So I know I said the same thing about Vietnam, but everyone MUST include Japan on their bucket list! It is such a cool/unique place to visit... MUCH different from Korea! I think what surprised me the most was that in Japan, they drive on the opposite side of the road! I wasn't really expecting that. The second thing that stood out to me was that everyone looked different! I know that seems like a strange observation, however Japanese people seem to take style into a whole new domain and are MUCH MORE experiemental with colours and fabrics. I can't really say the same thing about Koreans. The style here (or lack of) is kind of... well... boring and more or less the same. Even hairstyles here are homogeneous! Japan however, had a very ecclectic mix of people, styles and most importantly... food (I know you were probably all waiting for that).
Never in my 23 years of living have I tasted the freshest most delicious, mouth-watering sushi ever!!! Every meal we ate, the same 5 words unconsciously poured out of my mouth, "best meal of my life". I can honestly say both Sarah and I ate our way through Japan. I seriously don't know how I am going to be able to eat basic civilian sushi again?! It has ruined me for good! (Gnocci has also never been the same since I ate it in Florence). Oh well, I still wouldn't want to take back those amazing couple of meals! Comming back to Korea and eating kimchi and rice really made me question my decision to live here for a year, but I know for a fact that if I lived in Japan, I would be comming back with less money and an extra couple chins...haha.
Anyways, the 5 days we were there were all packed with touring, hiking, eating and ofcourse, shopping. Tokyo is HUGE! There is so much to do and see! We spent a lot of time in the area of Shibuya where that massive intersection is as well as a famous park and some cute shops. We stood at the corner of this intersection and just people watched for a good hour... it was amazing to see hundreds of people crossing the street from every direction at the same time! It almost looked like there was a giant street parade waiting at a stop light to cross the road. Definitely a funny sight to see.
One corner of the intersection
A conveyer belt sushi restaurant
Yup, we ate all those plates of sushi...and more!
My first bite of the freshest salmon sushi known to man
At a park in Shibuya, we stumbled upon a traditional Japanese wedding
Harajuku girls
On our second last day we took a day trip up to Kamakura (about 2 hours outside of Tokyo) which is famous for the many shrines, temples and Buddhas that inhabit the town. Unfortunately it started raining that day but we had already planned out our trip and didn't want to back down. Thinking it would be a very laxed and calm day, I decided to wear my sandles (you will understand why this was a mistake as you continue reading). Once we got to the area we began by following the map to the first temple. However, if any of you know Sarah (and I) well enough (okay, mostly Sarah for this one)- she likes to take the road less travelled. As we are following the drawn out hiking trail, we notice a smaller path veering off to the left in the woods and Sarah decides it would be much more exciting to see where it leads too. I agreed, and we ended up walking until we came across a small dark cave in the middle of the forest. We listened to make sure there were no bears or other dangerous wild animals and bravely (ran) through the cave ending up in someone's backyard. It was a beautiful garden however we were completely tresspassing into someones private property as we could see right into their glass house. We decided to keep walking through this forest until we ran into an old Japanese man surrounded by 12 cats. He couldn't speak a word of English but for some reason took a liking to Sarah and I and gave us 2 paddles to play a game (similar to badminton) but both the birdie and the paddles were hand made. It was a really cool experience and this old cat man was extremely nice. It was now getting dark and we wanted to get to this massive Buddah we had heard so much about (one of, if not, the largest Buddah statue in the world). We explained to this man that we were trying to find the large Buddah and he told us (in broken English) that we still had about an hour and a half hike up a mountain. We quickly got on our way... when it started to POUR! Hiking up a mountain, soaking wet, in sandles, trecking through puddles of mud higher than my ankle with a purse... is probably the most unpleasant thing I can think of! So after hiking for hours in the rain, we finally saw a light at the end of the tunnel and got to a road. Walking out of the forest and onto the road was like seeing sunshine after a long cold winter! We ran into a couple who looked at us like we were crazy (we literally looked like we had been living in a jungle for over a year- all muddy, wet and probably smelly) who we asked directions to get to the Buddah. The woman told us that they were closing up the park so we had better hurry but pointed us in the right direction. So with the last ounce of energy we had left, we ran as fast as we could down the road and into the park just in time to lay eyes on the largest Buddah I have ever seen. It was such a relief to be there and it felt like we actually accomplished something. Here are a couple pictures of our hike and our final destination.
The nice old cat man
We walked past a beautiful bamboo forest
We finally made it!
A large temple in the middle of TokyoWe ofcourse experienced Tokyos nightlife as well but most nights we were exhausted from our long days that it was difficult to make it out. We both had such a good time and I'm already looking forward to getting back there someday!
We left Japan on the 25th which was a Tuesday and I had to go into work on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. While I was at work during the days, Sarah kept herself busy by touring around Gwangju and hiking up a mountain. Last Saturday the two of us decided to go on another adventure and head south to Busan which is right on the coast. We packed our bags (again) and after the 3 hour bus ride, headed straight for the beach with absolutely NO plan. We figured worst case scenereo we could crash on the beach, but I knew there were plenty of love motels around the city so I wasnt too concerned. If I havent told you about 'love motels' they are basically a motel with only one bed and a very romantic setting. We slept on a circular bed (like Austin Powers style) with a mirror on the ceiling overtop of us (haha) as well as a jacuzzi and heart shaped hangers. It was pretty entertaining to say the least. There was also a very interesting vending machine outside of our room. Lets just say.... it didn't sell chips or pop. ;).
Love motels are extremely popular in Korea mainly because individuals live with their parents until they get married, so these motels are a way for young couples to "get away" for a night.
We spent the weekend in Busan mostly on the beach but also went to this amazing aquarium where we went on a boat ride in a shark tank to feed the sharks and saw the most incredible fish I have ever seen! Soon after that, we headed to the World Famous Fish market which was the complete opposite experience than the aquarium. The fish market had probably the most disturbing sights I have ever seen as it looked like these people had drained the whole damn ocean and were selling it! I think if you are in Korea you should definitely see it for yourself, but it was pretty horrific and VERY smelly. I couldnt believe what some of these woman working there had to do! I promise I will NEVER complain about my job again... I think anything would be more pleasant than carving out fish eyeballs or visciously chopping off octopus tentacles. Warning: some of the pictures of pretty nasty!
Standing on the beach in Busan, South Korea
On the beach, we ran into a Korean family (go firgure) burrying their son in the sand. Cute.
Me holding a live star fish
The aquarium...
The World Famous Fish market...
Well I think I have caught you all up on everything that has happened in the past couple of weeks. Now that things will begin slowing down again (maybe) I will try and write more regularly. Hope everyone is doing well and I miss you all like crazy!
p.s enjoy your day at work...and just think... it could be worse!!Signing off,
Gillian Teacha xx
WOW!!! How I envy you...so much fun
ReplyDeleteLove Daddy
Well written!!
ReplyDeleteI miss sushi..........
(p.s. the cat man in his picture is actually sweeping his cat!)