Trip For The Ages!

The family and I finally went on our trip to South Korea after years of planning! It lasted from April 24th to May 15th for me and it started in Myeon-dong and ended up in Goyang. Before I start on the stops during our trip I will talk about what I expected during this trip because what I expected and what I wound up taking place were totally different.

First of all during the planning process for this trip my anxiety was all over the place. It started off by thinking I was not even going to get invited, but when it was setlled that the entire family was going, I got anxious about such things as the flight, where I was going to stay, you know typical John things. The people that I went on the trip with were my parents, my brother and my sister's family including her husband and my nephew Sammy.

Sammy deserves a little shout out here. Sammy is someone I use for motivation in my life and my time spent with him is something I cherish. Why you ask? Well, a lot of that has to come from how he said I was the world's best uncle a few years ago. It was said in jest, but it is something I try and live up to whenever I see him. Not only being a good uncle to him, but a good friend as well.

Myeong-Dong: In The Beginning

Me and the parents arrived first in Korea and we started off in Myeon-dong, one of the most tourisy spots in South Korea. To be honest I do not remember much about our stay here. The food was fine and I was on my own for a day or so which I handled fine. My brother and sister both arrived by the time the weekend was over and then we were off to Busan the following Monday.

What I noticed here were all the 7-11s that were in and around the area. The food there was something I definitely wanted to try from what I had heard from friends and social media. I wound up getting this bulgogi bap meal and it was OK. Not great, not terrible, I also bought these turrle corn chips that were recommended by a friend. They were good, but did not agree with my stomach all too well and that was pretty much it for snacks during the trip. BUMMER!

Outside my WECOSTAY!

Best bite??

With all the talk about how good the food was in Korea the best thing I ate during the first couple of days on my trip was this tasty bacon grilled cheese sandwich from Starbucks. Sorry to disappoint foodie lovers lol. The other picture is outside the Wecostay that I stayed with my parents and everyone else. It was a pretty busy area but the surrounding area did not have much to do other than eat, but that gets better at the end of the trip. Stay tuned!

Guards!

Our next stop was in Seoul and we went to Gyeonbokgung Palace on April 29th. This was my first taste of exercise and me, my brother and my sister's family walked around the palace for a good hour. At the entrance before we were allowed in there was a mini ceremony which I thought was nice, but to be honest I can not even remember what it was for. Something about the coming of the guards I think. Oops!

Game On!!

Had so much fun!

The most fun I had during the trip was the baseball game we went to in Seoul against the Doosan Bears and the Samsung Lions. If you are a sports fan at all and in Korea I highly recommend watching a game. It did not matter that I did not know any of the players or anything about the teams involved, the entire game and atmosphere was something I will never forget as a sports fan.

Each player had their own walk up song and the stadium was split into fans of both of the teams. The singing and dancing was constant throughout the game and the off field entertainment was almost as exciting as what was happening on the field!

I wound up getting a Doosan hat and my brother got me a jersey which I enjoy wearing here in Toronto eventhough it is bright yellow and makes me look like a banana! In all seriousness, being a sports fan and being able to witness this part of Korean culture is something I will cherish for the rest of my life!

Next Stop Geoje!

After a brief stop in Busan, Geoje was the next stop on our trip and we did a lot of things here. First and foremost I fell in love with the abalone congee I had here. The color is off putting but the taste is delicious! The place we stayed at was also very homey and all of us stayed in a small house with one bathroom, but we all managed for the weekend and we all had a great time!

Closest i'll ever get to meeting BTS

Other than the place we stayed at my lasting memory of Geoje was how much it reminded me of my trip to the Phlippines. There were a lot of tourists and it was the first place during the trip where I saw any sort of k pop influence. They had Black Pink ice cream!

Other than that Geoje was also the first place I got any shopping done. I bought a couple of Under Armour T shirts and got a free pair of socks to boot. Win!!!

Off To Jeju!

Before talking about my current stay in Jeju Do I will talk about the other time I was here back in 2011. I was with my Aunt and I remember the fancy hotel we stayed at, the huge park/zoo we went to and the miniature wonderland. Oh, and of course the oranges. So many oranges!

This time around the trip was more about museum visting, waterfall hiking and more good food eating.

Speaking about the food, you will be hard pressed to find a place in Korea that sells a decent salad. Then again the side dishes that come with meal sets are mostly composed of vegetables. That and I noticed a couple of random steak houses in Jeju in the middle of nowhere. Literally. Driving up a highway and then we saw a Texas Roadhouse. We passed.

Cool keychains from Jeju Do!

Final Stop Goyang!

Our final stop was in Ilsan Dong and for most of the last week of the trip I was with my parents staying at the Sono Calm hotel. All accomodations and planning of the trip were done by my brother and brother in law and for that I am forever grateful. They both went out of their way to ensure everyone had a good time and was comfortable during the days and nights of our trip so a big thank you goes to them! Bak soo!

I did not do much during the final week of the trip other than shop and browse around a couple of department stores. I did manage come accross a video game store that I was destined to go to before my trip was over which I managed to find on the last day of our trip.

Thank You Panda Games!

It took me almost two hours of wandering over a place that wound up being right in front of me, but I scored the two above games. Unfortunately stupid me jammed the one game into my PS4 and I was forced to buy the digital version for $40. Good going! That and I can not play God of War which I loved way back in my PSP days until I somehow remove the disc.

This video was taken directly outside of the hotel and it is literred with restaurants and convenience stores for the most part. I was on the way to Mama's Touch to get lunch which is a chicken place. I knew exactly what I wanted, but my Korean was so bad that I was forced to point at what I wanted on the screen they had. I wound up getting something different from what I initially wanted, but it was still pretty good and the cajun fries were absolute fire! Am I too old to say fire?

Another thing that this video tells me about Korea is that everything is conveniently located. What I mean by this is that you only need to take a short walk to find a department store, convenience store, gas station, pretty much anything. Whereas back home in Toronto, you are lucky to find a second hand mall within a thirty minute walk and to find a convenience store is the same sort of situation.

Mentionables

The trip was packed with all sorts of stops and food, but there are a few things that I failed to mention that I will include here. First off, Sammy and John Jr. John Jr, was the plush otter that Sammy got in Geoje and he carried him everywhere. He would not even let anyone touch him at one point! That was until he left John Jr. in a foodcourt in Jeju and then he realized, maybe I do not love him as much as I thought I did? Another thing worth mentioning were the woman divers in Jeju. To be totally honest though, this was not the same as what I remembered from my first trip to Korea. Back in 2011 there was a submarine that went underwater to see what these women did and also you had the opportunity to dive as well. I tried to do this, but since I did not have my glasses and could not see a damn thing, it was a total fail. The current show lacked any flash and was pretty much a couple of women diving for abalone and it was so difficult to see anything, I feel like I did not gain anything from this experience.

The final couple of other things that caught my eye were the mud flaps throughout Korea and the pressence of fruit drinks in every coffee joint that I went to. They are known as ades there and I tried the grape, lemon, and dragon fruit versions of these, and all were delicious!

John JR!!

At The End of The Day

The trip for me was great. I got in better shape and started some really good daily habits and got to spend some quality time with my family. Lessons were learned, I grew as a person and eventhough the main goal of this trip, as with any trip was to have a good time, the big picture is what I am going to try and focus on.

After my first trip to Korea I came back home thinking my trip was too short and I should have stayed there longer. This time around, there were times I wanted the trip to end and I wanted to do things that would not have taken the rest of the people into consideration. My first trip since I was with my aunt and cousin was all about me and me having a good time. This time around it was about the whole group of people and that was the biggest lesson I learned. To sacrifice myself be it thoughts, words, whatever it might be for the greater good and cause of the group and people I am dealing with on a daily basis. Message received and here's hoping momentum continues onward!