Woo. Pretty late on this update. Better late than never, I guess.

After Japan, we went to Korea. Obvious from the title. But the fun thing with this leg of the trip was that we were going to meet up with even more people. While the Japan leg, we traveled with one family we’ve known for ages, in Korea we met up with a second. And also met up with another friend – she was traveling with another group of 8 people we knew, but the timing didn’t work out to meet up with the rest of ’em. But there were a lot of us in Seoul at the same time!

Though it was our second time in Seoul as a family, we ended up staying in a pretty similar place, since it was really convenient for a lot of sight-seeing. Not exactly the same place, but within walking distance.

Yeah. We were there with everyone who’s visible in this photo except the person in orange in the way back.

We went back to the “secret garden” in the big palace in Seoul, since it was a really memorable place.

We also went to an LG Twins vs. NC Dinos baseball game. Korean baseball is bananas. Intense crowd interaction, tons of cheering, unique chants and songs for nearly every situation & ever player. It was wild. Super fun. US baseball is really, really disappointing in comparison.

It was also really hot. Not “insane Japan summer at its worst” by a longshot, but it was definitely … hoooot.

While many folks went to a K-pop concert, the kids & I went to a place that we wanted to go to on our first trip, but never made it to: Heavy Steak. It was surprisingly good/cheap! I’d definitely go again. I don’t really get this ad, though:

We then went to Aquafield Goyang, which was probably the most memorable thing we did in Korea this trip, IMO – it was a pretty spectacular experience, and something I’d do again, and recommend to anyone. Basically, BIG SPA, tons of saunas, super pleasant place to hang out & relax, good food.

We then went to Jeju, and stayed by Hamdeok beach, which was really pleasant.

We went on a fishing trip with our whole gang. Most of us caught a bunch of fish, but the kids & I weren’t as lucky. I managed to snag one, right at the end, but that was it. I think everyone else was got multiples. 😀 Poor Ei-Nyung was sick through this whole section of the trip, and motion-sick on the boat to boot. Rough days for her. 🙁

Still, a little exercise helps.

Jeju is known for its black pork, and this restaurant was apex black pork. Best meal I had in Korea. We intended to go back the next day, but unfortunately, they were closed. 🙁

We also went to the Haneyo museum, which documented Jeju’s women divers, who harvested things like sea urchin – all free diving in the ocean. Apparently super dangerous, and a really tough life. There are still a few folks living that life, and we even saw some of them in the water after visiting the museum.

One of my favorite meals was at Mom’s Touch – a Korean fast-food joint, which had a partnership with Edward Lee, who’s risen to some level of fame through a show called Culinary Class Wars. The fried chicken was astounding.

I managed to catch whatever it was that Ei-Nyung had, and the flight home was honestly one of the most miserable 10 hour stretches of my life. Which was wild. The rest of the trip was incredible, so it’s fortunately easy to overlook this when thinking back on it.

I think overall, the thing we’ve learned from this trip is that for both Japan and Korea, we don’t need to stay in Seoul, Osaka, Tokyo, or Kyoto again any time soon. We’ve “had the experience”. So if we go back, the goal will be to stay in more rural or otherwise different places, and try to experience different parts of the country.

Wonderful to travel with friends, though, and share some new experiences with them. I hope we get a chance to do this more often in the future!