I stagger on instead.

As you know I transferred this blog to squarespace a year ago. From now on, I'm only going to post a section of the article here and link back to the original post.

I am currently on holiday. So far it has been a mix of the exciting, challenging, self-realisation, boredom, and struggle. The last two are no one's fault but my own and are both a consequence of figuring out somethings about myself. Things I don't necessarily like and I am struggling with tackling them. 

I caught a fish! I CAUGHT  a fish!  I CAUGHT A FISH!

Before, I get into the rather heavy topic referenced above, what were the exciting challenges I set myself:

Two days before my holiday started I set myself the task of coming up with two dates. The first one was - start my date at 5pm by going to Sejong Lake Park at night, take a walk and watch the stars. I would follow that up with a creative night - art and cooking. My second date was to be a two night stay in the Ramada Hotel in Gangnam (you know, the area in Seoul  referenced by PSY in his hit song back in 2012, Gangnam Style), art museums and lots of good food. However, I also wanted to do something that would set the tone of my holiday. 

Click here to read more.

But I would walk (not) 500 miles

Since deciding to do the Camino, I've been trying to make some small changes in my life that will make life on the road for 6-8 weeks so much easier!

Firstly, I have started the walking, duh! And secondly, I've been trying to go to bed at 10.30 latest and get up at 6.00 every morning, Monday to Friday. The 6.00am wake up has been surprising successful. My key to success - arrange a skype call! Seriously! On Monday, I was supposed to call my sister - it didn't happen as she ended up not being free but I got up at 5.40, showered and was ready for her call at 6.00 on the dot! On Thursday, I did the same thing and got to have a lovely chat with Katetastic who is back in America. I miss her a lot. So if there is anyone out there who wants a Skype call in the afternoon/evening - let's do it!

I've also started eating porridge, ugh! (Shivers with disgust and fear). I still think it the mankiest food but it's heart-healthy and a good option for additional fuel to wake me up in the mornings.  What else have I done? Oh yea, I've read, made a cake,  did dishes and laundry, and generally cleaned my house. So, while my brain is still objecting to the earlier bed time, the earlier mornings are working out just fine! 

Lastly, a small update on this last weekend - I went to Chuncheon for the Dakgalbi festival. While the Dakgalbi was delicious and the company outstanding, I wasn't much impressed with the festival itself. My friends and I then had Uno's pizza at Yongsan station and while they made their way back to Jochi-land, I got ready for a great night out. I met up with my friends Conor and Oisin from Ireland and we went to this amazing bar in Jogno tower. It's definitely a place to go AFTER you've been paid as it was quite expensive. However, the atmosphere was lovely, the live music excellent and the views beautiful, particularly from the bathroom. I went in just to take photos. We then repaired to Hongdae where we went out dancing at FF's. A great night to be sure! (go here to see more photos: http://www.maggieblogs.com/blogymtimb/2014102k5ox3pzkaquqaz0312xnxjfbsomm78 - just click on the photo and it will take you through a small gallery)

Thursday Sept 18

I went for a walk (distance) and then hopped over to my friend Becky's once I made the topping for my Vegan Apple Chia Pudding. After a lovely time hanging out and chatting about what we were going to cook on Sunday, I hastened over to meet my friend, Adam, for a cup of tea and to discuss the logo for my cooking blog. Exciting stuff, mates! Success

Friday Sept 19th

Today was quite easy - after I got home I read some of Deeds of the Disturber  and then got ready to join some of the newbies for a dinner in a great local restaurant that I haven't been to in over a year. Afterwards, I joined everyone in the park for a drink before heading home to bed as I was up early on Saturday to meet some friends for lunch at Braai Republic followed by dessert and drinkies for my friend Luke 2.0's birthday. Success

Monday Sept 22nd. No time for walking today! Instead when I got home I started cooking for a dinner to celebrate Frodo and Bilbo's birthday. Only one friend was able to come in the end but we'd mushrooms and pork, vegan apple chia pudding (again!) and I made roast potatoes. Nommers! Afterwards, I joined some friends in the park for a chat and made plans for the upcoming weekend. Success

Tuesday Sept 23rd 

Immediately after work, my friend Nari and I went for a walk around Sejong Lake Park. We then went to dinner at Mekong Thai. When I got home I was shattered but I'd games to prepare for my 5th and 6th graders so I'd to stay up! Success

Wednesday Sept 24th

After dinner, my friend Stacy and I went for a long walk, then it Dr Who time until bed and I also coloured in a little of my super secret art project. Success

Thursday September 25th

Great day altogether. My last class of the day was cancelled for a performance in the gym - there was traditional singing, drums and dancing.  In the afternoon we finished school early and went to see a play about a boy whose parents have died and he goes to live with his grandad. It was quite funny and although I couldn't understand everything that was said, I still was able to follow along.

We then went to a military base (Korean) to have dinner which was fabulous! When I got home it was time for Wine and Crafts and I continued working on my engraving. I don't have a picture yet but will take on soon so you can see it! It's slow going though!  Success

So, I think overall this week was a bit more productive than last but work still needs to be done! 

PS This post was inspired by The Proclaimers "I'm gonna be (500 miles)

Masquerade! Every face a different shade!

On the weekend of October 5th and 6th, I went to Andong, which is in the Gyeonsangbuk-do province of South Korea, for its annual Mask Festival (bucket list item). I love masks and I have a dream that someday in my house, I will have a red-painted hall lined with masks I've collected on my adventures.

I had to get up early - my train was at 8.25 from Osong Train Station which is about 10 - 15 minutes away, in a different town. Although my body was extremely reluctant to be up that early, I am really glad I took the train when I did as it gave me lots of time to enjoy Andong and appreciate the journey I took to get there.
On arriving in the train station, my train was slightly delayed, so I headed down to the platform to wait. I noticed that there were quite a few people in hiking gear but thought nothing of it. I was taking the train only as far as Jecheon (which was my connecting point to Yeongwol when my brother was still living there). The carriage I was in was full of Koreans all in hiking gear. I took my seat all the while taking in the lurid colours of my carriage - I've never been on such green seats in my life and the doors to each car had stain glass in them! I opened my ereader and started on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,  when next thing some Korean guy was standing beside me and handing me a lunch bag with water, a banana, a gimbap roll and a biscuit. I thanked him and kept reading. A few minutes later a lady came looked at me curiously, sat down beside me and after making some statements in Korean, grabbed my backpack and hand and propelled me towards the front of the carriage: The food was in exchange for giving up my seat so all the hikers could sit together!  Despite this initial awkwardness, the rest of this leg of the journey went smoothly: I was even able to charge my phone battery!

In Jecheon, I transferred to the train bound for Andong. I luckily had a window seat as the scenes on my way there were spectaular. Beautiful hills and mountains of greens, small hamlet villages and rivers of bright blue lay before my wondering eyes. I kept gasping in delight and I am sure the poor man beside me thought I was the most annoying companion to have on that journey! I took some snaps hoping to capture some of the beauty of what I was seeing. Unfortunately, snaps from a moving train do not give justice to nature's majesty!

After finding my hostel, I was starving and decide to wander towards the festival site and look out for some food. However, it was much closer than I anticipated and before I knew it, I was wandering under tents filled with everything from donughnuts to shwarma and shoes to mobile phone covers. Escaping this fascinating display, I found myself at the festival grounds and proceeded to wander around the booths where you could decorate your own paper mask, build a 3-D puzzle, do archery or pottery. There were several stages with performances on them, including one that was a competition stage. At first, I thought this was the main stage and I was a little creeped out by young girls dressed like candidates for Miss America dancing like belly dancers and making moves that I would be too embarrassed to make even by myself in the privacy of my own home!

After wandering the booths for a while and making purchases left, right and centre, I parked myself at one of the mask shops and proceeded decorate this mask.  The paint that you use is little tiny dots of colour that you smoosh in your hand. Luckily, the paint doesn't actually stain your hands at all, and if someone of it stays, just take the smooshed bit and dab at your hand until it re-attaches to it. This sounds weird but it's true! The end result makes is really interesting and leaves a kind of roughness to the mask. I had great fun blenidng colours and deciding how I wanted the mask to look. I had chosen a butterfly shaped mask but you could choose more traditional shapes, if you wanted.

Eventually, I found the main stage and 7,000 won later* had a ticket to see Hamsesang, a story about a tiger and a family. I'm not quite sure what it all meant but it was funny and beautiful. It seemed like a mix of Hansel and Gretel and Little Red Riding Hood.

The following day, I went back to the festival to see some international performances by China, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. These were stunning. The costumes were a mixture of simple and elaborate, the dances were both masked and unmasked and each told a different lyrical tale. My favourite performances were the Malaysian ones, and of their performances, the Peacock dance was the one that I liked the most: the fluidity of their movements really reminded me of those majestic birds. 

Peacock Dance

So you might think I'm mad to have had this experience by myself and without anyone else. Sometimes, it was awkward to be by yourself, especially when I sat down to make a mask - I was the only person at my own table! However, with no one to accompany me, I lost myself in the beauty of the dance, the masks and the festival itself. I had so much fun and I spent as much time as I wanted at each activity. While I would definitely have loved to have shared this experience with my friends, being by myself gave me a chance to dwell in the experience and that is something I am glad I got to do. 

Water feature in Andong downtown area.

*I believe the cost for an entire day's worth of performances is 7,000 won. I didn't find the main stage until around 3.30 and only decided to attend one performance at 5pm. The next day, I only had time for one performance.

PS The title of this post was inspired by The Phantom of the Opera song Masquerade.