Trip to Andong

this past weekend, i went on a sweet trip down south to a town called Andong. it's always so nice to escape the hazy concrete jungle for a spell in exchange for miles and miles of green, the fresh scent of pine forests, a STARRY sky (it was gorgeous), glowing rice fields,clusters of tiny traditional houses & smiling people. while in the area, we broke through the clouds and hiked for about 5 hours in the lovely juwangsan national park,
visited a temple, toured the hahoe folk village, crossed a river by gondola (kinda),sampled the local brew (fruity makgeoli), ate the traditional food and watched an awesome mask dance performance. it was a lot to pack into one day, but everything worked out flawlessly according to schedule. *beware of the phallic totems. =P

the garden lives on

yes, it's almost october, and yes, it's getting nippy outside.....but our little garden will not just lay down and die so easily.  hell, no.  in fact, it's even got a few new friends to show off.  amongst the herbies, we now have a nice thick row of sweet basil and a row of dill.  i'm taking full advantage of the basil and freezing batches of pesto for the months ahead.  mmmmmmmm..........green goodness.

i love bacteria, and it loves me

i can't believe that it's september already, and it's almost over. this month, i've been rocking the yoga, continuing to climb, hosting cool couch surfers here & there and...i've become addicted to KOMBUCHA! indeed, i speak of this addiction with great joy. for those of you who don't know, kombucha is a fermented tea that is made with a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast (SCOBY) and which is imbibed for medicinal purposes. my friend, mike (thanks again, dude!), brought me a culture from hawaii when he visited in july, so i've been brewing my own. i've finally got the process down and i've been experimenting w/ different natural flavors. i drink these tasty brews every day and never felt better.

this week, i'm doing a detox/cleanse/fast and i decided to try a kombucha tea and juice fast for 5 days. i did some research and, according to the internet, it seems that only one person has attempted such a fast. this person was kind enough to keep a log during his fast and post it to the world, which i've found to be really helpful. anyway, i've made it 4 days w/ no problem...good energy and no hunger...this stands to be the easiest fast yet for me. one day left.......then gimme something to chew on! haha.

another life-changing appliance

the only sad thing about august was that my good friend, ka, finished his teaching contract and left korea for a big travel adventure. good for him, but boo for me. he's a hawaii boy, though, so i'll see him again. on the bright side of his departure, he gave me his little toaster oven, which i'm totally stoked about. check out my first batch of toaster oven cookies; banana-oatmeal-coconut-raisin power cookies! YUMMY.

Banana-Oatmeal Power Cookies
Ingredients:

• 1 cup all purpose flour (or whole wheat)
• 1/2 cup flaked coconut
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 6 Tbs. (3/4 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature (or vegan substitute)
• 1 very ripe banana, mashed
• 1 egg, at room temperature (to make it vegan and substituted another banana)
• 1/2 cup chopped dried apricots or golden raisins (or any dried fruit)
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts (I used almonds)
• chocolate chips are also an option!

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
• Lightly grease 1 or 2 baking sheets.
• In a bowl, stir together the flour, coconut, oats, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
• In a large bowl, cream the brown sugar and butter with a wooden spoon until fluffy.
• Add the banana and egg and beat with a fork until blended.
• Stir in the flour mixture, about 1/2 cup at a time, and then stir in the dried fruit and nuts.
• Spoon the dough by heaping tablespoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing the cookies about 2 inches apart.
• Bake until golden brown, 12 to 15 minutes, switching pan positions halfway through baking if 2 pans were used.
• Remove from the oven and cool on the baking sheets on a rack for about 5 minutes.
• Transfer the cookies to the rack to cool completely.
• Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days.
• Makes about 18 cookies.
  

Buen Provecho!

yogafication

the biggest change to my lifestyle, thus far, in korea happened on august 30th: the first day of YOGA TEACHER TRAINING. yes! i enrolled in a course that takes place every sunday, from 10-5 (6 hours of yoga!), and for 5 months. that's quite a commitment and is one that i'm really happy to have made. ...sure, it means that i can't go on any more full weekend trips out of seoul, and i can't go out dancing until dawn anymore on saturday night (well, maybe still once in a while ;)... but it also means that i'll be whipping myself into amazing shape & deepening my practice...and with a huge bonus at the end---i'll be a yoga instructor. sweet, eh? i'm loving the course so far. doing lots of meditation & improving my flexibilty and balance. ohm.

urban climbing

thanks to my friend, ka, i've gotten into rock climbing at this one outdoor artificial wall in boramae park (about an hour away by metro). it's 15m high and only costs 5000won (under $5) to climb, including gear, shoes & staff to belay. i'm so digging it and try to go once a week. there are some pretty amazing climbers who frequent the joint, like this dude who had no problem climbing the toughest runs w/ a broken leg [!]. i'm still trying to make it up the far right side of this thing, and i'm gettin' there... so close last time. yeeeeeeee!

hiking from dusk til dawn

in august, i went on a few cool hikes up and around the sprawling metropolis that is seoul.

midnight hike (overnight): gwanaksannight hikes: umyeunsan & naksan.

a sunset hike: achasan, where you'll find the largest hula hoop ever :)and a day hike up suraksan in bukhansan national park (where you can dine w/ your feet in the cool stream, and we did).

these mountain vistas are pretty darn gorgeous...and conveniently accessible by subway. oh, what a world we live in. :D

seoraksan in august

august was a month full of hiking and climbing. i went on a sweet overnight hike at seoraksan, which was absolutely breathtaking... i didn't get any sleep on the mountain, but it was so worth it. at 3:30am, we hiked through the dark up to a perfect little peak just above the cloudline to catch the sunrise.... the most epic sunrise i've ever seen. and the way out was just as gorgeous. we followed the crystal blue-green water the whole way down and, of course, a giant buddha was waiting at the bottom. perfect.

okay...so i've been busy these past coupla months...

wow... i have been having too much fun, i guess, because i have totally neglected my blog. so now i have to play catch-up. let's see....what have i been up to since mudfest? let me rewind back to:

JULY: one of my dearest friends in hawaii, JH, paid me a visit during my week off at the end of the month. we spent the week doing random things,







like bumming around seoul, snowboarding indoors, taking the fast train outta seoul for dinner and a soccer game, going to the jimjilbang (the infamous "dragon hill spa"), hiking in korea's largest limestone cave (hwanseongul) and spending a day at the beach in samcheok. fun times...wish he could have hung around longer...and wish my summer break was longer than just a week. wah. :)