Seoul, South Korea

I promised I'd catch you up on what you missed during the last three months (rather, what I neglected to tell you!), so here is a little bit about our trip to Seoul, South Korea.

Namdaemun Market

Insadong (yes, those signs say:
FREE HUG)!

Joe needed to attend a work conference there in early May, so Jackson, Jacob and I decided to tag along. It was a short flight, less than two hours from Tokyo, so no jet lag, yes! Before we left for our trip, I received some invaluable tips from my friend, Angela, whose family is from South Korea and who also studied abroad in Seoul during college, about where to go and what to see. Once we hit the ground, Joe had a day before his conference started so we starting our sight-seeing. First we went to the Namdaemun Market, which is this cool, ancient, outdoor marketplace that has been in existence for over 600 years! You can find almost anything you're looking for there from clothing and shoes to kitchen items to tasty treats. From there we explored a multi-level department store called Shinsegae. We ate authentic Korean BBQ at one of the restaurants inside, grabbed a cool treat at another spot, and let the boys run around in the rooftop park. After that, we went to Insadong, another cool, outdoor shopping area. This was my favorite place we visited in Seoul. The area had a very laid back feel to it and we were able to pick up great souvenirs there.

Prayer lanterns at Jogye Temple

I knew Joe was going to be working almost all of the time we were in Korea, so I was prepared to explore Seoul by myself with the two dudes. Let me just say what a huge fan I am of bus tours. They are the perfect way to check out a new place, especially with kids. I know they are a super touristy thing to do, but I don't have to tell a taxi driver where to go in a foreign language (that I don't know), I don't have to pay for a taxi each time we go to a different place and the tour group leader keeps an eye on us! All while he's explaining Korean history to us! Score! Our first bus tour took us to the Jogye Temple, the Gyeongbok Palace and the National Folk Museum. To the right, you can see the rows and rows of colorful prayer lanterns that were hanging out side of the temple. There were also thousands of white ones in memory of the passengers who were killed in the Korean ferry boat tragedy. Below, is a depiction of what a changing of the guard would have looked like during the Joseon Dynasty (between 1392-1897). Below that, is the actual Gyeongbok Palace. Can you see the pagoda in the background? I was struck by the juxtaposition of my surroundings; an ancient palace, beautiful, rolling, green hills, and skyscrapers. Very cool.

A reenactment of the changing of the guard
ceremony at Gyongbok Palace

Gyeongbok Palace

A sea turtle at the
Coex Aquarium

Let me tell you a bit about our hotel... We stayed at the beautiful InterContinental Hotel in Gangnam (you know that song, Gangnam Style by Psy? Yep, that's where we were!) The service was excellent and the people were so extremely helpful and forgiving of my sometimes crazy kiddos. Besides that, there was an entire shopping mall, complete with Aquarium (and Starbucks!) in the basement of the hotel! It was amazing because we were wondering what to do on the following rainy day. Jackson and Jacob had a great time checking out the marine life, while I enjoyed my iced chai tea latte. Joe had a bit of time away from the conference that afternoon and wanted to catch up on some zzz's, so while he and the boys napped, I was able to sneak across the street from the hotel to a place called the Bongeunsa Temple. In 2010, I journeyed to the most sacred Catholic cathedrals in Italy; it only took being in this compound of Buddhist temples for a few minutes, for me to realize I was in a place just as spiritual. It was moving to see people, monks included, so deeply practicing their religion. The architecture of the structures and the history of the 1,200 year-old temples were so significant to me. And once again, the compound included almost forest-like land, but was surrounded by skyscrapers.

Inside one of the Buddhist temples
at Bongeunsa

Inside another temple at Bongeunsa

The Great Statue of Maitreya Buddha
32m (105ft) tall

The view from the hill behind the Maitreya Buddha

A pond and gazebo at the
Secret Garden

Feeling rejuvenated, the next day Jackson and Jacob and I jumped on a another bus tour to check out the Changdeok Palace Palace including the Secret Garden and the N Seoul Tower. The Changdeok Palace was the secondary palace where the last king spent much of his hard life before the fall of the Joseon Dynasty. The structures aren't nearly as intricate as they are at the Gyeongbok Palace and the king remained in just one or two rooms instead of living comfortably throughout the compound. The nearby Secret Garden was a place the kings and queens often visited on vacation during the summers to fish and frolic in the sun. It was beautiful, even on a rainy day. Jackson and Jacob enjoyed running around in circles at the top of the N Seoul tower, but I was able to get them to stop for just a second as I snapped this (dark) picture. Only 10,031km (6233 miles) to Denver! At 237m high (777ft), you are able to get a 360 degree panoramic view of Seoul and the surroundings areas, but because it was cloudy and rainy, we weren't able to see quite as far into the distance. It was still great seeing the beautiful city through the clouds. The walls of thousands of colorful "love locks" at the N Seoul Tower were cool to see too! There were many couples, young and old, placing their special love lock onto the wall, making a wish and tossing the key over the edge (even though you're not supposed to!).

Jackson and Jacob at the top of the
N Seoul Tower

Jackson in front of the "love locks"
wall at the N Seoul Tower

Overall, we had a wonderful time in Korea. We explored Seoul, took in some history, did some shopping, and ate some amazing food. We are definitely looking forward to returning there some day.

The next stop, in retrospect, the US: Colorado, South Dakota and Texas.

Thank you so much for reading. I love you.

XOL

Fuji san

Hi there!

Ok, I know, I know, I haven't posted in like 3 months... Will you forgive me? I promise to start updating more frequently and to catch you up on my life happenings you've missed. Deal? Ok... Let's talk about Mt. Fuji! (By the way, the word "san" is mountain in Japanese so Mt Fuji is referred to Fuji san here) I climbed it on Friday night and into Saturday morning, woo hoo! It was one of the most amazing experiences.

Let's climb Mt Fuji!

Most Japanese people consider themselves followers of the Shinto religion (as well as the Buddhist religion) where they essentially worship nature. In the Shinto religion, Fuji san is a deity. So each year between July 1st and roughly September 10th (the only time of the year that the trails are open to climbers because the weather is warm enough), millions of people make their pilgrimage to Fuji san. (The trails were pretty crowded!)

My amazing friend and organizer of our trip, Chun, has climbed Fuji san eight times so when she asked me if I wanted to join her, I knew I couldn't pass up the opportunity to climb the most picturesque mountain in the world while crossing something off my bucket list. Chun said the only way to climb Fuji san is at night so you can see the sun rise from the top... I said, why not? So a group of seven of us put on all of our gear and off we went by bus from Tokyo to the 5th Station of Mt Fuji. We arrived around 6pm but waited until around 8:30pm to start climbing. Here in Tokyo, I live at about 30 meters above sea level (about 100 feet) and the 5th Station is just over 2000 meters (about 6500 feet, which is the distance above sea level I lived at in Denver!) so we had to take the time to acclimate. Then we started our ascent in the dark. We climbed up and up and up to the 6th Station, 7th Station, 8th Station, 8.5th Station, and everything in between. There are little cottages, as they are called, in between the official stations where you can stop and rest, go to the bathroom, buy food and drinks, and most importantly, catch your breath! I am honestly surprised you don't have to have actual rock climbing equipment with you when you "climb" Fuji san! The reason why the mountain is so picturesque is because the timberline is so low. We started hiking on dirt but as we ascended, the ground became covered in lava rock of all different sizes and colors (Mt Fuji is an active volcano, after all) and then huge boulders which we literally had to climb up by making sure our feet and hands had secure places to go to support our weight. I definitely got a cardio workout in as well as some serious strength training - my legs and booty are still sore! As we were ascending to the 8.5th Station, something awful happened... It started raining. And I mean raining. You know those waterproof pants I bought specifically for this journey because the guy at the store said they were waterproof? Yep, not waterproof. Same with my gloves and even my "waterproof" jacket didn't hold up. So, I was wet... and freezing. We made it to the 8.5th at about 2am and we still had almost three hours until the sun was set to rise. So we decided to pay 3000 yen, about 30 dollars, to go inside the cottage there for 3 hours. Side note: some people hike Fuji san during the day, pay to sleep in a cottage and wake up just before sunrise. This is one way to do it, but apparently sleeping isn't really something you can do with strangers on all sides of you, crammed together like sardines. Besides that, people (like me and my group) are coming and going all night so it's anything but quiet. Anyway, we didn't pay to sleep, we simply paid just to have a structure over our heads and to get dry and wait until a) it stopped raining or b) the sun rose. Well, because I was wet and freezing, I was like, there is no way I am going back out there and if I do, it will be to go down! But, after taking off all of my wet clothes, borrowing a warm, dry fleece from one of my generous fellow hikers, and laying on the heated floor of the cottage, I was good to go again!

The sunrise from the 8.5th Station

We saw the sun rise through the clouds, although it wasn't the amazing sunrise everyone makes the journey to see with all of the rain and fog, but it was breathtaking nonetheless. I remember thinking, I am here, I did this, and I am nothing in the grand scheme of things. Not like I don't mean anything, just that I gained so much perspective that my problems aren't huge, this mountain is huge, these clouds are huge, this world is huge, you know? It was such a huge moment for me! My friends and I were overcome with joy. Let's keep climbing.

The view from the 10th Station

We ascended to the 9th Station, which is very small structure that you can't even enter, and then to the 10th Station. We made it! I made it! There is a Shinto Shrine at the 10th Station as well as a few large structures where you can rest and eat. We did just that. Also, I purchased a little wooden stick at the 5th Station that I got "stamped" all along the way, so I got my final stamp at the shrine at the 10th. Now, usually people get to the 10th Station of Mt Fuji, end their pilgrimage and start their descent. But we were going all the way... all the way to the 3776m that Fuji san is known for. And I'm so glad we did. There is a little post office along the way to the"real top", which I LOVED. I was able to purchase an official "certificate of successful ascent of Mt Fuji" which the postal worker postmarked with the date. It is now one of my most cherished belongings. They also had one of Japan's well-recognized red mailboxes out in front of the building.

Me at the post office near the "real top" of Mt Fuji

At the very top of Fuji san, 3776m, there was a little weather center and a marble post basically stating that we were at the top. The weather was so crazy up there! Even though it wasn't raining anymore, the wind was insane! Move over Cheyenne, Wyoming, haha! I swear I actually saw weather happening. The clouds would blow out of the crater of the volcano from every direction. Clouds that I would see over the horizon on my descent, I'm sure of it. From there, we hiked around the crater we were looking down in to (I wish I could have gotten a picture but they were just white because of all the clouds). After returning back to the "real top" we began our descent around 9am.

At first I thought, ahhhhhh, this is nice! What a nice break on my blistered heels and no more huffing and puffing. I was able to practically jog down the mountain with ease on the soft lava rock (there is a different trail you descend upon). That lasted for about an hour. Then I just wanted down off that mountain! The terrain became rougher and I slipped falling backwards with almost every step I took. The glory is in climbing the mountain! Can't there be a gondola or cog train to take us down? Besides embarking on one of the most physically demanding adventures I've ever done by climbing Fuji san, I climbed instead of slept that night! I was just tired at that point, but realized I had to do it. I had to get down if I ever wanted to see my bed and pillow. The one thing that made up for the descent, was when I realized that I was literally coming down out of the clouds. I could see the clouds below me for so long, but noticed at one point that it was getting foggy. Not fog, clouds. (I guess fog is clouds!) I enjoyed a few minutes of the descent anyway!

My climbing friends and I drinking celebratory sake
Group selfie photo credit: Naomi King

At about 1pm, we reached the 5th Station where we started the night before. It felt so good; we celebrated by drinking sake! Then we took a bus to an onsen, which is a Japanese hot spring turned public bath, which felt great on my sore muscles, and then to a hardy dinner. Then it was another 2 1/2 hour bus ride to Tokyo and another 2 trains and 2 blocks to my bed. I did it.

A lot of people say Fuji san is something you do once, but never again... personally, I cannot wait to do it again! What a cool experience! But, it might be Joe's turn next year... We'll see!

Thanks so much for reading and forgiving me for such a delay in posting! I want to leave you with an interesting question: I wrote that there are Stations and cottages (and a post office!) where you can eat and sleep and such. Those places obviously have employees who make and serve the food among other things. How do the workers get to work everyday? A question I am still wondering... Any guesses?!?

Until next time,

Thank you so much for reading. I love you.

XOL