July 8th 2007 - Bowling
July 8th 2007
Bowling, Bulgogying and Bluffing !
Yeehaa .... I'm a pokershark !!
Just bluffing - I might have thought I was, but Saturday night certainly showed me wrong. Thank god we weren't playing for money. A group of us gathered at the old foreigners compound for a game night and passed the evening playing poker and mahjong. Good fun and it stopped early enough for me to get up and play tennis at 8 this morning. Still late enough for me to play really bad tennis !! After the tennis we packed a picnic and drove into the mountains. First stop was an amethyst mine about an hour from home. I found this mine pretty interesting, but for other reasons than expected. First, you cannot help notice the game park in front of the entrance. Loud... ! Once inside, we were pretty confused as to what was the general idea with this mine/cave. The first thing we see is a huge plastic tree (?) where after we get to the Egyptian exhibition. This is followed by a tribal exhibition, a stage with some musical show (loud!) and a cul de sac with a Buddha. Somewhere in between they had found a corner for a Star Wars exhibition. This is one of the situations where I really don't think that speaking Korean would help anything. It's just not for us to understand. On the hill side behind the mine, we found a caged monkey and what appeared to be a mini zoo. We were not tempted to enter. Second stop was a beautiful waterfall deep in the mountains. The short walk there was a little challenging for Paula and her vertigo, but we made there and back. Feeling a little like Frodo and Sam.
Our friends Anders and Marlene left last Tuesday, which was a little sad. Luckily Paula was comforted by the fact that we had bought their car and that she would have it all for herself ! It's difficult to wipe the smile off her face now ! Wednesday was big bowling night with 12 of us bowling for a couple of hours close to my work. We had brought drinks and snacks, as the bowling alley doesn't serve anything - all we needed were some woolen jumpers to keep warm. The AC must have been set at 14°C ! Anyway - everybody seemed to have fun and we might make it a regular thing.
We are still playing badminton whenever we get a chance, which is normally 2-3 times a week. Paula loves it. I have played a little squash with the locals at the gym - they are good ! Koreans are very dedicated to their hobbies. No matter which hour you go to the gym you will always see the same people doing the same thing. But unlike me, who will alternate between table tennis, badminton, squash and little stretching, the locals will only play one thing and they will play it all the time. No wonder they are good !
Este semana fue distinta , compramos mi auto y la verdad ahora no se me ve el humo...ji ji salgo todo el dia ! es fantastico me encanta , ademas no importa ni el calor ni la humedad , pongo el aire acondicionado a full y listo! asique la verdad la sonrisa aun no se me sale de mi cara.
Esta semana fuimos con un grupo a jugar bowling, lo pasamos super bien , eramos 12 . Fue tan bueno que este miercoles vamos denuevo ! Luego el viernes fuimos un grupo a comer Bulbogi que es el "asado coreano" pero se prepara en la mesa, super entretenido. Generalmente es de carne pero Rose encontro este lugar que ademas de carne ponen mariscos , muy rico. Luego el sabado jugamos Badminton con Peder ; tratamos de jugar varias veces por semana y luego Peder juega Squash con los que esten en el court jugando . Luego en la noche fuimos al compound de extranjeros a una "noche de juegos" , poker, mah jong , cartas ,dardos. Lo pasamos super bien y como siempre conocimos mas gente.
El domingo Peder fue a jugar tenis temprano luego armamos un mini picni y fuimos a unas cuevas y cascadas cerca de Ulsan , como 1 hora en auto. Aqui van las fotos !
This is one of Paulas masterpieces from her painting lessons.
Aqui una de mis "obras de arte" hecha en mis clases de pintura. Me quedo bien bonito les dire .
And this is another.
Aqui otra de mis obras, estas Calas fueron re dificiles, pero me gustan mucho !
This is some of the bowling gang. I did a personal best but totally fluked my last go and the chance of a spectacular win !! Buuuuh !! John, Chris, Mary Don, Ray, Ole and Val.
Aqui algunos del grupo de Bowling. John , Chris, Mary Don , Ray, Ole and Val.
Friday night at the bulgogy restaurant. Bulgogy is Korean BBQ where you grill your own food in the middle of the table. Look at the prawns on the grill ... We were lucky with this restaurant - we didn't have to sit on the floor ! Western knees are not made for squatting.
Aqui en el restaurant del viernes . Aqui se puede ver que las mesas tienen en el centro fuego para cocinar las cosas. Los camarones eran Gigantes y muy ricos. Lo mejor de todo fue que estabamos sentados en sillas ! normalmente en los restaurantes coreanos hay que sentarse en el suelo , lo que para nuestra rodillas occidentales es bien incomodo .
Girls at one table and boys at the other ! Ray, Paul, Chris behind the chimney, John and Rudy. On the street you see two guys wearing the similar jackets. This is the shipyard jacket which is used by everybody in this part of Ulsan - including me.
Mujeres y hombres en distintas mesas. Ray , Paul , Chris atras de la chimenea , John and Rudy. En la calle se ven dos personas usando unas chaquetas iguales. Estas son las chaquetas de los astilleros en Ulsan , Peder tambien tiene que usar una.
The food was excellent - especially the seafood. Here's Val doing the cooking.
Aqui Val organizando la parilla !
After dinner Paula had a few swings at the baseball hitting range.
Despues de comer fuimos a tirar una bolas de Baseball. Es bien dificil pero le peque a dos !
A natural born batsman !
The amethyst cave while it was still semi normal !
Aqui la cueva de Amatista.
But from there on it just got weirder and weirder. Above you see the beginning of the Egyptian display.
En la cueva habian tambien estatuas egipcias......todavia no entiendo que hacian ahi !
Star Wars ...
Luego esta estutua de Star Wars.....no sabemos porque en la cueva de las amatistas habian egipcios y luego esto....
It was nice to leave the cave and the game park and head into the nature. Here Paula is on her way to Paraeso waterfall.
Aqui en la Cascada "Paraeso" , un lugar super lindo. Se camina como 20 minutos y se llega a la cascada. El camino es espectacular, lleno de grillos cantando !
Me at the waterfall.
Peder y la Cascada !
And both of us. When we go for our Sunday drives, we are worse than most Japanese tourists ... we take heaps of photos to have something to show here in our diary!
Aqui con la cascada a nuestra espalda . No era como el Salta del "raja" como me dijo Peder , pero lindo igual !
Just a last one of Paula at the waterfall.
Aqui se ve la piscina natural que se arma , super lindo, aunque el agua estaba heladita.
And to end the report from this week, the compulsory photo of Peo sleeping.
Y aqui Peder nos pillo a mi y a Peo durmiendo en el sillon ! Peo alcanzo a abrir los ojos para la foto, yo ni me entere !