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KYOTO (8/16/2011) --- Ohhh, Kyoto. We’ve all heard some things. Even moreso those of us who spent time in Asia. In my case, specifically, from Shiro- the Japanese man in my Korean class in Daegu- who directed me in English (when we wanted to converse regularly) to “go to Kyoto” the first time I told him Linda and I were going to Japan way back in February. We made sure to read and plan and prepare for the sure to be overwhelming abundance of incredible sites- more UNESCO World Heritage locations than like the next five places combined (hyperbolic number exaggeration there, but not by much). And still, we couldn’t have picked a better time of year and days to be flabbergasted by it all. We were onto the bullet train early from Osaka for the short ride up and we had smartly booked a stay at another J-Hoppers hostel (remember our wonderful experience in Hiroshima?). They have such awesome staff and helpful maps and materials that we made sure to soak up a bit of extra info for our first day out because we were going to be gone for almost the entirety of it. We had already decided that in order to satisfy a correct ratio of quantity to quality in our day and a half, we chose a foray through the Southern Higashiyama district because of the cluster of top spots. It was not too great of a journey to walk to our first stop, Sanjusangendo Temple, so we got to put our feet to the pavement and get a bit of a feel for the city right upon arrival- just how I like it. Sanjusangendo is huge and long and beautiful. Its claim to fame is the 1000 buddha statues in the main hall, and there really are a lot of them. However, they cannot be photographed due to the sensitivity to light of the material- they are made of wood coated in gold leaf and are 750+ years old. Find some cool pictures of them online because they certainly are worth it. They had a vaguely Southeast Asian conception (at least in my uneducated mind) of buddha with the eyes closed and the poses and other intangible flourishes. They were various sects of Buddhism that flourished in the historical periods when all this stuff is from and since Kyoto was the political and cultural capital, the center of religion and faith was there as well. There are a few other statues inside Sanjusangendo that are very old and also very impressive, including a many-armed buddha. They were also some stories about archery competitions on the other side of the main hall because the length of the building could be utilized. The colors on the gates and the walls were once again so vibrant and maintained with the utmost care. What a great spot to start off with in Kyoto. I could imagine myself spending an entire half day here at just this first sight! The Higashiyama neighborhood is on the eastern edge of the main urban sector of Kyoto, as there is a hillside up into the first layer of surrounding mountains. Once we got past the main thoroughfares, there are few cars around the old and twisting streets and all you really see are people/tourists walking about. Our next destination- heading up to said hillside- was our first UNESCO World Heritage designated site of the day, Kiyomizu-dera Temple. There are some steps that lead up to the complex under an elaborate and beautiful and colorful entry gate, and we started to see how popular it is around here with the amount of people. There’s a super fun little offshoot building with an underground passage right as you enter for which you can pay an extra few yen and get to follow a dimly lit passage way in order to satisfy some religious rite, so of course we did that. We got to snicker at some of the dumber type of folks who give dumb commentary or exclamations on simple guidelines or procedures such as following a path in small spaces. It’s actually amusing to be around crowds sometimes!

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NARA & OSAKA (8/15/2011) --- After all that exploration, it was time for a nice train ride back to Osaka; but first, some food (before that even, Linda tried the water purification thing! So Buddhist of her). A tonkatsu specialist was our choice, and we scarfed it down too fast to even snap a good photo. All you get is the aftermath, but rest assured, it was as good as any breaded and fried pork cutlet you will ever see. The train ride was relaxing and we even enjoyed a long conversation with an older Japanese gentleman who had plenty of nice things to say about Chicago in his impeccable English. We headed straight for Osaka Castle just east of our central location via subway after our train alighted at one of the regional stations. What a sight! There is a nice park surrounding the caste and its grounds and it’s spectacularly lit up at night. Again, the features of the Japanese castle here are exciting: the splendid design of the fortifications and the high ground, and also the white striking white color of the facade. We kinda just walked up the long, spiraling, mostly modern-day roadway to the actual tower and glanced at the available signs and info outside. Indoor visiting was shuttered at this time of the evening but seeing the place up close was an important requirement. We headed back towards Dotonbori and ambled along for a some more fun sights and sounds and had a tasty dinner of ramen at a stall in the midst of all the activity. Yum. We had another big day the next day, of course, but it involved a trip elsewhere (stay tuned) so we did our best to soak in all the excitement of Osaka. Just wonderful.

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NARA (8/15/2011) --- There is more after Todai-ji, of course! Since there were many temples and shrines and cultural institutions that were prominent in their day- as well as political ones from the time period when Nara was the capital- there were other buildings and facilities around and many are also preserved in some way today. That’s one of the fun things about the whole area and its setup; you get to just kind of stroll around in any direction and decide what to go inspect next. Or not. You can just sit around and gaze and imagine and think.

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NARA (8/15/2011) --- A most noteworthy sight in Nara is Todai-ji, the largest wooden building in the world. It sure is a beaut. The current version (two thirds the size- it was actually even bigger!) was rebuilt in 1709; the original was from the 8th century, but when you talk about historical wooden buildings, you are inevitably going to find out they’ve been destroyed by fire. That is something I have learned. Todai-ji was destroyed by fire twice. But that really only refers to the edifice, apparently- the mega-sized buddha Todai-ji was first built to enclose is still well-preserved; it’s made of bronze, after all. The entry gate is pretty impressive in its own right. It houses some pretty large impressive stone figures that may or may not be there to ward off nefarious spirits. There were many, many people on this fine summer day out to see the temple. But it wasn’t a bad thing waiting in line because we were able to gaze upon it and continuously see how stunning it is. The buddha inside is also big and cool, of course. You also get to look around the main hall a bit and there’s a scaled diorama which is always my favorite thing.

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OSAKA & NARA (8/15/2011) --- Would you like to guess how wonderful hotels in Japan are? Let’s start with the bed. Forget alarm clocks. Maybe technological advancements in late 80s and 90s seem a bit quaint now, but our bed with the built-in radio, air conditioner, and alarm clock had us giddy for a good ten minutes before breakfast. There were even controls for adjusting the bed and it was all so well-designed and slick in that late 20th-century way. But even more exciting, of course, was breakfast. We had no hesitation in choosing to get the hotel spread at least one day during our stay (we were dashing out of the city early and knowing the our hotel was a solid mid-grade Japanese business hotel, the food would be quite good), and it turned out to be a great move. All the fixins’, of course: rice, fish, salad, miso soup, veggie garnishes, salads, natto (fermented bean paste, oh yeah), tea… It’s a bit of a wonder I don’t talk about it more. We needed the fuel on this day because it was off via regional rail to the town of Nara, a little over an hour’s journey away. What’s in Nara, you ask? It was the capital of Japan for most of the 8th century before it moved to Kyoto, and there are some absolutely splendid cultural exhibits still alive today. There’s a beautiful historical park where all the temples, shrines, and other ruins are protected within one administrative area, and it’s all designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Perhaps the most well-known feature of the park is the free-roaming deer that have license to kind of do whatever they want. You can feed them and even interact with them however you want since they are pretty chill. A lot of them are front and center as you kind of approach from the train station, and we lingered for a while as we got a sense of the space and the general area we’d be covering throughout the day. I did see a kid get accidentally knocked over by one of the deer’s haunches, so that was fun. Once that was over and done with, it was time to start our tour through all the sightseeing areas. A couple of destinations in particular were part of the attraction, but there was the added bonus of lovely gardens and open parkland to be gazed upon while going from one main stop to the next.

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OSAKA (8/14/2011) --- How much more could we fit into our first Osaka day, you say? Thanks to the immaculate public transportation system, our subway rides were quick and efficient. After some wonderful cultural and historical stuff outdoors, we thought ourselves deserving of a much more simple and obvious attraction, so we headed out towards the fancy modern seaside entertainment development on Osaka bay. There is a big, fancy aquarium and some other stuff there, but we just wanted to go up high on the massive ferris wheel, thank you very much. I will always be a major proponent of going to the high places so you can see as much as possible of the landscape and layout of things, and even though it was already nighttime, we were there to enjoy ourselves! There are plenty of neon lights to show you the way anyway. Osaka is quite well-known for that kind thing, in fact. What else did we do? We treated ourselves to some ice cream at the Haagen-daas outpost in the complex there. It was just going to be an appetizer because we still had time for dinner, miraculously. Back to town and the epicenter of it all, Osaka’s famous Dotonbori street/arcade (as in shopping arcade). When one hears about Osaka, one is most likely to hear about the food and nightlife scene, and Dotonbori with its glittering neon signs and crowds and atmosphere is where it all begins. Plus it is right in the middle of the city, basically, so our hotel was there and many popular spots too! We actually arrived just a bit late to one of the recommended restaurants so we took the opportunity to find the first tasty-looking accessible restaurant we could, seeing as our tummies were asking for it by this point. We settled upon a comfortable teppanyaki spot which seemed to be quite an appropriate spot anyway. Awesome food (okonomiyaki, yaki soba, fried chicken, you say?) prepared quickly in mass quantities and with cold beer. Aaaaahhhhhh. There was even soccer on the tv to glance at as our bodies relaxed into the welcoming booths. Osaka day one was certainly a treat.

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OSAKA (8/14/2011) --- We had more culture to see on our first night. Shrine time, it was! Back onto the train we went and then zipped south of the city center to Sumiyoshi-taisha. It is known for having a lovely bridge that many devotees come to visit at certain times of the year. The place is extremely well-maintained and respected and one way I suppose you can tell is because of all the tiny turtles we saw swimming around in the water. It was charming, of course. It must have been tiny turtle happy hour or turtle hatching season or something- I can’t remember. They were also ducks ambling about the complex (not pictured). One thing that’s cool to notice at these places in Japan is the vibrant color of the torii (gates) and how clean they are so they can brightly stand out, I suppose. It definitely helps everything look cooler.

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OSAKA (8/14/2011) - Not only were the houses themselves of interest, but the landscape and walking paths throughout the park were peaceful and immaculate as well. I was reminded, of course, of the first Japanese garden we visited in Hiroshima six months earlier. I suppose we picked a good time of day to visit too; the early evening sun was making shadows quite appreciable. The bamboo forests are also worthy of inspection, especially because you don’t get to see many in the US.

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OSAKA (8/14/2011) --- Guess what, we’re back in Japan. How soon had we decided upon making a second trip? Almost immediately after setting foot on Japan’s soil the first time. This edition was to be a traversing of the country by shinkansen, covering a few of the most major draws that also happened to be places we really wanted to see for ourselves. As always, we looked forward to the habits (now customary, we told ourselves) of the journey: a train ride down to Busan (with a few stops in town, including the Patagonia store for some hiking stuff!), a ride across the sea on the Beetle, and a hotel and a night out in Fukuoka, which included another meal at Ippuddo, of course. Where we begin anew here is at the train station in Fukuoka/Hakata, and our first forays into getting a real bento box meal for our next train ride. I had been very excited for this moment because the last time we were in Japan our train rides were not at the right times for a food purchase or we already had had plans at either end of the trip. Therefore, this was a special occasion. We chose one of the spotless stores in the station and we were each able to select our own box of goodies. Our first destination this time around was to Osaka, the energetic, smaller sister to Tokyo’s megalopolis capital. We settled into our seats for the morning departure and readied ourselves for some serious eating. Such pleasurable experiences that are from the simple and common features of travel really are splendid, even if they can be fleeting. Other than watching the countryside pass by, we were making last-minute preparations for the rest of the day (and our few days in Osaka) from our guidebooks and recommendations. We visited a tourist welcome center in the Osaka station for some maps and more literature (always a fun and informative step!), quickly got transport to our very fine business-level hotel near the middle of town and Dotonbori (more on that later). A quick stop for lunch on the way out of the hotel was at a recommended soup/noodle specialist. Surprise, surprise- I really enjoyed my nabeyaki udon (udon noodles in soup in a stone pot). Onto the Osaka metro, and we took it north to the large Hattori Ryokuchi Park in order to see the Open Air Museum of Old Japanese farmhouses. A very sedate cultural attraction for our first sight in Osaka, but the elegance with which the exhibits were preserved and the serenity of the place was what we were after; we fully expected to have our fun and more exciting entertainment later in the day and in our trip. If you are a fan of jidaigeki (Japanese period drama films), whether they be samurai-laden or not, you will appreciate the museum. Well-preserved and presented historical sensibilities are like brain candy for me, in any case.

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BUSAN (7-30 & 7-31-2011) - As you can no doubt discern from the photos above, there was much joy and celebration because the Giants pulled out a comeback win! Party time in the stands and a happy crowd upon exiting. So happy, in fact- at least in the case of Linda and me in particular- that team gear had to be purchased on the way out. We spent some time lingering in one of the interior retail shops on the ground floor on our way out and each grabbed a jersey for our wardrobe. I went with a fancy replica individual named and numbered of 강민호 (Kang, Min-ho), the team stalwart. It looks a lot like a San Francisco Giants jersey from the front- same colors, similar script, but then there’s Hangeul on the back! Linda grabbed a colorful blue (of course) alternate shirt. As newly-minted and dedicated fans of the Giants after an exciting win, we felt the urge to continue the fun. As hinted before, the district surrounding the ballpark has- much like with any pro sports team’s stadium in an urban area- a decent collection of places to hang out postgame. We took our time strolling around and finally chose a pretty standard looking sports/dive/Korean-style bar on the main strip. Maybe it was the euphoria of victory, the effects of beer-drinking, the excitement of new discovery, but we somehow convinced ourselves it was finally time to try the street snack/drinking food 번데기 (beondegi). It’s popular with kids as a cheap eat, and not unpopular as something to be washed down with beer. But they are literally pupae, post-larval whole silkworm insects. And at least when they are roasted in big pans at street stalls, there’s a bit of a weird smell in the air. They don’t look great. You can tell from looking at them that the texture will be unappealing. But it was our time. It sure helped that they were complimentary at this bar, served alongside some grapes and edamame. We both ended up eating a few to truly and honestly assess the experience. They were ok. Not interested in having them again until the Earth becomes so unlivable that bugs will be our only source of animal protein, by which time I will hopefully be dead. The next day was a splendid-looking Sunday and we were happily able to achieve our second objective for the weekend: the beach! Since the real estate is precious (not a lot of sandy beaches in the city and a highly populated and dense one at that), you get to pay for chairs and a tent unless you want to lie on a small strip of sand in between the mass of beach chairs and the water. It’s not too expensive though- just find a beach guy and they’ll get you set up right away! It’s quite a departure from the serene, private Lake Michigan beaches I was always used to- the commercialization is just off the rocker, and the way in which people spread out in their little areas and the amount of trash they generate is a little depressing, but it does seem that the system mostly takes care of itself. As we are wont to do at a beach, we read our books, snacked, swam, people-watched, etc. A+ for the Busan weekend adventure.

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BUSAN (7-30-2011) - We had been to a Korean baseball game before, back in the spring. In Daegu after our Korean classes one Saturday, we ambled our way up to the stadium there to see the Samsung team play. Samsung, you say? All Korean baseball teams are known by their lead sponsor first and foremost, nickname second, and city third. After our long-awaited return to Busan a couple weekends earlier, we decided it was easy enough and quite appropriate to start making the trip more frequently. Busan was still quite untapped for us, being the second-largest city in the country and all, with its location on the coast and unique activities and character, and thus we identified two areas of focus: baseball and beaches. Busan has the Lotte Giants baseball team and one of the better stadiums and fan followings in the country and getting to a game was our first objective. Being in the stands at a Korean baseball game has some key differences to the experience in the US, and is perhaps more enjoyable for a non-baseball fan. One thing that is definitely enjoyable is the logistical experience of the arrival, where you walk the gauntlet of street vendors and hawkers selling food and snacks, paraphernalia, and other miscellaneous items. The Giants stadium is tucked nicely into a bustling neighborhood (is there any other way in Busan?) on a mountainside so it makes for a fun trek from the subway too! A neat thing is that you can bring food into the stadium that you buy from the sellers outside near or on the actual grounds, and the classic choice is fried chicken. We tried a boxful of it along with all the fixins’ and carried it happily up to our seats. There are cheerleaders at Korean baseball, and that word is used in its most literal sense. They lead chants and cheers with and without the stadium public address music, they dance, they throw free stuff into the crowd; they certainly provide an entertainment that is not typical in a professional American sports setting. I really enjoyed the personalized song/refrain each player on the home team gets as he approaches his at-bat. We learned- by about his second turn- the one for 강민호 (Kang, Min-ho), the long-standing catcher and cleanup hitter for the Giants; the relationship was mutually beneficial as he quickly became our favorite player. Do we know about rally caps? All seats have plastic bags placed nearby/handed out because there is at least some stewardship encouraged with the inevitable trashy mess from all the fried chicken-eating, and before it’s time to pack that stuff up at the end of games, the plastic bag may be used as a rally cap. In this case, the Giants were behind in the late innings and we saddled up with the rest of the participating crowd, observed the technique, and tied them around our heads. Would our contribution to the efforts be successful? Stay tuned until the next post to find out!

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ANDONG (7/23/2011) - Have we mentioned that Korea has mountains and lots of good hiking? Have we also mentioned that there are many lovely sights- both natural and cultural, including Buddhist temples- on such hikes? Have we mentioned, in addition, that it is quite easy to be transported to many such locations, whether they be near a city or not? Well, in case we hadn’t mentioned all of these things, or one had forgotten, here is another chance to learn about those things. I give you Cheongryangsan. Often pointed out as one of the premier excursions from the Andong area, Cheonryangsan was an easy regional bus ride away from town. It was a place we had on our list for awhile, and without any far-flung journeys planned after the whirlwind start to July from our international visitors, it was ripe for attack. Cheongryangsan is along the Nakdong River which flows right through Andong, so the route there certainly follows that. There’s a stop near the entrance to a park across from a small settlement of restaurants and pension hotels, and even a museum. But we were ready for physical activity, so we set off down the park road toward the middle trailhead in order to see the temple complex up the side of the mountains. It was a solid, steep set of trails getting up through forested mountainsides before reaching the complex that was so impressively nestled into the rocky outcroppings. I was really impressed. There were some stunning views and we were only just over halfway up the mountains. We took the time to explore the sights and relax with a snack. There were more trails up to the top of the range and the famous Sky Bridge between two peaks further along, but taking in the time and the intention of making our first visit more of a relaxing nature, we decided to go back down the same way. The idea to come back was firmly implanted in our heads, however. Another success!

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BUSAN & GYEONGJU (7/17/2011) - We’ve already learned a bit about Busan at the beginning of the Korea Times, and it was an easy half-day destination for our visitors. While leaving room for other sights in other places at other times, a brief visit to one of Busan’s best-known summer quantities was in the cards. We woke up and took an early-morning journey down to Busan and hopped on the subway to get to our destination. That was Haeundae Beach, an actual city beach known to be one of the most popular in Korea and also abutting the exciting and vibrant surrounding district. Our objective was not, however, to sunbathe and relax but to explore! We took a walk around and along the main drag. Since we already know boat rides to be a fun and relaxing way to see more things and often interesting and unique ones at that, after finding ourselves at the end of the beach, it was an obvious choice to snag a quick ticket for a pleasant zip around a bit of the harbors and adjacent quays and rock formations. We were certainly being treated to a lovely day of sun. Afterwards, it was time for a late-morning lunch and we scaled the hill at the eastern end of the neighborhood and hopped into a fine-looking restaurant for a solid meal of seafood and the usual Korean fixins’. No time for slowing down, however, so it was back to the station and another intercity journey just an hour or so north to Gyeongju, a new destination for Linda and me too. Gyeongju is a popular tourist location in Korea (in addition to being a midsized city itself) because of its pre-Korean importance as a capital in the ancient Silla kingdom. There are a few ruins and (mostly restored) temples and other archaeological sites of significance scattered around the area, and the most fun and effective way to see them all is by bike! Shortly after arriving, we found ourselves to a reputed bike rental business. I mean, after buses and trains and subways and boats, it was only right that we added another form of transportation to this full day of activity. We rolled ourselves around to a few spots in the late afternoon glow, including burial mounds, one of the oldest astronomical observatories still standing on Earth, and a pleasant temple complex. 

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HAEINSA (7/16/2011) - Not far outside of Daegu is one of Korea’s UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the temple of Haeinsa. Specifically for the Tripitaka Koreana, a set of 81,350 wooden printing blocks with Buddhist scripture. They are housed in a wooden hall that apparently does a great job preserving them and has fortuitously avoided multiple fires and other disasters over the many years it has had the honor of holding the wood blocks. Guests may not actually see the blocks in person but can explore the temple site and see many of the fun and familiar trappings of a Buddhist temple complex. The grounds are up on a mountainside with a good forested walk required to reach them. Lovely stone sculptures and paraphernalia are strewn about, as always, and you can explore and linger at will to stare at fascinating decorative roofing (eaves) and absorb exciting artwork on building facades (Haeinsa had some of my absolute favorite), as I am wont to do.

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SEOUL (7/11 - 7/12/2011) - The grounds of Gyeongbokgung Palace, being quite large and expansive due to all the requirements of sustaining such a large operation, go on for a while. You have all the royals and their noble courtiers, servants, other palace hangers-on, as well as people to handle all the resources that go into the everyday activities functioning therein. Hence, there's a lot of space dedicated to these people. It was pleasant to explore a lot of it at our own volition, and we even staged a photo here and there for fun. Again, a pleasant summer day lent a nice, peaceful sense to the open spaces and manicured areas. A productive day sightseeing requires a deserved amount of pleasure, so we took the subway a few stops over to the Dongdaemun (’dong’ means east and ‘mun’ is gate in this context) area for a look at one of the city’s famous fortified but decorative gates that also happens to be prettily displayed at nighttime. That was merely a stop before we settled on a nameless ‘hof,’ the German-derived word which in Korean signifies a spot for fried chicken and beer, for decompression of the day’s events and which gave an easy, accessible base for drink and snacks. The next day, more history was on the agenda, and it was off to the War Memorial of Korea. Our hotel had a splendid breakfast buffet with a good mixture of Korean and western foods, so we all filled up and discussed our plans. Of course, Michele and Tom could be allowed to take their time after their trans-Pacific flight and we were happy to luxuriate in the hotel room for a while, so we didn’t rush out immediately. But after the morning sojourn, we still managed a quick lunch of seafood stew on the way to the museum and felt appropriately ready to tackle the exhibits. I really thought it was a fine museum - the information on the ancient history of Korea and its’ different periods was healthy. Of course, the main attraction was the Korean War, and even if you watched a lot of MASH, you’d find plenty of interesting nuggets and displays throughout the museum. I was not someone who knew a lot about it before visiting, but now I consider myself well-informed, and I wasn’t the only one among our party who thought so.  

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SEOUL (7/11/2011) - Our first visitors came! Just past our halfway point, my Mother Michele and my Uncle Tom came to spend a week and a half with us and explore Korea. Linda and I cooked up quite a batch of plans for destinations, activities, food and more. As discussed previously, South Korea is about the size of Indiana, so fitting in multiple destinations at either end of the country with some Andong area sights during the week was very manageable. We took the lovely train ride up to Seoul meet them on a Saturday near Insadong and the palaces. After exchanging greetings and pleasantries, it was clear we all had food on our minds for similar reasons of travel time, and it was off to the closest spot. Still being rather unfamiliar with the area's dining options, we consulted the trusty Lonely Planet and found a place just a few streets south of our meeting point and Gyeongbokgung Palace among some government buildings. Its specialty was bindaetteok, a pancake-like dish made with mung bean flour that we hadn't come across before. We impressed my mom and uncle with our spoken orders in Korean (also getting sogogi gukbap, a tasty beef stew with rice that we had eaten before and liked) and dug into our banchan. The itinerant struggles each of our visitors would have with chopsticks and the humorous discussion we'd have about them over the next two weeks became clear at this point too. Our meal came and I soon had another entry into one of my favorite dishes: the pancakes had perfectly bite-sized pork or seafood along with green onions or other similar veggies in the soft, moist interior, and the outside was crusty and crispy with nice browned edges. We ate heartily and then made for Gyeongbokgung, the historic palace of past Korean royalty. It sits proudly at the end of a large thoroughfare and has a nice backdrop of mountains to the north before any residential or commercial neighborhoods in densely-populated Seoul can creep back into the picture. An observation of my virgin palace-viewing experience was the vast areas of space within the complex. One could certainly conjure up images in Asian medieval-set films with palace guards or armies lined up in these areas for one reason or another. The palace was very well maintained, it being an important tourist attraction, with workers keeping areas cleaned and the buildings in good shape. I can't accurately recall, but at least some of the buildings were burned and/or destroyed by Japan during occupations or during wars but have been rebuilt nicely. I suppose it would have been nice to take a guided tour and get all the goods from a reliable source, but this was our first day together and the weather was pleasant, so we just happily moseyed about the grounds for a few hours, enjoying the sights and sounds. As indicated above in the last couple of photos, I found the banquet hall building surrounded by the pond to be especially lovely on this day.

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SEOUL (6/11 - 6/12/2011) - Going somewhere after our weekly Korean class had become a regular thing, and once we had our first taste of the KTX, dashing off to Seoul was even more attractive. The KTX is Korea's version of the shinkansen/bullet train, and it goes from Seoul all the way down to Busan in the southeast or Gwangju in the southwest. It gets up there pretty fast - not as fast as Japan's version and not quite as comfortable, but then again it's a shorter route and journeys will undoubtedly be quicker. Andong is not on the KTX route, but we still had choices of frequent buses or semi-frequent slow trains for our return journey. This particular end-of-spring weekend was a trip entirely free of obligations - no hiking groups, no meetups with Linda's freelance work colleagues, no acquaintances. It was simply a chance for us to explore. Our first stop may have constituted a violation of that, but we weren't going to make apologies. After being thwarted in our efforts to celebrate our birthday week by going to Linda's Mexican food destination during her 2006 trips to Seoul and seeing that it was closed, Linda had found that On the Border had at least one location in central Seoul. We desired Mexican food served to us in a restaurant, and this was as good as we were going to get. Complimentary chips and salsa alone were enough to send us into bliss, and we enjoyed a long, leisurely meal and some drinks at the acceptable chain. We returned to our new favorite guesthouse/hotel, relaxed for a bit and finished plotting our evening and the next day. We ended up in Itaewon, the scene of foreigners drunk, seedy, enthusiastic, partygoing, among other types, and the setting of our great first night in Seoul at the country bar Grand Ole Opry. Snobby expats/English teachers or loser expats/English teachers will claim that Itaewon is filled with too many of the aforementioned undesirables, but the reality is that those people are merely trying to sound smart and cool and are actually incapable or enjoying themselves or having a good time ironically. After Linda's country music desires were satisfied our first time around, I was pleased to find a hip hop night at Rocky Mountain Tavern up on the second floor. This was only after one of the most bizarre and entertaining conversations we'd had in Korea up until that point, sitting at the bar downstairs with a couple of fellow patrons - an attractive middle-aged Korean woman and her middle-aged flamboyantly-dressed gay friend (sadly not pictured). She was drunk, he was probably drunk, and unfortunately for us, we were just getting started. So most of the banter centered about their relationships, from short trysts to more committed ones, and her frequent use of the word 'dick' in reference to her contention that they both wanted it. They were each rather successful people, judging by their manner, dress and English competency, and clearly enjoying their drunken night out together, and I'd be happy if they remembered one thing we said, since Linda and I clearly weren't on their level yet that night. Regrettably, I didn't ask either of them to join me in a shot of soju or something. Anyway, it was a fun precursor to our observance of the freestyle sessions upstairs from the British ESL teacher mc, the black American army rapper, the Latino American Spanish-speaking ESL teacher, and the white American beatboxer. What a fun event. The next day we reserved for our touring. We started just east of the north central area of Seoul at a redeveloped waterway called Cheonggyecheon. There were some nice walkways and greenery alongside the stream and decent city views of the surrounding neighborhood, easily accessible from our area of Dongdaemun. After stopping by a large street market or two and stopping at a few other spots, we reached our next destination of Insadong. Insadong is one of the more touristed areas of Seoul, a small stretch of streets with restaurants, cafés, multipurpose art spaces and other shops pleasantly placed in harmony with each other. We went in a few places, up and around others, had a drink, a snack, relaxed for a bit enjoyed the nice environment and weather. Then it was off to another popular neighborhood, Myeongdong. On the way, I was starting to make some conclusions about the city of Seoul, such as its' pleasing visual mixtures of old and new. It was not uncommon to see a well-maintained (albeit often rebuilt/reconstructed due to the war) older/somewhat ancient monument or building with a backdrop of modern towers and other architecture. You know, everything looks better on a nice day, but I was certainly beginning to appreciate the uniqueness of the place - a lot of the city is very presentable, in its own way, even the smaller, twisting alleys and neighborhood pockets with decidedly Korean housing and storefronts and businesses in addition to their modern and western influences. So it being warmer weather now, I had heard talk of patbingsu - a Korean dessert made with shaved ice, fruit, red azuki bean paste and frozen yogurt. I was aware of the yogurt shop Red Mango, having visited a location once or twice in the US, and it clicked in my mind that it was a Korean origination. The founder was actually a Korean-American, but the first stores opened in Korea before ever arriving in the US. If we were going to try this, I thought it made sense to do it at an accessible place where we knew in the least that the yogurt would be good. In the middle of Myeongdong was a large outpost of Red Mango, and we thoroughly enjoyed our large portion of patbingsu up on the bustling, tastefully decorated second floor seating area overlooking the street. About the streets of Myeongdong: they're traffic-free, busy with all types of locals and tourists from home and abroad, strolling about and into the stunning amount of shops, big and small, chain and independent, high fashion and low fashion, immaculately done and under construction. It's a destination for people who love to shop for stuff and love their retail therapy, with all the necessary accoutrements to the clothing and fashion-centric attraction, such as music, movies, restaurants, street food, marketing people running around, the usual. Certainly a fine place to walk around and experience the pulse. Linda even bought a nice dress from a guy whose racks were either overflowing from a tiny little shop or just out on the street unattached to any brick and mortar place. For our purposes, it was a fine and fiitting end to our latest weekend jaunt to Seoul. By this time, as hinted at before, I had become robust in my love of train travel, and we were becoming fans of the slow train back home to Andong. It was an easy cab ride over to a different station than the central Seoul station, but very new and clean and quite manageable, with a megamall attached so we could get our fix of almost anything for the road. I think we may have had KFC that day. Oh well - the train affords the passenger a beautiful view of the countryside in many spots throughout the journey on this route, unlike a lot of the bus travel along the road. We were hooked, and became train evangelists from that point on.