Category: East Asia

Happy Places

Happy place. A memory, situation, or activity that makes you feel happy.Cambridge Dictionary. November 2019. I’m on a nonstop Delta flight from Seoul ICN to Minneapolis MSP on a brand new Airbus A350. I’m contented, sipping wine, snacking on nuts, and anticipating the Korean dinner I’ve preordered. I look out the window and see only…… Continue reading Happy Places

Hiking the Seoul Wall

Spent much of the day hiking the Seoul City Wall. Originally built in 1396, two-thirds of it still exists today. The wall snakes up and down mountains around Seoul, so we enjoyed a decent hike.

Seoul Fall Color Walk

Took a short flight from Fukuoka, southern Japan, to Seoul, South Korea. We have hiking plans for each day in Seoul, starting today with a Fall-color walk up Nam Mountain. On Tuesday we fly on a brand new Delta Airbus A350 nonstop from Seoul to Minneapolis.

Only in Japan

As we near the end of our visit to Japan, I’ve been going through our photos looking for examples of “only in Japan.” Ryokan, Yufuin, Northern Kyushu A ryokan is a traditional Japanese guest house. First courses, hors d’oeuvres. Multi-course dinners and breakfasts were served in our room. After dinner, the table was moved and…… Continue reading Only in Japan

Hike on a Sacred Mountain

Hiked on a sacred mountain then dropped about 100 low-value coins into the donation box at a shrine. We’ve been accumulating small change (worth a total of about US$4) and didn’t want to bring it all the way to Minneapolis.

Toto Museum

Visited the TOTO Museum in Kitakyushu. TOTO, the largest toilet manufacturer in the world, is headquartered here Their washlets are commonplace in Japan: we have them in our home. Learned sumo wrestlers use “extra wide, extreme load-bearing” toilets.