Seoul III and Sokcho, Korea (04/01/2010-04/09/2010)

My last trip to take place during my 6 month sojourn in Taiwan was a brief visit to Korea on some personal and business matters. It also happened to be my stopover back to Canada (as originally arranged to attend my friend's wedding on the way to Taiwan last year). While there I also had a chance to see a few friends and had the great fortune of being taken out of town to the Eastern coast of Korea to hike mountains and to try the local cuisine.  Back in Seoul I was invited by a native teacher there whom I knew from her vacations in Taiwan to give a Grade 6 class a guest lecture on the virtues of speaking English in order to be a 'global' citizen. How else to do that other than by showing some photos?  I was quite impressed by the level of technology even within this remote classroom on the very outskirts of Seoul!

Bangkok III and Ayutthaya, Thailand (03/11/2010-03/16/2010)

My Taiwanese study visa was going to run out just two weeks before my return to Canada - so I had to leave the country and come back on a visitor visa for only 14 days! Was it an annoyance or a blessing, I don't know. So, if I had to leave the country I might as well go somewhere affordable, beautiful and relaxing - Thailand was the easy choice. Little did I know that a revolution was about to start. Not to get ahead of myself - it wasn't bad yet. However it was disconcerting to hear about it for the first time while waiting in the boarding lounge. 

I went there wanting to relax and not do anything, but couldn't help myself - visited temples, hiked during the day, and stayed out late :).  I didn't have too much time, so I only went close by - Ayutthaya, the old capital of Siam which was sacked by the Burmese in the mid 18th century. All in all, glad to have had a small break!