Jester
Lou Varelas Joined: March 23rd 2007
Logged in: April 24th 2011
Logged in: April 24th 2011
I will be turning 37 this year, but I don't feel a day over 25. Traveling has brought me a great deal of happiness and I hope to continue traveling the rest of my life. My main goal in life is to see as many places as possible and make wonderful new friends! Please feel free to read up about my experiences. I have not updated my blog in a long time due to being busy at work. I will try to get it updated again soon! My first one is at the bottom of this page and I try to upload pictures with every blog! So please leave a comment if you can. Love and peace! -- Lou
Travel Blog Posts
Dragon!
Nagasaki Lantern Festival NOTICE: Due to a server side error, my photos were lost for several days. I've re-posted them finally... sorry about the delay!! Two months ago I went to the Nagasaki lantern Festival. I am just writing about it now in part due to some computer issues... but in reality it was sheer procrastination. I have been feeling rather lazy these past few months and many things (not just my blog) had been left to whither away in the sun. Now, however, I am proud to say that I'm all caught up with everything now that this travelblog is finished. Ok, on to the festival! I found a cheap bus to Nagasaki that also included a side trip to Nagasaki Peace Park and ground zero. I decided not to include pictures of these events ... read more
Jongmyo
Seoul Searching - Day 2 I awoke from my relaxing slumber to a brilliant and sunny day. The previous day's rain was nowhere to be found and I was more than happy. I didn't really want to wake up so early, but as they say... the worm and all that. After a light breakfast of mochi (a type of sticky pounded rice) we were off to see the sights. Our first stop was Jongmyo Royal Shrine. The Shrine was built at the same time as Gyeongbok Palace (which we also visited later in the day) to hold the ancestral tablets for the kings of the Chosun Dynasty. All but 2 of the Kings and Queens are enshrined here and very elaborate ceremonies are held 5 times a year (even today) to pay respects to these royal ... read more
The 'Post Men'
Seoul Searching - Day 1 Hello everyone! After all this time in Korea I finally grabbed my backpack and headed for Seoul! I was in dire need of a break from Masan. Although nice in its own way... it is definitely a "small town" in both feel and attitude. Seoul was even better than I had imagined. People there seemed to be much happier in general and there are many more thing to do as well. My only regret is that I only had the weekend in which to see as much of this city as possible. I could have easily spent a month here to see all of the stuff I wanted. Sigh. Regardless, I refuse to get bummed out about it. I really feel that I made good use of my time and it ... read more
On the Boat 1
Vacation in Japan! Hello everyone! Yours truly finally got a few days off from work (yea!) and decided that a decent trip to Japan was in order. I had 5 days straight all for myself and to be honest I needed to get out of Korea for a while. While I enjoy Korea, Japan is by far my first choice. I absolutely love it there! I enjoy it so much that when my time in Korea is finished I plan on finding work in Japan for as long as possible. More on that at a later date however. Suffice it to say, it was the best experience that I've had in quite a while. So let's get on with the details, shall we? Many teachers unfortunately have their vacations around the same time, here in Korea, ... read more
What a view
Mt. Aso and Shinto Temple Hello everyone! I finally got around to posting this last entry on my visit to Japan. I am sorry about the delay. It seems that life can get busy no matter what country you are in. :) Anyway, during my visit to Kumamoto, I visited Mt. Aso, a Shinto temple and went into my very first Japanese hot spring. The trip to Mt. Aso was a journey into Japan's country lifestyle. Mt. Aso is actually a series of 5 mountains clumped together. The road through the mountain pass twisted and turned so many times that it almost felt like a roller coaster ride. There was no sleep to be had on the trip, but this wouldn't have happed anyway since the views were utterly amazing! Even now... months after my trip ... read more
Kato Statue
Kumamoto Castle As promised, this entry is about my trip to Kumamoto Castle. As most of my close friends know… there are two things that have continued to hold my interest over the years. Castles and swords (especially Samurai!) and this trip to Japan was arguably the coolest thing I’ve done to date. It came with mixed feelings which I will explain later, but for now all I can say is WOW! The castle compound was just HUGE. You just wouldn’t believe how huge it was. Most of the pictures I took were just of one of the corners turrets. It was simply amazing. I took many of the pictures in black and white to really show the beauty of the construct. I was happier than a kid in a candy store. Seriously. I had to ... read more
Jojuen Garden 1
Kumamoto's Jojuen Garden Ok, so due to this whole switching jobs thing, I found myself back in Japan. This time I visited Kumamoto and did not just stay in Fukuoka. It is absolutely fabulous here. Kumamoto is considered “country” by Japanese standards, but it is really more of a smaller city feel. I tried to get out and see new places and do new things. I tried many new restaurants and loved them all! I spent a lot of time just wandering around in the “non-touristy” areas. I wandered around some dilapidated neighborhoods and some out of the way places within walking distance from my hotel. I found a bunch of cool things by going off the beaten track. I even visited a few graveyards. This is not to say that I didn’t hit up a ... read more
Yongi Park Center
New Job! Hello everyone! I would like to first apologize a thousand times over for not sending out an occasional post. My first start here is Asia hit a few snags and I was extremely busy doing some much needed repair work. Here is the scoop. My experience thus far has succeeded in reminding me that no matter how well you plan, no matter how much you try to communicate, and no matter how hard you try… some people are just butt heads who can simply mess things up. As several of my friends know, I spent many, many months planning and researching my trip to Asia. I scoured websites and blogs, read all of the “do’s” and “do not’s” and essentially worked very hard to make sure this trip would go as smoothly as possible. ... read more
Buddha
The Bounty of the Sea! Wow! Last weekend I went to Busan to have a look around. It was a blast! Busan is by far much bigger than Changwon and much more interesting! There is tons of places to see and even more things to do there. Changwon borderlines on "hick-ville" in comparison. :) Being a port city they have a huge (and I mean HUGE) fish market on the weekends. They also have another market that runs down the side streets for almost 2 miles! I went with my Aussie friend Matt... that is always an adventure in itself. The Bus ride there takes about 35-40 minutes and then we had to hop onto the subway for a bit. The Buddha statue was very cool. So were the several of the other sculptures we ran ... read more
The Colonel !!
Short but Sweeeeeettt! As most of my friends know... I have wanted to visit Japan for a long time. So on my second weekend in Korea I decided to pack up a quick bag and do just that! I took a ferry from Pusan. The name of the ferry is called the Beetle and this boat almost flew over the water. It was amazing. The trip only took 3 hours! Take a look at this thing! So I got off the ferry and found my way into Fukuoka via the bus. Quite expensive actually, but unavoidable because a taxi would have broke me! After finding a hotel, I decided to poke my nose around. I ran into a KFC (they just call it Kentucky) and about roared out loud when I saw the colonel! I just ... read more
