Donghae, South Korea – July 2010
Another USS John S. McCain port brought little me to a new location! I had traveled to South Korea last October. What an amazing country! When Josh told me they were going to be in port there I said I was in!
It was an adventure from the beginning because the ship was not in Seoul. They docked at in a port in Donghae, South Korea. Ever heard of Donghae? I hadn’t except for this past year of knowing Josh. The ticket was bought and I was on my way to this beautiful country!
I took the 2 hour flight to Seoul which was NO problem! After landing in South Korea and talking with my family via skype – I was off to the buses to buy a ticket and on my way to Josh on the east coast of South Korea. After a few hours, I finally made it to the east coast! I arrived at our hotel and Josh wasn’t there ☹ He had run to the store to get some drinks and snacks! Yay!
The next day we relaxed in our room and ate a very yummy breakfast. The hotel included a buffet breakfast of various Korean and Western foods. After relaxing and drinking coffee, we put on our swim clothes and headed for the beach! We enjoyed an Italian lunch over looking the ocean. We sat and talked for the longest time about everything. We were very entertained by the staff at the restaurant. This one guy in particular had a hilarious hair cut! We called him pumpkin head – this is one of those you had to be there moments! We thought it was hilarious and STILL refer to this guy!
After our very looooong lunch, we headed down to the beach where we found an open spot to lay down and relax. A strange thing we saw was that everyone was swimming in their clothes – I mean everyone…why? We have no idea! Ha ha! The only thing we concluded was the water was so cold but we went in anyway! We put our toes in and then went up to our towel to get ready to run into the water. We ran and I screamed because it was so cold! We had fun for a few minutes then it was enough! We could just enjoy from the sand ☺ We were laying and talking and then I saw someone…DANNY! Danny is a friend of Josh’s from another ship ☺ I said, “OMG. Is that Danny?” So we popped up and ran over to him!
After chatting with Danny, Josh and I enjoyed a beer over looking the beach. Josh ordered some chicken – it was delicious! We invited Danny over to talk with us. We chatted for a bit and then he went back to the group of guys he was with. We headed back to the hotel for showers and rest before heading out for the evening! Downtown Donghae is a WILD place – just kidding! It’s quite quiet! =) We went out for some drinks and had a blast playing a drinking game that we created on the spot. We were definitely a little tipsy. We talked until sunrise…
The next day was a very relaxing day. We ate at this DELICIOUS buffet. It was mainly Japanese food and a bit of Korean – yum! We enjoyed downtown Donghae and drank coffee and ate dessert.
In the evening, we went to this VERY neat placed called Candlestick Rock. We took a taxi to this area. We watched the sunset and took in the wonderful site! The ocean here was crystal clear with the rocks jutting out of the water – very picturesque! We then had help trying to get a taxi but no luck! However, through broken English…we were directed to the bus station ☺ We took a bus for a while until we felt like getting off the bus ☺ It was then off to the 2 KM long fish market! We walked around the saw all the fishermen and their fish, ☺ they tried to sell it to Josh and I but we were only interested in looking at it.
We found a locals restaurant and sat on the floor of this particular restaurant. We had no idea what to order, so I pointed to what our “neighbors” were having and we ate just that! It was a spicy fish stew. We had rice, kimchi, and other pickled vegetables! We also had soju – a sake type Korean drink! What a night this was! We headed back to the hotel after dinner and redeemed our drink tickets ☺ we drank beer in the lobby (we had free drinks every day but had not used them yet) and chatted for a while. I met a couple from Josh’s ship. Matt works on the ship and his wife Marcie was with him visiting. We met and were introduced and were able to travel together back to the Seoul.
The next morning, we took a cab to the port where the USS John S. McCain was. I said my good-byes to Josh and haven’t seen him since ☹ 44 more days and he will be home! I miss him but am so lucky to have been able to travel to South Korea to see him for 2 days!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Josh's 26th Birthday!
Nagano – June 2010
Josh’s 26th birthday brought on a VERY relaxing trip to a not so far away place. I told Josh that we should do something very special for his birthday. I did a little Internet research and presented a few ideas :) We both agreed a relaxing weekend in Nagano would be the best!
Josh and I met in Tokyo at Tokyo station. We bought our shinkansen (bullet train) tickets and were well on our way! The first day brought us to a little artist village called Obuse. We enjoyed the day going to the Hokusai museum, drinking sake at the sake factory, and talking over coffee and cake! We walked around the cobble stone streets and soaked in some good ole’ Japanese culture!
We had dinner reservations at our ryokan (onsen hotel). We stayed in a very old ryokan near Jigokudani monkey park. We had reservations to enjoy Kaiseki – a traditional multi course meal from Kyoto. It was included in the price of our room. When we arrived at Yudanaka station where we were welcomed by a staff member of the ryokan. He picked us up and took us to the gorgeous hotel!
We checked in and were taken to our room. There was tea and confectionaries waiting for us. We nibbled and took a rest until dinnertime. We changed into our yukatas – cotton kimono. We were allowed to wear the yukatas around the hotel premise and also within the town. So, with that said, we wore our yukatas to dinner! We had a private room and enjoyed SO many different types of food! Think of all the Japanese food you have ever eaten and add about 20 more items! Ha ha! We were able to sample fish, meat, tempura, vegetables, tofu, soups, rice, desert, and beer!
We took a stroll in our yukatas after dinner. Then we were able to sample all the various baths. There were 8 baths in total within our very own ryokan. The onsens, or public bath, are separated by gender. They had 4 male and 4 female baths. At 9 PM and 9 AM they clean and switch the gender. You can tell each bath as it has the kanji (and color coated) for male and female on the outside of the door. There were inside and outside onsens! It was very relaxing! We really enjoyed this! =)
The next morning we wore our yukatas down to breakfast. We enjoyed a nice western style breakfast in the same little private room we had eaten in the night before. After breakfast it was time for a little nap, a little bath, and time to head to the monkey park!
It was kind of hot that day. We walked the 45 minutes up the hill to the monkey park. We strolled around and were surprised a few times by monkeys. There was a geyser and hot springs all around! We walked up to where all the monkeys were! They were adorable and literally monkeying around! They were simply adorable! Josh and I stopped at a vending machine and got a beer. We sat down and enjoyed the beer before heading all the way back down the hill. My knee was hurting…so an idea popped into my head! Why not hitch hike!? I mean, come on!, Japan is one of the safest countries in the world – why not!? So we did just that. I explained that my knee was hurting and that we wanted a ride down the “mountain” and he said okay!
We had not had lunch yet so we found this adorable little curry shop café that our hotel recommended on the city map. The café can hold about 10 people – this is no joke! It was an adorable café and Josh and I split the curry set lunch. She gave us cherries as a service item! Cherries in Japan are so delicious – you know why? They come from America ;) hahahaha!
After lunch we enjoyed hoping around more onsens and then we had massages scheduled. We both enjoyed those separately . While Josh was getting his massage, I decorated our room to surprise him when he returned! I had brought a lot of things with me to decorate the room to make it extra special for him! He really loved it and appreciated what I did for him! I had balloons, streamers, wine…
After our relaxing massages and rest we went out into town and had a glorious sushi dinner for Josh’s birthday! It was huge! We were also able to go and eat there in our yukatas! It was such a memorable journey to Nagano!
The next day we walked around the town and drank coffee at a small café near the station. We then said good-bye to Yudanaka station and were well on our way to Nagano city where we hung out for part of the day and then found ourselves back in Tokyo!
What an AWESOME way to celebrate a birthday!! =)
Josh’s 26th birthday brought on a VERY relaxing trip to a not so far away place. I told Josh that we should do something very special for his birthday. I did a little Internet research and presented a few ideas :) We both agreed a relaxing weekend in Nagano would be the best!
Josh and I met in Tokyo at Tokyo station. We bought our shinkansen (bullet train) tickets and were well on our way! The first day brought us to a little artist village called Obuse. We enjoyed the day going to the Hokusai museum, drinking sake at the sake factory, and talking over coffee and cake! We walked around the cobble stone streets and soaked in some good ole’ Japanese culture!
We had dinner reservations at our ryokan (onsen hotel). We stayed in a very old ryokan near Jigokudani monkey park. We had reservations to enjoy Kaiseki – a traditional multi course meal from Kyoto. It was included in the price of our room. When we arrived at Yudanaka station where we were welcomed by a staff member of the ryokan. He picked us up and took us to the gorgeous hotel!
We checked in and were taken to our room. There was tea and confectionaries waiting for us. We nibbled and took a rest until dinnertime. We changed into our yukatas – cotton kimono. We were allowed to wear the yukatas around the hotel premise and also within the town. So, with that said, we wore our yukatas to dinner! We had a private room and enjoyed SO many different types of food! Think of all the Japanese food you have ever eaten and add about 20 more items! Ha ha! We were able to sample fish, meat, tempura, vegetables, tofu, soups, rice, desert, and beer!
We took a stroll in our yukatas after dinner. Then we were able to sample all the various baths. There were 8 baths in total within our very own ryokan. The onsens, or public bath, are separated by gender. They had 4 male and 4 female baths. At 9 PM and 9 AM they clean and switch the gender. You can tell each bath as it has the kanji (and color coated) for male and female on the outside of the door. There were inside and outside onsens! It was very relaxing! We really enjoyed this! =)
The next morning we wore our yukatas down to breakfast. We enjoyed a nice western style breakfast in the same little private room we had eaten in the night before. After breakfast it was time for a little nap, a little bath, and time to head to the monkey park!
It was kind of hot that day. We walked the 45 minutes up the hill to the monkey park. We strolled around and were surprised a few times by monkeys. There was a geyser and hot springs all around! We walked up to where all the monkeys were! They were adorable and literally monkeying around! They were simply adorable! Josh and I stopped at a vending machine and got a beer. We sat down and enjoyed the beer before heading all the way back down the hill. My knee was hurting…so an idea popped into my head! Why not hitch hike!? I mean, come on!, Japan is one of the safest countries in the world – why not!? So we did just that. I explained that my knee was hurting and that we wanted a ride down the “mountain” and he said okay!
We had not had lunch yet so we found this adorable little curry shop café that our hotel recommended on the city map. The café can hold about 10 people – this is no joke! It was an adorable café and Josh and I split the curry set lunch. She gave us cherries as a service item! Cherries in Japan are so delicious – you know why? They come from America ;) hahahaha!
After lunch we enjoyed hoping around more onsens and then we had massages scheduled. We both enjoyed those separately . While Josh was getting his massage, I decorated our room to surprise him when he returned! I had brought a lot of things with me to decorate the room to make it extra special for him! He really loved it and appreciated what I did for him! I had balloons, streamers, wine…
After our relaxing massages and rest we went out into town and had a glorious sushi dinner for Josh’s birthday! It was huge! We were also able to go and eat there in our yukatas! It was such a memorable journey to Nagano!
The next day we walked around the town and drank coffee at a small café near the station. We then said good-bye to Yudanaka station and were well on our way to Nagano city where we hung out for part of the day and then found ourselves back in Tokyo!
What an AWESOME way to celebrate a birthday!! =)
Reporting from Hong Kong in 2.5 days…
May was certainly a very exciting month for me! It was a lot of travel and time spent with Josh! The USS John S. McCain was to set sail for the land of egg tarts! That’s right – Hong Kong!
It didn’t take much convincing to get me to go to Hong Kong once more. I really loved HK the first time I went over a year ago with Annelyse! I ordered the LUXE GUIDE HONG KONG and we researched for a good place to stay. It brought us to this London style flat in a hotel called Hotel Jen. The hotel is located about 10 minutes by taxi from the city center.
A four hour and a few minutes flight later, I was in Hong Kong. I had a welcome committee from Josh, Henry, and Mitchell! It was a wonderful surprise. We went to the hotel first, changed, and were on our way out for a night on the town! We went to Wan Chai. I was in Wan Chai the year before as the friend I was visiting, Becky, was living in that area. It was fun to revisit that place. We went out for a bit of dancing and drinking and then discovered we were quite hungry. I told Josh that I remembered a restaurant called the Flying Saucer! Low and behold it was right above our heads! Ha ha! So we went in for a late night breakfast!
The next day took us to Kowloon. We took the star ferry across the river and hopped on a bus. We went to far but that was okay because we discovered a new part of town! We wandered around and I introduced Josh to egg tarts! Egg tarts are a pastry filled treat with egg custard in the center! YUM!
We finally found what we were looking for! The JADE MARKET! We bought a few gifts and had fun bargaining our way through the market! After shopping we went to the Peninsula Hotel for afternoon tea. It is “the thing to do” when going to Hong Kong. We sat there for about two hours enjoying conversation, tea, sandwiches, and cakes! After tea, Josh suggested we walk around and look at the shops in the hotel. That lead us to Harry Winston and Tiffany & CO. I especially had fun oogling over the diamonds at Harry Winston. Josh then took me to Tiffany’s =) It was our anniversary in a few days. He told me I could pick something out (within a budget). We selected this gorgeous bangle! I have worn it almost every day since! What an AWESOME day that was!!
In the evening we found ourselves out on the town at a place called “DRAGON BAR”. It was in a very trendy area of town. We hopped around different bars and clubs. We were dressed to impress and really enjoyed our evening out!
The second day brought us to a very lovely restaurant for brunch! We ordered a few dishes and of course shared. We always share food that way we get to try a bunch of different things! We walked around after brunch soaking up the rich culture in Hong Kong. It is a beautiful blend of east and west ☺ The evening took us to Kowloon where we took in the sites and smells of the night market! I bought a bag and two paintings! After a lot of bargaining it was time for dinner! Our one requirement was that we could drink San Miguel ☺ We found a restaurant and didn’t really get a choice in whether or not we wanted to stay. We asked if they had San Miguel and that translated as sit down and 2 seconds later we will give you two HUGE San Miguels! We ate seafood and rice. Then it was back over to the HK side and drinks at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel! It was a great way to end 2 wonderful days!
The last day we enjoyed a dim sum lunch. You can’t go to Hong Kong, China without eating dim sum. Dim sum is like Chinese tapas. You order several small dishes and they come out to you! We ordered dumplings, duck, and goose at this one restaurant. It is a “famous” place to enjoy dim sum! We REALLY enjoyed this meal! It was the epitome of Hong Kong food to a T. It was then off to the airport for me and back to Narita!
Can’t beat two trips in one month! What a lovely trip to Hong Kong that was!
May was certainly a very exciting month for me! It was a lot of travel and time spent with Josh! The USS John S. McCain was to set sail for the land of egg tarts! That’s right – Hong Kong!
It didn’t take much convincing to get me to go to Hong Kong once more. I really loved HK the first time I went over a year ago with Annelyse! I ordered the LUXE GUIDE HONG KONG and we researched for a good place to stay. It brought us to this London style flat in a hotel called Hotel Jen. The hotel is located about 10 minutes by taxi from the city center.
A four hour and a few minutes flight later, I was in Hong Kong. I had a welcome committee from Josh, Henry, and Mitchell! It was a wonderful surprise. We went to the hotel first, changed, and were on our way out for a night on the town! We went to Wan Chai. I was in Wan Chai the year before as the friend I was visiting, Becky, was living in that area. It was fun to revisit that place. We went out for a bit of dancing and drinking and then discovered we were quite hungry. I told Josh that I remembered a restaurant called the Flying Saucer! Low and behold it was right above our heads! Ha ha! So we went in for a late night breakfast!
The next day took us to Kowloon. We took the star ferry across the river and hopped on a bus. We went to far but that was okay because we discovered a new part of town! We wandered around and I introduced Josh to egg tarts! Egg tarts are a pastry filled treat with egg custard in the center! YUM!
We finally found what we were looking for! The JADE MARKET! We bought a few gifts and had fun bargaining our way through the market! After shopping we went to the Peninsula Hotel for afternoon tea. It is “the thing to do” when going to Hong Kong. We sat there for about two hours enjoying conversation, tea, sandwiches, and cakes! After tea, Josh suggested we walk around and look at the shops in the hotel. That lead us to Harry Winston and Tiffany & CO. I especially had fun oogling over the diamonds at Harry Winston. Josh then took me to Tiffany’s =) It was our anniversary in a few days. He told me I could pick something out (within a budget). We selected this gorgeous bangle! I have worn it almost every day since! What an AWESOME day that was!!
In the evening we found ourselves out on the town at a place called “DRAGON BAR”. It was in a very trendy area of town. We hopped around different bars and clubs. We were dressed to impress and really enjoyed our evening out!
The second day brought us to a very lovely restaurant for brunch! We ordered a few dishes and of course shared. We always share food that way we get to try a bunch of different things! We walked around after brunch soaking up the rich culture in Hong Kong. It is a beautiful blend of east and west ☺ The evening took us to Kowloon where we took in the sites and smells of the night market! I bought a bag and two paintings! After a lot of bargaining it was time for dinner! Our one requirement was that we could drink San Miguel ☺ We found a restaurant and didn’t really get a choice in whether or not we wanted to stay. We asked if they had San Miguel and that translated as sit down and 2 seconds later we will give you two HUGE San Miguels! We ate seafood and rice. Then it was back over to the HK side and drinks at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel! It was a great way to end 2 wonderful days!
The last day we enjoyed a dim sum lunch. You can’t go to Hong Kong, China without eating dim sum. Dim sum is like Chinese tapas. You order several small dishes and they come out to you! We ordered dumplings, duck, and goose at this one restaurant. It is a “famous” place to enjoy dim sum! We REALLY enjoyed this meal! It was the epitome of Hong Kong food to a T. It was then off to the airport for me and back to Narita!
Can’t beat two trips in one month! What a lovely trip to Hong Kong that was!
Catching up…
Spring brought two amazing trips with Josh. Every year in Japan there is a holiday called “Golden Week” . There are several holidays strung together and we are able to take a few days off of work and travel if we so wish!
Josh and I contacted a travel agency called No.1 Travel. I have used this company before as they are very good at finding great deals. We asked about what would be the most cost efficient trip for us and it lead us to the US commonwealth of Saipan.
Josh and I were sold on this right away. I had found a guide book in my apartment left from the girl before me. I was casually looking through it when I discovered that the Hyatt offered military discounts. YES! I called and asked how much a room would cost in this particular week in May. The military discount slashed the rooms price to less than half! So needless to say, Josh said cool and we were on our merry way!
Several weeks of anticipation, two duffel bags packed, and a bus ride to Narita later, we were on our way to a little America less than three hours away! We arrived very late at night and enjoyed a very late night snack from a place called D.J.s Deli , a 24h snack shop located in our hotel lobby. We took our snacks out on the beach to enjoy the sound of the ocean…
We saw many little black lumpy things on the ground. Then one moved!! We soon realized that FROGS surrounded us! Ha ha ha! Throughout our trip it became a game of how many frogs we would see on our way from the beach back to the hotel lobby!
Our 6 days spent in the American/Japanese paradise were days that I will never forget. We enjoyed eating local foods and fruits! I loved trying coconut out of a coconut for the first time! We loved laying on the beach and swimming in the cool waters of the south Pacific. We went to Managaha island and enjoyed seeing the WWII wreckage. We rented a car for a day to discover the island. We went hiking and even rode jet skis! The trip of course wasn’t complete without going to Hard Rock café and enjoying a Cinco de Mayo fiesta! We also discovered a “new” beer to us – The very delicious San Miguel from the Philippines! A few nights were spent throwing darts, playing pool, and even doing a litttttlllleeee gambling!
The sunsets were gorgeous, the people very friendly, the sites wonderful, the company phenomenal, and I can honestly say this was one of the best vacations I have ever taken! =)
I <3>
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