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Category: ShamandaRTW

Taipei, Part One

Taipei, Part One

We have made it to Taiwan, and let me tell you something: we are totally in love with this place! It has quickly become clear this country is the hidden gem of Asia. From busy streets to happy and relaxed people, we fall harder each day. We arrived on Sunday afternoon. After finding our way into the city center, we met up with our Taiwanese dad, Michael. Michael is my friend Stephanie’s dad (Stephanie is one of my best friends in…

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Adventures in Geumgang Park (Video)

Adventures in Geumgang Park (Video)

On our last day in Korea, Amanda and I headed out of Busan to Geumgang Park, up yet another cable car. If you want the audiovisual version of the story, just watch. Otherwise, scroll down and read on: We knew finding Seokbulsa temple would be difficult because the guidebook said so, and it was correct. We hiked in the wrong direction for 40 minutes and had to turn around and hike nearly all the way back to the cablecar. In…

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Korea, Pt. 2: Seoul – Busan

Korea, Pt. 2: Seoul – Busan

After our Bukhansan adventure, we needed serious rest, so rest is what we did. All day, in fact. It was our laziest day in a month, and it felt well deserved. We gorged on bibimbap, blogged, watched Netflix, slept. We were so tired and sore from the hike, that it was needed. When you’re on the go all the time, it’s good to take a break here and there. We had one more day in Seoul and had a few…

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Bukhansan National Park

Bukhansan National Park

We did something really special on Monday, as Amanda alluded to in her Seoul post. We decided to see what trouble we could get into just outside of Seoul, so we packed our day-packs and hopped on the bus bound for Bukhansan National Park. Supposedly Bukhansan is filled with tons of great hikes that probably don’t get enough attention. That said, we wanted to check out the very popular Baegundae Peak, the highest point in South Korea. It turns out we couldn’t have picked…

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Seoul

Seoul

We arrived in Seoul on Thursday. We were picked up from the subway by our Airbnb host and have settled into our place well. We quickly fell in love with our neighborhood, Hongdae, which is the university district of Seoul. Our first meal out was Korean BBQ, of course. We were wandering the streets of Hongdae and turned down an alley, where we saw a line, so we immediately got in it, not knowing what the food would be like….

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Last Days in Japan

Last Days in Japan

We left Kyoto and headed for Osaka on Saturday, which, it turns out, is only an hour away by train. Also, why did we decide that five days in Osaka was a good idea? Oh yeah, that’s because EVERY RYOKAN IN NARA OR ELSEWHERE WAS BOOKED. So we said fuck it. We’ll take it easy for our last few days – eat all our favorite food, see some sites, take a day trip or two. So that’s what we did….

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Kobe

Kobe

We went to Kobe! It’s an easy 45 min ride from Osaka on the train, and there’s plenty to do to fill at least a day trip. We did the obvious (and gaijin) thing and ate the beef, then ventured up the nearby mountain. Terrible ketchup and not nearly enough fries for this Frenchman, but the burger was good. We decided to head up the fancy ropeway in Kobe, which took us up the mountain to an herb garden, forest, and…

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Mt. Kurama

Mt. Kurama

Amanda already wrote a bit about Kurama, but it’s worth a second mention because it’s great (and I took videos)! Less than an hour from Kyoto, you can get there via the JR Eizan line, which winds through lovely tree-covered mountains. Once you get to Kurama Station, walk up the hill to the entrance and either hike 30 min to the top or pay 200 yen per person to ride the funky cable car. We rode up and hiked back down…

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Kyoto

Kyoto

After a long journey, we arrived in Kyoto on Monday evening. Tuesday, we set out to explore the sites of the city. Our first stop was Higashi Honganji, a temple right near our hostel. Kyoto has a much more traditional feel to it, so we wandered around the streets exploring random temples and shrines, and just taking in the sights. We also had a delicious tsukemen lunch. The next day, we went to Arashiyama, which is west of Kyoto and…

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A Few Hokkaido Highlights and Getting Back on the Gaijin Trail

A Few Hokkaido Highlights and Getting Back on the Gaijin Trail

Hokkaido was incredible and I want to call out a few highlights that weren’t really mentioned: We ate something called Jingisukan (named after Ghengis Khan), which is lamb meat that you cook on this grill on your table. It was delicious. And yes, we are eating mammal on this trip. It’s too hard to avoid in Asia. The fall colors. They were just starting to appear, but what we did get to see was worth it. Visiting an onsen. Even…

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