Day Trippin'

Ben is busy most weekends with football Saturdays and baseball Sundays and I've been trying to keep if fresh with some excursions. 

Namsangol Hanok Village (Traditional Korean Folk Village)
Here I got to see traditional Korean homes and various ways of life.  Similar to Doon Heritage Crossroads at home in Kitchener.

Watched a Teakwood demonstration.

Re-learned to write my name.

Dragon Hill Spa Resort

I stayed overnight at this jimjilbang in Seoul to try and get an early start for a market in the morning.  Both Ben and I are huge fans of jimjilbangs and we have heard fabulous things about this one.  Its one of the largest and nicest.  I treated myself to a body scrub and soaked most of the night away in the different tubs, pools, saunas and spa rooms.  No clothes allowed thus no pictures allowed.

I would have had a better time if I hadn't gone alone.  There were far more unisex (clothed) options.  Ie. arcade, virtual golf, outdoor pools (bathing suites necessary), restaurants and bars.  I mostly stayed in the ladies only part aside from dinner.

Noryangjin Fish Market - The biggest fish market in Seoul
At this market you can seriously buy anything that comes out of the ocean.  I cannot describe the sheer number of fish in this building. It was unbelievable...as were some of the smells.  Obviously, everything is incredibly fresh, if not still alive.  I will definitely be returning as this market is also famous for its numerous restaurants on the second floor where you are supposed to bring your purchases to be prepared... often this means just cut up into sashimi. 

My only purchase was a kilo of fresh mussels for 2,000 won (about $2).  First batch were steamed in beer, soju (Korean Liquor), tomato, onion, hot peppers, garlic and basil.  Second batch was much the same but with a bunch of curry powder! 

Seoul International Firework Festival

Last Saturday four countries, including Canada, competed in a firework show.  I love fireworks.  The people I went with surprising did not.  Unfortunately, with the huge crowds and the lack of enthusiasm from my peers we didn't stay long. I still enjoyed myself from this distance, haha.

After this blog post, I've decided I definitely need a selfie stick.  This blog needs more selfies. Everyone else is doing it...

OSAKA - Japan!

Always looking of something new to do, we managed to score some cheap tickets from Seoul to Osaka for the weekend.  Never in my life did I think I'd be in the position to take a weekend trip to Japan, but here we are.  

Peach Air is super cute and the hour and a half-ish flight was no problem at all.

We stayed in the Dontonbori area of Osaka and there was so much to do and see.  We spent most of our time just walking around looking at things and I tried to eat as many things as I could as well.  

We are now used to the night lights (and night life) of Asia, but we both agreed that Japan was different.  There just seemed to be more energy and everyone was buzzing with excitement.   We had such a good time just being there. 

We went to one of the several HUGE arcades.  This one was 9 floors.  We spent some time gaming then rock, paper, scissored to determine whether to bowl or play ping pong.  Ping pong is our new favourite sport.

One of the most popular areas was this virtual horse racing, gambling game! (DAD!) It was so strange, the whole thing was fabricated, with odds and stats and horse life info...on horses that weren't real.  Very interesting.

Thrilled (and not embarrassed) to share that we went to Universal Studios Japan: Harry Potter World!  It had just opened in July and even by Asian standards it was SO PACKED.  It was of course still a magical experience.  Fortunately, we managed to get some insider information that the park offered reduced passes after 3pm so there really was no getting out of it for Ben.

Osaka Castle was a bit of a trek but we made it!  The subway system in Japan is one of the most expansive (and expensive) in the world.  BEYOND confusing, so many lines and transfers and people and just chaos. But we survived and we are still in love.

Osaka is famous for its food.  Variety and quality.  It was all next level amazing, even overwhelming.  I wanted everything.  My only wish is that I could have eaten more, and that says a lot.  I ate a lot.  You can probably guess which dishes are mine and which are Ben's.

Osaka is famous for Takoyaki.  Salty pancake battered octopus balls with a variety of other things stuffed in there as well as toppings.   I had this for breakfast.  Could have had it for lunch and dinner too.  I choose one of the longer lines and was not disappointed.

We felt like this at work on Monday but it was all worth it.