On A Less Whiny Note...

Cambridge is pretty. Like, really pretty. Even if I didn't like her, I'd still have to admit that she's pretty.

Jeju

I can't recommend it highly enough. It's pretty rightly called "the Hawaii of Korea" - at least I assume it's pretty rightly called that - I can't exactly confirm the sentiment, having never actually been to the Hawaii of the United States (that's Hawaii, in case you were wondering).

After a glorious long weekend of hiking in a sundress and flipflops because I'm stupid (also, my feet were a little too swollen to stuff into my sneakers after the flight), getting a pretty magnificent sunburn, and just generally checking out one of the New Seven Natural Wonders of the World, it's good to be home.

Side note - the next time I'm on an airplane, it will be to the US - weird.

What I Missed: The Great Photo Recap

We took the most crowded subway ride ever.

We saw fireworks. They were awesome.

There was a lantern festival.

It snowed.

A lot.

Christmas came.

We went skiing. I spent more time laying down than I did standing up.

We saw North Korea.

North Korea saw us.

Brandon practiced his archery.

We went to the Cherry Blossom Festival. It rained.

We hiked. A lot.

We went to China. It was dirty. 

And that's what you've missed!

Stay tuned for another one of these...next year?

What I Missed: Visitors

We had three! Yay, people like us.

First there was Hannah:

Then Sara:

And our last visitor - Dani:

Feast Your Eyes On Trickery

I heart the Trickeye Museum.

Picture > Words; Video > Picture

That thing I said earlier? It also applies to eating live octopus.

Although, if I had to describe eating live octopus in one word, it would be "chewy".

Nomnomnomnomnom.

A Picture's Worth A Thousand Words, And A Video Is Like A Thousand Pictures

I could try and describe how awesome it was to see Psy live in Pyeongtaek, but instead of me gushing words that don't do it justice, behold: pictures and video.

Also, I can pretty much die happy now.

Waiting. . .

Dude, Where's My Phone?

Part II of our big weekend in Seoul started out with a lost cell phone (we left it in a cab on Saturday night), and as a result most of Sunday was consumed by frantic searching.

We tried everything from "find my iPhone" (which does not work in Korea) to calling the (wrong) cab company forty-five times trying to get someone who spoke English, to having the front desk at our hotel check the surveillance tape to try and find the cab number.

Shopping in Itaewon (which is FABULOUS) isn't quite as fun when you have the knowledge that you're about to have to drop $300 on a new iPhone looming over your head. Fortunately, (for our bank account,  unfortunately for me) it kept my husband from buying me a $250 jacket.

At 5pm, we gave up on the search and started to head home. On a whim, we called the phone one last time, and actually got an answer. After tracking down a random girl who spoke Korean and English, we were able to set up a meeting spot with the cab driver to get the phone back.

Naturally, we felt rich for saving $300, and went straight to the market to buy fake designer earrings.

My first Korean clothing purchase.

Detail

 Fancy earrings

First purse (more to come, I'm sure)

FOR LOVERS ONLY

As we checked into the last two rooms in the "ON" hotel (also pretty much the last two rooms in the city), I noticed a sign that said "best place for lovers". I snickered at it, thinking how I could blog about "lost in translation" later on.

AND THEN I SAW THE ROOM.

The photos kind of speak for themselves.

The mirrored, lighted ceiling above our bed.

Biggest tub I have ever seen. 

WITH A TELEVISION!

This attractive woman gazing at us.

Not pictured are the completely glass bathroom,  middle-of-the-room shower, and bedside table "supplies".

The mural on the wall of the two single guys with us. 

Clearly the desk clerk knew what two men checking in together want.

Tanked

The Jagalchi Fish Market is Korea's largest, and a wonder to behold. If it swims in the sea, you can buy it here. It's like going to the aquarium, if the aquarium was also an all-you-can eat seafood buffet.

After wandering through the main floor of the market, gaping at some creatures I've never seen, and witnessing a brutal yet fascinating octopus slaughtering, we headed upstairs to the "food court".

For 80,000 won (we thought it was a little steep, until we saw the vast amount of food being paraded out to our table), we bought ourselves two freshly slaughtered fish - one cooked, one raw - some delicious sides (including a pile of tasty sea snails), and finished off the meal with a steaming pot of fish head soup.

Nomnomnomnomnom.

Crappy Picture Alert

I took my first trip to Seoul on Saturday, and did a terrible job taking photos. Not that I didn't take enough - it's just that I suck at using my fancypants new camera, and all the pictures were blurry. Maybe next time.

Looks like we're going to have to stick with the cell phone snaps for now.

North Seoul Tower. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to make it up the tower, but it was still a great view from the base.

 Here we are in a very dimly lit restaurant at the base of the tower.

 Seoul.

Love Locks

They say if you put a padlock on the fence at North Seoul Tower, your love will be locked to you forever.

If you're cheesy and you know it clap your hands! (clap clap)