My Own Hallyu Fever

Talk about the Hallyu fever, I was once a sucker for Korean dramas in the Philippines, and they have been the dubbed versions to my native language. As to Korean pop music, it was not that expansive two years ago in my country, so there was really no chance for me to get hooked to it. I guess I had other priorities, then. Teehee.

I am now here in South Korea, in a place where Asian teenagers would probably die to be in just to experience the real Hallyu craze, yet there seems to be little time (and interest) for me to get it on with them. I guess I still have other priorities in life. Haha.


But of course, I am still aware of the famous girl group, Wondergirls and their danceable “Nobody” song, which is so popular in the Philippines right now. I am also aware of Sandara Park’s comeback to the Korean entertainment arena after her failed showbiz career in the Philippines. I may not be that updated, but I think I still got the basics covered.

If there is one thing surprising that actually happened to me in regard to the chances of me liking K-Pop, it’s the fact that somebody has actually made me like one song and even memorize its lyrics. And for the record, I am even making a separate post for it. And it has nothing to do with me liking the song nor the singers themselves, it just so happened somebody liked it, and so I liked it, too. What's up with that? Haha.

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Korean Temple Stay

My housemates and I alloted a weekend for a temple stay experience. Our apartment at the seventeenth floor happens to be good friends with a Buddhist at the nineteenth floor, and he opened up the idea of a trip to Gangwha-do, where a meditation center is located. Mr. Lee, the Buddhist who is also a Taekwondo instructor, along with his two kids, drove us to the place as soon as we finished our Saturday lunch, and the weather joined us in our relaxed mood as we hope for an escape from the stress of the city.

It’s been quite a while since I breathed in fresh air in South Korea, and I should thank the wonderful atmosphere that the temple area provided as soon as we arrived an hour and a half later.


Temple stays are a favorite among tourists because the experience speaks loudly of a deeply-rooted culture and religion. Temple stays let us take a peek at the monastic life of Buddhist monks-- the so-called “free loaders” of the economic society, the dormant players of life whom we go to anyway when we have been filled up by the "unfulfilled" demands of living. I recently learned about how Koreans generally regard temple stays. I was told that Koreans who usually go on a temple stay are either students who are reviewing for an important examination, or parents who would pray hard for their children to qualify for that school examination. Now talk about such demands of living. It actually makes me think now of how Filipinos use their faith as well, much more when they are in distress than when they are being showered with bliss. Our actions and the outcome of these actions, I believe, are all driven by our intentions.

Anyway, upon getting off the car, we immediately went to our rooms which were almost barren except for the mattresses, pillows and blankets that were prepared. Boys and girls are asked to go to separate rooms in a temple stay, so there’s no way a couple could use it to have some bonding time in bed. Teehee.

After settling our bags in our assigned rooms and switching to our gray uniforms, which is actually part of the whole temple stay deal, we finally got the first-time feel of being inside an actual Buddhist temple as the Russian monk officially welcomed us and facilitated the orientation. Instructions and reminders were given, along with the activities that were laid out for their set of observers for the weekend. After the orientation, we had the whole afternoon finding our own quiet spot in the place to do some personal "thinking".

Then came the dinner at 6pm. I now know why monks are a bit shorter in height and are skinny, and all look like I can carry them all up in one hand to toss them around. Oh okay, so the last part was a bit exaggerated. But really, I don’t think I can live eating just potatoes and bean sprouts everyday. Though of course, I am fully aware on how being a vegetarian can save anyone's life more.

The highlight of the day came when we had our meditation. This time, it was a Swiss monk who welcomed us and meekly spoke about how to do proper meditation, and why monks find it very important to make meditations a part of their lives. Then came his stories on how his fellow monks would actually spend fourteen— yes, 14 straight hours of meditation, which they usually do in the mountains. Meditation sounds more sophisticated than how it is actually done. It’s not a joke to sit and close your eyes for that long of a time as you work on clearing your mind from such “worldly impurities”. I must say that doing it for just a teeny-tiny fraction of any monk’s regular time was quite a struggle already, hurting my back and letting my legs experience some cramps. And the goal to actually “THINK OF NOTHING” can be a bit confusing, because I work my way to telling my mind to think of nothing, yet I feel like the fact that I am letting my mind work on not thinking anything is still thinking. Did you get me with that? Haha. Oh well.

We had to sleep early at 9pm to get up for the 3am prayer chant the next day. Hearing the bell as it signaled the start of the activity and walking my way through the dark path to the temple, since the sun was not yet up at that time-- it honestly gave me the feeling of a day that was started out right. The monks were of course in their typical bald heads and brown cloths strapped diagonally over their shoulders like a sash in a pageant. Since most of us were still a bit groggy having been forced to wake up a bit earlier than usual, standing straight and keeping quiet were the most that we could offer. The monks and the other active Buddhist men went on with their chants which were in the Korean language. There was no single phrase or even word that I understood, but the same fact that I did not understand anything made it more mysteriously appealing.

With the whole temple stay experience, I bring with me a higher level of appreciation to the simpler way of things in life, the uplifting struggles to achieving a lighter sense of being, and the spiritual complacence to our "sentient" beings. It may be hard to completely embrace the ways monks live the life according to Buddha's teachings, but I sincerely appreciate the essence of them all.

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Boryeong Mud Festival

It’s amazing how South Korea has suddenly become a melting pot of foreigners— of Americans and Westerners, at that. Korean’s huge appetite for learning the English language has definitely opened doors for these native speakers, and they’ve all swarmed and created their own communities in the country.

Festivals have always been a great way to group foreign people in South Korea, and one of the highly-awaited events during the summer month of July is the Boryeong Mud Festival held in Daechon Beach, in the province of Chungcheongnam-do. The place has been made famous by the mud that can be found in its beach, perceived to offer good skin benefits due to its mineral contents. But more importantly, the festival has been regarded as the grandest way to pool international people together— anyone who just want to enjoy and play it cool during the summer season.


I had the chance to participate in the 12th Boryeong Mud Festival, and it’s one of my best experiences ever. It was a weekend spent with Filipino friends and Korean housemates, just among the few planned trips that the group had.

We stayed in a hostel room which was a couple of kilometers away from where the main event was held, but if there was anything positive that we have gotten from the long walk that we had to do, it was the chance to enjoy the beach scenery and feel the fresher air that we will surely not get in the city of Seoul.

We knew that we were nearing the main area when we were already bumping into people all covered gray and black with mud. We saw them strut confidently with the mud, and the more we craved for the “feel” of it.

There was a “self-massage zone” in the beach area— sinks and a hose that can be used to spread mud onto one's body. It was the first thing that we saw, and so we went ahead and played with it ourselves. It actually feels great on your skin, being the “smooth” mud that it is, definitely not the typical kind of dirt that you would get on any rainy street alleys.

The main event area was expectedly full of blondes and of chest hairs, of board shorts and of bikinis. They’re of course a common sight in the summer season except that these white people are now smothered with mud. Then you’ll see them walk around with beer bottles, ready to either drink on it or splash to anyone they bump into, just for the heck of it.

There were a lot of fun activities that they put up for everyone to experience mud. There were mud slides, mud wrestling, and even a mud prison, while a grand stage housed party music from several performances. Anyone can actually take their own pace in trying all the activities with friends while gearing up one-liners with strangers on the sides.

It’s of course a good opportunity for all to hit up on anyone (haha), and probably create little conversations with people, since its all part of the package of the event. If you’re even daring enough to take part in the mud wrestling, you’d give yourself a favor of being tripped over and hugged afterwards. You can even ask somebody to give you a lift (which I actually did! LOL), just so that person can throw you off to the ground the next.

Then there's the fun part of walking up the streets with your mud-covered body and passing on the mud to anyone you bump into, especially on those whose mud has turned hard white on their skin. You shout with them, take pictures with them, and practically goof around with people you probably won't ever see again.

Restaurants sure raked it a lot of money from these foreigners, and it is something to note that most of the eating places in the area serve sea food. It actually rained that day we went out and 'mud-partied' with people, but the rain drops just made it more fun to stroll and eat and drink... I think :-)

Here's to the fun and the experience of being all-muddy:

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