Far away from home.
Since visiting Hong Kong and Philippines in 2017, I have been dying to get back to Asia. The time has finally come and I plan to spend three to four months in Asia, starting with South Korea and Japan. My friend Jewel and I have been planning a two-week trip together to Seoul and the southern region of Japan. Jewel planned the entire trip (thank you Jewel!!) as she is far more familiar with Asia from living in Japan for 3.5 years in the navy. Win, win for me! I have a travel buddy and personal tour guide in countries that I know almost nothing about. We had two days to explore Seoul before flying to Osaka and traveling through Japan with stops in Kyoto, Hakone, Enoshima, and Tokyo. The Asian culture fascinates and overwhelms me so I was excited to see it firsthand.
Seoul searching.
After a VERY long travel day for both Jewel and I, we made it to our fancy hotel (splurged a bit) and caught up on life. The hotel had a beautiful spa with a pool, three hot tubs, sauna, and medicinal bath (still not sure what this means but it was lovely). We spent our evenings and mornings soaking and relaxing. But first order of business, eat some delicious Korean food. I found a spot, Gangnam Myeonok, with highly rated reviews and mouthwatering spareribs within walking distance from our hotel in the Gangnam neighborhood in Seoul. It was very local. There was no English on the menu and the waitress did not speak English so we ordered some things and hoped for the best. I will never forget that meal. The meat fell off the bone and Jewel loved the broth….it was a great way to kick off the trip. We planned out our only full day of exploring the large city starting in the Insadong neighborhood for breakfast. Turns out most places don’t open until 11am, so we wandered for a while until we found some traditional rice cakes in red broth for food. We then walked through the beautiful gardens and buildings of the Gyeongbokgung Palace, took the cable car up to the Seoul Tower (where I politely forced Jewel to put our name on a lock to secure our love forever), ate some delicious Korean BBQ for dinner, got massages (which was possibly the worst massage I have ever had which we won’t talk about) and walked around the Myeondong night market to find dessert. The next day we were off to Japan. We had a midday flight so after sleeping in, we went to grab some spicy chicken dish near the hotel where you grill it in front of you. Again, we had no idea what we were ordering, but it was tasty. Poor Jewel, she is a vegetarian and that is rough in Korea as they love their meat. She managed somehow. Overall, Seoul was a lovely experience. I wish we had one more day, but I can always go back.
Cherry blossoms.
March and April in Japan are the busiest times for tourism because of the massive amount of cherry blossoms that are in bloom. We luckily got the tail end of the flowers and didn’t have to fight the massive crowds to see them. We started in Osaka, the southern tip of Japan. Our first order of business was to get Jewel some Japanese curry. There is a chain called Cocoichibanya that Jewel frequented when she lived in Japan. The corn soup is 10/10 and the chicken curry was the right level of spicy and zest. We started early the next day and got ramen for breakfast, visited the Osaka Castle, stopped for tea and donuts while the rain poured down, made our way to the Shitenno-ji Temple, and walked through Tennoji Park. The highlight of the day, however, was the Tsutenkaku Tower at sunset and the slide you can go three levels down. Felt like a kid again, it was so fun! We finished the day at the Shinsaibashi-suji Shopping Street which is flooded with tourists and shopping and high-priced restaurants. We found a restaurant for Japanese BBQ and trained home.
Day two we spent at the deer park in Nara, about an hour outside of Osaka. We spent what felt like hours feeding the wild but protected deer. They are quite aggressive but cute. Vendors were selling cracker/cookies for $1 and we bought at least 15 packs. We hiked up to the top of the hill to enjoy the views from above and made our way back to Osaka to ride the Ferris wheel. If you know me, you know I love Ferris wheels…I cant see one and not go on it.
Kyoto was up next, we started the morning at the Fushimi Inari Shrine. This temple was huge, stunning, and very unique. There are more than 10,000 toriis, or gates, donated to the Inari Shinto god of rice. They are bright orange and set in a wooded area. Easy to get lost and spend the whole day there. We re-feuled with some curry noodles and made our way to a monkey park to the west of Kyoto in Nishikyo. We fed and observed the monkeys for an hour and headed home through a bamboo forest at sunset. In the evening we walked around the Gion district and spotted some traditional Geishas.
Hakone is a small mountain village close to Mount Fuji. It was the perfect escape from the busy city life of Japan and we stayed at a traditional Japanese hotel, or Ryokan. Our first order of business was to hit up a public onsen (hot spring) with about 15 different pools, some filled with coffee, wine, sake, and tea. It was an experience. Tattoos in Japan are not as widely accepted as in other parts of the world. In the past, it meant you were in a gang. So it is common courtesy to cover them up so I basically wore wetsuit so I could participate. The next day we took a cable car from Gora up to a sulfur reservoir and back down to Lake Hakone. We walked around, stopped at temples and torii arches in the water, went up to another viewpoint to admire the beautiful Mount Fuji. We didn’t stay long because it was so windy and chilly at the top, but so stunning. Because Hakone is a smaller village, the only way to get around is the public buses, that are hard to figure out the timetables and routes. But we somehow managed to get around. If I were to go back, I would rent a car – much faster and easier to get around. Lesson learned.
We continued our way north to a small island outside of Tokyo called Enoshima. What a darling place. Surrounded by water and mountains, this place is magical. We spent the day walking around the island, went up to the top of the Sea Candle, stopped for matcha tea and treats, walked the water and hung out on the bridge at sunset. I needed a break from curry and noodles, so we got burgers for dinner and called it an early night so I could finish my taxes…lame. Our hotel served traditional Japanese breakfast that had a whole fish along with about ten different small dishes of foods I had never seen before. Definitely an interesting experience.
Our last stop on our Japanese tour was Tokyo. Three days to explore. Our first day we got dressed up in a traditional kimono for some photos, walked through the electronic area of Akihabara, and founds spots for snacks along on our walk. The next morning we had an early start to see some sumo wrestling training, did some shopping in Nakamise, went for a short boat ride on the Sumida River, walked around the Tokyo tower, had some AMAZING sushi from a conveyor belt, and walked back to the hotel through the Ueno park. We started the next day at the Metropolitan Government Building that you can view the city from the 50th floor for free. We walked through the Shinjuku Botanical Garden (which was honestly my favorite thing about Tokyo), got some more Cocoichibanya curry, visited the Meiji Shrine, and spent the evening in the Shibuya neighborhood that has the famous Shibuya crossing – where on average, over 2.4 million people cross Shibuya every day, roughly 2,500 pedestrians on every crossing and is known worldwide and been featured in many films. It was madness and so cool to see. We took a train to the Roppongi area, a main place for the bar and clubbing scene. We did none of that because we were too tired to stay out late, but still cool to see.
Toilets, trains, and onsens.
I will never forget the first time I used the bathroom in Japan in the Osaka train station. It was a magical experience, so I have to tell you about it. There was a sound of babbling brooks for privacy, a warm toilet seat, it smelled like floral heaven, and an optional and impressive bidet system. All in a public bathroom. WHAT!? I think I’ve used the toilet once in NYC subway system and I will never do that again. Quite the opposite experience and one I will never forget.
Japan is huge and the best way to get around in each of the large metropolis cities are by train, which is complex and complicated. Especially since I don’t understand a lick of Japanese and many people do not speak great English. It is crowded at any time of the day and unfortunately my second to last day while using my phone to navigate, my phone was knocked out of my hand and the screen cracked. The train stations are multiple blocks large underground and always busy. The bullet trains are impressive, but plan ahead as the lines are long and trains wait for no one. The trains in Japan make the large cities possible to visit and see so much of the beautiful cities.
Onsens, or hot springs and the bathing facilities and traditional inns around them, are a way of life in Japan. Not a day went by that we did not soak in these baths. I have been in one Asian bathhouse before and it was YEARS ago in a suburb of Chicago. I have not been back since…but when in Asia. The baths are divided by male and female because as you may have guessed, no clothing is worn, bathing suits included. We slept so well each night after soaking in warm water and I knew I was going to miss this luxury after leaving Japan. We got quite used to them and you cannot visit Japan without going to an onsen, whether public or in your hotel.
The jen essentials for south korea and japan.
- Meat (Poor Jewel is a vegetarian and finding food for her to eat in these countries was TOUGH)
- Ability to navigate public transportation (trains and buses are complex and the stations are a madhouse so just be ready)
- Wifi (important while trying to figure out how to get anywhere due to above #2)
- Jewel (she just makes everything better)
- Menu with pictures (I would have had no idea what to order if it were not for the pics)
- Google translate (this was handy when trying to read signs, labels, or menus without pics, you can take a photo and the app will translate – not always the best translation, see pics for example of what I mean)
- Small bag to store trash (it will come in handy since there are no public trash cans)
- Walking shoes (one day we walked 30k steps AKA 15 miles – I think maybe the most on my trip so far!)
- Onsens (after long hours of touristy things, this was the perfect way to end the day)
- Warm toilet seats (no explanation needed)
Wrap it up jen.
South Korea and Japan are really special places. The culture is so orderly, respectful, kind, and different from how I grew up. People line up to get on the train, everyone wears masks EVERYWHERE, there are very few trash cans in public places (you take your trash home with you – now that’s a concept), streets are shiny clean, and most importantly people respect each other and bow to greet each other. It is what makes these countries so unique. In a way, I felt out of place. Not in a bad way, but in a way that felt new and different. I could never live in these countries, but I absolutely loved visiting and experiencing it. I have thousands of photos to prove how great of an experience this was!
I could not imagine my time in these countries without Jewel. She planned the whole thing, taught me many of the cultural aspects I would not otherwise have known, and made me laugh continuously. We had such a great time. In my five months of travel, I have spent one month with her. She visited me not only once in South America, but now in Asia. If that is not a great friend, I don’t know what is??!? She has quickly become one of my closest friends and I cant wait for our next adventure together.
Up next: Vietnam, which has been on my list for YEARS and YEARS.
Signing off for now,
Jennifer