I'm currently chatting with my former co-worker in Manila, Lilian, and she just told me that she has a business trip in Vietnam on the 21st. Just like the good ol' days, she has invited me to join her there to avail the free room and board that goes along with business trips. Tukso, tukso, layuan mo ako!
I just quickly searched for plane tickets to Manila and it's under $700. Vietnam and Taiwan are just a couple of reasons to go, in addition to my cousin's wedding next month. Kinakabahan lang ako kasi baka kung ano na naman pumasok sa utak ko at baka mag-extended stay na naman ako duon. ;X
Showing posts with label Travel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Travel. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Friday, April 17, 2009
Back to Life, Back to Reality
I'm back in Seattle...physically. Mentally, I'm still wishing I'm in Asia.
I didn't have internet connection anymore when I moved to my more expensive hotel for my last three nights in Seoul. And my days in Japan were too hectic to even try to sneak in some blogging time. Tsk. Must...back-blog...soon.
The verdict? I heart Seoul better than Tokyo. Crazy conclusion, right? Afterall, I've always had a thing for Tokyo. But as always, you never know what you really like unless you try it.
Tokyo to me is just pure chaos. I didn't dig dodging crazy salary men running down the escalator/stairs to catch the train. Kei and I kept saying, "Do they really need to catch THAT specific train?! The next one arrives in like five minutes!" In addition, being squished inside the subway everyday is not fun. If I wanted to be in that situation, just give me unlimited rides on Manila's MRT during rush hour. If Tokyo's subways were full of the oppas in Seoul subways, I wouldn't have minded getting squished, but Tokyo's subways are full of red-faced (read: drunk) middle-aged men starting at 5pm. Hardly fun, I tell you.
Coming from Seoul, everything was much more expensive in Tokyo. Come on, $7 for a KFC meal?! Really?! Where the hell did they get those chickens?! Seoul street food is so plentiful that you can make anything a meal for just $1. Plus, the subway rides were much more expensive than in Seoul. Okay, so Tokyo is way bigger than Seoul, but $3.30 for each ride does add up quickly. Compare that to my $0.90 - $1.20 subway rides in Seoul and you'll understand why I'm whining like a typical American.
And for some reason, Seoul appeared friendlier to me. I barely spotted people smiling in Tokyo; those in the subways were always asleep or looked just dead tired. And Kei would always point out to me when there's an announcement that a certain train is delayed because someone tried to commit suicide by jumping on the tracks. OMG.
Despite the jokes people make regarding Korea's tagline, "Korea Sparkling", I actually now understand it; granted that it should really be "Sparkling Korea" if anything. However, the city is really sparkling: the subways are clean; the people are ALWAYS dressed sharply (they seem to not know what jeans are); and cultural traditions are always combined with something modern, producing stuff that are new and authentically Korean (think JUMP and NANTA).
So, if God were to ask me where I'd like to work in the future, I'd pick Seoul, but this is not to say that I wouldn't think of working in Japan. Just please not in Tokyo.
I didn't have internet connection anymore when I moved to my more expensive hotel for my last three nights in Seoul. And my days in Japan were too hectic to even try to sneak in some blogging time. Tsk. Must...back-blog...soon.
The verdict? I heart Seoul better than Tokyo. Crazy conclusion, right? Afterall, I've always had a thing for Tokyo. But as always, you never know what you really like unless you try it.
Tokyo to me is just pure chaos. I didn't dig dodging crazy salary men running down the escalator/stairs to catch the train. Kei and I kept saying, "Do they really need to catch THAT specific train?! The next one arrives in like five minutes!" In addition, being squished inside the subway everyday is not fun. If I wanted to be in that situation, just give me unlimited rides on Manila's MRT during rush hour. If Tokyo's subways were full of the oppas in Seoul subways, I wouldn't have minded getting squished, but Tokyo's subways are full of red-faced (read: drunk) middle-aged men starting at 5pm. Hardly fun, I tell you.
Coming from Seoul, everything was much more expensive in Tokyo. Come on, $7 for a KFC meal?! Really?! Where the hell did they get those chickens?! Seoul street food is so plentiful that you can make anything a meal for just $1. Plus, the subway rides were much more expensive than in Seoul. Okay, so Tokyo is way bigger than Seoul, but $3.30 for each ride does add up quickly. Compare that to my $0.90 - $1.20 subway rides in Seoul and you'll understand why I'm whining like a typical American.
And for some reason, Seoul appeared friendlier to me. I barely spotted people smiling in Tokyo; those in the subways were always asleep or looked just dead tired. And Kei would always point out to me when there's an announcement that a certain train is delayed because someone tried to commit suicide by jumping on the tracks. OMG.
Despite the jokes people make regarding Korea's tagline, "Korea Sparkling", I actually now understand it; granted that it should really be "Sparkling Korea" if anything. However, the city is really sparkling: the subways are clean; the people are ALWAYS dressed sharply (they seem to not know what jeans are); and cultural traditions are always combined with something modern, producing stuff that are new and authentically Korean (think JUMP and NANTA).
So, if God were to ask me where I'd like to work in the future, I'd pick Seoul, but this is not to say that I wouldn't think of working in Japan. Just please not in Tokyo.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Nara
With feet that were about to fall off, I opted to go to Nara today since its sights seem to be all clustered together. However, instead of saving some foot energy, I wasted some right off the bat.
Instead of asking for directions when I got out at the JR Nara Station, I just started walking south, munching away on one of my baked goods for breakfast. It didn't dawn on me to ask someone until I got to a 7-Eleven realized that there hasn't been a single white person in sight. Sure enough, I should've been heading north, then turn east to get to Nara Park from the train station. Thankfully, the 7-Eleven staff was quite nice and pointed me to the right direction; she wanted me to take the bus, but I opted to walk instead like I always do (and I wonder why my feet were aching?!). And I really should get a darn compass so that I don't make these kinds of mistakes again.
Ahh, Nara. It was yet another city that was much calmer than Tokyo. My first stop after a long walk from the train station was Kofuku-ji Temple with its 50-meter-high five-story pagoda. I already started missing Kei with her DSLR because my camera can't really do these shots justice. After seeing more free-wandering deer, I headed over to Todai-ji Temple with the Daibutsu-den (Great Buddha Hall), "57 meters long and 50 meters wide, making it the world's largest wooden structure. The hall enshrines a huge statue of the great Buddha. Weighing approximately 300 tons and standing some 15 meters tall, it is the largest Buddha statue in the world." Unfortunately, since the hall was dimly lit, my pictures of the Buddha was subpar. Sadness.
There were lots of school girls around, wearing their school uniforms, and whenever I would see one I swear that the Sailor Moon theme song kept popping in my head (...Fighting evil by moonlight, winning love by daylight...Never running from a real fight, she is the one named Sailor Moon...).
Before I left for my trip, Ed's sister-in-law kept telling me to go to the Omizutori, Water-Drawing Festival, when in Nara. However, I arrived in Japan way after the festival so I had to settle for just dropping by the Nigatsu-do Hall and imagine what that place might have looked like a few weeks earlier. The hall overlooks a cliff so it was nice to get fresh air and cool down from all the walking.
Further up was Mt. Kasuga-yama where the school girls ate their lunch. The very green hill, also the sight of the yearly grass burning festival, was a great backdrop against the very blue uniforms of the girls.
At Kasuga-taisha Shrine, another World Heritage Site, there were a million lanterns along the path. I do wonder what all these places look like at night, but I know that my chances of getting lost is much higher when it's dark; heck, it's usually daylight and I'm often treading the wrong path already. ;P
By 1pm, I started working my way back to the train station at a pitstop to eat a tendon in the city center. I also dropped by the local Starbucks to find a Nara mug, but unfortunately, there was none to be found.
I already knew which direction the train station was so I decided to take some of the little side streets along the way instead of walking along the main road that I took earlier in the day. I always love doing this because you get to see how the locals live. This is also the reason why I hate guided tours because you're always just looking out of a window instead of actually rubbing elbows with the people that actually make the place what it is. And just like Hiroshima, I do like Nara better than Tokyo. It's small town Japan and more laid back.
By 2:30pm, I was already on a train heading back to Osaka. I was going to make a stop at Horyuji for the Horyuji Temple, but I really think that the last 13 days have taken a toll on me: I wanted rest instead of adventure.
When I got back to Osaka, I had planned to take a short rest, do my laundry, then head back out to explore the area of my hotel. However, a sucky thing happened.
After paying more for doing my laundry in Osaka than in Seoul, it didn't seem like any soap actually dispensed out of the washing machine like it should've and after 30 minutes in the dryer, my clothes were barely dry. When I took them out of the dryer, they weren't even hot. So instead of spending another round of yen for another cycle, I grudgingly brought my clothes to my room and tried to figure out how to hang them in my room with only two hangers around.
With no jeans or socks, I couldn't go out for the night like I had intended since I only had my khaki skirt and flip-flops on. So, I just headed over to the Yoshinoya across the street for dinner and called it a night. Unfortunately, when I got there, they didn't have a vending machine so ordering was a little trickier than usual. "Gyudon...take-out." Plus, all the seats were taken by men and one of them who looked quite sleazy was looking me up and down. Eww.
By 7pm, I was already twiddling my thumbs, trying to figure out how to entertain myself. The TV in my room only had a handful of crappy channels, none of which were in English. Ugh! But then again, I did wish for rest and sure enough, I got some tonight.
Instead of asking for directions when I got out at the JR Nara Station, I just started walking south, munching away on one of my baked goods for breakfast. It didn't dawn on me to ask someone until I got to a 7-Eleven realized that there hasn't been a single white person in sight. Sure enough, I should've been heading north, then turn east to get to Nara Park from the train station. Thankfully, the 7-Eleven staff was quite nice and pointed me to the right direction; she wanted me to take the bus, but I opted to walk instead like I always do (and I wonder why my feet were aching?!). And I really should get a darn compass so that I don't make these kinds of mistakes again.
Ahh, Nara. It was yet another city that was much calmer than Tokyo. My first stop after a long walk from the train station was Kofuku-ji Temple with its 50-meter-high five-story pagoda. I already started missing Kei with her DSLR because my camera can't really do these shots justice. After seeing more free-wandering deer, I headed over to Todai-ji Temple with the Daibutsu-den (Great Buddha Hall), "57 meters long and 50 meters wide, making it the world's largest wooden structure. The hall enshrines a huge statue of the great Buddha. Weighing approximately 300 tons and standing some 15 meters tall, it is the largest Buddha statue in the world." Unfortunately, since the hall was dimly lit, my pictures of the Buddha was subpar. Sadness.
There were lots of school girls around, wearing their school uniforms, and whenever I would see one I swear that the Sailor Moon theme song kept popping in my head (...Fighting evil by moonlight, winning love by daylight...Never running from a real fight, she is the one named Sailor Moon...).
Before I left for my trip, Ed's sister-in-law kept telling me to go to the Omizutori, Water-Drawing Festival, when in Nara. However, I arrived in Japan way after the festival so I had to settle for just dropping by the Nigatsu-do Hall and imagine what that place might have looked like a few weeks earlier. The hall overlooks a cliff so it was nice to get fresh air and cool down from all the walking.
Further up was Mt. Kasuga-yama where the school girls ate their lunch. The very green hill, also the sight of the yearly grass burning festival, was a great backdrop against the very blue uniforms of the girls.
At Kasuga-taisha Shrine, another World Heritage Site, there were a million lanterns along the path. I do wonder what all these places look like at night, but I know that my chances of getting lost is much higher when it's dark; heck, it's usually daylight and I'm often treading the wrong path already. ;P
By 1pm, I started working my way back to the train station at a pitstop to eat a tendon in the city center. I also dropped by the local Starbucks to find a Nara mug, but unfortunately, there was none to be found.
I already knew which direction the train station was so I decided to take some of the little side streets along the way instead of walking along the main road that I took earlier in the day. I always love doing this because you get to see how the locals live. This is also the reason why I hate guided tours because you're always just looking out of a window instead of actually rubbing elbows with the people that actually make the place what it is. And just like Hiroshima, I do like Nara better than Tokyo. It's small town Japan and more laid back.
By 2:30pm, I was already on a train heading back to Osaka. I was going to make a stop at Horyuji for the Horyuji Temple, but I really think that the last 13 days have taken a toll on me: I wanted rest instead of adventure.
When I got back to Osaka, I had planned to take a short rest, do my laundry, then head back out to explore the area of my hotel. However, a sucky thing happened.
After paying more for doing my laundry in Osaka than in Seoul, it didn't seem like any soap actually dispensed out of the washing machine like it should've and after 30 minutes in the dryer, my clothes were barely dry. When I took them out of the dryer, they weren't even hot. So instead of spending another round of yen for another cycle, I grudgingly brought my clothes to my room and tried to figure out how to hang them in my room with only two hangers around.
With no jeans or socks, I couldn't go out for the night like I had intended since I only had my khaki skirt and flip-flops on. So, I just headed over to the Yoshinoya across the street for dinner and called it a night. Unfortunately, when I got there, they didn't have a vending machine so ordering was a little trickier than usual. "Gyudon...take-out." Plus, all the seats were taken by men and one of them who looked quite sleazy was looking me up and down. Eww.
By 7pm, I was already twiddling my thumbs, trying to figure out how to entertain myself. The TV in my room only had a handful of crappy channels, none of which were in English. Ugh! But then again, I did wish for rest and sure enough, I got some tonight.
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Hiroshima and Miyajima
Since we didn't go anywhere in Hiroshima yesterday, we had to make up for lost time especially since Kei wanted to be back in Tokyo by 6pm.
Wearing our matching Crocs, we headed over to the Peace Memorial Park which was quite easy to find and everything I wanted to see was located there: A-Bomb Dome, Cenotaph containing all the names of the atomic bomb victims, Children's Peace Monument, Eternal Flame of Peace, and a whole bunch of other stuff. It was quite fitting to be there at a time when I just left South Korea and all the talk there was about NorthKorea's failed missile launch.
We didn't wait for the museum to open since I really didn't want to go there and read all about the horrible things that happened when the first atomic bomb exploded. To this day, the images and text that I read regarding the Pol Pot Regime in Cambodia are still quite vivid in my mind two years after I visited.
At 8:15am, the clock at the park started ringing; my guess is that this happens everyday to signify the time when the atomic bomb exploded. Shortly thereafter, a man came to unlock the Peace Bell which allowed me to ring it once.
Heading back to the hotel, we dropped by the city center again so that I could buy a Hiroshima Starbucks mug. It's really amazing how this city has bounced back from all its past sufferings. And as I kept telling Kei yesterday, I actually like this city because it's more civilized than Tokyo and people here look happy.
After checking out of the hotel, it was another round of hauling all our stuff on the train. Luckily, we found available medium-sized coin lockers at the JR Miyajima Station and we managed to fit my luggage into one of them with some tweaking. After riding the ferry to Miyajima Island, it was all gluttony from there. We each ate a stick of squid pieces right when we got there (think inihaw na pusit with teriyaki sauce). While I happily ate mine in peace, Kei kept being followed by one of the free-roaming deers. Maybe because Kei was short so the deer could easily see and smell what she's holding? HaHa!
Further down the road, we found a stall selling fried sticky rice topped with an oyster (oysters are a specialty in Miyajima) and each bought one for $5. I swear, this country is too darn expensive. Finally, we saw the infamous "floating" torii gate. We passed by Itsukushima Shinto Shrine, forgetting that it's a World Heritage Site, and headed over to catch the Miyajima Ropeway to go to Mt. Misen.
Okay, so I thought that the ropeway would drop us off at the observatory part of Mt. Misen. Afterall, we had to ride two cable cars to get there. But guess what? It was still an uphill hike to get to the summit! What the?! I had no idea. I swear, I haven't been doing anything, but go up steep mountains on this trip!
After what seemed like an hour of blood, sweat, and tears, we finally got to the summit, some 535m above sea level. The view was awesome! We could also see the cable car station from there and couldn't believe how far we walked. After seeing more gray clouds roll in and hearing thunder, Kei and I headed back to where we came from. Soon after we arrived at the cable car station, there was an announcement that weather conditions may delay the cable car rides. Sure enough, we had to wait a few minutes before ours departed and the ones going towards Mt. Misen had no passengers in them. The rain poured while we were riding down the mountain and we were quite thankful that we left before we got soaked and muddy. Too bad for those folks we passed by on the trail heading the other way.
Famished, we ate a chicken and egg donburi at the nearest restaurant we saw. When we walked back to the torii gate, we saw that it was low tide and it wasn't "floating" anymore. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to go up to it. I bought a few momiji-manjus (steamed bean-paste buns shaped like a maple leaf) to take with us on the train. You'll never be hungry when you're traveling with me. ;P
To catch a shinkansen, we had to go back to Hiroshima where we arrived half an hour early for the one bound for Shin-Osaka. We had enough time to have some green tea lattes, our last drink together.
At Shin-Osaka station, it was time to bid farewell. I had to catch the train bound for Osaka while Kei had to catch the one for Tokyo. It was quite nice to have a 24/7 travel buddy with me for four days, but at the same time, I was looking forward to going around alone despite being a bit scared of the language barrier.
I got to Osaka Station fine (it only took like five minutes) and found the Tourist Information Center which gave me directions to get to my hotel, HotelKinki. Yes, you read that right. It's actually a love hotel, but budget-conscious travelers have been using them. Since they just finished renovating the whole hotel, my Japanese room was brand-spanking new. Score!
For dinner, I didn't want to walk far so I just went to the KFC across the street. $7 for two pieces of chicken and a biscuit. Yes, $7! With no drink! Crazy, crazy country, I tell you. On my way back to the hotel, I saw the many nudiebars surrounding my hotel. How appropriate for Easter Sunday. ;P
Wearing our matching Crocs, we headed over to the Peace Memorial Park which was quite easy to find and everything I wanted to see was located there: A-Bomb Dome, Cenotaph containing all the names of the atomic bomb victims, Children's Peace Monument, Eternal Flame of Peace, and a whole bunch of other stuff. It was quite fitting to be there at a time when I just left South Korea and all the talk there was about NorthKorea's failed missile launch.
We didn't wait for the museum to open since I really didn't want to go there and read all about the horrible things that happened when the first atomic bomb exploded. To this day, the images and text that I read regarding the Pol Pot Regime in Cambodia are still quite vivid in my mind two years after I visited.
At 8:15am, the clock at the park started ringing; my guess is that this happens everyday to signify the time when the atomic bomb exploded. Shortly thereafter, a man came to unlock the Peace Bell which allowed me to ring it once.
Heading back to the hotel, we dropped by the city center again so that I could buy a Hiroshima Starbucks mug. It's really amazing how this city has bounced back from all its past sufferings. And as I kept telling Kei yesterday, I actually like this city because it's more civilized than Tokyo and people here look happy.
After checking out of the hotel, it was another round of hauling all our stuff on the train. Luckily, we found available medium-sized coin lockers at the JR Miyajima Station and we managed to fit my luggage into one of them with some tweaking. After riding the ferry to Miyajima Island, it was all gluttony from there. We each ate a stick of squid pieces right when we got there (think inihaw na pusit with teriyaki sauce). While I happily ate mine in peace, Kei kept being followed by one of the free-roaming deers. Maybe because Kei was short so the deer could easily see and smell what she's holding? HaHa!
Further down the road, we found a stall selling fried sticky rice topped with an oyster (oysters are a specialty in Miyajima) and each bought one for $5. I swear, this country is too darn expensive. Finally, we saw the infamous "floating" torii gate. We passed by Itsukushima Shinto Shrine, forgetting that it's a World Heritage Site, and headed over to catch the Miyajima Ropeway to go to Mt. Misen.
Okay, so I thought that the ropeway would drop us off at the observatory part of Mt. Misen. Afterall, we had to ride two cable cars to get there. But guess what? It was still an uphill hike to get to the summit! What the?! I had no idea. I swear, I haven't been doing anything, but go up steep mountains on this trip!
After what seemed like an hour of blood, sweat, and tears, we finally got to the summit, some 535m above sea level. The view was awesome! We could also see the cable car station from there and couldn't believe how far we walked. After seeing more gray clouds roll in and hearing thunder, Kei and I headed back to where we came from. Soon after we arrived at the cable car station, there was an announcement that weather conditions may delay the cable car rides. Sure enough, we had to wait a few minutes before ours departed and the ones going towards Mt. Misen had no passengers in them. The rain poured while we were riding down the mountain and we were quite thankful that we left before we got soaked and muddy. Too bad for those folks we passed by on the trail heading the other way.
Famished, we ate a chicken and egg donburi at the nearest restaurant we saw. When we walked back to the torii gate, we saw that it was low tide and it wasn't "floating" anymore. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to go up to it. I bought a few momiji-manjus (steamed bean-paste buns shaped like a maple leaf) to take with us on the train. You'll never be hungry when you're traveling with me. ;P
To catch a shinkansen, we had to go back to Hiroshima where we arrived half an hour early for the one bound for Shin-Osaka. We had enough time to have some green tea lattes, our last drink together.
At Shin-Osaka station, it was time to bid farewell. I had to catch the train bound for Osaka while Kei had to catch the one for Tokyo. It was quite nice to have a 24/7 travel buddy with me for four days, but at the same time, I was looking forward to going around alone despite being a bit scared of the language barrier.
I got to Osaka Station fine (it only took like five minutes) and found the Tourist Information Center which gave me directions to get to my hotel, HotelKinki. Yes, you read that right. It's actually a love hotel, but budget-conscious travelers have been using them. Since they just finished renovating the whole hotel, my Japanese room was brand-spanking new. Score!
For dinner, I didn't want to walk far so I just went to the KFC across the street. $7 for two pieces of chicken and a biscuit. Yes, $7! With no drink! Crazy, crazy country, I tell you. On my way back to the hotel, I saw the many nudiebars surrounding my hotel. How appropriate for Easter Sunday. ;P
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Himeji
I was actually glad to leave Tokyo and leave for Kansai this morning. Since I had all my luggage in tow, Kei wanted to leave early so that we don't get trampled on in the subway. It was so early that the subway entrance that we usually take was still closed by the time we got there.
We made it to Tokyo Station way earlier than expected and opted to take an earlier train rather than wait for the train that we had reserved seats for. As I read on internet sites, there are indeed spaces on the train for one's huge luggages; they are located behind the last row of seats in each car. They're safe enough that I left my luggage there eventhough our seats were all the way towards the front. We're in Japan afterall.
Despite not having reserved seats, I got a window seat, but it was pretty useless since after eating the yakisoba that I bought at a local convenience store, I ended up sleeping until we neared Nagoya. What is it with shinkansens that lulls one to sleep? I never get any shuteye on airplanes or buses, but somehow, I managed to catch some sleep on the train. Love it! I was also surprised to find out how big the spaces are in between the seats. I'd rather ride the shinkansen than fly any day!
Shortly before noon, we arrived in Himeji. Since I researched Kansai pretty well, it was my turn to be the tour guide. From the JR Himeji Station, we walked to Himeji Castle, which you could actually see from the station...if you're tall. Otherwise, you'll be like Kei and keep saying "Where? Where? I don't see it" because of all the trees. HaHa!
When we got there, it was jam-packed with people, thanks to all the beautiful sakuras in full bloom. Himeji Castle = wow. Himeji Castle + sakura = super wow. Again, my knees and feet got tested again because to get to the top part of the castle, you have to hike up all these narrow wooden steps. I was also wearing boots so taking those on and off was a pain in the butt. But don't chastise me because there were a bunch of ladies wearing their high-heels and short skirts as you often see in this part of the world. I really don't know how you can enjoy and get around as a tourist wearing those.
After the castle, Kei and I headed back to the station with a pitstop at a green tea soft serve stand. Yum! This is what I came to Japan for! Our local Koot's Green Tea place closed over a year ago and I've been craving for green tea soft serve ever since.
We got our luggage out of the coin lockers and hopped on the next train to Hiroshima. I loved how these trains come so often! We got to Hiroshima with no problems at all and my hotel turned out to be just a few streets away from the JR Station. As expected, my room was a tiny little box. I thought it couldn't get any smaller from Ibis Myeongdong, but alas, it was indeed smaller!
Since Kei was battling a headache (Dr. Mina says it's from dehydration), we headed over to Okonomi-mura Village to eat some Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki. They're different from the regular okonomiyaki because they add noodles to their version. There are over thirty okonomiyaki restaurants in this area that it was hard to choose which one to go to. Even using the "go where there's a line" mentality is not helpful because of course, the ones near the elevator would get more traffic than those on the sides. Regardless, we picked one near the elevator where there were only a couple of seats available. They even had an English menu!
I'd have to say the Hiroshima-style okonomiyakis are my fave. Very yummy and filling. They were actually huge, but Kei and I finished the two that we shared. With stomachs full, we ended up window shopping instead of using the rest of the day to see the sights. In the process, we both ended up buying matching Mary Jane-style Crocs. Yes, you read that right: I now have a pair of Crocs. They were on sale and I thought that they'd help my feet problems. Surprisingly, the Crocs store in Hiroshima didn't smell like rubber unlike the one in The Fort in Manila. Interesting trivia for all of you, I'm sure. HaHa!
The day ended without seeing a single tourist spot in Hiroshima. It was a long traveling day and I definitely needed to slow down a bit if my feet issues were any indication.
We made it to Tokyo Station way earlier than expected and opted to take an earlier train rather than wait for the train that we had reserved seats for. As I read on internet sites, there are indeed spaces on the train for one's huge luggages; they are located behind the last row of seats in each car. They're safe enough that I left my luggage there eventhough our seats were all the way towards the front. We're in Japan afterall.
Despite not having reserved seats, I got a window seat, but it was pretty useless since after eating the yakisoba that I bought at a local convenience store, I ended up sleeping until we neared Nagoya. What is it with shinkansens that lulls one to sleep? I never get any shuteye on airplanes or buses, but somehow, I managed to catch some sleep on the train. Love it! I was also surprised to find out how big the spaces are in between the seats. I'd rather ride the shinkansen than fly any day!
Shortly before noon, we arrived in Himeji. Since I researched Kansai pretty well, it was my turn to be the tour guide. From the JR Himeji Station, we walked to Himeji Castle, which you could actually see from the station...if you're tall. Otherwise, you'll be like Kei and keep saying "Where? Where? I don't see it" because of all the trees. HaHa!
When we got there, it was jam-packed with people, thanks to all the beautiful sakuras in full bloom. Himeji Castle = wow. Himeji Castle + sakura = super wow. Again, my knees and feet got tested again because to get to the top part of the castle, you have to hike up all these narrow wooden steps. I was also wearing boots so taking those on and off was a pain in the butt. But don't chastise me because there were a bunch of ladies wearing their high-heels and short skirts as you often see in this part of the world. I really don't know how you can enjoy and get around as a tourist wearing those.
After the castle, Kei and I headed back to the station with a pitstop at a green tea soft serve stand. Yum! This is what I came to Japan for! Our local Koot's Green Tea place closed over a year ago and I've been craving for green tea soft serve ever since.
We got our luggage out of the coin lockers and hopped on the next train to Hiroshima. I loved how these trains come so often! We got to Hiroshima with no problems at all and my hotel turned out to be just a few streets away from the JR Station. As expected, my room was a tiny little box. I thought it couldn't get any smaller from Ibis Myeongdong, but alas, it was indeed smaller!
Since Kei was battling a headache (Dr. Mina says it's from dehydration), we headed over to Okonomi-mura Village to eat some Hiroshima-style okonomiyaki. They're different from the regular okonomiyaki because they add noodles to their version. There are over thirty okonomiyaki restaurants in this area that it was hard to choose which one to go to. Even using the "go where there's a line" mentality is not helpful because of course, the ones near the elevator would get more traffic than those on the sides. Regardless, we picked one near the elevator where there were only a couple of seats available. They even had an English menu!
I'd have to say the Hiroshima-style okonomiyakis are my fave. Very yummy and filling. They were actually huge, but Kei and I finished the two that we shared. With stomachs full, we ended up window shopping instead of using the rest of the day to see the sights. In the process, we both ended up buying matching Mary Jane-style Crocs. Yes, you read that right: I now have a pair of Crocs. They were on sale and I thought that they'd help my feet problems. Surprisingly, the Crocs store in Hiroshima didn't smell like rubber unlike the one in The Fort in Manila. Interesting trivia for all of you, I'm sure. HaHa!
The day ended without seeing a single tourist spot in Hiroshima. It was a long traveling day and I definitely needed to slow down a bit if my feet issues were any indication.
Friday, April 10, 2009
It's a Small Sanrio World Afterall
The day has come!
But first, I had to get a legit tourist spot out of the way. Kei and I woke up early to go to Tsukiji Market. Ahh, Tsukiji. Who knew that you could die there from all those little trucks zooming around. Watch out because they don't care about stupid tourists.
Those tunas are huge! When I went to General Santos in the Philippines, I missed seeing the tunas because I arrived there late in the afternoon so this was actually my first time seeing them. Let's see how the boys at the Pike Place Market toss these puppies around. HaHa! We also saw the mountain of styrofoam boxes next to the market and I kept saying how Seattle's MayorNickels would've totally hated this place (he's looking to ban styrofoam boxes at restaurants around the city in a few years).
Although it would've been nice to be able to say that I ate sushi at Tsukiji, I wasn't up for it this early in the morning. Instead, I bought a pack of fried wontons and these cheesy things at the market and called them breakfast. When we got out to the main road, we saw the ramen restaurants and I wished we ate ramen instead. I bet they were cheaper, too.
Kei wanted to take me to Harajuku, but I insisted that we should start heading to where we needed to go since it was nearing 9am already and it takes about an hour to get there. Okay, so I was a tad bit excited, but I was also saving some feet energy.
After about an hour on the Keio Line, we arrived at Tama Center Station and walked over to (drumroll please!) Sanrio Puroland. Mwahahaha! The dream fulfilled! We were the only adults without kids in tow. HaHa! When we purchased tickets, we got free keychains and Kei gave me hers since I gave her my Doraemon toy yesterday. That sounded like we were a couple of five-year-olds. LoL.
When the gates opened, I was just in awe. The first character we saw was Hello Kitty herself. I had to muscle my way to get a picture with her and keep those pesky little kids from getting in the way. HaHa!
The highlight of the park for me was the Sanrio Character Boat Ride (look out for Badtz Maru getting spanked) and the Believe Parade which featured most of the popular characters. If you're a Sanrio freak like me, you can appreciate seeing the Little Twin Stars, My Melody, Pekkle, Keroppi, plus the other oldie characters like Cheery Chums on display. Loved them all! Loved them so much we rode the Boat Ride twice. The first time was for me to try to take pictures and the second to enjoy the ride. Geek! LoL. I ended up buying the souvenir pic for Y1,000.
The Hello Kitty House was cute, but I thought the souvenir pic with Hello Kitty was dorky because it didn't even have a background.
At the Festival Plaza, they had collector's edition cellphone straps featuring each of the Sanrio characters. I eventually talked myself out of them since I do have all my 100 Sanrio Family plush toys at home which I still haven't figured out how to sell on eBay. HeHe.
The crappy thing about Puroland is the shows. Don't get me wrong, they were well-staged and didn't skimp out on special effects, but they were all in Japanese. In Hong Kong Disneyland, they had subtitles for all the shows, allowing foreigners to actually enjoy watching them. Nonetheless, I can't deny that I'm now a fulfilled woman. HaHa!
Since my feet were spazzing out already, we skipped Harajuku and Roppongi and headed over to Kei's mom's place to burn my pictures since my SD card was already full.
Seriously, being "injured" sucks. Whenever I travel, I do my best to stay in good health by drinking lots of water and never skipping meals, but little did I know that something like this could turn up and cut my itinerary in half. Tsk!
But first, I had to get a legit tourist spot out of the way. Kei and I woke up early to go to Tsukiji Market. Ahh, Tsukiji. Who knew that you could die there from all those little trucks zooming around. Watch out because they don't care about stupid tourists.
Those tunas are huge! When I went to General Santos in the Philippines, I missed seeing the tunas because I arrived there late in the afternoon so this was actually my first time seeing them. Let's see how the boys at the Pike Place Market toss these puppies around. HaHa! We also saw the mountain of styrofoam boxes next to the market and I kept saying how Seattle's MayorNickels would've totally hated this place (he's looking to ban styrofoam boxes at restaurants around the city in a few years).
Although it would've been nice to be able to say that I ate sushi at Tsukiji, I wasn't up for it this early in the morning. Instead, I bought a pack of fried wontons and these cheesy things at the market and called them breakfast. When we got out to the main road, we saw the ramen restaurants and I wished we ate ramen instead. I bet they were cheaper, too.
Kei wanted to take me to Harajuku, but I insisted that we should start heading to where we needed to go since it was nearing 9am already and it takes about an hour to get there. Okay, so I was a tad bit excited, but I was also saving some feet energy.
After about an hour on the Keio Line, we arrived at Tama Center Station and walked over to (drumroll please!) Sanrio Puroland. Mwahahaha! The dream fulfilled! We were the only adults without kids in tow. HaHa! When we purchased tickets, we got free keychains and Kei gave me hers since I gave her my Doraemon toy yesterday. That sounded like we were a couple of five-year-olds. LoL.
When the gates opened, I was just in awe. The first character we saw was Hello Kitty herself. I had to muscle my way to get a picture with her and keep those pesky little kids from getting in the way. HaHa!
The highlight of the park for me was the Sanrio Character Boat Ride (look out for Badtz Maru getting spanked) and the Believe Parade which featured most of the popular characters. If you're a Sanrio freak like me, you can appreciate seeing the Little Twin Stars, My Melody, Pekkle, Keroppi, plus the other oldie characters like Cheery Chums on display. Loved them all! Loved them so much we rode the Boat Ride twice. The first time was for me to try to take pictures and the second to enjoy the ride. Geek! LoL. I ended up buying the souvenir pic for Y1,000.
The Hello Kitty House was cute, but I thought the souvenir pic with Hello Kitty was dorky because it didn't even have a background.
At the Festival Plaza, they had collector's edition cellphone straps featuring each of the Sanrio characters. I eventually talked myself out of them since I do have all my 100 Sanrio Family plush toys at home which I still haven't figured out how to sell on eBay. HeHe.
The crappy thing about Puroland is the shows. Don't get me wrong, they were well-staged and didn't skimp out on special effects, but they were all in Japanese. In Hong Kong Disneyland, they had subtitles for all the shows, allowing foreigners to actually enjoy watching them. Nonetheless, I can't deny that I'm now a fulfilled woman. HaHa!
Since my feet were spazzing out already, we skipped Harajuku and Roppongi and headed over to Kei's mom's place to burn my pictures since my SD card was already full.
Seriously, being "injured" sucks. Whenever I travel, I do my best to stay in good health by drinking lots of water and never skipping meals, but little did I know that something like this could turn up and cut my itinerary in half. Tsk!
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
In Full Bloom
Kei woke me up at 7:30am as she was leaving for work. After I got out of bed, I found that she left me some seven pages of Post-It notes full of instructions. Hello, Mom! HaHa! I found it hilarious that she even spelled out how to use her PASMO card; I later told her, "Uhh, Kei, they actually have those in Singapore. I've tap-tapped my ass to get through the subway gates before." See? This is why people should travel: one can find out about these cool things available in different countries. ;P
After showering and leaving later than usual, I walked to my home subway station, Aoyama Ichome, to catch the train to Asakusa (pronounced "Ah-sahk-sah" and not "Ah-sah-koo-sah" as I pronounced it prior to coming to town) which was also on the Ginza line so I didn't have to transfer and deal with getting trampled by the "Sea of Humanity". Since Kei wasn't with me, I was paying more attention to the subway. Hmmm, Seoul's is definitely much more user-friendly. Seoul's subway has overhead screens that tells you the stop and which side of the train you'll exit from. When you're exiting the subway, the exit signs list the destinations available using that exit. You really can't get lost in Seoul. I promise!
Anyway, the Kaminarimon Gate was a few steps away from Exit #1. I found it with no problems at all especially since all the Caucasians were heading the same way. When traveling, I always say, "Follow where the white people go, and you'll find what tourist spot you're looking for."
As much as I had wanted a picture next to the giant lantern, I have realized that it's quite pointless to ask your fellow tourists to take your picture because they never frame the shot correctly. You end up being a tiny speck or worse, they only take a picture of you and don't include whatever it is in the background. I've found this to be a big drawback when traveling alone. ;P
I headed over to Nakamise Street where I was greeted with all the souvenirs I could wish for. Man, talk about cellphone straps galore. Holy ish! And yes, there were a lot of Hello Kitty ones. Must...not...buy.
After looking around Senso-ji Temple and the garden outside, I walked back to the entrance where they were giving away fresh orchids for Buddha's birthday. No wonder there were lots of people for a Wednesday.
I spotted a stall selling octopus balls so what's a girl to do, but eat. I quickly found out that I'm not in Seoul anymore: $5 for 6 pieces of octopus balls. Hmph! I wanted some yakisoba too but that's another $5. Instead, I had a "plain" ningyo-yaki, a small Japanese cake with sweet red beans for $1. Yum, but quite greasy. I miss you, hotteok! And wow, there are a lot of "-yakis" in Japan. HeHe!
I bought a few souvenirs including a wooden Japanese doll. I actually wanted a bigger, nicer one, but I just thought they were way too expensive plus I could get them in Seattle at Uwajimaya. LoL.
I was about to go down to the subway when I spotted the "Giant Poop Building", the Asahi Brewery Building, from a distance. I walked over to the bridge and took a picture. Then I spotted the sakuras over at Sumida Park and walked over there. Ahh, sakuras falling in the wind. So picturesque. I then spotted rickshaw "drivers" in their tight short shorts. Wow, those shorts ARE tiny.
The next instruction from Kei was to take the train to Ueno Park. OMG! While Cathy was begging for sakuras in Seoul, they were in full bloom in Tokyo! All these trees next to each other were so gorgeous! I sooooo want a DSLR now to capture all these beautiful things that I see when I travel! Just like any other place in Japan, the park was packed with people. I managed to find an available bench by the lake with people in paddle boats (think Baguio's Burnham Park). Kei later asked me if I rented one and I was like, "Eh? Watch me get tired and not make it back to shore!" HaHa! But oh wow, the park was so pretty! I actually saw the sakuras when my plane was landing yesterday so I knew that I wasn't going to miss them while in Japan.
After circling the huge Ueno Park, I walked over to Akihabara. Seriously, I need to stop walking to places and just ride the train. Since it's a little past 1pm, none of the lights were on. However, I did see the girls dressed in french maid outfits, beckoning guys to come in to the stores. I found a crepe shop and bought a crepe, only to find out that the crepe "shell" was pre-made so it was far from yummy. Boo! While walking, what did I see being shown on one of the building's jumbotron? Big Bang! HaHa! I'm like, "Aww, yes, I missed you guys in Seoul." When I was riding the shuttle to the KAL bus stop yesterday, I actually saw the poster for the April 18th concert with Big Bang, Rain, and others. It wasn't meant to be, boys. Only LeeDongGun and I were meant to be for now. HaHa!
I needed to make my way back to Hiroo station so I tried to find the Hibiya Line stop, but couldn't figure out where the hell it was. I asked a middle-aged man, but he was confused to where it was so I ended up asking this girl and thankfully, she knew English. She was kind enough to even walk me to the station.
I was a bit early in Hiroo so I walked to the grocery store to buy a bottle of water. All this time I thought the drinks in the vending machines were priced regularly, but those are Y150, while they were only Y95 at the grocery store! I swear, Kei needs to tell me these things! I also walked over to Hiroo Plaza, but there wasn't much to eat over there unless you're up for KFC. I decided to just walk over to Kei's work and wait for her there.
Aww, my little Kei moving on up from our old sucky workplace. It's good to know that all of my fave co-workers, including myself, are out of there. I just need to find work as soon as I get back to Seattle. ;P
We went to Tokyo Tower, but were a bit early to see the city aglow, so we opted to eat dinner first. Kei is not the best tour guide around since she has been out of the country for a number of years, so we were walking aimlessly for a while before heading back to this little Japanese restaurant we passed by near Tokyo Tower. Unfortunately, the place was full of salary men smoking over dinner. :( Again, it was all vending machines for ordering.
We went back to Tokyo Tower and finally went up. So the list is now: Kuala Lumpur Tower (Menara Kuala Lumpur), Macau Tower, Seoul Tower, and Tokyo Tower. I gotta get back to Shanghai soon for the Orient Pearl Tower. Anyhoo, Tokyo Tower has these mascots, the Noppon Brothers. Unfortunately, I think they look like p3nises so I've called them the P3nis Brothers. You'll know what I'm talking about when you see them. Of course, what's a Japanese tourist destination without a proper Hello Kitty cellphone strap? There's one with her next to Tokyo Tower. I passed up on it, using the reason that I didn't get the Asakusa one so it's pointless now to get one from the other places I'll be visiting. HeHe! Kei did drag me in one of the photo booths though. She and I were both wearing blue and the background color of the Tokyo Tower was blue so when the pictures came out, only our heads showed in the picture. It was hilarious!
By this time though, my feet were spazzing out. My feet were aching at the bottom from sharp pains. I think they're overworked from all the uphill hikes I've been doing everyday, in addition to all those subway stairs. Or maybe, I'm just getting old. Seriously, I was in pain.
Kei, thinking that I needed to be off my feet, decided to take me to Shibuya (or as I'd like to ghetto-ly pronounce it, "She booooo yaaaa!") for some karaoke. I told her that I went to a noraebang in Seoul and she quickly said, "Well, here in Tokyo, we call it karaoke." Yes, yes, so do Americans. LoL.
Unlike the noraebang we went to, this one actually had Michael Jackson songs so I was able to sing "Man in the Mirror" to my heart's content along with some Brian McKnight songs. Afterwards, I checked my e-mail and found out that I have a phone interview for a job that I applied for before I left Seattle. Sweet.
Before heading back home, we stopped by to buy a generic version of Salonpas for my feet. My gawd, my grandma used to use Salonpas! I'm really getting old! A box of those suckers are $15 in Japan. Sheesh!
After slapping one on each foot at home, I hobbled into bed. Me. Pain. Ouch. I want my mommy!
After showering and leaving later than usual, I walked to my home subway station, Aoyama Ichome, to catch the train to Asakusa (pronounced "Ah-sahk-sah" and not "Ah-sah-koo-sah" as I pronounced it prior to coming to town) which was also on the Ginza line so I didn't have to transfer and deal with getting trampled by the "Sea of Humanity". Since Kei wasn't with me, I was paying more attention to the subway. Hmmm, Seoul's is definitely much more user-friendly. Seoul's subway has overhead screens that tells you the stop and which side of the train you'll exit from. When you're exiting the subway, the exit signs list the destinations available using that exit. You really can't get lost in Seoul. I promise!
Anyway, the Kaminarimon Gate was a few steps away from Exit #1. I found it with no problems at all especially since all the Caucasians were heading the same way. When traveling, I always say, "Follow where the white people go, and you'll find what tourist spot you're looking for."
As much as I had wanted a picture next to the giant lantern, I have realized that it's quite pointless to ask your fellow tourists to take your picture because they never frame the shot correctly. You end up being a tiny speck or worse, they only take a picture of you and don't include whatever it is in the background. I've found this to be a big drawback when traveling alone. ;P
I headed over to Nakamise Street where I was greeted with all the souvenirs I could wish for. Man, talk about cellphone straps galore. Holy ish! And yes, there were a lot of Hello Kitty ones. Must...not...buy.
After looking around Senso-ji Temple and the garden outside, I walked back to the entrance where they were giving away fresh orchids for Buddha's birthday. No wonder there were lots of people for a Wednesday.
I spotted a stall selling octopus balls so what's a girl to do, but eat. I quickly found out that I'm not in Seoul anymore: $5 for 6 pieces of octopus balls. Hmph! I wanted some yakisoba too but that's another $5. Instead, I had a "plain" ningyo-yaki, a small Japanese cake with sweet red beans for $1. Yum, but quite greasy. I miss you, hotteok! And wow, there are a lot of "-yakis" in Japan. HeHe!
I bought a few souvenirs including a wooden Japanese doll. I actually wanted a bigger, nicer one, but I just thought they were way too expensive plus I could get them in Seattle at Uwajimaya. LoL.
I was about to go down to the subway when I spotted the "Giant Poop Building", the Asahi Brewery Building, from a distance. I walked over to the bridge and took a picture. Then I spotted the sakuras over at Sumida Park and walked over there. Ahh, sakuras falling in the wind. So picturesque. I then spotted rickshaw "drivers" in their tight short shorts. Wow, those shorts ARE tiny.
The next instruction from Kei was to take the train to Ueno Park. OMG! While Cathy was begging for sakuras in Seoul, they were in full bloom in Tokyo! All these trees next to each other were so gorgeous! I sooooo want a DSLR now to capture all these beautiful things that I see when I travel! Just like any other place in Japan, the park was packed with people. I managed to find an available bench by the lake with people in paddle boats (think Baguio's Burnham Park). Kei later asked me if I rented one and I was like, "Eh? Watch me get tired and not make it back to shore!" HaHa! But oh wow, the park was so pretty! I actually saw the sakuras when my plane was landing yesterday so I knew that I wasn't going to miss them while in Japan.
After circling the huge Ueno Park, I walked over to Akihabara. Seriously, I need to stop walking to places and just ride the train. Since it's a little past 1pm, none of the lights were on. However, I did see the girls dressed in french maid outfits, beckoning guys to come in to the stores. I found a crepe shop and bought a crepe, only to find out that the crepe "shell" was pre-made so it was far from yummy. Boo! While walking, what did I see being shown on one of the building's jumbotron? Big Bang! HaHa! I'm like, "Aww, yes, I missed you guys in Seoul." When I was riding the shuttle to the KAL bus stop yesterday, I actually saw the poster for the April 18th concert with Big Bang, Rain, and others. It wasn't meant to be, boys. Only LeeDongGun and I were meant to be for now. HaHa!
I needed to make my way back to Hiroo station so I tried to find the Hibiya Line stop, but couldn't figure out where the hell it was. I asked a middle-aged man, but he was confused to where it was so I ended up asking this girl and thankfully, she knew English. She was kind enough to even walk me to the station.
I was a bit early in Hiroo so I walked to the grocery store to buy a bottle of water. All this time I thought the drinks in the vending machines were priced regularly, but those are Y150, while they were only Y95 at the grocery store! I swear, Kei needs to tell me these things! I also walked over to Hiroo Plaza, but there wasn't much to eat over there unless you're up for KFC. I decided to just walk over to Kei's work and wait for her there.
Aww, my little Kei moving on up from our old sucky workplace. It's good to know that all of my fave co-workers, including myself, are out of there. I just need to find work as soon as I get back to Seattle. ;P
We went to Tokyo Tower, but were a bit early to see the city aglow, so we opted to eat dinner first. Kei is not the best tour guide around since she has been out of the country for a number of years, so we were walking aimlessly for a while before heading back to this little Japanese restaurant we passed by near Tokyo Tower. Unfortunately, the place was full of salary men smoking over dinner. :( Again, it was all vending machines for ordering.
We went back to Tokyo Tower and finally went up. So the list is now: Kuala Lumpur Tower (Menara Kuala Lumpur), Macau Tower, Seoul Tower, and Tokyo Tower. I gotta get back to Shanghai soon for the Orient Pearl Tower. Anyhoo, Tokyo Tower has these mascots, the Noppon Brothers. Unfortunately, I think they look like p3nises so I've called them the P3nis Brothers. You'll know what I'm talking about when you see them. Of course, what's a Japanese tourist destination without a proper Hello Kitty cellphone strap? There's one with her next to Tokyo Tower. I passed up on it, using the reason that I didn't get the Asakusa one so it's pointless now to get one from the other places I'll be visiting. HeHe! Kei did drag me in one of the photo booths though. She and I were both wearing blue and the background color of the Tokyo Tower was blue so when the pictures came out, only our heads showed in the picture. It was hilarious!
By this time though, my feet were spazzing out. My feet were aching at the bottom from sharp pains. I think they're overworked from all the uphill hikes I've been doing everyday, in addition to all those subway stairs. Or maybe, I'm just getting old. Seriously, I was in pain.
Kei, thinking that I needed to be off my feet, decided to take me to Shibuya (or as I'd like to ghetto-ly pronounce it, "She booooo yaaaa!") for some karaoke. I told her that I went to a noraebang in Seoul and she quickly said, "Well, here in Tokyo, we call it karaoke." Yes, yes, so do Americans. LoL.
Unlike the noraebang we went to, this one actually had Michael Jackson songs so I was able to sing "Man in the Mirror" to my heart's content along with some Brian McKnight songs. Afterwards, I checked my e-mail and found out that I have a phone interview for a job that I applied for before I left Seattle. Sweet.
Before heading back home, we stopped by to buy a generic version of Salonpas for my feet. My gawd, my grandma used to use Salonpas! I'm really getting old! A box of those suckers are $15 in Japan. Sheesh!
After slapping one on each foot at home, I hobbled into bed. Me. Pain. Ouch. I want my mommy!
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Tokyo, Oh Tokyo
My hotel shuttle dropped me off at the KAL bus stop to catch the bus to the airport. I forgot to ask the Tourist Information Center last night where the cheaper generic airport bus stop was in Myeongdong so I had to cough up W14,000 for this ride (W5,000 more). At the airport, it was another Dunkin' Donuts breakfast to finish off the last of my wons. I actually had to use my credit card because their darn egg, cheese, bacon biscuit was almost $4...without a drink!
I got to Narita with no problems and as instructed by former co-worker Kei, whom I'll be visiting in Tokyo, I took the airport limousine bus to The New Sanno Hotel in Minato-ku. $30 for a bus ride! And to think I was whining about the $14 KAL bus ride in Seoul! Tsk. After two hours, I got to The New Sanno Hotel which was supposedly "very near" Kei's work. However, I wasn't familiar at all with the area so I wasn't about to drag my luggage around the city, trying to figure this out. Luckily, the guard was quite nice and called Kei for me who wasn't expecting me today. She thought I was arriving tomorrow! And this was after I've given her my complete flight itinerary and everything a whole month ago! After a $7 taxi ride to her work, I found Kei who was still in shock that I'm in Tokyo. In return, I was in shock about her. LoL.
We rode a taxi to her grandma's condo where I'll be staying at for four nights before I head off to Kansai. Maybe it's because I'm in a posh neighborhood, but I didn't think the condos/apartments in Tokyo were small as I've heard about over and over before. Hmm, it's all relative, I guess.
Since Kei didn't know that I was arriving today, she didn't have her stuff at her grandma's place, so we headed over to her mom's place via the subway and this was the start of my "Oh my God, I can't live in Tokyo" mentality.
Tokyo's subway is very much like Seoul's except that there aren't any manned ticket booths. Instead, you have to look at the subway map and find your intended stop where it'll say how much your ticket is. Using the ticket machine, you insert the coins, press the price for your ticket and voila, you now have your subway ticket. This is actually a longer process than having a manned ticket booth. In Seoul, I just tell the ajussis my subway stop, and they would give me the ticket which had the price already stamped on it. Easy peasy, fo' sheezy.
As we walked down to the platform, Kei was telling me how dirty Tokyo is and that's why I should wear a mask every day and gargle some antiseptic every night. I kept laughing because coming from Seoul where people talk highly about their city/country, Kei sounded so anti-Tokyo for someone Japanese. I was like, "Are you an American trapped in a Japanese body?!" LoL. Tokyo's subway seats were covered in fabric, hence looked dirtier compared to Seoul's. I found that Tokyo-ites were more casually dressed than Seoul-ites: I actually found lots of fellow jean-wearers and not all suit-wearers were wearing ties. This finally silenced my self-image problems that surfaced while in Seoul. HeHe. Regardless, Tokyo subways are chaotic: people running up and down the stairs, people pushing themselves in an already-packed train, and well, drunk people on the subways. Bleh.
I told Kei that I wanted Yoshinoya for dinner, but she couldn't remember where a Yoshinoya was (Seriously?! First level by Red Ribbon at SM Megamall, Kei. HaHa!). When we got out of the station, we saw a Matsuya so we opted for Yoshinoya's competitor instead. Wow, a vending machine to order your dinner. Thankfully, Kei was with me, because the whole thing was in Japanese and the pictures were so tiny that they weren't helpful at all. Kei didn't know that water came with the meal so I ended up paying for bottled water. Pooh!
Afterwards, we made it to their own apartment and again, hello, this place isn't small! After checking e-mail and Kei gathering her stuff, we made it back to her grandma's condo where I went straight to my Japanese bed for the night (umm, after I gargled the antiseptic. LoL). It was uneventful, but very long day for this traveler.
I got to Narita with no problems and as instructed by former co-worker Kei, whom I'll be visiting in Tokyo, I took the airport limousine bus to The New Sanno Hotel in Minato-ku. $30 for a bus ride! And to think I was whining about the $14 KAL bus ride in Seoul! Tsk. After two hours, I got to The New Sanno Hotel which was supposedly "very near" Kei's work. However, I wasn't familiar at all with the area so I wasn't about to drag my luggage around the city, trying to figure this out. Luckily, the guard was quite nice and called Kei for me who wasn't expecting me today. She thought I was arriving tomorrow! And this was after I've given her my complete flight itinerary and everything a whole month ago! After a $7 taxi ride to her work, I found Kei who was still in shock that I'm in Tokyo. In return, I was in shock about her. LoL.
We rode a taxi to her grandma's condo where I'll be staying at for four nights before I head off to Kansai. Maybe it's because I'm in a posh neighborhood, but I didn't think the condos/apartments in Tokyo were small as I've heard about over and over before. Hmm, it's all relative, I guess.
Since Kei didn't know that I was arriving today, she didn't have her stuff at her grandma's place, so we headed over to her mom's place via the subway and this was the start of my "Oh my God, I can't live in Tokyo" mentality.
Tokyo's subway is very much like Seoul's except that there aren't any manned ticket booths. Instead, you have to look at the subway map and find your intended stop where it'll say how much your ticket is. Using the ticket machine, you insert the coins, press the price for your ticket and voila, you now have your subway ticket. This is actually a longer process than having a manned ticket booth. In Seoul, I just tell the ajussis my subway stop, and they would give me the ticket which had the price already stamped on it. Easy peasy, fo' sheezy.
As we walked down to the platform, Kei was telling me how dirty Tokyo is and that's why I should wear a mask every day and gargle some antiseptic every night. I kept laughing because coming from Seoul where people talk highly about their city/country, Kei sounded so anti-Tokyo for someone Japanese. I was like, "Are you an American trapped in a Japanese body?!" LoL. Tokyo's subway seats were covered in fabric, hence looked dirtier compared to Seoul's. I found that Tokyo-ites were more casually dressed than Seoul-ites: I actually found lots of fellow jean-wearers and not all suit-wearers were wearing ties. This finally silenced my self-image problems that surfaced while in Seoul. HeHe. Regardless, Tokyo subways are chaotic: people running up and down the stairs, people pushing themselves in an already-packed train, and well, drunk people on the subways. Bleh.
I told Kei that I wanted Yoshinoya for dinner, but she couldn't remember where a Yoshinoya was (Seriously?! First level by Red Ribbon at SM Megamall, Kei. HaHa!). When we got out of the station, we saw a Matsuya so we opted for Yoshinoya's competitor instead. Wow, a vending machine to order your dinner. Thankfully, Kei was with me, because the whole thing was in Japanese and the pictures were so tiny that they weren't helpful at all. Kei didn't know that water came with the meal so I ended up paying for bottled water. Pooh!
Afterwards, we made it to their own apartment and again, hello, this place isn't small! After checking e-mail and Kei gathering her stuff, we made it back to her grandma's condo where I went straight to my Japanese bed for the night (umm, after I gargled the antiseptic. LoL). It was uneventful, but very long day for this traveler.
Monday, April 6, 2009
Annyeong, Seoul
Oh no. It's my last full day in Seoul. Say it ain't so!
After mailing a couple of postcards at the Seoul Central Post Office (again, only five minutes away from my hotel!), I walked over to Namdaemun Market, another Divisoria if you will. I found myself inside the accessories arcade, but it seemed very early and not all the tinderas were around. Walking further to Seoul Station, I caught the train to go to the World Cup Stadium.
I haven't had breakfast so I went to the mall's foodcourt. I knew how to order at a foodcourt since that's what I did in the AK Mall in Suwon, but since all the restaurant names were in Hangul at this mall, I didn't know which one had my bulgogi dolsot bibimbap. The cashier, who was quite nice and seemed to be familiar with confused tourists, walked me over to my counter and told the cooking ajummas to look after me. HeHe. The ajummas were all smiling at me and seemed to be quite amused. They kept talking to me, but I had no idea what they were saying. For the first round, I figured they asked me where I was from so I said, "Miguk saram." They all smiled and repeated what I said and then they started talking away again like I understood them. Eventually, one of the ajummas spoke up and addressed me directly and I'm like, "Uhh, I don't understand." No, really, ajummas, I don't understand. LoL. But eventually the light bulb turned on, and I eventually got that she was telling me to sit down while they cook my food. Score!
When the food was ready, they hollered from five feet away that my food was ready. Funny, but I was quite appreciative that they were looking out for me because I probably would've just sat there while my food was getting cold. Since my tongue almost fell off from all the spiciness of my last dolsot bibimbap at Insadong, I made sure to sit next to the water dispenser this time around in case I need to chug down lots of water again. HeHe. While finishing up my huge stone pot of rice goodness, a mother and daughter pair sat at a table next to me. As always, the baby was looking at me and I was making funny faces at her to make her laugh. Why do babies love me? Before I left, I said "Annyeong!" to the baby while the mother happily looked on. Ha! I swear, there's hope for my Korean language skills! HaHa!
I went back outside and walked around the World Cup Stadium. I was hoping to see the grass, but all the gates seemed to be locked without anyone around. However, I eventually saw some ajummas cleaning up outside and sure enough, a few more steps further led me to an opened gate. Bingo! I just went in and walked down to the seats. Ahhhhhhh! The location for KimRaeWon's "What Planet Are You From?". Mission completed. HaHa! Actually, a couple of nights back, there was a soccer game between NKorea and SKorea, but I didn't think it would be fun for me to go alone so I decided against it. But this is good enough.
I had to be in Yeouido for an appointment at 1:30 so I took the train to Yeouinaru Station. Before leaving the station, an ajussi asked me if the train was going to Yeouido and I said yes. I kept on thinking, "Out of everyone he saw, how unfortunate of him to pick a tourist to ask this question." HeHe. Good thing I knew the correct answer. He then asked me if I was American and I said yes. Hmm, must be the jeans, sweater, and sneakers ensemble that gave it away. He later told me that his brother was studying at University of Michigan. I wanted to ask him more about the job market here in Seoul, but the language barrier couldn't handle it. When we got out of Yeouinaru, he pointed me to the 63 Building, but I knew there was a free shuttle that I can take so instead of heading over there, I made a detour instead. I bid him goodbye and looked for the shuttle stop.
I couldn't find it. How far is 40 meters? This American doesn't know. And I should've downloaded an Apple app for metrics conversion before I left Seattle! After going up and down the street, I found the shuttle, but it didn't stop when I flagged it down. It turned out that the shuttle stop was further down the street. When I got there, everything was in Korean and if I assumed correctly, the shuttle arrives every hour. If I were to wait for the next one, I'd be late for my appointment, so I started heading over to the National Assembly Building, which I soon realized was quite a walk from where I was.
Since I didn't have internet anymore at my hotel, I didn't have the phone number nor the map of the KBS Building that I was supposed to go to. All I knew was it was the one near the National Assembly. I passed by the very packed Yeouido Park where Cathy was at a couple of days ago, hoping to catch the sakuras in full bloom. The park was full of office workers at their lunch hour...not sure why they were there since I didn't see any restaurants nearby. Eventually, I found the KBS Building. Woot!
Walking inside, it reminded of those couple of times I had to go to the ABS-CBN Building for my pointless interviews at Star Cinema. When I got to the receptionist, it took another fifteen minutes for them to figure out where I was supposed to go since I didn't have the phone number of who I was supposed to see. Eventually, they managed to figure it out and off I went to see Sarah and Chris tape their K-Pop Connection show on KBS World Radio. What friendly people in the English section of KBS World Radio! Free plug! HaHa! I was telling them of my unemployment and how I want to find a job in Seoul, but all of them kept telling me that the easiest route is to be an English teacher since all of them started as such. Aigoo!
So that's how radio shows are made. Cool stuff. And I really love how one's voice comes off really nice on radio waves. I wonder if my squeaky, high-pitched voice can be improved via those mics. HaHa!
After bidding them adieu, I headed over to Yeouinaru Station to do this shuttle thing again. Luckily, it arrived shortly after I got there. Ahh, 63 Building. Unfortunately, there were some people with me at the elevator, so I couldn't raise my fist, look up, and shout "Supermaaaaaan" as the elevator went up. Oh come on, you know you want to try it, too. The view was still quite hazy, but it was a little better than yesterday's Seoul Tower view. As I looked out the windows, I really kept wishing that a job will turn up for me in this crazy, but fun city. All the KBS World Radio folks kept telling me that it's all about connections, similar to how I eventually found a job in Manila. Let's see, there's Cathy...and there's Cathy. HaHa!
I was hoping to go on a Hanggang Cruise and go to Olympic Park, but I'm just way too pooped to walk and I wanted to be back at Myeongdong before the stores closed. Instead, I headed back to catch the train. At my hotel, I asked if Break-Out had a show tonight and it did, but watching it would be another W50,000 and the stores would be closed by the time the show let out. So instead, I just walked around Myeongdong and relished my last moments there. I bought some carmelized sweet potatoes (grub!), but refrained from another hotteok. After awhile, my feet started aching so I headed back to my hotel at 8:30pm, the earliest I've been back in all of my six days in this city.
While doing my laundry on the 10th floor and watching CNN report about Barack being in London to meet the Queen, it finally set in that I'll be leaving tomorrow. *Sniff.
After mailing a couple of postcards at the Seoul Central Post Office (again, only five minutes away from my hotel!), I walked over to Namdaemun Market, another Divisoria if you will. I found myself inside the accessories arcade, but it seemed very early and not all the tinderas were around. Walking further to Seoul Station, I caught the train to go to the World Cup Stadium.
I haven't had breakfast so I went to the mall's foodcourt. I knew how to order at a foodcourt since that's what I did in the AK Mall in Suwon, but since all the restaurant names were in Hangul at this mall, I didn't know which one had my bulgogi dolsot bibimbap. The cashier, who was quite nice and seemed to be familiar with confused tourists, walked me over to my counter and told the cooking ajummas to look after me. HeHe. The ajummas were all smiling at me and seemed to be quite amused. They kept talking to me, but I had no idea what they were saying. For the first round, I figured they asked me where I was from so I said, "Miguk saram." They all smiled and repeated what I said and then they started talking away again like I understood them. Eventually, one of the ajummas spoke up and addressed me directly and I'm like, "Uhh, I don't understand." No, really, ajummas, I don't understand. LoL. But eventually the light bulb turned on, and I eventually got that she was telling me to sit down while they cook my food. Score!
When the food was ready, they hollered from five feet away that my food was ready. Funny, but I was quite appreciative that they were looking out for me because I probably would've just sat there while my food was getting cold. Since my tongue almost fell off from all the spiciness of my last dolsot bibimbap at Insadong, I made sure to sit next to the water dispenser this time around in case I need to chug down lots of water again. HeHe. While finishing up my huge stone pot of rice goodness, a mother and daughter pair sat at a table next to me. As always, the baby was looking at me and I was making funny faces at her to make her laugh. Why do babies love me? Before I left, I said "Annyeong!" to the baby while the mother happily looked on. Ha! I swear, there's hope for my Korean language skills! HaHa!
I went back outside and walked around the World Cup Stadium. I was hoping to see the grass, but all the gates seemed to be locked without anyone around. However, I eventually saw some ajummas cleaning up outside and sure enough, a few more steps further led me to an opened gate. Bingo! I just went in and walked down to the seats. Ahhhhhhh! The location for KimRaeWon's "What Planet Are You From?". Mission completed. HaHa! Actually, a couple of nights back, there was a soccer game between NKorea and SKorea, but I didn't think it would be fun for me to go alone so I decided against it. But this is good enough.
I had to be in Yeouido for an appointment at 1:30 so I took the train to Yeouinaru Station. Before leaving the station, an ajussi asked me if the train was going to Yeouido and I said yes. I kept on thinking, "Out of everyone he saw, how unfortunate of him to pick a tourist to ask this question." HeHe. Good thing I knew the correct answer. He then asked me if I was American and I said yes. Hmm, must be the jeans, sweater, and sneakers ensemble that gave it away. He later told me that his brother was studying at University of Michigan. I wanted to ask him more about the job market here in Seoul, but the language barrier couldn't handle it. When we got out of Yeouinaru, he pointed me to the 63 Building, but I knew there was a free shuttle that I can take so instead of heading over there, I made a detour instead. I bid him goodbye and looked for the shuttle stop.
I couldn't find it. How far is 40 meters? This American doesn't know. And I should've downloaded an Apple app for metrics conversion before I left Seattle! After going up and down the street, I found the shuttle, but it didn't stop when I flagged it down. It turned out that the shuttle stop was further down the street. When I got there, everything was in Korean and if I assumed correctly, the shuttle arrives every hour. If I were to wait for the next one, I'd be late for my appointment, so I started heading over to the National Assembly Building, which I soon realized was quite a walk from where I was.
Since I didn't have internet anymore at my hotel, I didn't have the phone number nor the map of the KBS Building that I was supposed to go to. All I knew was it was the one near the National Assembly. I passed by the very packed Yeouido Park where Cathy was at a couple of days ago, hoping to catch the sakuras in full bloom. The park was full of office workers at their lunch hour...not sure why they were there since I didn't see any restaurants nearby. Eventually, I found the KBS Building. Woot!
Walking inside, it reminded of those couple of times I had to go to the ABS-CBN Building for my pointless interviews at Star Cinema. When I got to the receptionist, it took another fifteen minutes for them to figure out where I was supposed to go since I didn't have the phone number of who I was supposed to see. Eventually, they managed to figure it out and off I went to see Sarah and Chris tape their K-Pop Connection show on KBS World Radio. What friendly people in the English section of KBS World Radio! Free plug! HaHa! I was telling them of my unemployment and how I want to find a job in Seoul, but all of them kept telling me that the easiest route is to be an English teacher since all of them started as such. Aigoo!
So that's how radio shows are made. Cool stuff. And I really love how one's voice comes off really nice on radio waves. I wonder if my squeaky, high-pitched voice can be improved via those mics. HaHa!
After bidding them adieu, I headed over to Yeouinaru Station to do this shuttle thing again. Luckily, it arrived shortly after I got there. Ahh, 63 Building. Unfortunately, there were some people with me at the elevator, so I couldn't raise my fist, look up, and shout "Supermaaaaaan" as the elevator went up. Oh come on, you know you want to try it, too. The view was still quite hazy, but it was a little better than yesterday's Seoul Tower view. As I looked out the windows, I really kept wishing that a job will turn up for me in this crazy, but fun city. All the KBS World Radio folks kept telling me that it's all about connections, similar to how I eventually found a job in Manila. Let's see, there's Cathy...and there's Cathy. HaHa!
I was hoping to go on a Hanggang Cruise and go to Olympic Park, but I'm just way too pooped to walk and I wanted to be back at Myeongdong before the stores closed. Instead, I headed back to catch the train. At my hotel, I asked if Break-Out had a show tonight and it did, but watching it would be another W50,000 and the stores would be closed by the time the show let out. So instead, I just walked around Myeongdong and relished my last moments there. I bought some carmelized sweet potatoes (grub!), but refrained from another hotteok. After awhile, my feet started aching so I headed back to my hotel at 8:30pm, the earliest I've been back in all of my six days in this city.
While doing my laundry on the 10th floor and watching CNN report about Barack being in London to meet the Queen, it finally set in that I'll be leaving tomorrow. *Sniff.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Seoul Sunday
What's a Catholic girl supposed to do when it's Palm Sunday and a cathedral is just up the street from her hotel? Why go to mass, of course. I actually brought a dress with me specifically for this occasion. Hindi naman prepared, no? HaHa!
While walking there, a group of Filipino men were behind me chatting away about the prices of shoes at ABC Mart and once inside the Myeongdong Cathedral, I spotted more Filipinos; even a couple of the readers were pinoys. Cathy had asked me if I made chika, but I kept to myself. I think I started putting away my PR self after my Macau experience; I just don't feel comfy telling people that I'm a tourist while they're working hard for their money in that very city to provide bare necessities to their families back in the Philippines. Parang hindi tama. Also, I don't want Friendster requests from their single male siblings a few weeks later. LoL. True story yan after my Macau experience. HaHa!
Anyway, after taking pictures of the Cathedral after the mass (apparently, I wasn't the only tourist around), I proceeded to Dunkin' Donuts to finally have breakfast. Who was sitting next to me? LeeMinHo...uhh, in poster form, you fangirls out there. LoL. I find it amusing that there are soooo many DDs in Seoul while there isn't a single one that I know of in Seattle. The brand is totally extinct in Seattle while it seems to be thriving in Asia (DD next to SM Supermarket in Megamall always provided me with my Bavarian donut fix). I grabbed a window seat on the second floor and watched people pass by while I stuffed myself with a chocolate mocha donut or whatever the heck that yummy flavor was called.
With all the caffeine and sugar power, I started heading over to the Namsan Cable Car station. Dammit, it was another hike and a half. If I had known about all these uphill battles in Seoul, I would've brought my cross-trainers and workout clothes instead.
It was way too hazy to see a clear view of Seoul, but I can now add Seoul Tower to my list of towers I've visited in Asia: Macau and Kuala Lumpur. All around the base of the tower are chain-linked fences with padlocks, a ritual that couples do to show that their love will last foreverrrrrr. Being the maldita girl that I am, I was going to buy a padlock and dedicate it to my future husband, but it was too sawi that I eventually decided against it. LoL. Saka na lang kapag together forever na kami ni LeeDongWook.
While walking down Namsan, I found out another kdrama spot. You know in the end of My Lovely Sam-Soon, there's that long flight of stairs where they kiss? I always wondered where the hell that was shot and voila, I found it at the bottom of Namsan where you take the winding road back to the cable car station.
Since I was in the area already, I walked over to the Seoul Animation Center. Supposedly, this was the location for the rooftop house in Coffee Prince. After going up the flight of stairs to the rooftop, the doors were closed so I went back down to talk to someone before I got arrested for trespassing.
Me: Yongo haseyo?
Girl: No. (And then she asked me if I spoke Japanese.)
Me: No. Uhhh, can...I...go...upstairs...and...see...Coffee...Prince...house?
Girl: (She asks someone else and says something "Coffee Prince"). Yes. Uhh...door...might...lock. Maybe.
Me: Okay. Thank you!
With a smile on my face, I hurried back up to the semi-locked door, opened it, and...what the ef?! It looked nothing like it did in the drama! I'm like, "Are my eyes deceiving me?!" I propped the outside bench to keep the door from locking me out, and even went up these steep, steel ladder, thinking that maybe, the house is up there. But nothing. Ugh! Didn't I say "Coffee Prince" and didn't the girl say "Coffee Prince"? If I was in the wrong place, I would think the girl would've said something. Boo. Remind me to watch Coffee Prince as soon as I get back to Seattle!
After making my way down to Myeongdong Station, I spotted the Delimanjoo stand that I kept telling Cathy that I couldn't find. A whole bag is only W2,000. I bit into one and almost burnt my tongue from the very hot custard inside. My eyes were watering heavily as I waited for my train to arrive. Realizing that I wasn't exactly sure which stop I was going to, I asked a guy, "Yongo haseyo?" and miraculously, he said yes. I asked him if COEX Mall is at the Samseong Station and he said yes. Woot! Unfortunately, he wasn't cute so I just went back to stuffing my mouth with Delimanjoos. HaHa!
Ahh, COEX Mall. Its sign reminded me of Suria KLCC's in Kuala Lumpur, but KLCC is a much posher mall. When I went to McDonalds yesterday, I saw that they had a Shrimp Burger and I was curious what that tasted like so I made another trip to McDonalds and tried it. Gross. I prefer the Bulgogi Burger over this one. I spotted a couple of cute guys, but I later found them smoking outside so I had to put my cougar self away.
Across from the COEX Aquarium was a souvenir shop so I finally bought a few little things to bring back. I thought the prices there were much cheaper than those in Insadong, but same goods. After stopping by Bandi & Luni's Bookstore to buy a couple of cutesy cards (one of which depicted a cartoonish image of a KoreanVirgin. I'm not kidding, that's what it says!), I headed back to the subway station to meet up with Cathy in Apgujeong.
So really, I have no business to be at Apgujeong since I don't have the money nor the interest in buying luxury items, but since they named this place the "Rodeo Drive of Seoul", I was curious to see if it actually lived up to its name. Uhhh, the place looked like any other friggen street in Seoul, complete with uneven sidewalks; I must've rolled my ankle at least twice every day since I've been here from all the uneven pavement in this city. I kept thinking, "If this was America, someone would've sued the city already."
Further down the street, more high-end stores abound. And you can tell because there's barely anyone walking along this end. While Cathy was taking pictures of all the artsy things on the street, I was just looking forward, making muni-muni and that's where I saw (drumroll please!) LeeDongGun coming out of a store. I was so taken aback that it took me a couple of seconds to say to Cathy in a whisper, "Cathy, hindi ba si...si...LeeDongGun yun?!" I had my camera in my hand, but I swear, hindi ako makagalaw. I just couldn't believe my eyes. Grabe talaga ang showbiz radar ko. Kahit saan gumagana!
LeeDongGun eventually left our sight without us taking a single picture. So let me just say my piece about celebrities: I actually do feel sorry for them. Imagine not being able to walk down the street in peace or eating somewhere and people are taking pictures of you. I'd hate that. So, I do make it a point to not harass any of them for pictures whenever I run into them randomly. Imagine all those missed picture opportunities at Shangri-La Mall with Piolo and John Lloyd! HeHe.
All that excitement burned enough calories to warrant another kalbi dinner, but this time at Itaewon. Yum, yum, yum. I swear, I can live off of kalbi, bulgogi, and dolsot bibimbap everyday. I really don't know how Koreans can stay so thin with all these foods around!
With some time left before stores closed, Cathy brought me to Kyobo bookstore in Gwanghamun to browse. I had no intention of buying anything since my kpop stash at home is quite up to date, but I eventually gave in and bought legit copies of Big Bang's first and second concert DVDs. They're so much cheaper than at YesAsia! Grabe! I had wanted to buy a copy of My Mighty Princess, but it was too expensive and coded Region 3. Tsk!
Cathy and I ended the night at Twosome Place for coffee and cake, and very many "How can I find work here?" whinings from me. The former is such a Filipino thing to do; the latter is so me. HaHa!
While walking there, a group of Filipino men were behind me chatting away about the prices of shoes at ABC Mart and once inside the Myeongdong Cathedral, I spotted more Filipinos; even a couple of the readers were pinoys. Cathy had asked me if I made chika, but I kept to myself. I think I started putting away my PR self after my Macau experience; I just don't feel comfy telling people that I'm a tourist while they're working hard for their money in that very city to provide bare necessities to their families back in the Philippines. Parang hindi tama. Also, I don't want Friendster requests from their single male siblings a few weeks later. LoL. True story yan after my Macau experience. HaHa!
Anyway, after taking pictures of the Cathedral after the mass (apparently, I wasn't the only tourist around), I proceeded to Dunkin' Donuts to finally have breakfast. Who was sitting next to me? LeeMinHo...uhh, in poster form, you fangirls out there. LoL. I find it amusing that there are soooo many DDs in Seoul while there isn't a single one that I know of in Seattle. The brand is totally extinct in Seattle while it seems to be thriving in Asia (DD next to SM Supermarket in Megamall always provided me with my Bavarian donut fix). I grabbed a window seat on the second floor and watched people pass by while I stuffed myself with a chocolate mocha donut or whatever the heck that yummy flavor was called.
With all the caffeine and sugar power, I started heading over to the Namsan Cable Car station. Dammit, it was another hike and a half. If I had known about all these uphill battles in Seoul, I would've brought my cross-trainers and workout clothes instead.
It was way too hazy to see a clear view of Seoul, but I can now add Seoul Tower to my list of towers I've visited in Asia: Macau and Kuala Lumpur. All around the base of the tower are chain-linked fences with padlocks, a ritual that couples do to show that their love will last foreverrrrrr. Being the maldita girl that I am, I was going to buy a padlock and dedicate it to my future husband, but it was too sawi that I eventually decided against it. LoL. Saka na lang kapag together forever na kami ni LeeDongWook.
While walking down Namsan, I found out another kdrama spot. You know in the end of My Lovely Sam-Soon, there's that long flight of stairs where they kiss? I always wondered where the hell that was shot and voila, I found it at the bottom of Namsan where you take the winding road back to the cable car station.
Since I was in the area already, I walked over to the Seoul Animation Center. Supposedly, this was the location for the rooftop house in Coffee Prince. After going up the flight of stairs to the rooftop, the doors were closed so I went back down to talk to someone before I got arrested for trespassing.
Me: Yongo haseyo?
Girl: No. (And then she asked me if I spoke Japanese.)
Me: No. Uhhh, can...I...go...upstairs...and...see...Coffee...Prince...house?
Girl: (She asks someone else and says something "Coffee Prince"). Yes. Uhh...door...might...lock. Maybe.
Me: Okay. Thank you!
With a smile on my face, I hurried back up to the semi-locked door, opened it, and...what the ef?! It looked nothing like it did in the drama! I'm like, "Are my eyes deceiving me?!" I propped the outside bench to keep the door from locking me out, and even went up these steep, steel ladder, thinking that maybe, the house is up there. But nothing. Ugh! Didn't I say "Coffee Prince" and didn't the girl say "Coffee Prince"? If I was in the wrong place, I would think the girl would've said something. Boo. Remind me to watch Coffee Prince as soon as I get back to Seattle!
After making my way down to Myeongdong Station, I spotted the Delimanjoo stand that I kept telling Cathy that I couldn't find. A whole bag is only W2,000. I bit into one and almost burnt my tongue from the very hot custard inside. My eyes were watering heavily as I waited for my train to arrive. Realizing that I wasn't exactly sure which stop I was going to, I asked a guy, "Yongo haseyo?" and miraculously, he said yes. I asked him if COEX Mall is at the Samseong Station and he said yes. Woot! Unfortunately, he wasn't cute so I just went back to stuffing my mouth with Delimanjoos. HaHa!
Ahh, COEX Mall. Its sign reminded me of Suria KLCC's in Kuala Lumpur, but KLCC is a much posher mall. When I went to McDonalds yesterday, I saw that they had a Shrimp Burger and I was curious what that tasted like so I made another trip to McDonalds and tried it. Gross. I prefer the Bulgogi Burger over this one. I spotted a couple of cute guys, but I later found them smoking outside so I had to put my cougar self away.
Across from the COEX Aquarium was a souvenir shop so I finally bought a few little things to bring back. I thought the prices there were much cheaper than those in Insadong, but same goods. After stopping by Bandi & Luni's Bookstore to buy a couple of cutesy cards (one of which depicted a cartoonish image of a KoreanVirgin. I'm not kidding, that's what it says!), I headed back to the subway station to meet up with Cathy in Apgujeong.
So really, I have no business to be at Apgujeong since I don't have the money nor the interest in buying luxury items, but since they named this place the "Rodeo Drive of Seoul", I was curious to see if it actually lived up to its name. Uhhh, the place looked like any other friggen street in Seoul, complete with uneven sidewalks; I must've rolled my ankle at least twice every day since I've been here from all the uneven pavement in this city. I kept thinking, "If this was America, someone would've sued the city already."
Further down the street, more high-end stores abound. And you can tell because there's barely anyone walking along this end. While Cathy was taking pictures of all the artsy things on the street, I was just looking forward, making muni-muni and that's where I saw (drumroll please!) LeeDongGun coming out of a store. I was so taken aback that it took me a couple of seconds to say to Cathy in a whisper, "Cathy, hindi ba si...si...LeeDongGun yun?!" I had my camera in my hand, but I swear, hindi ako makagalaw. I just couldn't believe my eyes. Grabe talaga ang showbiz radar ko. Kahit saan gumagana!
LeeDongGun eventually left our sight without us taking a single picture. So let me just say my piece about celebrities: I actually do feel sorry for them. Imagine not being able to walk down the street in peace or eating somewhere and people are taking pictures of you. I'd hate that. So, I do make it a point to not harass any of them for pictures whenever I run into them randomly. Imagine all those missed picture opportunities at Shangri-La Mall with Piolo and John Lloyd! HeHe.
All that excitement burned enough calories to warrant another kalbi dinner, but this time at Itaewon. Yum, yum, yum. I swear, I can live off of kalbi, bulgogi, and dolsot bibimbap everyday. I really don't know how Koreans can stay so thin with all these foods around!
With some time left before stores closed, Cathy brought me to Kyobo bookstore in Gwanghamun to browse. I had no intention of buying anything since my kpop stash at home is quite up to date, but I eventually gave in and bought legit copies of Big Bang's first and second concert DVDs. They're so much cheaper than at YesAsia! Grabe! I had wanted to buy a copy of My Mighty Princess, but it was too expensive and coded Region 3. Tsk!
Cathy and I ended the night at Twosome Place for coffee and cake, and very many "How can I find work here?" whinings from me. The former is such a Filipino thing to do; the latter is so me. HaHa!
Saturday, April 4, 2009
Seoul-Full
When I was planning my trip, I had initially settled on three nights in a hostel and four nights in a hotel to accommodate my maarte self. I had booked the hotel nights right away, but kept putting off reserving the hostel nights. After all of that mental/monetary debate, I ended up booking all my rooms at hotels, three different hotels to be exact.
Today, I left my very lovely hotel in Insadong and moved to another hotel to a supposedly more central location in Myeongdong. Though, they're not very far from each other if you're a walker like me. After getting up in the morning, I walked around Insadong and the Gwanghamun area to finish off any tourist destinations that I've left off.
I dropped by Jogyesa Temple and saw the very many lanterns in preparation for Buddha's birthday. Right outside the temple is a smiling buddha which I just wanted to carry home with me. I also found the Hammering Man statue in Gwanghamun, which is similar to what we have outside the Seattle Art Museum. Walking around in the morning in any city is quite nice. No crowds, cool temperatures, just perfect for some peace and exercise.
After returning back to my homebase of Jonggak Station, I went inside Jongno Tower to find out if there was an observatory of some sort in the building. Being that it was Saturday, it was dead quiet in there and I spoke to the security guard. As always, I started with "Yongo haseyo?" and he said no, but I kept talking to him anyway. HaHa! For the first time I had to be a mime and act out what "observatory" meant. He eventually got what I meant and he said there's no observatory, but only a restaurant which didn't open until 11am. Darn, I'm way too early.
Disappointed, I took the train to Dongdaemun Market, or as I quickly found out, the Divisoria of Seoul. Seoul is really a shopper's paradise if you have the luggage space and body type that fits into these small-sized clothes. Unfortunately, I had neither so I ended up trying to find Dongdaemun Stadium. I kept walking around trying to find it, but duh, it was torn down. You know, it's really hard to find something that doesn't exist anymore. ;P
I took the train back to Jonggak, but still was too early to see the guard changing ceremony at Bosingak so I headed over to McDonalds. So, I decided to stay at this particular hotel because it was near food and there's a 24-hour McDonalds right at the street corner should I ever get hungry in the middle of the night (you know, you always gotta think like a Girl Scout!). However, I've never eaten there because I've opted for Korean food. Well, I decided that it was time to find out what a Mickey D's Bulgogi Burger tasted like. Surprisingly, it was actually edible. It was tasty, but weird that bulgogi came in a patty form...with mayo. The restaurant was full of teenagers dressed in their school uniforms and I kept thinking whether they'd grow up obese as I happily ate my french fries.
After checking out a couple minutes of the guard changing ceremony at Bosingak, which I already saw in 2007, I left my Insadong hotel and hauled my luggage all the way to Myeongdong. The problem? Those darn underpasses full of stairs. Dammit. It was also noontime so the sun didn't help with the situation. I only noticed that there were elevators in the subway stations after I exited Euljiro Il-ga. Ugh!
I managed to get to Ibis Myeongdong in one piece, but all sweaty and gross. I stayed in to cool down and analyzed my new hotel room. I liked my Insadong hotel better. There, I had a water cooler, computer with internet, plus 100 channels to choose from in my room, not to mention a very spacious bathroom. Here, think tiny. And this is more expensive. Tsk! Plus, unlike Insadong, there's not a bakery nearby where I can get my breakfast every morning. Bad move, girlfriend. I guess the only perks are being able to say that I got to stay in Myeongdong and the view from my window.
By 2pm, I met up with Cathy and Tess at Hongik University station. They wanted to shop at the flea market while I wanted to visit the 1st Coffee Prince shop. First stop: onomiyaki for lunch. Yum! Something to look forward to once I get to Japan. Second stop: flea market where I got pushed around by ajummas and every one else. I wouldn't mind it if people actually said "Excuse me" or "Sorry", but that's not done around here. Third stop: Coffee Prince shop. Yes, I made the pilgrimage. HaHa! Coffee is quite expensive over there, more expensive than at Starbucks! Cathy was all game for ordering and going all out with "experiencing" the place, but after being ignored by the waiters, I took the pictures that I went there for and told Cathy and Tess that I have no shame in leaving if they wanted to right now. Hey, no customer service for customers? And you want how much for the coffee?! No thanks.
Fourth stop: Ballerina Who Fell in Love with a BBoy show. This is actually the sequel to the popular original version. Unfortunately, the original version isn't playing right now because its new stage is still being constructed. Ugh. But since I can't wait for that, I decided to watch the sequel. Ehh, I shouldn't have; at least not for the W50,000 I paid. The plot dealt with death so it wasn't as fun as JUMP or NANTA which were more on the comedic side. Plus, the darn English explanations on the screen were all screwy so I couldn't really follow the story. People, please, contact me and I'd gladly clean up those English translations for free to avoid people experiencing the same frustration I had. Anyway, I came there to check out the bboys: they're actually good. Granted that I think there are way better bboys here in the States, but the poplockers of the Korea All-Stars were really good. I think the whole crew just lacked swag which is needed if you want people to think you're the shiznit (wow, I went hella old school on that word. HaHa!).
Fifth stop: noraebang. Okay, I may listen to music a lot from varying genres, but regardless of how many times I hear a song, I never ever remember the words and most often than not, I don't remember how songs start off. With those kind of problems and a horrible singing voice, I'm really the worst person to take to karaoke. I always need someone to back me up to keep me in line. HeHe. Regardless, it was a pleasure to say that I went to a noraebang while in Seoul. :)
Afterwards, I got to eat some more streetfood: those fish-shaped bread thingies stuffed with red beans/custard. I love these $1-$2 food options! They're so awesome!
Oh, another day down.
Today, I left my very lovely hotel in Insadong and moved to another hotel to a supposedly more central location in Myeongdong. Though, they're not very far from each other if you're a walker like me. After getting up in the morning, I walked around Insadong and the Gwanghamun area to finish off any tourist destinations that I've left off.
I dropped by Jogyesa Temple and saw the very many lanterns in preparation for Buddha's birthday. Right outside the temple is a smiling buddha which I just wanted to carry home with me. I also found the Hammering Man statue in Gwanghamun, which is similar to what we have outside the Seattle Art Museum. Walking around in the morning in any city is quite nice. No crowds, cool temperatures, just perfect for some peace and exercise.
After returning back to my homebase of Jonggak Station, I went inside Jongno Tower to find out if there was an observatory of some sort in the building. Being that it was Saturday, it was dead quiet in there and I spoke to the security guard. As always, I started with "Yongo haseyo?" and he said no, but I kept talking to him anyway. HaHa! For the first time I had to be a mime and act out what "observatory" meant. He eventually got what I meant and he said there's no observatory, but only a restaurant which didn't open until 11am. Darn, I'm way too early.
Disappointed, I took the train to Dongdaemun Market, or as I quickly found out, the Divisoria of Seoul. Seoul is really a shopper's paradise if you have the luggage space and body type that fits into these small-sized clothes. Unfortunately, I had neither so I ended up trying to find Dongdaemun Stadium. I kept walking around trying to find it, but duh, it was torn down. You know, it's really hard to find something that doesn't exist anymore. ;P
I took the train back to Jonggak, but still was too early to see the guard changing ceremony at Bosingak so I headed over to McDonalds. So, I decided to stay at this particular hotel because it was near food and there's a 24-hour McDonalds right at the street corner should I ever get hungry in the middle of the night (you know, you always gotta think like a Girl Scout!). However, I've never eaten there because I've opted for Korean food. Well, I decided that it was time to find out what a Mickey D's Bulgogi Burger tasted like. Surprisingly, it was actually edible. It was tasty, but weird that bulgogi came in a patty form...with mayo. The restaurant was full of teenagers dressed in their school uniforms and I kept thinking whether they'd grow up obese as I happily ate my french fries.
After checking out a couple minutes of the guard changing ceremony at Bosingak, which I already saw in 2007, I left my Insadong hotel and hauled my luggage all the way to Myeongdong. The problem? Those darn underpasses full of stairs. Dammit. It was also noontime so the sun didn't help with the situation. I only noticed that there were elevators in the subway stations after I exited Euljiro Il-ga. Ugh!
I managed to get to Ibis Myeongdong in one piece, but all sweaty and gross. I stayed in to cool down and analyzed my new hotel room. I liked my Insadong hotel better. There, I had a water cooler, computer with internet, plus 100 channels to choose from in my room, not to mention a very spacious bathroom. Here, think tiny. And this is more expensive. Tsk! Plus, unlike Insadong, there's not a bakery nearby where I can get my breakfast every morning. Bad move, girlfriend. I guess the only perks are being able to say that I got to stay in Myeongdong and the view from my window.
By 2pm, I met up with Cathy and Tess at Hongik University station. They wanted to shop at the flea market while I wanted to visit the 1st Coffee Prince shop. First stop: onomiyaki for lunch. Yum! Something to look forward to once I get to Japan. Second stop: flea market where I got pushed around by ajummas and every one else. I wouldn't mind it if people actually said "Excuse me" or "Sorry", but that's not done around here. Third stop: Coffee Prince shop. Yes, I made the pilgrimage. HaHa! Coffee is quite expensive over there, more expensive than at Starbucks! Cathy was all game for ordering and going all out with "experiencing" the place, but after being ignored by the waiters, I took the pictures that I went there for and told Cathy and Tess that I have no shame in leaving if they wanted to right now. Hey, no customer service for customers? And you want how much for the coffee?! No thanks.
Fourth stop: Ballerina Who Fell in Love with a BBoy show. This is actually the sequel to the popular original version. Unfortunately, the original version isn't playing right now because its new stage is still being constructed. Ugh. But since I can't wait for that, I decided to watch the sequel. Ehh, I shouldn't have; at least not for the W50,000 I paid. The plot dealt with death so it wasn't as fun as JUMP or NANTA which were more on the comedic side. Plus, the darn English explanations on the screen were all screwy so I couldn't really follow the story. People, please, contact me and I'd gladly clean up those English translations for free to avoid people experiencing the same frustration I had. Anyway, I came there to check out the bboys: they're actually good. Granted that I think there are way better bboys here in the States, but the poplockers of the Korea All-Stars were really good. I think the whole crew just lacked swag which is needed if you want people to think you're the shiznit (wow, I went hella old school on that word. HaHa!).
Fifth stop: noraebang. Okay, I may listen to music a lot from varying genres, but regardless of how many times I hear a song, I never ever remember the words and most often than not, I don't remember how songs start off. With those kind of problems and a horrible singing voice, I'm really the worst person to take to karaoke. I always need someone to back me up to keep me in line. HeHe. Regardless, it was a pleasure to say that I went to a noraebang while in Seoul. :)
Afterwards, I got to eat some more streetfood: those fish-shaped bread thingies stuffed with red beans/custard. I love these $1-$2 food options! They're so awesome!
Oh, another day down.
Friday, April 3, 2009
Walk With Me
As if yesterday's DMZ Third Tunnel wasn't enough, yours truly found another place that almost gave me a heart attack.
The city of Suwon is about 80 minutes by subway from Seoul. Yes, the subway system reaches that far! Coming from Seattle, I get giddy whenever I'm in Asia because every city in the continent seems to have an efficient rail public transportation (yes, even I'm calling Manila's MRT efficient).
First stop? Korean Folk Village. I was actually grumpy in the beginning because Woori Bank gave me the most horrible exchange rate ever (it was the only bank open at 9:15am) and I ended up missing the first run of the free shuttle bus by ten minutes so I had to wait another 50 minutes for the next one to come along. By the time I got there, it was noon already and I didn't even bother to eat lunch because I only had two hours to explore the village before the 2pm return shuttle. Yeah, I'm letting off steam). LoL.
Well, the highlight of the village was my seeing all the elementary school kids on their field trip. I swear, they're all so cute from the tiny tots to the grade schoolers. One of them actually chased me down and asked me a question. Oh little one, if only I knew more Korean, we could converse and I can ask you if you have a twenty-something uncle! Tsk! ;P The areas of the village all looked the same after a while (similar to when you go to Siem Reap, Cambodia and you get all templed out after two days). With a headache from not having eaten lunch, I took the shuttle bus back to Suwon Station at 2pm. I immediately ran to the AK Mall and had jajangmyeon (black bean noodles) at Golden Plate. Another item on my must-eats down!
By 3pm, I was on a public bus to Paldalmun of Hwaseong Fortress. I was actually scared to take the bus because I knew that none of the drivers spoke English, but hey, you can't get lost when your destination is a big ass fortress gate.
I first checked out Hwaseong Haenggung, "The Best of detached Palace Architecture in Joseon Dynasty" as written verbatim from their tourist map. If you watched Jewel in the Palace, you might dig this place since parts of the TV drama was filmed here and some of the costumes used are displayed. I, however, haven't seen an episode so it looked like any other palace that I've been to thus far in Seoul. This led me to hike up the hill to Mirohanjeong to see a bird's eye view of the palace. The view was awesome. But alas, that wasn't the last of my strenous exercises for the day.
The real tourist "spot" in this part of South Korea is Hwaseong Fortress, consisting of four main gates. Little did I know that the second gate after Paldalmun, Hwaseomun, was not the highest part of the fortress. In turned out that the highest part is actually Seojangdae, which I kept aiming for since I kept seeing it from Haenggung. If I had aimed for Hwaseomun correctly, it would've been a much easier climb. Thankfully, I bought water before the climb ("Ajussi...mul" was the successful broken Korean phrase of the day) because I might've passed out half-way up that darn mountain. By the time I got to the third gate, Janganmun, I decided to just return to Paldalmun by walking along Paldal Street instead of walking along the fortress wall. Afterall, each "destination" along the wall looked the same to me as Cathy forewarned me about.
By 6:15, I was on the subway back to Seoul. I got off at the City Hall subway stop and ran to the nearest fast food place which turned out to be KFC. I've had KFC in the Philippines and Thailand so I know there's a bit of a difference in each country from the usual fare we get in the States. What's the difference here in Korea? No gravy (Thailand gives you sweet chili sauce instead) and no sides (Philippines serves rice). Just two pieces of chicken and a drink. Bon appetit!
I finished my meal as quickly as possible so I can catch my 8pm NANTA show. It turned out that the Tourist Information Center yesterday reserved my ticket at the wrong branch! So I ended up paying W10,000 more for a VIP seat just so that I can watch it right there and then. It wouldn't have been bad (my seat was dead center in the fifth row) had the theater not been small. Hmph! But I quickly forgot all my money issues of the day when two of the actors, just like in JUMP, took their shirts off during the latter half of the show. They must really know their audience. HaHa! The show is fun and quite entertaining music-wise and I can see how this is one of the most watched shows in Seoul. Two thumbs up!
When I got back to the hotel, I realized that tomorrow is Saturday already. *SIGH. This trip is nearing its end. *Sniff!
The city of Suwon is about 80 minutes by subway from Seoul. Yes, the subway system reaches that far! Coming from Seattle, I get giddy whenever I'm in Asia because every city in the continent seems to have an efficient rail public transportation (yes, even I'm calling Manila's MRT efficient).
First stop? Korean Folk Village. I was actually grumpy in the beginning because Woori Bank gave me the most horrible exchange rate ever (it was the only bank open at 9:15am) and I ended up missing the first run of the free shuttle bus by ten minutes so I had to wait another 50 minutes for the next one to come along. By the time I got there, it was noon already and I didn't even bother to eat lunch because I only had two hours to explore the village before the 2pm return shuttle. Yeah, I'm letting off steam). LoL.
Well, the highlight of the village was my seeing all the elementary school kids on their field trip. I swear, they're all so cute from the tiny tots to the grade schoolers. One of them actually chased me down and asked me a question. Oh little one, if only I knew more Korean, we could converse and I can ask you if you have a twenty-something uncle! Tsk! ;P The areas of the village all looked the same after a while (similar to when you go to Siem Reap, Cambodia and you get all templed out after two days). With a headache from not having eaten lunch, I took the shuttle bus back to Suwon Station at 2pm. I immediately ran to the AK Mall and had jajangmyeon (black bean noodles) at Golden Plate. Another item on my must-eats down!
By 3pm, I was on a public bus to Paldalmun of Hwaseong Fortress. I was actually scared to take the bus because I knew that none of the drivers spoke English, but hey, you can't get lost when your destination is a big ass fortress gate.
I first checked out Hwaseong Haenggung, "The Best of detached Palace Architecture in Joseon Dynasty" as written verbatim from their tourist map. If you watched Jewel in the Palace, you might dig this place since parts of the TV drama was filmed here and some of the costumes used are displayed. I, however, haven't seen an episode so it looked like any other palace that I've been to thus far in Seoul. This led me to hike up the hill to Mirohanjeong to see a bird's eye view of the palace. The view was awesome. But alas, that wasn't the last of my strenous exercises for the day.
The real tourist "spot" in this part of South Korea is Hwaseong Fortress, consisting of four main gates. Little did I know that the second gate after Paldalmun, Hwaseomun, was not the highest part of the fortress. In turned out that the highest part is actually Seojangdae, which I kept aiming for since I kept seeing it from Haenggung. If I had aimed for Hwaseomun correctly, it would've been a much easier climb. Thankfully, I bought water before the climb ("Ajussi...mul" was the successful broken Korean phrase of the day) because I might've passed out half-way up that darn mountain. By the time I got to the third gate, Janganmun, I decided to just return to Paldalmun by walking along Paldal Street instead of walking along the fortress wall. Afterall, each "destination" along the wall looked the same to me as Cathy forewarned me about.
By 6:15, I was on the subway back to Seoul. I got off at the City Hall subway stop and ran to the nearest fast food place which turned out to be KFC. I've had KFC in the Philippines and Thailand so I know there's a bit of a difference in each country from the usual fare we get in the States. What's the difference here in Korea? No gravy (Thailand gives you sweet chili sauce instead) and no sides (Philippines serves rice). Just two pieces of chicken and a drink. Bon appetit!
I finished my meal as quickly as possible so I can catch my 8pm NANTA show. It turned out that the Tourist Information Center yesterday reserved my ticket at the wrong branch! So I ended up paying W10,000 more for a VIP seat just so that I can watch it right there and then. It wouldn't have been bad (my seat was dead center in the fifth row) had the theater not been small. Hmph! But I quickly forgot all my money issues of the day when two of the actors, just like in JUMP, took their shirts off during the latter half of the show. They must really know their audience. HaHa! The show is fun and quite entertaining music-wise and I can see how this is one of the most watched shows in Seoul. Two thumbs up!
When I got back to the hotel, I realized that tomorrow is Saturday already. *SIGH. This trip is nearing its end. *Sniff!
Thursday, April 2, 2009
DMZ, Yeah You Know Me
Someone finally made it official...
DMZ Tour Shuttle Bus Driver: Are you Korean?
Me: Hanguk saram aniyo. Philipin saram. (I'm not Korean. I'm Filipino)
DMZ Tour Shuttle Bus Driver: Ahh, you look Korean.
Attention LeeDongWook or YooGun! If you're reading this (don't you guys always?!), we can have very cute Korean-looking kids.
Today, I went on a DMZ Tour (Panmunjeom + Third Tunnel). I took the Seoul subway system for the first time this morning to get to the USO office by 7am. My goodness, Seoul is so calm (ahh, there's truth to the "Land of the Morning Calm" monicker) in the wee hours of the morning. It was so calm that none of the bakeries were open; I had to settle for a 7-Eleven breakfast of water and red bean paste bun.
I thought it was all marketing, but the Korean DMZ really is quite tense. It's just in the air...and don't wave like you just don't care because they will shoot. I was actually scared to stand next to one of the soldiers for a photo-op, but I eventually did anyway. ;P
I don't have a fetish with men in uniforms unlike some women, but I swear some of those SouthKoreansoldiers were darn cute in their fatigues. One of them actually spoke straight American English (I had to make sure it wasn't Shinhwa's EricMun) which was just too much icing on the cake. *Drool.
The surprise of the day? I didn't know that visiting the Third Tunnel was a strenuous exercise. My goodness, they need to say something about this on the brochures! As if that wasn't enough, I actually had enough strength later on to walk from the USO office to Itaewon, which was darn far (and uphill!). I thought two subway stops meant a very short distance between the two, but as always, don't ASSume.
Thankfully, I capped off the night with a kalbi dinner with Cathy to recoup all that lost calories and energy. Earlier in the day, I had bulgogi for lunch and while waiting for Cathy, I found the elusive hotteok stall in Myeongdong! Fighting! HaHa! Leave it up to me to fulfill all my food desires ASAP. ;P
As I mentioned to Cathy, I love Seoul. Actually, I just love being anywhere in Asia. I feel quite at home whenever I'm here. Maybe I really do need to figure out a reason to stay here for an indefinite period of time (LeeDongWook, call me!).
DMZ Tour Shuttle Bus Driver: Are you Korean?
Me: Hanguk saram aniyo. Philipin saram. (I'm not Korean. I'm Filipino)
DMZ Tour Shuttle Bus Driver: Ahh, you look Korean.
Attention LeeDongWook or YooGun! If you're reading this (don't you guys always?!), we can have very cute Korean-looking kids.
Today, I went on a DMZ Tour (Panmunjeom + Third Tunnel). I took the Seoul subway system for the first time this morning to get to the USO office by 7am. My goodness, Seoul is so calm (ahh, there's truth to the "Land of the Morning Calm" monicker) in the wee hours of the morning. It was so calm that none of the bakeries were open; I had to settle for a 7-Eleven breakfast of water and red bean paste bun.
I thought it was all marketing, but the Korean DMZ really is quite tense. It's just in the air...and don't wave like you just don't care because they will shoot. I was actually scared to stand next to one of the soldiers for a photo-op, but I eventually did anyway. ;P
I don't have a fetish with men in uniforms unlike some women, but I swear some of those SouthKoreansoldiers were darn cute in their fatigues. One of them actually spoke straight American English (I had to make sure it wasn't Shinhwa's EricMun) which was just too much icing on the cake. *Drool.
The surprise of the day? I didn't know that visiting the Third Tunnel was a strenuous exercise. My goodness, they need to say something about this on the brochures! As if that wasn't enough, I actually had enough strength later on to walk from the USO office to Itaewon, which was darn far (and uphill!). I thought two subway stops meant a very short distance between the two, but as always, don't ASSume.
Thankfully, I capped off the night with a kalbi dinner with Cathy to recoup all that lost calories and energy. Earlier in the day, I had bulgogi for lunch and while waiting for Cathy, I found the elusive hotteok stall in Myeongdong! Fighting! HaHa! Leave it up to me to fulfill all my food desires ASAP. ;P
As I mentioned to Cathy, I love Seoul. Actually, I just love being anywhere in Asia. I feel quite at home whenever I'm here. Maybe I really do need to figure out a reason to stay here for an indefinite period of time (LeeDongWook, call me!).
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
By Looks Only
Ugh! I only slept for two hours last night! This is after getting no sleep at all during my long-haul flight. I turned off the lights at about 10pm and I woke up at 12am, hoping that it was already close to 6am, but no luck. I ended up catching on all the latest CFs and music videos (finally saw Big Bang's Hite commercial) as I tossed and turned until my 7am wake-up call.
Instead of taking the KAL bus to Seoul like I did in 2007, I took the more economical Airport Limosine Bus into the city which was a great idea because it allowed me to see all the different neighborhoods in this metropolis. However, this didn't help me orient myself. When the bus dropped me off at my stop, I knew where I was in reference to where I need to be, but I didn't know where I was in reference to everything else (this is why I always prefer walking whenever I'm on travel rather than taking a taxi or a bus).
After finding out that I couldn't check in early, I decided to kill time at Insadong before my 11:30am English tour of Changdeuk Palace. Ahh, Insadong. It looked quite different from what I remembered the last time I was there since traffic is allowed on the weekdays. It was still quite early at 10am so most of the stores haven't gotten their goods set up yet. After going up and down the street, I walked over to Tapgol Park where harabeojis were chillin', dressed up in their coat and dress pants, similar to how I found them in 2007. There were no school kids this time around, but a bus load of tourists arrived shortly after me. They were all ajummas and halmeonis without a camera so I didn't have to wait long before I could get some shots.
Still too early for Changdeukgung, I checked out a Skin Food store. Ahh, this was the start of my "No, I'm not Korean" escapades. Okay, it actually started at the Paris Baguette Cafe in the airport (their cream cheese danish was delish!) when the cashier asked me something (I'm guessing if I wanted a drink to go with it), but ended up just taking my money after she realized I'm not Korean by my confused look.
The Skin Food store just opened so I found one of the sales girls mopping the floor. When she got around to my side of the store, I tried to tell her to go ahead and don't mind me, but she stopped and started asking me questions to which I started shaking my hand at her while smiling. Not wanting to look like I was having an epileptic shock, I asked, "Yong-o haseyo (Do you know English)?" and she said something like, "No, blah blah blah"...at least that's how I interpreted her answer. Perhaps my pronunciation was perfect because she kept uttering more phrases in Korean. I didn't want to pull out my Lonely Planet Korean Phrasebook so I ended up just saying "I don't understand. Byane" a couple of times until she left me alone.
When I was paying, I tried to practice what little Korean I knew and said "Odi...Changdeukgung (Where...Changdeuk Palace)?" Unfortunately, she and her co-worker didn't know. I think they knew, but just didn't know how to make it easy for me because the Tourist Information Center told me the longest way to get there (I had to backtrack to the other end of Insadong where I was just at some thirty minutes ago). After leaving the underpass at Angguk station, I didn't find any more Changdeukgung directional signs and was worried that I was going to be late for the tour. Luckily, I found two teenagers who didn't ignore me and pointed me further down the street. By the time I got to the ticket booth, I was almost sweaty (almost because it's hard to be sweaty in the Northern Hemisphere during spring), but right on time for the tour. Woot!
Changdeukgung is huge and pretty. Awesome stuff. Unfortunately, the trees and most of the flowers weren't in bloom yet so the shots were less than picture-perfect. Even Biwon, the Secret Garden, wasn't as picturesque as I hoped it would be.
Going for an authentic eating experience (and since I passed by it a gazillion times just today alone), I ate at a Korean restaurant, which resembled like a hanok, in Insadong. I had a nakji (octupus) dolsot bibimbap for W6,000. Even though I only put two spoonfuls of the sauce in the huge pot, my tongue was flaming and I had to keep on wiping my nose from all the snot that was generated (yummy picture, I know). The kimchi, part of the banchan, actually cooled the temperature down, in addition to the delish anchovies (or delish dilis, if you will) and the full jug of water I chugged down.
After a quick stop to buy a Starbucks mug at the uber-familiar store with the hangul-ized sign, I went back to my hotel to finally check in. In the process, I had to walk up and down Insadong again because I couldn't remember which alley in Insadong I came from earlier (darn those skinny streets). I eventually had to ask the Tourist Information Center to give me a hand.
The highlight of my day? Watching JUMP at the Cinecore Theatre, which was just a stone's throw away from my digs; I love being able to walk to these places! Two of the male actors were cute and there were a couple of parts in the show where they didn't have their shirts on. God is seriously not giving me a reason not to like this city. HaHa! One of the guys even looked like a spitting image of BaeYongJoon, a former flame. If this actor had plastic surgery, I wouldn't be surprised if he told his surgeon to make him look like BYJ because he seriously does. With a nice toned body that only martial arts can bring, I couldn't help but smile throughout the whole show. Yes, I felt guilty for having dirtythoughts since this was a family-friendly show. ;P The show itself was quite entertaining and I highly recommend it, with or without the hot actors.
With the sun still up, I decided to finally orient myself because I totally felt lost by not knowing where everything was. I followed Cheonggye Stream which brought me to the city center-the area that I was familiar with-thanks to Cathy's walking tour in 2007. In the process, I found a Rotiboy Bakeshoppe and started thinking that Seoul might be a like Manila in terms of the abundance of restaurants from around the world. With a rotiboy in hand, I still wanted to find more sugary sweetness (who needs dinner when your tongue is still flaming from the bibimbap from some three hours ago) so I headed back to Insadong to find a hotteok stall. After rows of every street food available in Seoul, I didn't see one that resembled a hotteok (or maybe I just didn't recognize it?). Hmm, tomorrow is another day and I'm not leaving Seoul until I eat one!
Instead of taking the KAL bus to Seoul like I did in 2007, I took the more economical Airport Limosine Bus into the city which was a great idea because it allowed me to see all the different neighborhoods in this metropolis. However, this didn't help me orient myself. When the bus dropped me off at my stop, I knew where I was in reference to where I need to be, but I didn't know where I was in reference to everything else (this is why I always prefer walking whenever I'm on travel rather than taking a taxi or a bus).
After finding out that I couldn't check in early, I decided to kill time at Insadong before my 11:30am English tour of Changdeuk Palace. Ahh, Insadong. It looked quite different from what I remembered the last time I was there since traffic is allowed on the weekdays. It was still quite early at 10am so most of the stores haven't gotten their goods set up yet. After going up and down the street, I walked over to Tapgol Park where harabeojis were chillin', dressed up in their coat and dress pants, similar to how I found them in 2007. There were no school kids this time around, but a bus load of tourists arrived shortly after me. They were all ajummas and halmeonis without a camera so I didn't have to wait long before I could get some shots.
Still too early for Changdeukgung, I checked out a Skin Food store. Ahh, this was the start of my "No, I'm not Korean" escapades. Okay, it actually started at the Paris Baguette Cafe in the airport (their cream cheese danish was delish!) when the cashier asked me something (I'm guessing if I wanted a drink to go with it), but ended up just taking my money after she realized I'm not Korean by my confused look.
The Skin Food store just opened so I found one of the sales girls mopping the floor. When she got around to my side of the store, I tried to tell her to go ahead and don't mind me, but she stopped and started asking me questions to which I started shaking my hand at her while smiling. Not wanting to look like I was having an epileptic shock, I asked, "Yong-o haseyo (Do you know English)?" and she said something like, "No, blah blah blah"...at least that's how I interpreted her answer. Perhaps my pronunciation was perfect because she kept uttering more phrases in Korean. I didn't want to pull out my Lonely Planet Korean Phrasebook so I ended up just saying "I don't understand. Byane" a couple of times until she left me alone.
When I was paying, I tried to practice what little Korean I knew and said "Odi...Changdeukgung (Where...Changdeuk Palace)?" Unfortunately, she and her co-worker didn't know. I think they knew, but just didn't know how to make it easy for me because the Tourist Information Center told me the longest way to get there (I had to backtrack to the other end of Insadong where I was just at some thirty minutes ago). After leaving the underpass at Angguk station, I didn't find any more Changdeukgung directional signs and was worried that I was going to be late for the tour. Luckily, I found two teenagers who didn't ignore me and pointed me further down the street. By the time I got to the ticket booth, I was almost sweaty (almost because it's hard to be sweaty in the Northern Hemisphere during spring), but right on time for the tour. Woot!
Changdeukgung is huge and pretty. Awesome stuff. Unfortunately, the trees and most of the flowers weren't in bloom yet so the shots were less than picture-perfect. Even Biwon, the Secret Garden, wasn't as picturesque as I hoped it would be.
Going for an authentic eating experience (and since I passed by it a gazillion times just today alone), I ate at a Korean restaurant, which resembled like a hanok, in Insadong. I had a nakji (octupus) dolsot bibimbap for W6,000. Even though I only put two spoonfuls of the sauce in the huge pot, my tongue was flaming and I had to keep on wiping my nose from all the snot that was generated (yummy picture, I know). The kimchi, part of the banchan, actually cooled the temperature down, in addition to the delish anchovies (or delish dilis, if you will) and the full jug of water I chugged down.
After a quick stop to buy a Starbucks mug at the uber-familiar store with the hangul-ized sign, I went back to my hotel to finally check in. In the process, I had to walk up and down Insadong again because I couldn't remember which alley in Insadong I came from earlier (darn those skinny streets). I eventually had to ask the Tourist Information Center to give me a hand.
The highlight of my day? Watching JUMP at the Cinecore Theatre, which was just a stone's throw away from my digs; I love being able to walk to these places! Two of the male actors were cute and there were a couple of parts in the show where they didn't have their shirts on. God is seriously not giving me a reason not to like this city. HaHa! One of the guys even looked like a spitting image of BaeYongJoon, a former flame. If this actor had plastic surgery, I wouldn't be surprised if he told his surgeon to make him look like BYJ because he seriously does. With a nice toned body that only martial arts can bring, I couldn't help but smile throughout the whole show. Yes, I felt guilty for having dirtythoughts since this was a family-friendly show. ;P The show itself was quite entertaining and I highly recommend it, with or without the hot actors.
With the sun still up, I decided to finally orient myself because I totally felt lost by not knowing where everything was. I followed Cheonggye Stream which brought me to the city center-the area that I was familiar with-thanks to Cathy's walking tour in 2007. In the process, I found a Rotiboy Bakeshoppe and started thinking that Seoul might be a like Manila in terms of the abundance of restaurants from around the world. With a rotiboy in hand, I still wanted to find more sugary sweetness (who needs dinner when your tongue is still flaming from the bibimbap from some three hours ago) so I headed back to Insadong to find a hotteok stall. After rows of every street food available in Seoul, I didn't see one that resembled a hotteok (or maybe I just didn't recognize it?). Hmm, tomorrow is another day and I'm not leaving Seoul until I eat one!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Hi Seoul Indeed
Oh Seoul, I have come back for you!
After almost two years since my 10-hour layover in 2007, I'm back in the Land of the Morning Calm (whatever that is supposed to really mean).
On my flight to Narita, I was sitting in the last row, window seat next to an ajussi. This might be my preferred seat from now on since no one was coughing behind me nor was someone using my headrest to balance himself/herself whenever nature called (the latter is a HUGE pet peeve of mine when flying).
And Asiana Airlines is still my favorite airline; United's food was not up to par compared to what Asiana served me in 2007; I'm not even going to try to describe the half-sandwich that they served as a snack from Narita to Incheon. Plus, no toiletry kit. Boo!
Incheon International is still the greatest airport for me; my local Sea-Tac International can't be compared. I just love how after you claim your luggage and pass the Customs, the double doors open (for each person) and the waiting area is full of people, looking towards you. It feeds the inner wanna-be-celebrity in me since I always imagine the paparazzi are taking pictures as I walk out. HaHa!
As if God granted my shallow wish of an eye-candy-filled trip, I was welcomed by hot oppas right off the bat. The hotel shuttle driver met me at the 1st floor Tourist Information Counter and we proceeded to the shuttle which was filled with passengers already; I ended up sitting in the front. Because of the tinted windows and my not wanting to look too obvious by looking back, I didn't exactly know who was there, but I heard all of them talking in Korean throughout the 15-minute ride from ICN to the Airport Square. I swear, hearing Korean spoken by young guys is music to my ears. ;P When we got to the hotel, God's gift was unwrapped: five twenty-something guys, decked out in suits, who were all equally good-looking by Korean drama standards (I thought one was more good-looking than the rest). "Omo, omo!" alright. Yeah, my happiness is THAT shallow. Let me be. HaHa!
So after my "first day in Seoul", here I am, on my double bed, looking forward to the next six days. Woot!
After almost two years since my 10-hour layover in 2007, I'm back in the Land of the Morning Calm (whatever that is supposed to really mean).
On my flight to Narita, I was sitting in the last row, window seat next to an ajussi. This might be my preferred seat from now on since no one was coughing behind me nor was someone using my headrest to balance himself/herself whenever nature called (the latter is a HUGE pet peeve of mine when flying).
And Asiana Airlines is still my favorite airline; United's food was not up to par compared to what Asiana served me in 2007; I'm not even going to try to describe the half-sandwich that they served as a snack from Narita to Incheon. Plus, no toiletry kit. Boo!
Incheon International is still the greatest airport for me; my local Sea-Tac International can't be compared. I just love how after you claim your luggage and pass the Customs, the double doors open (for each person) and the waiting area is full of people, looking towards you. It feeds the inner wanna-be-celebrity in me since I always imagine the paparazzi are taking pictures as I walk out. HaHa!
As if God granted my shallow wish of an eye-candy-filled trip, I was welcomed by hot oppas right off the bat. The hotel shuttle driver met me at the 1st floor Tourist Information Counter and we proceeded to the shuttle which was filled with passengers already; I ended up sitting in the front. Because of the tinted windows and my not wanting to look too obvious by looking back, I didn't exactly know who was there, but I heard all of them talking in Korean throughout the 15-minute ride from ICN to the Airport Square. I swear, hearing Korean spoken by young guys is music to my ears. ;P When we got to the hotel, God's gift was unwrapped: five twenty-something guys, decked out in suits, who were all equally good-looking by Korean drama standards (I thought one was more good-looking than the rest). "Omo, omo!" alright. Yeah, my happiness is THAT shallow. Let me be. HaHa!
So after my "first day in Seoul", here I am, on my double bed, looking forward to the next six days. Woot!
Monday, March 30, 2009
Off to Some Seoul-Searching
Well, this might be the most anti-climactic trip I've ever taken, thanks to the countdown that I started at five weeks. HeHe! I'm heading off to the airport in a couple of hours and I'm excited to see what else the world has to offer. Be back on April 16th!
Monday, March 16, 2009
Take Your Best Shot
It looks like there won't be any hanami partying for me in Japan based on the Cherry Blossom Forecast. I'm going to miss them in every city based on my current itinerary:
April 7-10: Tokyo
April 11: Himeji
April 12: Miyajima/Hiroshima
April 13: Osaka
April 14: Kyoto
April 15: Nara
April 16: Narita
*SIGH. On the brighter side, at least the tourist spots will be free of blue tents/crowds for picture-perfect shots.
April 7-10: Tokyo
April 11: Himeji
April 12: Miyajima/Hiroshima
April 13: Osaka
April 14: Kyoto
April 15: Nara
April 16: Narita
*SIGH. On the brighter side, at least the tourist spots will be free of blue tents/crowds for picture-perfect shots.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Road to Recovery
I'm a recovering addict.
In the 1980s, my mom and titas brought me to Sanrio Gift Gate in Greenhills and Ali Mall one too many times. I kicked the habit soon after we moved to the US.
But just like any addiction, mine came back in the mid-90s to early 2000. I even worked part-time at a local Sanrio store to satisfy my urges (I basically paid Sanrio to work there because all of my paychecks went straight back to the store, thanks to my 25% employee discount).
Nine years later (minus a couple of moments of weakness), I've been Sanrio-free. I've sold most of my collection on eBay through the years and I only have about 15% of my old collection left.
With my pending trip to Japan (a pilgrimage, if you will), you can imagine the "threat" that comes with it. I can handle a day at Sanrio Puroland. I'm a grown woman afterall. But this might be too much. Four whole floors full of Sanrio stuff?! Not to mention a complete list of Sanrio shops all over Tokyo?!
Oh my, I might be in big trouble.
In the 1980s, my mom and titas brought me to Sanrio Gift Gate in Greenhills and Ali Mall one too many times. I kicked the habit soon after we moved to the US.
But just like any addiction, mine came back in the mid-90s to early 2000. I even worked part-time at a local Sanrio store to satisfy my urges (I basically paid Sanrio to work there because all of my paychecks went straight back to the store, thanks to my 25% employee discount).
Nine years later (minus a couple of moments of weakness), I've been Sanrio-free. I've sold most of my collection on eBay through the years and I only have about 15% of my old collection left.
With my pending trip to Japan (a pilgrimage, if you will), you can imagine the "threat" that comes with it. I can handle a day at Sanrio Puroland. I'm a grown woman afterall. But this might be too much. Four whole floors full of Sanrio stuff?! Not to mention a complete list of Sanrio shops all over Tokyo?!
Oh my, I might be in big trouble.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Kaartehan Strikes Again
I had already told myself that I was going to stay at a hostel (for the very first time) in Seoul. $30/night for a private room in an expensive city? That's definitely a score. Plus, I'd get to meet new people, find a travel buddy or two, or at the very least, have someone to eat lunch with.
But, I researched too much and found a picture of the hostel's bathroom on flickR and now I'm considering the $70/night option at a hotel instead.
Tsk. How much does an arm or a leg sell for these days? ;P
But, I researched too much and found a picture of the hostel's bathroom on flickR and now I'm considering the $70/night option at a hotel instead.
Tsk. How much does an arm or a leg sell for these days? ;P
Friday, February 20, 2009
Booked 'Em, Danno!
Mon, March 30: Leave Seattle
Tue, March 31: Arrive Incheon
Tue, April 7: Arrive Narita
Thu, April 16: Back to Seattle
I'm in pure bliss right now. Oh the possibilities!
Tue, March 31: Arrive Incheon
Tue, April 7: Arrive Narita
Thu, April 16: Back to Seattle
I'm in pure bliss right now. Oh the possibilities!
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