Straight to the Seoul

See what I did there with the title? Anyway, here's the promised article. I had an amazing time with Karen and there is noone better to travel with in all honesty. This one is to you :)

Jeongdongjin

We were driven across Seoul to Jeongdongjin overnight by dear friends, arriving at the beach close to 5am in the morning. The night was chilly but bearable through the skins of my sweater, tickling my throat and leaving it with a salty, refreshing aftertaste. The sand was fine but sticky underneath my feet, leaving my shoes surprising clean and unfazed. The moon was still up and the waves were rolling in with a bit of temper, in contrast to the calm ocean air. We took forwent the idea of the sparkler for a nap, waking up shortly after 6am for a much anticipated sunrise. Already we could see color in the sky and the clouds forming in a distance, revealing the Sun Cruise Resort & Yacht majestically perched over the cliff overlooking the East Sea. We eagerly wrapped ourselves in blankets and hopped down to the beach. Tourists have already gathered armed with tripods and cameras of all makes. The air continued to brighten and now birds were streaming across the sky in flocks. Troops stationed at the town marched past us in their morning patrol, kicking up sand and adding further excitement to the impending brilliance of the sunrise. Minutes went on and everyone went quiet and stayed quiet. Fingers on the shutter trigger, eyes wide open, breaths held, and…nothing. The sun rose through the blind of the morning mist and hid from everyone’s gaze. The sky turned a bright blue and we did a little too. However, being in this magical little town absolves everyone of any sense of regret or disappointment. As the sun polished the train station over with a new shimmering coat and warmed the sand to a toasty crumble, we left the beach with the biggest smiles of the trip.

Seoraksan

Through the morning fog, we were taken to the peak of the mountain via the cable car. As we make our ascend, the splotchy autumn colors at the foot of the mountain began to merge and evolved to become a brilliant patchwork of red, orange and yellow. The morning vapor enveloped the vegetation, making us feel like we were entering a celestial realm. We got to the plateaued landing at the top of the mountain on foot after the cable car drop off and lingered joyously in the mist. The view was indeed breathtaking.

When we got back to the foot of the mountain, we chose to explore one of the trails leading to the Biryeong waterfall. The wooded path shaded us from the morning sun and led us across bridges that lay on the valley currently dried out from the season. Green foliage occasionally gave way to the autumn shades. Accompanied by small streams and pebbled banks, we found our way to the foot of the waterfall, where we decided to turn back. Looking from one end of the bridge where the track ascends into stairs carved out of rocks, we took in a deep breath of the sweet scent of fall and immersed ourselves in the season of bright red wonder. 

Numero uno all over again

I cannot believe that I am coming back to this site and boy has it changed. The last time I came near it with a twig was when I was still a teenager, eager to show it off whilst acting all clandestine, trying my very best swing at being incognito. It was all to impress someone of the opposite gender and never a true reflection of what I really thought. Well, maybe a little, not a whole lot though. Popping this open brought back 'Just the 6 of us' and '千里之外' unexpectedly. It is wonderful how everything is so intricately linked to google nowadays and to be honest I love it (not so much the pictures of the old skinny us with our badly managed crewcuts trying the very best to grow up while looking cool). Still, those were probably the best times of our lives, at the very least definitely mine, and I would like to thank all of you guys from the gang.

This unexpected lull which was meant to last 2 months with a perceived fruitful end is certainly not working itself out. First, the VISA that is meant to chauffeur me back to Harvard has definitely acted up for real this time. Whatever salvage manoeuvres they're performing there at Plastic Surgery had better boost my chances as it has been a truly disappointing descent having prioritised this job over all others. It was a huge leap of faith parachuting myself into Beth Israel and having my inadequate British MBBS brutalised by the Harvard horde, and I guess now I am paying the price. Everything said, I am tired of waiting and can't wait to get my hands on patients again (in a magical, healing way mind you). With all the nice offers I had previously mercilessly rejected from Oxford, their spirits are back to haunt me. I still do hope to catch one and tame it to my benefit. We shall see on the 6th of November…

This incredibly long, unexpected break had me looking at myself and being very appalled at how I have neglected my holistic well-being. I have not picked up a book in years since graduation and even when I do, it's Medicine. The Martian by Andy Weir has completely blown me away, and I've certainly caught the train late because I remember seeing Jason Bourne in a Martian suit on a movie poster somewhere a while ago. Doing the reading only when you know the movie has been a box-office hit is just uncool. But now I know what Dr Odom was going on about when we were on rounds. He remains the coolest Trauma surgeon I've worked with to date. But hey, I've finished a non-medical book since graduation! This is a milestone. For those of you who still hasn't read the book or watched the film, you seriously need to do either or both, and you'll want to give Mark Watney a fist bump.

It's been 3 months of self-discovery, a lot of thinking, mum and dad time and Karen time. Despite this being more or less involuntary, I would like to think that it generated more good than bad. These guys have done wonders for me and I'd literally be in fetal position crying myself to sleep if it hasn't been them cheering me on. I'll log more of their greatness in the future for sure.

This has been an excellent first entry, and the next one will be something I've written for a magazine but would just really like it out here as it was the first piece of proper writing (not translation) I have done for a while. It's a piece on the beautiful scenery we witnessed in South Korea just outside of Seoul  a couple of days ago and boy everyone should get a chance to see those leaves and the true colours of autumn. Enjoy!