Saturday, October 29, 2011

I Think I'm Turning Japanese...I mean Korean

Last week I went to Japan for business purposes, people.  I'm not that frivolous with my money yet.  But since I had to go, I decided to take the long way there - i.e., the Korean speed train KTX from Seoul to Busan, and then the ferry from Busan to Fukuoka, Japan.  Overall the trip was up and down.

The KTX train was great, and it was great to see the Korean countryside.  And the trip from Seoul to Busan was only $60, which is a great deal I think.  The train took 2 1/2 hours because it was going really fast.  Originally I think it's supposed to take 6 hours.

The ferry was fun, but I was so tired when I got on (around 9 pm) that I went straight to sleep.  I woke up around 2 am and I could feel the boat swaying back and forth.  I got up and got some water, and I would sway to one side of the hall and then sway to the other side.  I wanted to go outside but the doors were locked.  The doors were also locked on the way back because the sea was so choppy.  The waves were 4 meters high.  I took motion-sickness medicine both times so it wasn't too bad.

When I got to Japan, I realized quickly there was no way I could figure out the subway system.  It was all in Japanese and the maps were impossible to read, so I had to ask help how to get where I was going.  The first guy who helped me looked like one of the Beatles except he had really gross teeth and bad breath.  But he was nice, so I tried not to mind. 

The people in Japan looked really cool.  I could see right away why Americans know about Japan but not Korea.  Koreans are so clean and polished compared to the Japanese.  I was talking to some kids outside the terminal in Japan and found out they were Korean.  I asked what's the difference between Korean and Japanese?  He said Koreans are more handsome.

I had 2 full days in Japan, but each morning I had to get up early and take care of stuff so I was pretty tired the whole time.  My favorite thing was eating sushi.  They have restaurants with the chefs in the middle, like a bar, and rotating plates that go around the whole bar.  So you can pick whatever you want.  I chose 4 different plates with sushi and had that.  It was so good.  My other favorite thing was the zoo.  The animals were so cute, and it was different from America because there was hardly any glass in front of the cages and the walkway came really close to the animals.  So you could see everything.  I don't have any pics from that because it was raining the whole time.  I also went to a botanical gardent connected to the zoo and it was gorgeous.  No one was there because it was raining, so it felt very quiet and beautiful. 

I'm back in Korea now and I had the feeling that I was relieved to come back home. :)  Can you believe it?  That was a surprising feeling to have.  Enjoy the pics! 

KTX Speed Train through South Korea





Port of Busan, Korea




I stacked 3 of those beds on top of each other to sleep.  It was comfortable believe it or not.

Fukuoka, Japan







Home Sweet Home!







Thanks for the purple towel Gran! It matches the roses in my bathroom perfectly.




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