After a filling breakfast at the hotel, we started the day on the Seouljo – a 1km long repurposed road made into an unexpectedly pretty raised botanical garden. We also scoped out an alternative path to the main train station that we hoped would eliminate some of the stairs when we had to transfer to the airport later that night. Also nearby was Sungnyemun, one of the Eight Gates in the Fortress Wall of Seoul, which surrounded the city in the Joseon dynasty. I loved the ... continue reading...
South Korea: Seoul, day 2 – Changdeokgung, Ihwa Mural Village, korean bbq, Blacklist
Today was our full day for exploring and while I wanted to see 'all the things', I knew our energy levels would accommodate only one palace, so Changdeokgung was my choice. Entry to the grounds was a reasonable 3,000 won (~$2.50USD) but we skipped paying the additional 8,000 won to do a guided tour of the Secret Garden. I was on the fence about this but I think the extra price might be worth it during the Spring or later Fall. The entrance was quite epic: There were countless ... continue reading...
South Korea: Seoul, day 1 – Cheonggyecheon and breweries
Our first order of business after landing at Gimpo was finding the train into the city. We found an ATM and got out some cash so we could purchase the one-way ticket to Seoul Station and our TPass cards for the metro and bus. ATMs here are a bit different as you have to select how many 1,000 won notes you wanted – in my case eight – rather than the dollar amount - 8,000. Finding the airport train was a bit convoluted from the international arrivals terminal, but once we were headed in the ... continue reading...
Japan: Osaka, Day 2 – Minoh Falls and small whisky bars
At this point in the trip we were longing to experience some nature so when the sun came out on Wednesday we looked at public transit to Minoh (Minoo) Falls. Apparently, there was a delay on one of the main subway lines, so Google was giving us convoluted directions. However, once we opted to break the trip into two parts the planning got easier. To get to the falls you need to get to the local rail line at Umeda, then do one more quick (and well signed) transfer at Ishibashi station. The ... continue reading...
Japan: Osaka, Day 1 – Dotonbori
The 30 minute train trip from Kyoto to Osaka was easy and our hotel was just a short three-block walk from the Nippombashi station. We dropped off our bags with the friendly staff at the front desk, grabbed our umbrella, and ventured over to the canal area to explore. It was raining on and off but there were still a good amount of people in the streets. Dotonbori can be quite overwhelming, with large restaurant displays, massive signs, and endless vending machines filled with trinkets. Given the ... continue reading...
Japan: Kyoto, Day 3 – Fushimi Inari Taisha, Higashiyama, Yakitori, Hot Springs
Even though our feet were pretty worn out at this point of the trip we couldn't skip the 3.5 km hike through thousands of painted orange gates at Fushimi Inari Taisha. Many people suggest going first thing in the AM (it's open 24 hours) but we just didn’t get up that early so we arrived with lots of other folks at 9:45am. The whole trip to the top (including time stopping for a ton of photos) and back took us two hours. The streets leading up to the main shrine gate are lined with vendors ... continue reading...
Japan: Kyoto, Day 2 – Daigoji Temple, Konchi-in Temple, Tonkatsu, Bar Cordon Noir
A visitor is spoiled for choice in Kyoto when it comes to temples, so after eliminating a few options that seemed expensive or were partially under construction, we landed on Daigoji. It's located quite a bit further from the center of town, meaning less tourists, and we could get there with our metro pass. The peak autumn period was still a week and a half away so the entry fee was a reasonable 800¥ compared to spring and fall seasons where it climbs to 1500¥! The 10-minute walk from the ... continue reading...
Japan: Kyoto, Day 1 – Imperial Palace, Higashiyama Jisho-ji, SferaBar Satonaka
After our short trip from Hamamatsu we arrived at the Kyoto station, where we sought out the two-day travel passes. With those in hand we took the subway up two stops to shave off some walking time to our hotel. The most direct route would have been through the Nishiki Market but the amount of people made dragging a rollerboard difficult, so we detoured to the main streets instead. Per usual we couldn’t check in until after 3pm, so we left our bags and backpacks and headed back out to ... continue reading...
Japan: Rugby World Cup, South Africa v. Italy
We got to Tokyo Station early to sort out the JR tickets and then wandered through the downstairs food court area to look for some lunch options. Picked up a half bottle of cava, two pastries and a cheese sandwich for Eric, and a sushi bento box for me. Food in hand, we made our way to the platform and enjoyed a glass of cava while waiting for our bullet train. When the train arrived it was entertaining to see the workers come through quickly to clean the cars, replace all the ... continue reading...
Japan: Tokyo, Day 3 – Senso-ji, Ueno Park, Ramen Street
Today we started north, starting with a subway ride to Senso-ji temple. From the station, the walk to the temple is lined with shops and restaurants, and can get very busy. The temple grounds were also quite busy with lots of school kids (we were stopped for a short interview!), tourists, and Japanese visiting the temple itself. We also tried two different melon pan (sweet roll) places. Delicious! We still had an hour plus before we were scheduled to meet my friend so ... continue reading...
Japan: omakase dinner at Sushi Harumi
While planning for this trip, I was looking up affordable places to try an omakase dinner experience. Omakase is translated as "I leave it up to you" and features a chef preparing multiple courses right in front of the diner, usually limited to a few people at a time. Eric sent me some great travel articles and I settled on Sushi Harumi for it's good reviews and reasonable price (12,100¥ or ~$115). After several failed reservation attempts through Pocket Concierge, I was finally able to add my ... continue reading...
Japan: Tokyo, Day 2 – Harajuku, Meiji Shrine, Robot Restaurant
Eric had scoped out a pancake place in Harajuku for breakfast, but unfortunately Rainbow Pancake was closed (first Wednesday of the month - seriously?) so we ended up at Deus ex Machina for pizza toast with (spicy) ginger ale for Eric and banana peanut butter toast with a flat white for me. Not bad for $20, but it wasn't fluffy pancakes. We wandered up Takeshita Street to admire the storefronts and look for some gift items but prices were a bit high and this area is pretty touristy. ... continue reading...
Japan: Tokyo, Day 1 – Shinjuku Gyoen, Golden Gai, Shibuya
After a good night's rest in a bed that wasn't on a plane, we woke up with the sun, procured travel cards and headed over to the Shinjuku Gyoen (Imperial Garden) to eat our purchased breakfast pastries and drinks (from Family Mart). We were able to buy our tickets from the machines to the right of the entrance (cash only) and they had maps in several languages as well. The greenhouse and grounds were lovely but we also managed to get several bug bites that plagued us for days. It ... continue reading...
Japan: getting around – buses, subways, and trains, oh my!
During our trip planning I did a ton of research on the JR Pass as lots of travel sites recommend it. The 7-day pass would have been the best option for us but at 29,650¥ (~$273 USD) it's not cheap. And once I mapped out our itinerary, it became clear the pass would not end up being a good value for us. Below is the total amount of money we spent on travel in Japan: JR Lines (covered by the JR pass): Tokyo > Hamamatsu: 16,880¥ Hamamatsu >< Aino: 1,680¥ Hamamatsu > Kyoto: ... continue reading...
Japan: long layover in NYC
Our flight up to New York on Jet Blue was smooth and left on time. After landing, we were slightly delayed getting off the plane due to jet bridge issues but thankfully we were in no hurry. Uber and Lyft were a bit high, so we used the taxi line to catch a cab into the city (fixed rate plus tip and tolls about $67) to our hotel for the evening, Courtyard Marriot Manhattan/Chelsea. Our room wasn’t ready at noon, so we dropped off our bags, grabbed bagel sandwiches from Liberty Bagels, and ... continue reading...
Japan: Overview
Way back in 2011 we had flights booked for a spring trip to Japan. Of course, that was the year they had the infamous earthquake & tsunami, so our flights were eventually canceled, and somehow we never got around to rebooking ourselves to Japan. When we discovered that the 2019 Rugby World cup was to be hosted in Japan we figured it was a good excuse to finally go, so in 2018 we transferred points for an October 2019 trip. Our flights were booked with Korean Air via JFK and Seoul, which ... continue reading...
Memory Monday: Japan and South Korea manhole covers
One of my favorite things about travel is discovering art in unexpected places. I photographed these artistic manhole covers in Tokyo, Hamamatsu, Osaka, Minoh, and Seoul. It's worth slowing down and looking around (up or down) - you never know what you'll find! ... continue reading...
September 2019 (in a few seconds per day)
Continuing my video trend from last month - here are some snapshots of our life in September... E+L September 2019 from Leandra Ganko on Vimeo. ... continue reading...
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