A Long Layover: Seoul

A couple weeks ago I took a three day trip to Seoul on my way to Beijing from Tokyo. Once I got myself situated at my place in the Gangam distrcit, I took a walk down to Garosu-gil, which is an area in Sinsa-dong. The name literally means tree-lined street, which is appropriate considering the street is lined with tons of ginkgo trees. I liken the area to the Newbury Street of Seoul. There are a lot of cool little shops and cafes to hang out. I stopped by Per Se (right across the street from Theory) to grab a bite to eat and do a little reading. I snagged some milk tea, and instead of the traditional Korean BBQ, I went for ink pasta with some calamari and shrimp.

After lunch I managed to do some shoppping. There are a ton of little boutiques with fashion forward Korean made clothes. Some stores I would recommend are 8ight Seconds, Around the Corner, Youk Shim Won, and 9 Owls, which is a really cute vintage store. I had a tough time finding things that fit because often times they only had pieces in one or two sizes, and not a lot of it would fit a 5'11 frame, but it was fun to browse.

Later that night I met up with a friend and we went to Eden, which is a club connected to the Ritz, for a night of dancing and fun. The cover is a little steep, but not bad. On a Friday night, you can expect a good mix of locals and tourists. 

Unfortunately, I didn't get out too much during my stay in Seoul. The weekend was a sneak preview into a city that I would definitely like to get to know a little bit better. Looks like I will have to go back!

A Mountain of Orange

The Fushimi Inari shrine is probably one of the most photographed shrines in all of Japan. And by looking below, it's easy to see why. At times, it was hard not to look at it through my lens. But after hiking about half way up the mountain, I just sat for a while overlooking Kyoto. This was probably one of the most peaceful moments I have had since starting my travels, and a nice escape from the hustle and bustle of the city below. I hiked up at the end of the day, as to avoid the crowds and to catch the sunset from the top. Good move on my part! My only wish was that I had packed bug repellent, but that's neither here nor there. 

A pleasant little surprise were all the kittens running around different parts of the shrine. Some of them were a bit skittish, but these two guys below hung out for a while; guarding their portion of the shrine, I suppose.

The last little bit of the hike was my favorite. The sun started to go down and it lit up the shrine perfectly. Definitely one of the best sunsets I have seen since being in Japan. 

This picture reminded me ever so slightly of the view from Sacre-Coeur 

After getting back into Kyoto, I took a brief detour and hung out around Kyoto Station. Upon exiting, you have prime viewing of Kyoto Tower, which is best seen at night.

Tonight, I am in Tokyo for one final night and then it is off to Seoul tomorrow!

Get the Look: Shirt, James Perse // Shorts, J Crew // Scarf, Anthropologie // Purse, Marc by Marc Jacobs

Clever in Kyoto

Today, I journeyed on the Shinkansen super-express high speed railway line from Tokyo to Kyoto. I was sad to say farewell to Oto-san who took such great care of me at his apartment in Shinjuku, but excited to be moving on to a different part of Japan. 

Oto-san on the balcony in his Shinjuku apartment

While I will miss breakfast in Oto-san's kitchen overlooking the Tokyo skyline, I am happy to have a change of pace and head over to a little bit of pampering at the Hotel Nikko Princess in Kyoto. It is conveniently located, and the concierge services were super helpful when I arrived, setting me up with a great tour and giving delicious suggestions for the best ramen, sobu, and tempura in the city.

Because I arrived late in the day, I decided to put off seeing the shrines and temples until tomorrow. In the meantime, I headed towards Nishiki Market to check out some of today's eats. Nishki Market is a narrow, five block long shopping street lined by more than one hundred shops and restaurants, and more commonly known as "Kyoto's Kitchen". You can find everything from flowers, to sweets, to baby octopus on a stick. Lots of people just wander through, but it is also a good place to stop for lunch. 

Once at the end of the Nishiki Market, you will find one of the entrances to the Nishiki Tenmangu Shrine where many of the shop owners in the market will go to pray. As I understand it, all of these lanterns have names of the shop owners in the market.

When I finished strolling through the market, I headed over to Kitaza to meet up with the Gion Night Walk. Gion is Kyoto's most traditional district where the culture of Kagai, the world of maiko and geiko (better known as geisha) are still very much alive and well. Mary was our tour guide and she was super informative. I never knew there were so few geikos, and how rare it was to see one! We managed to see one walking into one of the prominent tea houses, but alas, she was too quick for me to snag a photo of her.

Luckily, I did get to see two young girls walking out of a okiya,
which is a boarding house for maikos. These two weren't in full make-up,
 which leads me to believe they were 'maiko-in-training'. 

View from Shijo bridge.

Once the tour was over, I headed to dinner at Shunsai Tempura Arima. This was definitely the best meal that I have had in Japan so far. I ordered the Ume set course meal. Arima, the itame, artfully prepared each dish himself and served it with a description of the ingredients and preparation, which I found to be charming and helpful. Arima's can only accommodate 16 people at most, so definitely book ahead if you plan to go.

Arima giving me the 'thumbs-up' after attempting to learn some Japanese cuisine jargon.

Tomorrow it is off to the shrines!

Game, Set, Match

Earlier this week I managed to make friends with a chair tennis umpire who I met in Tokyo. He is in town because of the Toray Pan Pacific Open happening all this week. Yesterday was the opening day of the tournament, so I figured before I head out of Tokyo today, I'll swing by for some of the first round matches. I managed to see the matches between Japan's own, Kurumi Nara, and the Ukranian, Elina Svitolina. It was a heartbreaking loss for Nara, as you always like to see someone win the first round in their home country. 

The other match I saw was between Venus Williams and Mona Barthel, where Venus dominated the court. 

My friend gifted me tickets with some pretty great seats. I was amongst some of the other athletes spectating, coaches, and a few other overseas guests. As a sports enthusiast, I always like to watch how athletes and coaches watch their competition. The parents and guests of players also gave me some interesting insight into some of the other players, which I couldn't have gotten elsewhere. 

After those two matches, I decided to venture back into the city. In order to get to and from Ariake Colosseum, you take the Yurukamome Line, which allows for some of the best panoramic snapshots of the city. Even if you aren't going to a tennis match, it is worth the ride. You head over the Rainbow bridge and see some beautiful views of the bay. The whole loop around only takes about 45 minutes.

Today, I'm hopping on the bullet train to head south to the cultural center of Japan. Kyoto is loaded with countless shrines and temples, and is also host to some of the best traditional cuisine in the country. Can't wait to report back!

Pop of Plaid

It hardly feels like I have been in Japan for four days! Tokyo is so big I feel like I adventure into a new city every day. On the to-do list today, was to see Tokyo Station, the Imperial Palace and Shibuya crossing. This morning I started my day at a pretty leisurely pace. There were a lot of 'stop and smell the tempura' moments as I moseyed my way to Shinjuku station, rocking my plaid Rugby shirt around my waist. It was on the warmer side of things, so I wore my trusty jean shorts, and because of all of the walking planned for the day, I opted for my sneakers as opposed to my usual sandals.

I snagged this ring from my mother's jewelry box years ago and decided to string it up on a gold chain.
The other necklace is a sovereign gold coin (1925), gifted to me by my dad for my college graduation.

At Shinjuku station, I had to activate my JR Pass by turning in my exchange order, which if you remember from one of my previous posts, I had to purchase in the States. Once I received my pass, I hopped on the Chuo Line, which is an express to Tokyo Station. Before even going outside, I decided to grab lunch at one of the restaurants, or better known as a shokudo, in the station. One thing that distinguishes a shokudo from another type of restaurant is that they display their food in a case outside of their restaurant. I ordered a ranchi setto (lunch set), which had sashimi, tempura, soup, eel and rice, steamed vegetables, and Japanese pickles, or tsukemono, which I have really grown to like in particular. The whole thing came out to 2,700 yen. Apparently, that is on the more expensive side, and you can get something similar for around 1,000 yen.

After lunch, I found my way outside. There are about 20 exits to the station, so be strategic in which one you pick. I chose the Marunouchi North exit as it is closest to the Imperial Palace. The station doesn't look like anything you would expect to see in Japan. The brick walls and Western style is an interesting juxtaposition to the modern background. Some have rumored that it is supposed to be modeled after the main station in Amsterdam, but I'm pretty sure that's just a rumor.

Before reaching the Imperial Palace, I stumbled upon the Wadakura Fountain Park, which was a nice reprieve from the hustle and bustle of Tokyo Station.

This little girl was so adorable. When she saw me taking pictures, she insisted on a photo shoot.

After some time in the water park I took the ten minute walk to the entrance of the Imperial Palace. There is no charge to get in, but remember to grab a token before you head in, which needs to be returned when you leave. 

While the actual palace isn't open to the public (it's only open two days out of the year), the most popular places that people go to are the East Gardens, which is a collection of several different types of landscapes. Tourists and locals alike come here to escape the flurry of activity in the city, either to enjoy lunch or just hang out.

I decided this would be a perfect time to break out my book. Note: if you feel like coming here for a late lunch and to read, remember the park closes at 4:30pm. The last thing you want is to feel rushed in a place like this, so give yourself plenty of time.

For those wondering, I'm reading Without Reservations by Alice Steinbach. 

After relaxing for a while, I hopped back on the Yamanote line to Shibuya Station. From there it's a quick walk to Shibuya Crossing, which is famous for people constantly pouring across the street every day. All of the traffic lights turn red at once, so it is a bit of a free for all when the 'walk' signs light up. 

Tomorrow, I am heading to the Toray Pan Pacific Open to watch some tennis, and then packing to get ready for my short trip down to Kyoto.

xoxo

Get the Look: Plaid Shirt, Rugby Ralph Lauren // Tee, H&M // Shorts, Hudson // Sneakers, Jimmy Choo // Blue Bag, 3.1 Phillip Lim // Red Bag, Marc by Marc Jacobs // Watch, Michael Kors // Sunglasses, Ray Ban // Necklaces, vintage