once I got to the flat, my host, Rena, showed me around and her mother, whose flat I’m staying in, had made some dumplings.
Because although I’d originally booked a different flat, Rena’s one, she informed me that, considering the longer length of my stay, there was a better place available at her parents'.
The dumplings were delicious by the way! However as a vegetarian I was conflicted – since starting my dietary change, I hadn’t touched meat– that was back in early January. However the food was ready and I didn’t want to offend my host, so I ate it all, and enjoyed it.
To be honest, if I have one or two extras after almost 4 months, I don’t think it’s going to be too big of a deal.
After lunch, I thought I’d try and rest a bit, to make up for the lack of sleep on the plane, as well as the couple of hours of jet lag.
I woke up around 4pm and left less than an hour later, on Rena’s recommendation to check out The Bund, the infamous Shanghai boardwalk.
As I arrived, I noticed more and more people, overall, including a few locals, but mostly a lot of Chinese tourists and foreign tourists alike. On the ground area are global chains like Subway, Costa Coffee and Starbucks.
I guess that's when you know you've hit a central or touristy spot.
I’m not sure how best to describe The Bund. In the evening, between 6pm and 9pm, the lights are on, on all a multitude of skyscrapers and towers, and it illuminates the bay with beautiful lights. You’ve probably seen it before, in movies, pictures, or documentaries. All the people walking around are taking pictures, selfies especially, despite the cold evening breeze.
I walked around the area for half an hour, and it was a great way for me to feel a bit more relaxed after a hectic 24 hours of travelling from the Middle East over to Asia.
As I finished my tour of the area, I decided to walk back to the Airbnb rather than jumping in the same metro I’d used to get here. I had an offline map on my phone, and all around, it took me about an hour and a half. Even though there weren’t a lot of things to do or see, it felt great to unwind, and get a good sense of the different areas of the city.
As I moved away from the city center, the street got quieter, some even dustier as some builders were hard at work on a new metro station, or a new skyscraper. In a similar vein to Dubai, Shanghai seems to be constantly in a state of evolution. Something echoed by a few friends who have stayed there before and learnt that their favorite bars and restaurants had been closed since their last visits.
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