17,806 Steps in Seoul

Hi Everybody!!

After almost 18 hours of travel time Isabel, Auntie Weng, and I made it to Seoul for a 14 hour layover. Never one to miss an opportunity to check another country off my list, I was thrilled to be getting a taste of Korea through our layover tour! 

We had two hours to spare before our driver Hun arrived so we decided to refresh ourselves in the hall with this very clever makeshift vanity Isabel created. I will say, it did draw a few peculiar looks from the employees but I thought it was genius!

Then we had a quick breakfast of coffee and bagels. Apparently here they put cheese inside the bagel, almost as if it were baked through the middle which was very different and I can’t say I liked it. However, the bread itself was amazing and dare I say, even better than the famous New York bagels. They were so fluffy and light, the proofing was perfect! 

(Below are a few pictures from our drive that don’t really fit in my story but were too pretty not to share!)

By 7 am our driver Hun arrived and took us to the only place open in Seoul early on a Saturday morning, Jogyesa temple. Which was how two Catholics, a Muslim, and an atheist all found themselves at a Buddhist temple for morning worship lol! We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside but the outside had a gate with four spiritual protectors in each corner that the worshipers would bow to each one before entering the grounds. 

Around the courtyard there were hundreds of lanterns, each one representing someone’s wish. The temple itself was built in the late 14th century and housed three giant golden Buddhas, one for health, one for wealth, and one for happiness. 

But the most entertaining statue to me was this little guy called a haechi, which is a mythological creature that wards off evil and can distinguish right from wrong and good from bad. Legend says that the haechi rams the corrupt and guilty with its horn. Essentially said creature is fiery, righteous, unicorn lion who stands for justice and I’m obsessed!  

The next place we went to was Bukchonhanok village, a little town with houses that are around 600 years old. Because this place is a historical site, the government pays citizens a million dollars to live here. While the houses are updated, they aren’t particularly modernized, which lead this town to become a senior community. I can’t say I blame the younger generation for wanting to live in apartments! I myself wouldn’t do well without a solid heating and air conditioning system or a microwave lol.

After walking the village we visited Gyeongbokgung palace, which is the main palace in Seoul. Unfortunately because of constant warfare with Japan and then North Korea, not much of this place survived. Most of what we saw was replicas or restoration work, the oldest being 150 years old. But it gave us a good feel for what the palace would have been like. 

They even have reenactments of the changing of the guard ceremonies. 

Over 500 years, Korea had 27 kings which isn’t a great track record. All around the palace are these Korean longevity flowers in an effort to combat their short life spans. You can see them on the shingles above the six white dotted flowers on this gate. Apparently it didn’t work because the kings loved to party and eat and drink in excess according to our guide. They had multiple party buildings in the middle of the lakes, which was intentional so that the spaces didn’t get too hot during the summers and also had beautiful scenery while entertaining.

Another fun fact is that in Korea the king was only allowed 9 concubines because of Confucianism. There were other peculiar influences of Confucianism throughout the palace, for instance the stone floors were extremely uneven and placed at different heights intentionally because it was considered impolite to run and everyone in court was supposed to walk slowly. I myself tripped a few times when I wasn’t paying enough attention to where I was walking, guess that trick really does work to force people to be mindful! I can’t really say that my poor feet agreed.

One of the highlights of the palace was that for once my 5’5’’ self felt tall! I was practically a giant going through all these doorways! 

By the time we finished perusing the grounds all of us were frozen, so Hun took us to get Korean chicken soup for lunch. They stuffed the chicken with ginseng, rice, and dates and boiled it in a bone broth. It was the perfect meal to reinvigorate us for the markets.

We visited two markets called Insadong and Hongdae. Insadong had lots of souvenir shops and little trinkets. The streets were so busy because according to Hun it was a “nice” day at 30° and everyone wanted to be outside enjoying the “sun.” I was freezing despite wearing thermals and layers. 

Thankfully we warmed up in a traditional tea house before going to the very trendy market in Hongdae where I promptly realized that I am now too old to be hip and trendy, even in Korea. I did enjoy watching everyone else’s sense of style and fashion but it almost felt like I walked onto a college campus town center and stood out like a sore thumb. Thankfully street food has no age so we enjoyed all the little stalls with snacks like this one. This was fried dough filled with red beans but shaped like fish and basically the only type of fish I’ll ever get to eat in this lifetime. I can’t complain though, as it was delicious!!

Before I knew it our day was over and it was time to get back to the airport to catch our flight to Manila. We did a lot done in 9 hours and all three of us were beat but so happy to have explored. Who knows, maybe I’ll come back again to finish seeing the rest of this country. All I can say is that after today I’m satisfied…for now…

Talk to you all tomorrow!

Lots of love,

Carolyn

Prado 1 Carolyn 0

Hi guys!

So this morning I woke up and saw it was going to be 104° today! I’m in the middle of the city without any easy access to bodies of water, so my game plan to beat the heat was to spend as much of the day inside as possible. Hence my goal to walk the entire Prado museum in a day. Spoiler alert, I gave up around 3/4 of the way through, but not because I physically couldn’t do the distance, I was mentally overwhelmed. This museum is filled with Goya, Bosch, and Velazquez aka a lot of Jesus, Greek mythology, and portraits of dead people lol. But they’re mostly moody and dark and honestly there’s only so many dead Jesus paintings you can see before you’re totally over it, like I got the point the first 20 times around. Thankfully the museum did get new sculptures so that was fun to look at. There was a very sassy muse who totally looks like she’s rolling her eyes, which I took a picture of and subsequently got in trouble for. Oops, I didn’t see any no photo signs around and it’s not like I used flash. Oh well, the lady didn’t make me delete the photo so it was a win for me! And now you get to see the only picture from my four hours at the museum. 

By the time I surrendered, it was well past lunch time and I tried to get some food at the museum cafeteria, and they refused to serve me after I asked if anything had nuts in it because of my allergies! That was definitely a first for me, and they were too scared to give me anything but water!! So I started walking down the main road on the hunt for lunch and snapped a few photos along the way. 

Along the way ended up being a very long long way because it was so hard to find a place I could eat because of all the pork! It felt like the Spanish Inquisition all over again haha. The hanger was so real by the time, I found a place that had tortilla, an egg and potato dish, that I happily wolfed down. 

I continued my day exploring the Plaza Mayor and city with my final stop as the Chocolateria San Ginés, the most famous place for chocolate and churros in Madrid. They have been serving chocolate con churros since 1894 and I’d say they definitely perfected their recipe, if you can’t tell by the giant smile on my face! I happily ate all six churros, in case you doubted my abilities hehe. You just can’t get anything as good anywhere else in the world. 

Pretty content with myself and my day, I caught a taxi back to my hotel to pack and prepare for my trip to Salamanca tomorrow!! I’m so excited to go back to my home away from home.

Lots of love, 

Carolyn

Munich to Madrid

Hello hello!

So it’s been a bit of a whirlwind. My last day in Germany was pretty chill, mostly me packing. And then Tanja, baby, and I snuck out for a few hours to meet her parents at a lake. We picnicked and swam, enjoying the sun. 

Across the lake was a monastery where the monks make beer! Apparently that’s not an uncommon thing in Germany and you have specialty monk brews. And as contradictory as it seems, just wait until you hear what I learned next. The whole reason the monks learned to brew beer was because they were fasting and so they created a hearty, high calorie beer to fast on! Can you imagine if I did Ramadan and was like oh sorry I can’t eat, but I can drink beer! I could not stop laughing. 

This was the definite calm before the storm as when I got home, I received some unfortunate news that both my host mom and Rita are unable to see me in Spain. Which induced a bit of a panic because it was the night before I was leaving for Spain and now it meant I had nothing planned and hotels and bus tickets to cancel. Thankfully Tanja and mom were total champs helping me figure out what to do and whether or not to actually go to Spain. After multiple unsuccessful attempts to change my flight to get home sooner, I decided that I will finish this trip solo. I’m taking Monday as a day of rest in the hotel and then I’ll be back on the road tomorrow! The new plan is to stay in Madrid for one day before catching the bus to Salamanca, which is still my favorite city in all of Spain. My goal for tomorrow is to see the Prado Museum in one day, a feat I’m told is impossible, but that sure won’t stop me from trying! 

Sending love, 

Carolyn 

Girls Day And the French Quarter

Hi Everybody!

So like clockwork baby got up at half past six and was passed onto me so his parents could get a bit more rest, which was totally fine because it meant we got some quality time together! It was much needed, especially since I practically missed his whole first year of life. We played around and I tried to read more German baby books until Tanja and Max came down and fixed us breakfast. No pancakes this year, but I can’t complain because I got handed fresh bread and cheese and a hot cappuccino every morning. Maybe I should live here forever hehe! Tanja and Max definitely spoil me. 

As a reward for letting Max sleep until basically noon, Tanja and I got to go to the French Quarter in Munich! Except now it’s not really French anymore, but there’s tons of patio cafes and fun dining spots. I was a total fan of their gardening, manicured but also looking a bit wild? Idk, I’m sure there’s a word for it that my godmom would know. 

We walked through the town squares and had coffee in trendy cafes and walked into any little shop that caught my eye. I couldn’t help but laugh at this mug in one of the boutique stores! Definitely German, because all the American merchandise says the exact opposite. 

We walked past older wooden buildings and quiet streets until we came to this bakery where I had another plum cake of course!! I’m eating as many as I can before I go haha. Maybe my new goal will be to figure out if I can bake this crumble at home….

Tanja and I strolled along the park to walk off our treats and also find the river. There weren’t any river surfers out today because it was “bad weather” at an overcast, balmy 85 degrees. Major eye roll there! I would’ve gone in the river! But I didn’t pack any change of clothes and muggy weather isn’t quite conducive to quickly drying off.

Our last city stop was this angel of peace monument which was beautiful and SO shiny despite being outside in all the elements. And with that last city view, we walked back to our cars and drove home to Max and the baby.

That evening Tanja cooked a delicious Asian wok dinner and then we watched Crazy Rich Asians together before going to bed. It was totally an unintentional theme, but kinda funny. Also, I’d say you can’t get more of a girls day than this!! It was so special to spend such quality time with a best friend. I can’t believe it’s already my last day in Germany tomorrow! Stay tuned. 

Love you all, 

Carolyn

Baking and Babysitting

Hello fam! 

Our bread rose beautifully over the night so we got to bake it in the morning!! Nothing better than some fresh German bread and Swiss cheese for a snack! Even the baby had a whole slice, and he wouldn’t let go of his slice, even when he had to take a bath lol! So I think our bread got everyone’s approval in the house. 

Tonight Tanja and Max are going to their neighbor’s wedding reception, so they asked me to bake a cake with the apples from their backyard. Well really Tanja asked if I liked to bake, to which I responded “I love baking!“ and talked up all my skills. She said “good you’re in charge of making an apple cake for their wedding!” And immediately I regretted all the bragging. To bake in someone else’s kitchen is always an adventure. To bake in someone else’s kitchen who isn’t a baker is so hard! I wouldn’t say impossible, because I did it, but I did it just barely. We ran out of sugar and had to switch to raw sugar, there wasn’t enough oil so the scale shut off in between the search for more and I had to guess how much oil to add, there was no baking soda, oh and there’s no such thing as teaspoons and tablespoons in Europe, so I just had to guess measuring it all out. It was quite the task! But I think the cake turned out all right, especially since none of it got sent back from the wedding! Next time I’m bringing measuring cups and spoons to Tanja to keep for when I’m here lol. 

After we finished cleanup it was already noon! So Tanja, baby, and I decided to have a quick lake swim and picnic. We rode our bikes to a different lake and it was so beautiful as we rode through golden fields and farms, we even rode past a horse barn!! By the time we rode the 5k to the lake we were ready for a swim. The water was so cool and refreshing. Never did I ever think I’d say this, but I got so tan in Germany! Everyone was laughing that it took a trip to Munich for this California girl to get a summer tan. 

It was getting close to evening so the three of us rode home to ice the cake and feed the baby dinner. Max’s grandparents knew that there was a wedding reception tonight and called to see if I wanted help with babysitting. I’m sure I would’ve been just fine but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t a bit relieved when they showed up half an hour later after the parents left. Of course the baby and I were doing just fine, until he realized that his mom and dad weren’t in other rooms of the house. And of course the moment he started to cry was the moment that his great-grandparents rang the doorbell. The baby immediately stopped crying and we all played in the garden to tire him out for bed. Max’s grandma doesn’t speak English but his grandpa speaks some. They are the sweetest and funniest people! Max’s grandpa asked me to get him a beer and then tried insisting I drink one too because it’s “good Bavarian beer, good for health, make you strong” and the grandma hilariously said “good girl drink beer.” I got them their beers and started laughing because you can’t get more German than that!  

The rest of the evening passed quickly, as Tanja came home to put Lucas to bed and then I went to bed shortly after as I’ve got morning baby duty and this kid loves 6 am. Wish me luck!

Love you lots,

Carolyn 

Downtown Munich - University Side

Hi everyone!! 

So the thunderstorm did roll in last night and it was actually quite pleasant to fall asleep to. But by the time we woke there wasn’t any rain. Or so we thought, literally the second we finished driving into the city center it started raining. And of course, Tanja and I were woefully unprepared so we had to run into a shop and grab an umbrella. We weren’t the only ones with this idea because there was a line in the store with a bunch of other suckers like us only buying umbrellas lol. 

The three of us walked around the city and past the top two universities in Germany. They were beautiful and Tanja said I could walk around inside while she waited outside with her baby. I literally took 10 steps inside and was like nope, I’m so glad I finished all my schooling and never want to be on campus again and practically ran out haha. I did get one picture of the main hall though. 

There were also cool white pamphlets set in the stone in the shape of roses to represent the White Rose Organization, which was a group of students that spoke up about Hitler and tried to raise awareness against him before they were all killed. I can’t imagine being so brave and speaking the truth even when you know you’ll die because of it. Nowadays we see this happening with journalists and spyware, I’m just hoping I never get put in such a position. Who knows if I could be so brave? 

The baby obviously went crazy for the fountain and we stayed there for a bit before walking the other part of the city where we passed the Victory arch. It was bombed during WWII and when rebuilt the architects and public were very skeptical of war and it became an arch for Peace over War. Also, because the Bavarian crest is lions, they have the man holding lions which I thought was way cooler than they typical Roman riding horses. Don’t get me wrong, horses are still my favorites, but it was a nice change up. 

The funniest part of today was Tanja and I were looking for a place to eat, and nothing sounded good but burritos. Guess I’m starting to miss home? So she took us around to a tiny shop run by Mexican owners and omg I was so happy! I missed my avocados. The restaurant was so crowded we ended up eating our burritos on the curb, quite contently I might add. There was definitely happy dancing from me! Even Tanja says she misses all the food options she had, especially Mexican and Thai, from when she lived in the OC.

The weather completely turned around by the time we made it back home so Max’s grandparents invited us for tea and cheesecake that afternoon. Oh my goodness it was adorable, they brought out all the fine china, despite the presence of a very active one year old boy. Super bold move on their part!! And not only that, when I said yes to having ice cream with my cheesecake, because I can never say no to ice cream! the grandpa brought out SEVEN scoops which he presented to me with an enthusiastic “ta-dah!“ We passed the rest of the afternoon playing in the gardens and chatting before it was time to go home and put the baby to bed. 

Get excited for tomorrow though because there’s going to be lots of bread and cake making!! Our dough has taken a final knead for the night and is well on its way to the 20 hour proofing mark so that means we get to bake in the morning!

Love, 

Carolyn