Life in my little room

So I figured it's time for an update from my typical workspace (also known as my bed... the only piece of furniture I can use on a regular basis).  Life in Korea has been rather quiet over the last month, given school is not in session and I have no information with which I can begin lesson planning.  Ergo, most of this month has been spent reading and working out at the local gym.  Not that I mind at all, it's rather nice to be paid to sit and wait.  Though I would rather have spent this time preparing for school, not having the textbook, school schedule, class sizes, etc. etc.  make that more or less fruitless fancy.

Spring seems to be teasing us here, with warm days and bitter nights.  Today it's in the mid 40's F, which makes for lovely walking around weather.  Sadly, I seem to have caught yet another cold (at least I hope it's a cold) and have been rather lethargic for the past few days.  I am beginning to suspect my recurrent illnesses are linked to the mold problem that has plagued my little home for the past few months.  Though I have mentioned the problems I have been having with my school, no one has really given me any advice or assistance.  I suppose I could have harangued them about it more, but that's not my nature.  Instead, I finally broke down and began to deal with the problem myself.

Here is the problem as it first appeared about three months ago.  Significant, but not unmanageable, damage to the walls.  I informed by Co-Teacher of this issue, but his only advice was "move your bed away from the wall."

That... kind of works....

The real problem with my apartment became apparent in later months when I discovered that my exterior walls were not significantly insulated.  This means that this wall is drastically colder than all the others in my apartment, causing all the moisture in the rooms to condense and drip down the wall.  You can see the beads of water in the picture to the right.

 This is the damage as it stood today.  I've cleaned off the walls half a dozen times over the past three months, but mold reappears after a few weeks.  It slowly creeps across the stained walls silently reasserting itself upon my living space.  Fed up and short on vinegar I decided there was only one solution left.  The results are below.

Needless to say I do not look forward to explaining this to my landlady, who I have never seen since I arrived six months ago, I suspect it will be a terse conversation.  Yet, to be perfectly fair, I had planned on ripping out the wallpaper myself no matter what.  If only to ensure that the wall was properly treated to kill the mold before being pasted with wallpaper once again.  I imagine that I will be tearing down the rest of the wallpaper soon so I can bleach the concrete wall and talk to my landlady.

Photos from Thailand... Krabi and Ko Phi Phi

Krabi is a smaller town on the coast of Thailand.  It's mostly a beachfront town, but it houses an airport nearby, and a pier.  So it was the ideal place to pass through in order to get to the islands.  We only stayed a couple nights in Krabi, but I still managed to snag a few pictures while we were there.

The view from our hotel

The beach of Krabi

Krabi is where I began to realize just how beautiful this country is

Lillian and Dennis posing with one of the locals

On the beach we discovered more than just sand and water...

Despite all posted warnings to the contrary, we (and all the other tourists) were more than happy to pose with and feed the monkeys.

 Or at least attempt to feed them.  Poor Erik got charged by one of the alpha monkeys.  Needless to say, he was quickly over the idea of feeding the monkeys.

  

 After Krabi, we boarded the ferry that took us to Ko Phi Phi.  Phi Phi (pronounced "P P") is one of the smaller islands off the coast of Thailand.  But never fear!  It was plenty touristy.  However, Phi Phi does not have the crowds and over development many people complain Phuket having.  Phuket is the largest, most popular island for tourists to travel to in Thailand.  We found Ko Phi Phi to be just the right pace for us and were more than happy to lounge on the beach during the day, and enjoy the nightlife each evening.

The lagoon of Ko Phi Phi

 I can honestly say, that this island is far and away the most beautiful place I've been to date.

Though we spent much time on the beach, we did manage to sneak in a few things.  Like a snorkeling trip! 

Ahoy!  What does Erik see on the sea?

I got my money on this being a Pirate den, based on my extensive experince with pirates.

Snorkeling was incredible!  We were able to swim in secluded lagoons, among coral bays, and gaze upon tropical fish!  All places tucked away in these rocky islands.

Sadly, all vacations must end, and so after five days we left Ko Phi Phi to head back to Bangkok.

To get to our flight to Bangkok, we had to go to an airport other than Krabi.  This required us to get a bus from Krabi pier to Surat Tani.  Unfortunately, the responsible keeper of the bus tickets (who may or may not operate a certain blog...) got his group of friends on the WRONG bus!  Thankfully, we managed to work it out with the bus company and they still got us to Surat Tani on time.  Though we did have a curious little stopover at a rural bus terminal in... well... no where.  Yet, as always, we found ways to entertain ourselves...

Kezia, Erin, and Dennis playing soccer in the parking lot

Paul succumbs to his exhaustion, finding a cozy concrete bench!

 

 A few hours of flying, and yet another layover in Shanghai, brought us from Bangkok to Busan, South Korea.  Though the trip was a hell of a good time, we all admitted we were happy to get back to Korea.  It may not be free of it quirks and curiosities, but for the time being, Korea is home....

Photos from Thailand... Bangkok Pt. 2, Revenge of Bangkok!

Where was I....
BANGKOK!  City of sparkling spires, gilded temples, and busy streets.  However, for the next leg of our adventure in Thailand's capital city, we experienced a wholly new form of transport, boats.

Some have said that Bangkok is the "Venice of the East," insofar as the city is built on a river and sports many canals through the heart of the city.  After a wee bit of haggling, we managed to arrange a tour of some of these areas.  It was a great chance to kick back, snaps some pics and indulge in the local architecture. 

Ok, so don't let the gilded roofs fool you, it's not all classy

This would be a good to be a good spot to be reincarnated as a fish. 

 By one of the temples we passed there was a simple sign in English:

"Feed fish for good luck!"

To support our increase of luck, a local came running up with a loaf of white bread on a pole.  Offering it to us for a few Baht, which we took in order to feed a MASS of fish that lingered in the area.  You can see some of them churning the water in their feeding frenzy.

Erin and Kezia feeding fish

Our ships captain, in all his glory

Like everywhere else in Bangkok, the canals are not free of their shops.  This woman rowed up to us as we slipped through the streams, offering us statues, hats, and of course, beer. 

Though many of the houses along the waterway were in poor repair, I loved to see all the foliage that cluttered yards and gardens.  Thai people have an affinity for flowers, which hang from the prows of boats, to the rear-view mirrors of cars and tuk tuks.  I imagine there is a religious significance to this... buuuuuuut I failed to inquire about it.  In any case, it's nice to have so much color!

You can see the Grand Palace from the river here!

No tour of Bangkok is complete without visiting the Grand Palace.  Initially we were turned away (to our surprise) as we did not fit he dress code of the Palace.  To enter the palace, you must wear closed toed shoes, pants (or long skirts, though that is not gender specific), and shirts that are not revealing.

Details of this policy are clearly posted.  Though I confess the last piece of advice is certainly my favorite part of this public sign....

Because I ALWAYS trust regular strangers!

Erik rock'n some classy rental garb

The Boys in front of the Grand Palace

And of course the girls... also in front of the Palace

The Grand Palace was the last thing we visited in the city of Bangkok.  After seeing the Palace, we scampered back to the hotel to check out and make our way back to the airport.  From there we managed to catch a flight down south to the city of Krabi, on the coast of Thailand, to catch some tropical sun and continue our adventures.