Birthdays

Over the past two weekends there have been a few birthdays to celebrate, mine included. Birthdays are always a good reason to relax and spend some time with the people you care about. Whether it be a shared meal, some drinks at the pub, or an outdoor adventure, its all about enjoying yourself.

For some, birthdays can be a painful reminder of how old they're getting and how quickly life has been passing them by. I don't really see it that way; if anything, I think that your age is really determined by how you act and react to your surroundings and your condition. In most cases, if you think positively and act accordingly, even if you're not feeling so, your life will be that much better.

Take advantage of the opportunities you have, and don't be afraid to try something out of fear of change or the unknown. If you feel like you need more motivation, or want to do something more with your life, then do something about it. In the end, the only thing that really determines how old you are is you...not some candles on a birthday cake.

For my day of birth, I decided to spend my time with some friends in Jeju city. I awoke with the feeling of excitement, anticipating a great day. The first thing on my agenda was to grab the bus to the city and rendezvous with my friend Naomi.

On the bus to the city I noticed the now char-covered oreum that was the remnants of the fire festival. I suppose in the old days, many farmers would now have similar looking fields, ready for a new year of cultivation.



After getting some directions, I eventually arrived at Naomi's place and we went out for some lunch. She recommended one of her favourite spots: Room and Kitchen. Its this cozy little place, with several floors of seating, all designed to a different theme. Apparently the owner is attempting to a launch her career into interior design, and this was her model.



We were given plenty of pillows for seating and even some blankets, which a lot of places do instead of properly heating their places. Koreans for some reason are very adamant about not turning on any heat, unless absolutely necessary, and then when they do, its usually some gas fueled personal heater that seems like an accident waiting to happen.

The meal however, was definitely worth the few minutes of cold. I ordered a traditional style breakfast, sausages with eggs, some toast, and a side of fruit; it was very refreshing. Naomi got the casadias, which were just fantastic as well. If you're in Jeju-si and in need of a good breakfast, its a great spot to go.

As we left the restaurant, we turned the corner to go into a cafe for a cup of coffee, but ended up getting strawberry smoothies instead. Probably the tastier choice. We decided to get some fresh air and exercise by going for a walk towards the harbour.

Along our journey, we came upon a very interesting looking wall. There were dozens of tiles glued to it, each with its own personal design.



Continuing on our way, we made a slight detour to check out the market; it was busy as always. Still, its interesting to take a look at what crazy looking sea creature is on sale for the day.

Exiting the market we came upon a quaint little parkway, that led down towards the waterfront. Walking towards it, we discovered an interesting canal and stone bridge. From the English translated sign, I gathered that it was some bridge of significance and was built an incredibly long time ago.



Not far down the pathway I found yet again some more random workout spots. They had an elliptical, something that worked your waist, and this crazy looking steering wheel, which I have no idea how to work. Naomi and I tried the various mechanisms and felt like we had got our exercise for the day.



There was a nice spot to sit down nearby the water, so we climbed down the steps and took a few moments enjoying the scenery. I discovered something which looked like a Dol hareubang perched upon on rock in the canal, but later discovered that it must be something else, as it did not resemble any other previous ones I've seen; perhaps its was one of the original 45 that are on the island.



Further down stream we discovered some fish swimming in the canal, and this really interesting looking bird, which Naomi believed to be some type of heron. After a few more minutes walking around the canal, it was time to get going and meet up with the rest of the gang.

We met Brian at his new apartment in Jeju-si, and then went off to Bagdad cafe for some dinner. There were about ten of us and it made for a great time. I ordered the lamb curry with garlic nan and some sort of potato broccoli combination with tomato basil sauce. Yum!

Jim and the others surprised me with a cake, which we took to the bar afterwards and I attempted to make everyone finish eating it; probably the result of too many drinks by that time. We exchanged some embarrassing stories over dinner and wine, and then all moved off to the nearby pub for some more drinks.



I don't really remember much else that happened that night, but I still managed to wake up in my own bed, so it couldn't have been too bad. I really enjoyed it and I hope everyone else did too. Thanks guys.