Taiwan

I only had two full days Taiwan. My trip went really fast.  

In Kyoto Japan is where I met this wonderful girl.

I met Joanna while staying in a hostel in Kyoto Japan.  Joanna is from Taiwan. We became fast friends, talking away about life, men, Japan, and Taiwan.  I promised her that I would come visit her one day and so 8 months later I landed in Taipei.

I found my way to my hostel and she showed up an hour later and off we went.

Let me just say...we ate the entire time.  I was a happy happy girl trying a bunch of Taiwanese food.

First Night "You are so lucky!"

We went to an older part of Taipei and saw some old buildings and a temple. After wandering around this area we ventured to a famous night market called Hwahsi. 

Film crew.  The actors are way in the back.

Long-Sheng Temple

This was a hallway filled with plants that make up herbal tea

Hwahsi Night Market.  This market is known around the world for cheap clothing and good street food.

Eating dinner in the night market

You are so lucky night was because the entire night unusual things kept happening.  For example, we got a free dumpling at the temple, we saw actors being filmed in some kind of production, and we ran into one of Joanna's favorite bands, who just happened to be sitting where we were walking.  I did try to explain to her that weird things happen to me all the time.  Probably due to walking and traveling alone for the most part.

Also, I consider it a miracle I figured out how to get to my hostel, because the directions the hostel gave me were completely wrong.

Day One: "This isn't a hike..."

Day one included:

                                  A huge breakfast called Konja.

Konja Breakfast 

Walking along a beautiful river and played on the exercise equipment.

Shuangxi Riverside Park

 Seeing two beautiful houses of prominent men in Taiwan. this was a picture of a garden outside of the former president Shilin.

Drinking Boba and getting ready for a foot message.

Good dinner with good friends.  

It was later admitted to me that Joanna got a bit lost and we never made it to our intended hiking destination. haha!!  

Such a fun group of people

Day Two: "I know, thank you."

Somewhere in a conversation about compliments I gave the impression that if someone says something nice about you in America, you should say "I know, thank you."  When I only meant "thank you."  It was a really funny misunderstanding.  Anytime any of us gave a compliment, it was responded with "I know, thank you" for the rest of the day.   

This day I hung out with Joanna and her friends.  It was such an amazing experience. I flew to a country I'd never been to before and got ready made friends for the day.

We...

• Ate a breakfast consisting of dumplings and milk tea.
• went to a hot spring museum.
• went to a castle

Lots and lots of dumplings

• went to a harbor
• took a ferry ride to an island
• drank beer in a gas station
• went to eat at a restaurant on the street for dinner
• ate a Taiwanese dessert that was similar to Bing Soo

Hot Spring Museum.  Wedding photo

Eating Stinky Tofu

He protected us from getting wet. I had no idea he was serious when he was bent over us.  I was totally dry! haha

Beer break at a convenience store

Tsumi Island

Eel fried noodles.  

Day three:

I met a Japanese girl at my hostel.  With my broken Japanese and her broken English we decided to get breakfast together.  After this I went home to Japan.    

 

South Korea

Anneyeonghaseyo!

My time in South Korea was relaxing, enjoyable, and happy. As always when visiting a foreign country, I got lost, I used a lot of gestures, I had many battles with bees, was reminded several times of my single status, and I stopped many times to think about how amazing it was to be standing where I was standing.  

I can't tell you how thrilled I was to go to South Korea. The second I stepped off the plane I was so happy to hear people speaking Korean all around me!    An unexpected benefit to watching the Korean dramas is that I could actually understand random phrases such as "Are you okay" "Over here"  "What to do" "excuse me" and some greetings, and apologies.  Like Japanese, I couldn't speak it to save my life, but I could understand a small amount.

Daejeon

Transportation: I flew into Seoul but went straight to a train station and took it to Daejoen to meet my friend Melissa.  After some confusion on my part because I forgot to write half the directions down (leave it to me) I met my friend Melissa and off we went to her apartment. 

The shower head is
up at the top.  You
can take it off, which
is one advantage.

Lodging: I stayed with Melissa, Mike, and their adorable three legged dog, Lady. Their apartment was much bigger than mine in Japan.  Her and her husband Mike even had a Keg-o-rater.   Beer is always a great welcome. The only thing that I did not care for much was the shower arrangement. 

Apparently a lot of bathrooms in S.K. have showers that are right in the middle of the bathroom.  I tried so hard not to spray towels or the toilet, but it was pretty impossible.  If someone else needed to use the toilet later, special bathroom slippers were used so you wouldn't get your feet wet stepping in someone else's shower water. 

Eating at a restaurant.  Korean food has a lot of flavor and is so good.

                                            In Daejeon I...

Sipping Iced Tea at a Cat Cafe

• I mostly just hung out with Melissa and Mike and relaxed.  
• had my skirt get stuck up in the back and two little old ladies stop and tell me.  Yikes.
• went to a Cat Cafe where you order coffee and play with cats
• shopping
• ate real Bing Soo and other wonderful Korean food that I don't remember the name of
• met and hung out with several of their friends. 
• I was also grateful to Melissa because she took me in to her classroom and let me observe a lesson. 
• watched a bunch of people get seriously scared of Lady, who was a tiny and only had three legs.  I have no idea what the thought she was going to do...
• Played "Go Stop" a traditional Korean card game. I didn't win, but hey, at least I got to play.  The only thing missing was the head flicking.  For some reason no one wanted me to flick their head. ;) 
  
  

Melissa, Mike, and Lady standing
in a field of wildflowers

Road Trip and a stop in Gyeongju
"Stop Mike! There is a bee in the car!" Poor Mike had to pull over on a busy highway so that we could let the bee out.  And...it wasn't a bee. That's embarrassing.

We went to an adorable place and saw some beautiful sites.  There were little hills that were actually grassy tombs.  There was a lot of plant life and I even braved the bees to walk through wildflowers.  Well worth it.  I only waved my hands and took off running a couple of times.  

Buscan
Buscan is a city in the southern part of South Korea.  It is a beach town as well as a city.  I love the ocean so this was my favorite place that I went to.  If I were to live in South Korea, this is where I would go.  

View from the hostel

Eating fried chicken, sitting under an umbrella, and
hang out with amazing friends. It is a good life.

They sell Fried Chicken at the beach! People walk up and down selling boxes of it. Brilliant.

• We swam and got sunburned.
• We drank a delicious margarita at a local bar and then went to a hamburger place that overlooked the water and the Gwangan Bridge
• I stayed in the nicest hostel I have ever been in. The manager of the hostel actually went to a convenience store for me because my cell phone battery died! And then he emailed me after I left to tell me how glad he was that I stayed with them.
• I met some really sweet girls who took me with them to a Dog Cafe.
• Mike and Melissa took off to go to Jeju Island,so we said our goodbyes and I went walking along the beach for hours. I'm seriously meant to live near the ocean.

Seoul

I enjoyed it, but it definitely would have been more fun if I had someone with me. 

Lodging:  I stayed in a hostel but the only room available was a single room, so I didn't meet anyone.  The hostel owner was nice here as well.  He took me out to dinner with a few of his friends.  I even got a phone number and a card from a one of the friends who wanted to give me a tour of Seoul.  I would have taken him up on it, but I wasn't really in the mood to fend off a guy for a free tour. 

In Seoul I...

Namsan Tower. These are locks that
have been bought, mostly by couples
A message is written and then added. 

                    

Gyeonbok Palace

• Walked down small alley ways to a restaurant I would never have found on my own. Fish shops and restaurants with only room for two or three people lined the alley.
• Tried Soju! I poured it in beer like they do and barley refrained from the throaty "aaaaa" sound that they make. 
• Watched a small concert in Cheonggyecheon River. The voices were incredible. It was a very relaxing time. Just take your shoes off, put your feet in the water, and listen. 
• Ate a delicious pastry designed to look like poop.  
• Visited Gyeongbok Palace.
• Went to Namsan Seoul Tower. 236 Meters up. It was rainy, but had a beautiful view. 
• Ate a Kimichi hot dog and washed it down with beer. It was freaking amazing! 

• Threw away a perfectly good ice cream cone because a black hornet was chasing me for it. 
• I went to a spa, got a very rigorous message from a lady in her 60's, sat in mineral water, went in a steam room with a bunch of talkative women, and lay down and watched a drama. The embarrassment of doing all this naked is well worth it. 
• I went to a theater and watched Step Up 3. It sounds lame but it was the first time I had gone to a theater since leaving for Japan. 

                                           Namsan Tower.  You step into the elevator,
                                           every thing goes dark, and then this happens...
Extra Pictures

Tombs

Bing Soo.  Yum!

Beautiful girls on a beautiful street

Couples Underwear!

Soap on a stick.  Yuck.  This is a public bathroom.

Single.  Single, single single  haha!  Good thing I'm a
happy single girl or I may have walked away depressed!

Hiking Mount Fuji

Fuji-San

Hiking Mount Fuji

Basic information:  Mt. Fuji  is 12,388ft (3776m).   The Kawaguchiko 5th station starts at 7562 feet(2305m).   The trail is only about 3.7 miles (6km), but it takes most hikers 5-7 hours to get to the top.  Hiking season is very short, only two months, due to extreme weather on the Mountain. 

Trail Head

Trail:  I went the most popular route which is to take a bus from Kawaguchiko Station, ride about 50 minutes to Kawaguichiko 5th station, and then hike to the summit.    I decided to do the sunrise hike.

What I brought:  A weak flashlight (not on purpose), gloves, runners jacket, rain jacket, energy bar, 2 liters of water, money and a lot of 100 yen coins (for the bathrooms). 

At one of the huts on the way up

The stations:  The huts and station were my favorite part of the hike up.  Each of them sold different things.  Some had bananas and chocolate, some had ramen and coffee, others offered hats and gloves (which I was VERY grateful for!), and some even offered beds.    A lot of hikers opted to start the hike early and then sleep for a few hours at one of the huts.  The people who ran the hut would wake them up so they could make it to the top to see the sunrise.  I usually just marched on by the huts because I didn't want to stop, but if were to go again, I would start the hike earlier and spend more time at each of them. 

the line went on and on and on.......

The hike:  I started my hike at 10:30pm and reached the summit at 4:50am.  I planned on hiking alone because I am a TERRIBLE hiker.  I tend to get really nauseous, my heart rate shoots to about 220, and I get so dizzy that I sometimes black out.   I hate making people wait for me and I am much more likely to push myself if I am with others.  So I went by myself.    I met people on the bus so we started the trail together.  We all ended up separating at about half way.    

The hike itself was not that difficult.  I had expected a difficult trail, but it was actually not too bad.   The worst part of doing the sunrise hike on this particular trail is that you basically stand in line for the last 3 hours to get to the top.  It is difficult to pass people and if you do, it is kind of rude. 

The last two hours of the hike were very cold!  I assumed that I would stay relatively warm while hiking, but because the line was so slow, there is not enough energy being created to produce warmth. There were times when I huddled down in a little ball shivering. lol.  I didn't bring enough to wear!

The Summit

 I made it up to the top in time to see the sunrise.  It was breath taking.  I can't even begin to describe how beautiful the view was.    At the summit there are restaurants, vending machines, and men selling hot chocolate, coffee, and beer.   
 

Standing next to the caldera drinking hot chocolate

Soooo beautiful!

The crowd at the top cheering and taking pictures as the sun came up.

The tori stands at the end of the trail.  You go under it as
you reach the summit.  This isn't the greatest picture.

The descent:  Was miserable!  The only good part was the seeing the stunning view during the day.  It's steep, the ground is soft and rocky, and switch backs seem to go on forever.  The bees were the worst part.  I'm terrified of them and these little suckers were persistent.  I ran the whole way and made it down in an hour and 30 minutes.  If I stopped for a second to rest I would inevitably hear a "bzzzzz"   The worst of it was waiting for the bus when I had no choice but to endure my extreme fear so that I could stand in line.   I think the lack of sleep probably was the only thing that kept me from running around like a lunatic. 

Overall:  It was a great experience.   I would recommend it to anyone because the view is so beautiful that it is worth the long hike up and the miserable hike down.  It is often (in many versions) said that "Only a fool doesn't climb Mt. Fuji.  Only a fool climbs in twice."