Mark's Geeky Birthday | Busan, South Korea

FREE WILLY!

Previously, I posted about Mark's Posh Birthday Celebration. The following day, the festivities continued. Since the night before was pretty classy, he decided to fulfill all of his geeky inclinations on another day. Even though we did all the stuff that Markus likes, I still had a great day with him. Markus and I are creative types, so we always have something to work on. Most weekends, you'll find us holed up in our house like hobbits. We refuse to leave until our respective projects are finished. It was nice to be able to spend the whole day just messing around and relieving some of our stress!

I always wanted to be a mermaid.

Oh Korea.

Creepy Seal

Mr. Frowny

Where are you?

BFFs

Markus is a huge fan of anything to do with nature. He's always talking about frogs and lizards. It's really cute. Sometimes when we're walking, he'll stop and move caterpillars and bugs to the side, so no one steps on them. I can't believe that he would take the time to do stuff like that but he's so compassionate. It's one of the things I love most about him. When we first moved to Korea, he did some research and found the Busan Marine Natural History Museum. For his birthday weekend, we decided to make the trek to Dongnae and see all the delightful animals. It was a bit of a journey there, but we finally made it. I've been to heaps of natural history museums and I must say, this wasn't the best. The condition of all the exhibits were really bad. Everything seemed sort of cheap and in disrepair. They had a few live animals on the upper level but they all looked a bit sickly and sad. Even though it wasn't the best museum, we still made the most of our time there.

Dracula Burger

Someone is excited.

After we got our fill of taxidermy animals, we headed to the PNU area to get burgers. Markus is a HUGE fan of burgers. It's one of his favorite foods. He's always talking about how much he misses American burgers, so we are always on the lookout for good ones. I read online about Valance Burgers and we decided to give it a try. I'm happy to say that we weren't disappointed. They were really good. The meat was seasoned well and the bread was a bit sweet. I think because of that it balanced well with the meat and made for a delicious burger! 

Someone else is really excited.

As we were walking around the PNU area, I kept seeing people eating tall ice cream cones. I know that in Myeongdong there is a similar treat, but never heard of it in Busan. After walking for a bit, we finally came up to a long line. I read that the cones were only 2,000 won ($2) and immediately convinced Markus to buy one. I always wanted to get one in Seoul, but I knew that we wouldn't be going back, so I really happy to finally get the chance to try it!

Charlie Brown and Markus

Me and Lucy

After we shopped around PNU for a bit, we headed to the Charlie Brown Cafe. I'll be making a separate post about the cafe. It was that amazing! After a long day wandering Busan, the Charlie Brown Cafe was the perfect end to our day. I had so much fun with Markus and I realized that it doesn't matter what we're doing, I always have fun with my boy.

Oh Korea Quote #1

Even though I will be leaving the beautiful land of Korea, there are many things that will always stay with me, even when I'm gone. I will always remember all the weird and strange things that people have said to me over the past two years. I've tried my best to document them, but I thought the best way to remember them forever is to create typographic images of them.

I decided to start out strong with one of the most memorable things anyone has ever said to me. It was both horrifying and fascinating that anyone would ever say something like this to me. This is one of my most favorite Oh Korea moments and one that I always tell my friends. This is how the conversation went down:

Me: Oh my golly, it's so hot in here.
Him: You're always hot.
Me: Yea, I get hot really easily.
Him: Is your body hot?
Me: Um... yes...
Him: You are so hot I could boil a hot dog on your body.

Summers in Korea are a bit unbearable. They use the air conditioning really sparingly. Even though I'm from the Philippines and grew up in Florida, I cannot stand hot weather. My body runs hot, so I'm always uncomfortable. At least in the U.S. there was central air conditioning. In Korea, I feel like I'm always melting and forever in a sauna. I guess on this day, my co-worker wanted to comment on the level of heat my body exudes or he was talking about something else. Actually, this guy has a bit of a weird sense of humor, so I know what he really meant. Either way, it has to be one the weirdest and greatest things anyone has ever said to me.

Eats with Jeff #8: Outdark Chicken

Outdark Chicken, we finally meet.

If you know me, I'm a huge fan of fried chicken. I know I talk about it a lot in real life, it's really unnatural. I would eat it every day, if it didn't make me fat. I'm not even joking, that's how much I love it. Since we have such a limited time left in Korea, I wanted to make sure that I tried Outdark Chicken. Every time we've tried to go, it's been full and a really long wait. Koreans love fried chicken too. There are fried chicken places everywhere. So when there is a long wait, you know the place is good.

Someone is having a good time.

Yummy Chicken

Banchan and Sauces

I've had a lot of fried chicken in my day and the chicken at Outdark was really good. It wasn't the best I've ever had, but I would definitely eat it again. You can mix flavors and add extras. We added fried cheese sticks, french fries and fried tteokboki. It was a bit too much fried stuff for me, but it was a nice compliment. Jeff brought some sesame leaves so we ended up using them to make chicken wraps and it was delicious. A bit ghetto, because we were the only ones in the restaurant with sesame leaves, but still delicious. I think when we're back in America, one of the things I'll miss the most is Korean fried chicken. I guess I'll just have to learn how to make it! 

I love you fried chicken.

Pre Rup | Angkor Wat, Cambodia

Pre Rup, which means "turn the body", was probably my favorite temple in the Angkor Wat complex. It's not one of the popular temples and it's a little out of the way.  It was built in 961 or 962 and dedicated to the Hindu god, Shiva. When we visited, there weren't that many people. There were only a handful of tourists and even smaller amount of Khmer people trying to sell crafts. I think the main reason I liked Pre Rup was the because of the lack of people. Markus and I were able to explore freely. I hate feeling rushed when I'm traveling and I felt that at some of the other sites. Since there weren't heaps of people in the way, I was able to have a relaxing and enlightening experience.

Cambodian Countryside | Angkor Wat, Cambodia

On our second day in Siem Reap, we traveled out to Banteay Srei. The temple is on the outskirts of the Angkor Wat complex, so the journey there is a nice diversion. By tuk-tuk, it's about an hour and a half trip and passes through the Cambodian countryside. Even though we were sitting in a loud tuk-tuk, it was really peaceful. I remember I had my feet up and gazed out at the scenery. During that time, I thought to myself, "I can't believe that this is my life." If you asked me two years ago if I would ever travel to Cambodia, I would've said no. I started to think about the crazy adventure that Markus and I lived every day and felt very humbled and thankful that this was our life.

When we passed a rice field, MJ stopped so that we could get a closer look. I've always seen pictures of this sort of thing or in movies, but it was pretty cool seeing it in real life. There were only a few people out by the street and most of the other workers were farther out in the field. I do think that it was coincidental that there were people next to the road. I think that they do this sort of thing so that people will stop and the children can attack.
 

As soon we walked out of the tuk-tuk, there was a horde of Cambodian children asking us to buy crafts. They were really adorable, but they were also really persistent. This is one thing that you will endlessly encounter in some third world countries. It truly is heartbreaking seeing these young kids follow around tourists asking for money. Even though these kids did the same thing, they were a bit different. I think being in the countryside makes them a bit happier. After we spent a few minutes with the kids, we climbed back into the tuk-tuk. I again, propped my feet up and went back to enjoying the beautiful Cambodian countryside.