A Year Away

Photo from 2018/2019

    "New year, new me". A sentence said by many, sometimes repeatedly throughout their lives, and now it is my turn. Or my year. 2024 is forecasted to bring many exciting adventures, changes, and hopefully improvements for me and my family, but before we get into that, I think I should start with where I've been. 

     Last year was a year of getting established and getting grounded. After the years of COVID, 2023 felt like the year of starting over or returning to pre-pandemic days. We went to several of our friends' weddings, went to baby showers, and started to experience life again. Roy started working again and quickly excelled while I returned to my true passion for fitness and recreation. New lifestyle changes, new apartments, new cars, and most importantly new adventures all to read about. The most exciting part about last year was our travels to Saudi Arabia. 

     Of course, if you'd rather skip the reading and see the picture timeline, you can see it on my Instagram, or you can see a quick highlight video on my TikTok.

     Let's start at the beginning; a month-by-month play-by if you will. At the beginning of the year, Roy started personal training again and is still currently in the process of building up his online presence. Readers, if you have some time we would both appreciate it if you could give his platforms some love: | Website | Instagram | TikTok | Youtube | He also does some training at a local gym and continues to enjoy training and building up his social media. 

     In the early spring, we took a weekend trip to the coast to attend the wedding of one of my friends. We took the opportunity to spend some time at one of our favorite towns, Lincoln City, and searched the shoreline for glass balls. Unfortunately, we didn't find any glass, but the weather was good and we made a fun road trip out of it. The wedding took place in Newport, so we also got to spend some time seeing the attractions of Newport. 

Red Sea

    A month later we packed our suitcases, checked our visa, and took a month-long trip to Saudi Arabia. Since the direct flights to Saudi were not available, we had to take a slightly longer route and a short detour. Our flight to Saudi Arabia went to Qatar first and we had a six-hour layover in Qatar. Since we didn't have enough time to leave the airport we wandered the Doha airport and enjoyed the beautiful indoor garden they have. Doha even has an indoor pool, but we choose not to swim, although, next time I might have to (just for the Instagram picture). We arrived in Jeddah late at night and went straight to our rental. 

     We traveled during the month of Ramadan and while Roy had informed me that the day would be quiet, I was surprised by how different observing Ramadan was in a truly Muslim country. Like many, we spent our days inside, resting and fasting, then explored the city at night after Iftar. However, I did drag Rowaid out of the house for a few days to go take Instagram pictures with me. Especially in Old Town Jeddah, Al-Balad. The beautiful architecture and experience of Arabian culture at night were busy, with people enjoying games, food, and re-enactments of life and other various Ramadan activities, but during the day, while everyone was fasting the streets were empty. Same with the beach. In the photo, I am along the beach at the Jeddah Corniche, a waterfront park with sculptures and events. Typically it is very busy, with lots of people enjoying everything to offer, but the first few days we were there during the month of Ramadan it was quiet and setting up for a festival. 

     For Eid, we traveled to spend time with Roy's family. I got to see other parts of Saudi Arabia and visit Roy's childhood memories. Other places we visited while in Saudi, included KAEC -King Abdullah Economic City and Thuwal. While in KAEC we visited more of Roy's family, swam in the sea, and explored the city. In Thuwal we went to the fish market. We got to select our fish, and after they cooked it to our liking we got to enjoy a traditional Saudi sea dish. The fish market was probably my favorite part of the trip. Not only is seafood a favorite of mine, but it was a great experience of the culture and a great bonding moment with Roy's family. 

Eid

     To return home from Saudi, we took the same flight route home, with an added layover in Seattle. Once we returned home, we quickly fell back into our routines and let life carry us away. My work became really busy, really fast and I let it consume most of my time. At the end of the summer, we were able to escape to attend our first Renaissance faire, and take another trip to the Oregon coast. On our summer coast trip, we had allotted ourselves a little more time and were able to make a week of driving south to Florence, and slowly driving back up north. 

     The coast trip is one I hope to repeat again in the future, maybe in the opposite direction, but it gave us a good starting point for exploring our state. We started in Florence and spent two days between Florence and Reidsport, meeting a family friend and playing in the sand dunes before driving up to our favorite town, Lincoln City. We spent the days there relaxing and sitting on the beach before continuing up to Seaside. We went during the Hood-to-Coast race, so we enjoyed the various vendors and new attractions put up but left for Astoria before the crowds came in. 

    The final stretch of the year was filled with busy work schedules, a move to a newer, bigger apartment, and time to prepare for the new year. Now that it's 2024 there have been some big changes, the first being that I'll be starting a new job at the end of the month. We also have some big plans lined up, and if you haven't already guessed, my New Year's resolution is to get back to Samable and keep you all updated/entertained. Let me know what you want to read more of this year!

One Day in Seattle Itinerary

Chihuly 

     For Memorial Day weekend we took Amtrak up to Seattle. The train is becoming a new enjoyment of mine. The train from Portland to Seattle is approximately four hours and if you get the cheapest ticket, it is around $50 to travel round trip. Normally, I spend the train ride catching up on my latest tv drama, however this trip I had forgotten my headphones. Instead of television, I drew possible future home layouts, meal planned and caught up on social media planning. As my aunt says, the train is the perfect time to get work done because you are in an environment where it is hard to do other tasks. 

     We arrived Friday night, and had intended to unpack and go out again, however when we were walking through Capitol Hill we noticed it was rather quiet. Once we had unloaded and made it to our lodging we were tuckered out from traveling and just called it a night. We did fill our weekend with exploring and site seeing, but the day that was filled was Sunday.

     We woke up around 8:00am Sunday morning to
take an Uber to go to the Chihuly Glass Garden near the space needle. We arrived just before opening and tried to find somewhere to grab a quick bite to eat but were unsuccessful. At 9:00am we entered the museum. We spent roughly 45 minutes walking through the entire museum, with 20 of those minute spent at the end taking photos in the glass house.

    We found a coffee shop, called Vita at KEXP for breakfast and to kill some time before our next agenda item. The space appeared to be a large industrial warehouse used as a multifunctional space. I got a cookie butter latte (which was a sweet as it sounds) and Roy enjoyed an Ethiopian drip coffee. After finishing, we made our way past the International Fountain to the Space Needle

Glass Floor

     At 11:00 am we stepped in line to go up to the top of the Space Needle. The process is rather straight forward. We waited in a line for the elevator to take us to the top. While waiting in line they have a place to have a complimentary photo taken in front of a green screen for you to choose your digital background later online. They give you a ticket with a QR code to scan in various locations to take photos and download at a later time. The elevator takes you to the top observation deck. I will say, the view from on top of the Space Needle is amazing, but the poor crowd control made our experience rushed. Trying to navigate through crowds, take a photo, or even just make your way to the exit was a constant push and shove that took away from the enjoyment of seeing a spectacular view. Taking the stairs down one floor brought us into the revolving glass floor. Similar to the observation deck, it was hard to enjoy the awe of the structure and height because of others. For us, or at least for myself, the experience ending up being more of a "let's get this over with" than it was enjoyment. 

     Once we came back down from the Space Needle, we stayed in the area to find some food and enjoy the Folklife Festival that was happening. After eating some delicious gyros, we began to walk the 30 minute walk down hill towards the Seattle Aquarium. On the way we got lost and wandered through the Olympic Sculpture Park. This was my favorite non-food part of the trip. We hadn't planned to go, but I got distracted, and saw something shiny to explore. Well, not actually, but the idea is the same. 

      We made it to the Seattle Aquarium around 1:30 and headed inside. By this time of day, families were wrapped around the building and rain was just around the corner. With these factors and Memorial Day weekend, the aquarium was full of families. We rushed through the first part to the seals and otter exhibits. Overall, we only spent about 40 minutes here, but you could definitely spend longer. 

     Following the aquarium, we took an Uber back to the Museum of Pop Culture. Of everything, this was my least favorite experience. Admittedly, there was a lot of interesting relics to see, and the Indie Gaming room was a favorite of Roy and I's, but overall, I felt that the museum was incohesive and had poor flow of traffic. We did go when it was raining, and the museum was probably at capacity, if not over capacity, but realistically with the amount of people that was there it was impossible to truly enjoy any of the exhibits. 

The Crab Pot

     We ended our night with Roy's pick of food at The Crab Pot. This is the restaurant located back by the Seattle Aquarium (yes our route was poorly planned), that is known for dumping its bucket of seafood on the table for you to enjoy. Both Roy and I were excited for this and I was particularly excited to enjoy some crab. 

     Other parts of this trip included, a trip to the International District/Chinatown for coffee, tea shopping, and a visit to the Waterfall Garden. An exploration of Capitol Hill and a drive-by tour of Freemont.

Three Day Weekend in Seattle:

• 

  Space Needle

  Arrived Friday at 9:00 pm
• Saturday
• 10:00 Coffee at International District/Chinatowns
• 11:00 Tea Shopping
• 12:00 Visit the Waterfall Garden
• 1:00 Fremont Statue Tour
• 6:00 Dinner back at Capitol Hill
• Sunday
• 9:00 Chihuly Glass Garden Museum
• 10:00 Coffee
• 11:00 Space Needle
• 12:00 Folklife Festival
• 2:00 Seattle Aquarium
• 3:00 Museum of Popculture
• I would switch this with the aquarium in timeline planning.
• 6:00 The Crab Pot
• 8:00 Back to Capitol Hill
• Monday
• 10:00 Breakfast at Glo's
• 1:00 back to the train station to go home. 

Welcome to 2020 Too!

      Hello readers, friends and family and everyone else in the world. Returning from my internet sabbatical I am here again to continue telling stories. There’s a lot to unpack in this post, so sit down, grab a hot cup of coffee or tea and settle in. Let’s catch you up on the final leg of 2021 as we round into what started to be the second year of 2020… 2022. Following up on my last post we left off with the season finale of our wedding! Shortly following we celebrated the holidays.

     For Halloween we dug through the black hole in our closet to throw together costumes, feel free to name our costume in the comments! I jumped on the opportunity to return to my favorite activity, dancing! We spent our Halloween night at Dance with Joy Studios scoping out a potential venue location and learning some new moves. Dance with Joy Studios is one of my favorite locations, not because I love the owner, but because they cater to every level of dancer. While it was a small covid friendly crowd Halloween night, there were beginner and advance dancers sharing the floor and teaching each other. This is why dancing has become one of my favorite activities. Many locations in Portland mirror this atmosphere of accepting and learning. I’m definitely looking forward to the return of pre-covid dance days. 

     Our next adventure took us to Salt Lake City for Thanksgiving. After Hawaii, Roy and I were both eager to get back into a plane. Flying in on Thanksgiving morning Roy and I jumped right into family activities. For Roy it was getting to meet the family, in person, for the first time. For myself, it was catching up on the latest family shenanigans and events. Roy fit right in with the family, thankfully since I left him to fend for himself for almost two hours while I ran off with my cousins. You know what they say, sometimes the best way to learn to swim is to jump right in, I threw Roy into the deep end and shouted “Good luck” as I watched him figuratively sink under water. Luckily my uncle saved him from drowning and now they are what you could call “besties”.  

     Being Roy’s first time in Salt Lake we spent the next day showing him the sights and giving him a tour of my life. Showing him my beginning. Starting with where my parents met, their love story and my first house. Roy and I have this joke that he is secretly a Saudi prince. Of course he always denies it, but showing him the difference between an American neighborhood he almost admitted he had a mansion back home. The key word here being almost. Following the tour of Salt Lake we finished the day with a visit to my great grandma’s house. There Roy learned the family game of Oh Hell… story has it, he’s still practicing for the rematch. 

     Salt Lake was a short trip, being over Thanksgiving weekend, and the fact that we now had two brand new additions to the family to come back home to. On November 8th we officially brought home our two fur babies, Arakan and Squid. From that day on we would be known as the SlayitzFamily. Keep an eye out for that social media handle on Instagram, Tik Tok, YouTube… okay, enough plugging, back to the important part - the kittens. Squid is our baby girl and Arakan is her brother. These two tabby’s took no time adjusting to there new home and now are the true owners to the apartment. There favorite toy being plastic springs my parents bought for them. 

     For Christmas, I took Roy on his first trip to The “Real” West, Pendleton. A quick flight there and we had left the city for good old cowboy country. Of course, most of the time was spent with family celebrating the spirit of an American Christmas, but Roy and I did take an hour to drive around the whole town. Shortly following Christmas, Roy and I took our next trip up to Seattle for New Years. 

     In Seattle we spent our first day with my best friend Calies and her boyfriend. After brunch we made our way to the Selfie Museum and the gum wall. Of course we ended our day with watching the New Years Fireworks from my aunt’s condo. 

     Now jumping into 2022, we are already at March! Well… almost April now. My final updates include a last minute trip to Pendleton for my birthday and a new job closer to home. For now Roy is still at home with the kittens, the kittens are almost full grown now, and I have hopes to restart my online presence. Be sure to find us on social media (links below) and leave a comment for what you want to hear next! 

My instagram

Slayitz Family Instagram

My Tik Tok

Slayitz Family Tik Tok

Beach Vacation

Roy, my and Stanton

     With Covid starting to slowly ease up, I've begun to get back to my adventures, as much as money can finance at least. The first glimpse of returning to normal was after my birthday. My parents and brother came to Portland to pick Roy and me up for a three-day vacation at the Oregon coast. 

    Shortly after arriving, we walked along the beach until it was time to check into our rental home. Once in the rental home we spent the evening enjoying pizza and games, it was the first experience Roy had of what my family is like. The next morning, I had set up for Roy and my father to go for an early morning walk along the beach while the rest of us blissfully slept in. The rest of that day was filled with reliable Oregon coast rain, clearing up just in time for low tide and for dinner.

     The Oregon coast vacation was short-lived but well needed. It was time for Roy and me to return back to our normal lives. Roy went back to work at his wellness clinic and I moved into a full-time position at the hospital. The remainder of April and May was filled with less stressful work hours, finishing up my college degree online, and returning to normal life. As May approached, Covid cases were still fluctuating, but the hopes of normalcy were insight.

     With my new schedule at the hospital came the promise of a three-day weekend that appeared every other week. A three-day weekend meant trips and activities to be planned. For the first weekend of freedom, I hopped on a bus down to Salem to celebrate a belated birthday, homecoming and wedding.

Waikiki Beach

     The most recent adventure, however, took Roy and me on our first vacation together to Hawaii. We arrived mid-morning on Saturday and explored the area around Waikiki beach before checking into our condo. Exploring the mall, beach, and Hawaii's famous convenience store, ABC, I even convinced Roy to buy matching floral outfits with me. For lunch, we went to Shorefyre's and had our first taste of Hawaiian cuisine. Dinner, on the other hand, was a classic Mcdonald's convenience. 

     The next day we spent our time in the sun. Laying on the beach, playing in the water, and overall enjoying the luxuries of being away from work and school. On our second day, we explored more of the cultural side of town; the modern culture. We took a bus to Chinatown and visited the Botanical garden as well. The highlight of the garden was getting to see a Corpse Plant in bloom! Apparently, they only bloom once every three to five years for 48 hours and we were able to see the very beginning of it; before the rotting smell was pungent. We ended the day at Tanaka of Tokyo, it was my first experience at a restaurant where they cook the food directly in front of you, as well as enjoying some Japanese steak and cuisine. 

Roy's

     While we were vacationing, Roy celebrated his 25th birthday, I reminded him several times of his seniority. For his birthday we celebrated at Roy's, another well-known Japanese restaurant. That day we had also both gotten to experience surfing for the first time. Unfortunately, I had not planned ahead well enough so we were unable to get lessons, so we just rented two boards and tried to figure it out. Getting out to the waves was easy, and even catching a wave proved to be easy for me, but of course, it took me a couple tries to stand up. Once I was standing, I wasn't surfing as much as trying to stay standing. Eventually, I ended up catching wave after wave but had moved into the shallow end. At one point, I had fallen off the board onto a rock. Roy reported that he had a much harder time standing up. The second part of Roy's birthday took place the following day. We rented a convertible from a nearby rental for a few hours and took a joy ride around our side of the island. Stopping at several beautiful spots, taking endless amounts of photos, and enjoying the glimpse of luxury we were living in for the week. 

Vacation

     The day before returning home, we met with one of Roy's classmates for Hawaiian food and a drive-by tour of the university. As well as enjoying our final moments in Hawaii and final moments of rest before returning back to reality. Now that we're back it's time to start preparing for the next trip; and that means, working to get money for it. Roy has already returned back to work and is getting ready for the weekend. My vacation lasted a little longer, but I'll be returning back to work tomorrow to start a busy week... or three. 

     Any suggestions for the next trip?

 

2020 in a Road Trip

     After packing the food, camping gear, and gathering our maps, Oceane and I left late Sunday morning for our week away from society. Two hours into our drive we got pulled over for speeding, luckily the officer let us off with a warning and we were back on our trip in no time. We spent the rest of the day driving down US 97 until we made it to Bend. Stopping in Bend for gas and food we enjoyed Panda Express for dinner. 

     From there we continued on to our first campsite in Newberry Volcanic Monument in Deschutes National Forest. I was nervous about camping there because we did not make any reservations. A sign at the entrance of the monument announced that as of this year, all but one campsite in the monument will be reservations only. The only campground that had walk-ups available was the furthest one on the East Lake called Cinder Hill Campground. Before looking for a campsite we drove up to Paulina's peek on a very narrow and very steep dirt road. The view from the top was worth it, but I recommend making the hike over the drive. 

    We ended our day by looking for a campsite in a very full campground. After finding one and setting up we went for a swim in the lake. The volcanic lake was refreshing and thanks to the thermal vents it was as warm as any outdoor pool with a beach made of pebbles that sparkles from all the obsidian pieces in it.

      Our first night ended with s'mores and drinks around a campfire, followed by an unsuccessful comet search and a successful obsidian hunt.

     The second morning was filled with exploring the rest of Newberry Monument. A mile-long loop on the obsidian flow gave both Oceane and I some great tan lines. Our tan lines, or rather burn lines, were deepened with a three-mile-long hike along Paulina lake to some thermal hot springs. The hot springs are holes dug out into the beach along the lake. The water was too hot to get into, but if you sit in the lake around the shore, some of the thermal vents keep the shoreline warm. For lunch, we made sandwiches on the hood of our car in the parking lot. 

     We filled up on gas at a little station just outside La Pine and made our way down the Oregon Outback Scenic Byway. For our first stop, we went to Fort Rock. Just a quick drive-by on our way to Derrick's Cave. Unfortunately, the road to Derrick's Cave was closed, so we were not able to go explore the cave. We continued on our journey to Crack in the

Ground. 

     The Eastern Oregon travel book I borrowed from my dad said that the walk in the crack
would eventually be filled with boulders and that we would be unable to continue on. We may not have reached the point the book was talking about, but we did reach a point that also could have been the mentioned boulders. We, however, found a way through. 

     The next point we came to in the crack was a part that came back up to the surface. We walked back along the ridge of the crack back towards the car. We continued along on the dirt road as we made our way towards the sand dunes.

     We were almost 7 miles away from the paved road when disaster struck. Not one, but two flat tires. We felt the back one hit something as we were driving so we pulled over, unloaded the back, and got ready to put on the spare. Just before I pulled out the jack, I noticed that the front tire was also flat. With two flats and one spare, we had no other option... but to call our parents and ask for help. From Pendleton, my dad helped me find the nearest tow truck and nearest Les Schwab. From there we had an almost two-hour wait for the truck. 

     While we waited we played cards and ate cereal. A few cars passed by us and offered us help, but we ensured them that we were okay. The tow truck took us back to La Pine in about three hours, the driver dropped the car off at the Les Schwab and took us to a cheap motel.

     The motel we stayed at was right next to a gas station-- with the same owner-- and the teenager that was working the front desk that night also worked at a restaurant in town and was able to get us burgers and cider at 11 o'clock at night. 

     The next morning we went to Les Schwab. The mechanic replaced the front tire with a new one and put our spare on the back wheel. He also warned us that another tire was not going to last long and that we should avoid dirt roads for the rest of our trip. With no spare and another tire that wouldn't last long, we decided to cut our trip short and go home. 

     We drove back up to Bend and took US 20 to Burns. From there we took the curvy US 395 through John Day, all the way back home. 

Camping at 21

Camping

     Since my last post was towards the beginning of quarantine I haven't had much to blog about with my adventures. I tried to fill some time by writing short stories and beginning to write a novel of my own. My novel writing took me to halfway through my rough draft, but a wall of writer's block mixed with online school pushed that project to the back burner of my to-do list. 

     My job working with the city came to an end and with the decision to keep the outdoor pool closed for the summer, it looks as though that job will not be continuing. So for now, my job at Dickey's is acting as my sole provider. 

     For the whole of quarantine, my schedule consisted of school, work, and massive amounts of sleep.

Now that places are starting to open up again, my travel itch is starting to become hard to ignore as I want to fill my summer with adventures and traveling. Unfortunately, social distancing laws and lack of finance are putting those adventures to a later date. However, I'm still managing to find a way.

      With our two days off from work this week, Oceane and I packed up the car and headed east for an

Oceane and I

overnight camping trip at Minam, Oregon. We left late Monday morning and made the two-hour drive to the campground located just off the high way. Making it to our campground at noon, we ate a quick sandwich lunch and then set out to explore the nearby area and take photos. For the remainder of our time at the campground, we had a few families stop by for a quick break, but we were the only two that were camping overnight.  

     This adventure only brought us to three in the afternoon, so we started a fire and began our long and large dinner of hotdogs, s'mores, and Mike's Lemonade. Four hotdogs each and endless s'mores later it was eight at night and we were ready to call it a night. 

     The next morning we woke up to a light rain on the tent and headed back to sleep until noon when the rain finally started to calm down. Packing up camp and enjoying s'mores pop tarts for breakfast we continued on our drive to Wallowa Lake before we made our way home.

     On the way home, we stopped in Lostine at the Blue Banana for coffee and smoothies. It was a small

little coffee shop with a bug parked in the side of the building and an airplane crashing into the roof. Oceane was excited to get coffee and a lavender lemonade she had had a few years ago. I got a four berry smoothie. It was very sweet and definitely tasty, but I was upset that the four berries were syrup flavors, not actual berries. 

     Lastly, our adventure ended back at home with a birthday dinner at Prodigal Sun followed by a birthday shot at the Rainbow Cafe back in town. 

     Hopefully, for July, my travel plans will come through and I'll have more stories for the end of summer. 

 

Solo Travels in Tokyo

   My last final solo adventure while studying abroad in South Korea was a week-long trip to Tokyo. I spent my week exploring the top tourist areas of Tokyo, reuniting with friends, meeting new people and trying new foods and experiences.

Asakusa

   After my trip to Jeju Island, I felt confident about traveling Asia alone, and as a solo-women traveler, I can conclude that it is very doable and safe to travel in Asia alone. Traveling to Jeju Island proved to be easier than Tokyo, Japan, simply because of the language barrier. The two things I first realized after arriving in Japan are that; English is not as widely known as it is in South Korea, but thankfully Google Maps works in Japan. 

   The hostel I stayed at was almost an hour outside of most of the tourist attractions, but the area had other benefits. 

   My first full day in Tokyo I took time to try and learn their metro system (I can't say I ever really learned how it worked) and made my way to Asakusa. 

Fish Tempura

   There I walked around one of the most famous Buddhist temples of the area. I learned there, that the original temple had been bombed during the World War. One of the most prominent parts of the temple is the large lantern hanging from the gate; in English, it is known as the Thunder Gate.  I spent the day wandering up and down the streets and observing people around the shrine. I took advantage of the numerous shops in Nakamise Dori, a famous shopping street filled with Japanese souvenirs, to do some gift shopping. 

Holding an Owl

   For lunch, I found some street food to enjoy and tried four different foods. I had Taiyaki, which is similar to a Korean street food, Fish Tempura, a type of deep-fried cheese stick and Dango. 

   While wandering around some of the side streets I came across a woman holding with an owl. She explained that she was promoting an owl cafe. I took the opportunity to go inside and get some milk tea. They had a room full of at least twenty owls, all of different species. For a small price of $5, you can hold an owl of your choosing. They also have two different types of parrots and another type of bird that I don't know the type of. Along with meerkats, hedgehogs, some otters, and one lizard. All of the animals are available to hold and feed for an additional charge.

Asahi

   The next day I was able to meet up with my friend Asahi.

Asahi and I met while he was studying abroad at Portland State University. When I found out I would be studying abroad in South Korea, I knew that I had to take the opportunity to make the quick flight over to Japan to meet up with him. We connected again and exchanged stories about how our lives had been in the few months we hadn't seen each other. 

Satoshi

   We met at the statue of Hachiko. Asahi told me the story of the dog who would wait for his owner every day at the station. The statue is in Shibuya which is one of the most famous shopping districts. We participated in the Shibuya Scramble Crossing and explored some of the shopping towers before finding a place to get hotpot for dinner. 

   On another day I met with my other friend Satoshi. We met near Ueno and went out for dinner.

   On my third day, I took the time to explore the area I was staying in

Ramen

. I borrowed one of the bikes the hostel owner provided and went for a bike ride around the area. I spent three hours biking along the river and down neighborhood streets until the sun went down. For dinner, I decided that I should finally try some ramen. After all, it's a must to have while in Japan. After a quick internet search, I found that luck was on my side. Near where I was staying was a famous ramen restaurant, that many tourists would travel almost an hour to get to. The restaurant is famous because it appeared in this youtube video. 

   The owner doesn't speak English and the machine used to order is written in Japanese, but thankfully one of the employees helped me. The ramen was very delicious and I was very glad to be so close to the restaurant. 

Bowls

   Another night, I went to another restaurant in my area for sushi. The place was smaller and not as well know so I took the opportunity to be adventures. With the help of Google Translate, I explained to the owner that I had never been to Japan and didn't know what to order. I asked him just make me something. He made me sushi cuts of salmon and tuna (I think). Then another gentleman came into the restaurant. It was clear the two knew each other and were friends. They asked where I was from and asked how long I was in Japan. After I finished my sushi, the owner made me more and more food until I finally told him I was full. At the end, I think I had tried five or six new foods; and I don't know the names of any of them, but they were all delicious. 

Hamarikyu Gardens

   Of course, with sushi and ramen, I also wanted to try authentic Japanese tea. I found a park with a tea shop located in the middle of a pond, but sadly it was closed for construction, so I, unfortunately, was not able to try any Japanese tea this time. 

   However, the park was beautiful to explore. The park had remains from the Edo Period including two houses that explained how they used to keep, train and use hawks to hunt. The park is surrounded by a seaweed moat and has a calming experience while inside the grounds.

Instagram

The last cultural experience I wanted to make sure I had while in Japan was the samurai and ninja culture. After a quick internet search, I found that most of the ninja museums or experiences were further south. However, I did find a samurai museum in Tokyo. There are numerous places to go where you can train like a samurai or a ninja if you want as well. 

Narita Temple

   For me, this was probably the most exciting part of my trip. I had never really learned about samurais before and really knew nothing about them, so the museum was the perfect place for me to learn. They even had a demonstration at the end. Normally, it is two samurais fighting, but the day I went to was a special occasion and they had a ninja and a samurai fight for the demonstration. One lucky kid from the crowd even got a lesson at the end. 

   On the last day of my trip, I made my way to the airport. Near the airport, there are lots of places to go by shuttle from the airport, but there are not very many places that you can get to from the metro line. I was able to get to a temple near Narita though. This temple was my favorite that I visited. The distance away from the city gave it an even deeper connection to the earth. I also think that the rain from that day gave it a calming effect. 

New Friends

   The final adventure of my trip came on the plane ride. On the plane back I sat next to a Japanese couple that are my age. I overheard them asking for help with directions getting into Seoul and I offered to help them. We shared the mini-adventure of going through customs together and got to know each other. 

   I told them I was originally from Oregon and then I found out that the boyfriend, Shuya will be studying abroad at Oregon State University soon! (So friends! If you see him, say hi! He's super cool). 

   After making sure they got a taxi to their hotel I returned to go back inside the airport and wait until the subway opened up to make my way back home. 

   I ended my adventure in Tokyo, made it home and am currently celebrating my final week in South Korea before I return back to the United State in January.

Jeju Island

 

   

   My trip to Jeju Island was one of the most rewarding experiences I've had. I took the trip by myself. The first day I arrived I made it to my hostel around 8:00 and decided to go straight to bed to get ready for the next day.

Estuary

   After waking up, I waited until the rain stopped and then I made my way to the south side of the island and explored an estuary, the beach and some small neighborhoods around the area. The estuary was a popular spot that day despite the weather and had a beautiful color to it. There was an area for people to rent boats or join a large tour boat. 

   For lunch, I found some gimbap to enjoy while sitting beside the beach. After walking around I found a bridge leading to a lighthouse that was decorated with paintings to take photos with. Some of the pictures were structure to look like you were walking over a canyon or flying or sitting in a car. My favorite one was the one with dolphins.

My new friends

   That night I joined some of the other residents staying at the hostel for dinner together. It was overwhelming but very rewarding. Everyone I met that night was Korean and I really had to work very hard to participate in the conversation. Everyone was so kind and understanding and I was actually able to convey most of my thoughts. 

   At dinner, we had black pork, a common dish of Jeju Island. We also had drinks and then went for a night walk to the beach. 

Traditional Jeju House

   The following day, I got to explore the island with one of my new friends. The first place we went to was Seongeup Folk Village. Normally, the locals can be found outside participating in traditional chores, however, because it was raining there was no one there. 

Aquarium

   Trying to find something to do in the rain was hard, but we decided on going to the aquarium. At the aquarium, we got to watch a performance sharing the culture of Haenyeos. They are female divers from Jeju Island. The diving culture started in 434 A.D. but women didn't participate until the 17th century. The two women that we watched were around 70 years old and started training when they were around 11 years old. 

   After the aquarium, we went to the Dongmun Traditional Market and had Korean street food. 

Dinner

   That night again we all had dinner together again. This night there were more people and I even met two people from China. I felt very proud of myself this night because I ended up being in charge of translating Korean to English for the two Chinese people. 

   The next morning a group of us went out to get a type of Korean meat soup. My new friends explained to me that the soup was a common food that many Koreans ate to cure

New friends

their hangovers. They laughed with a little bit of disbelief when I told them many Americans choose to go for greasy foods the next morning. We stopped by the beach to take a few pictures before we headed to the airport and parted ways.  

The Explanation in Korean:

이번주에 제주도에 갔어요. 일요일에 서울에서 제주도까지 비행기로 쫌 한시간 걸렸어요. 화요일에 제주도에서 혼자 구경을 했어요. 나는 바다 구경을 하고 사진을 찍었어요. 그때 7:00부터 9:00까지 저녁을 먹었어요. 저녁 파티가 있었어요! 나는 많은 한국인들이 만났어요. 한국말 해야 했으는대 괜찮았어요. 다음날 새로운 친구랑 수준과 갔으니까 비다 왔어요. 지난 밤에 한국인들을 만났어요. 중국인들도 만났어요. 중국인들이 한국말 할 수 없어서 한국말을 영어로 번역 해야했어요.

지난밤에 술을 너무 많이 마셔서 오늘은 숙츼있어요.