Comments (1)

By Marty, August 17, 2011 10:59 am

Monday, August 15th was a holiday here in Korea celebrating independence day from the Japanese in 1945. I took to the roads with some good friends and we made a motorcycle trip around the area.

Usually, Korea is a sexually repressed society. You won’t see skimpily dressed women – even on the beach they wear a t-shirt over their bikinis (mostly). TV is tame and is either blurred out for the naughty bits or perhaps just some breasts shown on late nights.  But when they have a passion to display things of a sexual nature, they let it out with both barrels of the shotgun.

Two places we went to were sexual in nature. The first was the Penis Cafe, a coffee shop way out in the boondocks where they can’t be seen by the little ones.  I wrote an article for the UlsanOnline restaurant guide. Click on the link to read about this crazy place. I think the owner has an obsession with the penis, or maybe just sex in general.

After that, we drove up to GyeongJu, about 40km away and visited the Love Castle. This place was a real museum with artwork dating back thousands of years all the way up to contemporary art – all of a sexual nature.  I wrote another article for that website and put it in the travel section.  Fun times.

I like writing for that website and being the famous “ulsanonline guy.” when meeting new people in town. New teachers come every fall and spring and they’ve all read the site before they get here (do a search for Ulsan on google and the site comes up pretty high on the list) and I get my 15 minutes of fame.  I do have a number of other people that write on the site and I pay them for their efforts.  And sometimes, I like to leave things anonymous, although looking through it’s not hard to put two and two together and see who wrote it.

Friend Dee - on a cock swing

After those two places, we decided a little mountain serenity would be good. Cruising through Korea’s mountainous countryside is really a joy. Once outside the city it’s a beautiful place.  We visited an ancient temple with one of the best (they say) Buddhas in all of east Asia. No pictures allowed, so you’ll have to take my word for it. But the winding roads through the mountains is a real treat on a motorcycle.

Then we went down to the coast at caught the sunset at the twin pagodas.

Monstrous things, it’s hard to imagine how the Koreans put these together without cranes as they are over 1000 years old.

It’s days like that that I really wish some folks from back home would come visit so I could share this place other than through pictures. The daily grind in the city is ok, and fun just because it’s so very different in so many ways from home, but the countryside is truly magnificent.  You should save your bottle caps and make a trip out east to come visit before the days comes that I decide to come home and stay back in the US.  You’ve got a place to stay while you’re hear, so all you need concern yourself with is a plane ticket. Come on over! I’d love to show you more of the place than just a few pictures.

Comments (1)

By Marty, August 16, 2011 9:52 am

I got a new scooter this past weekend. Same size engine but much bigger body and way more confortable.

Nothing wrong with the old one other than the size…And its old. It has 20k km, which for a small 125cc engine is a lot. And I’ve been working long hours in July and August and decided to reward myself.

Here she is:

Comments (0)

By Marty, August 1, 2011 1:07 pm

I wrote the following for my other website, UlsanOnline.com this Monday. I haven’t had time to rewrite it to make it sound less like a city-wide article and more like a personal blog.  Sorry – you get newscaster/newsmaker Marty and not son,brother, friend or father Marty.

——

At this past weekend’s Shipbuilding Festival in Bangeojin it was land of the bizarre and strange. The highlight of the event was the boat building contest which was to make the best boat possible out of recycled materials.

Nearly two dozen teams competed in categories such as aesthetics, harmoniousness (whatever that is), strength, creativity, speed and amount of recycled materials. Some teams, whose members included professionals or students majoring in naval architecture, were quite skilled. Others, well, not so much.

UlsanOnline.com formed a team and our boat was made of empty makeoli bottles formed into pontoon covered with polystyrene foam. The Phillipino team created what looked to be a “Flintstone” mobile. A number of boats were plain failures and never made it beyond putting it in the water. Others failed under the pressure of weight, lack of structural soundness and hard racing. In all, though, it was a successful event that brought hundreds of people to Ilsan beach to play and watch.

Both the UlsanOnline team and the Phillipino teams won 500k won prizes. Although neither team built a spectacular boat, our prizes were more consolation and encouragement than because of our skills, most likely because we were the only foreigner teams at the festival. Our boat took water quickly as our makeoli bottle pontoons were far from waterproof. Our paddle quickly disintegrated under the fierce paddling Dave put forth. The Phillipino team only thought of motion after it was built, so although quite stylish was very sluggish in the water. Regardless, we had an excellent time hanging out with friends and building something out of nothing.

Throughout the festival the organizers were very helpful and kind and brought us water several times to stave off the heat and humidity on the beach. They also helped direct our chicken delivery man to our table when lunch time arrived. The other participants were great and had many colorful, fanciful ideas for their boats. I was surprised by the amount of English spoken, particular by the engineering student teams.

After the shipbuilding, we moved over to the “We are 1 in Ulsan” festival and listened to live music from the Phillipino band while we ate galbi and quaffed beer. It was a full day and we had a great time. I would encourage others to participate in next year’s Shipbuilding festival. Having built one (semi-failure) boat and watched several other failures, I believe next year we could manage a true prize winner.

Bonus : Lots of TV cameras were present and our team was interviewed by MBC. We made the 8:00pm news and there were action shots of Ryan, Scott and Dave with a 10-second interview with Dave aired on the local channel. There was also UBC that got in our faces for pictures, but I didn’t see any thing on their news.

Comments (0)

By Marty, July 29, 2011 2:11 pm

It’s been a while since I wrote any significant computer code but I finally have an application finished to show off. Long time friend and business partner Fin Madden talked me into developing an app for his new job in Egypt – he’ll be an athletic director for an international school in Cairo. He had been searching for an mobile technology application that would let him manage his students, classes and grades in his new job and was unable to find anything suitable.  Knowing all the programming I had done on UlsanOnline.com, he asked for my help.

Check our  UlsanOnline, where  I pimped it off to my fellow teachers in Ulsan. You can also go directly to the android site and see it. Buy it if you like – I’ll gladly take your money – but it’s a teacher specific tool.

At first I didn’t know diddly about about writing mobile phone apps. I could barely spell Android. But after a little research and some programming I’ve finished with it and placed it on Google’s Android Market for sale. Fin did all the artwork on the app and I did all the programming. He’s paid me a nice fee up front and then we’ll split the profits 60/40 of whatever we sell. At $3.99 per copy, we aren’t likely to get rich but we might make a little beer money and gain a little fortune for ourselves. We’re already famous in Ulsan for the website we do – it’s the most popular English site in the city – but now we hope to get a little more traction with the teaching community.

I”m kind of proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish in less than two months. It’s given me the incentive to try and get back into technology when I return home to the USA. In the meantime, I might develop another app or two. Our Ulsan website has a lot of reviews in English of restaurants that otyherwise would be hard to find for those who don’t speak Korean, so I might have a map-based too that shows nearby places to eat with links to the reviews we’ve done. We also have all the bus routes in English on the website and that might becaomse a mobile app as well.

Anyway, enough geekiness. Summer has finally arrived and it’s hot. Nothing like Texas, but hot is still hot.

This weekend I’m going to the Shipbuilding festival on the coast. A small group of friends and I have entered into a contest to build a boat out of recycled material. The prize is $5000 so we’re hoping we can take a little cash back. If not, we’re very likely to have fun trying.

Comments (0)

By Marty, June 24, 2011 5:59 pm

No, I’m not on fire. The inferno is the annual motorcycle photo scavenger hunt we do in June.  We had the Inferno last weekend and it was a gas!  Only 22 people this year, smaller than past years, but still just as fun. The idea is to go to as many predetermined points on the map as you can and take a picture of your team there before before time runs out. There are far too many to visit all of them, so planning, navigation and creative pictures count.

Last year, my team won First Place and got a second helmet. This year, I rode with rookies and we took 2nd place and got 75 bucks – way better prize!

Wish I had all the pictures, but the video will have to suffice. My good friend Dee was on the planning committee and she took everyone’s photos and video and turned it into a slick video. Check it out here.

I do have some photos to share. The first is the panorama shot taken at the starting point. Jason has a nice camera and does and automatic, motorized pan so a long line of us can all be in the same shot.

If you look closely, I’m in the photo on both ends. Jason started taking the photo on the left of the line (I’m wearing white shorts) and after he panned his camera past me I ran to the right side and got in for that part, too, on the far right. Who says you can’t be in two places at once? Click the photo to see the details.

This photo is my bike and Andy’s bike. Andy is my teammate and had never driven a car, bike, scooter or motorcycle anywhere in the world and decided to learn in Korea. Our scooters must’ve been separated at birth as the plates are one number transposed. What are the odds.  Ryan’s girlfriend, Rocy, shows a nice smile for the camera.

two bikes, almost one license

Anyway, it was a great day. Looking forward to more rides before the summer rainy season hits.

Love to all,

Marty

Comments (0)

By Marty, June 15, 2011 9:17 pm

That’s what I get these days driving around town. And that’s good that I get such good mileage, because gas ain’t cheap here. I’m paying 1850won/liter, which works out to about $6.38 per gallon.  I’ve only got a 3-liter tank, so I have to fill up about every 100km (60miles) or so, and that costs me another 6 bucks, give or take. Of course, all that’s on my scooter, which means I have to deal with weather and crazy drivers. But that’s not so bad considering I’m paying very close to $1 per every 10 miles or 10mpd.

Just thought I’d do that math.

Have you figured what your MPD is? With gas prices in the US having risen dramatically this year I’m curious how much each mile is costing the average driver.

Comments (1)

By Marty, June 12, 2011 10:51 am

By bicycle.

Too hot for climbing and too nice to stay indoors, I decided to make a long ride on the bike out to the beach.

But first, I have to cross those bad boys in the distance

That’s Muryongsan in the distance with the radio tower on top. That’s a 400m (~1200ft) mountain – that doesn’t make it very big, but for a bike that’s no mole hill.

Up close, it doesn’t look so daunting, but then I’ve gained some altitude getting to this fork in the road. Cars and trucks go right, while bikes or sightseers go left. The old road is twisty and curvy and a relatively easy grade, although it goes higher than the road through the tunnel.

For most of the way up, I saw no other riders going my way, but many coming back down. At nearly the halfway point, I spotted a ride approaching from the rear and my competitive instincts kicked in. I had been riding rather leisurely and I stepped it up and left him in the dust. I saw him in my rearview mirror attached to my helmet trying to keep up. This old man was too fast for him.

Half way up there is a small spring where a guy can refill his water bottle.

And near the top of the pass is a stairway to Nowhere

The new road, goes through the tunnel which is on the far right of this picture. Although that road is not as high in altitude the grade is much steeper. There are remnants from the construction days still on the far left. Two sets of overgrown stairs go to what looks like nowhere.  Click on the picture for a full view of these Stairways to Nowhere, now covered in ghostly brush.

And just past this is the view to the far side of the tunnel and the mountains beyond.

At the top the altimeter on my smartphone says I was at 225m or about 700ft.

A swift ride down the east side of this ridge and I’m approaching the sea.

newly planted rice paddies fill the flat lands approaching the sea in the distance

The village at the edge of the sea

I made it!

On the east side of the mountain I was going too fast too look at much of the scenery. But on the way back up I was going much slower and had time to look around. This boat was perched on the side of the mountain on a set of logs.

Fish out of water

It advertises a bean curd restaurant just down the hill on a side path. There’s something about Koreans that have a propensity to place boats – even ships – on dry land.  This boat was half way up the east side of the mountain, at least 6km from any water. But if it were the only boat out of water it would simply be an oddity. Instead, it’s another of a virtual flotilla of boats in various places – except water – here in Ulsan. I did a pictorial for Ulsanonline last year on these fish out of water.

Overall, I rode close to 50km. Certainly no record or even personal best, but an interesting way to spend a Saturday afternoon. And it helps keep the fat off. All the pants I bought in America this spring are baggy on me now.

I run an application called “endomondo” on my phone. It tracks my path, times, speed, altitude, calories, blah, blah.  And then after I’m finished I get a nice chart of my ride including a graph of speeds and altitudes.

endomondo output

Comments (0)

By Marty, June 8, 2011 7:44 pm

Yes, I went literally over the cliff.

Monday, June 6th was Memorial Day here in Korea. So I and a few friends went on a rock-scissors-paper motorcycle tour. Every so often, we would stop at an intersection and play rock-scissors-paper and the winning hand took the direction. It was a great way to see the countryside and we did indeed see some beautiful sights.

a badly stiched panorama of far northern Ulsan, Korea

We took turn after turn, sometimes ending up in small communities, sometimes farm roads and at least once, a gravel road up the side of a mountain. We emerged onto the mountain top overlooking a valley in far northern Ulsan. But before getting there, we hit that gravel road.

And that’s where I went over the cliff

I was going slow, but I hit a soft patch of gravel and my scooter spun to the right. The road was only a single lane and I still had too much momentum to stop before it went right off the edge of the road and down the mountain.

me, down the mountain about 5 meters, with my scooter

Luckily, the scooter caught on a stump or might have tumbled a long way down into the trees. Had that happened, I likely would have simply left the bike there to rot. But instead, the five of us scrambled down the very loose gravel and hefted the bike back on the road. Lots of sweat, dirt, gasoline and oil stains later and we’re back on the road where 100 meters later we found the panoramic view.  Should anyone be worried for my health, I was fine. Only a couple of minor scratches. Same for the bike.

From there, we continued down the road to a historical marker of a long dead Korean hero. Been there, done that. But just up the road from that was a temple run by a German national. Most temples are all the same. But this one was so unique, and the monk and his wife so inviting we stayed and chatted for a long while. If you’re interested, I wrote a longish piece about the temple on my other site, Ulsanonline.com.

We ended up travelling on for another 150km (110miles) into the mountains, coastline, valleys and then back into the city to meet another friend who was buying his first motorcycle. We finally had lunch/dinner around 5pm on the coast followed by coffee on the beach.

Overall, the ride was totally pointless and without aim. But damn, it was fun.  Even the part about going over the cliff.

Comments (2)

By Marty, June 6, 2011 10:44 am

This weekend was both a holiday weekend and birthday weekend. Two friends, Andy and Ryan had birthdays on Saturday so a large group of us decided to take a short trip to GyeongJu and play in the go-karts.

GyeongJu is only about 40km north of here, but not everyone has personal transportation. We decided to take the train, which was outrageously cheap at only $2.50 per person. And being on the southern coast, when it’s time to go back home the roads are always clogged with traffic doing the same. The train was a nice change of pace.

Once in GyeongJu we started walking from the train station to the go-kart track. Bad advice, as it was several kilometers away. We walked maybe a mile or so without seeing any taxis or buses that could take us. Luckily two friends who decided to ride their motorcycles to GyeongJu met us along the way and ferried us, two-by-two, to the track.

Once at the track, I had to put the hard sell on MyeongHee to actually ride the karts. She was receptive when we talked at home, but at the track she wanted to just watch. No problem – I sold her on the idea and she rode.

As you’re reading you may be thinking that go-karts are fun, but come on – how passe’. How old fashioned. Even the times we’d gone to Malibu Grand Prix in Dallas to play they are fun, but pretty tame. I assure you, however, that this was not the case in Korea. These things were fast. Moreover, the track employees, used to dealing with the timid Koreans, were not sure how to handle us foreigners. That whole notion of not wanting someone to “lose face” played right into our hands, er steering wheels. Koreans don’t like to fuss at someone unless it’s a personal affront, so merely breaking rules it is a rarity to  have them call someone out and publicly embarrass them for blatant rule breaking. It was the Wild West, baby. Bumping, slamming, pushing were all, if not legal, tolerated. We had a blast!

I took several pictures of our friends – there were 15 of us total – but quite a few of my honey.  You can see the whole lot of them on my facebook photo album. My good friend Fin Madden took several more and are on his album. His photos show several mash-ups and crashes into the tire walls that MyeongHee didn’t capture.  Just a few of the shots are below. Click the pic for a closeup.

Facebook scrunches pictures down too much and this one is a classic mashup. Click the pic for detailed view. I passed Dee Madden on a tight turn and she could not negotiate the turn in the space I left her. She slammed into the tire wall on the far left. I am on the far right speeding away and laughing

After we came back to Ulsan, we had dinner at a restaurant with a large open-air patio. The weather was perfect: warm but on the shady east side of the building with a slight breeze.  Sometimes I’m still amazed at how cheap things can be here: a full meal of grilled pork, soup, rice, numerous side dishes and several bottles of beer cost only about $11 per person. The equivalent meal in Dallas would be 3-4x that amount.

Sometimes frustrating, sometimes exciting, sometimes I’m homesick and sometimes I’m surrounded by good friends. But Korea is rarely dull.

Comments (1)

By Marty, May 31, 2011 2:05 pm

It’s 2pm May 31 and its barely 50F degrees outside. Normally (at least what has been normal for the five+ summers I’ve witnessed) it’s been warm this time of year.  We had a wickedly cold winter and spring has just not sprung so far. The weather boys here are claiming this summer will be extremely hot and humid. Although this year they have rarely been on the mark, a little heat (ok, even a lot) would be welcome.

Having said that, however, I suppose I should be careful what I wish for. 31 years of Texas style summers had worn me out and I got to the point of dreading each summer and the accompanying sweat and air conditioning bills.

It isn’t all bad here, though. Some days it gets up to the 70s and is pleasant if brief.

MyeongHee and I took a walk in the park on Sunday. We passed through a tunnel of roses that was pretty and then stopped at a small waterfall.

Missing everyone back home.
-Martin