Glasgow

Greetings all! It’s been a while!

Last Friday, in between the fallings (yes autocorrect, I wish to use a word you don’t recognise) of snow, I flew to Prestwick Airport with Ryanair for an interview in Glasgow. After the interview itself and meeting with my recruitment agent there, I went for a stroll around Glasgow to check out some of the sights in and around the city centre, including Glasgow Cathedral and St. Mungo’s. Photos from my stroll can be found here.

Earlier this week, I found out I got the job so I will be moving to Glasgow in mid-January. I’m pretty excited about it to be honest. I’ll be working in derivatives, which is the field in which I had previously worked, plus I should be able to do some weekend traveling in and around Scotland and England.

May God protect you this festive Christmas season and shower you with blessings in the coming year! Merry Christmas!

Giant’s Causeway

Back in June, I travelled up to Ballymena in Northern Ireland for a Christian music concert at which NewWorldSon (who I had never heard of previously) and Switchfoot (who I made the trip to see) were playing. Both were excellent. Before coming home the following day, I travelled northwards still to the Giant’s Causeway. Photos can be viewed here.

New York

Having been to New York back in 2008, I had been to the majority of the tourist attractions (as evidenced by these photos from 2008), so this time around I spent fairly little time sightseeing.

On Friday, having arrived from Boston in the late afternoon, I checked into my hotel and spent the evening with a few friends from Bear Stearns. Similarly, on Saturday, I met up with more friends from Bear.

On Sunday, having gone to Mass in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, I visited the upper west side of Manhattan to see the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine, which is the Cathedral of the Episcopal Diocese of New York and the seat of its Bishop. It’s absolutely colossal, able to hold 5,000 worshippers, yet still unfinished. Having seen this, I hopped on the subway to Queens, to Citi Field to see my Atlanta Braves take on the New York Mets. After five innnings, with the Mets winning 1-0, there was a 90 minute rain delay before the game eventually got called.

On Monday, I took the tour of the new Yankee Stadium. On Tuesday, I had my iPod stolen while walking up 8th Avenue to my hotel. Nevertheless that evening, meeting up with another old friend from Bear, we went to Top of the Rock to see New York at night.

Wednesday, having met up with more friends from Bear, I had planned on going to a Reach Records concert in New Jersey. To be honest, I had thought that it would just be across the Hudson and easily reachable from NYC. However, I was wrong – it was taking place in Rutgers University, in Camden, South-Western Jersey and I ended up having to get a train to Philadelphia and then get a taxi across into Jersey. However, the concert was great, Trip Lee, Sho Baraka and DJ Official were all exellent and it was well worth all the traveling. I got the last train that night back from Philly to NYC.

Thursday evening, I flew back to Dublin from JFK.

Photos from this trip to NYC can be found here.

Boston

Sincerest apologies for the delay…

April 19: (“Yeah, he definitely jumped in front of the train”)

I was staying a little bit outside of Boston so I hopped on a train into central Boston early Monday to set off on the Freedom Trail, a 2.5 mile red-brick walking trail that leads through 16 historic sites, related to the American Revolution. However, having boarded the train, it didn’t take me long to realise that the train wasn’t moving. After 20 stationary minutes, the driver told us over the intercom system that there was a medical emergency being dealt with on the train in front of us. After just over an hour or so, the train eventually started moving. As we approached the next stop, looking out the window on the line next us we saw a orange evidence cone, followed by another evidence cone, followed by an empty show, followed by another evidence cone, followed by a body half covered by a body bag, followed by another empty shoe, before eventually reaching the stationary train. “Yeah, he definitely jumped in front of the train” the lad beside me said. Having arrived at North Station, I walked to the TD Garden box-office to see if there were any tickets remaining for the NHL play-off match that night between the Bruins and Sabres, and luckily for me there were. Tickets were steep, priced at $70, so I was hoping it would be worth it. After that, I set out on the Freedom Trail, which included USS Constitution (the oldest commissioned warship afloat in the world, affectionately known as Ironsides), Bunker Hill Monument, The Old North Church, Copp’s Hill Burying Ground, Paul Revere House, Faneuil Hall, Site of the Boston Massacre, Old State House, Old South Meeting House, Old Corner Book Store, Benjamin Franklin Statue/Boston Latin School, King’s Chapel, King’s Chapel Burying Ground, Granary Burying Ground, Park Street Church, The State House and finally The Boston Common. In the late afternoon, I made my way back to TD Garden for the Bruins Sabres game. It turns out, I had absolutely no need to worry whether the ticket was worth $70 or not. Having attended various sporting events, I can honestly say NHL provides the best at-game atmosphere – from cheering injuries to screaming “fight, fight, fight!!!”, I had a fantastic time. Boston won 2-1.

April 20: (“Will any of the cast be here?”)

Following day I made my way back into Boston, first stop being Cheers for lunch. However, having reached it, it was packed and there were long queues forming (full of people asking stupid questions like “will any of the cast be here?”). Having seen the inside on TV so often, I decided to forego going in. Making my way through the Public Gardens, I ended up at Trinity Church, before hopping on a subway to Harvard. After walking around the Harvard grounds for a while, I stopped into the Museum of Natural History before making my way back to my hotel.

April 21: (“aawwwwwwww”)

I set out early Wednesday morning to do Whale Watch – where a high-speed catamaran whisks you 30 miles east of Boston into the Atlantic Ocean to whale feeding grounds. The trip lasts around 2 1/2 hours. We were lucky – scores of dolphins (cue the gushing “aawwwwwwww” from the kids) followed us for the most part, we spotted several Humpback and Fin Whales swimming around and even managed to come across three Humpbacks open-mouth feeding, which is apparently a rare sight. After finishing Whale Watch I toured around the New England Aquarium, which I quite enjoyed actually – Penguins really are fascinating creatures, while its pretty cool getting up close to rays and sharks – before returning back to the hotel.

April 22: (“The good professor went into the tomb and never came out”)

First stop Thursday morning was Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox. I’d planned to see if there were any tickets available for that evening’s game but upon arrival learned that tickets only go on sale a few hours before first pitch, meaning I had to put in 6 hours. So, I made my way to the Museum Of Fine Arts. The museum is huge, holding 450,000 works of art from all over the world, Asia to Africa, Europe to America. Having finished at the museum, with a couple of hours to spare and with it raining pretty heavily, I decided to stop into TOMBS. It is basically a blend of a haunted house, a theme park attraction, a Hollywood movie set and a traveling museum exhibition – a mix of Indiana Jones, Mummy and Relic Hunter. You are told, “Ten years ago the tomb of a lost Pharaoh was discovered by an expert archeologist. The good professor went into the tomb and never came out.” So, as a group, you enter the Pharaoh’s tomb to solve the mystery behind the professor’s disappearance – however, once inside, the spirit of the ancient Pharaoh is awoken and, as a group, you must work together to solve puzzles and whatnot to get out alive. While it is possible to “die”, you will be delighted to know, we made it out alive. Returning to Fenway Park, I picked up cheap centre field tickets for the Red Sox – Rangers game that evening. The previous two games had been high scoring Boston victories, so as fate would have it, I was there for a low scoring Texas victory. Oh well! During the game, I got to prove my baseball knowledge to a couple of local Bostonians who asked me why a few days beforehand, all baseball players wore number 42 jerseys. I reliably informed them that it was for Jackie Robinson day.

April 23:

I was getting the train to New York on Friday, so I slept in late and went straight from the hotel to the Boston South train station.

Photos can be found here.

Philadelphia

April 15: (“Who is this guy?”)

After doing nothing after arriving in Philly the previous evening, I set out early Thursday for the Philadelphia Museum of Art, probably most famous as the ‘Rocky steps’, it actually has a very impressive collection of art. After strolling around the surrounding area, including the Rocky statue where I overheard someone asking “who is this guy?” (clarification: referring to Rocky, not me), I continued down Benjamin Franklin Parkway, the spine of Philadelphia’s Museum District, to the Rodin Museum, the largest collection of Rodin’s works outside of Paris. A few blocks down the road, I came to the Eastern State Penitentiary, however because of the queues I didn’t bother venturing inside. Continuing down Benjamin Franklin Parkway, I eventually came to the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul, which is simply epic. The largest brownstone structure in Philadelphia, presented in a Roman-Corinthian style of architecture, the Cathedral can comfortably hold over 2,000 worshipers. At the end of Parkway is City Hall. Before finishing up for the day, I walked through Chinatown before I found myself at the Irish Famine Memorial at Penn’s Landing.

April 16: (“The Liberty Bell? What’s that?”)

I had seen a lot of Philadelphia the previous day, so the main objective for Friday was to see Liberty Bell, and explore the surrounding sights of the Old City. Having called a taxi to get to Liberty Bell, I asked to go to Liberty Bell and the cab-driver responded “The Liberty Bell? What’s that?” A little shocked that he didn’t know what it was, I just gave him the address of the Independence Visitor Center and lo and behold “Oh! That Liberty Bell!” After Liberty Bell, I passed by Independence Hall and Franklin Court on my way to the National Constitution Center where after a performance of Freedom Rising, I viewed their current exhibition, Ancient Rome and America, where they compare and contrast the USA with the ancient Roman Empire. After lunch, I visited St. Augustine’s Church, Old St. Joseph’s Church and Old St. Mary’s Church, before finishing off my trip to Old City at Christ Church.

April 17: (“He came all the way from Ireland”)

Around noon Saturday I hopped in a taxi to New Jersey Battleship, also known as BB-62. Having participated in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Lebanese Civil War, it is the most decorated battleship in Naval history and is now a museum ship.

Saturday afternoon, I made my way to 30^th Street Station to go to Calvary Chapel for Michelle Bonilla’s ‘In Spite Of Me’ Release Party. I had a great time. I had been ‘tweeting’ with Michelle in the days before going – actually very kindly, she and her husband (Lee Jerkins, also, her record producer) had invited me out for dinner the previous night – but both Michelle and Lee seemed delighted to see me there. When getting Michelle’s autograph on her new CD, she stood up, shouted to get everyone’s attention and introduced me to the crowd “This is Kevin and he came all the way from Ireland.” After introducing myself to Lee, he called the camera crew over to interview me (an interview which, to the best of my knowledge, has not yet made the internet), introduced me to his parents and told me “Having you here, all the way from Ireland, has just made my day.”

April 18: (“Are you a Christian missionary?”)

Sunday morning, I tried to find a church however Google Maps managed to screw me over giving me false directions. After walking four miles in about an hour, for a walk that was supposed to take 20 minutes, and still not finding the church, I returned back to the hotel, checked out and got a taxi to 30^th Street Station and hopped on a train to Boston. A few stops later, a woman sat in the seat beside me, so I said hello. A few minutes later she turned to me and asked “Are you a Christian missionary?” It’s a question I got asked several times in Asia too, but never quite so randomly…

Photos here and a video from Michelle Bonilla’s ‘In Spite Of Me’ Release Party here.

Washington DC

April 9:

My trip to the US started at 10:30AM with an Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to JFK. An uneventful four hour layover in JFK was followed by a JetBlue flight from JFK to Washington Dulles at 5:50PM. Arriving in Dulles around 7:30PM, I hopped on a Supershuttle (read: shared taxi) straight to my hotel in Falls Church, six miles outside DC. To be honest, I was expecting dodgy motel style accommodation but it was actually very acceptable.

April 10: (“Are you here to buy tickets to Lady Gaga?”)

Getting up at 10AM on Saturday morning, I ventured into the centre of DC to the Verizon Center to buy tickets for the Washington Wizards – Atlanta Hawks NBA game the same night. There was a fairly large queue in front of me when I got there, even though the Center had only opened, which I found strange given how much the Wizards suck. After 10 minutes waiting, a staff member started asking everyone queuing “Are you here to buy tickets to Lady Gaga?” I was delighted to b able to reply, “No, no I’m not.” I was shuffled off to the side and five minutes later I had tickets. I also enquired as to getting tickets to the Washington Capitals – Boston Bruins NHL game for the following afternoon, however, given it was the last game of the season, tickets were sold out.

Having gotten my ticket, I hopped back on the Metro and made my way to Brookland CUA, to check out the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception. It is the largest Roman Catholic church in North America and one of the ten largest churches in the world. It really is an awe-inspiring building, stunning architecture and some quite beautiful artwork. After the Basilica, I continued on down the road to the Pope John Paul II Cultural Center, where they were having a mass celebrating the fifth anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s death. Free food was provided after the service.

After returning to the hotel for a while, I returned to the Verizon Center for the basketball game that was starting at 7PM. It was fun, although with the season almost over and the Wizards well out of contention, the Center wasn’t exactly full. While the game was quite close for the first three quarters, the Hawks won by about 10 points in the end.

April 11: (“Where’s the fire station?”)

Sunday morning, I woke up around 9AM to figure out where to go to Mass. Settling on 11AM Mass at St. Anthony’s Parish Church, about a 25 minute walk down the road, I hooked up my laptop and turned on BBC live text for the, unbelievably boring, Sunday football. After returning from Mass, dehydrated, I stopped into the local 7/11 where a US tourist asked me “Where’s the fire station?” (She wasn’t on fire, nor did she seem agitated enough that anything she overly cared about was engulfed in flames.) When I responded that I didn’t know given I was a tourist from Ireland, she seemed slightly surprised and asked if I was part of a church group.

I hopped on a Metro and worked my way to the Pentagon and the Pentagon Memorial, dedicated to those who died at the Pentagon on 9/11. After the Pentagon, I hopped one stop back on the Metro to Arlington National Cemetery. Its 624 acres hold the remains of 320,000 servicemen and women. JFK is buried here, as is his brother Robert, but the major draw is the Tomb of the Unknowns, over which the Third US Infantry maintains an around the clock vigil. There is a Changing of the Guards routine every 30 or 60 minutes depending on the time of year and I was lucky enough to be passing by just in time for one. After witnessing the Changing of the Guards, I made my way just north of the Cemetery to visit the famous Iwo Jima Memorial.

April 12: (“I’m here filming a documentary on JFK”)

Started out early on Monday (by early I mean 9AM), first stop being LaFayette Park, which is directly north of the White House. After waiting awhile to see if I could catch Obama (ultimately failing), I rounded the White House and came to the Ellipse (sometimes known as President’s Park South). Working my way south and into the National Mall, I came to the Washington Monument, which is the world’s tallest stone structure, and also the world’s largest obelisk. West of the Washington Monument are the World War II Memorial (56 pillars and a pair of arches surrounding a plaza and fountain) and Lincoln Memorial (and its Reflecting Pool). Either side of the Lincoln Memorial, one comes across the Korean War Veteran’s Memorial and the Vietnam War Veteran’s Memorial. After these, I stopped at a Refreshments stand to grab a bottle of water and avoid the sun. While getting ready to leave, I looked a few tables across and who is sitting there but Ryan Tubridy. So, on my way past, I holler out “Hey Ryan,” and he looks up, with a look screaming “who the hell is this?” During our conversation, which lasts a few minutes, he tells me “I’m here filming a documentary on JFK” before I wish him well in his project and continue on my way. Making my way around the Tidal Basin, I visited both the FDR Memorial (a sequence of four outdoor rooms, one for each term) and the Jefferson Memorial (a circular colonnade of Ionic order columns and a dome).

Making my way from the Tidal Basin area back into the main Mall area, I stopped off at the US Holocaust Museum. Now, while it is a very sombre museum (quite similar to the museums in Hiroshima), there were seriously too many people (kids in particular) in tears, sobbing throughout the museum.

The last part of my day involved working my way down Jefferson Drive to the Capitol Building, the Supreme Court and the Library of Congress.

April 13: (“It’s not really that nice though, is it?”)

Tuesday was my Smithsonian day. Starting off at the National Gallery of Art, followed by the Museum of Natural History and finishing at the Air & Space Museum. There are two buildings for the National Gallery of Art – the east building is generally devoted to modern art (which is not my cup of tea, although the current exhibition, The Sacred Made Real: Spanish Painting and Sculpture 1600–1700, is definitely worth seeing), while the west building houses traditional, mostly European paintings and sculptures. The two main showstoppers at the Museum of Natural History are the dinosaur fossils and the 45.52-carat Hope Diamond, where one woman was heard to say “It’s not really that nice though, is it?”. The Air & Space Museum is the most-visited museum in the world, containing the Wright Brother’s Flyer, Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis and thousands of other remarkable artefacts.

April 14: (“Well, you speak English very good”)

My final stop in my time in DC was Washington Cathedral. Two Metros, two Metros back to the hotel but it was worth it. The world’s sixth largest cathedral, this Episcopalian church took 83 years and 150,000 tons of stone to build. On my way back to the Metro station, I stopped into a Christian science bookstore, where having told the shopkeeper I was Irish, she told me, “Well, you speak English very good.” Yes, thank you very much, I know I speak English well, it’s a pity you don’t.

Upon making it back to the hotel, I checked out and made my way to Union Station, a massive, grandiose building to catch the 16:05 regional train to Philadelphia.

Feel free to check out the photos from DC here.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/

Happy Easter!

First off, I wish you all a very happy and blessed Easter. Two quotes I wish to share with you all on the topic of Easter:

Why do you look for the living among the dead? He is not here, but has risen! (Luke 24: 5-6)

Faith in the resurrection of Jesus says that there is a future for every human being; the cry for unending life which is a part of the person is indeed answered. God exists: that is the real message of Easter. Anyone who even begins to grasp what this means also knows what it means to be redeemed. (Pope Benedict XVI)

Secondly, in the three months since my last blog entry, I haven’t been up to much. Still unemployed, so I’ve been watching TV mostly, whether it be films, TV series or sport.

Lastly, I will be jetting off for the USA on Friday. I will be in the US for 3 weeks, visiting Washington DC, Philadelphia, Boston and New York City. Still haven’t really got a notion of what I’ll be doing when there but I’m sure I’ll figure it out at some stage. I still haven’t decided how I’ll do a blog for this trip, stay tuned (or not) to find out…

My Trip In Numbers

Okay, so I’ve been meaning to post this for a while but have been trying to think of interesting things to include. Anyone with suggestions for more, post a comment and I’ll see what I can do. So without further ado, my trip in numbers:

171 Days

14 Countries

54 Cities / Towns

14 Languages

33 Bus Trips

25 Train Trips

14 Boat Trips

13 Plane Trips

1 Elephant Ride

3500+ Photos

1 Case Of Credit Card Fraud

30 Games Of Arcade Virtua Tennis

2 Karaoke Sessions

0 Mosquito Bites

1 Twisted Ankle

1 Case Of Man-Flu

1 Case Of Sunburn

0 Cases of Food Poisoning

6 Haircut & Shaves

1 Tsu-tsu-tsunami

1 Earthquake

30 Masses

1 Christian Worship Concert

6 Proposals

0 Asian Brides

Busan, Bangkok and Manila

So, for those who aren’t in the know, I arrived safely home on Monday night. I will recount here the last three weeks of my Asian journey, in Busan, Bangkok and Manila.

Arriving in Busan slightly after 6PM Tuesday, I hopped on subway to Seomyeon, where I found a nice little hotel just off the main strip. I didn’t do a whole lot that evening, before strolling around Seomyeon looking for a bar. After walking into every bar in the area, I settled in Jennys Beer and Cocktail which, while quite handily just a two-minute walk from my hotel, turned out to be a fantastic bar.

On Wednesday 2nd, I visited Beomeosa Temple, otherwise known as the Temple of the Nirvana Fish. Although not too far from Busan city centre, Beomeosa feels further away from the hustle and bustle of city life. Wednesday evening, I revisited Jennys given I had befriended the wonderful staff the previous night.

Thursday 3rd, I set out for Geumjeong Fortress. The Fortress was built in the 1700s to protect against Japanese invasion. Today, the wall still stands as do the four gates. I got the cable car up as I didn’t fancy the hike, and only went as far as the South Gate before heading for Seokbulsa, a hermitage carved into rock. From the South Gate, Seokbulsa is about a 2KM walk through the Namman Village. Seokbulsa really is a wonder to behold, even if it’s a lot of work to get there.On my way back to the cable car, I decided to explore the mountain, adding another 3KM onto what should have only been a 2KM walk back – oh well. I returned to my friends in Jennys that evening.

I spent all the day Friday trying to book my flights from Busan to Bangkok. I had initially planned on flying Saturday morning, but apparently you cannot book that close to departure, so I had to reorganise my plans and fly out Sunday morning instead. I again spent the night at Jennys.

Saturday was my busiest day in Busan. There were two temples I wanted to see, Seongnamsa and Tongdosa, and I had been told that it wouldn’t be possible to visit both in the same day. However, never one to back down from a challenge, I had decided to set out early Saturday morning and fit them both in. I slightly miscalculated though how tired I would be after returning from Jennys at 4AM in the morning, and ended up only waking up at noon. Still, I soldiered on and by 7PM, two subway rides and four bus journeys later, I had visited both and, although tired, was mightily impressed with myself. My flight the following morning was at 8.40AM, so rather than getting an early night and getting up early, I decided to go to Jennys and spend the night there, return to my hotel at 4AM, and watch TV until 5.30AM and then get a taxi to the airport. Little did I think TV would co-operate with me and start showing Van Damme’s Kickboxer at 5AM. Super!

I arrived in Bangkok shortly after noon on Sunday December 6th, after a fairly uneventful flight. Having checked into a hostel just off Khao San Road, the first thing I did was make my way to afternoon Mass. My time in Bangkok consisted of nothing but going out every night. Whereas for my previous two visits to Bangkok I stayed on Khao San for nights out, this time I also visited Sukhumvit. Other than going out until morning every night, the following are the only two noteworthy events which happened. I ran into the same evangelical preacher whom I had encountered on Khao San back in August. I chatted to him for a while – so impressed was he with my knowledge of the faith that he invited me to meet up with him and some of his preacher friends one of the following nights and go preaching with them. Sadly, I never did. (Along similar lines, on one of my nights out in Sukhumvit I was approached to take part in a survey by three Americans, and ended up flabbergasting them with my faith – always good fun). The other noteworthy event was me getting a fish massage – tickly fun.

I returned to the Philippines on Sunday December 13th – leaving Bangkok at 12.30AM, arriving at 4.30AM. Having checked into the same hotel as previously, after catching up on some much-needed sleep, I went to afternoon Mass. Again, much like my time in Bangkok, my time in Manila was very much nightlife centred, generally in a great bar called Skorskis, out every night until 4AM or 5AM. I went to Mass at 4.30AM on Thursday morning for Simbang Gabi in Tagalog. Simbang Gabi is one of the longest and most popular Filipino-Catholic traditions and is a nine-day novena to the Blessed Mother culminating in Misa de Gallo, celebrating the birth of Christ, on Christmas Eve. I really enjoyed Simbang Gabi, even if I didn’t understand a whole lot, as it was really encouraging to see 400 or 500 Filipinos really enthusiastically  and passionately celebrate Mass at 4 in the morning. Sunday night I went for drinks, before checking out of my hotel soon after midnight to make my way to the airport, for my 3.40AM flight to Bahrain. From Bahrain to London, passing over Iraq and a snow-covered Europe, and then Heathrow to Dublin. Both the flight to London and the flight from London were delayed by about 90 minutes, which was quite annoying but whatever… I arrived home, after 171 days in Asia, around 9PM Monday night.

I didn’t take any photos in Bangkok and Manila this time around but photos from Busan can be found at the following link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=180358&id=505565420&l=3a7e03725f

May the Grace of Christ Jesus, the Love of God and the Fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all this Christmas season!

Gyeongju

Arriving in Gyeongju shortly after 5PM, I found the closest hostel to the bus station and checked in. Gyeongju is the former capital of the Silla Kingdom. Hundreds of buildings and landmarks have been well-maintained and preserved and, as such, it is known as the “Museum Without Walls”. There isn’t a great nightlife here (as one might presume from the city’s nickname), so after getting dinner, I had an early night.

The following day, I took off (on foot, which was probably a mistake given it was about 5KM away) for Gyeongju National Park. On my way, I stopped off at several Royal Tombs. Upon reaching the Park, I had a green pancake and made my way up Namsan Mountain. Namsan Mountain isn’t exactly very tall, the peak is only 494m high, but the mountain is home to hundreds of historical and cultural remains, ranging from tombs to pagodas, carved reliefs to temple remains. I spent about two hours on Namsan before walking back to the hostel. By the time I got back to the hostel, my legs were quite tired so I grabbed some dinner and sat down to Jean Claude Van Damme’s “Nowhere To Run”, which fortuitously was just starting as I turned on the TV – fantastic luck!

Tuesday, December 1st, I was going to get a bus to Busan (1 hour journey). So in the morning, I visited Gyeongju’s two major attractions – Bulguksa Temple and Seokguram Grotto. Set amid the foothills of T’ohamsan, about half an hour outside of Gyeongju city, Bulguksa was a definite upgrade on Seoul’s temples, and you can see why many contend it being Korea’s premier Buddhist temple. Seokguram Grotto is a 2.5KM hike from Bulguksa. Within the grotto itself is a seated Buddha, 3.5M tall, on a lotus pedestal, protected by two sets of 12 royal guards. Unfortunately, photography was prohibited inside the grotto. I hopped on a bus back to Gyeongju, grabbed my stuff from the hostel and made my way to the bus station by around 4.30PM to hop on a bus to Busan.

Photos can be found here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=180351&id=505565420&l=08f4193b8b

For those interested, I have booked my flights home. I will leave Manila at 3AM Monday morning and arrive in Dublin at 7PM Monday evening (weather permitting), with stopovers in Bahrain and London.