Defend Your Stoop: Ihwa Mural Village / March 11, 2019 by Jaclyn Sison

Never stop exploring

I was surprised that I had never heard of this place until I met Amanda. While Sean and I were eating lunch, it popped into my head again. We were going to take our usual trip to Myeongdong to try and find places to take photos, but we decided to switch it up.

Ihwa Mural Village can be walked to from Dongdaemun Station. It’s about a 20-minute uphill battle to this village, but the murals are well worth it… if they’re still there.

The walk there is already scenic in its own sense. The city life of small apartment complexes and crowded street parking, with a dash of history in the middle. You walk along side the Wall Museum of Seoul.

Then you reach the top of the hill, and you find yourself at a small cat café. We didn’t get anything at this café, but we did sit next to it and watch the cats as they perused through the crowds of people.

There were maps located around the village showing you where the different murals were located, but to our dismay, the murals that we wanted to see had already been washed away.

There were a few small paintings left around the city, and I think my favorite one had to be this corner painting of sunflowers. Just because they happen to be my favorite flower.

After our long trek up and down the stairs of Ihwa Village, we decided to stop for some milk ice cream, and it was absolutely scrumptious. It didn’t have a icy, gritty texture like most milk ice creams do.

To enjoy the rest of they area, we just took street photos and called it a day. We headed back to Dongdaemun station to get ready for our $90 movie date to watch Captain Marvel, which was amazing.

Check out the rest of our Ihwa Village Pixieset here!

5 Things I Want to Change in My Life / March 11, 2019 by Jaclyn Sison

There are things I want to more of, and things I want to do less of, I just need to find the willpower to do make it happen.

Going on social media when I’m bored

Any time I find a minute of free time, I instantly pull out my phone and find myself mindlessly scrolling through Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest. Although these platforms help me support my blog, they’re useless to me when I’m just scrolling through my feed. A lot of the things I see on there are negative, belittling, discouraging, or just make me feel uncomfortable about my body.

I did a social detox one month, and my mindset was completely changed. I found myself a lot happier than I was before, so slowly, I am peeling myself away from social media. At some point, I will only use it to promote Okami & Co.

Reading more books that teach me about life

I recently joined a group of women who are all on their fitness journey, coming from different walks of life, and with different challenges. One of the tasks that I have to do as a coach is to find a book to read, that inspires me and motivates me to do my best. Right now, I’m working on a book my friend Susanna gifted to me when she visited me in Germany. It’s called “The Desire Map”.

So far, I’ve learned that I should be doing things based on how they make me feel. Do I feel a sense of fulfillment? Hopefully I do after all of this is done. Then I will work on other motivational books that can help me cope with all the stress in my life.

Pray more often, not just when I’m in need of help and guidance

I normally find myself praying when I’m having trouble with something, or I’m in need of guidance. Rarely do I pray when I’m in a good mood, or when things are going my way. I find myself asking Him, “why would you let something like this happen?” instead of thanking Him for everything good.

I should be more prayerful. I should be thanking Him for the things He’s given me and the life He’s blessed me with. I don’t find time to go to church as often as I used to, especially since it’s hard to find a church community comparable to the one I had in Germany. But I will do my best to be a better Christian.

Turn my house into a home with Sean

When we first arrived in Korea, I didn’t want to do much with the house since we are only here for a year. By the time we got to 6 months left on the ROK, I started decorating the house. I put picture frames up, we bought bookshelves and a bed. We’re really making it more and more homey. It’s never too late right?

I’m excited for the time that Sean and I have a home TOGETHER. One household, one life. It’ll be an amazing feeling to finally be able to see our lives grow together.

Spend more time making friends, and working to keep them

I am an introvert at best. I do not feel comfortable going out and meeting new people. I don’t do well at holding long conversations unless they’re with my patients. For some reason, I am much more social when it comes to talking with my patients, but when it comes to making friends, I retreat into my comfort zone.

I am going out of my way this weekend to meet with ladies from the community. We are going to talk about our lives, beauty, fashion, and photography. Then we are going to schedule some photo shoots and have some fun with it. I hope I can take away some good friendships after this meet up. It’s way out of my comfort zone, but that’s how you’re supposed to live life right?

Hotel Roulette – 5-star hotels at 2-star prices / March 7, 2019 by Sean Sison

Living apart from my wife means that we travel often. If we’re going to spend a whole bunch of money to see each other, why not explore and treat yourself at the same time? Travelling is easy once you know where you’re going. The hardest part of travelling is figuring out where you’re going to stay.

When your pockets aren’t as deep as you’d like

Jakki and I are not rich by any means. The fact that we live separately means that we have to support two different households. Imagine having to buy 2 of everything; 2 sets of dishes, 2 sets of furniture, 2 sets of beds, and 2 different internet carriers (not to include any other household goods). That being said, there usually isn’t a lot of leeway in spending. But when we’re together, we always like to live it up and stay in the nicest places possible. We do this by playing a game called “Hotel Roulette!”

Here’s how to save money on hotels (with a catch)

This is one of my favorite games to play. Ever heard of Hotwire? (I’m not getting paid for this btw, it’s just so good that I’d like to share). It’s this app/website that vastly discounts hotels based on location and star rating. The trick is that it won’t tell you which hotel you’re going to get until after you’ve paid – AND IT IS NON-REFUNDABLE. It’s a gamble which is why we call it Hotel Roulette. If you’re certain you’re going to be staying the night in these areas, then it’s definitely worth it. PLUS there’s a way to cheat the system and figure out what hotel you would get. We’ve stayed at 5 star hotels with steep, and I mean steep, discounts.

It’s really easy to use too. First, you put your basic hotel information (location, date, how many people). Once it shows you what’s available, there’s a map. It will show you hotel’s current prices in the area and hotels with the Hotwire rate. I always choose the Hotwire rate. You can search through different areas and see the pricing available based on their star rating. I’ve used this in the US, the Philippines, and in Korea.

How to find your hotel with the Hotwire Rate

So, here’s the trick to cheating the system. Hotwire will always show you the actual price of the hotel along with the discounted price. I’ve compared it plenty of times and it’s almost dead on to what the hotel would charge you for the night. They also show you a map of nearby attractions/locations with distances from the hotel, but this feature isn’t available all the time.

I would typically just search of similarly rated hotels in the area and compare its pricing with Hotwire. If the map feature is available, I use all the mapping skills I have to triangulate where the hotel might be and search that location on Google Maps.

Boom, there you have it. Fancy hotels at discounted prices. I hope this helps you in your travels and if you have ways of saving money on travel, feel free to share!

Camino de Santiago | The Pilgrimage that changed my views on life / March 5, 2019 by Jaclyn Sison

Those who come to the Camino with a heavy heart always leave with a lighter load.

It was 10 PM and I was still scrambling trying to pack, unpack, and repack my backpack for my journey. “Do I have enough underwear? Will I really need this hat? How often am I really going to use this sunscreen? Do I really need a sleeping bag? Maybe I do, in case we have to sleep outside…” My good friend Stacy had already completed this journey before, so when he told us what to bring, I trusted him. After my journey was completed, I no longer trusted Stacy - joking, totally still trust him with my life, but I had NO use for that sleeping bag.

If you don’t already know, El Camino de Santiago is a pilgrimage completed by people of all European nationalities. The general idea is to start right from your doorstep and walk all the way to Santiago, Spain where you will be greeted by a flock of nomads who all smell just like you. All over Europe, you will find small seashell signs posted in random forest trails and city pathways. This is to show you the path to Santiago. My friends and I were up for the trek, so we packed our bags and left for Spain.

Every day of the Camino was different. We always started before sunrise just to try and beat the Spanish summer heat. We would get our water and daily cortado at our first stop with a bite to eat. We learned from day one that we shouldn’t push ourselves too much into the afternoon because you never knew when the next town was coming up or if all the albergues would be full. That was not something we were willing to risk. An albergue is a hostel; all of the ones we stayed in were safe and relatively cheap and clean. Everything during the Camino was relatively cheap because they knew that the pilgrims didn’t often carry a lot of cash for safety. Our bodies were fueled by the same food every day. We ate nothing but paella, razor clams, roasted green peppers, aquarius, and Estrella Galicia beer. I was so in love with the green peppers that I made it a mission to find a patch so I could put it on my travel blanket.

We learned a lot about each other during this trip, but we also learned a lot about ourselves. The three of us shared stories about our personal lives that we never would have otherwise. Distance seemed to be the theme of my year 2017-2018 staring in November. Any kind of distance I traveled by foot always pushed me to a stronger mentality. Being able to pick yourself up at 0500 after walking 24 miles the previous day with a pack on your back takes a lot of strength. Doing it day after day shows dedication. Every step that I took, I wanted to quit but when I looked to my fellow peligrimos (pilgrims), I dug deep and kept moving. You would see older folks plowing through the crowds, and young adults hanging out on the side of the trail. It didn’t matter how fast or slow you were going, you were always greeted with a smile and a “buen camino!”

Find you a friend that will go to the ends of the earth with you

History along the way of El Camino

There was so much history to see along El Camino. We passed by many churches, and landmarks like the photo above. That photo was taken in Muxia, where they say Saint James remains landed here on the boat of the Virgin Mary. The waters of Muxia are very rough along the rocks, so they also say that the Virgin Mary calmed the waters so their boat could land their specifically. Near the church of Muxia, there is a stone statue from the boat. There was something very calming about being in this area. The sound of the ocean waves hitting the shores and being hit with the mist was refreshing after walking as far as we did.

Our last endeavor on our backpacking journey was to reach the ends of the Earth with each other, so we made our way to Finesterre. Finisterre translates into “End of Earth”. It is the furthest Western point of Europe. It is called this because the Romans believed that this was the most western point of their large empire. When we were there, it certainly felt that way. A thick fog had rolled in where you could no longer see the horizon. It just looked like the water dropped off into the abyss. Truly a mesmerizing experience after such a spiritually awakening journey.

This is a journey that I would recommend for anyone who needs time and space to clear their head; for someone who needs to put themselves in a challenging situation and a new environment. Whether it is for a religious enlightening or a personal enlightening, it’s worth the trip. It definitely sets you out of your comfort zone, but oddly enough, makes you feel like you’re right at home. I would do it all over again if the opportunity came up to revisit the End of the World.

Kilometer ZERO! Finisterre, Spain

A well deserved sit down after reaching our destination

International Women: The Future is Female! / March 5, 2019 by Jaclyn Sison

There is nothing stronger than a woman who has had to rebuild herself

I was already completely nerve-wrecked to be attending this get together of women. When I walked through the door, I was only expecting a few ladies to be seated around a table having coffee together. I was completely stunned when the entire cafe was full of women from all over the world. My nerves were wired, but I was immediately put at ease when each of them greeted me with a smile and a we went around the room to introduce ourselves.

These ladies really were from all over the place! They were from Italy, USA, New Zealand, France, Colombia, Russia, Thailand, Vietnam, England, and South Korea! It was it’s own little mixing pot of International Women, and what a better way to celebrate Women’s History month!

There is something about women coming together and sharing their experiences, their cultures, and their stories. This large group started out with a few women chatting over coffee, and grew unintentionally into what it is now. These ladies meet at different cafes every Wednesday to share their lives and grow together.

Cosmopolitan Women located here in the little country of South Korea. It’s amazing. I couldn’t help but smile at their laughter and the way they all interacted with each other. There were those who were having serious conversations, and others that were goofing around dancing around and saying hello to everyone.

The intention is to get together whether it be sharing a cup of coffee or exploring Korea and it’s rich culture.

Thank you for having me and sharing your experience with me. I hope to see you all soon again one day! Look at the rest of their photos on their Pixieset Gallery here!