Korea: The Weekend Edition

Fridays are for sleeping in, right? Wrong. Get up early, get to the train station. to take the train to the big event: the Boryeong Mud Festival! We meet some college kids who are studying in Seoul who are also going. Most of the Americans I met in Korea were in the military or studying.

Leg Room!

Our hotel was only a few blocks from the festivities. It was less awesome than the other hotels we stayed at, and more expensive but when you consider how muddy everything in the bathroom got you understand the price increases a little.

We changed as quickly as we could and were off. The sun was hot but the air wasn't as humid as Seoul. We stopped at a chicken and beer place for lunch. I have a lot to learn from Anthony. Just order the fried Chicken. But NOOOO, I had to order the spicy chicken stir-fry. By chicken stir-fry they meant green and white onions and chicken feet. Now, I've never had chicken feet before, but they weren't horrible. I wouldn't want to have them again, though. The best thing about the meal was the soju and OJ.

We walked along the beach to the main event area. It was my first time out in public while wearing a bikini... and other people could see me. I'm still shy but at some point I'll have to get over it. We entered into the festival where drums were being played by festival workers and tourists alike. The sound almost drowned out all other noise in the area. Anthony and I walked along the outer edges looking at the tents that were set up. We saw souvenir shops, currency exchange, food, information tents. emergency care, mud crafts and picture tents. There were several drums of mud open for people to use as they like. People were decorating themselves with designs or painting their entire bodies. We walked over to the colored mud area. Anthony said that a few years ago people could paint themselves with the colored mud, but this year it had to be done by a worker.

I couldn't think of a design, so I just got some colors on me. Anthony got a Captain Planet-themed paint job.At some point we sat down at a table outside to drink a few liters of water and take the scene in. There weren't too many people around. There was a mud arena that took up most of the event area. It cost $5 to enter for a few hours. It held 3 adult slides, 2 or 3 kid slides, 1 or 2 obstacle courses. There was also a mud prison where people had to go to get mud splashed on them. While we were hydrating under the shade of the umbrella we saw a Sapporo truck and they set up a game where you have to shake a can that was attached to a meeter and if all the lights lit up you would be given a prize. So after watching a few guys try it out we see our first winner. He's Asian and he crouches over and starts jerking the can. 0_0 I CRACKED UP! An American went after, big old muscle man, but he was shaking it and couldn't get it. You had to jerk it. Anthony tried it in the afternoon and he won a Sapporo battery-powered hand held fan. The fan was destroyed by over-muddying.

At another point while we were lounging around two people came up and asked us to fill out a survey about Mud Fest. We hadn't been there long or done much with the festival but we filled the surveys out anyway. Its really awesome how many people speak English and the forms were in English as well. I really understood how powerful America and the UK are politically, economically and culturally. 

When we finally got to the Mud City I was forced to do things. Horrible things. Just kidding, I really didn't want to get mud in my hair or on my face, but there was really no avoiding it. The first place we went to was the obstacle course. It was the inflated kind so it was hard to get a grip on anything with all the mud splashing everywhere. Volunteers threw mud on the participants at random intervals and once before the race starts. The next thing we tried was the mud pool. I got mud in my eye from the splashing. No bueno. Then we went on the inflated slides. They were all fun! It was a race to the top with guards throwing mud down on the stairs. On the first slide Anthony pushed me and I slid down sideways. It felt weirder than going down head first. There was another game where you and 3 people are strapped into a bungee cord and whoever gets tot he middle first wins. I can't imagine how hard that would be with all the mud. I even almost fell a few times just walking around. 

I got a chance to make some mud soap, and that evening we walked around the beach. There was supposed to be a "Hip-Hop Global Rave Party" but the acts we saw were more pop. There was one twosome who really blew us away with their rapping skills. I didn't get the group's name though. So Anthony and I walked around and took note of how the main mud area is being expanded. There was a little park of statues that lit up at night. It was beautiful although a little run down. Finally we rested on the steep stairs that led to a side beach. There were bands paying and people walking around. The tide was WAY out and the beach was covered in blue and yellow lights. 

Saturday was an interesting day. We got up early and ate at the Loteria for lunch. Its Korea's McDonald's. We went out onto the beach and threw a Frisbee around for a while. I swear Anthony was pulling a "Daria." He just looked at the Frisbee as it fell to the ground a foot away from him. After a bit we walked toward the main event area. I don't like large crowds or lots of people in a packed area, so Anthony was being extra sweet to me. We couldn't find an umbrealla to rent in the area, but we found a nice area to put our things down. We went into the water for a while. The Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) helicopter there taking footage of people on the beach and in the water. It reminded me of MTV spring break footage. I had a good time and probably ended up on TV. Speaking of being on TV Anthony and I had several photographers come up to us on Friday and a few on Saturday who wanted pictures of us. One guy from KBS interviewed us about the festival. His English wasn't so great, but I think we got the majority of what the other was saying. I imagined how we would look on Korean television and laughed. I hope they subtitle it well. On Saturday we were stopped by some people with the World Peace Initiative. They asked us what peace meant to us and took our picture for a project. Here's the photo:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/81838232@N07/7648651012/  

On the beach we were seated near a stage. While we were baking in the sun we heard one rock band who did mostly other band's songs and then we heard an Australian/ Canadian punk goes crunk... band. It was interesting to say the least and Anthony really liked it. The sun was SUPER intense and I had to take off most of my clothes to deal with it. I got sooo sunburned. I guess I needed the SPF 50. It didn't help that I didn't drink enough water. I really wasn't thirsty though. During the hottest part of the day they asked everyone to a special part of the beach where they shot off water and mud cannons. Great shots for photographers and KBS video. The best part of Saturday, for me, was Saturday night. We got to see AKON and The Wonder Girls.

The show wasn't as heavily advertised as I thought it would be. It only cost $33! I heard from someone that The Wonder Girls have been playing in the US. I'm not sure if they mean just touring or on the TV. Some one update me. But the show was really better than I thought it was going to be. Akon did a little bit of all his popular songs and at one point he was crowd surfing in a clear plastic ball. He wasn't lip syncing and he was dancing. And he took his shirt off. =) I always appreciate a good looking body. After that there was a real kind of rave with dueling DJs and laser lights. I had enough of the crowd though, so I sat outside at a table while Anthony went to dance. I sat down alone with my soju and juice and then I joined a Canadian and a Korean who were sitting nearby. We had a really great conversation and I made a new friend. Then they had to go because one of them was feeling sick and somehow I found myself sitting with 3 Koreans who were really cool. One guy asked me what I thought of Korea and here's my observations:

There is the smell of garbage and kimchi everywhere. This is because its common for trash to be left out in the open. Japan is very clean in comparison. Everyone separates their recyclables and place everything at a community trash collection point.  Even in the cities it's hard to find public trash cans. Instead of people putting trash on the ground, they find a good place to put it. The next difference is the price. Things in Korea are inexpensive partially because of the exchange rate of dollar to won, but I think there is something else driving prices down. How else could I explain a 2-liter bottle of beer for $3? Its crazy. Japan is expensive because of the yen to dollar exchange rate and because almost everything but rice is imported. Also, Japanese people do not get tips. All employees are payed a wage that they can afford to live on. I don't know what it's like in Korea, but I know that many people in the USA are working at minimum wage and they can't live on that. To go along with pricing, there is almost an expectation to haggle at some of the shops. I don't think Japanese ever haggle.The next thing is the number of what looks like displaced people. I didn't see many people outwardly begging in Korea, but there seemed to be a lot of men who looked unkempt and who were sleeping on the stairs to the subway, or other public areas. While we were in Tokyo I only saw one homeless man. The Seoul metro was much more complicated for tourists than the Tokyo metro. I don't know what the metro in USA urban areas are like. I hadn't even been on a train until I came to Japan. Then there is the fashion. Korea is much more like the USA. Tattoos are acceptable in Korea, and girls wear anything comfortable. I've only seen some Japanese girls wear things that show their skin and they were very Americanized, or they were for hire in some way. Japanese people are mostly traditional with not showing arms and midriffs.

Maybe part of the reason that Koreans are so Americanized is because Americans helped South Korea battle the north. We haven't really done something like that for the Japanese. But I respect the Japanese for keeping to their traditions. It helps to have a national identity and national history. Americans no longer have that. We frown on assimilating. We encourage pride with out humility. I believe that part of the reason we are struggling a little is because we don't have a common history. We are from all over the world, we have different family histories and expectations. Even people from different areas of the country have different constructs of history and relations with other peoples. The conversations we have in the South aren't the same as the ones they have in the Northwest. I think that we really have to teach more respect in our culture. Respect for self, for others, for elders. That and humility. 

My new friends and I talked and drank until 4AM. I must say that this is my favorite way to spend an evening. Most people who have been out with me know that I try to be home by 2AM. Mostly its because I don't like going to clubs and being around loud obnoxious drunk people for a long time. Anthony and I had to be at the train station early, so you can imagine how hard the 4 hour trip back to Osan was for me. We took a taxi to the train station. I thought I was going to be sick. They drive crazy as it is and I'm pretty sure I was still drunk. The train to Suwon (a few hour ride) didn't have seats, so we had to find a different empty seat at each station. I had to stand up for a while. No bueno. Then I had to stand on the train from Suwon to Osan. But I held strong until we got to the hotel room and I could pass out! For the next two days we relaxed, treated sunburns and ordered our Halloween costumes. I ate at a Brazilian Barbecue restaurant. The servers came out with 9 different kinds of meat for us to try. Then for dessert there was cooked pineapple covered in a cinnamon glaze. I couldn't eat all the meat. Most of it was really good though.

Over all I had a great time. And the best part is that Anthony and I didn't get tired of each other by the end of it.

Korea 2

We pick up our story on Wednesday. Anthony and I leave the hotel early to take the train to Seoul Station. At first we get a little lost because the underground has what feels like 18 million exits, but a very nice city worker helps us out. Pointing has always done me justice. Once we get to the station we see that the older part looks like its being renovated for something. Although it's raining its so hot I can feel the droplets steaming on contact with my skin. It was my bad judgement to wear a jacket and Anthony was no help to me as I tried to take it off with out removing my 30lbs of luggage. I should say it was OUR luggage because I only brought my back pack as a back up bag and we had to use it at the airport because his bag was too full to be a carry on.

Anyway, once we got to the new and fancy station we got information on tickets to the Mud Festival and then ate at McDonald's. We place our order minutes before the change to lunch. Lucky us! All of the employees had shirts on for the Olympics and each continent had an item attached to it. The Americas were a big breakfast, Asia was fries, Europe was a chicken sandwich, Africa was chicken nuggets and Australia was a hamburger.

Then we moseyed on to Itaewon which is a neighborhood a little bit outside of Seoul proper. It is popular as a foreign restaurant area which is probably why it was so hard to find good but cheap hotels. We found one place that was upwards of $100/ night but we kept looking. I have to admit that we were tired, wet and dragged down by our luggage and walking up and down one street like 5 times. Neither of us were happy campers. We found information people who weren't all that helpful, then we tried to go to the tourism office. Murphy's  Law has a funny way of showing up at a time like this. When we reached the office everyone was a lunch for the next hour. I just started laughing; not sure if Anthony thought it was so funny. FINALLY we found our way to D'oro hotel.

If you ever stay in Itaewon be sure to ask about it and stay there. We had two options of getting there: walk up a steep ass hill or walk up a creepy ally of stairs. We chose the stairs. What was really interesting was as we walked up the stairs we found a 24-hr fitness club. You have to be in the mood to work out when you get there cause you've already done some cardio on the stairs.

After resting for a bit we went to a shopping area. Anthony was so excited about getting stuff for cheap that he didn't take the time to turn around when the mile-long (only 2 exits) "mall" we went into was filled with old lady things. He was convinced that if we walked further down there would be more stuff for us. They had a few things that we really cute but they were in Asian sizes, which, let me tell you, I'm nowhere near fitting. So after being tired from the morning and tired from the mile-long hike through these tiny, cramped stores, we were ready to relax. As we were leaving, however, we passed the cool young people mall. I cried a little on the inside. That night we went to another area of Seoul. We got dinner at a place called

4°C Garten Beir. The tables have 4 cup holes to put drinking glasses where the glasses will be kept cold! There wasn't much on the menu that had pictures with it, so we ordered a platter of meat and pineapple and strawberry soju. I didn't realize that I was ordering a pitcher. They didn't even bring regular glasses with it, they brought shot glasses. The platter was good.

It included sausages, bacon-wrapped things, pineapple and honeydew. I'm not entirely sure I have the Korean diet down exactly, but I think it's mostly meat, cooked fish, friend chicken and kimchi. Also, I'd like to take a minute to give thanks for Soju. Anthony says it's unregulated so you never know the strength of the brand... unless you know the brands well. For a person who doesn't like the taste of alcohol or beer, soju is an easy mixer with anything. And for alcoholics who want special powers, it also mixes well with beer. It wasn't gross and even though I had a buzz by the end of the meal, it didn't stick or make me sick. Here's to you soju! *raises shot glass* 

So then we went to a theater to watch a live performance of JUMP, a non-verbal comedy about a martial arts family (tae-kwon-do) there is a man who likes the daughter and he is forced to participate in their practice. Then one night two thugs break in. Hilarity ensues! before the show started there was an old man walking around. He kind of looked like the Korean Col. Sanders. His hair was white and looked like it was blown back, his mustache was white, his suit was white, and he was bent over his cane. We couldn't figure out if he was part of the show or not, but I decided not to stare anyway. Anthony, on the other hand, couldn't keep his eyes away. So the old man comes over to us! I'm looking the other way and he motions like he needs to scoot by us. We stand up so he can, then he very creakily takes a seat on the arm of my chair. My face is so hot by that point I'm pretty sure everyone could feel it. Then he motioned for me to massage his back. I put my thumbs to work, still not sure if this is part of the act or not. But when I felt him it was not like feeling an old man with saggy skin. Then our seat neighbors came up and he game us all a candy from his pocket just like a real old man. Then a little bit into the show there was some audience participation. The grandfather of the family (not the same old man) came to the audience and asked Anthony to stand up. Not only did he pick the one guy who has tae-kwon-do training, he picked the guy who also has theater training. Again, hilarity ensued. The guy asked Anthony some question and Anthony answered but the guy said, "Hey, man. Yes only, okay?" HAHA!Then he takes Anthony on stage and the characters start pulling weapons from his person. It was amazing how they hid everything. Just as one of them is pulling a broad sword from his back he shrugs (not knowing what was happening). Then they mimed for Anthony to do what the other characters were doing. They did kicks and rolls and of course Anthony was great. Then the grandfather said, "Hey, man, you win." Ant got a book with all the actors' pictures and information about the event. After the show we got everyone's autograph. 

We spent an hour trying to flag down a cab after that, but I would have rather gone on the train. Since we were tired and it was raining pretty hard we saved our going out for the next night. I made a vow to eat at a Dunken Doughnuts since there was one on every corner.  In the morning when we woke up there was a puddle in our room because the window was leaky. 

Thursday we get out to go to the Lotte Department store, which is apparently the 5th most popular mall in the world. I'll tell you why - the 4 floor duty free shop. Still too expensive for me, but the shops in the underground were great. must go back for that.  We ate breakfast of REAL waffles in the underground at a convini that is tiny enough for only one person inside. We walked around Lotte store for a long time checking out all the really expensive things you could buy. The mall was really classy. For lunch we went to UNO for some Jambalaya pizza. There. Was. So. Much. CHEESE! 

Then we had to catch the express from Yongsan to Suwon for the 5:00pm showing of The Dark Knight Rises in IMAX! So we get to the station at 3:00pm just to be sure we don't flub anything up. The train only comes once an hour and the normal ride from Yongsan to Suwon takes over an hour. So when we ask the information lady where to go, she tells us to go to the track for line 1. Remember when I told you the rail system was hard to figure out? This is what I was talking about. One entire side of the train station is for line 1. There are about 9 tracks for this one line because there are 3 end-points and about 8 ways to get from one station to another if its on the other side of where you are. This is just one line. So we go to track one and get on a train that arrives at 3pm. Our train is supposed to leave at 3:05, the lady said 1, so we figure we're in the right spot, but this train has a name and real seats. I tell Anthony I think we're on the wrong train, but we ride out. In the wrong direction completely. We get off at the next stop which is 30 mins North of where we started. Get on the regular train back down. By the time we get back we can make it to the next express train. We ask two information people at the gate who tell us to go to track 5. They were wrong. It was hard to know which of the 8 tracks to get on because half of them had the same next stop labeled on the glass. Then the line has about 30 stops in each direction, but only 2 or 3 are posted. In retrospect I should have looked just at the last stop, but I trusted the people who were directing me. We get on a train that was going south, good. But at one stop the line splits to East and West. So we started going West instead of East. It took a while to realize it, but when we did we tried to change trains again. Finally we were on the right track and only missed the first few minutes of the movie. Thank goodness for movie trailers and warnings. 

So Japanese movie theaters keep the lights out while the credits roll, but the Korean theater did not. Also, I don't remember what IMAX theaters are like in the states but the one we were in had cushy seats but the isles were tiny.   After the movie we ate left over pizza outside. When we got on the train to Seoul we had the strange luck to get on the express! I'd also like to say that we were helped out over the past few days by random strangers who saw that we were lost or unsure where we were going. Some spoke perfect English, some we had to point and mime, but I'm so grateful for those people. I'll remember that when I am living in a place and see people who are looking a little lost. I hope you all do as well.

When we got back to Itaewon we went looking for a pub. Anthony learned the difference between a lounge bar, bar, and pub. We drank bad sangria at an Irish pub. We should have had the Guinness. We passed a few party vans/ trucks on the street. They parked near the sidewalk and   open up the sides just like a bar. It was a pretty easy night.

Korea Trip Part Won

AHAhaha, did you see what I did there? Anthony and I took a week long break from Japan and went to the beautiful country of the Republic Of Korea.

Monday we wake up, no Mercy in sight because we left her at a co-worker's house. I always feel bad leaving her because she has been abandoned quite a bit. I think she's getting used to us finding her a babysitter while we go travel. I think she's realizing that we're not going for good; that we'll come back. Well we get up earlier than we need, but it's good to make sure everything is packed and secured. We drive to the base to mark ourselves present for the flight. We have to be there two hours early, not because it might take that long to get through security, but because... I don't know, it's the military? I'll spare you the oh-so-entertaining hours of waiting and get to the first funny part. As we're going through "security" the "TSA" agent gawks at my amount of electronics. Seriously guy? Maybe he was just impressed at the organization of it all. We carried 2 Kindles, 1 3DS, 1 iPod, 2 phones (although they remained off for the trip), 1 MP3 player and the cords for each (except the phones). To me it doesn't sound like much for two people. Then he wanted to check the sizes of our deodorant. Don't want Korea to smell too nice I guess. What was really hilarious is that both our deodorants fit inside a Ziploc sandwich bag. We ate lunch on the plane and landed in only a few hours. One thing that I really dislike is the way that customs is dealt with on these kinds of flights. They wait until everyone is off the plane, and corralled into a "gate area" to tell us how to fill out customs forms. I could have just gotten it on the airplane and filled it out. That's what happens on commercial flights. I understand that people who are moving to Korea for military duty have one thing that they have to fill out differently, but as a visitor I don't need to know about it. 

The first thing we do it check into the hotel and go to the BX for towels and sunscreen. Going to the BX for dependents in Korea is a hassle because they need a "ration card" which is a way to curb on bootlegging. I understand it, but its always so funny when we walk through as visitors. The door men almost never know what to say about it. They act as if I'm not supposed to go in at all even though I have my husband (and service member) with me. After seeing the BX we left base to look around the shopping street. We stopped at a suit maker's to have a Willie Wonka (Gene Wilder style) suit made for Anthony.

For dinner at Sakusaku, a very delicious "chicken & hof" place. I made the mistake of getting the spicy chicken. Now, there is spicy, Indian spicy, Korean spicy, and hell on earth. I'm pretty sure the waitress was laughing at me.

Tuesday morning we ate at the local 24-hr place. Both Anthony and I ordered Waffles and... lets just say they weren't up to par with Waffle House. After we got out stuff together and cried over how ALL the cool musical acts do a USO show in Osan, we made our way to the train station. The Korea Rail is similar to the Tokyo but it is far more confusing. I'll not go into it now, but I'll be bitching about it later. I like that the KR uses cards that you can reload or return for a deposit refund. We got on the train for Suwon and in just a little while we arrived. The first thing we saw was a mall that housed an Outback. 

The one thing I really wanted to do was go to a historical landmark, so we decided to check out the Korean Folk Village. It was a 30min free =) bus ride from the train station to the village. It is a 243-acre replica of a village from the Joseon Period (1392-1867).

There were shows to watch, like trick horse riding, and local crafts to buy. We saw traditional Korean totems that are designed to scare bad spirits away. I think they just look hilarious. I got close and personal with a cow who had a ring in his nose.

Those things are freaky to me on a cow and on a person. We walked through villager's houses, land owner's houses, a nobleman's house (where we saw a traditional marriage ceremony) and the Keum-Ryeon-Sa (Buddist Temple). We saw farming tools, a pharmacy, and a museum that explained some Korean traditions as well. The temple was a bit of a walk away from everything, so I wasn't surprised when we didn't see anyone there.

The bees were EVERYWHERE! I'm not sure if it was bees or bees and wasps, but neither Anthony nor I felt comfortable. So. Many. Bees.

When we walked down from the temple we visited the government office which had punishment devices in the courtyard and a jail to the side. People could try out the punishment devices if they wanted. Anthony tried to flog me, but I wasn't having it. While I was waiting for Anthony to take a look at the jail I noticed a red and white spotted spider on the steps. It was flat on the vertical part of the steps but it must have felt the other tourists walking near the stairs because it jumped BACKWARDS onto the ground. You have no idea how bad that freaked me out. I've only seen cricket spiders in Virginia, but this thing was smaller and scarier. We visited a farm area which has chickens, a horse and some geese.

Jerk Horse

Towards the front of the park there was a special sweets demonstration. A woman took honey and covered it in cornstartch and began to spread and twist it into a figure eight. She counted the rings in English: 2, 4, 16, 32 and so on. When she was done the honey rings looked like threads of fabric. She wrapped them around some nuts and we had to buy some. The candy tasted like a Mary Jane and was great cold. Its not so good after left out for a while, though. The honey gets too hard.

When we got back to Suwon we found a love motel for $40 per night. While we were at the village we had to carry most of our things. The lobby area was small which worried me because the last small lobby we were in also came with a small room. Boy was I surprised! The room was big.

The bed wasn't soft, it felt like a box spring. There wasn't much in the way of privacy with the toilet and shower. It was mostly a glass room and the door had about 1/2 an inch from the ceiling and floor. The interesting part was that we were given a goodie bag of lube, condoms, massage lotion, razors and toothbrushes. Then we walked around the mall and decided on Outback for "lunch." I was served dessert first, and when I asked for a to go box (several different ways) I never got one.

What else would I be eating at Outback?

I think our waiter was new. We walked to the movie theater to ask about The Dark Night Rises movie in IMAX. They had an English representative (super awesome). Not only did he tell us about the seats available for that theater, he was able to tell us about open seats in other theaters as well. Why don't they have that tech in the US? Or maybe they do now but movies are too expensive for anyone to want to go. Later we walked along the shopping road. 



We considered a few places, but Anthony said, "Its Miller Time," so we went to a restaurant/ pub named Miller Time. It was dark, cool and there were pictures on the menus. Anthony ordered the duck platter and we got a free Miller Time beer glass! I thought that was pretty cool. It was a lot to do in two days, which is probably why we slept so good, even on the stiff mattress that we had. 

Stay tuned because there is still more Korean vacation to recount for you.

American Day

So every year the base puts on American Day to increase the community involvement and help our Japanese neighbors get a taste of American culture (more like American festival culture). I totally forgot to bring the camera, so sorry that there aren't any pictures. The day usually starts with a parade of base vehicles and throwing American candy at the kids. I think every squadron sends a few people and a car. They are followed by one of the local motorcycle "gangs"--there are tons of different styles of bikes! 

At 11AM (or there abouts) the music starts. There are performances by American bands, Japanese bands, Taiko drummers and Japanese bands singing American music. There are also performances by Japanese school aged kids, they are always cute. This year was cold, but lots of people came out anyway. American venders sell everything you might find at a barbeque or carnival like turkey legs, BBQ chicken/ pork, funnel cakes, hot dogs and kababs. One of my favorites is fried Oreos! Closer to City Hall are the Japanese venders. They sell normal Japanese festival foods like fried chicken on a stick, soba and yakisoba and delicious whipped cream crepes.

I took my dog with me, much like other dog owners. It was a little more crowded this time so I had to carry her most of the time. Anthony was helping sell with one of the American booths. he was dressed up as Beetlejuice--very convincing. He said that he scared some kids. He laughed when he told me that both American and Japanese moms can be jerks; they'd send the kids up to him for a picture or something knowing that the kid would get freaked out.

Return to Tokyo

So lately there hasn't been much in the way of adventuring . Last week I was in my first match as an amature boxer. I won against an enlisted security forces woman, which is apparently a big deal. But it took up almost all of my time training for the match. 

As a reward for working so hard the past few weeks, Anthony and I took a weekend trip to Tokyo for the Memorial Day weekend. We took the Shinkansen from Hachinohe to Tokyo.

Waiting at Hachinohe

By bus it takes 8hrs, Flying takes 1hr (but is expensive!), and the Shinkansen takes 3.5hrs. The train goes through the countryside and the views were wonderful. We left on the first train out, which meant we had to be at the station at 6:30AM. Waking up early wasn't fun, but this time I remembered to bring my pillow so I could relax. 

When we got to Tokyo we went directly to our hotel, Apa Hotel, in Hiroo. It was too early to check in (11:00AM) but we were able to leave our bags at the front desk. I wasn't too impressed with the lobby. It was really small and dimly lit with almost no windows. As soon as we got our things tied together we walked to Roppongi, which really wasn't far at all. We had lunch near the train station at a place called The Pantry.

Simple hamburgers and french fries. I had onion rings (delicious!). We had a hard time deciding what to do between lunch and the time to arrive at the Mori Art Museum for the One Piece Exhibition. So we walked around exploring Roppongi Hills area and we stopped at Cold Stone for some ice cream. I tipped them, so they sang for us and it was fun! I forgot to get pictures of that. There's nothing but Baskin Robins from Sendai to Amori. 

Finally we went back to the hotel to check in and change clothes (I was dressed for comfort for the train ride, not a fancy art exhibit). When we got to the room I realized that the lobby was some kind of dark foreshadowing. The room was TINY! I felt bad for Anthony because he almost had to duck everywhere.  After we changed our clothes we were ready for the One Piece Exhibition! (Anthony really wanted to go to this because One Piece has been a love of his for a long time). We entered on the 5th floor of the Mori building, and within a one minute elevator tide we were on the 52nd floor! My ears popped a few times and I didn't even realize that we were going so high. While in the exhibit we couldn't take photos, but the displays were amazing! There were life-sized displays in several sections of the exhibit. I can only imagine the excitement of One Piece fans on seeing these displays. On the way out of the event there was a gift shop and I think Anthony bout died and gone to heaven. Anthony bought two books that had pictures from the exhibit. One book also had English explanations about the displays.

That night we walked around Roppongi and ate dinner at the TGI Fridays. I wish we had gone to the Outback instead, but it was still good. I had forgotten how much Americans like big portions and fried food, so we just ate a few appetizers.

The table-side guacamole was soooooo goooood. After dinner and a drink we went to a local watering hole called BJs. The girls were dressed in cowgirl style and the front of the bar was open to the street and looked very inviting. The owner was there taking shots with customers and making balloon animals. It was fun watching his high energy.

The next day we went to Akihabara. Anthony is in love with this area of the city. Once again we walked up many floors and into many geek stores to find his heart's desires. I got one T-shirt and I wanted another but I can't justify $35 on a T-shirt. For lunch we wandered off the busy streets and found a buling where a flea market was being held. Inside we found a reasonably priced curry shop. The curry was weird and we couldn't figure out what kind it was. I think it wasn't made with meat so it tasted funny. The salad was good, though. 

For the afternoon we visited Palette Town in Odiba (a man-made island on top of a landfill in Tokyo Bay). I rode to the top of the 16M Ferris Wheel by myself.

I got some great shots of the city.

Then we walked to another mall on the island near Muscle Beach and got pictures with the Gundam.

We're not sure if it's "life-sized" or not. Then we went to eat dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp on the other side of the island. While we were waiting for our food a surprise firework show happened!

I was excited to see how well the firework setting on the camera worked. Back tot he food! I had the fish of the day with 3 kinds of salsa, pepper jack cheese and rice with a nice cold Mama's Favorite to drink. It was a Kahlua and Amaretto-infused milkshake of gigantic proportions. And every drop was as delicious as the first taste. I was a super fat kid. So to walk off the heavy meal we took the subway to Roppongi and walked up the hilly area to get a picture of Tokyo Tower at night. It was lovely and the walk was great. 

For the last day I discovered a regular-looking doughnut with custard and creme filling. We ventured into Ginza and walked around to the Sony building and the Imperial Palace. The Palace grounds are only opened 2X a year (the 1st of the year and the Emperor's birthday). The palace looks like the size of a mansion in California, but is is HUGE in comparison to other castles in Japan. Then it was time to go home. All-in all it was a great trip and I had a wonderful time. Next time I want to visit some of the older districts.  

TOKYO!

Our latest adventure was a trip to Tokyo for Anthony's birthday at the end of March. (yeah, I was lazy getting this entry in). We stayed at the New Sanno Hotel; it has a guard cat!

I say that as a joke. The cat is pretty friendly and he lives outside the hotel. He even has his own bed under a heat lamp for when its cold outside. I noticed that many of buildings had pink inverted triangles on some of the windows. I asked and found out that they are so the fire department knows which windows they can break in case of an emergency.

Getting around on the metro was easy. We rode subways, trams, and the monorail. The only thing we haven't tried yet is the Shinkansen, but its $300 one way from Amori to Tokyo. Our first night we went to Roppungi and visited Abbey Road, a Beatles Tribute bar.

The entrance fee was almost $35 per person with the conversion rate. The food was a little expensive, too. But we had a great time listening to the band play and it was a relaxed atmosphere. The next morning we went to a local park to walk around. Its amazing how even in the middle of a metropolitan area there are large parks that put you back in touch with nature.

We took the train to Shibuya first. Had breakfast at McDonald's which was delicious. The McDonald's in Japan really feel like restaurants. In Shibuya we saw the Hachiko statue and went into the 7-floor Tower Records store. Anthony was pretty excited about that. Then I found a shopping alley! I didn't get much, but I was really pleased with the prices. Also, the variety was better than where we live.

Later we took the train to Akhihabara, the Tokyo mecca for geeks.We spent two hours in one little area and Anthony said we had to leave or he would spend all his money, haha. He got action figures and Yu-Gi-Oh!cards. Then we went to a Maid Cafe called Heaven's Gate. When most people hear about a Maid Cafe they think of something slightly more titillating that what we saw. The waitresses were adorable, no, they didn't call anyone "master". The decor was cute, like walking into a kid's playroom; there were lighted shapes like stars and moons, a little stage, and the walls were painted sky blue. I ordered the meatball curry. The meat was soft and the curry wasn't even slightly spicy. The waitress taught us a "magic spell" to make the food taste better. Then she drew an elaborate face on it with ketchup. That was special. The food was alright, but really expensive. I enjoyed our time there, anyway. My suggestion would be to order a special. I bet those are better.

The next day we went to Odiba on the monorail. It takes you along Tokyo's famous Rainbow Bridge. We saw one of the biggest malls ever! It was really nice because the mall near Misawa is pretty small. Then we ate at Bubba Gump Shrimp. We had to wait 2 hours with out a reservation, but it was SO DELICIOUS! Even the "American" food in Misawa isn't exactly like the American food back home, but Bubba Gump's was just like a little slice of home. We had such a good time and I hope we can go back soon!

The bonus about the trip was during the bus ride there and back I found all sorts of flavored Kit-Kats. Soybean flavor, orange flavor and honey flavor.