Seoul, Korea and Osaka

Went to Seoul for the weekend. That’s probably one of my favorite things about living over here. I can do a 3 day trip to a whole different country, and it isn’t particularly expensive. Since this was my second trip to Seoul, I kind of knew what I was getting myself into. However, I was not prepared for how cold the weather would be. I’m thinking it was below freezing…maybe even colder. I had on so many layers of clothing, I felt like the Sta-puff marshmallow man. It was a bit ridiculous. But other than the cold, the trip was excellent. We went to the demilitarized zone (DMZ) and checked out one of the freaky tunnels the North Koreans dug, as a means to invade South Korea. Talk about a freaky place…you could still see the marks left by the dynamite. And the fact that 10,000 North Koreans could get thru and invade Seoul in about an hour, actually nauseated me. We also hit a ton of Markets, Lotte World (although we didn’t actually go in). Pizza Hut (which is notable only in the fact that they do not exist in Japan…and the pizzas were virtually normal…no corn and shrimp pizza to be found on the menus) A drum show (which was really cool…a bit like Stomp, but with lasers and more kitsch), and the Imperial Palace. Amazingly, other than the markets, it was all new stuff for me,

The funniest stuff that happened to us included having a taxi driver dropping us off at the police station, because he was frustrated and couldn’t find our hotel (basically, he just stopped the car, opened the door, and didn’t say anything…after about 5 minutes, we figured it out). The police officers were as perplexed as the taxi driver…but they were a bit more patient and kind, and actually personally took us to a taxi stand, then made sure the taxi driver understood where to take us.

We also had a bit of a run in with a giant plate of Raw beef. It was minced and flavored with bulgogi sauce…and we were really excited about trying Korean bbq. So we ordered the most expensive thing on the menu (hoping it would be beef and not dog) and proceeded to completely horrify the resturant owners, by insisting they cook the meet. After going back and forth for about 5 minutes, the cooks finally relented and cooked it at our table. The other patrons couldn’t help but laugh and stare at our crazy foreign antics…luckily, all of us are used to this treatment in Japan…so it wasn’t too bothersome, and in the end…it was the best beef I’ve had in ages!!!

After 3 days in Seoul, we spent a day in Osaka, which was nice…(they have Subway Sandwich there!!) of course we didn’t get our sleeping accomadations figured out…so we had a few mishaps (got kicked out of a love hotel…they refused to let 4 people sleep in one room for the night…you would think and establishment such as a love hotel, would not be wierded out by 4 people sharing a room). Then we wandered around for a bit, and met Woodie from South Africa (I like to think of him as the patron saint of travelers in Osaka) he totally helped us find a place to sleep for the night. We wandered for ages, but it all worked out great in the end. As we found a sauna to spend the night at.

Sauna’s are a bit strange. Essentially, they are safe places for Women (or Men) to gather and spend the night. Upon arrival, you are given a locker key, which has a set of towels and a bathrobe in it. Then you are free to either clean up in one of the public baths, watch TV in a room full of reclining chairs (and a wall of 8 tvs…each playing a different show…the chairs, have individual speakers inside the headrests, so you can choose which TV you want to listen to.) eat dinner, get a massage, drink at the bar, or karaoke. Overall it's a great deal (only about $20-30), only problem is…you have to get out of the sauna by 9 am…at 7.30 am, the staff switches on the lights and starts yelling at people to get moving in Japanese. It is quite the rude awakening.