Hiroshima is made famous by the tragedy of the world's first A-bomb which was dropped on this city during the second world war. David and I wanted to visited Hiroshima because we felt that it would be interesting to visit a Japanese city has not been made popular by trends or culture. We stayed in hostel in Hiroshima was which just as nice as our ryokan in Tokyo but for half the price, and we got our own room! It was a bargain even with it being one of the 2 hostels in the downtown area of the city. We only [View Full Entry]

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I feel like if there was anything to do in Tokyo, I have done it! and in 2 days! The thing about Japan's capital is that it's not so much that there are attractions to visit, it's more that you just need to wander the different districts and be an excellent people watcher. In 2 days David and I managed to visit a lot of the main areas: Harajuku, Shibukya, Sinjuku, Odaiba, Asakusa, Akihabara, and we stayed in Ikebukuro in a ryokan (traditional Japanese inn). Again, the rail pass was great to have since you can take the main JR line [View Full Entry]

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We spent 2 days in Kyoto and felt that even with its abundance of temples, it was pretty much enough. Like everyone claims, its very easy to overdose on the 100's of temples that make Kyoto so popular but there are other things to discover apart from the temples as well which I quickly learned. We stayed with a couch surfer for the rest of time. He was a very kind Japanese man who let us stay in his 'guesthouse' which was pretty much an apartment which he had solely for the purpose of hosting surfers. David and I found it [View Full Entry]

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My journey to Japan took 12 hours! Instead of dishing out over 600 bucks for a 2 hour flight (its peak season being summer holidays in Korea), my boyfriend and I decided it would be more economic and even more adventurous to take the ferry route. This meant taking a 3 hour KTX (Korean bullet train) to Busan, and then a 3 hour speed jet ferry to Fukoka, Japan. It cost us about 1/3 the price of a flight since there are deals when you purchase the ferry and KTX package and if you have the luxury of time (which is [View Full Entry]

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Since I have been in Seoul I have seen 4 plays - 3 in Korean. Don't let that fool you into thinking I even understand an ounce of it tho. Luckily in Korea, most major plays that are in Korean have English subtitles on screens that are normally to the side of the stage. I did sit through 2 plays that were entirely in Korean. Korean theater is really amazing. The culture emphasized on perfection that can be seen in every aspect of their lives. Even amateur theater in Korea can be seen as professional to a North American. Dancing, singing, [View Full Entry]

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This weekend was the 11th annual Boryeong Mud Festival on Daejeon Beach. It is about 3 hours south west on the train from Seoul. I headed there with about 10 of my friends, Korean and non-Korean and had the best weekend since I've been here. The mud festival is a massive tourist attraction, mainly because the idea of being soaked in mud is more exciting for foreigners than for Koreans who are all about being so meticulously clean. They had ads for it all over the Seoul subway stations since I first got here. I also heard from co-workers who went [View Full Entry]

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There is only one way to enter the north, with a tour company and it's the type of trip that I totally despise, but being the only option do I have a choice? We went on a 2 day trip to the Kumgansan resort in North Korea, about one hour north from the eastern border of South Korea. We didn't know really what to expect. We were told we would be staying in a protected area so of course, the real North Korean experience was not to be had. We would only be allowed to see and experience what the north [View Full Entry]

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It seems that most Asian countries have natural hot springs, a fact that I was never made aware of before. In fact, I was never aware of hot springs period. I mean I knew they existed, but not where or why. But it seems in East Asia, hot springs are a hobby as well as a natural remedy. It's this concept of hot springs that led Koreans to create the 24 hour spa rooms knowns as jimjilbangs which I enjoy very much so it's actually an awesome concept since it's all about relaxation and de-stressing. The difference with the natural hot [View Full Entry]

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It's another long weekend (I'm really enjoying these frequent holidays) so this time David and I decided to venture out of Korea for the first time since I've been here, and the cheapest flights we could find was to Taiwan, so why not?! I would have never thought for a second before coming to Asia that I would make the effort to visit Taiwan; the only information I know of it is that practically anything produced of cheap labour originates from Taiwan causing me to make the judgment that Taiwan was a poor country. After living in Asia for a few [View Full Entry]

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Another long weekend, this time in honor of Buddha's birthday. David and I took a 5 hour train to the east coast of Korea to a small city (population of 100,000) called Donghae which sits right on the east sea. We actually apartment swapped with the couple we met in Busan (through couch surfing) and it was great to have a 2 bedroom apartment in the middle of this city all to ourselves. There isn't heaps to do in Donghae, but enough for a weekend. The highlight is the caves that were only discovered in the 90's and are located smack [View Full Entry]

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