2012 Japan to Korea

Our last day in Japan had been set aside for an afternoon/evening trip to Yokohama Hakkeijima Sea Paradise with Toshio and Seiko.  Located on the waterfront, it is a leisure park surrounded by nature.  It is the home of one of the top aquariums in Japan and is similar to a Seaworld type attraction with many restaurants, exhibits and fun rides.  Unfortunately the heavens opened and rain was the order of the day, however this did not deter us and we set out boldly to enjoy the atmosphere.  It was a highlight to see the white dolphins swimming with their trainers – they put on a great show, together with the other dolphins and whales.

Our day pass included many restaurants where we could eat and drink to our hearts’ content.  At our first restaurant, Toshio noticed that young ladies were sitting on one side of the tables and young men would walk up and then choose which table to sit at with the young ladies.  He found out what the situation was and apologised to us profusely. 

Sorry .. sorry .. mistake .. I have made a mistake .. today is a meeting day for 400 Lonely Hearts Club members, who have come to Sea Paradise for a day out to meet other single people .. so sorry .. bad mistake .. very bad mistake!

Well we had a great laugh and told him not to worry – assuring him we’ll have a great day anyway.  That we did, as we moved from restaurant to restaurant sampling the different cuisines.  The last restaurant was an Italian Restaurant where we were seated at the water’s edge with great views across the bay as evening set in.  Our day was fun filled and we had a lot of laughs as we headed back to Yokohama where we packed our bags in readiness for our flight to Seoul, Korea.  Thank you to Toshio and Seiko for being such gracious hosts for our time in Japan – our next get together will be at our home at Dingo Beach.

We set out early the following morning, took the local train to Yokohama City and then the Airport bus to Haneda airport.  The flight from Tokyo to Seoul is under 2 hours, so in no time we had arrived at our destination. 

Chan, a lovely young lady we met in Norway a few years ago was waiting for us at Seoul’s Gimpo airport.  She was holding up a sign with our names on it.  Originally we were to meet up for dinner, but she had half a day with no work as a tour guide, so decided to meet us and take us to our hotel.  We checked our luggage into the Hill House Hotel for three days and left straight away with Chan to go to her special Coffee House where they roast their own coffee beans – the smell and coffee was delicious.

In the evening Pat, Chan and I met up for dinner, at the Aussie themed Outback Restaurant, with Debbie and Mike who we met and travelled with in Mongolia last year. 

Debbie and I are both of similar minds in that we wanted to do a Trans Siberian Rail trip, but were hesitant about doing it alone – of course we’ve heard all those stories!  Pat and Mike are also of a similar mindset in that they are ready to go anywhere at any time!  So here we are one year later and preparing to travel across Siberia from Vladivostok to Moscow by train and then from Moscow to St Petersburg by ship – another great adventure ahead for the next 30 days.

Pat and I had lots of exercise and walked for many miles in Seoul.  We visited Gyeongbokgung Palace and the War Memorial of Korea – spending many hours visiting each attraction.  

We found the War Memorial particularly interesting, helping us to understand the background to the Korean War in 1949 and the early 1950’s.

In 2006 when we were in Lhasa, Tibet we spent one week travelling with two young ladies from Seoul. The four of us hired a Toyota 4WD and travelled overland to Mt Everest Base Camp and onto Kathmandu, Nepal.  We keep in touch with our two special girls and made plans to meet up with them and have dinner together.  Kunsook and Heeyoung were both about 26 when we first met - they are now 32.  Heeyoung is now married and her husband’s name is Sung Su.  What a meeting we had in the lobby of our Hotel!  I guess we are like second parents .. there is no doubting their genuine affection.  They gave us gifts which the two girls made for us .. beautiful hand sewn passport covers.  Mine has an applique of a happy face egg on the front (complete with pearl necklace) and Pat’s has a happy face egg on the front, (compete with a bald top)!

We had a great traditional Korean BBQ dinner and cold Korean beer.  When we finished our meal, they took us to another restaurant which serves fried chicken and beer – apparently a big hit with Koreans.  This certainly puts a different slant on dessert and coffee!  At the end of the evening we headed off to our Hotel, advising Kunsook, Heeyong and Su that we knew the way – no they wouldn’t have it – they wanted to escort us right to our Hotel door, where they waved goodbye until we went out of sight.  Su has promised us that he will bring Heeyoung to Australia for a visit, so we will look forward to that.