During the first part of May, Japan has several holidays that line up together in one week called Golden Week. Basically, it means that I get all but two days off for a week. As I've said before, whenever any of us gets more than two days off we are looking to travel somewhere. A few friends and I decided to look into Korea. Luckily, we found a pretty cheap deal and even got to have a day to spend in Tokyo.
Thursday morning, we got to Tokyo at 5:30 AM. So what can you do at 5:30 AM in Tokyo on a holiday you ask? badabapaba I'm lovin it (Mc Donalds). The place was actually packed, mostly with people who were just getting finished with their night out at 6AM. Tokyo likes to party apparently.
It was pouring rain and I didn't even have an umbrella. We were planning on visiting all these places that were out doors so it was kind of a buzzkill at first. Then we decided to just go for it. We dropped our bags off at the hostel. I also got my first nose bleed in 10 years just waiting at this hostel. Kind of random.
--- random side story. At the hostel we were just kind of hanging out when one of the owners started talking to me in Nihonglish. He was a very nice guy. He was telling me all about the area. He said he actually is an engineer that worked in Fukushima during the meltdown. Something about how he had to close the doors when it went down. Kind of crazy if its true. ---
We headed all over Tokyo all day, We started at the Palace then headed to a shrine, and Tokyo Tower, all while it was pouring rain. My shoes were soaked with that disgusting squishy feeling every time I stepped. Also, my nose started bleeding again near the Tokyo tower. If you want more people to stare at you while you are in Tokyo, I reccommend being Gaijin (not Japanese) with a ball of tissues held up to your nose walking through train stations.
For lunch we headed to Outback Steakhouse. This was my first time there in years. One thing a lot of teachers like to do in Tokyo is hit up Outback, Hard Rock, or TGIFridays while there since we don't have anything remotely close to that in Sendai. We actually succeeded in going to Outback and TGIFridays for lunch and dinner on that day.
We packed a lot into our one day in Tokyo before heading back for the night. Though I've lived here for over a year now, it was my first time I've been able to check out Toyko. In Sendai, I don't really feel like a tourist around town because I live here. In Tokyo, I felt like I was an American tourist and it was great! Tokyo is awesome.
Friday morning, we headed to the airport and Korea. Korea was beautiful. A lot of Seoul is a city with gorgeous mountains in the background. Its also very cheap. I spent about $250 the whole weekend and even when shopping. Friday night, we went around town by our hostel and at a traditional Korean bbq place that you cook your meat right at the table. We had no clue what to do. There were about 10 different things spread around the table and some random meat. It was all delicious though.
Korean Food: Korean food is pretty delicious. The hard part is that everything is written in Korean so unless there are picture menus you've gotta play roulette to find out what you are getting. Pretty much everything comes with Kimchee which is kind of like pickled cabbage. Sounds gross but its actually pretty good. I reccommend bulgogi soup. Its basically meat thinly sliced in this delicous broth.
Korean People: The people of Korea are generally pretty nice from my encounters. The younger crowd seems to be able to speak English well enough with a very natural accent. We actually had a girl give us a free tour of Gyeongbokgung palace who sounded like she was from California. Also random fact, Koreans age starts with when they are born so they are actually 1 to 2 American years younger than their Korean age.
Also, we ran into a guy trying to help us get back home. He accidentally took us to the wrong place so he jumped in a cab with us and helped get us there. He also paid for the cab ride. Imagine having that happen in New York haha.
Korean Places:
Its actually really easy to get around Seoul by subway. I recommend getting the Tmoney (Seoul City Pass) card. Its a card you put money on and beep your way through the subway. Also, you can use the card on subway vending machines and cab rides!
Theres a ton of shopping around Korea. The random local shops are your cheapest route for souvenirs.
Also, there are a lot of palaces and iconic buildings. We made it to the Gyongbokung palace Saturday as they were having some special parade for Children's Day. Sunday we made it to the Changeokung palace and another that I can't remember the name of which had this once a year ceremony. There were tons of people lined up to watch the ceremony. We were pretty lucky to randomly catch the ceremonies. Unfortunately, I was hoping to get to check out the DMZ but it didn't quite fit in time-wise to our plans.
We did get to check out Avengers in 3D though, which was awesome. I highly recommend it. In Japan, a lot of American movies either come 3 months later or not at all and its super expensive. I've actually done a pretty good job of going to a movie theater at least once during all of my vacations to these other countries.
Friday, we headed back. For the first time ever, I made it back to Japan with no delays, power outages, cancelled flights, etc. We also headed to HardRock Cafe in Tokyo on the way back. I think I spent more money on meals in Tokyo than I did the whole vacation in Korea. All in all, another great vacation!
See you soon Philippines! Who wants to meet in Europe in August!?
Thursday morning, we got to Tokyo at 5:30 AM. So what can you do at 5:30 AM in Tokyo on a holiday you ask? badabapaba I'm lovin it (Mc Donalds). The place was actually packed, mostly with people who were just getting finished with their night out at 6AM. Tokyo likes to party apparently.
It was pouring rain and I didn't even have an umbrella. We were planning on visiting all these places that were out doors so it was kind of a buzzkill at first. Then we decided to just go for it. We dropped our bags off at the hostel. I also got my first nose bleed in 10 years just waiting at this hostel. Kind of random.
--- random side story. At the hostel we were just kind of hanging out when one of the owners started talking to me in Nihonglish. He was a very nice guy. He was telling me all about the area. He said he actually is an engineer that worked in Fukushima during the meltdown. Something about how he had to close the doors when it went down. Kind of crazy if its true. ---
We headed all over Tokyo all day, We started at the Palace then headed to a shrine, and Tokyo Tower, all while it was pouring rain. My shoes were soaked with that disgusting squishy feeling every time I stepped. Also, my nose started bleeding again near the Tokyo tower. If you want more people to stare at you while you are in Tokyo, I reccommend being Gaijin (not Japanese) with a ball of tissues held up to your nose walking through train stations.
For lunch we headed to Outback Steakhouse. This was my first time there in years. One thing a lot of teachers like to do in Tokyo is hit up Outback, Hard Rock, or TGIFridays while there since we don't have anything remotely close to that in Sendai. We actually succeeded in going to Outback and TGIFridays for lunch and dinner on that day.
We packed a lot into our one day in Tokyo before heading back for the night. Though I've lived here for over a year now, it was my first time I've been able to check out Toyko. In Sendai, I don't really feel like a tourist around town because I live here. In Tokyo, I felt like I was an American tourist and it was great! Tokyo is awesome.
 |
| Outside the Palace |
 |
| A pagoda in Asakusa |
 |
| Tokyo Tower |
Friday morning, we headed to the airport and Korea. Korea was beautiful. A lot of Seoul is a city with gorgeous mountains in the background. Its also very cheap. I spent about $250 the whole weekend and even when shopping. Friday night, we went around town by our hostel and at a traditional Korean bbq place that you cook your meat right at the table. We had no clue what to do. There were about 10 different things spread around the table and some random meat. It was all delicious though.
Korean People: The people of Korea are generally pretty nice from my encounters. The younger crowd seems to be able to speak English well enough with a very natural accent. We actually had a girl give us a free tour of Gyeongbokgung palace who sounded like she was from California. Also random fact, Koreans age starts with when they are born so they are actually 1 to 2 American years younger than their Korean age.
Also, we ran into a guy trying to help us get back home. He accidentally took us to the wrong place so he jumped in a cab with us and helped get us there. He also paid for the cab ride. Imagine having that happen in New York haha.
Korean Places:
Its actually really easy to get around Seoul by subway. I recommend getting the Tmoney (Seoul City Pass) card. Its a card you put money on and beep your way through the subway. Also, you can use the card on subway vending machines and cab rides!
Theres a ton of shopping around Korea. The random local shops are your cheapest route for souvenirs.
 |
| Gyeonbokung |
 |
| Changing of the Guard |
Also, there are a lot of palaces and iconic buildings. We made it to the Gyongbokung palace Saturday as they were having some special parade for Children's Day. Sunday we made it to the Changeokung palace and another that I can't remember the name of which had this once a year ceremony. There were tons of people lined up to watch the ceremony. We were pretty lucky to randomly catch the ceremonies. Unfortunately, I was hoping to get to check out the DMZ but it didn't quite fit in time-wise to our plans.
We did get to check out Avengers in 3D though, which was awesome. I highly recommend it. In Japan, a lot of American movies either come 3 months later or not at all and its super expensive. I've actually done a pretty good job of going to a movie theater at least once during all of my vacations to these other countries.
Friday, we headed back. For the first time ever, I made it back to Japan with no delays, power outages, cancelled flights, etc. We also headed to HardRock Cafe in Tokyo on the way back. I think I spent more money on meals in Tokyo than I did the whole vacation in Korea. All in all, another great vacation!
See you soon Philippines! Who wants to meet in Europe in August!?
