Bangkok: Buffet, Wat Pho & So Rambuttri

Posted on November 25, 2015 by jmatie22

We started the day off with lunch at the Rain Tree Buffet (in the hotel besides ours). It was pretty much like a Vegas style buffet, but slightly cheaper (only about 1174 baht, or about $33USD). I think the desserts though were slightly better quality that what you would get in Vegas.

After the buffet we made our way to Wat Pho, which we spent almost 3 hours there (basically taking pictures. Unfortunately that meant we didn’t make it to the Grand Palace (we walked the perimeter of it only to find out it was closed after 5pm).

After spending 5 minutes trying to get taxis to So Rambuttri (they wouldn’t turn on the meter), we decided to Uber instead. Basically for all of Bangkok we used uber to get around (except to and from the airport).

So Rambuttri street is definitely like the night market we visited in Siem Reap. Lots of street food, foot message areas, bars, and eateries. I got this bracelet thing that I think is pretty cool, especially for the price point (50 baht), and it’s hand made in front of you.

After spending two hours in Rambuttri, we made it way back to the hotel, and pretty much slept super early.

Okura Prestige Hotel & Infinity Pool

Posted on November 24, 2015 by jmatie22

So when we got into Bankok, we were pleasantly surprised with how nice the hotel was. Our room was spacious, they laid out Japanese sleeping clothes for us, and it has an infinity pool (well, we knew about the infinity pool going in, which is am why we booked this hotel).

Leaving Korea & Injeolmi Bingsu

Posted on November 24, 2015 by jmatie22

At PUS airport, we sampled a milk iced sorbet, known as injeolmi bingsu. It was good, but kinda messy to eat. Also, even though we didn’t get to go the trick eye museum, there was a sample of it at the airport.

Exploring Busan: Seomyeon, Jagalchi Market, Haeundae, and Shinsegae Department Store

Posted on November 23, 2015 by jmatie22

So we started our day by exploring Seomyeon, which was an area walking distance from our hotel. I got my first taste of Tom N Tom, and we also did this photo booth thing that apparently is popular in Korea. Before leaving Seomyeon, we grabbed a light lunch at this Chinese type restaurant.


After, we headed to the fish market, Jalgachi, where we saw no shortage of interesting dead sea creatures. We also saw some live ones too. We took a brief walk along the waterfront before we had lunch. Lunch was definitely an interesting experience… by eating a live octopus.

After lunch, we made our way to Haeundae to explore the World’s largest department store, Shinsengae (since 2009 according to the Guinness book of world records). It seemed like a large version of a Macy’s with an arcade area, movie theater, outdoor kids playground and a golf range (that took up the 11th to 14the floor)

Our last stop in Busan was the beach at Haeundae. We took some photos there, stopped by another Tom N Tom for an awesome pretzel, then made our way to the airport (we drove over the Gwanganri bridge on the way).

Arriving at Busan and Lotte Hotel

Posted on November 23, 2015 by jmatie22

So we arrived at Busan Station at around 10:30pm, and got to our Hotel at 11pm. By that time we were too tired to do anything, but here is a view from the Lotte Hotel the morning after…

Seoul Station and KTX Ride to Busan

Posted on November 22, 2015 by jmatie22

After the War Memorial, we went to Seoul Station for our train ride to Busan. But, since we had time before departure, we decided to go and sample some of the fast food in the station (KFC, Lotteria and a churro from McDonalds).

The train ride to Busan was definitely 3rd class. Since they had no more tickets for assigned seats (and only standing tickets) for most of the journey, we had to “stand” in the hallway. The last 30 minutes of the trip we were able to get seats (since people got off at earlier stops).

Myeongdong, Gyeongbok Palace Round 2, and War Memorial Museum

Posted on November 22, 2015 by jmatie22

We started off the day by checking out of our hotel (Samseung Designer Hotel), then heading to Seoul Station to store our bags in a locker. After, we headed to an area called Myeongdong since there were some restaurants around that area that seemed pretty appealing.

When we got to Myeongdong, we first took some pics in front of City Hall.

Then, we went to the first restaurant of interest, which was in the Lotte Hotel. We wanted to eat at this buffet, but it would end up costing $100 per person, which is pretty ridiculous (have to say though the Lotte hotel is like a Vegas style hotel). So we decided to go to this dumpling restaurant, which ended up being really good. Along the way we explored the market around Myeongdong, which was filled with lots of American stores, street food, and Asian restaurants. We also found the closest thing to an Apple Store in Korea, which is an Apple pre-authorized dealer called Frisbee.

After exploring Myeongdong, since it was taking forever to get a taxi, we ended up walking to Gyeongbok Palace. I’ll let the pictures do the taking about the palace.

From Gyeonbok Palace we quickly stopped by the War Memorial (since we got there it 30 minutes before it closed). I briefly learned about Japan’stake over of Korea in the early 1900s. Unfortunately the DMZ section of the museum was closed when we got there. The museum also had a bunch of weapons and arsenals used during war time.

Dada Life at Octagon

Posted on November 22, 2015 by jmatie22

So we partied it up in Gangnum on the Saturday we were in Seoul with Abi’s sister and cousin. Never seen Dada Life outside of EDC, and I must say it was a very different experience. Octagon itself is better than Ruby Skye (as its lights and screen were pretty good). Also, they have lockers you can put your stuff in instead of a coat check. The only crappy part is that is you accidentally spill your drink in front the bar tender, they don’t care. I feel in SF they would actually help give you another one.

Round 1 of Gyeongbok Palace & N Seoul Tower

Posted on November 22, 2015 by jmatie22

We started our day with a late lunch (around 2pm). We went to a Korean restaurant in Gangnum and had this interesting beef and octopus dish. It was pretty good.

After, we tried to make it to Gyeongbok Palace, but it closed early (closed at 5pm instead of 6pm). So we took some pics outside of it, then met up with one of Abi’s friends University. She took us through Insadong where we had some street food.

After we briefly met Abi’s aunt and mom, then Sam and I checked out N Seoul Tower. We took the cable car going up to the tower. The view of the city from the base of the tower was partly obstructed by fog, but you could still see many of the sky scrapers. All in all, Seoul has a lot of skyscrapers … more than any city that I know.

Itaewon and Dongdaemun

Posted on November 21, 2015 by jmatie22

After Hongdae we went to our hotel to drop of our things (however we also ended up taking a nap for like an hour). Then, using Uber, we got a taxi to take us to downtown Itaewon. Itaewon was pretty busy at 2am. We walked around for a bit, comparing Hongdae to Itaewon. Itaewon had an older crowd (more of our age). A lot of people were drunk. We ended up going to a club called B One.

After Itaewon, at around 3:30AM, we went to Dongdaemun, where we experienced an interesting night market, where essentially people who own (clothing) stores go to these buildings where designers sell their clothes (and the people who own stores buy things in bulk). A very interesting experience. Also, aside from exploring that, we got some street food like cronuts 🙂 and some chicken/hotdogs.