Day 13: Tokyo + Yokohama

I was quite saddened to read that they had closed off the early morning Tsukiji auctions to tourists starting from just a few months ago. Being the good tourists that we are, we didn't act against the officially posted info. I wonder if maybe we could have just pretended we didn't know. "Well, the guidebook said..." The 'off-limits' probably just reduces the crowd because there are good tourists like us. I bet if we went... no no, must be good tourist. Stupid bad tourists... touching the fish, some even hugging them or sitting on them (??!??)... kills it for the rest of us.

Anyways, we did wake up extra early though. No auctions, but 5:30am wake-up to get to Tsukiji at 6:40am to see the surrounding morning craziness. Lots of trucks zipping by here and there, carrying boxes and boxes of fish.

People going about their daily business. Wet floors. Lots of seafood, mostly fish. It was interesting to see the contrast with Busan's Jagalchi fish market.

Some sawing of huge tuna every now and then...


We were going to meet H at 7:30 for morning tuna. The meeting point was "next to the bridge to the market, on the market side" (my words after reading about Tsukiji layout), but when we actually got there, I confused the entrances. After a while, we figured we were waiting at the wrong place, but what to do? A guy talking on his cellphone gave me the idea to ask him to borrow his cell. But when I finally figured out how I was going to ask in Japanese, he had left. Grrr. I ended up asking someone else, who graciously let me put a quick call to H. After thanking him profusely and him continuing on his merry way, I realized 'hmmm... was that an international call?' (He was Caucasian.) Oh well. H came and met us ^o^

H took us to a small one-man sushi shop with yummy yummy tuna. There was even a cooked tuna dish for K (^o^). One thing I didn't expect... food vending machine (!), especially perfect for a small place like this =) After the meal, we parted with H, with a possible chance of moving to his place for part of our Tokyo stay ^o^ (if our hotel lets us checkout early).

Back at the hotel, we ask about checking out early and they say we have to give two days notice, so we'll be staying at H's starting Sunday night ^o^


Ueno park. We totally didn't expect the pond to be so green. It's just the leaves now, but I imagine it must be gorgeous in spring/summer!


Shibuya. The busiest intersection of the world. When the movies show Tokyo with all these people crossing the street, this is the intersection they show.

We were actually here to visit T at the G-Tokyo office. Totally unexpectedly, four other engineers from the MV office [who K knows] are here today!

The lunch food was pretty good (but I generally like G-food hehe). A major highlight [for me] was the snacks and drinks! Japanese snacks and drinks! Free, of course. And since this is Japan, the free drinks are in vending machines, of course.

Train to Yokohama. Cool surpise for us -- Pokemon isn't dead in Japan! And so many Pokemon we didn't even recognize! The store was awesome, selling just about everything you can think of, including food.



It wasn't just the store either... there was a big Pokemon balloon hanging in the mall! Makes me wonder what Neopets goodies would be here if they'd been based in Japan.


Pokemon's Japanese, but Snoopy? Too cute!

Yokohama Chinatown. They even have sample Chinese food. Ah, Japan. The food here was kind of expensive though, that is, in terms of how much one expects to pay for Chinese food based on prices in the States (~$10 for 3 buns? Cute, but still...). We were planning to go to the Ramen Museum, so we didn't eat anything in Chinatown. K said this Chinatown was even cleaner than the one in Singapore. I still think Singapore is the cleanest one I've seen, but Yokohama is certainly a very close runner-up.

Ramen Museum. The exhibit was in Japanese, so we couldn't trace the history of ramen. K got a spicy ramen; I got a more mild one. I guess it's nice to visit once, but actually, ramen's everywhere in Tokyo. The ramen was yummy, but according to one of T's co-workers (a ramen fan), the best ramen is elsewhere in Tokyo.

Day 12: Start of a week in Tokyo

Left the capsule hotel and checked into our actual hotel for the week. Since it was early, our room wasn't ready yet, so we just left our luggage, then headed out.

Combini (convenience store) stop for breakfast. What I had heard wasn't a lie. So much yummy food! It's also where I started my search for green tea kitkats. But sadly, I found none. I did, however, see (and buy) blueberry ones.

Imperial Palace East Gardens. You can't visit the palace [of the current emperor], but you can visit the gardens around it. It was somewhat of a downer though. Most of it was just flat, paved strolling paths, but there was a small section of it with a pond that resembled more of my image of a "Japanese garden"...



We were quite surprised by the big spiders with their big webs crossing over the paths in the other areas that were not near the pond. Of course, we only noticed them because we looked up. And since they crossed over the path, I'd quickly rush under them to the other side when I saw one... never know when one might decide to drop down! Actually, Korea had a bunch of big spiders like these, too (but off the path).

No cherry blossoms because it's autumn, but the flowers are just as pretty...


At first it seems a bit odd... guy in business suit sitting on the subway playing his DS, but it's Tokyo (yes, that does totally explain it).

From what we've seen, the standard dress for men in Tokyo is suits, regardless of whether they work in finance/management or not. I guess they are the people termed as 'salarymen', i.e. guys who work in an office job. Also, the DS is quite prevalent, as well as cell phone games (K fits in very well). And it seems just fine for guys to sport a pink DS or cell phone.

Sensoji... but first, food. First encounter with a food vending machine. I'd heard about them and we were both quite excited to use it hehe. It's easy. Put in money, select items, get tickets and change, give tickets to staff, and sit and wait for your food to be brought to you. The staff doesn't have to deal with taking orders or money. Ingenious! The pictures made ordering super easy, too.



It's fitting that soba and tempura should be our first sit-down meal in Japan ^o^


On our way to Sensoji... capsule toys galore!


It was crowded but festive. And the nice thing about it being Japan is you don't have to fear nearly as much about random pickpockets (unlike people-heavy places in Europe!).

Walking back from the temple, we encountered ninjas! Well, these people putting on this act thing which we deduced to be advertising for their show later that night. It was pretty funny to watch, especially when they jumped out at random people passing by. What would you do if some random guy dressed like a ninja started chasing after you with a sword?

Kappabashi. Kitchen town. Store after store of kitchen supplies. Tableware, cookware, bamboo, random signs, appliances, even neon lights. Everything you could possibly need for a restaurant. And a few fake food stores, too. They call it 'sample food' here. Ah, just can't get enough of sample food. I contemplated buying a few for myself and/or friends, but really, what would you do with it? Collect shelf dust.


For some reason, the knives stores reminded me of V... so my tribute photo to V...


Nice nap in the hotel (while K checked his email) before heading out to dinner at a nearby shokudo, which is a 'cafeteria style' eatery. More yummy food! ^o^

Perspective of E: coffee

Koreans drink a lot of coffee. I don't know whether or not E is right about this, but we did see a lot of coffee vending machines in Seoul and Busan. We didn't see them as much in Gyeongju or Jeju-do though, but maybe that's because they're not big big cities. For 700-won (50c?) +/- a few, you would get a small little cup of your chosen hot or cold energy boost (and there were lots of choices!). Reminds me of the Sims for some reason. Minor regret: I forgot to try a cup from one of those vending machines.

Day 11.9: Tokyo, capsule hotel

We flew into Narita via Korean Air. They fed us a yummy meal of eel, vege maki, inari, tamago, and lotus root. The best part of the meal was the soy sauce, in a tiny fish-shaped bottle...


Our first encounter with state-of-the-art Japanese bathrooms. This was probably the handicapped bathroom. It had three stalls, each one quite spacious and containing a multi-function toilet and changing table. The door to the stall was a button-operated sliding door. You would assume the button would not open the door from the outside of an occupied stall; designs guard against human error, right? But K discovered quite accidentally that this was not true. He managed to miss the 'occupied' indicator on the button he pressed, opening the door on some poor chap.

Our first night in Tokyo was at a capsule hotel. Usually capsule hotels are used by people who missed the last train or for some other reason are not returning to their usual homes that night. Most capsule hotels are men-only, but I managed to find one that has a floor for women (the other floors are men-only). Yes, this meant K and I were actually on different floors. But we were pretty much going right to sleep anyways.

Explaining the layout of a capsule hotel floor is easier with a picture; the women's floor...


To pay for the night, we used a vending machine...


They provide towels, pajamas, and a toothbrush (and slippers since shoes are not allowed on the premises). But you can also pay for other amenities via the above vending machine (even various clothing items, since most people stay there unexpectedly). Each person also gets a combination locker (on the same floor as their capsule), and they allowed us to store our suitcase in the backroom, where we saw many other suitcases. Guess there's quite a few other travelers.

I met a few of these other travelers during the night. Two girls had been there for two previous nights already. It was from them that I learned why toothpaste wasn't also provided with my toothbrush. The toothpaste was in the brush itself already! (Entirely Japanese to think of doing something so ingenious!)

Another couple of girls returned from partying at 2am, Australians who apparently had a blast introducing sake bombs to some Japanese men. They themselves had discovered sake bombs during a trip to California. (Brings back fond memories of my one encounter with food poisoning.)

A bunch of floors for men, the 8th floor for women, and communal shower/baths on the 9th floor (with separate ones for men and women, of course). Since I went up to take a shower quite late, I only encountered one other person, who was leaving as I was entering. I had mentally prepared myself for showering in front of others, but I was quite happy that I didn't actually have to. A couple of things to note about Japanese shower/baths -- you shower and wash well *before* entering the bath, which is blazing hot but should temporary soak away all your cares.

Each capsule is equipped with a pillow, blankets, privacy screen, dimmable light, alarm clock, radio, and TV (and pay-for-porn supposedly).



The futon pad was kind of thin but I managed to sleep alright.

K didn't like it much and this will probably be our only time ever staying in a capsule hotel, but I think it's ok for entirely-non-pampered, single budget travelers (oh, and you must be ok with the communal shower/bath or intend to not shower).

Day 11: Jeju-do, hiking Hallasan

Being that it was later than we planned to get out for Hallasan, we debated for a bit whether to go (chance of cutting our flight *really* close). Sure, let's go.

We got to the Eorimok stop a little before 9:30am. By that time, the rain had mostly disappeared. We still had to walk the 15-20 minutes to the start of the trail though. Except for the cars that passed us every now and then and one other hiker ahead of us, it was really peaceful...


The sidewalk was wood and it had small raised parts spaced evenly apart, presumably to provide traction and to aid in walking up the incline. But for me, it was annoying rather than helping; the raised parts were spaced awkwardly for my stride =/ So I ended up walking on the half of the sidewalk without the raised parts.

We encountered two groups of kids, both on the way up (aside from the Pacific Land show, the island has been free of K's disliked kid groups). We managed to pass one group (elementary school age) and the other was coming down as we were going up. The coming-down group was composed of teenagers and came in mini spurts of 3 or 4 at a time (old enough to go at their own pace?). All these kids coming down the mountain were blasting music from their cell phones, quite odd.

This must have been the most well-maintained trail we've ever been on. If not for the cold (which wasn't too bad) and kids, it's one of the nicer hikes we've been on, perhaps because I got to see lots of autumn along the way. Most of it was either rocky or wood-covered...



We met some nice Korean couples on the trail. One offered to take a picture for us and another offered us some tangerines (they had a whole bag full of them) ^-^

Our 'peak' was the Witseoreum shelter, which sells lots of instant noodles to hikers. Since those noodles are usually pretty spicy for me, we had brought our own food. The line for the noodles was loooong.


To get to the actual peak of Hallasan would take twice the amount of time, but we had a plane to catch. Picking up the pace going down the mountain, we managed to finish our hike 8 minutes before the next bus... but still another 15-minutes walk out to the Yeongsil bus stop. So, we ran. Running after a 4.5-hour hike and when not in the best of shape is not fun. Could we really make it in time for the bus?

Halfway down, K managed to flag down a car and they graciously gave us a ride the rest of the way to the bus stop ^-^ It was the same couple that had offered us tangerines on the trail. We arrived just in time, one minute before the bus came.

Being able to take this bus meant that we actually had a little bit of time to spare in Jeju-si before going to the airport, enough to walk a bit along the waterfront (not many people at this time of the year) and to grab some food to eat later at the airport ^o^

Day 10: Jeju-do

The running all around today makes up for my confused state yesterday. First stop, tourist info, of course. We see both of the nice people who helped us the past two days ^o^ It was an interesting exchange... they spoke to each other in Korean while we spoke to one in English but the other in Mandarin. One conversation, three languages.

Happy town show. The bus dropped us in front of the happy town entrance, which sounds great, but we would rather have been dropped off at the nearest bus stop and then we would ask how to get there. Now we don't know where to catch the bus once the show's over. Hmmm.

The parking lot was filled with tour buses. We had only encountered one tour group at seongsan ilchulbong and then one at yongmeori coast, both of them Korean... we had been wondering where all the tour groups went. So *here* is where all the tours take people!

Buying tickets for the show turned out to be more difficult than expected. The ticket lady asked whether we came in a taxi, to which we replied that we came on a bus. This went back and forth a bit (all in Korean). It took forever to finally get her to sell us the tickets. After we received our tickets, we realized that her confusion was that if we came on a bus, she assumed it was a tour bus, in which case we shouldn't be buying any tickets because they'd be supplied by the tour guide, of course. Apparently there aren't many non-Koreans traveling by themselves using local buses.

K added this and another show (animal show) onto our itinerary after we got to Jeju. This one was an Chinese acrobat show... swinging acrobats, balancing spinning plates, that sort of thing. So pretty cool.


For the last act, they put a bunch of motorcyclists into this metal ball and they all rode around it at the same time at high speeds. It started with just one, then two, and so on... all the way up to seven. Dangerous.


After the show, we found the bus stop after asking for directions at the show's ticket window (same lady) and then again at a convenience store on the way. Woohoo!

Jungmun... a resort-y area. Yes, a resort town on a resort island. We mostly walked around the town and took a taxi once (really cheap in Korea). One of the many tangerines groves we've seen on the island...


And more tangerines...


Cheonjeyeon waterfall (no, not cheonjiyeon from yesterday night). Really nicely maintained greenery area.


J had warned us about the 'couples that dress the same', but we didn't realize that when she said 'a lot', she really meant 'a lot'. After seeing all these couples with the *exact* same top on (sometimes even bottom, in different sizes tho), we're feeling slightly inadequate. Should we buy some same tops to fit in with the other couples here? Hmmm.

ICC. Interesting seeing a building that we've only seen in k-drama. Of course, if we wanted to, we could visit all the k-drama sites on the island, of which there are many, with the most recent ones listed in the island's tourist info brochure. We heard that there are even some Japanese tours that specifically only visit these sites!

Pacific island animal show. Monkeys, sea-lions, and dolphins. The shows we saw in SoCal Sea World were much better though.

Jusangjeolli cliffs. A mini Giant's Causeway (on our list for whenever we visit Ireland), except you can only view these cliffs from afar or via speedboat; you can't actually physically go on them. I suppose it would be a bit dangerous?


Should we end the day here? In the end, we decided to go to Loveland. The bus stop is a walk away and we'd have to take a taxi back to our hotel in Jeju-si (no more buses in the day), but tomorrow's our last day and we already have Halla-san planned for it.

So, it's not somewhere you can take the kids. Interesting that there is actually a sculpture park like this in the world, and in Korea! Since we were seeing it at night, everything was lighted up. Erotic sculptures and a gallery with interesting exhibits (photos, all sorts of condoms, sex toys, and much much more). Most things in the park were shaped like male or female parts... the signs on the ground directing which way to go, the door handles for the bathrooms, the fountains, etc. Here's a park map, seemingly innocuous, but...


Most of the other visitors we saw were Korean (maybe it's different if we visited during the day?) and the late-middle-aged ones seem to find everything extremely amusing. I did take out the tripod and take several pictures throughout the park (and I wasn't the only one!), but I probably won't be posting them hehe =/ Maybe I'll just say -- available via direct request.

Day 9: Jeju-do

Another really nice tourist info person near the bus terminal. Except this one spoke Mandarin but not really English. Yay for us somewhat knowing more than one language ^o^

Yongmeori coast... absolutely 'not to miss'...


The rest of the day is a result of me getting confused. I thought the Jeju Sculpture and Art Park was the same thing as Jeju Loveland. How is that possible? I don't know. Perhaps because LP didn't even mention Loveland and its description for the sculpture park sounded close enough to a PC way of describing Loveland. Well, however it happened, we went to the sculpture park. Not too easily either. We asked at the ticket booth for the coast/temple/boat and after a bit of conversing, someone finally said we could take a bus and it was coming *right now*. We ran down the steps and just made it on the bus.

The bus dropped us off at an intersection close to the park. An unmarked-as-bus-stop intersection. Uh oh for later. So, the park... well, obviously wasn't what I wanted. We walked through it a bit (I think we only saw one other visitor!), cursed our ill fortune of getting confused, and then left.

Hmmm... bus stop. We made a left out of the park and walked a while... and hit a bus stop. But the only bus that came wasn't heading to Seogwipo like we wanted. So we waited. And waited. Finally, K said, we had to walk the other way.

Walk. Walk. Walk. About a third the other way (this other correct bus stop was quite a distance away... maybe 40 minute walk), a car stops on the side of the road. A late-middle-aged man and two middle-aged ladies ask us where we're heading. I say we would like to go to Seogwipo. And they tell us to hop in! Apparently we're both still fairly young-looking... because they thought we were in high school =/ Anyways, they're really nice and take us to the desired bus stop. Actually, from what I overheard and interpreted, the guy even considered taking us all the way to Seogwipo! But after discussing it, they decided we should be ok at the bus stop. Another random act of kindness ^o^

We finally make it to Seogwipo. It's quite late (daylight-wise), but we do manage to see Cheonjiyeon waterfall lit up at night...


And we manage to find the correct bus (perhaps the last one of the day) to go back to Jeju-si. Tangerines, the bus driver offered us some. Seems they have an excess of tangerines here and people like being nice to us (he didn't offer them to anyone else?).