It took awhile since there were hundreds of photos... but I finally got them up on my Flickr account. Here they are if you're interested...
Hong Kong and Macau photos
Seoul photos
Enjoy!
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Joni Deb
I'm on the plane back to San Francisco. Hard to believe that the trip is over! I've had a lot of fun, but I am ready to return to my own country. I am ready to sleep in my own bed again and slip back into the comfortable familiarity of my own language and customs.
When I last wrote, I was in The Plaza Hotel. My perfect five star dream hotel wasn't so perfect the last night we were there. The hotel is situated near an area where there's always protests. That last night there was a protest with a man yelling on a bullhorn until 1 am! He came back again at 7 am and started up his yelling again. The front desk told us that it was a protest about unions, but who knows.
SATURDAY
It was hard to get out of bed and greet the day since we had so little sleep and it was rainy and cold outside. After so much rain in Hong Kong, I wasn't looking forward to being wet again. All you can do is buy an umbrella and get on with it. I'm glad I packed an extra pair of shoes because my feet kept getting soaked.
Finding our next lodging - Rakkojae - was pretty difficult. Seoul is a very confusing city to navigate because it's not on the the grid system. To make matters worse, many of the streets have the same name but with subtle differences. Korean words are kind of like German words in that they can get quite long and confusing. After wandering through the maze like streets in the freezing rain with our heavy luggage we finally located Rakkojae. I was rather crabby when we first checked in, but the hostess (I think her name was Whoopie or Winnie) was so gracious that I relaxed and cheered up. We had yuzu tea and traditional Korean cookies with her for awhile, and she told us the history of Rakkojae and helped us plan out our day. I think the staff at Rakkojae is the most hospitable group of people I've ever met.
Rakkojae is a traditional hanok (guesthouse) located in a historic area of Seoul called Bukchon. Seoul was pretty much destroyed by the Japanese so most of the buildings here are new, but the Bukchon area was preserved. A traditional hanok has tiled roofs, paper windows, and sliding wood doors. The floors are heated by a system called "ondol." The warm wooden floors keep the hanoks warm, which is quite amazing even with the paper windows. You must take your shoes off when you enter a hanok, the beds are futon mattresses on the floor, the seating is floor pillows, and the tables are low. It's pretty similar to Japanese ryokan but a bit more rustic and the mattresses seem much thinner. Mike didn't sleep so well on the thin mattress atop the heated floor, but I slept pretty deeply.
That afternoon we decided to explore the traditional neighborhood of Bukchon. It was still raining and cold, and we got lost again! This became a recurring theme during our time in Seoul. When we got to the point where we could no longer feel our hands, we decided it was time to find a place to sit down and have some hot tea before our dinner reservation. Mike saw a sign for a tea house and we managed to find it nestled deep in the labyrinthine alleys of Bukchon. What a treat the teahouse was! It was traditional, so you had to remove your shoes upon entering and the seating was at pillows around low tables. The decor was very simple and stark and they were playing very relaxing music. Nobody else was there except for a lone Korean woman drinking tea, so we whispered to each other so as to not disturb her reverie. We both had hot ginger tea that the hostess served in large beautiful ceramic cups. The tea came with small cute little snacks that tasted like green tea and sesame. My experience there reminded me why we braved the freezing rain and confusing alleys of a foreign country - you sometimes stumble upon hidden gems that make it all worth it.
Our dinner reservation was at a traditional Korean restaurant owned by Rakkojae. And guess what? We got lost trying to find it. Whoopie gave us a card with directions in Korean, so we were incredibly confused. After about 45 minutes of wandering around totally confused in the freezing rain, I screamed in exasperation. We were about to give up and find somewhere else to eat when a really nice Korean girl offered to help us find the place. She led us right to it - I am so thankful the Koreans are so helpful and sweet.
The restaurant was very lovely and traditional. I am thankful we were seated in our private room, because when I removed my wet shoes it was the stench of ages. They served us so much food. Just when I thought we were done, a waiter came in bearing more dishes and trays. I don't understand how Korean people stay so slim since they seem to eat so much.
When we got back to Rakkojae that night, we spent some time in their mud-walled sauna that was delightfully scented with mugwort until a Japanese tourist on her cellphone came in and disturbed our peace. Argh. Really, lady? The outfits we were given to wear to the sauna looked like something straight out of a 90's urban dance group/rave video. Think Kriss Kross. It didn't help that they were sized for small Asian people, not giant white people. We took some pictures of each other wearing the hideous mustard yellow get-ups that will remain in our private collection, ha!
SUNDAY
Breakfast at Rakkojae was not so good. I made the mistake of neglecting to request Western breakfast so were served Korean style food. It was a piece of fish, some sort of lumpy fish stew, anchovies, fish paste encrusted vegetables, and kimchi. No. I took a few bites of the kimchi and put the rest outside of the room because it smelled strongly of fish which is always unpleasant, and especially horrible in the morning. I think they realized something was wrong because then they served us (and I am not kidding you) about a tablespoon of plain yogurt with frozen berries and black coffee.
We spent the day at Changdeokgung Palace, which was very beautiful. Seoul has 4 main palaces and the city is built somewhat around them - we chose Changdeokgung because it is considered the most beautiful. We took a tour of the Secret Garden area which helped to illuminate exactly what I was seeing. Everything has meaning, from the gnarled rocks to the square shaped ponds to the ornate paintings on the ceilings of the pagodas. We toured a Confucian style structure which I found particularly interesting. The men and women lived separately, can you imagine? It has some appeal if you think about it, ha! The doors were so small too - the typical man of the Confucian period was 5'2" and the typical woman was 4'9". Tiny folks! We've banged our heads on doorways a lot during our travels through Asia.
After touring the palace, we went to see the changing of the guard at (and forgive me if I spell this wrong, I don't have a book or the internet to check the spelling right now) Deoksugung Palace. This was near the Plaza and right next to the protests. The changing of the guard was very colorful and had much pomp and circumstance. I finally got to see who kept me up at night. It seemed to be a bunch of students camped under a tent with many signs in Korean. I didn't see any anti-American looking images so I didn't high-tail it out of there, but who knows what those signs said. There were literally hundreds of cops just milling about the area. Our food tour guide told us the Seoul police are an ineffectual bunch. Hmmm.
We checked into our next and final place of lodging next - another traditional guesthouse. The spelling is really complicated so I won't bother telling you the name. The host was very friendly, but we both immediately disliked the place. It was basically a glorified shack! The courtyard area was filled with random junk and our room was a shoebox with two thin mattresses on the floor. Our host told us the construction site next door started up at 8 am. I think the last straw was the dirty and wet communal bathroom. This guesthouse looked like a bomb shelter from a war torn third world country! We didn't travel thousands of miles to stay in a terrible place like that. Wait until you see the photos of this place.
We found a nearby coffee shop with wi-fi and decided to check out a few nearby hotels. Hotel Sunbee was the second place we looked at and we really liked it, the price was right, and it was in a great neighborhood. For anyone looking to travel to Korea, I would recommend you forgo making hotel reservations ahead of time. The best thing to do is tour the hotel once you get there and decide whether or not you want to spend the night. Korea isn't a popular tourist destination for many Americans or other Westerners for that matter, so the few travel reviews I read on the hotels and guesthouses I selected didn't accurately represent Western tastes. I hate to sound like a tacky American, but I have certain standards I expect. Plus, I am too old to be sleeping in a place that is pretty much a slum.
After checking into the Hotel Sunbee, our mood improved 100% and we decided to celebrate by tracking down some Mexican food and cheap beer. We found a place that was actually pretty good, albeit a little odd. Like every other place in Korea, they were blasting insane techno music interspersed with smooth jams from Luther Vandross. We both had a crazy drink called a Mexican Bulldog that consisted of a beer bottle tipped upside down into a giant glass of iced tequila. The drinks made us feel pretty good we decided to get another beer somewhere else. Wandering through a neon lit nightlife district, two young and very drunk Korean men stumbled up to and asked us what the hell we were doing there considering what was going on with North Koreans. We started talking to them and decided to all grab a drink somewhere. It was weird at first but we decided to just go with it, you know?
The first place we went to was blasting obnoxious techno music. It was practically empty and after a few beers I decided I wanted to dance. I think I freaked the Koreans out because they were staring at me. Whatever, I'm on vacation. They danced with me a little and then told me they didn't think it was okay for me to dance with other men since I'm married. I told them Mike and I aren't jealous people, and it's very common and acceptable for American women to dance with whomever they feel like. Korean women are definitely more restrained than American women. I've tried to explain this to women who complain about being an American but it's not something you understand unless you travel. American women enjoy many freedoms a lot of other women on this planet aren't allowed to enjoy.
Mike talked a lot with the Korean who spoke better English about the North Korean situation and I communicated with the guy who didn't speak as good of English via notepad on my iPhone. They had a lot of questions for us and we had a lot of questions for them. They were particularly fascinated with Mike's beard and said he looked like Joni Deb (direct quote from my iPhone text conversation) and Brad Pitt. They asked to feel my nose and said it was very big (which doesn't bother me because I like my nose.) They also kept saying we are both very beautiful and should make a kid, and that they hope we have good feelings about Korea. Of course we do! We ended up going to a norae-bang (karaoke private room) and singing for a few hours. Oddly, the only Western pop songs they seemed to know were ballads by the likes of Michael Bolton and Mariah Carey. They sang a Korean song for us they introduced by saying it was "the most sad song of all." I think Koreans have a taste for the melodrama.
MONDAY
On our last day, we strolled the Cheongyecheon Stream (I have to look up the spelling) and did some shopping and eating at the Dongdaemun Market, Kwangjung Market, and Insadong neighborhood. The stream is situated along the center of the city and makes for a nice, peaceful walk. At the markets I looked for souvenirs and found a tiny kimchi pot, a pearl inlayed lacquer box, and a ceramic pendant. I am turning into my mom and grandmother because two of my souvenirs are knick knacks- although I might put some sea salt in the tiny kimchi pot and stick it in the kitchen.
We turned in early and got a good night's rest for the long travel day ahead. Now I'm sitting on the plane bound for SF and it's not so bad. My seat isn't broken, my neighbor is a nice guy with full capacities and average body weight, and my flight is a heck of a lot shorter on the way back.
Stay tuned for photos and random various thoughts! When I get home I'm attending a typography convention so they'll be up sometime next week after I have a few days to recover.
When I last wrote, I was in The Plaza Hotel. My perfect five star dream hotel wasn't so perfect the last night we were there. The hotel is situated near an area where there's always protests. That last night there was a protest with a man yelling on a bullhorn until 1 am! He came back again at 7 am and started up his yelling again. The front desk told us that it was a protest about unions, but who knows.
SATURDAY
It was hard to get out of bed and greet the day since we had so little sleep and it was rainy and cold outside. After so much rain in Hong Kong, I wasn't looking forward to being wet again. All you can do is buy an umbrella and get on with it. I'm glad I packed an extra pair of shoes because my feet kept getting soaked.
Finding our next lodging - Rakkojae - was pretty difficult. Seoul is a very confusing city to navigate because it's not on the the grid system. To make matters worse, many of the streets have the same name but with subtle differences. Korean words are kind of like German words in that they can get quite long and confusing. After wandering through the maze like streets in the freezing rain with our heavy luggage we finally located Rakkojae. I was rather crabby when we first checked in, but the hostess (I think her name was Whoopie or Winnie) was so gracious that I relaxed and cheered up. We had yuzu tea and traditional Korean cookies with her for awhile, and she told us the history of Rakkojae and helped us plan out our day. I think the staff at Rakkojae is the most hospitable group of people I've ever met.
Rakkojae is a traditional hanok (guesthouse) located in a historic area of Seoul called Bukchon. Seoul was pretty much destroyed by the Japanese so most of the buildings here are new, but the Bukchon area was preserved. A traditional hanok has tiled roofs, paper windows, and sliding wood doors. The floors are heated by a system called "ondol." The warm wooden floors keep the hanoks warm, which is quite amazing even with the paper windows. You must take your shoes off when you enter a hanok, the beds are futon mattresses on the floor, the seating is floor pillows, and the tables are low. It's pretty similar to Japanese ryokan but a bit more rustic and the mattresses seem much thinner. Mike didn't sleep so well on the thin mattress atop the heated floor, but I slept pretty deeply.
That afternoon we decided to explore the traditional neighborhood of Bukchon. It was still raining and cold, and we got lost again! This became a recurring theme during our time in Seoul. When we got to the point where we could no longer feel our hands, we decided it was time to find a place to sit down and have some hot tea before our dinner reservation. Mike saw a sign for a tea house and we managed to find it nestled deep in the labyrinthine alleys of Bukchon. What a treat the teahouse was! It was traditional, so you had to remove your shoes upon entering and the seating was at pillows around low tables. The decor was very simple and stark and they were playing very relaxing music. Nobody else was there except for a lone Korean woman drinking tea, so we whispered to each other so as to not disturb her reverie. We both had hot ginger tea that the hostess served in large beautiful ceramic cups. The tea came with small cute little snacks that tasted like green tea and sesame. My experience there reminded me why we braved the freezing rain and confusing alleys of a foreign country - you sometimes stumble upon hidden gems that make it all worth it.
Our dinner reservation was at a traditional Korean restaurant owned by Rakkojae. And guess what? We got lost trying to find it. Whoopie gave us a card with directions in Korean, so we were incredibly confused. After about 45 minutes of wandering around totally confused in the freezing rain, I screamed in exasperation. We were about to give up and find somewhere else to eat when a really nice Korean girl offered to help us find the place. She led us right to it - I am so thankful the Koreans are so helpful and sweet.
The restaurant was very lovely and traditional. I am thankful we were seated in our private room, because when I removed my wet shoes it was the stench of ages. They served us so much food. Just when I thought we were done, a waiter came in bearing more dishes and trays. I don't understand how Korean people stay so slim since they seem to eat so much.
When we got back to Rakkojae that night, we spent some time in their mud-walled sauna that was delightfully scented with mugwort until a Japanese tourist on her cellphone came in and disturbed our peace. Argh. Really, lady? The outfits we were given to wear to the sauna looked like something straight out of a 90's urban dance group/rave video. Think Kriss Kross. It didn't help that they were sized for small Asian people, not giant white people. We took some pictures of each other wearing the hideous mustard yellow get-ups that will remain in our private collection, ha!
SUNDAY
Breakfast at Rakkojae was not so good. I made the mistake of neglecting to request Western breakfast so were served Korean style food. It was a piece of fish, some sort of lumpy fish stew, anchovies, fish paste encrusted vegetables, and kimchi. No. I took a few bites of the kimchi and put the rest outside of the room because it smelled strongly of fish which is always unpleasant, and especially horrible in the morning. I think they realized something was wrong because then they served us (and I am not kidding you) about a tablespoon of plain yogurt with frozen berries and black coffee.
We spent the day at Changdeokgung Palace, which was very beautiful. Seoul has 4 main palaces and the city is built somewhat around them - we chose Changdeokgung because it is considered the most beautiful. We took a tour of the Secret Garden area which helped to illuminate exactly what I was seeing. Everything has meaning, from the gnarled rocks to the square shaped ponds to the ornate paintings on the ceilings of the pagodas. We toured a Confucian style structure which I found particularly interesting. The men and women lived separately, can you imagine? It has some appeal if you think about it, ha! The doors were so small too - the typical man of the Confucian period was 5'2" and the typical woman was 4'9". Tiny folks! We've banged our heads on doorways a lot during our travels through Asia.
After touring the palace, we went to see the changing of the guard at (and forgive me if I spell this wrong, I don't have a book or the internet to check the spelling right now) Deoksugung Palace. This was near the Plaza and right next to the protests. The changing of the guard was very colorful and had much pomp and circumstance. I finally got to see who kept me up at night. It seemed to be a bunch of students camped under a tent with many signs in Korean. I didn't see any anti-American looking images so I didn't high-tail it out of there, but who knows what those signs said. There were literally hundreds of cops just milling about the area. Our food tour guide told us the Seoul police are an ineffectual bunch. Hmmm.
We checked into our next and final place of lodging next - another traditional guesthouse. The spelling is really complicated so I won't bother telling you the name. The host was very friendly, but we both immediately disliked the place. It was basically a glorified shack! The courtyard area was filled with random junk and our room was a shoebox with two thin mattresses on the floor. Our host told us the construction site next door started up at 8 am. I think the last straw was the dirty and wet communal bathroom. This guesthouse looked like a bomb shelter from a war torn third world country! We didn't travel thousands of miles to stay in a terrible place like that. Wait until you see the photos of this place.
We found a nearby coffee shop with wi-fi and decided to check out a few nearby hotels. Hotel Sunbee was the second place we looked at and we really liked it, the price was right, and it was in a great neighborhood. For anyone looking to travel to Korea, I would recommend you forgo making hotel reservations ahead of time. The best thing to do is tour the hotel once you get there and decide whether or not you want to spend the night. Korea isn't a popular tourist destination for many Americans or other Westerners for that matter, so the few travel reviews I read on the hotels and guesthouses I selected didn't accurately represent Western tastes. I hate to sound like a tacky American, but I have certain standards I expect. Plus, I am too old to be sleeping in a place that is pretty much a slum.
After checking into the Hotel Sunbee, our mood improved 100% and we decided to celebrate by tracking down some Mexican food and cheap beer. We found a place that was actually pretty good, albeit a little odd. Like every other place in Korea, they were blasting insane techno music interspersed with smooth jams from Luther Vandross. We both had a crazy drink called a Mexican Bulldog that consisted of a beer bottle tipped upside down into a giant glass of iced tequila. The drinks made us feel pretty good we decided to get another beer somewhere else. Wandering through a neon lit nightlife district, two young and very drunk Korean men stumbled up to and asked us what the hell we were doing there considering what was going on with North Koreans. We started talking to them and decided to all grab a drink somewhere. It was weird at first but we decided to just go with it, you know?
The first place we went to was blasting obnoxious techno music. It was practically empty and after a few beers I decided I wanted to dance. I think I freaked the Koreans out because they were staring at me. Whatever, I'm on vacation. They danced with me a little and then told me they didn't think it was okay for me to dance with other men since I'm married. I told them Mike and I aren't jealous people, and it's very common and acceptable for American women to dance with whomever they feel like. Korean women are definitely more restrained than American women. I've tried to explain this to women who complain about being an American but it's not something you understand unless you travel. American women enjoy many freedoms a lot of other women on this planet aren't allowed to enjoy.
Mike talked a lot with the Korean who spoke better English about the North Korean situation and I communicated with the guy who didn't speak as good of English via notepad on my iPhone. They had a lot of questions for us and we had a lot of questions for them. They were particularly fascinated with Mike's beard and said he looked like Joni Deb (direct quote from my iPhone text conversation) and Brad Pitt. They asked to feel my nose and said it was very big (which doesn't bother me because I like my nose.) They also kept saying we are both very beautiful and should make a kid, and that they hope we have good feelings about Korea. Of course we do! We ended up going to a norae-bang (karaoke private room) and singing for a few hours. Oddly, the only Western pop songs they seemed to know were ballads by the likes of Michael Bolton and Mariah Carey. They sang a Korean song for us they introduced by saying it was "the most sad song of all." I think Koreans have a taste for the melodrama.
MONDAY
On our last day, we strolled the Cheongyecheon Stream (I have to look up the spelling) and did some shopping and eating at the Dongdaemun Market, Kwangjung Market, and Insadong neighborhood. The stream is situated along the center of the city and makes for a nice, peaceful walk. At the markets I looked for souvenirs and found a tiny kimchi pot, a pearl inlayed lacquer box, and a ceramic pendant. I am turning into my mom and grandmother because two of my souvenirs are knick knacks- although I might put some sea salt in the tiny kimchi pot and stick it in the kitchen.
We turned in early and got a good night's rest for the long travel day ahead. Now I'm sitting on the plane bound for SF and it's not so bad. My seat isn't broken, my neighbor is a nice guy with full capacities and average body weight, and my flight is a heck of a lot shorter on the way back.
Stay tuned for photos and random various thoughts! When I get home I'm attending a typography convention so they'll be up sometime next week after I have a few days to recover.
Sunday, April 7, 2013
Quick update
I apologize for not posting in awhile - but I will post another long blog with lots of updates soon. We have been without wi-fi until now. Since I last wrote we left The Plaza, had a miserably cold and rainy day, stayed in a traditional Korean guesthouse, visited a beautiful palace, checked in and promptly checked out of a terrible place, checked into a new good place, made some new Korean friends who we drank a lot of beer and did norae-bang (karaoke) with, and lots of other things... stay tuned.
Today is my last day here so I'm going to get out and enjoy it!
Today is my last day here so I'm going to get out and enjoy it!
Friday, April 5, 2013
Kimchi and the DMZ
I am currently relaxing in our luxury suite at the Plaza Hotel. This place is so luxurious. I don't ever want to check out. When you arrive, you're greeted by an entourage of bowing men with white gloves. The hallways are dimly lit and decorated very tastefully in a modern style. When you open the door to your room, the curtains open automatically and a soft song plays on the speakers in the ceiling. Outside is the busy city of Seoul, but inside it's a tranquil sanctuary. The decor is minimalist in tones of black, white, and red and incorporates natural elements like wood and stone. The front room has a business center with many ports to charge your various devices. There are also TVs in both rooms so you can watch fascinating and hilarious Korean TV shows to your hearts content. The walk in closet area has red curtains that draw back to reveal a shelf for shoes and plush white robes. The bedroom has a plush bed with white linens that I slept like a baby in, waking up feeling refreshed and alive. There is a digital console next to the bed where you can open and close the curtains, turn the lights on and off, adjust the room temperature, call the concierge, and request maid service among many other things. The bathroom has a sunken tub that I almost dozed off in, a shower with great water pressure, and luxury bath products. The toilet is digital; it has a warm seat, flushes for you, and a bidet which I tested out this morning. Ha!
But enough about the amazing hotel room. Last night we went on a Korean food tour led by a guide named Jin. We were joined by a German couple and another couple from San Francisco. I booked this tour because I'm intrigued by Korean food and wanted to know more about it. Jin took us to a variety of interesting restaurants frequented by Koreans in these really interesting old neighborhoods with lots of winding streets.
The tour started in a Korean barbecue restaurant. Each table had it's own grill fired by hot coals. Jin put slices of beef on the grill and showed us how to grill it and eat it. After the meat was ready, you wrap it in a red leaf lettuce leaf or sesame leaf and can add things like red bean paste, kimchi, pickled onions, peppers, garlic cloves, seasoning, and more. It's like a taco of sorts? It was delicious. He also taught us a drinking game with a drink made with a Korean beer and a coke.
The next stop was at a topokki restaurant. Topokki is a stew of sorts with cheese, rice cakes, noodles, squid, and clams in a bright orange liquid I assumed to be kimchi (but I am not sure.) It's cooked in a pot on a gas grill that's built into the table. It was very spicy... and I know it sounds weird, but I ate it and highly enjoyed it. Even the squid was good and didn't taste bad. I never thought I'd say I liked squid.
Then we went to a place full of boisterous Koreans playing drinking games and eating. It was a really cute place decorated in a traditional wooden style with kimchi pots and figurines. We sat at traditional tables on the floor and played drinking games again with a few bottles of what I believed to be rice wine. I think it was makgeolli? We ate a dish that consisted of soft tofu and a mixture of savory pork and kimchi that was incredibly good - very flavorful and earthy. There was also a seafood pancake of eggs, leeks, and various guys from the sea. Again, I never thought I'd say this because normally I don't like seafood, especially when it's cooked... but it was super good. I even tried some pickled jellyfish. It didn't taste like much and could best be described as chewy spaghetti.
I was stuffed to the gills at this point but we had one more stop at a night market full of people selling all manners of Korean food (especially kimchi) and people eating at crowded tables. Mike tried a pickled baby crab (I couldn't believe it either) and said it tasted like crunchy candy. We stopped at a restaurant full of Koreans of all ages that were clearly having a good time eating and drinking. We had the same dish that we had on the street the other night (the German girl described it as spicy ketchup rice tubes) and a pancake type dish with pork and vegetables. And... more drinking games with makgeolli.
I left the tour feeling very full and with a new sense of appreciation for Korean food. Now I feel more confident about walking into a Korean restaurant or by a food stall and ordering something. The Korean food was an excellent change after the Cantonese food in Hong Kong (which I didn't care for.) The Cantonese food wasn't spicy or flavorful to me at all. Korean food is full of bold flavors and lots of spice. I plan on eating it more often when I get back to SF! I don't understand why it's not more popular, because it's super good. Maybe because it sounds and looks a bit weird at first. Don't be scared though... Korean food is delicious.
This morning we woke up early for the DMZ tour. We had to be at the USO office in Seoul at 7 am so it was kind of a rough morning after all that makgeolli last night. The tour guide was a really nice Korean girl named Haylee who had good English but said things in an odd but cute way. The other people on the tour were a mix of Americans and Europeans. Apparently Chinese and South Koreans can't go on the tour because of political reasons.
Our first stop was Camp Bonifas, which was right on the border. Before we went into the camp, they checked our passports and told us not to photograph any of the security buildings. I assume this was for safety reasons. The tension was palpable immediately. There were barbed wires and soldiers with guns in every direction. Before we went into the DMZ, we watched a film and a US soldier gave us a brief history overview of the conflict. Then we got back into the bus and a US soldier narrated our drive to the JSA area. Again, we weren't allowed to photograph anything. We passed a mine field and tank barriers. And here is something odd... there is a South Korean village in the DMZ. About 200 farmers live there who farm rice paddies and are guarded day and night by soldiers. They must be in their houses every night by dark and don't pay any taxes.
The JSA was the scariest part for me. We were face to face with North Korean soldiers. In front and back of us were South Korean and American soldiers standing watch. The South Korean soldiers were particularly disarming because they stood completely still, with their fists balled up staring straight forward. We were told that it's a psychological thing in Korean culture, and whoever breaks the staring gaze first is considered a coward. At first I thought they were mannequins because they were so still. At this point we were allowed to take photos, and I snapped some really odd photos of the stare down. We were told not to make any gestures or scoff because the North Koreans were filming us and use any sign of disrespect from us as propaganda to fuel their hatred towards the South. However, the North Koreans on the other side often make lewd gestures in the South's direction. Hmmmmm.
We then went into the conference room, were the North Koreans and South Koreans meet sometimes to talk. It was here that I was able to take a few steps into what is geographically considered North Korea. It was a strange feeling.
We were then taken to a viewpoint where we were shown North Korea's fake village in the distance. The government built a city that appears to be full of high rises but is in fact hollow buildings with painted on windows and doors. Nobody lives there, but occasionally people are bused into the village to give it some semblance of reality. North Korea wants to appear successful and normal when in fact they are poor and oppressed. Over this fake city is a giant flag pole with the North Korean flag. The North built a taller flag pole in response to the South erecting a flag pole. The whole thing is a giant pissing content - it's unreal.
The next stop was the third tunnel. According to an escaped North Korean who defected to South Korea, NK built 20 tunnels under the DMZ into SK for war purposes. Only 4 of these tunnels have been discovered and the one we went into was under a mine field. When SK discovered it, NK claimed it was only a coal mining tunnel and painted splotches of coal on the walls. This makes no sense because coal doesn't exist in this part of the world.
The final thing we saw was a train station built in 1997 that was meant to be a passage between the north and the south. Relations between the two regions were friendlier back then, and this was a step towards peace. It all ended when a South Korean woman was shot by a North Korean soldier. Now the station stands eerily empty, waiting for people who will never come.
As the tour ended, Haylee gave us her thoughts. She said she thinks things will end in war and asked for us to pray for her peninsula. I hope a resolution is reached someday; it's such a terrible situation.
But enough about the amazing hotel room. Last night we went on a Korean food tour led by a guide named Jin. We were joined by a German couple and another couple from San Francisco. I booked this tour because I'm intrigued by Korean food and wanted to know more about it. Jin took us to a variety of interesting restaurants frequented by Koreans in these really interesting old neighborhoods with lots of winding streets.
The tour started in a Korean barbecue restaurant. Each table had it's own grill fired by hot coals. Jin put slices of beef on the grill and showed us how to grill it and eat it. After the meat was ready, you wrap it in a red leaf lettuce leaf or sesame leaf and can add things like red bean paste, kimchi, pickled onions, peppers, garlic cloves, seasoning, and more. It's like a taco of sorts? It was delicious. He also taught us a drinking game with a drink made with a Korean beer and a coke.
The next stop was at a topokki restaurant. Topokki is a stew of sorts with cheese, rice cakes, noodles, squid, and clams in a bright orange liquid I assumed to be kimchi (but I am not sure.) It's cooked in a pot on a gas grill that's built into the table. It was very spicy... and I know it sounds weird, but I ate it and highly enjoyed it. Even the squid was good and didn't taste bad. I never thought I'd say I liked squid.
Then we went to a place full of boisterous Koreans playing drinking games and eating. It was a really cute place decorated in a traditional wooden style with kimchi pots and figurines. We sat at traditional tables on the floor and played drinking games again with a few bottles of what I believed to be rice wine. I think it was makgeolli? We ate a dish that consisted of soft tofu and a mixture of savory pork and kimchi that was incredibly good - very flavorful and earthy. There was also a seafood pancake of eggs, leeks, and various guys from the sea. Again, I never thought I'd say this because normally I don't like seafood, especially when it's cooked... but it was super good. I even tried some pickled jellyfish. It didn't taste like much and could best be described as chewy spaghetti.
I was stuffed to the gills at this point but we had one more stop at a night market full of people selling all manners of Korean food (especially kimchi) and people eating at crowded tables. Mike tried a pickled baby crab (I couldn't believe it either) and said it tasted like crunchy candy. We stopped at a restaurant full of Koreans of all ages that were clearly having a good time eating and drinking. We had the same dish that we had on the street the other night (the German girl described it as spicy ketchup rice tubes) and a pancake type dish with pork and vegetables. And... more drinking games with makgeolli.
I left the tour feeling very full and with a new sense of appreciation for Korean food. Now I feel more confident about walking into a Korean restaurant or by a food stall and ordering something. The Korean food was an excellent change after the Cantonese food in Hong Kong (which I didn't care for.) The Cantonese food wasn't spicy or flavorful to me at all. Korean food is full of bold flavors and lots of spice. I plan on eating it more often when I get back to SF! I don't understand why it's not more popular, because it's super good. Maybe because it sounds and looks a bit weird at first. Don't be scared though... Korean food is delicious.
This morning we woke up early for the DMZ tour. We had to be at the USO office in Seoul at 7 am so it was kind of a rough morning after all that makgeolli last night. The tour guide was a really nice Korean girl named Haylee who had good English but said things in an odd but cute way. The other people on the tour were a mix of Americans and Europeans. Apparently Chinese and South Koreans can't go on the tour because of political reasons.
Our first stop was Camp Bonifas, which was right on the border. Before we went into the camp, they checked our passports and told us not to photograph any of the security buildings. I assume this was for safety reasons. The tension was palpable immediately. There were barbed wires and soldiers with guns in every direction. Before we went into the DMZ, we watched a film and a US soldier gave us a brief history overview of the conflict. Then we got back into the bus and a US soldier narrated our drive to the JSA area. Again, we weren't allowed to photograph anything. We passed a mine field and tank barriers. And here is something odd... there is a South Korean village in the DMZ. About 200 farmers live there who farm rice paddies and are guarded day and night by soldiers. They must be in their houses every night by dark and don't pay any taxes.
The JSA was the scariest part for me. We were face to face with North Korean soldiers. In front and back of us were South Korean and American soldiers standing watch. The South Korean soldiers were particularly disarming because they stood completely still, with their fists balled up staring straight forward. We were told that it's a psychological thing in Korean culture, and whoever breaks the staring gaze first is considered a coward. At first I thought they were mannequins because they were so still. At this point we were allowed to take photos, and I snapped some really odd photos of the stare down. We were told not to make any gestures or scoff because the North Koreans were filming us and use any sign of disrespect from us as propaganda to fuel their hatred towards the South. However, the North Koreans on the other side often make lewd gestures in the South's direction. Hmmmmm.
We then went into the conference room, were the North Koreans and South Koreans meet sometimes to talk. It was here that I was able to take a few steps into what is geographically considered North Korea. It was a strange feeling.
We were then taken to a viewpoint where we were shown North Korea's fake village in the distance. The government built a city that appears to be full of high rises but is in fact hollow buildings with painted on windows and doors. Nobody lives there, but occasionally people are bused into the village to give it some semblance of reality. North Korea wants to appear successful and normal when in fact they are poor and oppressed. Over this fake city is a giant flag pole with the North Korean flag. The North built a taller flag pole in response to the South erecting a flag pole. The whole thing is a giant pissing content - it's unreal.
The next stop was the third tunnel. According to an escaped North Korean who defected to South Korea, NK built 20 tunnels under the DMZ into SK for war purposes. Only 4 of these tunnels have been discovered and the one we went into was under a mine field. When SK discovered it, NK claimed it was only a coal mining tunnel and painted splotches of coal on the walls. This makes no sense because coal doesn't exist in this part of the world.
The final thing we saw was a train station built in 1997 that was meant to be a passage between the north and the south. Relations between the two regions were friendlier back then, and this was a step towards peace. It all ended when a South Korean woman was shot by a North Korean soldier. Now the station stands eerily empty, waiting for people who will never come.
As the tour ended, Haylee gave us her thoughts. She said she thinks things will end in war and asked for us to pray for her peninsula. I hope a resolution is reached someday; it's such a terrible situation.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Hi Seoul!
When we were in the Hong Kong airport, a tourism board representative approached me and asked me to take a survey on my experience. I gave Hong Kong very high ratings. I think it's a wonderful place that's definitely worth seeing. The people are very friendly, and there's so much to see and do. The only bad thing I had to say was when she asked me about the air quality. I rated it a one and told her the HK government should take better care of the environment. Other than that, I give HK five stars!
We landed in Seoul last night. The 4 hour flight here was quite pleasant. They served bibimbap again and I spent the majority of the flight catching up on this blog. Mike watched a Korean drama that was apparently quite good. When we deplaned, I was immediately struck by how much colder and dryer it is. HK was so muggy and hot. Seoul Incheon airport is like most other airports - grey. When we arrived in the international terminal, we found an information desk with a giant touch screen information kiosk that helped us figure out how to get into the city. South Korea is a very digital place and this was the first example of many to demonstrate how wired their country is.
We took the airport express train (otherwise known as AIREX) into the city and transferred onto the city's local subway line. Figuring out how to buy a ticket was difficult since almost everything is in Korean. A man saw how confused we were and showed us how to buy a single use fare. This was the first encounter of many that we've had with super friendly and helpful Koreans.
The train system here is pretty easy to figure out since it's color coded and uses Roman numerals. When we got off at our stop, we were stopped by numerous Koreans asking if we needed help finding our way our hotel. Two older men led the charge and escorted us out of the station to our hotel. When they asked us where we were from, they said "Baseball! San Francisco! Win!" and made a baseball bat motion. They kept laughing and saying "win! San Francisco win!" It was pretty funny. Eventually they found our hotel and shook our hands and left us to check in.
Hotel Doulos is situated in a district that seems to be populated by love hotels and trophy/award shops. Odd, isn't it? The streets are very narrow and twisty. Since it was nighttime, the trophy shops were closed and there were street food carts and tents everywhere. We were quite hungry and wanted something to eat. It was a bit frightening at first since we weren't sure what the foods were, but I picked one that looked like something I had seen on a travel food program. It was DELICIOUS! I can't describe it other than it was mochi like rice tubes covered in an indescribably tasty bright orange sauce. I saw other people eating it with toothpicks so I did the same. We also bought these goldfish shaped things filled with hot red bean paste - super delicious. I am getting hungry just thinking about it. So far all the Korean food I've had has been amazing.
So... our hotel. It was awful and we checked out early and found a new place. It had pretty good reviews on TripAdvisor which is why I selected it. I was fine with the room being the size of a matchbox, I was fine with the dingy quality of it, I was fine with the paper thin walls because I had earplugs, I could deal with the dodgy wi-fi connection, but I just could not deal with the bed. It was rock hard and lumpy and neither of us slept much at all. Getting a good sleep is crucial when you're on a vacation like this. When you're running on little sleep it makes you feel sluggish and irritable. The final straw was the awful breakfast. They didn't offer much food, and the hot food was cold and had obviously been sitting out for awhile. It was a joke.
We weren't going to get a refund on Doulos, but we were willing to eat the cost because it was so terrible. We went online and found another place relatively nearby that had excellent reviews - The Plaza Hotel. Of course it costs more than twice as much as Doulos but it's worth EVERY penny. We checked out the rooms before we booked it and I was sold immediately once I checked the softness of the bed. And, even better... the front desk hostess gave us a free upgrade to a luxury suite because she said she wanted us to have a wonderful time in Korea. I just took a bath and am lounging in my plush robe and feel wonderful. Now I feel ready for Seoul.
I have to get ready for our food tour now. I am very excited to chow down on Korean food! YUM. I can't drink too much soju either because tomorrow is our DMZ tour. SCARY.
We landed in Seoul last night. The 4 hour flight here was quite pleasant. They served bibimbap again and I spent the majority of the flight catching up on this blog. Mike watched a Korean drama that was apparently quite good. When we deplaned, I was immediately struck by how much colder and dryer it is. HK was so muggy and hot. Seoul Incheon airport is like most other airports - grey. When we arrived in the international terminal, we found an information desk with a giant touch screen information kiosk that helped us figure out how to get into the city. South Korea is a very digital place and this was the first example of many to demonstrate how wired their country is.
We took the airport express train (otherwise known as AIREX) into the city and transferred onto the city's local subway line. Figuring out how to buy a ticket was difficult since almost everything is in Korean. A man saw how confused we were and showed us how to buy a single use fare. This was the first encounter of many that we've had with super friendly and helpful Koreans.
The train system here is pretty easy to figure out since it's color coded and uses Roman numerals. When we got off at our stop, we were stopped by numerous Koreans asking if we needed help finding our way our hotel. Two older men led the charge and escorted us out of the station to our hotel. When they asked us where we were from, they said "Baseball! San Francisco! Win!" and made a baseball bat motion. They kept laughing and saying "win! San Francisco win!" It was pretty funny. Eventually they found our hotel and shook our hands and left us to check in.
Hotel Doulos is situated in a district that seems to be populated by love hotels and trophy/award shops. Odd, isn't it? The streets are very narrow and twisty. Since it was nighttime, the trophy shops were closed and there were street food carts and tents everywhere. We were quite hungry and wanted something to eat. It was a bit frightening at first since we weren't sure what the foods were, but I picked one that looked like something I had seen on a travel food program. It was DELICIOUS! I can't describe it other than it was mochi like rice tubes covered in an indescribably tasty bright orange sauce. I saw other people eating it with toothpicks so I did the same. We also bought these goldfish shaped things filled with hot red bean paste - super delicious. I am getting hungry just thinking about it. So far all the Korean food I've had has been amazing.
So... our hotel. It was awful and we checked out early and found a new place. It had pretty good reviews on TripAdvisor which is why I selected it. I was fine with the room being the size of a matchbox, I was fine with the dingy quality of it, I was fine with the paper thin walls because I had earplugs, I could deal with the dodgy wi-fi connection, but I just could not deal with the bed. It was rock hard and lumpy and neither of us slept much at all. Getting a good sleep is crucial when you're on a vacation like this. When you're running on little sleep it makes you feel sluggish and irritable. The final straw was the awful breakfast. They didn't offer much food, and the hot food was cold and had obviously been sitting out for awhile. It was a joke.
We weren't going to get a refund on Doulos, but we were willing to eat the cost because it was so terrible. We went online and found another place relatively nearby that had excellent reviews - The Plaza Hotel. Of course it costs more than twice as much as Doulos but it's worth EVERY penny. We checked out the rooms before we booked it and I was sold immediately once I checked the softness of the bed. And, even better... the front desk hostess gave us a free upgrade to a luxury suite because she said she wanted us to have a wonderful time in Korea. I just took a bath and am lounging in my plush robe and feel wonderful. Now I feel ready for Seoul.
I have to get ready for our food tour now. I am very excited to chow down on Korean food! YUM. I can't drink too much soju either because tomorrow is our DMZ tour. SCARY.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Asia's World City
So much has happened since I last updated this blog! I have to get it all down before I forget it. Also, please forgive all the misspellings in this blog. I don't have an internet connection to check location spellings.
When I last wrote, we had checked into the YMCA. It was a really nice place with an amazing view of the HK skyline and somewhat softer beds. The breakfast buffet was MUCH better, though Mike may disagree with me. And Leslie, there was the watermelon again! The newspaper I read at breakfast had reports of a new strain of bird flu. I decided to avoid chicken for the rest of the trip. The bird flu was a big deal in HK, since I read signs about sanitation everywhere where I went.
There was no rain the forecast so we decided to hold off on Macau for another day and do some more exploring in Hong Kong. We started the day off in the neighborhood of Wan Chai. It was formerly a red light district, so there were various "nude model dancer" clubs. We strolled around a bit and took photos before we headed to Causeway Bay. The guidebook said it was a major shopping destination. It reminded me a lot of Times Square and there were a lot of the same Western stores that we have back home, so we didn't stay there long.
At this point we were pretty hungry so we decided to go back to Soho, the area full of international restaurants and the escalator with great people watching. If I lived in HK, I would probably hang out in Soho a lot. It's an area that combines two of my favorite things: international food and beaking. There was a Mexican restaurant that seemed interesting, so went in and ordered some veggie tacos and taco salad. The place was staffed by Indians and the food was fine, but extremely bland. Being from California, I am used to Mexican food having bold flavors and lots of spice. Ketchup was spicier than the salsa they were serving. I think the restaurant was trying to appeal to the HK palate - and I've noticed that Cantonese style cooking doesn't seem to have much spice. It seems to be more about texture and savory flavors.
Next we visited the Cat Street Market. The guidebooks said there were lots of stalls selling curios and antiques. It was a charming little street full of very cute little booths with nicely arranged items. I spent more time than I probably should have looking at things like Chairman Mao ashtrays, cinnabar jewelry, and bronze figurines of pagodas. Mike was very patient with me as I dithered over what I wanted. I really wanted a knick knack to stick on my shelf, but nothing was really speaking to me so I just gave up. I'm glad I didn't buy anything because I saw all the same things they were selling later on at the Sham Shui Po market for a fraction of the cost! It turns out they weren't selling real antiques at all! Oh well.
So... Sham Shui Po. Friends of ours told us this was an interesting place we needed to check out. It's the oldest and poorest part of Hong Kong. It also turned out to be the place where all the Hong Kongers shop. The Sham Shui Po Market kind of blew my mind. I think there had to be at least a thousand tiny stalls selling everything and anything you can think of. Piles of greasy drills, obsolete VCRs, eyeball searing strips of LED lights, Kenny G CDs, you name it. The sellers here weren't as aggressive with us, either. We were pretty much ignored which was a change after being harassed nonstop in the other markets. I think it's because there were very few foreigners there.
One of the most interesting things I saw in the SSP market was a snake soup stall. On on side of the entrance was a tank with live snakes. On the other side was plastic box piled with snake skin items like wallets. There was a cart with a woman ladling out chunky looking grey soup to men of all ages. I wonder what medicinal properties snake soup has? It must have something to do with men's health.
Adjacent to the SSP street market is the electronics district. Mike and I went into one of the malls and again - mind blown. It was a very brightly lit place with thousands of stalls selling any kind of gadget and part you can imagine. You could get totally lost in there and not find your way out of the maze for hours. It was just like Akhibara in Japan. Most of the clientele were men and some of the stalls had shop owners opening phones and repairing electronic items. I was overwhelmed by all the screens and blinking things, I didn't know where to look.
We headed to the Temple Street Night Market next. It was pretty different after being at the chaotic mess that is the SSP street market. The stalls were much more orderly and the walkways weren't jam packed with people. I found some awesomely tacky purse holder thingies and enameled wing earrings for a few dollars. Besides street vendors, the TSNM also had lots of street food, fortune tellers, and a Cantonese opera singer.
We dashed back to the harbor waterfront to see the Symphony of Lights show at 8 pm. Every night the city of Hong Kong puts on a light show where all the skyscrapers light and up in time to awesomely bad midi music. It was really cool and totally Hong Kong's style - over the top, a bit garish, and futuristic.
It was pretty late by then but we were hungry and decided to grab a bite to eat at a vegetarian Indian place nearby. To get to it, we had to ring a doorbell and go upstairs to a door. It seemed hidden until we opened the door and saw that the place was packed. The food was really good but I was beyond tired at this point. I fell asleep at several parts during the meal, even dropping tikka masala into my hair at one point. Glamorous.
The next day we took a ferry to Macau. To get there, we took a hour long high speed ferry. Navigating the ferry terminal was a bit confusing, but we figured it out eventually. The boat ride was a relaxing change of pace after all those days of walking for 10 hours straight. It was rainy and foggy outside so I didn't get to see much besides a fishing boat here and there.
When we arrived in Macau, we took a bus to the historic area. Macau is a beautiful and interesting place. It was colonized by the Portuguese, so the architecture is a mixture between pastel colonial buildings and Chinese buildings. The streets very narrow cobblestone, so a lot of the people who live there ride scooters. I thought it had a quieter, more tropical vibe than Hong Kong. It rained buckets while we were there, but we had our umbrellas and made the best of it.
Besides having a historical district, Macau is also the Las Vegas of Asia. Gambling is illegal in Hong Kong (besides betting on horse races) so a casino industry has sprung up in Macau to satisfy gamblers' desires. Mike and I don't care to gamble, so we skipped that area but saw it on our bus ride back to the ferry terminal. It's just as tacky and artificial looking as Las Vegas! Some things are the same the world over.
It was a relief to get back to our hotel and change into dry clothes and shoes. We had hoped to have dinner at a Moroccan restaurant in Soho, but it was so late that we decided to stick around our neighborhood of Tsim Tsa Tsui. We found a pizza place that reminded me a lot of California. The margharita pizza didn't have much cheese, which I liked. I assumed it was to appeal to the HK palate - they eat little to do no dairy.
After dinner we wandered around for awhile in search of a decent bar. Just when we were discussing how it seemed like Hong Kongers don't like to drink since we never saw any bars anywhere, we stumbled upon a bar district. Ha! We found a tiny place and had a beer. I was so tired at this point that I started to nod off again so we decided to head back.
As we were heading back, we were accosted repeatedly by ladies at every block offering foot massages for as low as HK $80 (equivalent $8 in USD.) I was REALLY tempted because my feet having been aching after all the walking I've been doing. There seems to be a brisk foot massage trade in HK, which doesn't surprise me because it's a city where everyone walks a lot. I decided to forego the massage because it was almost 1 am at this point and I was embarrassed of my feet stinking after being in wet shoes all day long. As I drifted off to sleep that night, I vowed to one day return to Hong Kong to get that foot massage I've always wanted.
I'm writing this on the plane and my flight is almost over! When I next write, I'll be in Seoul. Hooray!
When I last wrote, we had checked into the YMCA. It was a really nice place with an amazing view of the HK skyline and somewhat softer beds. The breakfast buffet was MUCH better, though Mike may disagree with me. And Leslie, there was the watermelon again! The newspaper I read at breakfast had reports of a new strain of bird flu. I decided to avoid chicken for the rest of the trip. The bird flu was a big deal in HK, since I read signs about sanitation everywhere where I went.
There was no rain the forecast so we decided to hold off on Macau for another day and do some more exploring in Hong Kong. We started the day off in the neighborhood of Wan Chai. It was formerly a red light district, so there were various "nude model dancer" clubs. We strolled around a bit and took photos before we headed to Causeway Bay. The guidebook said it was a major shopping destination. It reminded me a lot of Times Square and there were a lot of the same Western stores that we have back home, so we didn't stay there long.
At this point we were pretty hungry so we decided to go back to Soho, the area full of international restaurants and the escalator with great people watching. If I lived in HK, I would probably hang out in Soho a lot. It's an area that combines two of my favorite things: international food and beaking. There was a Mexican restaurant that seemed interesting, so went in and ordered some veggie tacos and taco salad. The place was staffed by Indians and the food was fine, but extremely bland. Being from California, I am used to Mexican food having bold flavors and lots of spice. Ketchup was spicier than the salsa they were serving. I think the restaurant was trying to appeal to the HK palate - and I've noticed that Cantonese style cooking doesn't seem to have much spice. It seems to be more about texture and savory flavors.
Next we visited the Cat Street Market. The guidebooks said there were lots of stalls selling curios and antiques. It was a charming little street full of very cute little booths with nicely arranged items. I spent more time than I probably should have looking at things like Chairman Mao ashtrays, cinnabar jewelry, and bronze figurines of pagodas. Mike was very patient with me as I dithered over what I wanted. I really wanted a knick knack to stick on my shelf, but nothing was really speaking to me so I just gave up. I'm glad I didn't buy anything because I saw all the same things they were selling later on at the Sham Shui Po market for a fraction of the cost! It turns out they weren't selling real antiques at all! Oh well.
So... Sham Shui Po. Friends of ours told us this was an interesting place we needed to check out. It's the oldest and poorest part of Hong Kong. It also turned out to be the place where all the Hong Kongers shop. The Sham Shui Po Market kind of blew my mind. I think there had to be at least a thousand tiny stalls selling everything and anything you can think of. Piles of greasy drills, obsolete VCRs, eyeball searing strips of LED lights, Kenny G CDs, you name it. The sellers here weren't as aggressive with us, either. We were pretty much ignored which was a change after being harassed nonstop in the other markets. I think it's because there were very few foreigners there.
One of the most interesting things I saw in the SSP market was a snake soup stall. On on side of the entrance was a tank with live snakes. On the other side was plastic box piled with snake skin items like wallets. There was a cart with a woman ladling out chunky looking grey soup to men of all ages. I wonder what medicinal properties snake soup has? It must have something to do with men's health.
Adjacent to the SSP street market is the electronics district. Mike and I went into one of the malls and again - mind blown. It was a very brightly lit place with thousands of stalls selling any kind of gadget and part you can imagine. You could get totally lost in there and not find your way out of the maze for hours. It was just like Akhibara in Japan. Most of the clientele were men and some of the stalls had shop owners opening phones and repairing electronic items. I was overwhelmed by all the screens and blinking things, I didn't know where to look.
We headed to the Temple Street Night Market next. It was pretty different after being at the chaotic mess that is the SSP street market. The stalls were much more orderly and the walkways weren't jam packed with people. I found some awesomely tacky purse holder thingies and enameled wing earrings for a few dollars. Besides street vendors, the TSNM also had lots of street food, fortune tellers, and a Cantonese opera singer.
We dashed back to the harbor waterfront to see the Symphony of Lights show at 8 pm. Every night the city of Hong Kong puts on a light show where all the skyscrapers light and up in time to awesomely bad midi music. It was really cool and totally Hong Kong's style - over the top, a bit garish, and futuristic.
It was pretty late by then but we were hungry and decided to grab a bite to eat at a vegetarian Indian place nearby. To get to it, we had to ring a doorbell and go upstairs to a door. It seemed hidden until we opened the door and saw that the place was packed. The food was really good but I was beyond tired at this point. I fell asleep at several parts during the meal, even dropping tikka masala into my hair at one point. Glamorous.
The next day we took a ferry to Macau. To get there, we took a hour long high speed ferry. Navigating the ferry terminal was a bit confusing, but we figured it out eventually. The boat ride was a relaxing change of pace after all those days of walking for 10 hours straight. It was rainy and foggy outside so I didn't get to see much besides a fishing boat here and there.
When we arrived in Macau, we took a bus to the historic area. Macau is a beautiful and interesting place. It was colonized by the Portuguese, so the architecture is a mixture between pastel colonial buildings and Chinese buildings. The streets very narrow cobblestone, so a lot of the people who live there ride scooters. I thought it had a quieter, more tropical vibe than Hong Kong. It rained buckets while we were there, but we had our umbrellas and made the best of it.
Besides having a historical district, Macau is also the Las Vegas of Asia. Gambling is illegal in Hong Kong (besides betting on horse races) so a casino industry has sprung up in Macau to satisfy gamblers' desires. Mike and I don't care to gamble, so we skipped that area but saw it on our bus ride back to the ferry terminal. It's just as tacky and artificial looking as Las Vegas! Some things are the same the world over.
It was a relief to get back to our hotel and change into dry clothes and shoes. We had hoped to have dinner at a Moroccan restaurant in Soho, but it was so late that we decided to stick around our neighborhood of Tsim Tsa Tsui. We found a pizza place that reminded me a lot of California. The margharita pizza didn't have much cheese, which I liked. I assumed it was to appeal to the HK palate - they eat little to do no dairy.
After dinner we wandered around for awhile in search of a decent bar. Just when we were discussing how it seemed like Hong Kongers don't like to drink since we never saw any bars anywhere, we stumbled upon a bar district. Ha! We found a tiny place and had a beer. I was so tired at this point that I started to nod off again so we decided to head back.
As we were heading back, we were accosted repeatedly by ladies at every block offering foot massages for as low as HK $80 (equivalent $8 in USD.) I was REALLY tempted because my feet having been aching after all the walking I've been doing. There seems to be a brisk foot massage trade in HK, which doesn't surprise me because it's a city where everyone walks a lot. I decided to forego the massage because it was almost 1 am at this point and I was embarrassed of my feet stinking after being in wet shoes all day long. As I drifted off to sleep that night, I vowed to one day return to Hong Kong to get that foot massage I've always wanted.
I'm writing this on the plane and my flight is almost over! When I next write, I'll be in Seoul. Hooray!
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Seoul bound
Just a quick update... we haven't had the internet for the last few days so I've been incommunicado. I'm currently at the airport waiting to board the plane to Seoul. The flight is 4 hours long - enough to compose a nice long blog about the past few days in HK. Stay tuned!
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Hong Kong IS Blade Runner.
Did I sound like I didn't like HK in my last entry? Well, let me clarify that I LOVE IT HERE! I would even live here if given the opportunity. This city is amazing and even better than I thought it would be. I wish we were here longer. I feel like we've barely even scratched the surface of this city.
Yesterday morning we checked out of Caritas Bianchi Lodge and into the Salisbury YMCA. We were sad to leave CBL; we really liked it there. The YMCA is alright but we're not yet convinced that it lives up to the hype it's been given. Pro: mind-blowing view of the HK skyline. Con: being charged for the internet. LAME. You'll probably be seeing less photos and posts from me over the course of the next few days because of this. Sorry, my friends!
After checking into the Y, we decided to check out HK Island. We took the Star Ferry - a commuter boat that crosses the harbor every few minutes. It costs about a dollar and the view of the harbor is amazing. You get to see the futuristic skyline of HK and all the various boats in the harbor... tugs, barges, junks, hydrofoils. It was really neat.
The ferry landed in the Central district. This is where all the skyscrapers are. It's similar to Manhattan or the Financial District. Hong Kongers are a superstitious lot so most of the skyscrapers have been built using feng shui principles. Several of them are decorated with glowing lights that change color. Hong Kong IS Blade Runner come to life. I am mildly obsessed with that movie, so to encounter a real life environment that looks just like it is super cool.
When we got off the ferry and walked towards the tram, we noticed thousands of Filipino domestic worker ladies having lunch. Apparently every Sunday the meet in Central to picnic together. It was quite a sight!
Then we took the tram to the Peak, a tall point on one of the mountains on Hong Kong Island. From there you can see the sprawling metropolis that is HK for miles on a clear day. Unfortunately, it was a rainy day. We went anyways because every day here is forecasted to be rainy, and apparently it's one of the top things to in HK. The queue to get on to the tram was very long, and once it was time to board the tram, I saw people aggressively pushing each other. It reminded me trying to board a bus back in SF and being elbowed out of the way by tiny Chinese ladies, ha!
The ride up was pretty fantastic, albeit foggy. The tram incline is VERY steep. When we reached the top, we disembarked into a multi-level tourist fast food and shopping center. Basically the HK equivalent of Fisherman's Wharf. It was really obnoxious and immediately turned us off since it smacked of tourist trap. We figured out where the hiking trail was and got out of there as soon as possible.
The hiking trail made a loop around the top of the peak and was totally worth the tourist trap part. It's very green and lush up there - I breathed the pungent air deeply into my lungs. I saw many plants I'd never seen before... and heard strangely beautiful bird calls. As we walked along the path, we saw million dollar mansions and wondered who lived there. Lucky! Although it had started raining and there was rolling in, we could still see the skyscrapers of HK Island below, the harbor, and Kowloon very faintly through the fog. It was breathtaking, and I am sure it's even more gorgeous on a clear day. Maybe someday we will return and be blessed with gorgeous weather and we can see the view more clearly?
After our trip up the Peak, we wandered through Hong Kong Park. It was an oddly artificial park set amongst soaring skyscrapers full of Filipina tourists and old Chinese ladies doing tai chi. We both really enjoyed it and took some pretty cool photos of beautiful lotus filled ponds against glimmering geometric skyscrapers.
After the park, Mike said he knew there had to be more to Hong Kong than just the financial district full of businessmen. We started wandering until we hit a very interesting hilly intersection that led us into the Lan Kwai Fong and Soho districts. I want to mention here that HK's streets are not built on the grid system which can lead to confusion.
Lan Kwai Fong and SoHo were really neat areas full of restaurants and bars of all kinds. Geographically, the streets were very narrow and seemed to be pedestrian only. The buildings were a mash between colonial British style and Chinese. The people there were very international - I think the world goes to these areas to hang out together and eat and drink. This area is also home to the world's longest escalator! You KNOW we rode it and took our time beaking (my Dad's term for staring) at all the people sitting in the bars and restaurants!
We decided to eat dinner in SoHo at a Greek restaurant called Rick's. My veggie moussaka was good but seemed an odd take on what a Chinese person's idea of what moussaka should be. I love cultural mashup food. We chose Rick's mostly for the golden beaking opportunity it afforded. Our table looked right on to the escalator and I got to get some hardcore major beaking in. I was in heaven because one of my favorite things to do is people watch. I think I saw the whole world go up the escalator; people of every size, shape, and color. I wondered who they were and why they're in Hong Kong. Do they live here or are they tourists like me?
After my delightful beak fest, we wandered around HK for awhile longer. We stumbled upon some night dining markets in narrow alleys and ladder streets (what they call steep terraced streets) full of locked stalls I assumed to be vendors stalls. We came across a blinking neon sign that said Game Centre and followed it into a subterranean room full of chain smoking Chinese men playing games on old machines held together by duct tape. It was really different than the sleek modern sterile qualities of the Japanese game arcades. Mike is into gaming and game design, so this place really appealed to him.
The ferry ride back to our hotel on Kowloon was beautiful. Seeing the Hong Kong skyline in the misty rain was a site to behold. We tried to photograph it but pictures don't do it justice!
Yesterday morning we checked out of Caritas Bianchi Lodge and into the Salisbury YMCA. We were sad to leave CBL; we really liked it there. The YMCA is alright but we're not yet convinced that it lives up to the hype it's been given. Pro: mind-blowing view of the HK skyline. Con: being charged for the internet. LAME. You'll probably be seeing less photos and posts from me over the course of the next few days because of this. Sorry, my friends!
After checking into the Y, we decided to check out HK Island. We took the Star Ferry - a commuter boat that crosses the harbor every few minutes. It costs about a dollar and the view of the harbor is amazing. You get to see the futuristic skyline of HK and all the various boats in the harbor... tugs, barges, junks, hydrofoils. It was really neat.
The ferry landed in the Central district. This is where all the skyscrapers are. It's similar to Manhattan or the Financial District. Hong Kongers are a superstitious lot so most of the skyscrapers have been built using feng shui principles. Several of them are decorated with glowing lights that change color. Hong Kong IS Blade Runner come to life. I am mildly obsessed with that movie, so to encounter a real life environment that looks just like it is super cool.
When we got off the ferry and walked towards the tram, we noticed thousands of Filipino domestic worker ladies having lunch. Apparently every Sunday the meet in Central to picnic together. It was quite a sight!
Then we took the tram to the Peak, a tall point on one of the mountains on Hong Kong Island. From there you can see the sprawling metropolis that is HK for miles on a clear day. Unfortunately, it was a rainy day. We went anyways because every day here is forecasted to be rainy, and apparently it's one of the top things to in HK. The queue to get on to the tram was very long, and once it was time to board the tram, I saw people aggressively pushing each other. It reminded me trying to board a bus back in SF and being elbowed out of the way by tiny Chinese ladies, ha!
The ride up was pretty fantastic, albeit foggy. The tram incline is VERY steep. When we reached the top, we disembarked into a multi-level tourist fast food and shopping center. Basically the HK equivalent of Fisherman's Wharf. It was really obnoxious and immediately turned us off since it smacked of tourist trap. We figured out where the hiking trail was and got out of there as soon as possible.
The hiking trail made a loop around the top of the peak and was totally worth the tourist trap part. It's very green and lush up there - I breathed the pungent air deeply into my lungs. I saw many plants I'd never seen before... and heard strangely beautiful bird calls. As we walked along the path, we saw million dollar mansions and wondered who lived there. Lucky! Although it had started raining and there was rolling in, we could still see the skyscrapers of HK Island below, the harbor, and Kowloon very faintly through the fog. It was breathtaking, and I am sure it's even more gorgeous on a clear day. Maybe someday we will return and be blessed with gorgeous weather and we can see the view more clearly?
After our trip up the Peak, we wandered through Hong Kong Park. It was an oddly artificial park set amongst soaring skyscrapers full of Filipina tourists and old Chinese ladies doing tai chi. We both really enjoyed it and took some pretty cool photos of beautiful lotus filled ponds against glimmering geometric skyscrapers.
After the park, Mike said he knew there had to be more to Hong Kong than just the financial district full of businessmen. We started wandering until we hit a very interesting hilly intersection that led us into the Lan Kwai Fong and Soho districts. I want to mention here that HK's streets are not built on the grid system which can lead to confusion.
Lan Kwai Fong and SoHo were really neat areas full of restaurants and bars of all kinds. Geographically, the streets were very narrow and seemed to be pedestrian only. The buildings were a mash between colonial British style and Chinese. The people there were very international - I think the world goes to these areas to hang out together and eat and drink. This area is also home to the world's longest escalator! You KNOW we rode it and took our time beaking (my Dad's term for staring) at all the people sitting in the bars and restaurants!
We decided to eat dinner in SoHo at a Greek restaurant called Rick's. My veggie moussaka was good but seemed an odd take on what a Chinese person's idea of what moussaka should be. I love cultural mashup food. We chose Rick's mostly for the golden beaking opportunity it afforded. Our table looked right on to the escalator and I got to get some hardcore major beaking in. I was in heaven because one of my favorite things to do is people watch. I think I saw the whole world go up the escalator; people of every size, shape, and color. I wondered who they were and why they're in Hong Kong. Do they live here or are they tourists like me?
After my delightful beak fest, we wandered around HK for awhile longer. We stumbled upon some night dining markets in narrow alleys and ladder streets (what they call steep terraced streets) full of locked stalls I assumed to be vendors stalls. We came across a blinking neon sign that said Game Centre and followed it into a subterranean room full of chain smoking Chinese men playing games on old machines held together by duct tape. It was really different than the sleek modern sterile qualities of the Japanese game arcades. Mike is into gaming and game design, so this place really appealed to him.
The ferry ride back to our hotel on Kowloon was beautiful. Seeing the Hong Kong skyline in the misty rain was a site to behold. We tried to photograph it but pictures don't do it justice!
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Rain, rain go away.
I just woke up - it's about 7 am. I finally got a decent night's of rest.
Yesterday was another very busy day. I woke up at 4 am, took a shower, and tried to make a game plan for the day. Rain has been forecasted for every day that we've been here, and yesterday the percentage looked pretty high. Unfortunately almost everything we want to do involves being outdoors. We decided to check out the Chi Lin Nunnery, Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple, Kowloon Walled City Park, and Chungking Mansions.
Breakfast was not good at all. It consisted of an odd assortment of foods such as fishy tasting turnip pattys, ketchup beans, cocktail weenies, lukewarm noodles, shrimp congee, and questionable soggy pastries. At least there was toast, watermelon, and a mysterious hot pink skinned fruit.
We finally rode the MTR (public transit line) and I was quite jealous of it. The MTR was very easy to figure out, clean, modern, and efficient. A nice employee saw us trying to puzzle out how to buy a ticket and advised to buy an Octopus card, which is the HK equivalent of a Clipper or MTA card. You just swipe it on the turnstile and that's it. It can also be used at places like 7 Eleven for snacks.
When we arrived at the stop for Chi Lin Nunnery we took the wrong station exit and found ourselves in residential area. Residential areas in HK are quite different than your average city. They consist of massive concrete high rise structures that are at least 100 stories tall. It was astonishing and looked like pictures of massive mainland manufacturing cities in China that I had seen. Another remarkable thing was the pollution in the air. I could literally taste it. I had read on certain days that when the wind blows a certain direction, it carries all the mainland's pollution to HK.
The air here is definitely smoggy too. Since I've been here I have noticed there is a total disregard for the environment. I wonder if they're thinking about the future at all. What will happen when the environment is too poisoned to breathe the air and the plants and animals needed for eating no longer grow in the poisoned water and soil? Where is all the garbage going?
We were using a HK Tourist Association app for our day's excursions and it helped us find the way to the Nunnery. First we arrived and Nan Lian Gardens, a traditionally landscaped Chinese garden with piped in music, a pagoda, a red bridge, ornamental rocks, and various plant life. It looked very artificial and was really strange looking with the massive high rise concrete apartment blocks in the background. This was exactly the kind of thing I love because it's so weird. The gardens were right next to the Nunnery, which was very beautiful and peaceful. There were many people there paying respects to their various Buddhist deities. Someone was singing a beautiful hymn and for a few peaceful moments the wind stopped and the sky wasn't as threatening.
Our next stop was the Sik Sik Yuen Temple. This was a very brightly colored temple (I think it was Taoist?) and very popular with many people, so it was thronged with worshippers lighting incense, casting bamboo chim, and posing for photos with bronze statues of deities. The air was thick with incense and the energy was more fun than reverent. To the side of the temple was a building full of tiny fortune teller booths. For a fee, these men and women would read your palm and face to determine your future. We picked a lady we had a good feeling about and she gave me a reading. One of the things she said was that I worry too much and that I will continue to worry throughout my long life - no surprise there! She also said I need to grow a fat and round face in my forties because it's lucky, and sharp angular faces are unlucky. Hmmmm. Not sure how I feel about that. I think my face is too round already.
When we left the temple, the rain started to pour down. All the MTR stops have massive malls attached to them. We went into one and purchased some umbrellas. I probably should have bought some rain boots too because my legs and feet got soaking wet. Finding a size that will fit my big white American feet might be a problem though!
Kowloon Walled City Park was next. The park was rather unremarkable, and the main reason why I wanted to go there was to see the scaled model of the city they tore down. It's hard to believe such a place existed and we're both totally fascinated by it. Our next destination was Chungking Mansions, a modern day place that retains some of the flavor Kowloon Walled City had.
At this point in the day my jet lag started hitting me hard again. I was getting pretty tired of being rained upon. I drank a cup of coffee and tried to be a sport. It's not everyday that you're in Hong Kong, so I tried to make the most of it.
Our MTR stop was Tsim Sha Tsui. It was a massive terminal crammed to the gills with people. I noticed there were a lot more foreigners there. It was a surprise to see so many of them after being the only foreigners in a sea of Hong Kongers for the past few days.
When I went into a public toilet before we walked to Chungking Mansions, I noticed the walls were full of posters warning about drug use and pickpockets. I was definitely in a different part of town and I gathered my wits about me. I knew we were in front of CM when a group of sketchy looking young men followed us, whispering into our ears promises of hash and cocaine just seconds after asking us if we wanted a tailored shirt. CM is a gigantic building that houses about 4,000 people at given time. It's full of businesses, residences, and guesthouses. The first 2 floors have tiny stalls selling anything from curry to fake iPhones. There are a lot of sketchy characters milling about and we were clearly getting cased when we weren't being asked if we wanted to buy drugs. Mom... I know you don't like me going to places like this but Mike and I have a fascination with the seedy underbelly of cities. We weren't in there for long before we got too skeeved out and decided to leave. I didn't take any photos because I didn't want to whip my camera out and look even more like a wide-eyed tourist than I already do.
At this point in the day it was absolutely pouring. After smelling all that Indian food in CM, I had a desire for some curry. Both places we tried to eat at were closed, so we settled for middle eastern instead at a place called Happy Camels. It was kind of a sketchy place, but I didn't care because the falafel was delicious and it was great to be out of the rain and off my feet. I couldn't figure the place out. It seemed to be run by a mix of track suited hair gel guys who employed a sad looking HK boy who put Celine Dion on the stereo and stared dolefully at me.
After dinner we went to a bar across the street for a drink. They were playing lots of delightfully bad Western pop music and the patrons were a mix of foreigners from around the world. I ordered a margarita because I thought it would be ridiculous to drink a margarita in Hong Kong. It turned out to be pretty good, and I really enjoyed sipping it and watching the rain pour down in the neon lit night. We watched the middle eastern restaurant across the street and laughed how people are pretty much the same all around the world.
Well... time to take a shower and get some food in me. Let's hope it doesn't rain too much today!
Yesterday was another very busy day. I woke up at 4 am, took a shower, and tried to make a game plan for the day. Rain has been forecasted for every day that we've been here, and yesterday the percentage looked pretty high. Unfortunately almost everything we want to do involves being outdoors. We decided to check out the Chi Lin Nunnery, Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple, Kowloon Walled City Park, and Chungking Mansions.
Breakfast was not good at all. It consisted of an odd assortment of foods such as fishy tasting turnip pattys, ketchup beans, cocktail weenies, lukewarm noodles, shrimp congee, and questionable soggy pastries. At least there was toast, watermelon, and a mysterious hot pink skinned fruit.
We finally rode the MTR (public transit line) and I was quite jealous of it. The MTR was very easy to figure out, clean, modern, and efficient. A nice employee saw us trying to puzzle out how to buy a ticket and advised to buy an Octopus card, which is the HK equivalent of a Clipper or MTA card. You just swipe it on the turnstile and that's it. It can also be used at places like 7 Eleven for snacks.
When we arrived at the stop for Chi Lin Nunnery we took the wrong station exit and found ourselves in residential area. Residential areas in HK are quite different than your average city. They consist of massive concrete high rise structures that are at least 100 stories tall. It was astonishing and looked like pictures of massive mainland manufacturing cities in China that I had seen. Another remarkable thing was the pollution in the air. I could literally taste it. I had read on certain days that when the wind blows a certain direction, it carries all the mainland's pollution to HK.
The air here is definitely smoggy too. Since I've been here I have noticed there is a total disregard for the environment. I wonder if they're thinking about the future at all. What will happen when the environment is too poisoned to breathe the air and the plants and animals needed for eating no longer grow in the poisoned water and soil? Where is all the garbage going?
We were using a HK Tourist Association app for our day's excursions and it helped us find the way to the Nunnery. First we arrived and Nan Lian Gardens, a traditionally landscaped Chinese garden with piped in music, a pagoda, a red bridge, ornamental rocks, and various plant life. It looked very artificial and was really strange looking with the massive high rise concrete apartment blocks in the background. This was exactly the kind of thing I love because it's so weird. The gardens were right next to the Nunnery, which was very beautiful and peaceful. There were many people there paying respects to their various Buddhist deities. Someone was singing a beautiful hymn and for a few peaceful moments the wind stopped and the sky wasn't as threatening.
Our next stop was the Sik Sik Yuen Temple. This was a very brightly colored temple (I think it was Taoist?) and very popular with many people, so it was thronged with worshippers lighting incense, casting bamboo chim, and posing for photos with bronze statues of deities. The air was thick with incense and the energy was more fun than reverent. To the side of the temple was a building full of tiny fortune teller booths. For a fee, these men and women would read your palm and face to determine your future. We picked a lady we had a good feeling about and she gave me a reading. One of the things she said was that I worry too much and that I will continue to worry throughout my long life - no surprise there! She also said I need to grow a fat and round face in my forties because it's lucky, and sharp angular faces are unlucky. Hmmmm. Not sure how I feel about that. I think my face is too round already.
When we left the temple, the rain started to pour down. All the MTR stops have massive malls attached to them. We went into one and purchased some umbrellas. I probably should have bought some rain boots too because my legs and feet got soaking wet. Finding a size that will fit my big white American feet might be a problem though!
Kowloon Walled City Park was next. The park was rather unremarkable, and the main reason why I wanted to go there was to see the scaled model of the city they tore down. It's hard to believe such a place existed and we're both totally fascinated by it. Our next destination was Chungking Mansions, a modern day place that retains some of the flavor Kowloon Walled City had.
At this point in the day my jet lag started hitting me hard again. I was getting pretty tired of being rained upon. I drank a cup of coffee and tried to be a sport. It's not everyday that you're in Hong Kong, so I tried to make the most of it.
Our MTR stop was Tsim Sha Tsui. It was a massive terminal crammed to the gills with people. I noticed there were a lot more foreigners there. It was a surprise to see so many of them after being the only foreigners in a sea of Hong Kongers for the past few days.
When I went into a public toilet before we walked to Chungking Mansions, I noticed the walls were full of posters warning about drug use and pickpockets. I was definitely in a different part of town and I gathered my wits about me. I knew we were in front of CM when a group of sketchy looking young men followed us, whispering into our ears promises of hash and cocaine just seconds after asking us if we wanted a tailored shirt. CM is a gigantic building that houses about 4,000 people at given time. It's full of businesses, residences, and guesthouses. The first 2 floors have tiny stalls selling anything from curry to fake iPhones. There are a lot of sketchy characters milling about and we were clearly getting cased when we weren't being asked if we wanted to buy drugs. Mom... I know you don't like me going to places like this but Mike and I have a fascination with the seedy underbelly of cities. We weren't in there for long before we got too skeeved out and decided to leave. I didn't take any photos because I didn't want to whip my camera out and look even more like a wide-eyed tourist than I already do.
At this point in the day it was absolutely pouring. After smelling all that Indian food in CM, I had a desire for some curry. Both places we tried to eat at were closed, so we settled for middle eastern instead at a place called Happy Camels. It was kind of a sketchy place, but I didn't care because the falafel was delicious and it was great to be out of the rain and off my feet. I couldn't figure the place out. It seemed to be run by a mix of track suited hair gel guys who employed a sad looking HK boy who put Celine Dion on the stereo and stared dolefully at me.
After dinner we went to a bar across the street for a drink. They were playing lots of delightfully bad Western pop music and the patrons were a mix of foreigners from around the world. I ordered a margarita because I thought it would be ridiculous to drink a margarita in Hong Kong. It turned out to be pretty good, and I really enjoyed sipping it and watching the rain pour down in the neon lit night. We watched the middle eastern restaurant across the street and laughed how people are pretty much the same all around the world.
Well... time to take a shower and get some food in me. Let's hope it doesn't rain too much today!
Friday, March 29, 2013
Hong Kong is overwhelming.
I'm having so much fun in Hong Kong so far! Please forgive me if this entry seems disjointed... I'm having pretty bad jetlag right now and Hong Kong really overstimulated my senses today.
But... I guess I should start this blog off by telling you how our plane rides here went. Asiana Airlines was alright. It could have been better, it could have been worse. When we went through security I was pulled out of the line as usual. I always get pulled out of the line and extra inspected and I don't know why. This time they swabbed my hands down "for particles." I don't know what that means, that's just what the security guy told me when he tested my hands in some weird machine.
On the first leg of the flight I was stuck sitting next to a fuller figured older Indian lady. I spent most of the flight with her elbow jabbing into my left side. I tempered my unhappiness with her uncomfortable elbow by reminding myself that she's an old lady and someday I'll be an old lady too and I'll probably have to jab some poor young lady with my elbow on a 14 hour flight, and I hope she'll be patient with me. The Indian lady didn't speak any English and was very perplexed during most of the flight. She would squeeze my leg and start speaking in her language when she wanted me to help her unhook her seatbelt, turn off her light, or move her purse.
The whole flight was full of elderly Indian people. I wonder if there was a tour group that went to San Francisco? Mike joked that he was among his brethren because all the Indian men had impressive beards.
They served bibimbap for lunch and it was pretty good. The red bean paste came in a toothpaste like tube which was interesting. The rest of the food was unremarkable. All the Indians were served vegetarian curry that I was pretty jealous of.
Arriving in Seoul was quite confusing. We had to transfer to another plane and the gates weren't really well marked. There was a large queue that all the other people on my plane were in, so we went there. It turned out to be the right line. We had to go through security again which I thought was odd. Let me tell you, the security in Seoul's airport is like how security used to be in the 1980s before all that awful terrorism. You don't have to take off your shoes or empty your bag or get a full body scan. I can't tell you much else about the airport because I was very tired at this point and ended up curling into a little ball on a bench until they boarded the flight for Hong Kong.
I slept during most of the flight to HK. My favorite part of the flight was watching all the stewardesses bow at the same time. Asiana stewardesses are all remarkably beautiful. A PSY lookalike sat in front of me.
Towards the end of the flight, the turbulence got really bad. When we'd hit a rough spot, the whole plane would gasp in unison. Several people threw up. I was sitting next to a window near the wing and lightning hit it several times. That scared the hell out of me. And yes, Jessica, I did think of the Twilight Zone when it happened.
When we landed I was struck by how humid it was. There was a definite smell in the air and I thought of how Hong Kong is named "Fragrant Harbor." Since I have been here, I have smelled so many indescribable things.
Getting through immigration took forever and we weren't able to leave the airport until 2 am. We took a taxi into the city because the train had stopped running, and besides... we were both totally mentally toasted after being in the plane for so long. I perked up when we drove into the city and I saw all the interesting buildings and neon. Hong Kong is so sci-fi when it's lit up at night!
We were both SO relieved when we walked into our hotel room. Finally we could stretch out and get some sleep and some quiet time to ourselves. The hotel room is better than I expected. After reading so many reviews about how most hotel rooms in HK are glorified closets and seeing pictures of atrocious filth on TripAdvisor, my expectations were pretty low. I was delighted to find our hotel room is quite spacious and recently remodeled, so it's very clean. The beds are a different story though. I had read that rock hard beds are par for the course in this part of the world, and it's true. Mike sat on the bed first and said "the beds are worse than you'd expect." And he was right. The bed is about as hard as sleeping on the ground in a tent. But I am not here to sleep!
I was only able to get a few hours of sleep in before my jet lag kicked in and I was wide awake and ravenous for food. I looked out the window and saw the city and got restless to wake up and experience it. Our hotel serves a breakfast that TripAdvisor reviewers had very negative things to say. Well, it wasn't as bad as I expected and it adequately fueled me for the day. There was a mixture of Western style food like scrambled eggs and pancakes and Chinese food like steamed pork buns and rice with vegetables. The dining room crowd was a mixture of Chinese people and international tourists.
We decided to spend the day checking out the various markets in our neighborhood of Mong Kok and Tsim Sha Tsui. The first market we checked out was a the jade market, which consisted of several buildings full of small stalls hawking various jade trinkets. All the guides books I had read warned of buying fake jade under false pretenses that it was real. The shop owners were VERY aggressive! I wasn't used to it and it freaked me out at first. They grabbed my arms and tried to put bracelets on me and would follow me around. Eventually I found a few necklaces I liked that were made of fake jade with a decent price. The lady who sold me the second necklace was very funny. She tried to tell me the hole in the middle of my pendant was "where good lucky money goes, in hole" and had a different story each time she described the 6 lucky beads. One time it was for "luck child" and the next time it was for "long love." Whatever, I just thought it was a pretty necklace.
Next we checked out the Ladies Market, which is basically a massive collection of tents selling anything from fake Jimmy Choo bags to iPhone cases. It was at this market that I started to notice the streets were really filling up with hundreds of people.
After the Ladies Market, we went to the Flower Market and Bird Market. The Flower Market was really green and peaceful after the clamor and chaos of the Ladies Market. Plants of every shape, size, and color were for sale. The Bird Market was interesting and made me a little sad. There were so many birds crammed into tiny cages. I never understood why people want to caged birds as pets. Birds are meant to fly free in trees! It was still a really neat market. There were lots of beautiful cages and creepy crawlies for birds to eat for sale.
After the Bird Market, we checked out the Goldfish Market which turned out to be a street lined with pet shops selling creatures of all sorts. Again, this made me a little sad because I don't like creatures of any sort miserably crammed into a tiny bag or cage. PETA would have a heart attack over what I witnessed today.
After all the marketing, we had worked up quite an appetite. I had a yen for some Japanese noodles, so we found a ramen shop. At this point my jet lag had started to hit me pretty bad and I began to feel quite disoriented and I decided I want to come back to the hotel and write a blog before I got to the point of being unable to focus.
Let me tell you, Hong Kong is an overwhelming place to be. There are so many people and things to see here. The buildings are very tall and people live in very cramped quarters. The sidewalks are always congested with people. When you walk, you always have to pay attention because you are always surrounded by humanity. When you look around, it's hard to focus on any one things since there is so much going on at once - so many colors, smells, sounds, and sights. It is crazier than I expected. So far, I like it quite a bit.
Tonight I had hoped to go to the Temple Street Night Market but now I don't think that's going to happen because Mike has dozed off. Maybe I will go out myself? I want to photograph some of the insane neon signs! Of course, pictures don't do it justice.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
We made it to Hong Kong!
We have arrived!
Our plane was delayed and we flew through a thunderstorm. Lightning hit our plane several times and the turbulence was really bad. I am REALLY glad to be off the plane. I almost reached for the sickness bag.
Now we have to find a place to exchange money and then we need to find a cab. The train has stopped running at this hour and frankly, we are so jet lagged that trying to navigate public transit seems pretty hard right now.
I'll update later after I've had some rest.
Our plane was delayed and we flew through a thunderstorm. Lightning hit our plane several times and the turbulence was really bad. I am REALLY glad to be off the plane. I almost reached for the sickness bag.
Now we have to find a place to exchange money and then we need to find a cab. The train has stopped running at this hour and frankly, we are so jet lagged that trying to navigate public transit seems pretty hard right now.
I'll update later after I've had some rest.
Hi, I'm in South Korea!
We made it to South Korea! We are currently on our layover and have about an hour before we board our plane to Hong Kong.
That was a really LONG flight and I feel quite odd physically and mentally right now. The Incheon Airport is very clean and modern and to be honest, reminds me a lot of SFO.
I'm typing this with my unwieldy fingers on my iPhone so I'm going to make it brief. More to come later after we land in Hong Kong!
That was a really LONG flight and I feel quite odd physically and mentally right now. The Incheon Airport is very clean and modern and to be honest, reminds me a lot of SFO.
I'm typing this with my unwieldy fingers on my iPhone so I'm going to make it brief. More to come later after we land in Hong Kong!
Monday, March 25, 2013
It's the final countdown.
One more full day left in San Francisco before we leave!
Here's our itinerary (because I know my family wants to know where we are) :
Wednesday, March 27th
Depart SFO at 1 pm
Fly to Incheon International Airport for 13 hours
2 hour layover
Land at Hong Kong International Airport at 11pm
3/27 - 3/31 : Stay at Caritas Bianchi Lodge in Hong Kong
3/31 - 4/3 : Stay at YMCA Salisbury Hotel in Hong Kong
...day trip to Macau in here somewhere...
4/3 : Depart Hong Kong and arrive in Seoul, South Korea
4/3 - 4/6 : Stay at Doulos Hotel in Seoul
4/4 : Night Dining tour of Seoul
4/5 : DMZ Tour (I hope it's not canceled!)
4/6 - 4/7 : Stay at Rakkojae Seoul
4/7 - 4/9 : Stay at Namhyundang Hanok Seoul
4/9 : Fly home to San Francisco
These past few days I have been luxuriating in my freedom of movement because before long I'm going to be sitting on a plane for 13 hours.... then a 2 hour layover... then another 4 hours. That's a VERY long time to be sitting in one spot. I'm trying not to to think about it too much. We've loaded up our various devices with music, movies, and e-books to help pass the time. I'll try and doze but I always have difficulty sleeping on planes. I often end up having weird dreams about choking and wake up gasping for air. I think it has something to do with my neck not being used to supporting my head while I sleep. I need one of those neck donuts!
Anyways...
We depart on Wednesday afternoon at 1 pm from San Francisco International Airport. We're flying Korea based Asiana Airlines. Today I was reading about their inflight meal and movie services and much to my delight discovered that they're very highly regarded by travelers and have won awards for excellence. They serve a choice between Korean or Western meals on board. I am packing an assortment of snacks regardless.
We fly for 13 hours and land in Seoul's Incheon Airport for a brief layover before finally landing at Hong Kong International Airport at 11 pm. We're traveling back in time (ha!) so we arrive on Wednesday, March 27th.
There are a variety of ways to get into the city of Hong Kong after you arrive at the airport. We're going to take the Airport Express train to Kowloon Station and from there, take a cab to our hotel. I've already printed out Cantonese directions for the cab driver.
Tomorrow we pack. I've been obsessively checking the weather in both cities and it's quite a difference. It's going to be in the mid 70s/low 80s in Hong Kong and upper 30s/low 50s in Seoul. I'm packing lots of layers. Lugging my wool pea coat to Hong Kong is going to be a drag, but I'll be happy I did when it keeps me warm and toasty in Seoul. There's thunderstorms in the forecast for Hong Kong (frown!) but we'll have to make do. There's always indoor museums, shopping malls and umbrellas!
Here's our itinerary (because I know my family wants to know where we are) :
Wednesday, March 27th
Depart SFO at 1 pm
Fly to Incheon International Airport for 13 hours
2 hour layover
Land at Hong Kong International Airport at 11pm
3/27 - 3/31 : Stay at Caritas Bianchi Lodge in Hong Kong
3/31 - 4/3 : Stay at YMCA Salisbury Hotel in Hong Kong
...day trip to Macau in here somewhere...
4/3 : Depart Hong Kong and arrive in Seoul, South Korea
4/3 - 4/6 : Stay at Doulos Hotel in Seoul
4/4 : Night Dining tour of Seoul
4/5 : DMZ Tour (I hope it's not canceled!)
4/6 - 4/7 : Stay at Rakkojae Seoul
4/7 - 4/9 : Stay at Namhyundang Hanok Seoul
4/9 : Fly home to San Francisco
These past few days I have been luxuriating in my freedom of movement because before long I'm going to be sitting on a plane for 13 hours.... then a 2 hour layover... then another 4 hours. That's a VERY long time to be sitting in one spot. I'm trying not to to think about it too much. We've loaded up our various devices with music, movies, and e-books to help pass the time. I'll try and doze but I always have difficulty sleeping on planes. I often end up having weird dreams about choking and wake up gasping for air. I think it has something to do with my neck not being used to supporting my head while I sleep. I need one of those neck donuts!
Anyways...
We depart on Wednesday afternoon at 1 pm from San Francisco International Airport. We're flying Korea based Asiana Airlines. Today I was reading about their inflight meal and movie services and much to my delight discovered that they're very highly regarded by travelers and have won awards for excellence. They serve a choice between Korean or Western meals on board. I am packing an assortment of snacks regardless.
We fly for 13 hours and land in Seoul's Incheon Airport for a brief layover before finally landing at Hong Kong International Airport at 11 pm. We're traveling back in time (ha!) so we arrive on Wednesday, March 27th.
There are a variety of ways to get into the city of Hong Kong after you arrive at the airport. We're going to take the Airport Express train to Kowloon Station and from there, take a cab to our hotel. I've already printed out Cantonese directions for the cab driver.
Tomorrow we pack. I've been obsessively checking the weather in both cities and it's quite a difference. It's going to be in the mid 70s/low 80s in Hong Kong and upper 30s/low 50s in Seoul. I'm packing lots of layers. Lugging my wool pea coat to Hong Kong is going to be a drag, but I'll be happy I did when it keeps me warm and toasty in Seoul. There's thunderstorms in the forecast for Hong Kong (frown!) but we'll have to make do. There's always indoor museums, shopping malls and umbrellas!
Monday, March 18, 2013
Food and politics
10 days until we leave!
I am finally getting well after being really sick for two weeks with some sort of awful flu/cold thing. I was pretty nervous for awhile there... I thought I was never going to feel better in time for the trip. I had no appetite and could barely eat which was awful since a big part of international travel is trying new food.
In preparation for our trip, we've been trying new food. This past weekend our friends took us out for a dim sum lunch and walked us through how to order it and common dishes. It was a very interesting experience and I can't remember the names of what I ate. I especially liked the little dumplings full of hot soup that exploded in your mouth. I was not a fan of the pile of boney pork (not a big surprise there.) One of the qualities Cantonese food seems to have is lot of texture. The food I'm used to isn't as textural, so taking a bite of pork and crunching into bones wasn't an experience I was ready for. A few weeks ago we went to a Korean place and tried one of the more famous national dishes called bibimbap. It was delicious and I can't wait to eat it again. The only other time I had Korean food was a couple of years ago when some school friends of mine took me to a Korean restaurant. I tried all kinds of food, I had NO idea what I was eating, it was all quite spicy, and I really liked all of it.
I think the food situation in Hong Kong will be alright. To be honest, neither of us are huge Chinese food fans. Lucky for us Hong Kong is a very international city, so I have faith that there will be many options for us to choose from.
Korea will be a different story since it's not as international. But that's okay, since the Korean food I've had so far has been quite good. While reading about Korea, I have learned that food is a very important part of their culture. Since we know little to nothing about Korean food, I booked a night food tour through O'ngo. The reviews on Tripadvisor were great and the videos of the tour made it look really fun and informative.
Speaking of tours, I've also booked us a tour of the DMZ . However, with all the tension in North Korea lately I won't be surprised if the tour is canceled. I'll be extremely disappointed, but I'd rather be safe than end up in a scary hostage situation. I have been checking the US Government travel advisory page on South Korea regularly to make sure we don't have to cancel our trip. Seoul is only an hour south of North Korea, yikes!
I am finally getting well after being really sick for two weeks with some sort of awful flu/cold thing. I was pretty nervous for awhile there... I thought I was never going to feel better in time for the trip. I had no appetite and could barely eat which was awful since a big part of international travel is trying new food.
In preparation for our trip, we've been trying new food. This past weekend our friends took us out for a dim sum lunch and walked us through how to order it and common dishes. It was a very interesting experience and I can't remember the names of what I ate. I especially liked the little dumplings full of hot soup that exploded in your mouth. I was not a fan of the pile of boney pork (not a big surprise there.) One of the qualities Cantonese food seems to have is lot of texture. The food I'm used to isn't as textural, so taking a bite of pork and crunching into bones wasn't an experience I was ready for. A few weeks ago we went to a Korean place and tried one of the more famous national dishes called bibimbap. It was delicious and I can't wait to eat it again. The only other time I had Korean food was a couple of years ago when some school friends of mine took me to a Korean restaurant. I tried all kinds of food, I had NO idea what I was eating, it was all quite spicy, and I really liked all of it.
I think the food situation in Hong Kong will be alright. To be honest, neither of us are huge Chinese food fans. Lucky for us Hong Kong is a very international city, so I have faith that there will be many options for us to choose from.
Korea will be a different story since it's not as international. But that's okay, since the Korean food I've had so far has been quite good. While reading about Korea, I have learned that food is a very important part of their culture. Since we know little to nothing about Korean food, I booked a night food tour through O'ngo. The reviews on Tripadvisor were great and the videos of the tour made it look really fun and informative.
Speaking of tours, I've also booked us a tour of the DMZ . However, with all the tension in North Korea lately I won't be surprised if the tour is canceled. I'll be extremely disappointed, but I'd rather be safe than end up in a scary hostage situation. I have been checking the US Government travel advisory page on South Korea regularly to make sure we don't have to cancel our trip. Seoul is only an hour south of North Korea, yikes!
Things we'd like to do in Seoul
I've also made a list of things we'd like to do in Seoul. Here they are, listed in no particular order:
Visit the palaces
Seoul is home to many traditional and beautiful old palaces. The four main ones are Changdeokgung, Gyeonbokgung, Changgyeonggung, and Deoksugung. I'd like to tour them all and I am especially keen to see the colorful changing on the guards ceremony.
Namsam Park
Either hike or take a cable car up to the top and watch the day turn into neon lit night. On the way up to the top is a cluster of traditional buildings called Namsangol. I'd like to take a lock and key and add it to the collection left by thousands of others - true love forever, guaranteed!
Bukchon Hanok Village
An area of traditional buildings. While we're there, I'd like to stop by the Donglim Knot Museum and pick up some interesting knotted souvenirs.
Insadong Neighborhood
A popular tourist area full of shops. Sundays are the best time to visit since the main street is pedestrian only and there's a better chance to see street performers. Have tea at Yetchatjip - a tiny tea shop with birds.
Myeong-Dong Neighborhood
Get there by walking along the Cheonggyecheon River walkway. Visit the Namdaemun Market for second-hand clothing by day and atmospheric shopping at night. Sample some street food and visit the nearby Chungmoro neighborhood to wander through mazelike streets and coffeeshops still stuck in the '70s. Towards the south is Russiatown and the futuristic design plaza.
Rent a bicycle and take a ride along the Han River
Hongdae Neighborhood
A hipster neighborhood that's pretty hopping at night. On Saturdays there's a cute craft market. Check out the design museum.
Noryangjin Fish Market
Lively auctions begin at 5am. I loved Tokyo's Tsukiji Fish Market, so I'm excited to check this out! Lots of cool photo opportunities and fresh fish for breakfast.
The National Museum of Korea, Leeum Samsung Museum of Art, and War Memorial Museum
Samsung D-Light
Located in Gangnam, a multi-story shop full of Samsung's latest gadgets. I have a feeling Mike will really dig this place.
Visit the palaces
Seoul is home to many traditional and beautiful old palaces. The four main ones are Changdeokgung, Gyeonbokgung, Changgyeonggung, and Deoksugung. I'd like to tour them all and I am especially keen to see the colorful changing on the guards ceremony.
Namsam Park
Either hike or take a cable car up to the top and watch the day turn into neon lit night. On the way up to the top is a cluster of traditional buildings called Namsangol. I'd like to take a lock and key and add it to the collection left by thousands of others - true love forever, guaranteed!
Bukchon Hanok Village
An area of traditional buildings. While we're there, I'd like to stop by the Donglim Knot Museum and pick up some interesting knotted souvenirs.
Insadong Neighborhood
A popular tourist area full of shops. Sundays are the best time to visit since the main street is pedestrian only and there's a better chance to see street performers. Have tea at Yetchatjip - a tiny tea shop with birds.
Myeong-Dong Neighborhood
Get there by walking along the Cheonggyecheon River walkway. Visit the Namdaemun Market for second-hand clothing by day and atmospheric shopping at night. Sample some street food and visit the nearby Chungmoro neighborhood to wander through mazelike streets and coffeeshops still stuck in the '70s. Towards the south is Russiatown and the futuristic design plaza.
Rent a bicycle and take a ride along the Han River
Hongdae Neighborhood
A hipster neighborhood that's pretty hopping at night. On Saturdays there's a cute craft market. Check out the design museum.
Noryangjin Fish Market
Lively auctions begin at 5am. I loved Tokyo's Tsukiji Fish Market, so I'm excited to check this out! Lots of cool photo opportunities and fresh fish for breakfast.
The National Museum of Korea, Leeum Samsung Museum of Art, and War Memorial Museum
Samsung D-Light
Located in Gangnam, a multi-story shop full of Samsung's latest gadgets. I have a feeling Mike will really dig this place.
Monday, March 11, 2013
Things we'd like to do in Hong Kong
There is a LOT to do in Hong Kong. After combing my guide books and various internet sites, I made a list of things I'd really like to do. We might not get to do everything, but that's okay. I don't have our days planned out either. Like all our other trips, we take it as it comes. And - it's always fun to randomly wander about and discover things by accident.
Here's my list:
The Peak
Take the tram or the 15 or 15B double decker bus up for beautiful views day or night. Stroll along Governors Walk.
Afternoon tea at the Peninsula Hotel
From 2 to 6 pm. Arrive early to get a seat and dress smart!
Day trip to Big Buddha and Po Lin Monastery at Lantau Island
Take the Orange Tung Chung MTR line and then Ngong Ping 360 cable car to get to the island. Once there, walk to the monastery and the Buddha. Have lunch at the vegetarian dining hall.
Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple
Ask the fortune tellers outside to read the results of the chim (bamboo sticks.)
Star Ferry
For a stunning view of the Hong Kong skyline day or night, ride the Tsim Sha Tsui Star Ferry.
Temple Street Night Market
Best from 7 to 10pm. See Cantonese opera singers, haggle for bargains, and eat some good street food on Temple Street or on Woo Sung Street.
Jade Market, Yuen Po Bird Market, Flower Market, Goldfish Market
Buy jade trinkets and see old men at the bird market feeding their caged birds.
Mid-levels escalator
Ride the world's longest escalator!
Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade
Beautiful views from the East Star Ferry pier to Salisbury Road. Check out the Symphony of Lights from 8 - 8:20pm.
Eat Cha Chaan Teng style food
An interesting fusion of foods.
Day trip to Macau
Take the New World First Ferry to the former Portuguese colony.
Here's my list:
The Peak
Take the tram or the 15 or 15B double decker bus up for beautiful views day or night. Stroll along Governors Walk.
Afternoon tea at the Peninsula Hotel
From 2 to 6 pm. Arrive early to get a seat and dress smart!
Day trip to Big Buddha and Po Lin Monastery at Lantau Island
Take the Orange Tung Chung MTR line and then Ngong Ping 360 cable car to get to the island. Once there, walk to the monastery and the Buddha. Have lunch at the vegetarian dining hall.
Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple
Ask the fortune tellers outside to read the results of the chim (bamboo sticks.)
Star Ferry
For a stunning view of the Hong Kong skyline day or night, ride the Tsim Sha Tsui Star Ferry.
Temple Street Night Market
Best from 7 to 10pm. See Cantonese opera singers, haggle for bargains, and eat some good street food on Temple Street or on Woo Sung Street.
Jade Market, Yuen Po Bird Market, Flower Market, Goldfish Market
Buy jade trinkets and see old men at the bird market feeding their caged birds.
Mid-levels escalator
Ride the world's longest escalator!
Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade
Beautiful views from the East Star Ferry pier to Salisbury Road. Check out the Symphony of Lights from 8 - 8:20pm.
Eat Cha Chaan Teng style food
An interesting fusion of foods.
Day trip to Macau
Take the New World First Ferry to the former Portuguese colony.
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Seouled!
I looked at the calendar today and wow... in a little over a month we're going on our trip! Crazy.
I feel a sense of relief tonight because this morning we got 90% of our Seoul accommodations booked. Reservations are confirmed for Doulos Hotel and Namhyeondang Hanok Guesthouse. Still waiting to hear back from Rakkojae. Here's a nice Google map if you'd like to see where exactly in Seoul we'll be. We're splitting our time in Korea between one midrange Western hotel, 1 luxury traditional hanok, and 1 moderately priced hanok.
We made these choices after reading lots of TripAdvisor reviews. South Korea isn't a popular destination for people outside of Asia so there weren't many reviews in English, but that's okay. Selecting a good place wasn't as difficult since you can get more bang for your buck in Seoul than you can in Hong Kong. Rooms are larger and the beds are softer. You can stay in a centrally located clean and modern double room with free breakfast for around $100 a night. Traditional hanoks are even cheaper at about $80 a night for a double including breakfast.
Doulos Hotel is located in a district full of love hotels some reviewers described as very Blade Runner-esque (which gets us really excited since we both love that movie.) We saw a lot of love hotels when we were in Japan and I imagine they're no different in South Korea. Love hotels can look totally nondescript or very kitschy. Think castles, neon, ceiling mirrors, and rotating heart-shaped beds. A lot of them don't have windows or even front desks - instead you book your room through an automated system. They can be rented out for several hours at a time and are frequented by prostitutes or average amorous couples who just need some privacy in a very crowded country where people often live with their parents until they marry. They might seem a little sketchy, but they're totally harmless. My guidebooks even recommended staying in them. (We decided it wasn't for us.)
We are staying in two hanok guesthouses. Hanoks are traditional Korean buildings with landscaped courtyards, tiled roofs, paper doors, and heated floors called ondol. Guests sleep on the floor on a futon-like mattress called a yo. When we went to Japan, we stayed in a lot of traditional ryokans and absolutely loved the experience, so I'm excited to stay in a hanok. I know sleeping on the floor doesn't sound comfortable, but trust me... it is. Korean hanok hosts are apparently exceedingly gracious and I'm keen to try a traditional Korean breakfast while seated on a pillow at a traditional table.
Namhyeondang (try saying that out loud) is the budget hanok. I selected it because the reviews raved about the kindness of the host, it's clean, and was recently renovated. The room is quite small and the bathroom is communal, but that's okay because we're not planning on staying in our room all day. If I have terrible insomnia, there's a TV to watch insane Korean programs, ha!
We are only staying in the luxurious Rakkojae Hanok for one evening because it costs more than I care to admit - but we wanted to splurge for a night. To give you an idea of what it's like, here's a video and yes, we are staying in the Patio Room that the man in the video mentions. I hope the weather is nice so I can enjoy a cup of tea or soju on the patio. The hosts of Rakkojae serve a traditional Korean dinner and breakfast and there's a traditional clay mud sauna I am looking forward to relaxing in. It kind of reminds me of the traditional Kyoto ryokan that we stayed in the night we were engaged.
Next up... looking into whether I need to book a tour of the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) ahead of time. Apparently on some of the tours you're able to walk a few feet into North Korea, something that I really want to do. I told Mom about our DMZ tour intentions and it made her nervous. Don't worry, Mom!
I feel a sense of relief tonight because this morning we got 90% of our Seoul accommodations booked. Reservations are confirmed for Doulos Hotel and Namhyeondang Hanok Guesthouse. Still waiting to hear back from Rakkojae. Here's a nice Google map if you'd like to see where exactly in Seoul we'll be. We're splitting our time in Korea between one midrange Western hotel, 1 luxury traditional hanok, and 1 moderately priced hanok.
We made these choices after reading lots of TripAdvisor reviews. South Korea isn't a popular destination for people outside of Asia so there weren't many reviews in English, but that's okay. Selecting a good place wasn't as difficult since you can get more bang for your buck in Seoul than you can in Hong Kong. Rooms are larger and the beds are softer. You can stay in a centrally located clean and modern double room with free breakfast for around $100 a night. Traditional hanoks are even cheaper at about $80 a night for a double including breakfast.
Doulos Hotel is located in a district full of love hotels some reviewers described as very Blade Runner-esque (which gets us really excited since we both love that movie.) We saw a lot of love hotels when we were in Japan and I imagine they're no different in South Korea. Love hotels can look totally nondescript or very kitschy. Think castles, neon, ceiling mirrors, and rotating heart-shaped beds. A lot of them don't have windows or even front desks - instead you book your room through an automated system. They can be rented out for several hours at a time and are frequented by prostitutes or average amorous couples who just need some privacy in a very crowded country where people often live with their parents until they marry. They might seem a little sketchy, but they're totally harmless. My guidebooks even recommended staying in them. (We decided it wasn't for us.)
We are staying in two hanok guesthouses. Hanoks are traditional Korean buildings with landscaped courtyards, tiled roofs, paper doors, and heated floors called ondol. Guests sleep on the floor on a futon-like mattress called a yo. When we went to Japan, we stayed in a lot of traditional ryokans and absolutely loved the experience, so I'm excited to stay in a hanok. I know sleeping on the floor doesn't sound comfortable, but trust me... it is. Korean hanok hosts are apparently exceedingly gracious and I'm keen to try a traditional Korean breakfast while seated on a pillow at a traditional table.
Namhyeondang (try saying that out loud) is the budget hanok. I selected it because the reviews raved about the kindness of the host, it's clean, and was recently renovated. The room is quite small and the bathroom is communal, but that's okay because we're not planning on staying in our room all day. If I have terrible insomnia, there's a TV to watch insane Korean programs, ha!
We are only staying in the luxurious Rakkojae Hanok for one evening because it costs more than I care to admit - but we wanted to splurge for a night. To give you an idea of what it's like, here's a video and yes, we are staying in the Patio Room that the man in the video mentions. I hope the weather is nice so I can enjoy a cup of tea or soju on the patio. The hosts of Rakkojae serve a traditional Korean dinner and breakfast and there's a traditional clay mud sauna I am looking forward to relaxing in. It kind of reminds me of the traditional Kyoto ryokan that we stayed in the night we were engaged.
Next up... looking into whether I need to book a tour of the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) ahead of time. Apparently on some of the tours you're able to walk a few feet into North Korea, something that I really want to do. I told Mom about our DMZ tour intentions and it made her nervous. Don't worry, Mom!
Friday, February 15, 2013
Hong Kong accommodations booked: Seoul next
Well, we booked our Hong Kong places! We are staying at the YMCA Salisbury Hong Kong and Caritas Bianchi Lodge. I've made a handy little Google map for you to see their locations. Both places are in central locations in the Kowloon region. We like to break our trips up by moving around and staying in different locations.
Both places are about $150 a night after sales tax. If you want to stay in HK for less, you're going to end up in a place like the infamous Chungking Mansions. While I was researching accommodation possibilities, this place came up on my radar more than once since it' a very popular place for budget travelers. It's a monstrous structure full of guesthouses, shops, and residences. Part of me was intrigued by its weirdness and part of me thought it was a bad idea. After reading about it and discussing it at length with Mike, we decided to look elsewhere. I'm getting to a point in my life where slumming it isn't as glamourous as it used to be.
The YMCA came highly recommended from friends, books, and TripAdvisor. For it's location and price, it can't be beat. We requested a room with a partial harbor view. I'm looking forward to seeing the futuristic skyline of Hong Kong lit up at night.
Caritas Bianchi Lodge (or Carnitas as Mike calls it) wasn't our first choice, but it seemed the least dodgy for what we can afford. We selected this place after poring through countless reviews. It's run by a Catholic nunnery.
A lot of reviews mentioned that hardness is the standard for mattresses in that area of the world and that the beds are often too short for tall Western people such as ourselves. I am already imagining Mike's feet dangling off the end of the bed, ha ha! So many of the reviews also mentioned bad smells emanating from the bathrooms of many of these places. I think it has something to do with the plumbing? I am not sure. Apparently Hong Kong means "fragrant harbor" so maybe the water just stinks?
My list of Seoul possibilites are complete and we're in the process of deciding. Seoul is (surprisingly) somewhat cheaper!
Both places are about $150 a night after sales tax. If you want to stay in HK for less, you're going to end up in a place like the infamous Chungking Mansions. While I was researching accommodation possibilities, this place came up on my radar more than once since it' a very popular place for budget travelers. It's a monstrous structure full of guesthouses, shops, and residences. Part of me was intrigued by its weirdness and part of me thought it was a bad idea. After reading about it and discussing it at length with Mike, we decided to look elsewhere. I'm getting to a point in my life where slumming it isn't as glamourous as it used to be.
The YMCA came highly recommended from friends, books, and TripAdvisor. For it's location and price, it can't be beat. We requested a room with a partial harbor view. I'm looking forward to seeing the futuristic skyline of Hong Kong lit up at night.
Caritas Bianchi Lodge (or Carnitas as Mike calls it) wasn't our first choice, but it seemed the least dodgy for what we can afford. We selected this place after poring through countless reviews. It's run by a Catholic nunnery.
A lot of reviews mentioned that hardness is the standard for mattresses in that area of the world and that the beds are often too short for tall Western people such as ourselves. I am already imagining Mike's feet dangling off the end of the bed, ha ha! So many of the reviews also mentioned bad smells emanating from the bathrooms of many of these places. I think it has something to do with the plumbing? I am not sure. Apparently Hong Kong means "fragrant harbor" so maybe the water just stinks?
My list of Seoul possibilites are complete and we're in the process of deciding. Seoul is (surprisingly) somewhat cheaper!
Thursday, February 7, 2013
The hunt for a place to stay is on!
Today I finished compiling my list of possible Hong Kong accommodations. I've been using TripAdvisor, Rough Guide and Lonely Planet books, and tips from friends. I haven't tackled Seoul yet- I want to nail down Hong Kong first.
Hong Kong seems to have two types of accommodations: guesthouses and hotels. Guesthouses are not really houses. Rather, they're floors or sections of high-rise buildings called mansions. The word mansion in Hong Kong doesn't mean the same thing that it means here. Hong Kong doesn't seem to have any traditional lodgings like Seoul's hanoks. (More on that when I book the accommodations in Korea.)
All my searching has taught me that Hong Kong is a very expensive city. A budget room the size of a closet that will sleep two people runs about $100 a night... and that's not including sales tax. And I am not exaggerating when I say closet. I mean, these rooms contain one double or two twin beds, and that's it. You can't stretch your arms out without hitting the walls. Space is at a premium in Hong Kong and you have to open your pockets if you want it. Japan was the same way, but we stayed at a lot of traditional ryokans so there was a certain charm to the compact rooms.
Some of these places are real dumps, too. Looking at photos and reading reviews is a little nerve wracking! We can deal with cramped quarters and a shared bathroom. Our standards aren't sky high, we just want a clean and safe place where we won't get eaten alive by bedbugs or kept awake all night by noises heard through paper thin walls.
We are planning on staying in at least two places in Hong Kong. A budget place for part of the time, and a nicer midrange place part of the time. Lower end midrange places start around $200 and the prices quickly escalate.
I will keep you posted about which places we pick!
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
March 27th through April 9th, 2013
It has been WAY too long since we've taken an international trip. The last time we left the country was for our honeymoon to Tahiti in 2009.
We started talking about going to Hong Kong and Seoul about a year ago. Originally we planned on going last fall but various circumstances led us to postpone the trip until now. Today we finally pulled the trigger and bought two tickets for March 27th through April 9th. We will be spending 5 days in each city. We chose this time since it seemed like the best weather for both places, or else we'll have to wait until next fall and that is TOO LONG. Hong Kong is apparently hell during the summer.
We do worry about Hong Kong. Late March is the start of their spring. It's apparently very humid with temperatures in the 70s and 80s, and it might rain a lot (fingers crossed it won't.) If it does in fact rain, we'll buy an umbrella and soldier through it. The consolation is there are a lot of indoor places to explore if there's precipitation. Seoul will be cooler with temperatures ranging from the upper 40's to low 60's, but at least it won't be raining. We'll be packing lots of layers and wearing sensible walking shoes.
The next step is to book accommodations. I have a lot of work to do!
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