Day 1: Inari Shrine, Nishiki Market and part of Gion (in the rain)

We headed out with the Inari Shrine on our checklist. We took the JR line (not really subway, more like a train route) out to the area. The subway/train lines are a bit confusing. It's possible because our station is the main hub and lots of lines (subway and train) come in there; there were over 33 tracks!

Anyway, after exiting the station, the entrance to the shrine is on the other side of the street. It was really cool to see all of the red gates leading up the mountain over the path. The gates are for good fortune. People or businesses can buy one, but it is very coveted and expensive! It was a bit of a hike and we didn't go all the way to the top. The other cool thing is the symbol of the fox is important at the shrine, so there were lots of cute little fox statues around.

We wandered around the area outside the shrine a bit before taking the train back to Kyoto Station. We found a food court type of place in the station basement and went to a kind of cafe for lunch. We took a short break and figured out what to do for the evening at the guesthouse. Then we set off, walking to Nishiki Market. The market was pretty neat. There were lots of tiny shop stalls crammed together selling food (fresh/raw) and other goods. After walking through the market, we went on to Gion, a district famous for Geisha sightings because it's the "old" part of the city. It started drizzling and then raining a little bit harder. We didn't have umbrellas so it was hard to enjoy some of the area. Luckily a lot of the shops on the main road leading to Gion had a big overhang and we could walk under those. We weren't actually too impressed with Gion from the first look.

We walked back towards our guesthouse, looking for a Japanese restaurant to have dinner at. We picked one that had meat and rice bowls. It was pretty good. After dinner, the rain had mostly turned to drizzle and it wasn't a bad walk home.

The fox!

Walking through the gates

One of my favorite catches

At the subway stop

Train Station

Inside the shopping at the train station

Not very Japanese lunch

The market

Some things for sale in the market

Lanterns in Gion

Streets of Gion

Dinner!

KYOTO!

This morning I was late for my first period class because I misunderstood a message from my COT and thought class was cancelled. Oops. In the afternoon, my life COT helped me sign out early and I met with my 6th grade COT to discuss our open class for next week.

When 3:45 rolled around, I ducked out to head to DMC and meet Jacob. He left work about the same time as me and waited for me at DMC for us to take the airport line to Inchon. We both didn't check any bags so were able to go through a shorter line to check in. Originally we were going to eat somewhere on the outside of security, but looking at the long lines we decided to pick somewhere past security. The line was quite long, but it still only took us about 25 minutes in total. We power walked to the Quiznos which was in a different wing than our gate and power walked back with our sandwiches, only to find a Subway and BK in our wing. Oops. It was good to walk though.

Finally time to board the plane and we were off. It was a short flight, only about 1 hour and 45 minutes. However, we were still served a meal, but it was good we had eaten because they served a salmon sandwich and a small salad with shrimp in it! When we landed in Kyoto, we power walked to immigration. In total from disembarking from the plane to exiting into "Japan", it took us about 20 minutes which was great.

Jacob had done a lot of research and we went to the JR Train Office to buy a roundtrip ticket (KIX to Kyoto) plus a subway card with about $15 worth of money on it. A super sweet deal! The guy told us the next train was leaving in about 4 minutes and we should probably wait for the next one, but we decided to hustle and see if we could make it--we did and had a minute to spare before it took off. The train ride wasn't too exciting, but it was kind of cool to come into the city in the evening and see the lights. The areas we passed on our way into Kyoto were pretty quiet and we didn't see many cars out on the street or people out walking.

We arrived at Kyoto Station and then went on the hunt for our guesthouse. At first, we overshot it and wandered about for maybe 15-20 minutes. Finally we found it and got in. We put our bags in the room (shared dormitory with 4 beds) before exploring the area in hunt of a convenience store for snacks even though it was after 10:30. The snacks were pretty good.

On the plane to Japan!

Train ticket and subway pass

Kyoto Tower 

Late night snacks!

Cooking Class

After work I decided it was such a nice cool afternoon I would go for a run. Jacob and I had plans to meet after he finished work, before our cooking class. I took off and had a pleasant run to Hapjeong. We met up outside his office and walked back to Hapjeong to decide what to have for dinner. I realized I wasn't so hungry-never am after running-so he picked a curry place and I didn't really eat anything (not so sure about curry). Then we went to cooking class.

This time we were making jap chae (my favorite dish!) and a kind of fruit kimchi. There was a special guest teacher from Jirisan (an area in the Central Southern part of Korea). The jap chae was so delicious! The fruit kimchi was interesting. We had pears, apples, radish, onion, lotus root, and persimmon in it.

I returned home and finished packing and preparing for Japan--tomorrow!

Blazer Hunting

After work, my mission was to find the grey blazer at a different store location. There are only two of that particular stores in all of Seoul. The other branch is at D-Cube City, a shopping area in the Southwestern area. Well, I misunderstood that shopping mall and instead went to Times Square shopping mall. It's only 2 or 3 subway stops away, so not too far out of the way. Luckily you can get a free transfer from bus to subway within 30 minutes. After realizing I was in the wrong place, I took the subway to the right place. I looked around and found the right size, color and it looked to be in good shape. Then I decided I would check out the rest of the mall just to be sure. There weren't a lot of other stores there, so I went back and bought the grey blazer.

I took a bus to a subway station and then headed home to work on packing and preparing for the Japan trip.

In D Cube City

New Blazer!

Gotcha Day~

This morning I got to skype with Mom for my Gotcha Day. It was good talking with her and we talked for almost 2 hours. After we talked, I got a hold of Amanda and we chatted for a little bit. She will be doing a missions program called World Race and will be in South America for 11 months next year!

Jacob was supposed to come over for lunch around 1:30 after he finished tutoring, but the person cancelled so he was able to come over a little bit earlier. I ran out to get some broccoli and made the salads before he arrived. I put the lasagna in the oven and after a few minutes it already smelled so good! Jacob arrived and he brought me flowers and a sweet card. My dad always got me flowers for my Gotcha Day and Jacob wanted to bring me some too. Finally, the lasagna was ready--wow was it good! It was totally worth the 20,000W! We relaxed after our lunch and then headed out to soccer.

Soccer was alright; the high school boys showed up, so we had to wait a rotation to play which is always a disappointment.

Stouffers~ 

Great gotcha day lunch!

Flowers

Some Gotcha Day Celebrations

Jacob came over this morning and I made brunch. I had actually prepped the casserole dish the night before (one of those meals you have sit overnight in the fridge) and just put it in the oven to bake. It turned out pretty good, but the potatoes could have been cooked a little bit more I think.

After brunch we just hung out before taking the bus to his place. It was really nice weather, so we took a walk to his old neighborhood. For dinner we went to Bonga, one of our favorite BBQ places. While we were there some of his friends called him and asked him if they could park at his guesthouse. So when we finished dinner, we went back so we could help direct them where to go. I finally got to meet his friends, Jina and Andrew. They were off to see the fireworks festival. In the morning I had briefly remembered/considered that this would be the day of it but wasn't sure. Anyway, after they left Jacob said he had to go on a surprise errand so I had to head out. I didn't want to go home as it was still kind of early. I decided I'd go into Hongdae and do some shopping. I found a flannel shirt that I liked.

My breakfast casserole!

After dinner

Fun Friday

In the morning I got to skype with Grandpa. It was good to see him and talk with him. Then I met up with Jacob and we went to IFC mall. We actually went to Mc Donald's for lunch there. We did some shopping and I looked at the blazer I saw last weekend with Jenna. I decided maybe maroon wasn't the best color and picked a grey one instead. The only problem was the two grey ones had some threads pulled in very obvious places. I decided I would pass on them for the moment.

We returned to my place and I made stuffed meatballs for dinner. They turned out delicious as always. After dinner, we watched another movie.