Fifty-Two Adventures

Fifty-Two Weeks of Adventure #11 : A Visit to the Thea – truh and Some Fellow Adventurers

Last weekend we got to do something we love, but don’t get to do often. We went to see a play. You know, in a theater. With actors and a stage.

Hubby and I went to college outside of Chicago and one of our favorite special-occasion activities was going to plays and musicals downtown. Even after we moved to Raleigh, we were able to see a few productions that came through on tour and even a student performance at Duke University. Since we’ve been in Korea we’ve seen two musicals – Phantom of the Opera and Mamma Mia, both of which came through Daegu on tour and were in English. (Side Note: For some reason, Koreans LOVE Mamma Mia. My 6th grade students were made to sing and dance to “Dancing Queen” at last year’s arts festival. It was hilarious).

Since we’ve always enjoyed theater, we were especially excited when our friend Josh told us he was acting in a production of Almost, Maine put on by the Daegu Theatre Troupe. The play is a set of vignettes set in a not-quite-town (hence the “Almost”) in the northernmost part of Maine. The vignettes occur on the same night and are loosely organized around the theme of people falling in and out of and around love in different ways.

The theater was in the basement of a building in downtown Daegu – the kind of place you’d never know was there if you weren’t looking for it. There wasn’t any photography allowed during the performance, and sadly I didn’t remember to take any pictures of the theater before or after the performance, so I don’t really have anything visual for this post. (Blogger fail).

Seeing the play was fun, but it was especially fun to see our friend, Josh, in his element. Josh did a lot of theater and musical theater in college and it’s a part of him we’ve never had an opportunity to see before. I love getting to see a friend or family member doing something they love. You learn a lot about people from seeing them in their element. It wasn’t a surprise that Josh was so great, but it was still really fun to see. The same troupe is putting on a musical next month so we are looking forward to seeing more!

It’s finally warmed up this week and we are hoping to do some hiking next weekend! Assuming the weather cooperates, look for a mountain trekking adventure next week!

Check out some of these 52-Weeks-of-Adventure posts that other bloggers have done recently. These are some of my favorites:

OK, actually ALL of Angela’s posts. Angela and her husband Chris took a great leap of faith and decided to sell all of their stuff and live as modern nomads. They work remotely and have spent the past few months living in different European cities. They are my heroes. I want to be them when I grow up (even though I think we’re the same age). Don’t look at Angela’s amazing pictures if you don’t want to feel instant envy and discontentment with everything you’ve done with your life. If you are cool feeling that way then look away! Ok, but seriously, you should be following them.

Pradnya’s post about a painting peace. I especially liked this quote: “‘Peace’ – It does not mean to be in a place where there is no noise, trouble or hard work. It means to be midst those things and still be calm in your heart and a wear a smiling face!”

This inspiring blogger who is taking a “good girl gap year” to explore and experience the world starting with a surfing trip.

Jenn throwing the most incredible Night Circus themed party of all-time. I love how she brought the book to life. Wish I could have been there!

Also, I’m including this link because you adventure-y people will love it even though this blogger doesn’t participate in the link-up. Kaleena, a friend of mine from Korea, recently embarked on a year-long round-the-world-trip starting in the Philippines and ending (I think) with her 30th birthday celebration in Brazil. Never have I ever felt more jealous. Except about Angela and Chris (above). Kaleena is also a terrific writer and always has interesting and often hilarious stories to tell. Check her out!

If you have an adventure to share, add your link to the link-up by clicking the button below. You can participate in all of the adventures or you can just do a few – no pressure. If you missed last week’s adventure you can find it here. And if you are new to my Fifty-Two Weeks of Adventure project you can find out more about it here.

Fifty-Two Weeks of Adventure #9: Illegal Activities

I mentioned last week that I had another big adventure to share from our time in Seoul, but I wanted to make it it’s own post instead of lumping it in with the last one.

Last weekend in Seoul, I did something illegal. I got my first tattoo.

This was taken a few hours after I got it.

Tattoos are technically illegal in Korea. Only licensed doctors are permitted to administer tattoos to “patients.” And I seriously doubt this guy was a licensed doctor. So my tattoo is definitely illegal.

I think this might be the first time I’ve broken the law knowingly. Thankfully, it’s the kind of thing that law enforcement seems to turn a blind eye towards most of the time. I’ve seen numerous tattoo shops in with visible signs in Daegu and the place I went in Seoul had a big sign outside and has a nice website. Every once in a while the police will decide to enforce this law (like they did at the international Inkbomb Tattoo Convention in Seoul last summer), but for the most part it’s a crime the way jaywalking is in the US.

Korean culture is still very conservative in many ways and for a long time tattoos were associated with gang membership. Nowadays this is changing a little bit, but it’s still fairly uncommon to see a Korean person with a tattoo and the law still stands.

So basically, my tattoo makes me feel like a bad-butt* on many levels.

[*I may be tatted up, but that’s no excuse to talk like a sailor! 😉 ]

The Story

I like (tasteful) tattoos. I’ve always liked them, even when I was in my self-righteous judgey phase, it was just a secret then. I’ve never gotten one before because I’d never thought of a design I was confident about having on my body forever. I felt that a tattoo should be meaningful, not just something I thought looked cool. (Not that there’s anything wrong with having a tattoo for the sake of the art, I just wanted mine to have a specific meaning).

There have been several times over the past few years that I’ve looked at pictures of other people’s tattoos and thought about what it would be like to get one and invariably I would dream that night that I’d gotten one and was freaking out because I regretted it. This subconscious reaction made me think I might never actually feel comfortable about getting one. At the very least, I knew if I ever did it wouldn’t be a spur-of-the-moment decision – it would have to be something I had no doubts about.

A few months ago I started working on a book. It’s a spiritual memoir that is centered on the work of grace in my life. As I started writing and dwelling on grace , I realized that grace is the thing that has marked me most profoundly. And it was suddenly clear to me that I wanted grace to mark my body the way it has marked my life.

For a few weeks after I first had the idea I used a marker to write the word on my wrist to see how I felt about seeing it there before I did something permanent. From the first moment that I did it, it felt natural. It reminded me constantly of God’s work in my life. I looked at it and I thought, “Of course. This belongs here.”

I didn’t have any plans to do it quickly, but I asked a friend who had gotten a tattoo in Korea where she’d had hers done and she told me the name of the shop in Seoul. We were already scheduled to go to Seoul a few days later. I asked Jonathan what he thought and he said, “If you’re ready, go for it.” So I did.

From the moment I walked into the shop I felt completely at peace. I haven’t had a moment of doubt or wondered at all if it was the right decision.

The Process

Before this I didn’t really know very much about the process of getting a tattoo, so I thought I’d share that as well in case you’re curious.

When we arrived a very old man greeted us. I think he is the shop owner, but at first I was like, “Um….is this old guy really the tattoo artist?” (He wasn’t).

My dear friend Asharae Kroll is a super-talented photographer, food blogger, and hand-letter artist and she custom-designed the lettering for me. Not only is it super beautiful, but it’s also even more meaningful to me to have a one-of-a-kind tattoo designed by my friend.

There was a young girl who did all the prep work for the tattoo. I’d sent a file with the lettering Asharae created and she printed it out in different sizes and had me choose one. After this, the girl traced the lettering on the back side of the paper in some sort of ink that would transfer onto my skin. Then she cleaned my arm with tons of disinfectant and drew a box in the exact place I wanted the tattoo. She rubbed some kind of petroleum jelly-like gel onto my arm and then pressed the stencil she’d made in place. The first time I wasn’t completely happy with the positioning, so we started over and did it again.

After that I had to wait 10 or 15 minutes for the stencil to completely dry and that’s when the actual tattoo artist showed up – a man who was maybe in his early 30’s. I laid on a table with my arm out to the side and he showed me the brand new needle he was using and then went to town.

Did it hurt? Honestly, it hurt as much as I expected it to. It didn’t feel good, but it wasn’t extremely painful. It’s a sharp stinging feeling, most similar to the way laser hair removal or some other laser procedure feels. The good thing is that he was only tattooing each little section for 10-15 seconds at a time. So just when it would get to the point where it was getting hard to sit still, he would stop and wipe off that spot and move over a bit. Since it’s pretty small, the entire thing took about 20 minutes to ink. It hurt while he was doing it and stung for about an hour afterwards. It has not hurt at all since then although for the first few days it was tender if my clothes rubbed it or I bumped it. It never really turned red and it didn’t hurt at all if I wasn’t touching it. I had to keep it clean and put lotion on it several times a day, but otherwise it was hardy noticeable.

Now, a week later, it’s mostly healed and is smooth to the touch instead of raised like it was initially. It feels like it’s always been there – like it was meant to be part of me.

This is what it looks like today. It’s still peeling a little bit but mostly healed. Also, thanks to this picture I am now self-conscious about how hairy my forearms are.

Fifty-Two Weeks of Adventure #8: Lunar New Year and Treat Yo Self 2015

Last Thursday was the Lunar New Year in Asia (also called the Chinese New Year). Well, technically, it was the Lunar New Year everywhere, but it’s mostly celebrated in Asia. We had three days off from work, which only happens twice a year – in the fall for Chuseok (which is like Korean Thanksgiving) and in the winter for Seollal (the Korean name for the Lunar New Year). We wanted to take advantage of the days off and take a short trip, but even several months ago plane tickets to anywhere during the holiday were prohibitively expensive. We settled for spending a few days in Seoul just to get away from home and relax a bit.

You’d think the Lunar New Year would mean lots of special cultural events in Seoul, but in fact, Korean holidays are kind of lame (in my humble opinion). Everyone travels to their family homes where they make and eat an elaborate traditional meal with special foods like ddeokguk, a soup with disk-shaped rice dumplings in it.They also perform bunch of ceremonies to honor their ancestors and many people will dress in hanbok, traditional Korean clothing. When I asked my Korean coworkers about the holiday they always just complain that it’s so much work.

Little boy in hanbok. Flickr creative commons image by petergarnhum

The New Year is associated with getting older. Koreans count their age differently than the rest of the world does. Everyone born in the same year is the same age and rather than getting older on your birthday, everyone gets older together on New Year’s Day. For some reason the ddeokguk is associated with getting older and traditionally, you have aged a year after you eat the ddeokguk on New Year’s Day.

[Koreans also count the time a child is in the womb as the first year of life, so when a baby is born it is already 1 year old. So, although I am 27 years old, when I give my age to a Korean I say I am 29 – one extra year for the year I was in utero and one extra year because I was born in 1987 and everyone born in 1987 just turned 29 regardless of when in the year their birthday falls. Since I was born in December this means that if I had lived in Korea when I was born, I would have turned 2 years old when I was only 1 month old by the rest of the world’s standards.]

Because more than half of Seoul’s population is not from Seoul, the city empties out for the holiday, so it was much quieter than usual there. We looked to see if there were any special events we could attend, but many cultural attractions are actually closed for the holiday and the ones that were open (the palaces and folk village) were places we’ve already been. We’ve learned that the biggest Korean holidays are family affairs that are celebrated privately, so unless you have an invitation to join a family for their celebration, there isn’t that much to participate in.

The air pollution in Seoul during our trip was off-the-charts high (300 + is considered “hazardous” and it was in the 900s) so being out and about wasn’t particularly pleasant since it was too hazy to see anything or to take any decent pictures, but we were happy to have a low-key time just enjoying being away from home and not having to cook or clean or do other normal life activities for a few days.

We dubbed our trip to Seoul “Treat Yo Self 2015” which is a reference to Parks and Recreation, one of our favorite shows. (If you don’t watch Parks and Rec, stop reading this now and go catch up). In the show two of the characters are really into fancy, luxury items and experiences and once a year they do a “Treat Yo Self” day where they indulge all their extravagant wishes. We decided to do the same. I live tweeted/Instagrammed the experience for those who follow me there.

We didn’t have any truly extravagant wishes, but we did have a few treats in mind:

1. Stay at a hotel with a bathtub (we normally go the hostel route to save money and even if you get a private room those generally have shared showers). Take all the bubble baths.

2. Go to Taco Bell. I know you’re judging me right now, but I also know you are secretly jealous. It’s amazing the things that seem like a treat when you’ve gone without them for 19 months.

3. Get pies from Tartine. This is a little pie/tart shop in Itaewon, sort of the expat center of Seoul. It is the only place in Korea I have found pie that is proper pie. And they have a ton of flavors. Mmmmmm.

We had butterscotch and lemon meringue.

4. Visit the English bookstore. Since both of us are huge readers, visiting an all-English bookstore is heavenly. What the Book (also in Itaewon) has a big selection of both used and new books. It’s a little pricey since everything has to be imported, but they do offer free shipping within Korea if you order online.

Jonathan got Margaret Atwood’s book Oryx and Crake. I’m on a no-buy because I have 17 unread books on my kindle right now. (Oops).

5. Butterbeer and Chili fries. We found a delightful English pub with the most enchanting menu of all-time. Harry Potter inspired Butter beer (similar to what you can get at HP world except this one was alcoholic), a range of different hot dogs, and fries covered in chili and beef and bacon and cheese and mayo and grilled kimchi on the side (because this is still Korea). Yes, that was heart attack waiting to happen, but you know what…Treat yo self.

6. Shopping. I went into this trip prepared to do some shopping, but it ended up being one of those weird times when I was planning to buy all the things, but couldn’t find anything I wanted. I felt a little cheated – after all, I held up my end of the bargain, going to stores with money – and the stores let me down. (I know, I know, first world problems).

The Myeongdong central shopping area in Seoul. So many stores and I couldn’t find a thing to buy.

In spite of our lack of unique cultural experiences, we are calling “Treat Yo Self 2015” a success and I hope it’s a tradition we keep up every now and again.

All joking aside, self care is really important and while that doesn’t have to mean doing anything expensive or extravagant, it’s important to tend to our souls by building in time to rest, relax, and do the things that rejuvenate us, whether it’s bubble baths or window shopping or going to a baseball game. You can’t pour out to others if you are completely empty yourself.

I had one more really big adventure in Seoul, but you’ll have to check back next week to hear about it!

Fifty -Two Weeks of Adventure #7: Jellyfish Salad and Stingray Sprouts

My week 7 adventure turned out a bit differently than I expected. We are at the end of the Korean school year which runs March to February with a 5 week summer break and a 5 week winter break. My 6th graders graduate today and then we’ll have a 10 day break for the Lunar New Year and what they call “Spring Vacation” before coming back to start a new school year March 2nd.

Last week we had our end of the year teacher’s dinner. I intended to write about this as my adventure because last year’s end-of-the-year dinner was so eventful. Last year the dinner was held at a big wedding hall (you can read about my experience with Korean weddings here) where there was a huge buffet in a ballroom-sized room with a bunch of smaller private rooms off on the sides. So my school had a private room and after the meal there were farewell speeches where they had a champagne toast to teachers who were leaving and did a weird ceremony where they cut what looked like a wedding cake together with this giant knife. Afterwards, they brought in a karaoke machine and we had obligatory norebang time. Norebang is the Korean style of karaoke and it is wildly popular here, especially for “professional development” kind of events. Last year I had to sing “Call Me Maybe” as a duet with the 50 year old music teacher, Mr. Kim, and was treated to my barely five-foot-tall vice principal singing something in Korean while jumping up and down the whole time. It was a riot.

Needless to say, I had high expectations for this year. I was a little let down. Instead of the wedding hall we went to a small hole-in-the-wall traditional Korean restaurant where we sat on the floor (always tough on the knees and tailbone, etc after a while). There was only a brief good-bye speech for the teachers who were leaving. Then we ate a traditional Korean meal together, after which we all left and went home. It was anti-climactic, but it was my only adventure planned for the week, so it will have to do.

The most adventurous part of it was probably some of the food itself. A traditional Korean meal is 30 or more small courses or side dishes called “banchan.” The servers bring out dish after dish and everyone shares them (like, you just reach over with your chopsticks and grab whatever your want. You don’t get your own plate). I tried to get a few pictures of this, but my phone camera is awful and it was difficult because the teachers didn’t want to be in the pictures.

See what I mean. Awful camera and no good way to get all the food without getting the teachers.

Photo by: Brett on Flikr https://www.flickr.com/photos/savagecorp/20619135/

Among the more exotic dishes were the jellyfish salad (which I actually kind of enjoy) and a dish with stingray and bean sprouts in a red pepper sauce. Stingray is very stringy and kind of sweet, just fyi. There were whole cooked fish, which were delicious, but didn’t look appetizing what with their eyeballs staring at you, along with the little dried anchovies that look like nothing but eyes. There was yukhwe, a raw beef dish, and japchae (glass noodles with beef) and of course, kimchi.

Jellyfish salad – photo by Amy Dunkley

Big fish and little fish. Sorry this picture is so blurry!

People often ask me if I like Korean food and I never really know how to answer. I’m not an especially picky eater, though I don’t like my meat to be super fatty and I only like the octopus tentacles and not the whole baby ones with the heads attached, so maybe that makes me picky. There are some Korean dishes that I really love – bulgogi and jjimdak and dumplings and galbi (bbq). And there are others that I really don’t care for – makjang (pig colon) and raw liver and chicken hearts. Overall I would describe my relationship to Korean food this way – I like a lot of things, but only in small amounts. I enjoy them, but I only want one or two bites of each thing, not a whole plateful. Which is why these big shared meals work out well for me. I can get away with one or two bites of everything without seeming rude. Unforunately, in spite of eating it a few hundred times at this point, I still really don’t like kimchi which means I could never be fully accepted into Korean society.

We are headed to Seoul tomorrow for the Lunar New Year (a huge holiday here in Korea) and I have some bigger adventures planned for this week, so stay tuned!

Fifty-Two Weeks of Adventure #6: Grown-up Perfume and Board Game Cafe

It’s that time for…Adventure Number 6! I admit, this week’s adventure isn’t all that thrilling, though I did try some new things and to me, that counts as an adventure. (Remember, you get to decide what counts as an adventure to you and it really doesn’t matter if it’s adventurous to other people or not!) Next week we are headed to Seoul for a few days so I hope to have some more unique experiences to share.

This past weekend we met up with our friends Josh and Laura (and baby Genevieve) and Matt and Di in downtown Daegu and went to a board game cafe together. Board game cafes are fairly popular in Korea. They are, just like the name suggests, cafes that have tons of board games you can “check out” and play. Most cafes have an hourly rate per person for playing games with a special price for “unlimited” game time.

Noriteo Board Game Cafe. Photo by Abbi Sauro for Touch Daegu.

It was our first time at this particular cafe and we were surprised by how intense they were about their games. There was an actual menu of board games which we looked through at our table. Once we chose a game we had to call a waiter over and “order” it. The “waiter” was the only one allowed to go over to the giant game wall and get the games down for us. (And if you looked like you might touch something this kid with a skull-print hoodie who looked like he hated his life would rush over and glare at you).

Noriteo Board Game Cafe. Photo by Abbi Sauro for Touch Daegu.

This is the wall of games Thou Shalt Not Touch! Noriteo Board Game Cafe. Photo by Abbi Sauro for Touch Daegu.

We played Puerto Rico, a game I’d never played before. In the game, you are settling Puerto Rico and have to build plantations and produce goods and settle colonists and ship your products – you know, basically real life. I ended up winning so based on that, I think I like it!

My other adventurous act was purchasing a bottle of real grown-up perfume. That may not seem like a big deal and in the grand scheme of things, of course it isn’t, but it’s something I’ve never done before and it felt like a major life moment for some reason. Buying a bottle of perfume felt like a very adult thing to do. (And as you know, I have a very tenuous relationship with adulthood).

I’ve never worn perfume before – at most I wore some body splash back in high school. One of my good friends and sometimes roommate in college suffered with migraines that were often triggered by smells, so I got out of the habit of wearing even the body splashes during college. By the time we graduated it just wasn’t a big part of my life or routine anymore.

I’m not sure how it started, but over the past month or so I suddenly decided that I might like to try wearing perfume. I like pretty things and perfumes both smell and look pretty. During our travels I sampled lots of scents in the many airports we went through, but it felt like a big commitment and since I’ve never worn perfume before I wasn’t really sure what I liked.

Last weekend after lots of deliberation I got this adorable bottle of Daisy Eau So Fresh by Marc Jacobs. It’s smells similar to his original Daisy scent, but more clean and fresh and the florals are a little lighter. It’s probably best suited to spring and summer, but as I only have one perfume I will be wearing it all the time. 🙂

So far I feel pleased with my choice and Jonathan seems to like it too (though I’ve always heard that lots of men prefer really sweet scents on women and this one isn’t super sweet). It makes me feel sophisticated and fancy, two things I am decidedly not, which is part of why wearing it feels so adventurous to me.

If you have a favorite perfume, let me know in the comments!

Fifty-Two Weeks of Adventure #5 : Making a King Cake

I was born and raised in South Louisiana in the very heart of Cajun country (though many people are surprised by this because of my lack of Cajun or otherwise southern accent). Although I haven’t lived in Louisiana for eight years or so, my roots are still there and in Louisiana this time of year is King Cake Season.

A King Cake is a traditional Mardi Gras/Pre-Lenten food that is basically a Danish or sweet-bread type dough with a filling (commonly cream cheese, cinnamon pecan, or cherry bourbon) that is baked in the shape of a braided circle and topped with a glaze and green, purple, and yellow colored sugar. Traditionally a small plastic baby, representing Baby Jesus is baked into the cake and there are various traditions for the person who gets the baby in their slice of cake. The name “King Cake” comes from the biblical three kings who followed the star to Jesus at Epiphany. Although my family wasn’t all that enthusiastic about Mardi Gras, we always had at least one King Cake. I especially remember the smell of them and the way the scent seemed to flow out of the bakeries and into the streets themselves in February and March.

I don’t remember the last time I had King Cake in Louisiana – it’s probably been eight years or more. So for my Week 5 adventure I decided I’d try to make one.

I’m an avid baker, but I’ve never attempted a King Cake before. Here in Korea I don’t have a full-sized oven, just a large convection/toaster oven. I’ve also had a lot of trouble with yeast here – something about the dampness/dryness and temperature fluctuations seems to make it extra finicky. But I decided to give it a go. I followed this recipe as closely as possible though I think I’d try a different one in the future.

First I made the bread dough and put it near the space heater to let it rise. (We don’t have central heat so it’s hard to find a spot warm enough for the yeast to activate).

Next I made a cream cheese filling which I admit to sampling generous amounts of before using it (I’m a sucker for anything sweet and creamy). I rolled the dough into three pieces and spread the filing over each piece.

Then I rolled each piece up long-ways and sealed the edges. I braided the three pieces together and formed them into a circle. I let it rise a bit longer. It rose sort of unevenly and closed up the hole that was supposed to be in the middle, but oh well! I painted an egg and milk wash over the top after it was finished rising and then baked that sucker!

In the end, it was hard to get it cooked all the way though the center without burning the edges cause my little mini oven isn’t the greatest. But I was still pretty proud of how it turned out.

There was a lemony icing that went over the top, but I didn’t get a picture of it. I also didn’t have any colored sugar crystals so it didn’t look that impressive anyway.

Overall it was a good experiment, though kind of a lot of work. The whole process (with rising time) took about 4 hours. It wasn’t as good as a King Cake from home, but it was a decent first try. If I make it in the future I might try a different recipe for comparison. After several weeks of traveling I knew my Week 5 adventure would be low-key, but I’m proud of trying something new and finding a way to connect to my home from far away.

As we say in Louisiana, “Laissez les bon temps rouler!” – Let the good times roll!

If you have an adventure to share, add your link to the link-up by clicking the link below. You can participate in all of the adventures or you can just do a few – no pressure. If you missed last week’s adventure you can find it here. And if you are new to my Fifty-Two Weeks of Adventure project you can find out more about it here.

Click Here to Add Your Link.

Fifty-Two Weeks of Adventure Link-up Adventure #4: Singapore and Kuala Lumpur

Early Sunday morning we returned to Korea after a fantastic two-week vacation in southeast Asia. We had such a wonderful time with equal parts rest, relaxation, and excitement. All of our actual travel went really smoothly as well without delays or complications. If you travel much, you probably know that that almost never happens so it was a true blessing.

From Krabi we took a short 2-hour flight straight to Singapore. We went to Singapore in part to visit some friends who are living there. (Actually, it’s the family that I used to work for back in North Carolina – the same family we visited when they were living in Shanghai last year).

This is the view from our friends' apartment. Not too shabby!

This is the view from our friends’ living room. Not too shabby!

We fell in love with Singapore. Everything in Singapore is so nice and clean and beautiful. It is a city built right in the middle of a jungle so there are lush gardens, trees, and flowers all around the skyscrapers and busy streets. Since it’s a tropical climate, it is green and warm all year round, something we are desperately missing in Korea.

English is the common language in Singapore which made it incredibly easy for us to get around. We found that people here were friendly and very polite. In Korea (and China in our experience) there is more of an “everyman-for-himself” mentality which comes out in the way everyone pushes their way to the front instead of waiting in line for things as well as the lack of personal space. In Singapore, while public transportation could be very crowded, people took care not to actually be touching those around them – and if they did, they immediately apologized. They said, “Excuse me” when they needed to pass instead of just pushing people out of the way. These little things really stood out to us and made us feel that if we ever moved to Asia again, Singapore would be at the top of our list of comfortable places to be.

Besides a truly enormous number of shopping malls, Singapore has a lot of other interesting things to do and see. Since the weather is so nice, many sights and activities are geared towards being outdoors.We went to the Botanic Gardens and had lunch at the top of the Marina Bay Sands Hotel – an iconic building overlooking the harbor.

The orchid garden at the Singapore Botanic Gardens

The Marina Bay Sands is the three towers with the cruise ship on top of it. Also pictured are the bridge designed to look like a double helix and a museum that looks sort of like a clam shell.

Very artsy picture by Jonathan. That statue is of, I kid you not, a “merlion,” as in half-mermaid, half-lion. It is the official symbol of Singapore.

We also went to Gardens by the Bay, super cool man-made gardens that are an interesting mix of plants and flowers and futuristic architectural elements. I think it would look really cool at night when it’s all lit up, but we unfortunately weren’t there for that.

Welcome to the Future!

Singapore Selfie!

One night we went to Singapore’s Night Zoo – a special zoo that’s only open at night to allow better viewing of the many nocturnal animals at the zoo. Everything is dark except for some perfectly placed spotlights to help you see the path and to illuminate the animals. It was a unique and fun experience, though not great for taking pictures.

Here I am walking down the dimly lit path.

The Night Zoo was not good for pictures since you can’t use a flash, but here’s on OK shot of a spotted hyena.

One of the things we loved most about Singapore was how truly international it feels. Singapore’s population is about 5.5 million people with nearly 25% being foreign-born or expats. Walking around Singapore felt like walking around New York City – a true melting pot of races, cultures, and religions. The only downside to Singapore is that everything is VERY EXPENSIVE so it was a good thing we were only there for a few days.

On Friday night we took a sleeper train across the border into Malaysia. We thought the sleeper train experience might be fun and it was a very cheap way to travel. While it wasn’t great for getting a lot of rest, it was still a fun experience.

We spent the day on Friday seeing a few things in Kuala Lumpur before heading out to the airport where we flew overnight back to Korea. Our general impression of Kuala Lumpur was very positive. Malaysia is a Muslim country which was evident in lots of ways – women wearing head coverings of course, but also things like signs in the subway saying “No Smoking,” “No Littering,” and “No Indecent Behavior” with a picture of a man and woman kissing. While we were only there a short time, the people in Kuala Lumpur were probably the friendliest we met on our travels – even strangers smiled at us if they made eye contact and everyone we interacted with was very polite, helpful, and welcoming. It would have been great to have more time there, but we were thankful that we at least got to spend the day.

The Patronus Towers. Apparently these were the tallest buildings in the world until 2004.

Elaborate Chinese New Year display inside one of the huge shopping malls in Kuala Lumpur.

Today was my first day back at work and next week’s post will start the real challenge – finding adventures in my everyday life. It’s easy to feel adventurous while traveling, but it’s much harder when you are back to the rhythms of ordinary life.

By the way, here are some of my favorite adventures from the posts you’ve shared over the past few weeks. Check them out!

Heather’s salsa dancing

Angela’s trip to Milan

Pradnya goes parasailing

Jenn takes a pizza-making field trip with 4-year-olds

Brenda decides to join a small-group (just loved how honest this one was – I can relate so well to that feeling that everyone else has it all together).

[If you are new to my fifty-two weeks of adventure project, you can read my introduction post and Brenda (the original creator)’s blog for background. You can participate in this link-up by writing your own post about your adventure and mentioning/linking to this post. Then simply use the button at the bottom of this post to add your link to the collection. Be sure to check out the other links for inspiration from your fellow adventurers! As always, you can add a link here even if you didn’t participate last week or aren’t planning to do all 52-posts. This is a no-pressure zone.]

Fifty-Two Weeks of Adventure Link-Up Adventure #3: Elephant Riding and Island Hopping

Since I’m still on vacation, Week 3 flew by with lots of adventures big and small to embrace. If you are new to my fifty-two weeks of adventure project, you can read my introduction post and Brenda (the original creator)’s blog for background. You can participate in this link-up by writing your own post about your adventure and mentioning/linking to this post. Then simply use the button at the bottom of this post to add your link to the collection. Be sure to check out the other links for inspiration from your fellow adventurers! As always, you can add a link here even if you didn’t participate last week or aren’t planning to do all 52-posts. This is a no-pressure zone.

Adventure #3 – Elephant Riding and Island Hopping

After Bangkok, we headed north to Chiang Mai. I was especially excited to see Chiang Mai since a dear friend of mine (and fabulous writer whose blog you should go read NOW) grew up as a missionary kid here. It’s a totally different perspective to look at everything and imagine my friend calling this place home and wondering what it must have been for this place to be home and yet to never fully belong to the people and the culture.

Chiang Mai is a nice place to visit because the Old City (where there are about a bajillion temples and lots of touristy things) is quite small- just 2km by 2km square – so it’s very walkable. It’s much smaller than Bangkok, so even though it’s become very touristy in the past few years it still gives visitors a better idea what life is like in Northern Thailand. Chiang Mai is also very close to the border of Laos and Myanmar so it’s a popular stopover for people traveling to and from those countries.

Temple in Chiang Mai

I was wearing shorts which was "disrespectful to the Buddha" so I got to wear this sweet Harry Potter robe instead.

I was wearing shorts which was “disrespectful to the Buddha” so I got to wear this sweet Harry Potter robe inside.

The Buddhas I was disrespecting. I believe the sign said these were the Buddhas in the posture for preventing family members from fighting.

Pathway up to the mountain temple

Temple on top of a mountain in Chiang Mai

Our biggest adventure in Chiang Mai was probably elephant-riding. Elephants are some of my favorite animals. They are so expressive and beautiful and graceful in spite of their size. There are many places that offer elephant riding and shows in and around Chiang Mai, but we researched a lot to find a place that we felt wasn’t just exploiting the animals or treating them cruelly. The group we went with is actually an elephant rescue facility. Their elephants have been rescued from villages further north and across the border in Myanmar where they were being used for hard labor. The trainers at this camp only use verbal commands with their elephants – no hitting of any kind – and the elephants spend most of the day freely wandering around the camp, not tied up or in pens. Tourists come in and ride them for 30-45 minutes a day and you ride bareback, not on one of those chairs which are bad for the elephant’s back. These elephants are not taught to do tricks like painting or any other unnatural elephant behaviors. I know there are people who feel like riding elephants at all is exploitative and I understand that, but we felt like this was a once in a lifetime experience and the money we paid for the experience went to paying the caretakers and providing food for the elephants who all seemed very happy.

Our elephant was a spunky 14-year-old female named Pui Pui. Like most teenagers, she mostly wanted to not listen and eat everything in sight. We had many (terrifying) moments when she charged off the path to pull a small tree up by its roots and munch on it. 🙂

See where that other elephant is down in the corner? That’s where we were supposed to be at this point…

The only thing she seemed to like more than eating was bath time. What a cutie!

Another popular attraction in Chiang Mai is the Tiger Kingdom where you can pet and play with tigers of all ages. While it killed me to miss an opportunity to pet a tiger cub (I would have died with happiness), we felt like this was more exploitative as these animals are all bred in captivity for the sole purpose of being a tourist attraction. I was a little disappointed since tigers are so awesome, but ultimately I think we made the right decision.

While in Chiang Mai we also took a Thai cooking class that was delicious and loads of fun. We ended up being the only people who signed up for our time slot so it was a private class. We each learned to make 5 dishes. This was especially entertaining to me since Jonathan doesn’t cook at all. If you follow me on Instagram you’ve probably already seen some of these pictures. My favorite dishes were the khao soi and the mango sticky rice.

From Chiang Mai we flew down to Krabi on the south coast of Thailand for some beach time. We are staying at Ao Nang Beach and did a day trip out to some of the nearby islands and other beaches. It’s achingly, breathtakingly beautiful here. Today is our final day in Krabi and tomorrow we leave Thailand and fly to Singapore for a few days before heading back home to cold, gray Korea.

Maya Beach, only accessible by boat and most famous for being where the movie The Beach was shot (although that’s not a particularly good or well-known movie). As you can see, it was VERY crowded, but still stunning. This photo is a raw image – no editing at all – that’s how vivid the colors are by themselves.

Look at that stud! At Railay Beach

There’s nothing more satisfying than a coconut on a hot day.

Pranang Beach (or Phranang – I’ve seen it both ways)

Food Boats! Like food trucks that float.

Seeing places like this makes me feel overwhelmed with gratitude that such beauty exists and that I get the opportunity to see it. This afternoon we were swimming in this crystal clear water beside these limestone cliffs and I grabbed my husband and said, “Look around! We need to remember this moment forever!” Because there will be days when Korea is freezing and our students are little brats and our coworkers are making life difficult. There will be moments when we are back in the USA when we are stressing about getting the car fixed and paying our rent. There may be moments someday in the (distant) future when we have a baby that keeps us up all night crying and we can’t believe how exhausted we are. But these moments we are sharing here now can never be taken away. And I hope that in the mundane, stressful, and even exhausting days in our lives we can look back on these moments and remember that the world is so much bigger than whatever our current problem is. I hope these moments can be a reminder that we have been given a life filled with more beauty than we deserve. And if I’m ever having trouble seeing that in the present, I hope I can look back to these moments and remember that all of life is a gift.

What were your adventures this week? Click on the button to add your link below or to view other bloggers’ posts. As always, this link-up is available for one week.

Fifty-Two Weeks of Adventure Link-up Adventure #2: Visiting Bangkok

I can’t believe it’s already time for my Week 2 adventure! If you didn’t catch last week’s introduction to my fifty-two weeks of adventure project, go check it out here. Also, be sure to check out Brenda (the original creator)’s blog about her week’s adventure and the blogs that were added to last week’s link-up (you can find these by visiting last week’s post and clicking on the button at the bottom of the page). Like last week, this is a link-up. If you have an adventure to share, you can add your link by clicking the button at the end of the post. You can also see other people’s links by clicking that button. You can add your link here even if you didn’t participate last week. There is no pressure to do all fifty-two posts.

So, on to Adventure #2. This week I got to visit Bangkok, Thailand for the first time. We have two weeks of vacation from school right now and wanted to travel somewhere warm and exotic and cheap. Thailand wins on all three counts.

One of the first things that struck me about Bangkok was how strange it felt to be in a place that was both tropical and a big city. I’ve been to places with a distinctly tropical feel (like Bali) and I’ve been to plenty of big cities (Seoul for example) but I think this was the first time I’ve been to a huge city that also has such a distinctly tropical feel.

While in Bangkok we got to meet up with a friend of Jonathan’s from high school who has been teaching in Bangkok for the past few years. It was great to see a friendly face and get some inside advice on what to see and how to get around.

Our first night in Bangkok we actually found a restaurant that had s’mores you could cook at your table. I know – it’s weird that we went to Thailand to get s’mores – but Jonathan and I realized that our experience traveling there as expats is so different than it would be if we’d come from the US. Because we live abroad and don’t have access to a lot of familiar foods and other things, finding some of these things in Bangkok was a treat. For example, I freaked out when I found a Sephora at one of the ENORMOUS malls that are a huge attraction in Bangkok and wanted to buy everything, but restrained myself to two Nyx matte lip creams and two of their butter glosses – if you haven’t tried these, get them. They are the best! And only like $6 in America. (Also, OK, I admit that I only restricted myself to two because they only had two colors in stock…)

S’mores over hot coals with homemade graham crackers, bananas, strawberries, apples, chocolate sauce, and butterscotch sauce. We ate every single bite.

Don’t worry, we’ve also been eating loads of pad thai and curry and all that good stuff.:)

We finished the night with a trip to the Red Sky Bar, one of many rooftop bars at the top of some of Bangkok’s tallest buildings. It was kind of surreal and totally beautiful.

While in Bangkok we also checked out some of the main tourist attractions – namely the Grand Palace and Wat Arun (the Temple of Dawn). We traveled by boat to the Grand Palace and then took a ferry across the river to Wat Arun for a mere 10 cents.

Wat Arun, an incredibly old temple with a terrifyingly steep staircase.

Aforementioned steep staircase

Made it to the top and struck a pose.

Yesterday we traveled to Chiang Mai in the northern part of Thailand, so next week’s adventure will take place here and [spoiler alert] will likely include elephants.

Jonathan and I keep looking at each other and asking, “Is this real life?” The travel we’ve been able to do from Korea has been such a gift and we are truly, deeply thankful for the opportunity.

What fabulous adventures have you been having this week?

*To participate in the link-up simply write your post, mention that you are joining this link-up and add a link to THIS post. Then use the button below to add your post to the link-up. This link-up will be open for one week.

Fifty-Two Weeks of Adventure Link-Up: Adventure #1

Over the weekend I discovered Brenda’s blog Embark: Fifty-Two Weeks of Adventure. Brenda invites readers to join her on fifty-two weeks of adventures for 2015.

“Embark with me as I take fifty-two adventures and re-discover the joy of ordinary life being lived to its fullest.

I challenge you to find a way to learn, to grow, to care and to breathe, each day, for fifty-two weeks. Nourish your mind, soul, heart and body. And each week, go on an adventure. “

Seriously?! An adventure EVERY WEEK FOR A YEAR?! How will I contain the awesome?!?! I don’t think I have the words for how excited this made me. Maybe this picture will help explain it:

Needless to say, challenge accepted, Brenda. Challenge Accepted!

I will be posting here once a week (probably on Mondays or Tuesdays) about that week’s adventure. The cool thing about this challenge is that nobody decides what counts as an adventure but you. Some adventures may be big and exciting and some may be as simple as trying a new food or intentionally learning about something I didn’t know before.

This practice is not about doing extravagant things or trying to impress anyone with how adventurous I am. It’s about living with intention and making the most of my one wild and precious life by seeing and seizing the opportunities of each ordinary week. It’s about pushing myself to live a little bigger, to breathe a little deeper, to open my eyes a little wider.

Interested in joining? There are a few ways you can be involved. First, you can head over to Brenda’s blog and download her adorable Embark Journal and follow her adventures there. And if you write about your adventures in a blog, you can also link your posts here on Such Small Hands. I will host a link-up each week when I post my own adventure of the week. The link-up will be open for one week and will close when the next week’s post goes up. You can participate in all of them or pop in and out throughout the year. If you post once there is no pressure to post every week – I just thought this would be a fun journey to take as a community.

So that’s the deal. And now, without further ado…

Adventure Numero Uno

I started writing my book.

I actually sat down in front of my computer and I wrote “Introduction” and then I wrote an introduction!

This may not seem like a big deal to some of you fancy, big-time writers, but it was a huge step for me. Because while I have been thinking about the book I want to write for some time, I’ve been a real pansy about getting started. I’ve talked about what I want to write and I’ve even whined about how hard it is, but have I actually sat down and tried to do it? No. No, I haven’t. Until this past Saturday.

As part of my pursuit of wholeheartedness this year I am trying to be courageous. I need the courage to be vulnerable and to do hard work, even if it’s never rewarded. I need to stop talking about what I wish I could do in life and start living it. So for me, starting my book was the beginning of a very big adventure.

I’m headed to Thailand for our winter vacation on Friday so my next few adventures will probably be travel-related. They also might be late depending on how reliable my internet access is. I know that’s not a great way to start a new series, but it’s also giving me a chance to practice another of my wholehearted commitments, self-compassion. 🙂

In the words of the great Disney/Pixar movie, Up! :

“Adventure is out there!”

Please click the button below to add your link or to read other people’s links! When you link up, be sure to link to THIS POST from your blog so your readers know where to find the rest of the link-up!

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Lily Ellyn

Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.

Fifty-Two Adventures

Fifty-Two Weeks of Adventure #11 : A Visit to the Thea – truh and Some Fellow Adventurers

Fifty-Two Weeks of Adventure #9: Illegal Activities

The Story

The Process

Fifty-Two Weeks of Adventure #8: Lunar New Year and Treat Yo Self 2015

Fifty -Two Weeks of Adventure #7: Jellyfish Salad and Stingray Sprouts

Fifty-Two Weeks of Adventure #6: Grown-up Perfume and Board Game Cafe

Fifty-Two Weeks of Adventure #5 : Making a King Cake

Click Here to Add Your Link.

Fifty-Two Weeks of Adventure Link-up Adventure #4: Singapore and Kuala Lumpur

Fifty-Two Weeks of Adventure Link-Up Adventure #3: Elephant Riding and Island Hopping

Fifty-Two Weeks of Adventure Link-up Adventure #2: Visiting Bangkok

Fifty-Two Weeks of Adventure Link-Up: Adventure #1

Adventure Numero Uno

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The Story

The Process

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Adventure Numero Uno

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