Aug 4, 2019 - Temple stay, day 2

Today I arose at 4:30 to shower and dress, Jean followed shortly thereafter. We left the room at 5:00 to have enough time to climb the steep hill to arrive for the 5:30 morning chanting service & meditation at the Morning Chanting Hall that was underneath the Main Temple Hall. So for 30 minutes we chanted while prostrating up and down. Prostrating is when you stand, then kneel, bow on the cushion until your head touches the cushion, turn your hands over and lift to ear level, then reverse the procedure. Repeat this process many, many...

Aug 3, 2019 - Golgul Temple stay

Today we began our Buddhist temple stay. We wet down to breakfast at 7:00. Last night when we arrived, we had to pick our breakfast time? Unusual. They had three choices, 6:30-7:40; 7:40-8:50, 8:50-10:00. She said that the 2nd serving was already full, and we were being picked-up at 9:00, so that left us with the early breakfast window. After breakfast, we returned to the room to finish packing an overnight bag for the temple stay, and repacking our luggage for overnight storage at the hotel to which we return tomorrow afternoon. We went...

Aug 2, 2019 - Travel day back to South Korea

Today is a travel day back to South Korea. We slept in late and went down to the breakfast buffet about 8:15. We then returned to the room to finish packing and wait for our transfer to the airport at 10:45. We actually left 10:35 for what Yus said would be an hour ride. He asked us about our impression of his country and we said that it modern in many places, yet still holds onto its history. He said they are a young country, and indeed they are, but the people and the history date back centuries. We also said we enjoyed experiencing the...

Jul 15, 2019 - Busan

Today is an 8:00 departure, and breakfast began at 6:30. The breakfast buffet had a nice surprise for Jean. Waffles! She tried a quarter section, but it was not very good. It wasn't light and fluffy. Too bad. The buffet had scrambled eggs and for my meat, I tried the roasted chicken cut into cubes. It was so yummy that I went back for seconds. We left our room at 7:40 to go up to the 20th floor to check out and meet Mr. Hong. We were on the road before 8:00 but ran into Monday morning traffic on the bridge over to our first stop. Busan is...

Jul 14, 2019 - A Temple and Grotto

Today we had to be in the lobby ready to go at 8:00 am. Breakfast started at 7:00 and we there when they opened. We were seated in a huge banquet hall for a buffet breakfast. And what a breakfast buffet it was. Finally, scrambled eggs, bacon, sliced ham and lox. I was in heaven. We were down in the lobby by 7:40 and Stefano was already there. Since we did the tomb complex and the observatory last night, we only needed to do visit three sites in Gyeongju, Korea's ancient capital of the Silla Kingdom. We first visited the Bulguksa Temple to...

Jul 13, 2019 - DMZ Tour

Today we had an early start. We were there when they opened the breakfast room doors at 6:30 and quickly ate breakfast. We had a 7:20 start, so we needed to be in the lobby with our luggage and checked out. We were ready to go in the lobby about 7:00. At 7:05 our guide identified himself, Stefano Hong, who will be our guide/driver for three days. We are now on a private tour. We loaded the luggage in the van, and were on our way to the DMZ. On the hour and a half trip out to the DMZ, Stefano talked about the history of the DMZ and Korean...

Jul 12, 2019 - Korean Folk Village

Today we had an afternoon tour scheduled to a Folk Village, and the morning was on our own. We chose to do a laundry morning. Exciting isn't it? On the way to breakfast we stopped on the second floor at the guest laundry. They have two washers & two dryers. Neither was being used, so one for whites and one for darks for 40 minutes. We then went to breakfast. After breakfast we switched the loads over to the dryers for 40 minutes. We then read, Jean went down to the lobby to use the computer to check her email. After the clothes were done...

Jul 11, 2019 - Full day Seoul tour

Neither one of us slept well last night, hopefully we will do better tonight. We went down to breakfast about 7:00. No pancake or waffle machine - we are not in America anymore. Breakfast included the usual breads and croissants, yogurt, fruit, and cereal. The hot buffet included hard boiled egg, sausage, kimchi, stir fried cabbage, cooked mushrooms, tater tots, plus other items like three different soups. We were picked-up at 8:50 to go to the gathering place for our all-day tour with VIP Travel. We disembarked and were given ear pieces...

Jul 9, 2019 - Travel Day to Seoul

Today's journal covers two days - Tuesday, July 9 & Wednesday, July 10. I got up early, 4:00 am, today. I worked on Monday's blog, downloaded the pictures and by then, Jean was up at 6:00. We went down to breakfast for the hot/cold included buffet. Jean was happy because they had the waffle machine. We returned to the room to relax and finish packing. At 8:30 we checked out and headed down the road to a Shell station ($3.59 paying cash, $3.65 on credit card). Then down the road we returned our Hertz rental and hopped the bus for the...

Apr 11, 2019 - Homeward

The trip from Fukuoka to Virginia Beach is a long one; total of about 30 hours via Seoul, South Korea and Atlanta. The trip has been excellent; great guides, good travel companions and mostly good weather. Our timing was perfect as we saw beautiful cherry blossoms in bloom at almost every stop. We even got a little snow in the mountains north of Tokyo. The population density of Japan is ten times the USA (873/sq.mi. vs 85/sq. mi.) so everything in Japan feels crowded with people except for most remote farmlands. As a result the culture is...

Nov 19, 2017 - Brisbane to Fukuoka

Brisbane to Fukuoka(Tenjin) Sun 19th Brisbane 24.1°C, rainy. Fukuoka 7.8°C, cloudy. Planned to leave home at 5:00am for early check-in at 5:25, taxi created a panic by coming 15min early. Good timing though, breezed through check-in, we were the third group in line as KAL opened the counters. Flight to Seoul was good, Korean Air are efficient, comfortable, reliable. Good entertainment system on the A330. 10hr flight, brunch (choice of three), French wine, real cutlery. Dinner (choice of 3), snacks and drinks served between meals, all this...

Oct 15, 2017 - Scenes from Seoul

We spent a morning at Yonsei University on a wonderful tour given by Fred's cousins Peter. We learned a lot of the family's fascinating history since their great-grandfather came to Korea and founded the university. Since then their grandparents, uncles and aunts have served as missionaries, their great-aunt was the queen's physician and another aunt who founded an orphanage among many other things was murdered by a North Korean terrorist. We took the subway to visit several parts of Seoul, including the Night Market and were treated to the...