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Michael Coughlin Joined: April 16th 2008
Logged in: February 14th 2010
Logged in: February 14th 2010
Travel Blog Posts
Ghost month just ended. Everyone set their last barrel on fire and the ghosts went back to their realm with their money and sweets. Two weeks ago during the weekend of the full moon everyone celebrated "Pai-Pai," the height of ghosts (good, bad, relatives) roaming on Earth. Families appeased and honored their Hungry Ghost relatives by giving them presents ("Here's a 2-liter Coke, now don't haunt me."). I got to see the business end because my friend's family owns this temple where a lot of people come to buy the foods and ghost moneys. I just helped set up tables and stuff, and they fed and housed me all weekend. ... read more
Kaohsiung is Taiwan's 2nd biggest city. It's way more modern than Tainan, and even moreso than Taipei in some respects. I like the feeling I get being there. It's nothing too original, just well executed. My visits have been very quick ones. On this most recent one I met some strangers who took me shopping with them and we went into one of those fun Japanese photo booths. Then I slept with a guy I met on the internet (sorry no pics). Looking forward: They have an Auntie Ann's Pretzel shop. ... read more
Here are a few photos taken in the middle of the first night during the storm. It's all from inside the apartment, nothing too great, but just gives a taste of the experience. Also 3 videos from the afternoon that add up to less than a minute - just some rain, a little tree flapping, and a few howls. ... read more
Hear r sum pics ov kids i teach english to. they learn really good! Edinburgh Montessori School.... read more
Singapore is an island and a city and a country in South East Asia, just off the southern coast of Malaysia. It's tropical, hot and humid, but I managed to wear jeans in the midday more than once, so it's not impossibly hot. Once per day it tends to rain quick and hard, sometimes you see it sometimes you don't notice. My friends Chen Zichao and Ching Hei picked me up from Changi Airport around midnight and took me out for my first of many delicious meals. We ate Roti Prata - an Indian derived Singaporean stuffed pancake (I had one with mushrooms/cheese and one with egg). The way you eat this and most meals in Singapore is with a fork in your left hand to do the cutting of food and a spoon in ... read more
Sokcho is on the east coast of Korea. It's a pretty awesome town. They've got a few international ferries, including one for Russians. It'd be a lot cooler if it went more places. Anyway, the town has that to keep its backbone strong. Plus lots of seafood restaurants. I imagine the town's been there for a while, but it's weird 'cause so much of it looks like it's just getting built. I even saw some streets having their bricks laid. Perhaps it is in transition from hidden gem to discovered. There are 7 lighthouses, for the lighthouse enthusiast. Some beach areas. There's a good size shopping area which a rich town needs i guess; this is where i saw most of the roads just getting built, so all the shops have been there waiting for the ... read more
Seoul. I met up with some Russian friends for a few days. I got a water park fix for the summer (Caribbean Bay) as well as an amusement park visit (Everland). I walked Dongdaemun, Itaewon, Hongik University, Yongsam, Euljiro, Myeong-Dong, and Gangnam. Four Encounters Of Niceness: 1. On my first night I stood on a sidewalk near a metro station and asked the passersby if they knew ny english. I wanted help with directions. After a few attempts I got a kid who spoke pretty well, he was a college freshman. Not only did he call the hotel for me but he walked me for about 20 minutes right to it. Not just to the the entrance either but all the way to the room. 2. I got off the metro and started looking at a ... read more
Hong Kong is huge. I wore myself out because I decided to walk everywhere and also skipped too many meals. My hips were sore and my stomach ached at times. It's easy to shop and I spent too much money, but I figured it was the only shopping I'd be doing for sometime, certainly the only H&M I'll encounter for a while. I had been aiming for Victoria Peak on Hong Kong Island, but after hours of walking, I was too tired by the time I crossed over on the Star Ferry. So I stopped in Lan Kwai Fong, a watering hole for expats and visitors. I chose a place called The Keg because they had free peanuts. An Aussie named Joel chatted me (a Seppy) up there, and convinced me to go to a swanky ... read more
A quick trip to Anping on the west side of Tainan. It was ruled by the Dutch for just 38 years but they are the ones who got the town started and established it as an important place for trade back in the 1600s. At that time Anping was an island, but since then there has been a build up of silt and it is now connected to Tainan. In 1661, some bastard named Koxinga was running away from enemies in mainland China, and ended up attacking Fort Zeelandia in Anping. The Dutch guy in charge of Anping at the time was kind of a bum, and he didn't get any Dutch reinforcements to help him fend off the attack. So that jerk Koxinga took it over and the Dutch left forever. Koxinga became the King ... read more
I went to the east coast side of the island this weekend. The Pacific Ocean looked so blue and clear. I drove a manual transmission car around tight curves that thinly separated the Pacific and the mountains formed at the edge of the Phillippine Sea Plate. The day turned into night while I drove and the bright full moon came out. Driving is great. There was a cow farm out there. I drank some pretty good chocolate milk. The milk is free if you just slaughter the cow yourself and clean up all the blood, but I didn't do that cause I'd still have to pay a wizard to make it chocolate. Then I visited the Bunun Aboriginees land. Up until maybe 100 years ago, everyone at some point would visit another tribe and take someone's ... read more























