Posted 2:34 AM by MelanieandSteve
SEOUL - SWEET BUT TOO SHORT:  We Changed flights in Japan lengthening our stay there, but cutting short our time in Seoul. This entry was written 18 July and covers 3-5 July 2004:

BAD TIMING, GOOD FRIENDS: Heesook and Moonhee, friends  of Melanie's Parents took us in like family. Heesook had  grad school comprehensive exams the day we arrived - we hated to bother her then, but she never let on the inconvenience.

FASTEST FRIENDLIEST IN AND OUT AIRPORT EXPERIENCE: Airports are usually disorienting, slow starts in strange lands. Not here.  Moonhee met us at the airport and had already arranged accomodations for us so we headed straight out to explore. 

WAY TO OUR HEART ... OUR STOMACHES:   Moonhee introduced us to traditional Korean faire with a relaxing lunch. Along with a main dish, communal sides covered the table for all to try. The fun of sampling rivals the good taste. The silver Korean chopsticks enhance the delicacy. Melanie tried BeBeamBop, a vegetable and rice dish. The fun name and  healthy servings were welcome after her difficulties finding veg meals in other countries.

NO TIME TO WASTE CAPTURING THE SOUL OF SEOUL:  Moonhee commented that as a local, he never  visits travellers' destinations and he enjoyed seeing Seoul through tourist's eyes. From Seoul Tower atop NamSan Mountain, we familiarized ourselves with Seoul. We picked out landmarks and chose where we'd go next. Brightly colored roofs made a pretty birds eye view. 

KOREAN WAR MUSEUM- We had both been brushing up on the facts and figures of the Korean War. The War Museum was dedicated to all wars involving Korea, not just the Korean War. Their Peninsula has been invaded about 12 times, mostly by Japan and China. The domed Memorial Hall for deceased soldiers was beautiful. We could have enjoyed staying longer.

ALL IN A DAY'S WORK:    A high priority for Steve in Seoul was to see Inchon, the shallow waters where Macarthar led a surprise attack in Autumn of 1950 turning the tide of the Korean War. We crossed over the Hahn river and saw the waters and mud flats of Inchon. Already, on our first day in Seoul, we'd seen the tower, the war museum, and Inchon. Thanks to Moonhee, we had accomplished our most important goals.

SEOUL FOOD:   We picked up Heesook, tired from her day of exams, but exhuding joy and high energy. We were treated to further culinary delights. There was not enough room on the table for the myriad plates of this evening's banquet. Mook (like almond tofu), Kim (seawed), Kookbop (rice soup), sam jang (red pepper sauce), chap chae (glass noodles), kimchi (cabbage), pa jun (stuffed potato egg pancakes), and the list goes on ... And on.  We were glad to find several spicy options.     

BACK TO SCHOOL: Moonhee works at Yonsei University and  booked us a room at its very nice hotel with perks and comforts galore including free internet. This was particularly nice since we hadn't found internet in Japan or Hong Kong.

TYPHOON OF A TIME:   We spent July 4 under umbrellas and rain geer in the leading end of a Typhoon.  Fireworks wouldn't have been a fire hazard today.  Interesting to spend our independence day in a land where their war dividing the land never really ended.  We explored Seoul on the very comprehensive and well-planned subway. We saw the changing of the guard and Cheungdakdeung Palace, toured its grounds including the woodsey "Secret Garden" so named because once exclusive to the Emperor.  We laughed at the inscription on the Queen's living quarters where the King would visit when he was in the mood to try for an heir - "The Place Where Great Things Are Made."

TEA TIME:   We Stopped at traditional style Ipsa Dong street. We picked our favorite tea house, took off our shoes, sat on floor pillows and ordered traditional jujube tea - made from Chinese dates and garnished with pine nuts. The yummy warm tea was thick with fruit at the bottom and as sweet as soda pop.

EVENING EATS TALKS AND WALKS: We spent the evening with Moonhee, Heesook, and their son Kyujin, and stayed the night in their home. A sign in the living room Welcomed us in bold letters.  Heesook, with a gourmet's talent, prepared a beautiful banquet. We enjoyed good conversation and laughs into the night and then walked along the Hahn river. Brilliantly lit bridges and bright city lights glistened all along it. In the early morning,  they saw us off at the airport, full  after a beautiful home-cooked breakfast.   For the short time we had in Seoul, we had the fullest experience possible with the help of good friends.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO Angela S.

Posted 2:32 AM by MelanieandSteve
This post written  17 July covers up to  3 July

HOME IS WHERE THE BACK IS... Back in packs since Australia, we've been to Hong Kong, Japan, Seoul, Beijing, and aboard the Trans-Siberian Railroad.  This entry features Hong Kong and Japan.

RED- EYE JET-EYE NIGHTS: One hour of sleep, a 4:30 a.m. wake-up, a 6am flight, a 4-hour flight delay, dangerously close connecting flights, three airplanes, an all-night lay-over, a one-hour train ride, a taxi transport, half hour shuttle ride, and over 36 hours travel time - makes Mel and Steve tired travellers.

HONG KONG:

--SEA OF SKYSCRAPERS BY THE SEA:  Our hostel high above the city had a Breathtaking harbor view. At night, the shoreline is bejeweled with densely amassed skyscrapers. We hiked the city in the day.  Hong Kong was a model of modernity  and  planning.  Air condtitioned malls spanned the city as comfortable walkways. Elevated sidewalks parallelled boulevards. Bridges and subway walkways insured that pedestrians and autos rarely met. The train system  glided smoothly and silently.  Ferries efficiently cruised the harbor. The city was fairly clean, and bold creative architecture stood over it.  Steve has been here before and speculates that SARS has stimulated widespread clean up. There are less ventors now, more soap, less dirt, and there are new public hand sanitizors dispensors.     We meandered below architectural monolyths - including the International Financial Center of  Laura Croft fame in Tomb Raider 2. We soaked in the view from the Bank of China's 43'd floor before boarding a ferry to Kowloon for a walk on "The Avenue of Stars", Hong Kong's answer to Hollywood's ''Walk of Fame". Sidewalk plaques and hand prints included Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, and C. Fat. We snuggled up with snacks and blankets for "The Symphony of Lights" over Victoria Harbor. Colorfully lit buildings projected laser beams, displayed showy images, and flashed colors, all choreographed to music and commentary on f.m. Radio. A water fountain laser and slide show followed.

--SPINNING OCTAGENARIAN: Like in South East Asia, people in Hong Kong  seemed to take  fitness seriously. Mel saw morning people  stretching , running, and Tai Chi-ing. A man in his 80's spun pull-overs on a high chin-up bar.

--MACAU: THE MERGING OF THREE WORLDS: Passports handy, we hydrofoiled  from former  Brittish China to former Portuguese China.  Our  smiling guide Simon peddled us around the 7 KM island on his pedicab tricycle to see A-ma temple, the city square, the fortress, and the ruins of  St Paul Cathedral built by exhiled Japanese Jesuits. Macau was a styllistic amalgam of Euro-Portuguese  cobblestone walkways, China-Town style shopping streets, and a skyline of modern skyscrapers. Steve came out ahead at the neuveau American casino. For lunch, we sampled traditional Macaneze/Portuguese/Brazillian specialties.

--HOT HEAD IN HONG KONG: On return to Hong Kong at the ferry terminal, a woman in a white trench coat unexpectedly shot Melanie in the forehead point blank. An infrared camera scanned arriving passengers for body temperatures.  Anyone with high heat got shot with the thermometer gun - a SARS preventative measure and a surprise.

--FUN IN YAN KWAI FUNG: In Hong Kong, we spent our last Evening in the district of nightlife, Yan Kwai Fung. Perched on perfect people watching and people meeting seats of a very friendly woody pub we made merry with fellow travellers. 

JAPAN

--ISLAND QUALITIES:  Vladimir, a pilot traveller we met in Yan Kwai Fung, had lived in parts of Asia. He felt Japan was the most unique Asian country due to island isolation. This peaked our interest, and we did find many unique qualities:
1. Body language differs. With travels, we thought we were fluent at body language. Not so here. Often in Japan, we and they both gesture but the gestures convey nothing. Still what we lacked in communication was made up for in mutual  effort and friendly comradery.
2. Homogenous Business dress for men. Dark business suits and white shirts repeat everywhere. Class and quaility trump imagination and creativity. Streets and subways could look like scenes from "The Matrix" with the clones Mr. Smiths in black suits. "We've been ex-pect-ing you Mr. An-der-son."
3. Meat loving culture..  Vegetarian eating has been  difficult for Melanie. She would ask restaurants what meatless dishes they had? Common answer, "... Maybe ... Nothing." We were happy when we found a buffet, it offered one meatless selection.
4. Extremely helpful in life,  extremely  service oriented in business. Whenever we needed help, people consistently went out of their way. For example, The host at the restaurant buffet mentioned in # 3 above  went through the slim pickings with  Melanie. Then, soon after we sat down to eat, he surprised us with a large selection of gorgeous, gourmet quality vegetarian  plates specially prepared for Melanie. They were fresher and better than anything at the buffet and at no extra charge.
5. Not a Tipping Country: At one restaurant, we left a small tip and the waitress chased us outside of the restaurant to give it back.
6. Publically introverted: People in the street do not make eye contact or smile or greet.
7. Clean Country. Bathrooms have Soap.   Steve speculates that the island of Japan may have Less Dirt or dust. People generally don't litter. It's orderly. They don't even j-walk.
8. Entertainment is high priority.  Perhaps, Japan is living high on Maslow's hierarchy of needs.  Amusement parks,  entertainment centers, roller coasters, video games, and pacinco abound. We tried a little pacinco, but a little was enough.
9.Dedication to  Quality: Trains are smooth and efficient, infrastructure is interesting and developed, products are innovative and well presented.
10. Peaceful people: The Hiroshima museum went overboard to repeat a message of world peace. 
11. Lastly: drum roll ... Masters of the Toilet.  While a traditional 'Japanese toilet' is a squatty potty, Japan has mastered the "western Toilet". Many toilets have electric control panels for spray washes, bidets, and even heated seats. Never seen anything like it.

--OUR TOKYO EXPERIENCES:

----BIG SPRAWLING CITY, TOKYO: At first, the big trafficy illegible city felt difficult. Language barriers, heavy packs, and sparse hostels sapped our energy. We ended up in an over-our-budged hotel,  but the gift chopsticks made up for it all.

----TOKYO GREW ON US: We loved our Japaneze style room  - simple, bambooey, with only tea, a table and pillows  for seats.   At night,  staff  pulled out a futon for sleeping. The room was so nice we had to remind ourselves to leave it to see Japan.

----AND GREW ON US:  It's very big city with big city lights, but the street lamps are Japanese lamps that give it a warm appearance.

----SHHSHH: Tokyo is quiet for it's size. No perpetual honking like many other Asian Cities we've seen. Especially on the weekends.

----TOKYO OF OLD:  Asakusa town, a blast from the past - ageless they say since the days when Tokyo used to be called Edo. On a Self-Guided walking tour, we meandered through temples and shrines, entertainment halls and shopping districts. We stopped to ponder the unique architecture of the Asahi brewery - Says the brochure: "this landmark is a building pretending to be a beer glass and another huge golden object." sort of a funny description. Funnier was the 'huge golden object' itself. Like a massive golden radish. Why? Don't ask us.

----TOKYO OF NEW - PALLETTE TOWN AND TOKYO HARBOR:  The train featured sunset over the harbor and an actual rainbow from rainbow Bridge.  The landmark ferris wheel was a beacon. In Pallette town were high-tech car shows, high-tech entertainment, a magnetic road for self-driven cars, Pacinco parlors, arcades, haunted houses, restaurants , music concerts, and a 3D theater. Steve won Melanie a big stuffed Pooh bear. Riding piggy back on Mel's  pack Pooh attracts coohs and laughs from passers by. 

----STEVENEZE NEW YEAR:  Palette town was the eve of Steve's birthday. Then,  Back in our bamboo-heaven Japanese-style room, we relaxed by the rice paper, played some games, picniced and fell asleep feeling sumo fat and happy.

--NEXT STOP, THE TOP ... OF JAPAN.

----LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP ...MAKE SURE BEFORE YOU MAIL:  In the morning after birthday presents, we boarded a bus to Fuji. We had read and were told the climb was closed as it was still pre-season.  No sooner did we mail home our hiking gear than did we learn the truth ...you can climb year round, even off-season.  Live and Learn (and hike without gear - in pouring rain). We checked into a hotel near lake Kawaguchiko, rowed a boat, explored, and prepared for our hike the next day. 

----HIGH NIGHT LIFE:  While the hike's 9-hour estimate  (more like 6) could be completed in a day, the three hour return bus schedule called for an over-night.  Our hyper-simple guest house three hours up the mountain had a furnitureless wood floor with a dirt pit in the center for heating green tea over smouldering coals. Our "room" was a shared cubical climbed into by ladder and just tall enough to sit up.  When we arrived,  the guest house was empty. By night it was hopping. We shared our compartment with the only english speakers  - Niels, EJ, and Pontus. The five of us ate, slept, and conversed, and in the morning, climbed.

----DARK AND EARLY, HIGH AND BRIGHTY:  At 3 a.m. we began our bid for the summit and reached the peak before  4:28 sunrise. The celebratory shouts of Japanese hikers underscored our joy of accomplishment.  A photographer from MiaNichi Newspaper shot us,  hands in the air, yelling ''Bonzai." Thanks to our recent Nepal trek, 12 thousand foot Fuji didn't give us any problems, but we passed locals stymied by altitude, struggling with thin air, and sucking  on portable oxygen bottles.

----LONE GIANT:  Fuji is unique. Unlike mountains in ranges, it stands alone, contrasted by sea and sea level landscape. Without  comparable mountains, Fuji appears more grand.

----WRONG TOWN DOWN:  we began our descent by 6am. But a wrong turn made our 2-hour descent a 4-hour detour to the wrong town.

--HIROSHIMA

----BULLET TO THE BOMB: We caught the speedy Bullet Train across the country to Hiroshima. Quick and painless, - A comfortable rest after a long hike.

----A DAY LEARNING ABOUT THE 'A':  Six hours at the  Peace Memorial museum and more time at nearby monuments was still not enough to see it all at the sight of the first Atomic bombing. They had to shoe us out at closing time.

----TERRIBLE BUT TASTEFUL:  The presentations were tasteful and objective  with repeated propaganda for  peace.  The museum covered technical matters like fission and fusion, facts and figures likes dates,  times and military tactics, as well as heart-wrenching stories of human experience.  We met Hilo, a surviver who says the shaddow of a tree 2kms from ground zero saved his life at age 13.

----SOME FACTS: Hiroshima was a tactical target and heavily developed military city. They expected attack. Every home had bombshelters, but no one expected an A-bomb. Heat from the bomb melted glass bottles over a km from the blast.  Russia tried to enter the war days before VJ day. Had it joined earlier, a cold war style divided occupation of Japan could have occured like the one between East and West Germany.  It seems the quick end of the war saved Japan from Russian occupation.

----LAST DAY IN JAPAN, A NIGHT IN THE "CITY OF PEACE": We joined Friends Lauren and Robin for an evening out at a restaurant meters from the site of the original blast, and in the city now called "the City of Peace." 

HAPPY BIRTHDAYS TO:
Kim T. and Emily W., Skip S., Alex W., Darren K., Steve PH honey-cool-master-of travel-and-adventure, Dori W., and Alfred S.
and HAPPY ANNIVERSARY to Mel and H.