Asia
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Why is this Korean Park full of Penises?
In South Korea, sexuality is a topic that is not openly expressed. Thus, it might be quite alarming to learn that Korea has an entire park consisting of about 50 phallic statues. Situated along Korea’s east coast, approxiately 20 km south from Samcheok, lies a Penis Park. This unique park also known as Haesindang Park belongs to a small town called Sinnam. According to legend, a fisherman took a maid out to the sea and left her on a rock to harvest some seaweed. He promised he would return later and bring her back to shore. Tragically however, there was a very heavy rainstorm and the woman eventually drowned and…
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Surfing at Kuta Beach, Indonesia
Kuta beach in Bali, Indonesia, is extremely touristy and crowded. The beach is teeming with locals and tourists, who are relaxing on the beach or most likely surfing. When we arrived at Kuta beach, we immediately decided to take a surfing lesson. Our surfing instructor taught us the basics of surfing and handed us both a surfboard. So, with my surfboard in hand, I walked into the water not knowing how this experience would turn out. I had no idea if I would like surfing, but I had to try. I was in the water for an hour, before I decided I was done with surfing. Let me say it…
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Wadi Rum: Jordan’s Red Desert
Some places are just so beautiful that words and pictures don’t do them justice. The desert of Wadi Rum is a perfect example. As we were riding the jeep through this Jordanian desert, I couldn’t help but feel capitivated by the red sand. This was the first time I had ever seen a desert with red sand. I felt incredibly happy! The tall cliffs scattered throughout the red desert, definitely added character to the landscape. Wadi Rum is a fairly isolated place. The only inhabitants, who permanently live here are Bedouin nomads and villagers. We stayed in this tent overnight, accompanied by Bedouins. We had a fun evening of listening…
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Clean and Green Singapore
Even though we only visited Singapore for a few days, I was left with a great impression of this small island-country. Now when I think of Singapore the words: shopping, food, clean, and green immediately come to mind. Singapore is a mecca for shopping. There are countless plazas, malls, and shops. Ubiquitous signs for sales and discounts are displayed on sidewalks. When locals and tourists are not shopping, they seem to be relishing in Singapore’s other treasure, food. International cuisine is very easy to find in Singapore, one only needs to walk into a food court to find a handful of different cuisines. While we were in Singapore, we tried…
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Craving Korean Food During our Travels
The first time we ever tasted Korean food was in Seoul. The introduction into this world of spicy Korean food that consisted of red pepper paste and kimchi was a delight for our palates. After two years of thoroughly enjoying Korean dishes, we knew we would miss this savory cuisine during our travels. So, before leaving for our one-year World Trip, we made every effort to get our fill of Korean food. But, it was only four months into our big trip that we began deeply craving Korean food. At that time, it was New Years’ Eve and we were in Cairo, Egypt! We were just wandering around hoping to…
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Jet Skiing and More in Ko Samui, Thailand
Once Jason and I started living abroad, Thailand was the first country we visited during our vacation period. I had always had a deep desire to travel to Thailand. I had heard Thailand was amazing and so exotic with beautiful beaches. It sounded like paradise. During our initial visit to Thailand we stayed in Bangkok for a few days, and then took a one hour flight to Ko Samui. Ko Samui was our first real beach experience and it was wonderful. The sand was soft and the water was great for swimming. It was at Ko Samui, we did jet skiing for the first time! Driving the jet ski in…
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Paddling around Phewa Lake in Pokhara, Nepal
Our first stop in Nepal was in Pokhara. It is the second largest city in Nepal. Pokhara was a quiet city surrounded by a beautiful fresh water lake named Phewa Lake. Jason paddled us around Phewa Lake, the second largest lake in Nepal, for a few hours. We took the boat across the lake and walked up to this stupa. This Buddhist stupa, which is named the World Peace Stupa, serves to inspire peace throughout the world. From the top of the stupa, we were able to see beautiful views of the Annapurna ranges in the Himalayas. After visiting the stupa and some other smaller temples, we spent the day…
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Drinking Mint Chocolate Martinis in Hong Kong
For us, traveling isn’t just about checking off a list of countries we have visited. It is more about the experiences we encounter during the trip. Sometimes the experience can be as simple as trying a new drink at a local bar. While we were in Hong Kong, walking around the city exploring, it started to rain. It wasn’t just light rain, but a sudden downpour. We were almost about to be drenched in water, when we quickly took shelter. We were riding up Hong Kong’s outdoor escalator. It is the world’s longest outdoor covered escalator that extends over 800 metres in distance and elevates up to 135 metres. Pretty…
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The Most Beautiful Temple in Taiwan
The first time we ever visited Taiwan, we only had 5 days to see some of the highlights this country had to offer. So, we decided it would be best to just explore the capital, Taipei. It poured rain every single day we were there! However amazingly, we had an awesome time! The people were extremely nice, the food was very delicious, and the tourist attractions were definitely worth a visit. We told ourselves, if we ever wanted to teach English in a different country besides Korea, we would do it in Taiwan. After our one year World Trip, we made our dream come true by living in Taiwan for…
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Parasailing in Borcay, Philippines
The beauty of traveling is you never know what unplanned adventures you may have an opportunity to experience. We never really thought about parasailing until we were in Borcay, Philippines. This touristy beach destination had various outdoor activities including parasailing set up for the adventurous. Soaring high in the sky while being harnessed to a parasail, which would be towed by a speeding motorboat, sounded awesome. We were thrilled. After being fastened into our harnesses, we slowly drifted up into the sky. Eventually we were high above the waters, having a bird’s eye view of Borcay. I have to admit we were both expecting to experience an adrenaline rush. Instead…
