Back to the Motherland

I got to Korea! This is pretty funny. I got to the airport, and I went outside hoping to see some family out, but none of them were there. I did receive a text from my aunt once I had Wi-Fi informing me that no one is going to be there and I needed to take a cab. I took the cab to my aunt’s apartment and again, no ones home. This story seems like a lonely one, but I promise it’s not.

I unpacked and repacked my luggage bag to take back to Hong Kong. I am so happy that I am going have everything I need in Hong Kong. All my clothes, computer, and etc. will be in my passion again! Once I’m almost done, I get a call from my older cousin to ask if I got home okay, and if I’m alone. I guess we were supposed to have other family come before me, but they never showed up, and later, they told us via text that they will come to the bus stop the next morning.

My cousin and her new husband came to pick me up for dinner and drinks. Korean BBQ and soju, what more can a man ask for? We enjoyed a great meal and conversation about their newlywed life and Bali, and I shared my stories of traveling to Australia and Brunei. After the meal (which was paid for by my “brother-in-law’s” coworker), we picked up some sushi rolls and got more drinks, and we drank at their house! It was nice to see family again that’s for sure. I was too lonely in Aussie land and Hong Kong.

Fell asleep drunk and early next morning, I was dropped off at my aunt’s house to get dressed and ready for my cousin’s wedding! Took all my shit and myself down in the fucking cold and waited for all of my family to arrive, so I can give direction to a place I barely knew. What could go wrong? Actually nothing! We got to the subway station where our charter bus waited, and we got settled in to our seats. Off to Seoul we go! A little bit into the trip; it was time for snacks and drinks. I felt like a flight attendant serving food and drinks to all the guest on the bus handling special requests about how much food and drinks they wanted and etc. etc.

I passed out afterwards, and I was in Seoul! Gangnam to be exact. We arrived earlier than we thought, and so my “sister-in-law”, younger cousin, and I had a cup of coffee and convoed about nothing and everything. Soon we were allowed into the wedding hall to take pictures with the bride and see the groom and everything! The whole shindig. It was rushed and busy and loud as usual, you know this isn’t my first Korean wedding (hairflip). I was too busy being a half ass photographer next to the professionals.

The reception about the start, and it was gorgeous. Didn’t last very long, they did their vows and bows. On with the walk together out of the reception hall to change into the Korean traditional garment, while that’s going on, the guest all left the hall to get the catered food. it was really good, and as we enjoy our food, the newlyweds came out in the traditional clothing to greet everyone and thank everyone. They looked good! It was like a blink of an eye. They left for the airport for their Italian honeymoon… UGH so jealous!!! I want to go back to Italy!

Just like that and everyone was board the bus to go back to Pusan. I had other arrangements to stay up in Seoul to pick up the rest of my stuff in Seoul. I called my friend Jay, who has my stuff, and he and I met up in Gangnam and went back to his place! We went out to Myung Dong for a quick bite and some sock shopping. Man is Korea different this time around. I don’t think it will ever be the same like it was when I was a student here. I know that about a month ago, and I didn’t expect this much of a difference, but it is. I miss everyone even more. We walked around some more and went back home, and I was asleep.

Sunday (January 19, 2014), I went to swim practice! You know the gay swim team I told you about like 17 posts ago? Well I never got a chance to say good-bye to them before I left because I was too busy drinking. I saw them and they were super nice and friendly to me; they took me out to eat and desert. It was nice to see them at least; knowing I have friends here feels really good! Later that night, I met my friend again for some chicken and beer! (My favorite)

Dinner was great; after I got a little buzz going, we went home and I finished packing all my stuff, and to bed I went! I woke up, and I’m on a plane in the morning to Shanghai and Hong Kong.

This was a really weird trip. Korea will never be the same I think. I enjoyed it for what it was, but Korea was conquered already! Thank you everyone who made Korea, well Korea.

First Days and First Impressions.

Monday (January 13, 2014), it was the first day of class. Pretty exciting, I liked this class. The professor seemed to be easy going and relaxed, and his English isn’t half bad. I will say the level of English in the university regard my professors is better than Yonsei in Seoul, South Korea. From the first weekend, Hong Kong is nothing I expected. I expect Hong Kong to be clean, English friendly, progressive, and more, I mean I thought it’d have a more vibrant gay life, but I was wrong. It seems Mainland China has taken over. I expected Hong Kong to be very English friendly, and that people of this nation would be able to speak very good English. Boy was I wrong. Oh well, it is still very exciting!

I didn’t do much this day, just some administrative stuff like get Octopus card and student ID. I ended up going to TST for dinner that night and walking back through the Avenue of Stars where I saw Jackie Chan, Bruce Lee, Jet Li and other stars I had no idea who they were. It was quite exciting.

The next day, I didn’t have class, but I still went to school to try to get my classes changed. From there I had lunch with Jordan and Kasia, and I met Leah there! With her and couple other people, we took a journey to Victoria’s Peak through the Avenue of Stars. It is much different from day and night. (The amount of people seems to be the same.) It was an amazing view of the entire Hong Kong. I really wished I had all my clothes, because it was freezing up there. Came back down and the line to the cable car up was out of the door and around the building… There are too many people in this country! Like China!

Wednesday night, we went out for ladies night. Uneventful and I was bored. Same with Thursday night, I guess after the fuckery in Korea, the partying scene is never the same. Hong Kong is way to boring for me! I miss my family I made in Korea! (For future reference, when I say I miss family you can sub in either one. My biological family back at home, or my family I made at Yonsei Exchange, but if I’m talking about drinking, it’s most likely my Yonsei Family.)

Friday morning (January 17, 2014), I was on a flight to Pusan for my cousin’s wedding. Going back to Korea seemed really weird.

Brunei and Hong Kong

I was in Brunei! The layover is 17 hours, so I got a nice hotel room and relaxed for a minute! I did some exploring that night! It was late and raining, but I figured I wouldn’t be in Brunei again for a long time, so why not? I walked basically everywhere. I saw the Sultan Omar Ali Saifuddin Mosque, which was a five-minute walk from my hotel room. The praying was still going on and people were still walking in and out of there. It wasn’t that late, but it wasn’t early, so I was shocked to se people still in there. I got lost in Brunei after the Mosque! I was looking for the second one and I couldn’t find it. In my panic, a man pulls over with a child in the car, and asks me where I’m going. I was scared, but I was more scared that I was lost, so I went with it. I told him where I wanted to go, and he offered me a ride. Thankfully, he took me there and gave me some information about Brunei! How nice! My faith in humanity gain couple points because of this guy! I walked back home after the Mosque, and on the way, I picked up Thai food, and I ate and slept.

The next morning (January 9, 2014), I was on the flight to Hong Kong. I arrived in Hong Kong and was escorted to the dorms, which isn’t very nice and it’s kind of dirty. I met my roommate Sami, and we got a dunch together (Lunch and dinner). Sami is Finnish! We got my bedding at a store across the halls, and we met a French guy name Thibault at the bedding place. We all decided a drink is an order, so we explored a bit and went into a bar for couple beers and called it a night because we have orientation the next day.

At orientation, I met heaps of people! I can’t even remember all their name. This whole making new friends thing is getting really old though. I’ve had to tell the same stories to now three exchanges and have to prove my worthy as a friend! Man I feel like I’m really boring, but people seem to love my stories! The good thing also was meeting Jordan from Georgia Tech because I’ve missed Georgia a lot in Korea. Although both Lisa and Jordan aren’t native Georgians they will suffice. I met other people too. As always the orientation lasted about 4 hours too long. Later that night, most of the student went out for dinner to an authentic Hong Kong restaurant. The food was good, but I sat with some picky eaters. I felt like I was the only one eating!

Once the food was done, it was time to drink! I’ve heard some great things about Hong Kong drinking life, so I’m stoked! People left a little too early for, so I stayed back for a predrink with couple UK girls, and arrived in Wan Chai around midnight at a bar called Carnegies. It was quite exciting to meet everyone out and see how he or she is like. I stuck with the UK girls (Ffian, Yaz, and Poly), and we took a cab over to LKF for the next destination called Fly. The music was better there. (Soon my opinion will change.) We danced and danced and drank, and next thing you know, I’m in a cab back home at 4 am. Good night.

Next morning (January 11, 2014), I went to Central with my roommate, and couple Americans. Part of our “lets explore the city”. We stopped by the Apple store so people can get their shit fixed, and we just walked from Central all the way to Causway Bay. It was a long walk and momma needs to nap before another night out at LKF! When the time rolled around to roll out, we all got on the subway, led by Malcolm (still don’t know this person personally); we went to Central to a rooftop bar called Red Bar. After finding out the drinks were way to expensive at Red Bar, I went down for a beer run, and what do you know, everyone left. Only a couple people were with me, and we decided to go to LKF by ourselves. We managed to find couple people, but it wasn’t all that much fun. I called it an early night, and when I got home, Sami and friends were in my room! I drank with them for a while, and I slept!

Sunday, I woke up and went to Macao to activate my student visa for Hong Kong because I didn’t receive it in time. Couple people had the same issue, so we went together. We left pretty late because everyone was sleeping in (including me). We went to the ferry station, which I guess no one knows where it is because it took us going to information center to get to the right pier! We finally got on the ferry and got to Macao. We figured we could tour around one casino and have dinner there. I remember China Summer Program people telling me that the Venetian was a pretty good place to visit, so that’s where we headed. We enjoyed a nice dinner first, and went around to the shopping area to see the river and the grandness of the casino! We caught the cab and ferry back to Hong Kong, and I was in bed for the first day school. Good night.  

Last Aussie Post

I slept in after the crazy night in Melbourne. I went out to an old jail near the city in Melbourne; it was cute, but I could do without. I came back to the hostel to find that I had two new roommates in my room! Will and Jamie are Canadians backpacking through the world. They were heaps amount of fun! (I met up with them again when I went to Thailand, what is my life!) I ended up getting some dinner, and meeting up with them later for drinks and dancing! I got acquainted with couple more people and tried to get into a club to dance, and almost everywhere rejected us for being foreign, underdressed, and other reasons I didn’t know. I mean why? My money is good, but bitches didn’t want it!

So we took our asses somewhere, which I do not know the name of, and danced and drank! We stumbled home at around 4 am, not my best decision because I have a tour at 6:30am (January 5, 2014), which I almost missed. It was a good night though! We took shots and consumed beer, all the while dancing to great remixes!

The next morning, I got up with a hangover, and having the hostel owner wake me up for my tour of the Great Ocean Road, which was amazing! The drive and the scenery were just breathtaking! We got to see Twelve Apostles! It was way too cool. it was amazing to know that things like that exist in the world. The weather was cold; maybe I should have taken a jacket. Well maybe I shouldn't be hungover. I hate feeling rushed; I forget everything. Man, Melbourne is really screwing up my perception of summer. For lunch, the tour fed us "Aussie style BBQ", which is not all that exciting… It was just sausages. I should have the real one, not some half ass tour meal…

(I really don’t feel like writing about Aussie anymore, so this post is really half ass)

When the tour was over, I went out to dinner with Stephen! It was a nice Vietnamese restaurant, and we enjoyed some wine and conversation! From there, we ventured out to a Gin bar. Gin and tonic will never be like the ones from the gin bar. It was amazing! Bombay is nothing compared to some of the gin in that bar! After the buzz was real, Stephen and I went to Circuit for a little dance and see the last gay bar of Melbourne. I came back home and I’m in bed.

Guess who I saw the next day in Melbourne! I saw Elwin! He was on exchange with my in Yonsei, and he stopped by Australia before his exchange in Hong Kong like me! We took our adventure to the Eureka tower and just did some walking around. For dinner, it was very important for both of us to try kangaroo meat, so we went to a restaurant that served it and got kangaroo steak! It was really lean and delicious! We got back to my hostel for couple drinks, and Jamie and Will joined us, and we went out to drink again! Elwin called it an early night because of the train, and the rest of us tried to hit it big with some drinking and dancing, but no such luck. We couldn’t get in! Come on Melbourne! Let us in!

I went out to the Peninsula Hot Springs the next day and enjoyed a nice spa day! It was what I needed after all this time of travel. From there, I went to a winery for a tasting of the wine and a nice lunch! I figured I’d splurge for my last day in Australia. I met up with Stephen after my spa day and enjoyed my last round of wine that night! I love Aussie wine!

I finally left Australia the next day! To Brunei I went.