Hiking Mucheoksan

A couple of weeks ago myself Jason and Willy decided to go for a hike. Jason teaches right out in the countryside and sees a beautiful mountain everyday from his school. He's wanted to hike it for a while now so that Saturday was the perfect time.

The mountain in question was Mucheoksan in Saengnim. It is a beautiful mountain and is actually quite famous here in the south for it's rock climbing.

We had a great time hiking it, We parked the car and then had to walk up a road for about 30 minutes, that warmed us up quite nicely for when we actually got on to the path. We had left it quite late to begin the hike (3 o'clock) So luckily for us we didn't see many people of the trail.

Willy was off leash at the beginning but the more we hiked the more I realised how many scary drop offs there were and how close Willy was getting to them so we put his leash back on him.

It was at this point that I realised it was too dangerous for him to be off leash.

Jason and Willy on the way up.

It was one of my favourite hikes in Korea because after about an hour and a half hiking you reach a beautiful little lake with a nice pagoda and some benches to relax at for a while. When we reached the top we found a great viewing platform and were just in awe at the beautiful rays of light that the sun and clouds had formed. We stayed at the top for about 20 minutes, we would have stayed longer just taking it in but sunset was fast approaching and our stomachs were rumbling so we made the quick descent with an amazing sunset as our companion. The entire hike took about 3 hours.

The beautiful view from the top!

Willy wasn't too impressed at being stuck tied up to a tree while we climbed on to the ledge.

We made it!

Sunsets are something that you don't see very often in Ireland so it is the one thing that I never take for granted here in Korea and the places that I've travelled to. One thing I can 100% say about this country is that it has some beautiful sunsets!

That night we decided to cook some yummy pasta and relax with a movie. A perfect Saturday if I do say so myself! 

September in Korea Part 2

A highlight of September for me was that I got to catch up with my old co-teacher and good friend Ka-eun. I've always said that she is the most unKorean Korean that I know. She left her job to go backpacking in India and is now after moving to Australia to hopefully be a scuba diving instructor!

Myself and Ka-eun

She invited myself and Jason to her family home deep in the Gimhae countryside. It was so beautiful out there and the tiny little village that her mom lives in doesn't have a shop! We got to meet her mom and I could see instantly how Ka-eun is the way she is. Her mom is so loving and strong. She rescues dogs and they have about 8 or 9 dogs in their house. One of them she rescued from a University that was using it for animal testing, he was left blind in one eye but has a lovely home now.

Ka-euns wonderful mom.

This is the poor little guy that lost his eye due to animal testing :(

This sweetheart was blind and disabled
and Jason fell head over heels in love!

She lives near this beautiful cycling and walking path so we took a few of the dogs down there for a walk and finished off our time with some lunch in a Chinese restaurant courtesy of Ka-euns mom. Now that Ka-eun is after moving to Australia her mom was saying that she is lonely and would love for us to go visit her again so we've both decided that that is one date that we must keep!

The beautiful path by Ka Euns house.

Jason taking some photos of the nearby rice fields.

Isn't it just so beautiful!

Ka-euns village.

The yummy Chinese that her mom treated us to.

That evening we were so excited because my sisters boyfriend was going to be in Busan for a conference so he came a couple of days early and stayed with us! This was Jasons first time having a visitor in Korea and it was nice to be able to show Neil around and show him what our lives are like here. It definitely made us more appreciative about living here.

On his first night he had gotten straight off the plane in Seoul and then got a train to Busan where we collected him. We then brought him out for one of our favourite meals...Dak Galbi! We then brought him to our usual drinking spot for some terrible Korean beer and soju.

Ian playing a spin the wheel game while out in Gimhae 

The next day we all just walked around Shinae (the old town of Gimhae) and saw a beautiful temple that I had randomly just found one day. That night we brought him for our other Korean food which is beef barbecue. He seemed to really like all of the food and was a pro at using his chopsticks! We were back in school on the Monday so Neil went for a run and then we all went to Haeundae together (where is conference was being held) Myself and Jason were so excited to have some yummy western food there (always a highlight of our trips to Busan)

The beautiful temple that I random found one day.

It even has Koi fish.

Inside the temple.

It was one of the nicest temples that I've been to.

This is in the park right by our apartment.

Looking out to the light rail and our apartment.

This was Neils view from his hotel room!

and to the other side!

Jason and Neil on Haeundae. I wish I had taken more photos
of his time here.

Beautiful Haeundae at sunset.

And before we knew it September was finished! It was a great month and we got to make lots of new friends too which was especially great!

Here's hoping October will be just as fun!

June in Korea.

My beautiful home.

Life has been moving quite quickly this last month. I've been pretty busy so haven't had a chance to update. June is always a really busy time for English teachers in Elementary schools here in Gimhae as it's time for the English speech contest. Every school in the city enters a child from each grade (3rd-6th) in to the contest where they will be asked a few questions about themselves and then get asked to describe a picture. I was helping my kids after school most days on the run up to the event but unfortunately none of them placed.

Some of my students before taking a road cycling test.

Other than that myself Jason and some of our friends have been trying hard to lose some weight so we've been doing a lot more cycling, hiking and healthy eating. We also managed to fit in one more camping trip before the rainy season got here and that trip was amazing!

Jason and Ian on one of our bike rides.

Jason on the bike path.

One of our hikes.

The view out to Jangyu.

This time we went with our friend Ian , and some other friends. Our friend Derek also brought his gorgeous golden retriever so it was great for Willy to finally spend some time with a dog that is bigger than him!
We were camping on a beautiful sand bank next to a river near Hadong. The weather was absolutely perfect for us and it was such a fun relaxing weekend. The fact that Ian is a great cook and brought some amazing food really helped matters too!

Our amazing campsite.

Too beautiful!

Our campsite.

Our tent.

The beautiful view from our tent.

and again.

Willy and his new friend Plato.

Grumpy puppy sitting by the bonfire.

The bonfire.

Good times!

We also headed to Songjeong beach in Busan for a day and it was also great fun. Songjeong doesn't have a subway nearby so it doesn't get too busy compared to Haeundae or Gwangali beaches. This was my first time in Songjeong and I really liked it, the water was nice and there were some really great restaurants nearby. Unfortunately, that Friday I had gotten my wisdom tooth removed and it was still pretty painful so I didn't get to really enjoy the great food that we had. Before heading home we stopped off at a restaurant that Ian had been to before and loved. The second that we saw it we understood why. It's a small surfers restaurant/hostel and the food was unbelievably good. The music and the vibe were equally as good, so we'll definitely be heading back there sometime once the rainy season finishes!

Grabbing some lunch in Songjeong

Willys "please give me your food" look.

Jason and Ian on the beach.

Even though it looks cloudy, it was actually a really nice day.

We have really appreciated buying our car during this time of year as already we've had so many adventures that we never would have had without it...and the best part is that Willy gets to come along on all of our adventures with us and just like most dogs he loves sticking his head out the window!

We've also been pretty busy finalising our plans for our legal ceremony in Ireland this summer. Ian made up some beautiful invitations for us and as the time gets closer we are both getting excited about it and can't believe that we are soon going to be husband and wife!

Our invitations all ready to be sent.

But now the rainy season has begun which means more rain and clouds than sun for the next couple of weeks. But it also brings a bit of coolness to the air. This past weekend we met our friends Derek, Amy and Matt up by a waterfall near our town. It was raining but that didn't stop the guys and the dogs from getting into the creek and enjoying the water. Willy is getting so much more confident in the water as time goes on!

The waterfall in Jangyu.

The majestic Plato had the time of his life swimming.

We are off to Ireland in three weeks time and I can't wait to update you all on the little adventures we'll be taking while there.