Hamsters, taekwondo and dog meat

It has been a very interesting week.  Last Saturday, Gwen took me to E-mart to buy some hamsters.  I ended up getting 2 dwarf hamsters and named them Hammy and Samster.  I'm pretty sure they are sisters because they look exactly the same.  I don't even know who is who.  They are really cute to watch and usually get along pretty well.  It's nice to have some company in my apartment even if they are rodents.

Introducing Hammy and Samster

On Tuesday after work, I went out for dinner to try dog for the first time.  Even though it is a Korean delicacy, it's tough to eat it when you know how poorly the dogs are treated.  I've heard most of the dogs are beaten before they are killed because the adrenaline makes the meat tastier.  Gwen told me when she walks her tiny dog, Songi, people sometimes look at her dog and say "one bowl".  Dog is usually served in spicy soups but luckily we were able to get it in slabs of meat.  Dog is pretty fatty and surprisingly tastes a lot like lamb.  I actually liked it and I'm glad I tried it, but I'm not sure if I'll eat it again.

Dog meat

In Taekwondo this week, I got my purple belt.  Next is my blue belt, then brown, red and finally black.  I'm hoping to get my black belt before I leave.  Diana and I had our first spar this week.  We both ended up a little bruised afterwards even though we were both wearing pads and helmets.  It's a lot harder and scarier than I thought it would be, especially since Diana's a belt higher than me and taller than me too.

I got a bit of a cold this week too.  It's not too bad, but it's just annoying.  I've been fighting it off for awhile now, but my night out on Wednesday didn't help much.  I'm not doing much this weekend, just a book club dinner and a movie night with the girls.  Hopefully I can make a full recovery by next weekend for the trip to Seoul.

My week in a nutshell

This week wasn't very eventful, but here were the little tidbits that I found to be interesting.

• This week for me was a little sad because I was missing everyone in the Philippines and also because it was my Grandpa's birthday on Wednesday (the first one since he passed away).
• I got a new class of very little kids (about 6 or 7 years old).  At first, they were really scared of me and each other.  With the help of Gwen and a bunch of puppets, they've loosened up and now they're chatty and spitting in each other's faces.  I named them: Amy, Tim, Matt, Brad, Ian and Jessica.
• Valentine's Day in Korea is different from in Canada.  On February 14th, the woman is supposed to spoil the man and a month later on March 14th, it is the woman's turn to be spoiled.  Nevertheless, I got lots of chocolate from my kids.
• One of my kids we call "Sleepy Peter" because he always looks like he rolled out of bed, referred to breakfast as "morning food" in one of my classes.  I thought it was really cute.
• With the death of Fluffy III back home, I'm contemplating getting a new pet.  Gwen said she would take me to E-mart tonight to check out the hamsters.  It'll be nice to have some company in my apartment.
• I'm thinking of starting to go to the gym at least twice a week.  Taekwondo is really great and I've really lost weight and gotten in shape but I'd like to get a little more cardio and weight training in, especially for the upper body.  A new gym recently opened in my area, so I think I'm going to check it out soon.
• In taekwondo, I think next week Diana and I are going to get our next belts.  I'm going to be a purple belt.  Once I get my new belt, I'll be half way to my black belt. 

Lunar New Year in the Philippines

Here in Korea, Lunar New Year is one of the biggest holidays. Usually the holiday is 5 days long (Wednesday to Friday and then the weekend), but Gwen and Samson are awesome people and gave me Monday and Tuesday off too so I could go to the Philippines for the week and visit family.

I left Daegu on a bus for Incheon airport at 1 am on Saturday morning and ended up at my final destination in Iloilo at 5 pm Saturday afternoon. Traveling there was very uneventful and pretty boring. Although I think I'm becoming a pro at traveling solo.

I'll just explain my trip with pictures. The only part I regret is not taking more pictures at Tito Ollie's house. I think I was jet lagged and overwhelmed by the heat at the time. I had a really bad headache that day and didn't end up taking enough photos of the family.

So here we go...

My Tita Nene's bamboo house.

My Lolo's (Grandpa) grave. R.I.P.

My cousin Kent's kid, Lance, and a feast of delicious Filippino food, except for the oysters...wasn't a fan.

My cousin Mark's kid. I think his name is Aziah or something like that. Also my cousins, Kim and Jay, playing mah jong (they wouldn't take my Korean won, so I had to borrow some pesos).

My dad's sister, Tita Nanet and my cousin Jay, who looks a bit like my brother, Neil.

The house my dad grew up in and my Grandma Pet's grave. R.I.P.

Spot sunbathing in the morning sun. We bonded during my stay.

Me and my cousin Matt while waiting for the boat to Bacolod. I absolutely adore this kid.

My dad's side of the family. Look how tall I am! This was an awesome night. I had so much fun with my cousins even though we just met.

Afternoon at the beach in Iloilo. Matt-matt working hard at building our sand castle.

The finished sand castle designed and constructed by Matthew Garcia and Samantha. To the right are my silly cousins, Pauline and Jay, getting dirty in the sand.

Me and Jay at the beach. He's holding me up after I fell off a bamboo raft.

Beautiful sunset on the beach. Why do I live in countries with winter?

Mmmmm...I've been dreaming of this for awhile now.

View from our restaurant at the beach. I think it was called "Breakaways" or something along those lines.

My cousins: Pauline, Jay and Matt.

Sitting at my Grandma Pet's piano. I still remember her playing "Oh Canada!" on it when I was six.

Visiting my Lola Nene. She isn't doing too well.

So those were the parts of the my trip that were documented in photos. I spent a lot of time shopping and came home with twice as much clothes as I left with. Overall, it was a great trip. I laughed, I cried, and I met and bonded with so much family. I really want to go back and really get to know everyone more, but duty calls and I had to return to Korea for work. Thanks to my parents who subsidized my trip (I still owe you $500), to all the relatives in the Philippines who made sure I had an amazing time, and to all the relatives in Canada who made sure everyone in the Philippines knew what to feed me. I feel so loved!