Seoul

Airfare pricing rarely makes much sense.  The cheapest route I found from Tokyo to Beijing had me stopping in Seoul, South Korea.  Not having a real itinerary I decided to spend a few days exploring the city before carrying on to China.

I was rewarded by a splendid ancient palace and gardens, an abundance of delicious grilled meats (yay Korean bbq!) and more awesome cafes than I could shake a metal chopstick at.  My time in Seoul was generally pretty lazy, just walking and eating, but I did manage to participate in my first ever cooking class.  Daniel and Shawn of Ongo taught us how to make Dak Galbi and two other dishes (recipes here).  They all turned out pretty well, though I was so busy cooking/eating I forgot to take any photos...so it goes.

And now for some assorted photos of Seoul:

 A typical meal

Awesome teahouse where I drank five-flavored tea (thanks Jean for the recommendation!)

Gwangjong (sp?) night market where I had some Bin-dae-tok

my trip to Japan as told by another

My friend Sam, with whom I traveled in Japan for three weeks, has written a far better account of our trip than I will ever be able to produce. So to avoid wasting precious internet cafe minutes (and assuage guilt over not posting more) I've provided a link to her blog below:

http://caeterafama.tumblr.com/post/884933579/tokyo-weekend-tsukiji-fish-market

Our trip to Japan should begin with a post titled "Tokyo Weekend: Tsukiji Fish Market" written on July 31st. As I write this, it should be close to the top of the page, but this may change as time passes and tumblr updates (if so just go by the dates...).

Also, a huge thanks to Leo for providing many amazing recommendations on what to (not) do while in Japan.

Will write more soon!

Fuji-san

After a few days in Tokyo we left the city to spend a night climbing up Mt. Fuji.  We were lucky and caught a break in the rain for the six-hour uphill hike.  We started on the trail around 10pm.  It began as a wide path through a pine forest, but quickly gave way to a series of switchbacks up a rocky volanic surface.  The ascent was punctuated by numerous guesthouses along the trail, each containing a large group of tourists (mostly locals) preparing to make the trek.

As we neared the summit a queue actually formed and our pace slowed to a crawl.

 We arrived at the summit a very slow hour later.

Just in time to be greeted by views of a sunrise over the clouds.

 After pausing to drink coffee and eat some bananas we also toured the top of the crater.

The trip down was much faster.

It began raining the minute we stepped onto our bus back to Tokyo.

Tokyo

My sister, Laura, and I walked all over Tokyo.  It's a sprawling mega-city with an impressive mix of the past, the future and some delicious food.  In a single day we saw the humanoid robot, Asimo (he can run, kick a soccer ball, and tell jokes in Japanese)

Walked through an emperor's 13th century duck hunting garden

Strolled aroud Ginza (Japan's 5th avenue?)

Visited tokyo's anime/electronic city of Akihabara

And finished the day by ordering some delicious soba (+fried chicken) from a vending machine.