Adventures in Camping | Part 2

Last week, I posted about our first camping experience. It was definitley a whirlwind and it only gets better. I can't wait to share the rest of the story with all of you! In case you missed my Korean camping misadventure, you can read part one here.

Last I left you, we finished setting up camp and realized that we didn't have any food. Before setting up our tents, we drove from Busan to Pohang and from there to Gyeong-ju. Basically, we spent most of the day in the car and were pretty exhausted. Despite our feelings, we needed to fill our empty stomachs, so we all jumped in the car and searched for a place that would satisfy all our shopping needs.

We had many issues on this trip as I stated before. Our main problem was our location. We were far into the countryside and we missed our chance to go to a mart. On the way to Gyeong-ju, Gwang-jin missed the exit for Costco and instead of turning around, he decided to keep going. After driving for another 45 minutes we finally found a Mega Mart in Eonyang and we were able to get all the food we needed. We happily stocked up on all the essentials and headed back to Gyeong-ju..

Once we finally made it back to the campsite, we realized that we didn't have a table, seats or even a way to cook the food. By this point, I was beyond frustrated and just went with it. Thankfully, they found an old table and rented a grill. We didn't have any seats so we just found big rocks and sat on them. The boys also realized that they didn't have any way to start the fire. A nice Korean dad at the tent next to us came over and started the fire for us. I think he took one look at our "beggar" style camping and decided to help. I'm pretty sure we wouldn't have been able to eat if it wasn't for him.

Even though we all had a long frustrating day, the minute we started cooking, all our worries disappeared. We were all a bit annoyed with Junnie, but we know he meant well. He kept saying that he wanted to give Markus and I an unforgettable experience. How could I be mad at someone so sweet and sincere? We spent the rest of the evening stuffing our faces full of delicious barbecued meats and playing games. It was actually a fun night and it was like the stressful day didn't even happen. Around 11pm it started raining, so we all went inside our tents. We played a few more games and then around 1am we called it a night.

I would like to say that we slept through the night and woke up the next morning and made breakfast.  You would think that after all the stress we already went through that the camping gods were done toying us, but you would be wrong. Oh so very wrong.  It rained through the night and at 3am Markus and I were startled awake by something cold and wet. We sat up and realized that our whole tent was flooded with water. We woke up the boys and they told us to go sleep in the car. I slept for about 30 minutes but then woke up to metal hitting metal. When I looked outside, the boys had taken down both tents. They decided that we would either find a motel or go sleep at Junnie's grandmother's house in Pohang. Markus and I didn't want to stay at his grandmother's house so we decided on a motel. Although, we still had to go to Pohang to drop off the tents. After dropping them off, the boys again decided that we would skip the motel and drive the extra hour and half to Busan. At this point, all I could think about was my warm and dry bed. So, I readily agreed. When they finally dropped us off at our apartment, I looked at the clock and realized that it was 6am. We didn't even camp for 24 hours. We were out for only 22 hours! We waved goodbye to our friends and sought solace in our warm beds.

So this concludes, my first camping adventure. I know it was a crazy and unbelievable experience. Just writing about it, brought it all back. It's funny though. When I think back on it, I don't remember how annoyed or frustrated I was. I remember how much fun I had. I remember all our inside jokes and getting to know one another. It's one of those stories that I'll tell my kids when I tell them about my time in Korea. It'll be the time that mom and dad went camping in Korea and had the time of their lives.

Creepy Cinema 2013: Cult Camp

October has finally arrived, and in the Cruz household that means one thing, Creepy Cinema! Last year, Markus and I began this tradition because I couldn't watch scary movies at all. He would always ask me to watch them with him, but I always refused. I felt bad for him, so finally I gave in and said that he could have the entire month of October...and thus Creepy Cinema was born. However I 'd like to think that after last year's Creepy Cinema I've graduated to a higher level of courage. I have Markus to thank for all of this. He's seen almost every scary movie out there, and he's been a great guide.

This year, we decided on a theme, Cult Camp. We're basically watching 31 movies that are considered cult horror classics. A movie is deemed a cult classic when it has a a huge fan base but failed in the box office. From this list of 31 films, I've only seen two. There is such a wide variety this year and I'm really excited to get started. There's bound to be something that I'll love!

Source: Skeleton Couple/Vintage Feedsacks

Celebrating Ten Years at Vitos | Busan, South Korea

I can't believe that our ten year anniversary was only two months ago. It feels like our time in Korea was another lifetime. I'm so glad that Markus and I were able to spend our ten year celebration somewhere amazing like Busan. It's not every day that you can celebrate a decade with the same person and in a great place like Korea. I never would've thought that my life would end up like this! 

 

For dinner Markus found this great Italian place, Vito. It was in the heart of Seomyeon and had great reviews online. Vito, the chef, trained in Italy and makes all of the pasta fresh everyday. Koreans love Italian food, but they tend to add a Korean touch to all international food. I was really eager to eat authentic Italian pasta. The ambiance of the place was nice and cozy. It was a lot smaller than I thought. There were only a few tables and the restaurant probably only sat 15 people. People were always waiting to be sat, so I knew we made a good decision.

When we ordered, we both decided on pasta dishes. Ever order came with a complementary appetizer of cream soup and mushroom crostini. Both were really delicious and I wish they gave us more. I can't really remember the names of the dishes, but I do remember how they tasted. I had an olive oil based pasta cooked with garlic, basil and tomato. It was so good. Markus had a creamy shrimp pasta. His was also really yummy. When the plates came out, I was worried that it wouldn't be enough food, but it was the perfect amount. After dinner, they gave us complimentary tea to finish off the meal. I remember we chose Vito because we missed the taste of home. Now that I'm home, I miss the taste of Korea. It's really funny how that works.

When we left Vito, we walked around a bit and looked for a cafe. We decided that since it was a special occasion we should be a bit more adventurous and find a new spot. We finally found a great cafe called, Cafe Verre. It's a bit hidden, which is perfect because less people know about it. It was super cute and had lots of nice brick-a-brac. We sat at a table next to the window and people watched for a bit. We both ordered an Americano, our favorite drink, and a raspberry tiramisu. We really enjoyed the cafe and we went back at least a dozen times before we left Korea. It was a great find and one that I was glad to experience before we left. I'm so glad that we were able to have a nice memorable anniversary and I wonder where we'll end up next year! 

Angkor Thom, Cambodia | 3 of 3

Even though I wasn't keen on Angkor Thom, I really loved the photos we took. While were exploring some of the more secluded areas, there was an old Cambodian gentleman that started to lead us around the complex. He kept showing us the best places to take photos. I think we wouldn't have such great photos if it wasn't for him! I will always remember his kindness!

Adventures in Camping | Part 1

In the two years that Markus and I lived in Korea, we were blessed with some amazing Korean friends. I know I've talked about it before, but I can't stress how important it is to make connections, especially when you live far from home. It's already scary enough moving to a new place, but moving to a place where you don't speak the language and don't know anyone is terrifying. Thankfully, we were able to meet some great people.

Our dear friend, Junnie, is someone that I will always be thankful to have in my life. I don't think I've ever met such a kind and thoughtful person. He is always thinking of others and always trying to do his best. He might not always make the right decisions, but his intentions are always sincere. Back in May, he even planned a camping trip for Markus and I. It was really sweet and Markus and I were really excited. Although, neither one of us had ever been camping before. We were all planning without experience but we knew it would be a great adventure!

After a lot of going back and forth and cancelled weekends, we finally settled on a date. We previously cancelled a weekend in February because it was rainy and cold. We didn't have the proper gear and Markus imagined us all dying of hypothermia or something similar. So when Junnie finally pulled up with a huge video camera and our other camping comrades, Shin-chang and Gwang-jin, I knew that it was going to be a really interesting experience.

We began our journey in Busan and then headed out to Pohang. If you use the map I drew, you can follow along. We had to go to Pohang, because Junnie's parents had the tents at their house. Now looking back on it, I don't know why we didn't just rent them in Busan or borrow it from a co-worker. So from Busan, Pohang is around 1.5 hours away. By the time we arrived in Pohang, we were hungry and tired. After we made a pit stop at Junnie's house and met his sweet lil Korean grandmother, we headed out to get some lunch. Thankfully, Junnie knew of a really cheap Chinese place and we were able to eat a lot of food for really cheap. Gwang-jin kept saying it was the only good thing Junnie did that day.  After we ate, we still had to buy all the camping supplies.  Since none of us had been camping before, we were really unprepared.  We stopped in a random town and realized that they didn't have any meat or much of the supplies we needed. We decided that we needed to head to the campsite to be able to set everything up before nightfall.

After another 1.5 hours of driving, we found ourselves at the campsite in Gyeong-ju. It was actually quite beautiful, but really out of the way. While we were driving up, Markus and I wondered why we didn't just camp out in Busan. Gyeong-ju looked just like Busan. By the time we started setting everything up, we were all delirious and tired. The boys worked really hard, while I ran around taking photos. Once we set up one of the tents, we realized that it wasn't enough room for all five of us, so they started pitching the other tent. Once we were done, we realized that we had no food and needed to go to another city to get the food. So again, we hopped into the car and began the search for food.

If this seems exhausting, trust me it was and I lived it. This isn't even close to the end of the story. There is so much more, but I will continue the rest of the story in the final installment of Adventures in Camping!