Our Life Abroad @chanchiangtx - Tumblr Blog

2016.09.16 // Chuseok with Family Our family from Taipei visited us in Seoul during the Chuseok (Mid-Autumn Festival) holiday. We spent the afternoon at Gyeongbokgung, enjoying the sunshine and beautiful weather!

2016.09.22 // Final Days in Seoul Three weeks to pack up and move out!

2016.08.25 - 31 // Hong Kong

2016.08.14 - 15 // Lake Kawaguchi

After spending two days in our hiking clothes, we spent the next 24 hours in nothing but a robe and slippers, relaxing at a ryokan overlooking the lake. We all spent the afternoon in the onsen, getting massages, and napping before reconvening for a Kaiseki meal together. On Monday morning we took the train(s) back to Tokyo and had a final, amazing omakase sushi meal before going our separate ways.

2016.08.13 - 14 // Mount Fuji Sunrise We're in Japan for the weekend! It's a holiday weekend in Korea, with Monday being Liberation Day, when Japan surrendered to the Allied Forces in WWII and essentially freed Korea from its rule. This is also our 3rd wedding anniversary! On the day we were married, I never would have fathomed that the next three years would have happened the way they have. And I'm forever grateful that we've taken these leaps together! We all flew into Tokyo last night, then we caught a bus early Saturday morning from Shinjuku to the 5th Station of Mount Fuji, at about 2300m above sea level. And then we hiked... It took about 6 hours to complete the final 1500m ascent to the summit. We all felt the affects of the altitude to varying degrees and timing. There are stations along the way where you can rest, use the restroom, replenish water and snack supplies, and sometimes even have a hot meal. Once at the summit, we then walked another 20-30 minutes around the crater to get to the guesthouse where we would sleep for the night. We all had a hot meal - curry rice - before settling in for the night. Lights out at 7pm, I think most of us didn't sleep much though. It was close quarters with all the other hikers plus the altitude and anxiousness made sleeping difficult. By 4 am we were all packed up and back on the trail to find a spot to watch the sunrise. We found a nice flat, elevated area directly in front of the sunrise! It was a really cool experience to be above the clouds! We made our descent back to the 5th Station, then ate some lunch (breakfast?) and shopped for souvenirs before catching a bus to our next destination: Lake Kawaguchi!

2016.06.30 // Orientation Today

It’s been one week since Alan returned to Seoul, one full week on my own in Taipei. I visited the Taipei zoo one morning; unsurprisingly, most of the outdoor animals were napping and hiding in shady spots. Luckily many of them made mobile appearances around 11am - lunchtime!

I made an afternoon trip to Jiufen, an old gold mining town on the northern coast of Taiwan - saw the sunset over the water, explored the market streets, and sampled the various street foods. My favorite was an ice cream wrap - two scoops of taro ice cream, shaved peanut candy, wrapped in popiah.

I’ve been exploring the neighborhood where I’m living and discovering many great cafes and bistros and coffee shops. A surprising number of bottle shops, too. I’ve already picked out my go-to beef and beer bistro for times when I just don’t want to cook or don’t want to put energy into finding a new place to eat at.

The apartment is near the Keelung River so I made an attempt to do a river jog. It was so humid that I cut it short after 3-km and made my way back home. Although the river has jogging and biking paths, it’s much less developed than the Han River back home so I don’t yet feel comfortable with the idea of jogging at night.

One of my friends from Seoul was in town for work, so we met up for an evening of exploring the area next to NTU. Specifically, we went to eat guo bao, braised pork belly buns. It was delicious, served with pickled greens, peanut powder, and cilantro. We also snacked on pepper buns and scallion pancake, the super thick fluffy ones that look like a giant pizza slice.

Orientation for school was today. Picked up my class schedule and books. First day is tomorrow!

2016.06.23 // Summer in Taipei I'll be spending the summer in Taipei studying Mandarin at NTNU! Alan and I have been here together for five days, getting me settled into the apartment and registering for class. He's on a plane back to Seoul now :( We've been here together a couple times before but always with his parents. We would usually spend our time doing family events and get whisked away in cabs and cars, never spending much time sight seeing or knowing where were were or where we were going. So this trip together is our first real tourist experience in Taipei!

2016.06.11 // Jungsik Lunch Date 8-course (plus a couple extra) tasting menu

2016.06.10 // ULTRA Korea We went to first night of the giant 3-day EDM music festival and had way too much fun dancing the night away with friends. By friends, I mean six strangers we met and bonded with immediately thanks to the wonders of the Internet and social media. One of the tourism agencies in Seoul posted a question on Facebook last week, asking people to identify where the Ultra venue will be for this year - multiple choice question, and of those who answer correctly, four people were to be selected to receive two VVIP tickets to Ultra Friday night. And I was one of those lucky winners! Our tickets scored us complimentary valet parking (but we don't have a car), VVIP entrance to the festival, a table in the VVIP area with a great view of the stage, bottle service including champagne + vodka + mixers, and use of the VVIP restrooms (nothing special about the restrooms themselves but only VVIP had access to them...no sharing with the masses, no lines, easy access from the table area, totally amazing). Bringing eight strangers together is a total crapshoot, but luckily everyone was really friendly and really into dancing and enjoying the festival!

2016.06.05 // Feels like summer! But we're not quite there yet! Enjoying the warm temperatures and sunshine as much as we can before it gets tooooo hot and humid. Seoul Drum Festival // free music festival at Seoul Plaza showcasing a variety of drum acts Jazz Festival // we attended one day of festivities and saw a variety of shows - Koh Sangji (Korean music group featuring an accordionist, xylophonist, a string quartet, an electric guitar and bass player, and a classical pianist), Esmeralda Spalding, and MARK RONSON (DJ set). Picnic at the park with friends // played badminton, ordered food delivered to us at the river! We've also been keeping up with ParkFit and did a little bit of hiking at Gwanaksan this past weekend.

2016.05.22 // Nike Women's Half Marathon FINISHED! 21 KM // 2:15:11 // SEOUL It was a HOT day, even though the race started at 8am, and we were running eastward into the sun most of the way. I was getting seriously dehydrated, feeling cold and my hands were also going numb after the first 10km. From that point on I had to completely stop at each water station and make sure I drank 1-2 cups of water instead of trying to sip and run at the same time (and consequently spilling most of the water on me). It felt awesome to cross the finish line! The mental challenge was harder than the physical one (which was still tough!) and I'm happy that I succeeded. And I don't think I ever want to do it again, haha! Alan accompanied me to the starting line, at Seoul City Hall, and made his way along the race course to cheer me on and see me at the finish line, at the gateway to Olympic Park. Love him! This was such an awesome experience to be a part of, not just running in the half but also training for it. I absolutely love the pacers at all of the runs and at the race. I don't think it's typical, but these runners ran with balloons tied to their shirt to help runners sight them and keep pace with them. Nike sponsored the sh*t out of this event, hosting free training sessions and runs for weeks leading up to the race day. There was always a team of amazing athletic photographers dashing their way around us as we ran and capturing great photos of us while running. All of the volunteers and medical staff along the race course were awesome for standing in the heat to support us. If you ever have a chance to run in a Nike race, do it! JUST DO IT!

2016.04.15 // April Adventures

Staying put in Seoul for the spring. Flowers are blooming everywhere! Hiking, picnics, rooftop weather, and so much sunshine!

2016.03.26 // Art Central + Sai Kung

We started the day off right with breakfast at a roast goose restaurant! After much discussion, we ordered a half goose and a rice plate with soya chicken. Alan and I both loved the food - it’s going to be a must-visit for all future Hong Kong trips. Then we headed off to Art Central, the local extension of Art Basel...and we loved it! Most of the galleries and art were from Asia, there was a champagne bar, and a food truck/beer garden attached to the main tents.

Did I mention that several of our friends from Seoul were also in Hong Kong for the weekend? We all met up for a boating adventure out to the Sai Kung territory for the afternoon. We had an abundance of bubbly for the trip and spent a nice chunk of time relaxing on a secluded beach. Although the temperature was a little chilly, the sun was out in full force and made for a really lovely afternoon.

2016.03.25 // Art Basel in HK

Weekend trip in Hong Kong! Alan and I realized, once we were at the airport, that we were wearing very similar shirts. That happens a lot.

We checked into our hotel in the Sai Ying Pun neighborhood, grabbed some dim sum for lunch, then headed off to Wan Chai to check out Art Basel. The exhibition was much larger than I expected it to be and it was also completely not what I expected to be. I didn’t realize that it’s geared towards selling art, hundreds of mini galleries lined up in the convention hall, displaying art pieces for sale. Alan had a short list of must-see items, so we spent our time seeking them out.

In the evening we met my cousins for dinner in Kowloon and then had a fun time perusing the Ladies Market in Mong Kok. It’s been a long time since any of us have been through there! We ended the night with drinks at the Sheraton, overlooking Victoria Harbor and the famous HK skyline.

2016.03.13 // Victor visits Seoul!

We had a few awesome visitors with us this past weekend! My friend Victor, who is like a big brother to me, and two of his buddies have been traveling around southeast Asia for a couple weeks and stopped by Seoul for a few days on their way back to the US. Among other things, we made kimchi, had fish pedicures, drank a lot of goooood makgeolli, and had a night out in Hongdae that ended at an underground hop hop club. Good times with good people!

2016.03.01 // Gaya Island Resort

Pool. Snorkel. Beach.

The resort has a second beach area on the other side of the island where we made plans to visit and lunch at after our snorkeling excursion. Because of the treacherous waves this afternoon, preventing the shuttle boat from docking at the beach, we had to cancel our plans and stuck to the regular beach and pool area. The change of scenery would have been nice, as the beach is touted as being larger, with whiter sand and even clearer water, as well as wild pigs roaming around! The regular beach was not a bad second choice though.

We made the most of our final day in KK, then headed to the airport at 9pm to catch our red-eye flight back to Seoul.

2016.02.29 // Gaya Island Resort

Off to paradise, a short boat rid away from Kota Kinabalu!

After yesterday’s rafting adventure and little sleep from the night before that, we slept in and had a leisurely morning exploring KK. We grabbed lunch at a Malaysian restaurant that also served a few dimsum dishes, then checked out of our hotel and made our way to Jesselton Point, the main ferry pier in town.

Once at the pier, we checked into our hotel and grabbed a popsicle snack while we waited for our boat transport to the island where we will be staying for the next two days. After a 10 minute jet boat ride, we arrived at Gaya Island Resort - the scenery is absolutely stunning, lush and green, and the resort is amazing! We made a beeline for the pool and set up shop on some loungers nestled between the pool and the beach for the rest of the afternoon :o)

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