The Sunday Snapshot

I needed lots of help to correctly wear a yukata and obi at my Japanese class.

The Tulips in Bloom

The weather in Okinawa has been very rainy and dreary lately. My friend Christine and I had made plans to visit a sunflower field on the first sunny day in the forecast- and about ten days of rain later we finally had a day that was expected to be partly cloudy. Unfortunately, all of the rain had ruined the sunflowers and the scheduled festival to celebrate them had been canceled. Since this is technically Spring in Okinawa, we had no trouble finding another flower to celebrate: tulips! The Tropical Dream Center in Expo Park was hosting a tulip festival, and with an admission price of less than seven dollars we decided to go photograph some flowers.

The Tropical Dream Center is a kind of botanical garden with multiple greenhouses and different exhibitions throughout the year. According to the website, 80,000 tulip bulbs of different types and colors were planted, and as a result when we walked into the garden we were amazed by the rows and rows of tulips lining the paths.

Nora loved the flowers and called them all pink, but not so much all of the photographs...

After walking through the gardens and feeding the fish we decided to feed ourselves- only to realize that three of our top choices were closed on Wednesdays! Fortunately we found the restaurant La Tilla so close to the gardens we could have walked, and even though it sounds Spanish to me it serves Italian and Okianwan dishes. I thought the prices were reasonable and I loved that one entire wall of the restaurant was glass windows overlooking the ocean. 

Since it is only January Christine, Nora and I should be able to find many other flowers in season very soon, even if Nora prefers the flowers over the photographs. 

The Korean Palace in Autumn

While in Korea our small group explored Deoksugung Palace, the smallest of the royal palaces. The buildings were the traditional red with green beams and intricate details, and the palace grounds were landscaped with trees and ponds into a beautiful green space in the heart of seoul. We took so many pictures with the autumn colors that are impossible to find in Okinawa. When we started to feel chilly despite our coats and hats we popped into one of the many Starbucks all over the city for a warm drink. It was interesting walking out of the gate of a fifteenth century Korean palace into a modern American staple.

Korea had shisas everywhere like Okinawa, but theirs looked more like a dragon-dog and derpy too!

The Sunday Snapshot

An afternoon tea at Miche-Miche with my girlfriends!

The Thanksgiving Celebration in Seoul

Over the Thanksgiving holiday Matt and I traveled to Seoul, South Korea with our tower neighbors. While I had visited Matt in Seoul previously with no advance planning, we had planned this holiday trip in advance with three nights at the Dragon Hill Lodge and discount plane tickets on Peach airlines so that we spent less money and less time traveling to different hotels. It was truly a group effort to arrange activities that would fit all of our different interests, but in the end we all got to see the sights and eat the food around the very cool city of Seoul.

I had found the discount tickets for the low cost carrier Peach Airlines, and everyone was able to select a round-trip seat for less than $200. However, we learned a few things flying on the cheapest airline we could find. We had to take a bus from the airy domestic terminal at the Naha airport to an unfinished terminal surrounded by warehouses that housed the lower cost airlines. Matt and I only had carry-on bags, but security weighed them to make sure nobody went over 10 kilograms. We had to stop and move some items from Matt's backpack to mine in order to fit that requirement. We were then ushered to a waiting area with no food options and one drink vending machine. Fortunately we had already packed snacks since we knew the airline did not even offer free water to passengers. The plane was delayed about an hour, and when we finally boarded we had to exit the building and walk up the stairs on the tarmac. It was worth the time delayed and lack of luxury to us in order to save money for our next vacation, but anyone flying Peach airlines in the future should be prepared to wait in a bare terminal.

The next day David had arranged for an early morning bus tour to visit the DMZ (De-Militarized Zone around the border between North and South Korea). The bus driver gave us the history of the Korean War as we traveled North, and it was fascinating to hear about the war from a South Korean's point of view. I don't believe the Korean War was covered in very much detail in high school history class, so I really did learn a good bit about the causes of the war. We listened to the tour guide as he led us through a museum, looked through high-powered binoculars into North Korea, and toured a train station that was completed to connect the two countries before North Korea refused to allow the trains to run.

The high point of the tour is when we were given the opportunity to walk through the third tunnel that was built for North Korean soldiers to invade South Korea. North Korea has denied that they built it (of course), and had coated the walls with coal to make it look like a mining tunnel (although coal is not found in that area). We were given hard hats and walked down a steep, long slope to get to the tunnel that is 240 feet below ground. We thought the hard hats were just a silly precaution for tourists, but the long walk down the tunnel was punctuated by the sound of my taller companions repeatedly hitting their heads on rocks and knocking their helmets askew. Apparently I am the proper size for a North Korean soldier as I barely had to crane my neck at all. The long walk back to the surface was even more painful than the walk down, and as a result I had to take aspirin for my sore legs the remainder of the trip.

The low point of the tour was the last stop where, instead of allowing us to end the tour and buy lunch, we were ushered to a ginseng center. We were guided through a museum that assured us that ginseng prevents cancer and into a closed room where people in suits attempted to sell us various ginseng products. It was very mafia-like and unrelated to the DMZ and I was HUNGRY. I was happy when we were allowed back onto the bus and dropped off near the hotel to find food.

Later that evening we ate at a fancy Italian restaurant at the top of the North Seoul Tower. We had a take a very crowded cable car to get to the top, and Matt and I tried our best to shelter our most claustrophobic companion. Personal space has a different meaning in Korea, but the restaurant was nearly empty and had the most amazing view of the entire city at night!

During our trip we also ate Mexican food as well as traditional Korean food, toured castles and Christmas lights in front of department stores, and shopped at an underground shopping mall. My favorite part had to be the weather. We took off from sunny weather in the 80's in Okinawa and landed in snow flurries. We got to see snow and falling leaves and Christmas lights while wearing coats. It was a wonderful trip made more wonderful by sharing with friends (who you will get to see in my next post about our Seoul vacation)!

The Sunday Snapshot

Christmas pedicures with my friends!

The Stunning Sound

I saved the best for last. The last post about our New Zealand road trip has all of our photos from Milford Sound, the highlight of our vacation. We booked seats on a two hour cruise that left mid-day. We had about a two drive from Te Anau to reach the port, but the scenery was spectacular. There were lakes and streams and waterfalls streaking down the steep mountains. The most impressive civil engineering I had ever seen was the Homer tunnel that runs three-quarters of a mile through solid rock. It was begun during the Great Depression, and it is still the only way to reach Milford Sound from the rest of New Zealand. The cruise had a cabin with windows, but we spent most of our time on the open air deck as we ate our picnic lunch and snapped so many photos of the snowy peaks and waterfalls. There was a brisk wind, but it was worth braving it to be just a little bit closer to the panoramic views. 

We simply had to stop to take photos while driving through the mountains.

Finally on our boat to tour the sound. 

At some points the captain steered directly under the falls. I took shelter in the cabin to avoid getting wet!

Seals napping in the sun. 

The best weather and the best views during our entire vacation.