News and Recent Updates

2011 Nov 25: Here are some photos from a climbing trip in Joshua Tree. Not too many nature shots but we were conquering nature with our ascents of her peaks.

2011 Nov 23: Some photos from fall two years ago! I went to Los Padres National Forest which is a little south of Big Sur with a group of friends. Later that month I went to Paradise Valley in Kings Canyon National Park. There were some nice fall colors and a light dusting of snow on the peaks.

2011 June 15: Here are some photos from my last two adventures in Korea before I went back to America. I went to Jejudo (an island at the south of Korea) with Suki. We took a scooter tour around the whole island over the course of four days. I then went to Seoraksan National Park. There was a very nice mountain to climb and great seafood.

2011 June 10: No excuses for no photo sorting now except for laziness! Here are some photos from a really fun two week trip to Taiwan with my brother, Jon Deck, and Mark Portwood. The other photos are from a little trip I did to China. I had a great time riding the trains and talking to people. I was also able to see some great sights. There are captions to explain the journey!

2010 Dec 20: I finally got around to sorting some old photos. These two sets are from a short trip to Taiwan with some of my old co-workers/friends and a short trip to Texas with Audrae. I have a lot of other photos to share and I hope that I get my act together and get them posted soon.

2010 May 27: There is a slightly new site design. I hope that it only makes viewing the photos easier. I have also uploaded a couple new sets of photos. Some long overdue photos are from a backpack trip to Lake Ediza two summers ago with Jon, my brother, and Audrae. It was a good hike and some beautiful scenery. The other photos are from a trip last May to an island off the southern coast of Korea called Geojedo. We ate a lot of delicious seafoods and took a break from the city life. There are also photos of a short weekend bus trip from Seoul to Boseong Green Tea Fields and a bamboo park.

2010 Mar 29: My life is a little busy these days and the photo uploading has decreased a bit. I uploaded some photos from last April (I know I am a year behind). April is springtime in Korea and the Cherry Blossoms were in full bloom. I have been trying to go out and take a few photos now that I live in the US again but those might not get uploaded for a while...

2009 Dec 22: There are new photos from my February and March adventures in Korea. In February there are some pictures from two different parks: Nakseongdae and Bukhansan. There is a huge contrast between the fall and summer seasons when I last visited these parks. In March, Audrae came out to visit Korea. We spent some time just touring around Seoul and exploring the DMZ. A cold but great two months in Korea. The warmer months coming up won't disappoint so come back again to see those photos.

2009 Nov 05: Here are the most recent photos. All the photos from a trip to Southeast Asia last Christmas. The first part of the trip was through Thailand with Audrae. I then continued south through the rest of the country to Malaysia. I travelled by train along the East Coast to Singapore. It was a very fun trip but it was hard to go back to the snow in Korea. There are some photos from the cold January in Seoul. I celebrated the Spring Festival with my friends and went to the Korean Folk Village with my friend Ivy. It was a fun but cold second half of the month. Don't get any hopes up for more photos anytime soon - my sense of time is completely absent these days.

2009 Oct 13: I finally got around to posting some photos. These are from a trip to Thailand and Malaysia last Christmas. I haven't done a good job at labeling these photos yet but check back soon. I will finally be posting some more photos from this last year, so stay tuned.

2009 April 07: So it is a little hard to reflect on some of these experiences that were four months ago now, but the trip the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and Joint Security Area (JSA) was an enlightening and unforgettable experience. It was different to read about the conflict and sad history of the divided country than to actually see the reality of it. They call the Korean War a fratricidal war and observing the North and South Korean soldiers staring at each other across dividing line on the ground makes this terminology a reality. I would recommend a tour of the DMZ/JSA to any vistor to Korea to fully understand the recent history of the Korean people. I took another excursion to a tourist area in Seoul called Insadong. It was a extensive display of traditional Korean food and trinkets for foreigners to consume.

2009 March 10: No, I didn't get bombed by the North Koreans yet, I just have not updated the site in a really long time. Maybe it is good that I haven't updated it as much because that means I have been more busy. But now I am stuck at work waiting for experiments so I have some time to post a few photos. So I didn't really know that it got so cold here. I knew that it snowed, but I didn't make the connection that it had to be cold in order to snow. This is the first time that I have lived somewhere so cold that it snows - it is kind of fun though. Despite a few mishaps on my scooter, I have adapted fine to the conditions. I have some photos from the first snow. I got less excited after the first time and didn't run around outside with my camera in the cold again. It ended up snowing quite a bit more, maybe six inches at one point. The other photos are from another hike in Nakseongdae with some fall colors. This is still a relatively new experience for me because San Diego and San Francisco don't have leaves that change to quite the same extent. Anyway, be faithful as I will put up some new photos again sometime...

2008 Dec 13: So it has been fall and now winter and still no photos from Korea. Here are some recent photos from Seoul. I found a really cool fish market with tons of fresh fish and lots of people all browsing. It was a fun experience to see everyone running around and shopping for fish. The other photos are from a hike Mark and I took to see all of the fall colors. There were tons of people out at this park but the colors were quite amazing.

2008 Nov 04: I guess I am either getting lazy here or have more work to do, I hope it is the latter. The first photos are from a recent trip back to San Diego. I visited Quail Gardens in northern San Diego County. Despite living in San Diego for more than five years, I had never been to these beautiful botanical gardens. I would highly recommend the trip. Mark had suggested it as a good place for my folks to see, so I have to thank him for this less well known destination. The second set of photos are from a weekend trip to the southern coastal city of Busan at the tip of Korea. We took a train from Seoul (about 4hrs on the cheap train). It turned out to be a very fun weekend. We also happened to go durning the annual international film festival which was a fun experience. I hope everyone is out voting today...

2008 Oct 18: I was not as successful at posting photos as I hoped this week. Here are some from a little hike to Nakseongdae Park. I think it is great that I can get off the metro and walk a couple of blocks and totally forget that I live in a city of nearly 25 million people. I also like how from some of these photos taken from the top of a peak, it appears that the greenery is enveloping city. I thought it looked similar to fingers grasping for more land from civilization.

2008 Oct 13: So I have been very bad with posting photos recently. I guess it was no help that I was back in San Diego for a couple weeks in September. I have posted some old photos of a trip to the Bay Area last May. Some are from my Folk's house and some others from the Phleger Estate Reserve near their house. I will be trying to slowly catch up with all of my photos to post this week, so stay tuned.

2008 Sept 16: Mark and I went exploring today. We started out by going to a cool electronics market. Tons of stuff and most of it fairly cheap because there was so much competition with other vendors. We then stopped by a Buddhist temple. It was very peaceful and they were playing some different instruments. We then went and sat next to the Cheonggyecheon Stream. We also learned that alcohol is not allowed along the stream - we were kind of disappointed.

2008 Sept 04: We had a visitor to our room the other day. He was very patient with me and allowed me to shoot many different poses and angles before heading off. You can see him here. I will hopefully be adding some older photos from other trips soon - but no new ones from Korea until this weekend.

2008 Sept 01: I took a week off from posting new photos and I had no excuse except laziness. But there are some good ones here, so I hope everyone enjoys. Two weekends ago, Mark and I went to Cheonggyecheon Stream. This stream runs right through the middle of part of Seoul and is surrounded by a dense concentration of markets, malls, and just tons of shopping opportunities for those with these types of inclinations. It was fun to walk around and look at everything and see all of the locals shopping for anything and everything. After the sun set, the stream was a popular place to stroll. I think I will have to make another trip back here soon to see more of the markets and more of the stream. This last weekend Mark and I made a trip to the nearby Bukhansan National Park. This was a little smaller than the national parks in the US but still very expansive considering it was right off one of the metro stops in Seoul. It was very nice to get out and walk around and see all of the dense greenery. There were lots of trails to explore, so this will be a repeated destination. After visiting the national park, we stopped in an area called Bucheon. We had heard this was a popular place with the young folk but were surprised when we didn't see anyone on the streets at first. Take a look at the photos to see our mistake. But in the end it was fun to walk around and see all the people and sights. Hope everyone in the US is enjoying the long weekend. Look soon for some more updates - I am too tired now to post all of the photos.

2008 Aug 19: Some new photos of Korea. I added one new one to the Songdo area of the sunset from the top of our building. I added two new photos to the food section showing this do-it-youself bbq style that is very popular here. And then I added some new sections to the Seoul Area of recent excursions. First was to and area of the city called Itaewon. This area is known to be very international with many different ethnic restaurants, bars, and stores. It was very enjoyable to walk around and see the the diversity. The next area was Dongincheon. This is the Chinatown of Seoul. There were many Korean tourists with their cameras so it was nice to not feel like the only tourist for a change. Next was Bupyeong. This is mainly a younger crowd hangout and we always have fun when visiting. And finally, I visited the main palace of the Joseon Dynasty called Gyeongbokgung. The palace was originally built in 1395 but destroyed by the Japanese in 1592. It was reconstructed in 1868 and included nearly 330 buildings (all of which are not standing today). The main purpose of this palace was for government administration, residential areas for the king and queen, and peaceful relaxation areas. It was a very beautiful and peaceful place (apart from the tourists). Alright, that is all for now. I will try to be more efficient about posting these photos so it doesn't come all at once.

2008 Aug 04: I have finally posted some new photos from Korea. The first ones are just the area around Songdo which is where I live and work. It is a whole new city built on a filled-in portion of the bay. It is very nice and new but lacks character right now (and a lot of residents). In time both of these will change. The next set of photos are from an outdoor market called Namdaemun. This is a traditional market that is very old. There were some interesting things and some really cheap stuff. Lots of food too which made the whole place smell good as we walked around. The last updates are to my food section. There are lots of new Korean foods here that have all been very good so far. I have not been disappointed with one meal that I have had. Some of these are repeats from the Namdaemun Market section but I felt that deserved to be in both sections. I will see if I can get away this week somewhere and do some more exploring and then post some photos of my adventures.

2008 Aug 01: I have been a bit slow about posting photos. Who knew that I would actually have to do some work when I got here... Well I have really enjoyed my time here so far. I have eaten many new foods and it is fun to just try and get around without really knowing what we are doing. I have some new photos posted today but unfortunately, none of them are from Korea. The oldest photos are from a buck hunt last November. I went with my uncles Kevin (the deer hunter) and Jeff (the mushroom hunter) and my cousins Christian and Jon. The next photos are from a backpack trip we did on Catalina Island. This was a very nice trip and it was good to see a new area and terrain in CA. The next photos are from a weekend trip that I took to Boise, Idaho. I went to see my friend Mark from swimming at UCSD. Idaho seems like a great place to live. On the way back to SD, I had a stop in Salt Lake City so I spent a coulple hours there taking some photos. Well, that is all for now. Check back soon and I might have some more from Korea.

2008 July 29: I am now a resident of the new Songdo City, Incheon, Korea. It has been a big move but ok so far with a lot of new sites to see. There are some new photos of a Buddhist temple that Mark and I visited. It was situated in downtown Seoul which made an interesting backdrop for the over 1000 year old traditional buildings.

2008 July 23: The food section is now updated with different foods from the US. No food from Korea as I am not there yet...

2008 July 22: This site is set for my move to Korea this Friday. There are some new photos posted in the San Diego section but that is all for now. All of the viewing tools should be working now as well. I am still working out some glitches with IE7 but FireFox works fine. I will be putting updates here frequently as well as other trips that I haven't posted yet.

2008 June 18: The site should be finally up. There are no new photos now; it was difficult enough just to get the site running. I will put updates here when there are new photos to be seen. Thanks for visiting.

2008 June 05: Hopefully new photos from various trips will be up soon.

2008 June 05: New site is launched. The main updates are a design change and the ability to view the photography in each section as a slide show. This will hopefully make viewing a little easier. I will also add more photography sections which aren't from hikes. These sections will include photos of just random stuff that I do (and also probably a lot from Korea when I move).