Seoul highlights

After our intense travel in Japan, we spent four days in Seoul. It was my parents' 70th birthday (they both turn 70 this year) and my siblings and I threw them a party!  I will post about this separately, but a few highlights from our days in Seoul.

Chris and I spent one day meeting friends. We went to Seocho galbi with Jany for lunch (huge galbitang!) and visited the Nike employee store courtesy of my brother. We then went over to Jihae's place to visit with her and her son, and in the evening met some high school friends for dinner.  Even though so much time has changed, at the core we are all still like high school kids! 

The other days we spent at home helping my parents wash Baekho (who has aged so much since I have last seen him) and plant lotus plants. I took a lot of pictures of us walking through the neighborhood and of my house because I can't believe how much it had changed and I was deeply sad and nostalgic for the past and held on to the images of my childhood home and neighborhood.

Do you see all those high rise buildings/apartments in the background of the top photo? Those didn't exist before. Neither did those huge homes on the left side of the photo. The neighborhood is half modern buildings and half older homes, with the newer buildings literally overshadowing older buildings. The high rise apartments took over rice fields and a beautiful view of mountains. I know people need places to live, but do we really need to make 30 floor apartment buildings?

 My neighborhood is so different now...and I hate it. Look at this apartment buildings...its so horrible.

 We went to a baseball game for the first time in Korea!!  It was very entertaining and we all had so much fun. I'm not a fan of baseball and usually find the games so boring, but Korean baseball games are nothing but constant cheering, excitement, music, and dancing. I highly recommend it! You can also eat fried chicken and pizza at the game.

 See the guy in the maroon shirt? He was up there leading the cheer team for the 4.5 hour game!

 Ah...at least this view is the same.

 Chan sung came over for breakfast and dropped us all off at my parent's birthday party. I haven't seen him in years and was really grateful he made time for us in the wee morning.

I miss my mom's cooking! We went home every morning for an elaborate breakfast. 

Honeymoon to Japan- day trips to Hakone & Miyajima

HAKONE
Hakone is a small mountain resort city just 90 minutes outside of Tokyo. It's a common trip many Japanese people take over the weekend and is known for its hot springs, view of Mt. Fuji, and ryokans!  Ryokans are traditional Japanese hotels- you wear these Japanese robes, have a outdoor/private hotsprings experience, and usually eat an elaborate Kaiseki meal (traditional Japanese meal--- with a lot of little elaborate dishes).

We spent a day riding the various forms of transportation Hakone has (boat, cable car, bus, train, tram, ropecar) and in a traditional Ryokan.  We had so much fun there ---and so much fun travelling on the Shinkansen - the bullet train. A few words about the bullet train...amazing!!! There are 2 minute intervals when trains take off, 2 minutes!! They are always on time, quiet, and so incredibly fast. Below is the lunch box we had on the train...they are prepared specifically for train rides and only sold inside train stations.

 Outdoor foot spa!

Our ryokan!

MIYAJIMA
Okay... we never planned on going to Miyajima, but our friends told us it was worth it, so we made it happen! With Miyajima, we did a 4 city trip in 8 days :) We are troopers.  We rode the shinkansen to Hiroshima, took a train and then a ferry and finally made it to Miyajima. The entire island is considered a UNESCO historical site and the country has made efforts to preserve the island in its traditional form. We saw the shrine and climbed Misen mountain. Miyajima also has deer all over the island.

OF COURSE we picked the hardest trail up Misen mountain and it was a massive undertaking. We almost died...it was only 2 hours, but it was a very vertical climb. We didn't give up though, we made it and the view was worth it.  Our legs were shaking as we made our way down via cable car (thank god for the cable car). We also had no water... not a smart hiking move.  Anyway, we were glad we made it out there.

Honeymoon to Japan- Kyoto!!!

I'm so delayed in writing about our trip to Japan.  I'm procrastinating because I want to do it justice, but then I end up not writing anything at all! So far from perfect, but here it is.  Some highlights from our 2 days in Kyoto.

Here is where we went:
1) Kyoto Market Nishiki
2) Fushimi Inari Shrine
3) Main street of Gion (Geisha district)
4) Arashiyama Bamboo Grove  & Tenryuji Zen temple
5) Ryoan-ji
6) Kinkakuji (Golden temple)
7) A handful of other temples and shrines

And we stayed one night in a futuristic capsules and another in a tiny tiny hotel room as all Japanese hotel rooms are!

I really fell in love with Kyoto and the time we spent there was too short. The streets are narrow, old, and buildings lining the streets are mostly traditional. Unlike Tokyo, the city is historical and has somehow escaped the metropolis patterns of most Asian cities. There are also a million zen temples and shrines all throughout the city. Kyoto isn't as accessible at Tokyo for transportation, but had so much character and we found ourselves marveling at everything. At one point, we got on this one car, one-way train that passed through a tunnel of cherry blossom trees-- it was quaint, beautiful, and felt as if you've been transported to another time.  I would really like to go back. Some pictures from our time in Kyoto.

Finally, a picture of vending machines. Japan has soooo many vending machines - and strangely (I may have mentioned this before) but not trash bins!  We spent so much on vending machines, I think it was almost criminal, just trying every single kind of drink possible.  Kept us hydrated as we walked throughout the city and kept us engaged in Japanese culture---in some weird way.

April thoughts I can't let go of

How is it already April!!!

We went from a chilly spring to full blown summer in days --- and it was 90 degrees the other day.
Almost every day I'm in shock that its nearly summer.  Seriously, where has the year gone?  I'm almost scared of how fast timing is passing by.  Maybe because I think I'm not using it wisely?

Not sure, but it's giving me a slight kick in the butt.

To be honest, the first half of this month was spent travelling Japan and then in Seoul with my family. It has been a great reprieve to escape house hunting, but now that we're back, we're heading right back into it.

A few things that I keep coming back to post vacation:

I'm really concerned about the air quality and water quality of the world! Yes...the world.  While in Seoul, my sister and I felt the impact of particle matter in the air and friends would tell me how their kids always get sick from being outside too much.  Why can't people understand ...ahem, esp. China in this specific scenario, that we all breathe the same air?!  Water is no small joke...aside from Flint, Michigan, there are many other cities in the U.S. in which people cannot bathe, cook, or drink the water that comes out of their faucets.  Seriously, what is going on?

I'm also really concerned about North Korea. I hope, pray, and hope again that nothing will happen to disturb the silent war that has been playing out between North and South Korea.  I feel this way even more so because I was just in Korea and the political climate of the U.S.

We went to the March of Science rally in DTLA last weekend. Do you understand our sign? It is the ultimate nerd sign!  If you took stats, it'd be an easy one, but if you didn't...just know that Science Advances Society!

tee hee hee, we were really proud that random people came up to ask us if they could take a picture of our sign.

It wasn't exactly fun to be at the March for Science rally, but it wasn't boring either.  It felt good to say something (via sign) and be around like minded people, but how much of an impact we had, I don't know. We'd never been to a rally before so we weren't sure what to expect. I loved that a lot of professors made an appearance though and to see so many people take out time from their Saturday to be together with a group of strangers to support scientific progress!


Correction: The p value in that sign is actually supposed to be p<0.0001 !!!! I had mistakenly put the "." in the wrong place...and basically we were carrying around a sign that said the opposite of what we intended. :::face palm::: we discovered this a few days later...but it was too late!

Happy Birthday Chris!

My lovely husband turned 33 at the end of March! (I'm really behind in my posts!) We went to ink., a restaurant we've been meaning to check out for a long time to celebrate (also how interesting is this website).  I don't know if it is because we haven't been to a fancy restaurant in a while, but the service was amazing. The food was equally impressive--with smoked potatoes disguised as stones, egg yolk gnocchi, grilled octopus in some delicious sauce, and mozzarella disguised as tomatoes.  It was a very memorable meal! I can't wait for another excuse to visit again.

I can't believe Chris is 33!! I can't believe I'm 33!

Honeymoon to Japan - Tokyo

We finally took our honeymoon to Japan at the end of March!  

We took a 7 day trip to Tokyo, Kyoto, Hakone, and Miyajima. An initially planned 3 city vacation became a 4 city vacation ---I haven't vacationed this hard since my early 20s!  And...it was so worth it! It was exhausting, exciting, new, fascinating...and made me remember why I love travel so so so much.  The anticipation, planning, and then revisiting with pictures brings so much joy as well.  When we got back, we felt we had been away for a month. 

We walked an average 15 miles a day and were relentless in trying everything.  Growing up in Korea, I always had a fascination with China and never was curious about Japan. The expensive Yen also kept me away.  But having now gone to Japan---I love it and I was excited to go with Chris whose life dream was to visit Japan. 

The Japan I visited in 5 words: clean, innovative, thoughtful, quiet, and cute! 

Here are pictures from our few days in Tokyo.

We wore costumes and drove go carts on the streets of Tokyo! I'm telling you...no pot holes! Extremely clean streets. I found myself smiling to myself as I zipped around the streets of Tokyo, waving to taxi drivers and pedestrians looking on with curiosity!  It is a fun and unique way to see the city. I dressed up at Stitch, Chris as Yoshi.

Akihabara is a part of town that is full of games-- buildings full of people playing video games - old and new. It is a weird and strange place.

On our way to Ueno Park to see the Cherry Blossoms!  Chris and I both wore AllBird shoes- my feet were sore at the end of the day, but not sore because the shoes weren't comfortable, just sore from fatigue.  For intense, long walks, I highly recommend Allbird shoes!

 It was a cloudy, rainy day that day, but it was fascinating to see how committed people are to seeing the sakura (cherry blossoms). Everyone was picnicking with fervor.  And there were actually trash cans available (There are no trash bins around Japan- you're supposed to carry your trash home).

All shrines have these types of prayers that people buy and hang in front of the shrine.

 This is the Kaminarimon Gate in Asakusa, North East Tokyo.  Soooo many tourists. Chris looks pretty miserable-- jet lag is kicking in and it's raining and cold!

 Japanese people love ice cream!  Ice cream is sold everywhere~

 How cute is this Totoro Banana Chocolate Creame Puff!! It was yummy too. We stayed with my friends Mari and Mario, and their adorable baby Kai. Luckily they lived close to the Totoro cafe and it was easy to trek out there.

 Shijuku Geon!! It's one of the number park in Tokyo to see sakura and Mari's friends' mom made us a lunch to pack and enjoy the flowers.

 So many beautiful lakes and flowers around this park.

 Also, so many different types of cherry blossoms! I had no idea that there were cherry blossoms that drooped down either.