November 2018 - JAPAN and KOREA

Holy cow I can't believe how behind I got.  So much has happened and Facebook and Instagram were just quick and easy to write. As I'm going through all the things in my house and sick of how much was acquired, I couldn't help but thought of all of our travels and how free it felt and wonderful it all was.  We could've bought a nice Tesla, a few grand pianos, or many many computers as Dan would put it, but we have the richest experiences and that's a whole lot cooler to talk about than those things.  I don't regret our decision at all.  I feel like we have so much more to talk to people about now. 

Japan felt like it was forever ago and it felt like a dream.  In a way it was.  We kept going back and forth and didn't know if we should do Osaka or Tokyo.  We finally opted for Osaka because from Vietnam it was slightly cheaper and when we go back to Vietnam in a few years our connecting flight would probably be Tokyo as that is a bigger airport.  I cannot express how much fun it was to be in Japan and see all the Fall colors.  The cherry blossoms would be pretty amazing but so are the Fall colors. 

We loved seeing this as simple as water fountains and yes drinking straight from the tabs.  Something we missed very much

Roro loved Japan because it had trains and beautiful parks to walk around

We got the kids tickets for a cute train ride around the Osaka castle

The thing I remembered most about Japan was all the food tours we did.  We had to eat anyway so we took the kids around to all the eateries that we know of and we tried all the authentic Japanese food offered.

 

Thanks to a husband who does not mind taking pictures of me for a few pictures for my #tailormemine website.  This bright new dress is for sale for $60.

We took the subway every where.  It was kept very clean and all over Japan it was very clean.

November in Japan reminded us a lot of November in Seattle.  It was slightly gray on some days and a bit chilly but it was so fun to see people walking around.

Mesmerizing night lights

We got a cute little Japanese hotel suite.  It was so authentic and I love that it had the shorter table and the Japanese doors to separate the bathroom and the bedroom.

Ooh the ramen here was so amazing.  Dan marked all the coordinates of the places we visited.

Firetrucks!!

This confident, stylish city is a shopping hub, with fabulous restaurants and nightlife.  It was so vibrant and you are just happy to be there.

 KOREA

I didn't want to leave Japan, nor did anyone else in the family.  We enjoyed Japan so much, enough to want to stay forever.  We really could have if we wanted to but we had friends in Gwangju.   And when we arrived in Gwangju it was just like how we felt in Japan.  Friends surrounded us and made us feel so loved.  I felt like I was with my brother.  Our friend's son looked so much like my brother Michael and it made me miss my brother Mike so much.  We got to attend the missionary farewell of Jeong who is currently serving in the Oakland area and who we just saw while we were in Oakland in August (more on this later)
                             
Seeing Korea with my long lost brother and my favorite Korean family in the whole wide world.
                                              
 Gwangju is the sixth-largest city in South Korea.  They love big signs and bright lights.

                                       
AND the COOLEST stairs.  Do you ever wonder why there are so many Korean made pianos??!!!  They make their stairs like a piano so you could stop and play your favorite song as you run down to take the subway.  Debrie performed a few pieces and had a good audience watching her.  I will hopefully get that onto youtube soon!
                                         
We took the bus everywhere
                                          
Our favorite family took us out to a nice buffet and we had the most amazing Korean food.
                                         

                   

                                           
We went all over Korea.  We took buses for 4-5 hours and went East to West, North to South.  I will stop here right now and save more of Korea for another post a bit later.  Sleep is everything...