The Tawny Frogmouth

We've seen a bird like this (possibly the same one) only one other time while living here in Brisbane. It was perched on a fence post in our backyard late at night, sitting perfectly still and blending in very well with its surroundings. This frogmouth's coat so closely resembles the large tree's bark in our backyard that I almost missed spotting it; at first I thought it was a nest up in the branches.

This was shot a few days after the big storms that took out our power and flooded parts of the city. Truly a rare and beautiful sight.

Noosa weekend holiday

We took a mini vacation to Noosa this weekend -- the "hippest beachside destination in Australia" according to Lonely Planet. To get there, we rented a car and drove two hours north to the area. Mike drove and he said that it was like looking in a mirror the whole time. By the end of it, he was really good at navigating roundabouts but driving on the left was still weird. We made sure to take full advantage of the car and made a detour to a ginger factory on the way to Noosa.

We got into Noosa in the afternoon and were able to hit the beach before the sunset. Then we went to a bistro along the river and had some fresh fish. The next day we went hiking in Noosa National Park and saw a family of giant sea turtles and a few different types of lizards. Afterwards, we went to the beach again and had lunch at the Noosa Heads Surf Club -- which was voted Australia's best surf club a couple years ago. (Surf clubs in Australia are volunteer lifeguard programs that patrol the beach.) Then we swam on the main beach and checked out a second beach on the other side of the national park.

The next day we got up early and headed to the next town over, Eumundi, to see their famous Saturday market. While we were expecting more of a farmers market, the entire town center was covered with arts and crafts booths. We were able to get some artisan olives, bagels and a great bratwurst before leaving, though. All in all, not a bad weekend holiday.

The Butcherbirds

Well, our hydroponic experiment from last month sputtered to an end pretty quickly. We had problems with the pumping system after a few days and soon after that, the lettuce died. So much for our foray into futuristic home gardening.

After a few weeks of seeing the garden rig gathering dust and growing algae in a corner of our kitchen, I decided today to finally tear the sucker down. But since we might try growing herbs or something else again, I thought I would let the gravel pots sit outside on our patio and dry out before putting them into storage. To our surprise, a few large, black and white birds from the neighborhood came swooping in immediately, thinking the rocks were food. They seemed pretty bold, coming right up to our door and window, so I started taking some pictures of them up close. I even caught one eating a piece of gravel, to our dismay, on tape.



Turns out these are pied butcherbirds, which are native to Australia. I've seen them around the neighborhood quite a bit but didn't know their name until now. Apparently they are also known as the "most accomplished songbird in Australia", with one writer referring to them as the "magic flute". They do have a really unique and complex call; it's pretty rich and resonant. I'll try to get it on tape soon. Right now I'm just a little concerned about the "swooping" that is mentioned on this website, which also says you should "maintain eye contact" with the birds in order to prevent them from swooping you. What does that even mean? I hope it's not like that Hitchcock movie. The fact they are called "butcherbirds" is not very reassuring.

Sunshower in our backyard

Our Home Garden

Our apartment here in Brisbane is surrounded by lush forest and overgrowth, so I guess it was only a matter of time before we acquired some plants of our own. Last weekend, Nissa and I went to a free training seminar about home gardening where we expected to learn a few tips on growing herbs and small crops on a porch or in a backyard. So we were pretty surprised when we got to the class and the instructors told us we would be building and taking home a hydroponic gardening device. All for the price of... well, nothing.

Our kitchen garden.

The class provided us with all the tools and starter plants, as well as a small pump to drip feed water to the plants throughout the day. Actually, the pump was an air pump meant to oxygenate fish tanks, but with a little clever engineering we were able to transform it into a water pump that would normally be a lot more expensive. Really a brilliant way to save some money.

So as I write this I can hear the hum of the air pump from the kitchen and the light trickle of water coming out the feeding tube. Now to wait and see if this lettuce actually grows.

Sunset over Mt Bugak

The view from our porch tonight.

Sokcho trip

This past weekend we took a trip out east to Sokcho, a seaside city close to the DMZ. We visited the city once before in the winter and loved the small town atmosphere and fresh seafood and vegetables served there.

On our first day we visited Seoraksan mountain, the third highest mountain in Korea. We were feeling kind of tired, so we decided to take the cable car up to Gwangeumseong peak. It was foggy, but when the breeze cleared the sky, we were able to see all the way out to the sea. When we visited the mountain in the winter, the park was nearly empty and very peaceful. This time it was pretty crowded and the park was filled with tourists more interested in checking their cell phones than looking at the scenery. We even saw some people doing video chat on the mountain peak ... pretty weird, but that's 2011 Korea for you, I guess.

On the second day we hung out at the beach and went swimming in the ocean. The waves were much stronger than in Busan, but the water was the perfect temperature. It was so nice to get away from polluted Seoul for a few days and take in the seaside air.

We ate a lot of great food on the trip including North Korean-style naengmyun (or cold noodles in broth), ojingosundae (squid sausage), grilled fish (including melt in your mouth, freshly caught Chilean sea bass), wild greens bibimbap (vegetables and rice), and Sokcho-style sundubu (soft tofu stew). We also tried a corn-based liquor that was like makgeolli. It was incredible how fresh all the food tasted ... and how reasonably priced it was. Sokcho is only a 3-hour drive from Seoul, but somehow the produce and meat in Seoul is twice as expensive and less flavorful.

A few funny notes from the weekend. On our second day in Sokcho, we randomly chose a grilled fish place to eat at for dinner. It turned out that some acquaintances from Seoul were eating there too, though they were almost finished with their dinner. The incident reminded us of just how small this country is. It seems that we're constantly running into other expats that we've met during our two years here, even when we're not in Seoul.

Secondly, there were some funny stores in the downtown area of Sokcho. The first is "Bar Dumb," which is pretty self explanatory. The second was "Parma" -- a hair salon that copied the Puma logo. Parma means "perm" in Korean, so we thought that was a pretty clever rip-off.

Jeju Island vacation

This past weekend we took a mini vacation to Jeju Island, commonly known as Korea's Hawaii. Located at the southern tip of the peninsula, the island was created from volcanic eruptions two million years ago. Today, the island is home to South Korea's tallest mountain, Hallasan, and dozens of waterfalls and beaches.

We crammed a lot into our three-day trip, including a 20-km (12.4-mile) hike up to Hallasan's summit. To get a full sense of the impressive nature hidden in an area one-tenth the size of Seoul, expand the photo slide show to full screen and click on "Show info" in the upper right hand corner.

A Royal Spring

Some springtime shots of Changgyeonggung Palace, a half hour walk from our house.

Yeouido: The 'useless' island

The walk toward the 63 building.

Yeouido Island is known in Korea as many things -- the home of the National Assembly and the largest Protestant congregation in the world; the headquarters of LG, the Korea Exchange, and broadcasters MBC and KBS; and the location of Seoul's first airport in the 1920s. Still, this important business and political center in the middle of the Han River is called "Yeouido" or "Useless Island" in Korean. The name comes from the centuries the island was left to the whim of the Han River's floods. When the water was low, the island was a pasture for sheeps and goats. When the water was high, only a tiny bit of the island remained visible.

One giant river engineering project and six-lane bridge later, the river is one of the newest developments in Seoul. This week I had the chance to explore some of those developments while waiting to meet some friends for dinner on the island. Following are some photos from the trip.

Yoido Full Gospel church is the largest Protestant Christian congregation in Korea, and some say the world.

Yeouido Park in the center of the island used to be an airport.

A traditional Korean forest in Yeouido Park.

The crosswalk to the Han River.

The 63 building was the tallest building outside of North America when it was built in 1985, but today is more famous for the aquarium in its basement.

Hiking Bugaksan & Bukhansan

Near the top of Bugaksan.

The weather on Saturday finally was sunny and in the 50s F -- perfect weather for the first hike of the year. We set out from our house to climb Mount Bugaksan and then continued on to Mount Bukhansan, the northernmost mountain in Seoul. It was a long and tiring day, but full of great views of the city and surrounding mountains.

An abandoned bomb shelter on Bukhansan.

Yeoraesa Temple for martyrs of the Japanese occupation on Bukhansan.

Finally at the peak of the mountain.

The view of Seoul from the south ...

And the rest of the national park in the north.

The shopping area near Sungshin Women's University.

After hiking, we went to the shopping area near Sungshin Women's University, not far from our apartment. It was pretty jarring to be among so many people after spending the day in the mountains. But the galbi (marinated grilled pork wrapped in lettuce leaves) we got there was well worth it.

Sunset over Namsan

The view from our porch.

Bird's-eye view

If you go up the stairs that run alongside our house you'll come to the top of our hill. It's perhaps five or six flights up -- not a bad walk on a sunny day. From there, you can see Namsan Tower (top photo, on top of the far mountain), parts of downtown Seoul, and of course our beloved Mount Bugak (bottom photo).

Flowers on our porch

Walkin' in the rain

The rain has been brutal this summer. Nearly every day we wake up and it's cloudy or drizzling. The weather has meant that we've been spending a lot of time cooped up inside and haven't been able to hike in a long time.

Well, today we decided we'd have enough of that. Despite the rain, we climbed up Mount Bugak behind our apartment. It sprinkled for the first quarter of the hike -- then poured for the rest. We still had fun though; it's great having miles and miles of trails basically in our backyard.

Here's a few shots I took in between the showers. The building in the second photo is Samcheonggak -- an old kisaeng (기생) house that now is a traditional restaurant and tea house.

Calm before the storm

Rain clouds over Mount Bugak outside our house.

Mountain paradise

It's been cloudy and gray for weeks, but today the sky finally cleared a little and we got a better of Mount Bukak from our porch.

Mount Bukak is one of the four mountains that surrounds old Seoul. You might remember that back in November, I took a hike through a newly opened trail on the mountain. The mountain butts up to the Presidential Blue House and the trail I went on was used by North Korean would-be assassins in 1968 on their way to kill President Park Chung Hee.

To get to the mountain's trails, all we have to do it walk up a couple flights of stairs behind our house and we're in the forest. It's pretty amazing being this close to nature. I can't wait until it's cooler out so we can spend more time out there.

Singin' in the Rain

The weather has been warming up quite a bit this week, which has been nice for the most part (it has been a pretty long and dreary winter here).  But a downside to the warmer weather is the pollution in Seoul has become much more noticeable.  With the cold bite of winter gone the air seems thicker and hazier, and the smells of car exhaust and city dust hang everywhere like an invisible fog.

Fortunately we have the rain.  I've never appreciated rain so much before.  Even a light drizzle makes the air seem clean again, as if it's gone through a quick wash and rinse.  We had a few hours of rain earlier tonight so I open our window to let a little breeze trickle into our apartment.  It's invigorating, and fills the room quickly.  It feels like taking a cool air-shower.  Outside, I hear the buses and taxis splashing across the pavement in waves, clearer than before -- but their smell is gone, swept away into the city's storm drains.  All I can smell now is the crisp, night air after a light rain storm.

It's enough to make me wanna sing.

White-naped cranes

Nearest train station to the DMZ.
This line is part of the inter-Korean railway that was rebuilt in 2007.

I went up to the DMZ area again last Friday, this time for a piece for Radio Netherlands Worldwide. We were lucky enough to get pretty close to a family of white-naped cranes. The cranes are endangered in Asia, and symbolize longevity here in Korea.

Following are a few highlights from the trip.

The Dawn of Eco-lit

My review of Margaret Atwood's environment catastrophe novel "The Year of the Flood" published in the JoongAng Daily.