Time to Go Home

It's our final half day of our vacation. Before leaving for the airport, we met with friends from New York for brunch. It was special for us to be able to meet with them because we had not seen one friend for 4 years and the other Alexis had not seen in 9 years (This was my first time meeting her). We met in the French district, so we expected to have a western style brunch, but instead we went to a Korean restaurant. We had a dish with rice cakes and beef, a kimchi pancake, and steamed short ribs. They were all very tasty, especially the beef short ribs. We finished the meal with pan fried mochi squares. To eat the mochi squares, we dipped the mochi into a dark honey to give it some sweetness. It was all very good and a nice way to end our trip. It was nice catching up with friends who we have not seen in a long time, and we were fortunate that they had flexibility in their schedule to meet with us.

After lunch, we rushed back to Bori's place and finished packing. Bori escorted us to the subway station, and helped us find our way to the airport. We got to the airport without any problems, and we made it through security very quickly. Very similar to Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Incheon Airport had zoris (slippers) to wear when you walk through security. Alexis was very impressed with that, and she was happy that she didn't have to smell smelly feet while waiting in the security area. Now, we're on the flight back home to San Francisco, and as we fly back , I wanted to spend some time to reflect on our 2 week vacation. This has been an incredible journey, and we had a fantastic time. From eating great food to visiting with old friends, this has been a vacation unlike any other vacation we have ever taken. There was so much variety and special activities we participated in including hiking in Inari, volunteering in Tokyo, and staying overnight in a ryokan. As we sign off on this blog, we wanted to give a special thanks to our friend Bori who let us stay with her in Seoul. She was a wonderful hostess, and she organized our activities in Seoul. Her personal touch on everything made our stay here very smooth, and it was nice to have a local expert introduce us to South Korea.

Alexis and I hope you enjoyed reading our blog, and we look forward to our next adventure!

Seoul Day Tour

Seoul Fish Market
Our first stop this morning was the Seoul fish market. We did not go early in the morning to see the auction, but I wanted to walk around to see all of the fresh fish and other seafood. Compared to Tsukiji, the aisles were much wider, so there was a lot more room to move around. The fish seemed just as fresh, and we had a good time looking at what each vendor was selling. While walking, I encountered an upset fish, and the fish splashed me with his tail. Alexis also got a little wet when a clam squirted water on her. If we lived in Seoul, I would love to shop here on the weekends to cook up some good eats. On our way out, we picked up a few street snacks. We got a flat pancake-like food which was filled with a sugary substance. It was very sweet, and it tasted kind of a like the bread in a McGriddle sandwich.

Chicken Soup
Bori took us to a chicken soup restaurant for lunch today. The soup was served in the traditional Korean soup bowls, so the bowl was quite hot when they served it. The chicken was fall-off-the-bone tender, and was flavored with ginseng, a Korean fruit, and other unfamiliar spices. Inside the chicken in the soup was sticky rice. The large bowl of soup was also served with a Korean version of osekihan, and if I had to do a taste test, I would not be able to differentiate the Korean red rice we ate and traditional Japanese osekihan. Alexis and I had never had this kind of food before, but it was yummy and tasted healthy. Bori mentioned that people typically eat this soup on the hottest days of the year.

Imperial Palace and Secret Garden
We walked to the Imperial Palace and we watched the changing of the guard in front of the imperial palace. The Imperial Palace is quite a tourist attraction with so many people. There were lots of Korean families and foreign tourists. We were a little short on time, so we walked the grounds and took a few pictures before heading out to the Secret Garden. Bori made a 2:30 PM reservation for a tour of the Secret Garden. The 2:30 PM reservation was in English, and our tour group was huge. There may have been 60-70 people in our group, so at times it was a little more difficult to hear our tour guide. The grounds at the Secret Garden are beautiful. The trees, ponds, and other landscape create a serene oasis, and a nice getaway from the rest of Seoul. The tour was 90 minutes, and we snapped a number of pictures as we walked the grounds.

Afternoon Tea
After the Secret Garden Tour, we went to traditional afternoon tea. We shared some rice cake snacks, and tea. This tea place is unique because it's full of little birds. In the background, one can hear the little chirping in the background. After doing so much walking, it was nice to sit down and relax while enjoying tea. After our break, we continued to walk around the area, and we went to a multi-story outdoor mall filled with boutique shops. We shopped for a while before heading out to dinner.

Dinner was at a nearby noodle restaurant. We ordered Kalguksoo (similar to Japanese udon noodles in a chicken broth). We also ordered a seafood pancake and mandoo (steamed gyoza). I love noodles, and it was great to be able to eat some hot soup because the temperature dropped drastically late in the afternoon. Similar to other meals we enjoyed, the restaurant served a side of kimchi Before trying it, Bori warned us that the kimchi was a little different than other kimchis we had been eating. This kimchi was a little different because it was fresh. Rather than having kimchis ferment in a jar, this kimchi was crisper and had a stronger taste. It seemed to have a lot more of the dark red sauce and tons of garlic. It was quite strong, but very addicting. I just have eaten at least one plate of kimchi all on my own.

DMZ and JSA

Our first full day in South Korea was spent traveling to the DMZ. Bori scheduled us on the 3rd Infiltration Tunnel Tour and Panmunjeom Tour, and we had to wake up at 6AM to be picked up by our tour bus at a nearby hotel. Unfortunately, it was raining this morning, so we got quite wet walking over to the other hotel. Our tour bus this morning was full. Every seat on the bus was filled. The highlight of the morning tour was the 3rd Infiltration Tunnel. Only 44 km (27 miles) from Seoul, the tunnel was discovered in October 1978 based on information provided by a North Korean defector. It is apparently designed for a surprise attack on Seoul from North Korea, and can easily accommodate 30,000 men per hour along with light weaponry. Upon discovery of the third tunnel, the United Nations Command accused North Korea of threatening the 1953 armistice agreement signed at the end of the Korean War. Its description as a "tunnel of aggression" was given by the South, who considered it an act of aggression on the part of the North. A total of four tunnels have been discovered so far, but there are believed to be up to twenty tunnels.

Initially, North Korea denied building the tunnel. However, observed drill marks for dynamite in the walls point towards South Korea and the tunnel is inclined so that water drains back towards the northern side of the DMZ (and thus out of the way of continued excavation). North Korea then officially declared it part of a coal mine, and black "coal" was painted on the walls by retreating soldiers to help confirm this statement
In the afternoon, we toured the Joint Security Area ("JSA"). The JSA is where . They gave us very strict requirements before we were allowed into the area. The requirements included:
- No speaking with or making any gestures toward personnel from North Korea;
- Ripped jeans, sleeveless shirts, mini skirts, short pants, military clothing, and sandals are not permitted;
- No shaggy or unkept hair.
- No camera lenses greater than 90mm
- Pictures are only allowed when granted permission by the tour guide or military personnel
- No children under 11 years of age.
The JSA is the only portion of the DMZ where South and North Korean forces stand face-to-face. The area is used by the two Korea for diplomatic engagements. Prior to entering the area, we were escorted by South Korean military personnel, and we attended a briefing where we signed a document that states, "The visit to the Joint Security Area at Panmunjom will entail entry into a hostile area and there is a possibility of injury or death as a direct result of enemy action." After our briefing, we were escorted to an area outside the conference rooms, and we observed the hostile environment with the North and South Korean soldiers facing off from opposite sides of the JSA. After lining up in a straight line outside the conference rooms, we were granted access, and we were able to walk to the North Korean side of the JSA.

After our visit to the JSA, we went to the Dorasan train station which is the last train station before entering North Korea. It's a modern train station, and the train station was built in preparation for the unification of the two Koreas. People do not expect the unification to happen any time soon, but if it does ever happen, South Koreans will have access to the rest of Asia via train. Until that happens, South Koreans will have to use airplanes and boats to travel to China, Russia, and other neighboring countries.

Our DMZ tour dropped us off at the Lotte Hotel in Seoul. From there, we took the subway to meet Bori at her office. Our restaurant for dinner was nearby Bori's work, so we had a short walk to get there. As we walked to the restaurant, we walked by so many restaurants and we noticed that a lot of them are fried chicken restaurants. We didn't have a chance to try fried chicken, but I'm sure it's pretty good. Bori took us to a Korean bbq place, and it was very tasted so good. The best part was the grilled pork belly. It was fatty goodness. : )

Travel To Seoul

Alexis and I had a few hours this morning before our flight, so we picked up some breakfast at a nearby café, and then we walked over to the Takashimaya building across the train tracks. Inside the Takashimaya building is the Takashimaya store and a store called Tokyu Hands. Takashimaya is a high end department store that sells luxury goods from clothes to food. Tokyu Hands is a department store that sells normal day to day goods. Alexis and I went to the store primarily to look at the stationery and kitchen departments. The kitchen department had all sorts of cool stuff including a lot of bento containers, a rice washer, siphon coffee makers, etc. I considered purchasing a siphon coffee maker, but I think it would have been too hard to bring it back to the United States. After Tokyu Hands, we went over to Takashimaya. We were short on time at this point, so we only looked at the handbag floor and the food floor in the basement. The food floor in the basement was full of high end food, and it looked so tasty. They even had an outlet that sold food from Kikunoi, the kaiseki restaurant we enjoyed in Kyoto. We wished we could have stayed longer, but it was time to head to South Korea.

We went back to the hotel and picked up our bags. Initially, we wanted to take the limousine bus from our hotel to Haneda airport, but the times were not convenient, so we decided to take the subway. We only had to take 1 subway train and a monorail to get to the airport, but it's a little difficult when you're carrying over 130 pounds of luggage up and down stairs. Fortunately, the subway was not crowded, and we made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare. Our flight to Seoul was on ANA, and we had a bit of a scare when we checked in because the airline told us that our tickets were cancelled. For some reason, ANA did in fact cancel our tickets, but the ANA representative helping us could not find our new ticket numbers. We waited at the counter for about 10 minutes, and she was able to clear up our issue.

Haneda airport is much smaller than Narita, but it is much more convenient. It's much closer to Tokyo, and it's a lot faster to get through security. In addition, it only has one food court in the International terminal. We went to the food court to enjoy our last meal in Japan. Alexis had a katsudon, I had curry, and we also had sides of chicken karaage and takoyaki. After lunch, we did some duty free shopping before we headed over to our gate.

This was my first flight on ANA, and overall the flight experience was nice. Even though the flight was only 2 hours, they served a meal on the plane. However, the meal was quite odd. The entree was rice with a side of fish and small shrimp covered in a thick cheese-like sauce, a tiny container of soba, a side salad, and a custard. The entrée had a unique taste to it, and it did not pair well with the soba and the rest of the food. The custard was by far the best part of the meal.

Our flight to Seoul was very smooth, and our friend Bori met us at the airport. She navigated us through the subway system, and we reached her apartment in about 30 minutes. After dropping our stuff off at her place, we walked to a restaurant very close to her apartment. Bori ordered for us, and the food was served immediately. The meal was served with rice, tons of the Korean side dishes, fish, tofu dish, miso soup dish. The server brought our food on a large piece of wood that matched the table. Instead of placing all of the food onto our table, the server slid the entire piece of wood onto our table. It was an interesting and efficient way of transferring the food to us. I enjoyed this meal because it was tasty, and there were so many different things to enjoy.

After dinner, we walked back to Bori's apartment. We talked some more and went to sleep early because we had to wake up at 6AM the following morning.

Last Dinner in Tokyo - Shabu Shabu Ichie

For last dinner in Japan, Alexis and I went to a Shabu Shabu place in Roppongi. We sat down at the counter, and the waitress brought us a menu. The menu was full of kanji characters, so I couldn't read the majority of the menu. Alexis asked if they had an English menu, and they didn't have that either. As a result, I asked the waitress to come over and read the menu to me. After listening to her read the menu, we ordered the Okinawa style shabu shabu. It came with two different types of thinly sliced pork. I think it was pork loin and pork belly. The nabe we ordered was a standard dashi broth with lots of scallions. Alexis isn't a big fan of onions, so we ordered yasai moriawase (mixed vegetables) to add to the nabe. It was very tasty, and it was a nice way to end the Japan portion of our trip because nabe is one of our favorite foods.

Hands on Tokyo

After our break, we took the subway to Roppongi, and had a lot of difficulty finding Hands on Tokyo, our destination. I stared at a map for a good 10 minutes, and I could not figure out how to get there. Since Roppongi is full of expats, I decided to ask the next hakujin guy we came across for directions. We found a guy pretty quickly, and he was very nice. He looked at our map which he found confusing as well, and he helped us find Hands on Tokyo. Hands on Tokyo is a volunteer organization comprised of both Japanese and foreign nationals who are committed to making volunteer activities more accessible and committed to accelerating the growth of volunteerism in the Tokyo area. We participated in the 3R Project. 3R stands for reduce, reuse, and recycle. Hands on Tokyo receives used hotel toiletries from first-class hotels (e.g. The Peninsula, Ritz-Carlton), and provides the toiletries to people in need. This volunteer event had us empty shampoo bottles into 1.5 liter water bottles that would be provided to women's shelters and school children. Over the course of 2 hours, we emptied hundreds of shampoo bottles into the 1.5 liter bottles. Alexis and I were able to fill 2 1.5 liter bottles each. The head volunteer asked us to make sure that we got every last bit of shampoo out of every bottles, so we had to squeeze the bottle until no shampoo was left over. By the time we were done, our thumbs were sore. In addition, Alexis and I donated 100 toothbrushes and other hotel toiletries we collected from our hotels stays in Japan. The organization was very appreciative for assisting them with the project and our donation. We wish we could have done more during our trip, but we were happy we were able to make a small difference while we were here.

Tsukiji, Ginza, and Shibuya

It's our last full day in Tokyo, so we wanted to make the most of it. Going to the Tsukiji Fish Market was always on the top of the list of things we wanted to do here in Tokyo, but after the earthquake last month, the tuna auction was temporarily closed to the public. So, the good news is that I did not have to be at Tsukiji at 4AM in the morning, but the bad news is that we were not able to see the auction take place. We took the subway over to Tsukiji in the morning, and arrived a little after 9AM to walk through the wholesale area. It seems like they sell every type of seafood imaginable, and some of it is still alive. Most people in this area are vendors and wholesale buyers, but there are a few tourists. It's very busy with people running in and out of the area, and there are also a number of carts being driven around to pick up and transport the seafood. The people working at the market likely see tourists as more of a nuisance, but I'm glad we went because it's an interesting sight. After walking around a bit, we stopped off at a nearby sushi restaurant where we ate sushi for breakfast. Alexis and I shared a sushi plate. It was delicious!

Our next stop is Ginza. For those of you familiar with Japan, Ginza is home to many high end stores. However, that is not why we went to Ginza. While researching Japan, Alexis found a store called Itoya which is like Maido or Papersource in the United States. The store is about 7-8 floors dedicated to selling these types of products, so it is huge and a bit overwhelming. After a bit of shopping inside, we went back to our hotel to drop off our things. As we left the store, Alexis mentioned that she could spend an entire day inside.

Our next stop was Shibuya. Shibuya is home to a number of stores that sell trendy clothing and many younger Japanese people do their shopping here. We saw many girls all dolled up with their 4 inch heels, fake eyelashes, and unique clothing walking around. It must take them well over an hour to get ready everyday. We were hungry, so our first order of business was to find a place to eat. I found a standing restaurant where you purchase food from a machine that spits out tickets. Alexis ordered the katsudon and udon set, and I ordered the curry and soba set. We gave the tickets to the workers inside, and within 2 minutes our food came out. Up until this meal, the food portions at the restaurants were always very small. At this place, the restaurant gave full portions that you would expect to see in the United States. As a result, Alexis and I got 4 full size bowls of food for lunch for just about $17. Alexis couldn't even finish her katsudon, so I got to eat her bowl of udon in addition to my soba and curry. : ) Once we were done with lunch, we searched for Hachiko statue. We took pictures in front of the statue and of the mural nearby. After seeing Hachiko we went into Shibuya 109 which is a mall that sells trendy women's clothing. It's another massive building with eight floors of stores, and each different store is blasting different music. We were already kind of tired at this point, so we left after only a few minutes and went to Starbucks. At Starbucks, we got coffee and sat down on the second floor where we were able to people watch and see the crowds of people walking through the main intersection down below. One interesting thing about Starbucks is that they only had the tall size for sale. I don't know if this is only the case for the Starbucks that we went to or if Starbucks only sells one size in all of its stores in Japan. As a result, I think it will be a while before they introduce the Trenta size in Japan. When we're tired, we usually rest in our hotel room, but we had to be in Roppongi, so we took our break at Starbucks.