Ever since I've heard about Lotte World, which is the world's largest indoor theme park, I've always had it up high in my bucket list of things to do in South Korea. So we spent almost the entirety of Day 3 at this theme park.

Getting there was easy as Lotte World is easily accessible from the Jamsil Station and it wasn't too far from where I was staying in Sinchon. However, before that- we ate champon (spicy seafood noodle soup) and jajangmyeon (black bean noodles) for brunch. In Korea, they are THE Chinese food- quite akin to General Tso Chicken in the states and Mapotofu in Japan. Those two dishes with the addition of tangsuyuk (sweet and sour pork) often come in a set in Chinese restaurants in Korea. As a fan of all three dishes and as a person with Chinese ethnicity, I was curious to taste what Koreans perceived as Chinese dishes.

Personally, I like the champon more than jajamyeon as the spice and seafood in the soup enhance the flavor of the broth and give the dish multiple layers of flavors to enjoy. In addition, the best part about both noodle dishes is the actual noodles themselves as they're soft and chewy. I found that the black bean noodles that Koreans make have a lot more sauce and the sauce was thick and extra dark. After stuffing ourselves, we headed to Lotte World where we got a student discount because Eric was a masters student. Yay! The ticket lady was so lenient and gave me a discount too even though I'm no longer a student. Not that the ticket was that expensive to start with- I think we paid about $15 per person.

Lotte World here we come!

Once through the entrance, the first few things I saw were that the maintenance was not as good as I'd imagine and it's not as big that pictures and videos made it out to be. Some of the paint were chipping off the rides and the characters/mascot students throughout seemed a little worn. The rides were pretty fun and very safe. There's nothing to the extent of what you see in Six Flags, which was expected. Another surprising thing was that the park seemed to be overly saturated with couples, not families.

Very mild, but makes people super wet in the end!

The hot air balloon ride that hangs upon the ceiling and gives people a birds-eye view of the entire park was really fun. But more so than the rides, I think it's the atmosphere and theme aspect of the park that makes it fun. Apparently, children and other amusement park fans are more fond of Everland, which is also a theme park in Korea, than Lotte World.

Get on this to see the park from above!

My overall impression about the park is that it's really fun for parents with their young children and couples. It's not really the place to go if you're seeking thrilling and exhilarating rides.

After fulfilling our share of fun at Lotte World, we went off to Itaewon to relax with a cold glass of beer. Itaewon is like the Korean's world of Roppongi. It's a place where foreigners like to go and hang out for drinks. There is a wide variety of different clubs and bars. Basically, this is where you go if you want a nightlife and want to meet with other fellow foreigners.

The busy nightlife of Seoul~ (just one of the many pockets)

Probably because of the excitement of Lotte World and Itaewon, I woke up pretty late on this day. We decided to eat chicken with bibimbap for lunch at a restaurant nearby the college campus. Afterwards, we headed to Ewha University, a women-only university. It's one of the top and most famous universities in Korea. The campus was beautiful with lush green grass and polished interiors. What was also interesting was the increasingly amount of make-up stores, shoe stores, clothing stores, and anything feminine the closer we get to campus. I wonder how those college kids can restrain themselves from buying something cute everyday. Nearby the campus was also an incredibly authentic looking Japanese noodle place. Next to that is a flower shop where I got a bouquet of cute and colorful flowers.

Precautionary measures against MERS >.<

The beautiful interior of an Ehwa building.

Beautiful campus that is also often a tourist site.

Cute flowers with beautiful varieties. It was such a pity to see this wilt away.

We also visited SM town where we saw idol merchandises. I also found cute displays of EXO members. I'm not too big on following these different groups and I can't even differentiate the members from each other, but I like their display and the description which describes the members' secret/hidden powers. (I don't know too much about this...)

I just thought this was cute. :3

Then we went to Coex Mall, a huge mall filled with Clash of the Clan advertisements and figures. I also found that Korean convenience stores charge your phone and other devices for a nominal fee.

Clash of Clans must have a never-ending budget for marketing!

From the mall, I rode down to Gangnam to meet up with a college friend. She took me to eat Korean Italian food. I realized that Koreans really like sauce.  The pasta dish was also very different from Japan. In Japan, sauce is not used nearly as much and the noodles are more al dente. Instead of heading to a coffee shop to chat more, we went to a board game cafe where we can borrow different games and play them in the cafe. The place was almost packed when we arrived in the evening. This is a great alternative for those who wants to take a break from Starbucks. I don't think the US has something like this, but I think at least Japan and Korea are the leads in creating these theme cafes.
In Japan that there's a vampire cafe, an owl cafe, and a historical drama cafe where the customer is the lord of the land. I had a lot of fun putting aside my phone and playing games.

Yummy dinner :P Doesn't the sauce look like it's overflowing?

Planning a board game that involves monkeys and this yellow tower.

I also went to Hooters that night to meet up with E and his friend who works at Samsung. Samsung is notorious for overworking their employees, but the friend told me that there is a little bit more leeway when it comes to foreigners. It sounds similar to my experience in Japan.

Found these cute hats and had to take a picture of them!

We also visited an Internet room, a PC bang, to print something out. They're opened super late and often populated with hardcore gamers who went for faster internet and special products. Literally, everyone has their headphones on playing some game in the screen.

Rawr, I am a gaming master!

It was downpouring on my last day. We had plans to go out that day, but the heavy rain made it difficult. Instead, we headed to the airport early to hang out. The airport is pristine, speckled clean, and full of fun activities to see or do. For example, when we were there- there was a traditional Korean dance performance. I'd love to see more of these historical aspects in the airports here in the States. Our last meal before my flight was bibimbap. It is also one of my favorite food so I was so glad to try it in Korea.

Yum....

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The end of a long winter break is unbearable. As we shake off the grogginess of our prolonged rest and make our yearly resolutions with steadfast determination, we stumbled in seamlessly returning to our daily obligations. Missed deadlines, a dearth of communication with classmates/co-workers, and a near short-term amnesia of our roles in society are all common symptoms. Needless to say, the struggle is real.

Picking up where I left off a few days ago, I packed up my bags and boarded the airplane in mid-June. Before heading back to the states, I made a pitstop to Seoul to visit E in the summer of 2015 for about 4 days. I was afraid that I would inaccurately recall my time there, but luckily, I found my journal where I wrote down what I did when I was there.
This trip is my second time to Korea. I went once before during Golden Week in 2014 with a few doukis (colleagues). During that trip, we went to all of the famous historical landmarks, palaces, and gardens. So this time, we decided to partake in some of the popular cultural aspects that Seoul has to offer. However, as luck (or lack of) would have it, MERs struck South Korea when I visited so many of the activities we scheduled were temporarily suspended. :( I'll still post them in this blog, but I can't accurately state my opinion about the experiences since I wasn't able to participate in them.

2 years worth of possessions!

**Length of Stay** 
4 days and 4 nights
I arrived on Tuesday early afternoon and left on Saturday afternoon.

**Accommodation**
I can't remember the name of the place for the life of me, but I stayed in the college district of Sinchon for 2 reasons:
1) cost- the nightly rate was relatively cheap as it wasn't in a highly commercial area
2) location- it's close to numerous restaurants and stores as well as the public transportation with the nearest station being Sinchon station.
~ Tip:
If you don't mind being surrounded by students, staying near a college town is not a bad idea. Food in the nearby restaurants is also cheaper since their regular customers are college kids. There's also a lot of love hotels where you can stay in if you are so inclined. (hey, you don't need to actually do the deed- this is a legit money-saving tip.) They're usually much cheaper than regular hotels. Also, if you have a Korean friend, have him or her make the call to the hotel to ask for rates to ensure you're getting the local price. (This is more so recommended for lesser known hotels/ love hotels than established facilities.)

**Places Visited**
Lotte World
Dongdaemun
Ilsan
Sinchon
Sintangdong
and more that I'll go into detail below

Welcome to Korea!

After checking into the hotel, we went to Dongdaemun, one of the largest shopping districts in Seoul, to check out a YG hologram concert. I was so excited to see Big Bang and 2NE1 in hologram form, but unfortunately, the hall was closed and they weren't showing any performances that day. T_T
Next time I head to Seoul, I will definitely make a trip to this performance hall.
A little bit of background on this- it's called "K-live", it's a K-pop hologram performance hall where you can see projected versions of popular artists with a top of the line sound system. They mainly showcase YG artists so you can see performances by Psy, 2NE1, or Big Bang.
It only costs about 15,000 won (about $15 USD) for an adult to experience this and you can get discounts when you reserve online or when you purchase the tickets on certain days.
Note that it's closed on Mondays, New Year's Day, and Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving day).
More info here.
On another note, check out the Visit Korea webpage prior to your trip for travel tips and coupons!

I'll just have to be satisfied with cardboard cut-outs instead of holograms then!

After that, we decided to wipe away our sadness with a huge pot of dobokki/tteokbokki/topokki in the famous dobokki street in Sindangdong. 



There were countless dobokki restaurants beckoning us to head into their store, but we decided to eat in one of the more well-known restaurant- the grandma restaurant. I believe the name of the restaurant is "Grandma Ne Rice Cake Boki", but I'm not sure as there's no English name on the placard. Instead, you'll see a picture of a grandma. Apparently, her store got so famous and popular that just a little bit down the street, you'll see another rice cake store that was opened by her son (I think.)

Look out for the Grandma!

Dobokki is one of my favorite Korean food so imagine my happiness when we got this entire pot for about $8 for 2 people. The value far exceeds the price. This alley is a must if you want to try some delicious and completely reasonably priced dobokki.

This was amazing! Try it!

Following our meal, we headed to Hongdae, which is another college district near Hongik University. According to Wikipedia, it's known for its urban arts and indie music. We definitely stumbled upon some of the art in the Avenue of Youth where we saw live performances and displays of artistic projects. The street vibrated youth and liveliness with rows of brightly-lit restaurants filled with smoke from bbq and chatter from its patrons. Even if you don't end up going to a bar or restaurant there, sitting on the bench and people-watching is a super fun activity in itself. Apparently, it used to be an art street, but foreigners started to gather there quite frequently so bars and restaurants opened up in rapid succession.

The night never ends here!

To end the night, we head back to Sinchon to a shaved ice store- Sul-bing. Shaved ice or popbingsu is incredibly popular during the summer and I think Sul-bing is one or the more popular places to go. In fact, there is a Sul-bing look-alike in LA when I visited last month.
We ordered the mango and cheese. Initially, I doubted the compatibility of cheese and mango, but unexpectedly it was very delicious! It's not the best idea to eat dessert right before bed, but I was so tired that I fell immediately to sleep when I got back to the hotel.

Super delicious, but one order is enough for 2 people to share!

On the second day, E took me to his hometown, Ilsan in Goyang. I don't think tourists normally get to visit the suburbs surrounding Seoul so this was a very precious experience for me. From a potential visitor standpoint, this paragraph would not be too helpful. But if you're willing to travel a little bit outside of Seoul and experience some of the everyday life of the locals, I recommend going out to the suburbs- especially Ilsan. The mascot of the town is a cat because goyanie means cat.

There were so many Line characters~ I think they're trying hard to gain a foothold in Korea.

On the way to Ilsan, I saw a commercial of my favorite triplets! Deahan, Minguk, Manse!

After taking the train to Ilsan, we rode the citybike around town. The citybike is a green or orange bike that you can rent and ride for an unlimited number of hours provided that you return it to one of its terminals dispersed around the town. It's insanely cheap with the monthly pass being only about $9.

Kind of like the Citi-bikes in New York, but cheaper.

Paying for our bikes~

In Ilsan, he took me to visit his home where he grew up, his elementary school, and middle school. This day was probably my favorite day of the trip just because I learned so much about him and his early life. Visiting the schools was an interesting experience. He told me that his elementary school used to be only 1 floor, but they've built new floors every so often that the size of the building increased significantly. Also, kids there don't have to wear uniforms and the ground in the playground was comprised of sand. Apparently, it's cheaper to keep the sand than use other materials for the ground. But I'd be worried about sand getting into my eyes as I run around and play sports.

For lunch, he took me to a trendy yet traditional Korean buffet that was all the rage that summer. It became so popular so rapidly that branches were established in rapid pace. I heard they even expanded to LA. The English name of the place is called "Seasons Table". One reason behind the popularity is that they serve healthy, reasonably priced, traditional Korean cuisines. They also have over 60 dishes to choose from bulgogi meat to fried rice to shaved ice. The food was very fresh and despite the volume, it doesn't feel heavy at all.
If you can read Korean, this is a link to the website: http://www.seasonstable.co.kr/

Just a small snippet of what Seasons Table offer.

We sought to burn off some of the calories we gained during lunch by hiking a small mountain and heading to Lake Park, a massive park that has a giant lake in the middle.
The mountain is called "Jongbal". I was told that elementary school classes often make hiking trips to this mountain. And so do families and elderly people as the path is sweet and short.

The view from the peak. A little foggy, but serene nonetheless.

Afterward, we headed to Lake Park. It's nearby residential apartments so you'd see families with children and pets walking and exercising in the park. Besides the typical sceneries you'd see in a park, Lake Park offers gardens, exhibitions, fountains, observation decks, and a giant folk swing that you'd normally have a pay a hefty fee and wait in a long time to go on in a cultural center.
I love Lake Park. It's a massive park so we had to get on a bike and ride around in order to see a fraction of what it has to offer. Don't just take my word for it, here are some more details and reviews on Lake Park:
TripAdvisor
Seoul Stop

A beautiful lotus garden in Lake Park.

We found the mascot of Ilsan!

The traditional Korean folk swing. Doesn't it look amazing?

Weee!

Our day is not over so we stopped by La Festa, a shopping mall located in the downtown part of the town near Lake Park. We also went to the Korean version of Sam's Club and a Korean supermarket. I found that Korean supermarkets resemble more like American supermarkets compared to Japanese supermarkets. Going back to La Festa, if you like stationeries- check out Art Box. The store sells a lot of cute stationeries and small gifts.

Just thought it was funny lol, it's a Soju-pouch!

We ended our night with a round of Karaoke or Noraebang.

So typical lol.

====
It's getting late and I have to wake up super early for work tomorrow so I'll post day 3 and 4 in a little bit!

I'm going to split my recap into 3 parts:

• Jan-June- my time in Japan
• June- my brief trip to Korea
• June-Dec- my time back in America

 Looking back at 2015 (1/3)  ✿ 


Beautiful fireworks on the waterfront of Hong Kong rang in 2015 for me. We were in the middle of our Southeast Asia trip and scheduled it just so to ensure we don't miss the spectacular New Year Countdown in Hong Kong. I still remember the confetti-filled air filled with the cold breaths of tourists and locals alike (with advertisements of Line characters in the background). I cannot think of a better way to start off 2015.

Happy 2015!

Hong Kong at Night

Immediately after we return to Japan, my sister jumped across the pond to visit me. We did so much in the week and a half she was over that I might have to dedicate additional posts to them. One of the more memorable things was our overnight trip to Hakone where I introduced onsen (hot-springs) and ryokan (Japanese-style inn) to her. We were also able to overlook the majestic Mt.Fuji from our room and add black sulfur eggs that are said to prolong your lifespan by 7 years.

Cony and Brown at the Line Store in Harajuku.

Mt.Fuji in all its glory.

Kyari Pamyu Pamyu's 22nd birthday party in Ageha (one of the most popular clubs in Japan) marked the end of January 2015.

Happy Birthday Kyari~

We celebrated our 100 days with our Rirakkuma. Since then, our addiction to Rirakkuma has deepened so significantly that the character permeated through our daily lives with its presence on our pencil cases, stationeries, messaging apps, and so forth.

Happy 100 days <3.

In this month, there was also a pop-up Pikachu cafe in Roppongi Mori Tower. Any Pokemon fanatic would thoroughly enjoy this event as you can find original sketches of scenes from the show and order food in the shape of Pikachu.

Me with my Pikachu Curry.

Near Valentine's Day, we participated in Tokyo Restaurant Week when we were able to dine in a Michelin Star restaurant- Monna Lisa, located nearby Tokyo Station. For only $50 per person, we feasted on a luxurious French meal.

It's so beautiful.

Following Valentine's Day, there is White Day. It is a day when the men have to reciprocate the girl's love on Valentine's Day. My most favorite present is a huge Rirakkuma pillow that I still use everyday. We also made a trip to Kawaguchi-ko where we had an overnight stay in a ryokan and a delicious sukiyaki dinner. The next day, we headed to the Fuji-Q amusement park for some g-force fun.

Welcome to the family, Rirakkuma <3.

That month, we also had the rare opportunity to test-ride a Tesla. The car was so silent and smooth that the experience was unlike any other.

The quietest car ever.

I will definitely write a separate post in regards to this, but a couple of friends and I experienced a Butler Cafe for the first time. Unlike their more commercially successful and renowned maid cafes, butler cafes were a little bit more obscure and dare I say it- high class. It's incredibly interesting how we were not able to even head to the bathrooms without an escort nor pour our own teas.

Us in front of the Butler Cafe as we're not allowed to take photos indoor.

Spring is officially here and you know what that means. It's sakura (cherry blossom) season!
Depending on the temperature and your location in Japan, hanami (cherry blossom viewing) season can come sooner or later in the springtime. If you're a sakura fanatic, you can even chase them by traveling throughout the country to view the flowers at its full blossom.

It's sakura season!

April was also a time when I finalized my decision to halt my adventures in Japan to find better opportunities in America. Despite my love for the country and the countless amount of fun and adventure I've experienced in Japan, it was not sustainable. My salary was too low, which made paying back my student loans and building up a savings/retirement account near impossible.

Near the end of April, we went on a trip to Western Japan, specifically around the Kansai cities- Osaka, Kyoto, Nara, Kobe. The trip was very fast and we didn't spend time in each city as leisurely as I'd like, but it was a very productive trip where we hit some of the most famous landmarks and tried their trademark delicacies.

Don't let the cuteness fool you. They're vicious.

We continued to enjoy our Golden Week in Japan. This time- we explored Tokyo by exploring some popular and iconic places. Ueno Park, Roppongi, Omotesando, etc were all places we've visited or revisited. I also tried fishing for the first time in an aquarium. The aquarium was so huge sub -sectioned into many parts filled with many activities.

Ahhh, help~

My first attempt at fishing.

In May, I also helped organize an education hackathon with some co-workers. It was my first time even participating in a hackathon so it was a great learning experience. I was amazed by the quality of the apps some developers created. This opened up a new world of ed-tech that I researched and hoped to be a part of in my next career.

The midst of the hackathon.

I enjoyed my final 2 weeks in Tokyo by overloading on shopping, traveling, revisiting favorite places, and eating my favorite Japanese food. I also met up with many friends and bid good-bye until the next time we meet. Before I knew it, I was on the plane with my suitcases without knowing at all what will happen in the next few months. I made a layover in Korea before heading to San Francisco.

Sayonara~ Jiyugaoka.

...To be continued~