how has another almost month flown by so quickly? they told me the second semester would be faster than the first, but this is truly something else.
as the last of the tsukumodai fam moved out of the dorm, i also packed my bags. and flew off to korea!
we were welcomed into the country by two of the coolest fellow backpackers we could hope for, and were stoked to discover they had similar travel plans. shout out quickly to vince for taking so much time out to hang with us as well! :D
we kicked off the ten day adventure with 10000won all-you-can-eat kbbq, and followed it up with sul bing bingsoo.
this stuff puts かき氷 to shame. sorry japan.
blueberry and cream cheese…
the following day was spent wandering the streets of myeong dong with our newly made friends. :D the somewhat messy roads of korea are kind of refreshing and so was the big western-styled cathedral which took us way too long to find. i’m sure the water feature could have been refreshing too, but our trip didn’t offer enough sunlight for us to justify trying.
that evening, the group indulged my boys over flowers obsession and we headed up again to the beautiful n tower.
almost missed the sunset because we were inside the tower taking selfies in the hello kitty store and trying to find bubble tea. no ragrets.
vince took us around the night markets in myeong dong for dinner and dessert, and we gorged ourselves on some of the most incredible food i’ve had in korea. mashisoyo! ;)
in our final days of being in seoul, we were taken to a buffet (dongha-oppa gomawoyo!) and then vince and curt spent a day with us at the beautiful palace and a nearby hannok village.
learnt what they use the water wheel for hahah
they used to be able to drink this water..
a library/cafe in the palace grounds!
wouldn’t mind studying here for a day in my hanbok
samgaetang is probably my favourite korean dish. cheers juri!
does anyone remember the city hunter scenes from here? ;___;
debuted my hanbok in these beautiful streets (thanks curt and vince for being my photographers!)
and then we were flying off to jeju island, where we proceeded to spend most of our time stuck in our cute airbnb apartment, as the clouds mourned for us from above.
the biggest tragedy, is that this was our doorstep.
the one day we managed to go for a walk.
safe to say, we hurried to make the most of the one sunny day we had.
alternated between ‘swimming’ and sleeping on the warm sand.
cutest street running parallel to the shoreline
and then there was the sunset.
this trail took us to a lookout where we could see our beach <3
thankful for one day of what we had envisioned jeju island to be like, we hopped back onto a plane, and zoomed over to busan.
from our plane window, we were able to sneak a peak at the mountain we had hoped to visit
strangely, having come from jeju, we found busan to be even more couply.
too many plates, not enough cake.
but it was here that i was finally able to meet a friend from australia who had been in japan for THREE WHOLE MONTHS and somehow we didn’t have time to meet in all that time and then SUDDENLY SHE WAS IN KOREA AND I GOT TO SEE MY MITA WOOOOO. <3 <3 <3 although we might have spent an incredible amount of time sitting on various chairs in a furniture store, i couldn’t have been happier about our busan stay.
and then, as always, my homesickness for osaka kicked in and the plane home became my best friend.
the next episode of adventure was the long awaited family visit. my preparation largely included finally cleaning up my room from august’s mess (ew. i know.) and checking out usj’s halloween event with my remaining time.
japanese.. not zombies, but they might as well be. *shudder*
i think i screamed more than the first time i tried the flying dinosaur ride. why is this even legal.
and then they arrived! mum, two aunties and two uncles and my uncle’s selfy stick, all in one city with me. it was a lot to manage and i’m glad to say i only lost them a few times in the city. somehow, everyone has made it home.
our first big stop was kyoto. we visited the fushimi inari, kiyomizu temple, nijo-jo, and arashiyama where i became dinner for a thousand mosquitos.
the best shot we could get of the fushimi inari lol
bamboo forest arashiyama!
waited for a painful amount of time to get a clear shot of this shrine which i don’t even know the name of
finally getting my veggie intake cause yay thanks mum
at night, i was able to meet the girls from our korea trip again, and some cute japanese girls let us play with fireworks with them by the river. ice cream, pudding, and maccas fries made for a pleasant catch-up before they headed to the capital, and i headed back to osaka.
perhaps one of our most precious days together was thanks to the ramen museum in ikeda. with free entry and then just 300yen to design our own cupnoodle cups, the fam was able to bond over the lack of artistic ability which seems to run in our genetics.
sadly, THIS was the best out of all of them…
the area of ikeda had more to offer than i could imagine, but since it required a lot of walking, we chose a cute shopping street to explore. there, we found an adorable coffee shop with an adorable lady who made us coffee, brought us cake, let us take photos of all her decor, and then eventually photos with her, and then she indulged us with random photos on her phone as well. i’m still feeling mild regrets that we didn’t straight up invite her into the family.
i’ll never get sick of this look
kobe was our next day’s destination, and we were greeted by rain and a gigantic line outside my favourite kobe steak restaurant. although the steak was a little overcooked, our stomachs were happy by the end of lunch, and we slowly made our way to the coffee museum in minamikouen. the ramen museum set the bar a little too high, but we still enjoyed some complimentary south american coffee.
free coffee for a non-coffee drinker
as we exited the building, heavy rain led us to IKEA, where we managed to spend two hours looking at things we had no intention of buying. and of course, eating meatballs and cake.
my uncle and his kids curry, box fruit drink and cup jelly included.
the next day was a much needed break, spent hanging around the dorm with an old friend before we headed to another friend’s place for some home-cooked shabushabu and fifa. :D
the remainder of my family’s trip was split between shinsaibashi/namba trips, nara and a lovely trip to wakayama, thanks to the wonderful soki.
calbi icecream is somehow just as nice as calbi chips haha
more bingsoo, with kinoko-yuzu toast to boot
took pictures of this pretty cafe in nara, but not of the deer oops
pretty street in wakayama
watched this man destroy a huge tuna
european styled theme park
紀伊風土記の丘 (kii hu doki no oka)
they are literally everywhere.
hiked up a huge mountain…
and a botanical garden with more stairs than plants yep
my last few days have been a peculiar combination of meeting new people and farewelling the few people left from the semester before. it’s probably as close a feeling to time travel as i have ever come. but i’m glad for the new noise in the dorm and i’m ready as ever for another semester in osaka!
day #191: chapter two how has another almost month flown by so quickly? they told me the second semester would be faster than the first, but this is truly something else.
