Solo in Seoul continued...

Solo in Seoul

On a short trip I took to Seoul, I got to explore another big city solo, with no language skills! It reminded me of previous experiences, backpacking through Europe, with no real direction or understanding of what was going on. Great fun! I did have a few tips from a Korean co-worker of mine, and a skillfully hand-drawn map, actually more accurate than the tourist one I received at my hostel. I was there really only for a day and half, but managed to pack in a lot of walking and sightseeing.

I visited three palaces until I found one that was open (I suppose Mondays are the least busy days for tourism)! The one I did find is known as Gyeongbokgung Palace, located in the center of the downtown. It was a breathtaking experience, with the modern buildings rising up in the distance on one side, and beautiful mountains on the other sides. Seoul kind of reminded me of Van City geographically, nestled in between several majestic mountains that backdrop the modern city. Quite beautiful.

I also looked around Insadong, a somewhat touristy area, filled with little artisan shops and souvenir stores. I tried many interesting treats there, ginseng tea, bibimbap, and Korean style street cart donuts filled with sugar and corn kernels! Oishii! I had a great time exploring and negotiating my way around the city when the only word I knew in Korean was "Thank You." ha ha!

It was great to experience some more Asian culture, drastically different from Japan, but with some similarities. All the Koreans I met were so friendly and kind. The City was bustling with energy and new sights and smells. I wish I had more time there.

More Van City Madness......

Van City Crew takes Tokyo!

Last week was a whirlwind of adventure and feasting! Marc and Erin arrived in Tokyo to explore and experience. The list of things that we DIDN'T do would be shorter. We ate at izakayas, sushi bars, noodle shops, we visited temples at Kamakura, Asakusa, and Erin even went ot Kyoto! We did karaoke, we went clubbing, to the onsen, shopping in Harajuku and Shimokita, to Tsukiji fish market......and list goes on.

Thankfully for all parties, Erin and Mark have returned to Van City, so now we can all reign in the wallets and catch our breath! Although, we will miss those two crazy cats terribly! It was so wonderful to be able to share a small slice of life with our beloveds from home. Living in Tokyo has been an amazing opportunity for us, and our time here is quickly fleeting. To have my sister here to glimpse into my magical Tokyo life was the best birthday gift a lone-star twin could ask for. Marc arrived here under the cover of darkness. We didn't tell Oliver about it at all, and O's shocked face when Marc and he were reunited on the sidewalk of Shinjuku was priceless! I thought he might have a heart attack!

It was fantastic fun and ridiculous silliness!!! I miss you guys!!! boo hoo!!! Well, what can I say, just let the photos speak for themselves!!! Hai! Doozo!

Omedetou Tanjobi!

I reached the big 2-5 recently in February!!!! Woop woop! It was a celebration Tokyo style with a great crew of tomodachi (friends). We met up at a tasty new Chinese hotpot restaurant that opened up in our hood, and enjoyed a feast of tasty rolling, bubbling, dipping delight! We stuffed ourselves for about three hours! Next, those of us that we able bodied and genki headed to the Ruby Room, a crazy little club we frequent in Shibuya. With a few friends spinning the tracks out that night we boogied until the wee hours. It was a blast, and a great way to acknowledge my quarter-century achievement!

Oishii so!

Sunshine City!

I am such a lucky girl! For Christmas, Oliver gave me two tickets to the Sunshine City Auquarium, the highest aquarium in the world, located on the 9th floor of a skyscraper! The building itself has an amazing observation deck located on the 60th floor. We checkd that out as well.

As for the fish, there were some stranger looking species trundling along in the tanks. Obviously, a Japanese aquarium has a different focus than that of our Pacific Northwest displays, so there were many new creatures to explore. Although slightly conflicted about the rather "efficient" use of space, and the plastic foliage decorating the tanks, our exploration proved quite fruitful.

A subtle yet striking difference I noticed between our aquarium back in Van, and here in Japan, is the muttered exclaimations of "oishii so!" (meaning "it looks delicious!") from several of the genki visitors. We had a wonderful wander, scoping triangular-shaped fishies, exotic amazon creatures, enormous crabs, playful sea otters and spaced-out eels...

Christmas in T-town.....

My Tokyo Christmas was a blast! Although I had to work on the 25th, I still had plenty of time to celebrate Solstice/Christmas activities. Oliver and I held a party at our place on the 24th, it being our mutual day off. We invited a bunch of friends over for a quasi traditional Xmas meal. Serving mashed potatoes, miso gravy, roast veggies, brussel sprouts and broccoli, and smoked salmon appetizers, the finishing touch was an enormous plate of nigiri sushi our generous friend Makoto brought. In addition, several bottles of wine and champagne we kindly offered. Our meal was complete with homemade shortbread cookies, a first-time microwave/convection oven baking experience for me! We had an excellent time and stuffed ourselves silly! The sushi, mashed potato combo proved cho oishii...a close second to our family dinners we were missing back home in Van City ;)

Yuletide bling...

As you can see, Tokyo is serious about Christmas bling! Everywhere, trees and shops, little alley-ways and main streets are gleaming with bright, futuristic Christmas glory. Dryer pipe tubing, electric reindeer and string upon string of Xmas lights blaze in the chilly evening hours, while shoppers busily scurry from sale to sale. Ahhhh...the consumer Christmas of home, but without the statutory holiday! Yes, the lights twinkle and the carols jingle and everyone goes to work. These shots are taken in Shibuya on a wintry evening O-chan and I took a Yuletide walk...

Oh! And please enjoy the oki pylon :0

Elektrolyte Night!!!

November 23rd was DJ O-chan's Tokyo debut! Organizing an Electro-House music event at Camp, a club in Shibuya (one of Tokyo night life hot spots), he appeared on the decks for the first time since arriving here in T-town! It was an exciting and eventful evening, most of our friends out on the dance floor, despite the school night timing (it was a Thursday). He played with his usual flair and kept us cuttin' the rug until the twilight hours began glowing! He was accompanied by two other DJs, Hisa from Tokyo and Rob Javier from the States. They rocked the decks providing stiff competition. Our roommate Rachael (also employee of Tiger music, the host of the event that night) was manning the door, while Yasu, Jun, Ruriko, Sachiko, Sarah, Stacie,Jason, Sylvia and many other crazy Tokyo-ites partied it up and entertained! It was a fun night of funky beats and groovin' baselines! We look forward to the next Elektrolyte event, as the night has been dubbed, next month!
Woop woop woop!