Once a year it is Buddha's birthday and once a year we get a holiday from work. The last two years I spent it away from Daejeon but this year I stayed in town. So, I decided what better way to celebrate than to invite some of my friend's over for a potluck feast. Since all my friends were from various countries around the world we decided that it would be an international event. For many days leading up to the feast we all talked about and anticipated trying each other's food.
First to be invited was my good friend Tom and his beautiful Korean wife, Anna. Tom hails from England and I was wondering what English food he would cook - afterall fish and chips and mushy peas are hard to find in Korea. Instead he brought some homemade hummus (not exactly British) but delicious all the same. He also brought some garlic bread which was unbelievable. You are probably wondering why I am so excited about garlic bread but you have to understand garlic bread in Korea, that is actually garlicy and not sweet is very difficult to find.
Next to come was my very good buddy, Cham. He comes from Sri Lanka and his food was the most anticipated by everyone. He made some Sri Lankan chicken curry and roti. All I can say is - it was incredible.
Finally, the friend you have all heard much about - Andre from South Africa. He made a traditional South African dish called bobotie and a dessert called malva pudding. He had made both for me before and both times I loved it. It was a joke of the night that real chefs stick their fingers in the food to test if it is really heated. hence the finger in the above picture.
Finally, it was my turn and I thought what could I make that is Canadian - that doesn't involve maple syrup. Then it came to me - what is more Canadian on a summer evening then hamburgers. So I fired up the grill and we topped the evening off with a big burger. I almost felt like I was home.
After all this food, we were so stuffed that we decided a walk in the neighbourhood was in order. A short distance from my home we came across one of the many outdoor exercise parks.
We quickly descended on the equipment and worked off our food. There was a young, Korean couple sitting on a bench near the equipment. They looked pretty serious and it wasn't until after that we realized she was crying. I am pretty sure he was in the middle of breaking up with her before he was interrupted by our group of loud, obnoxious foreigners - oops.
After all the exercise we headed back to my place for the last course, dessert. We had Andre's malva pudding and some white, chocolate, cream cake. We had a lot of laughs and it was a really wonderful way to spend the holiday. It made me thankful for the great friends that I have here. In fact, it was such a success that I will do it all over again for Canada's birthday.
Our high speed ferry ended in the largest town on Ulleungdo, Dodong. Dodong looked like what it once was, a pirate,s hideaway, hidden in a narrow valley between two forested mountains and only visible when approached directly. 
We left the ferry with the other hundreds of tourists and made our way to the hotel where we were staying. The hotel was in a perfect location - a mere 2 minute walk from the Dodong harbour. After dropping our luggage and eating a quick lunch of bean sprout soup and rice we were off to what was meant to be the highlight of our weekend, our visit to Dokdo.
That evening my roomates and I spent quietly relaxing in our room, most of us still feeling unwell and not wanting to do much. The room we had was pretty tiny and once we all lay down there was no space to be found. Fortunately we all go along so the coziness of the room became a joke.
Sunday arrived with bright sunshine and the promise of a better day. Sadly I still wasn't feeling well but I was determined to make the best of it. I ate a small breakfast of yogert and fruit down by the pier watching the fishermen bring in their catch and the ajummas expertly cutting up the raw fish for the Koreans waiting to buy it. The pier was lined with seaweed and squid drying in the sun and big tubs filled with fresh fish waiting to be sold.
That morning we set out on a bus tour around the island. The island itself wasn't that big but the coastline was beautiful. Throughout the ride we had all the famous sights pointed out to us, which mostly involved rocks shaped like various animals - this is turtle rock, this is elephant rock.
The highlight of the morning was a monorail ride in Taehadong. It started in a place called Charcoal Cove and ended at Taeha Lighthouse with spectacular views over the harbour
After lunch most of the group opted to hike up Seonginbong Mountain but I chose instead to do a cruise around the harbour. The ride lasted 2 hours and went around the entire island. I grabbed a prime spot along the rail on the top level and spent the next 2 hours taking pictures of the spectacular coastline. The only downside to this ride were the seagulls. The Korean passengers were fascinated with these birds and spent most of the trip throwing food to them, which meant that for most of the trip I had seagulls swooping down at me, sometimes coming within inches of my face. To me they were dirty animals but for them they were marvellous. Some were more interested in these birds than the views of the island. Despite this I enjoyed myself and it was a great way to spend 2 hours.
Yes, these trees are made from glass.
After the temple we moved onto Cheonjeyeon Falls. There were actually 3 waterfalls here and you could hike different paths to see all 3. These pictures are of the nicest one.
From the waterfalls we moved onto the rock formations at Jungman Daepo. This area was breathtaking.
Day 4
From Udo Island we made our way over to a giant maze. We given a map, sent on our way to find the way out. It was great fun.
We finished the day on the beach back at our hotel. That night we dined on bbq pork and grilled mackeral washed down with some makeoli. We were all sunburned but happy.
From there we moved onto Loveland. This is a sex themed park for adults. It was full of penis statues and sex toys. The best part of the place was watching all the old Korean women look at the statues and start giggling like school girls.
From here we made our way to the airport and back to Daejeon. It was a great vacation,
Some of these caves were quite large and at one time had been used to hide Japanese guns, weapons and other secrets. Now they sat empty but we entered the first one hoping to find some forgotten treasure. Sadly all we found was an unbelievable stench - reminiscent of the bathrooms in a subway station in Toronto. We made a hasty retreat and we content to stand on the beach and take pictures instead.
Finally it was time to board the ferry to Marado and we piled on the boat with hundreds of Korean tourists. Being the aquaphile that I am I made a beeline for the top deck while the rest of my group stayed in the warmth below. It was an easy 1/2 hour journey and before long we were there.
From there we made our way back to the hotel where we could watch the sunset from the beach. The hotel looked like a mini resort right out of Hawaii. It came complete with a beautiful pool surrounded by palm trees and cheesy resort music coming out of the speakers . Sadly it was too early in the season for the pool to have any water in it but you could imagine what it would be like in the summer, sipping a cocktail and watching the palm trees sway.
