Day 45 (Aug 22) - Back to Calgary

 It's been a busy month, trying to finish units before the break. But onto the second last post (last one being a reflective overall post) for Asia 2023!

With our flights being relatively late, we had the luxury to wake up late. We did one final pack and clean up before checking out of our hotel. We took a local bus to the airport, which surprisingly, we didn't have to book. The ride was about an hour long, so we got more shut eye in.

As we approached the airport, it started to rain. I believe this is my third Asia trip in a row that had rain on the last day (I believe Japan 2019 did... but for sure Japan 2017 and 2015 did). Perhaps it's a reflection of my heart, in that I miss home, but it's always nice to be able to travel abroad. My girlfriend's flight to HK was earlier than mine, but she took the shuttle bus from our bus stop to my terminal. After spending about half an hour together, it was time for her to head back to the other terminal to catch her flight. I had about five hours to spare before my flight.

I sat by the check in, waiting for about 90 minutes for my turn. As it was time, I approached to check in, but was informed that they had to change my flight since my transit time in the US was too short (originally was supposed to fly to SFO before heading back to YYC). 90 minutes, was apparently not enough time to clear through immigrations. Unfortunately, it was hard for me to get the full message, since the check in counter didn't have a strong grasp of English. However, they were so kind to find someone fluent enough to guide me on what to do in order to change my flight. I left for the ticket counter, in which I had my flight change to Seattle. To compensate for my trouble, they upgraded my seat to an exit row seat. I was fine with that, since my initial thought was more leg room. 

After checking in with my new boarding pass, I dropped off my luggage and headed through security. It was a breeze, which meant I had a good amount of time. I looked around the various kiosks and stores they had, and finally settled for some lunch. As per tradition, I tried looking for a McDonald's, but none were in sight (that I could see anyways). I did find a Lotteria, which is a South Korean burger chain restaurant. I ordered one of their recommended burgers and upgraded my fries with sour cream onion powder. The burger was huge and delicious, and the sour cream powder was a nice touch to the fries. After completing lunch, I headed to my gate to wait to board.

Excited to get more leg room, I rushed eagerly to my seat. Lo and behold, I got a lot of legroom. I was located near the front of economy class, by the exit doors. That meant there was no seats in front of me, which was great. The problem was, there was no storage pocket for me to put my usual stuff inside. Yes, I'm aware that these pockets are filthy, but I do like the convenience. With the pillow, blankets and other amenities Korean Air offered, I had no where to put them since I don't use any of them at all during a flight. Fortunately, a flight attendant was able to take them away for me.

The flight was relatively straightforward, the meals being quite good as well. I wasn't able to sleep, but I did manage to get a few movies in, despite not remembering what I watched. As we landed in Seattle, we got off to pick up our luggage before transferring to another check-in counter to connect to Calgary. I had about three hours to spare, so I wandered around the terminal for a while. I had reverse culture shock while I was walking -- it was weird to hear English everywhere. Also, how people looked and dressed in the sense of having diverse types of bodies and ethnicities was "shocking" to see in comparison to the homogeneous nature of Asia. After walking for a while, I went back to my gate and waited for the flight back to YYC via Alaska Airlines. I was trying not to crash at this point, since it was nearly 24 hours since I had proper sleep. As we boarded the plane, I quickly sat down in my window seat. The gentleman sitting beside me noticed that the seats beside us were empty (since they closed the door) and moved to them. With a gentle smile, he mentioned it was for extra space, which I greatly appreciated as well, since I was able to sprawl along my two seats. 

I think I did end up sleeping for 30 minutes during the flight, since I couldn't quite remember take-off. I was grateful when we landed in Calgary. Due to the small amount of passengers, I was able to get my luggage quite quickly. My dad was waiting for me as I exited the airport, and took me back home for some much needed food and sleep.

It's hard to believe that I spent over six weeks travelling in Asia, and not just Japan. It was a trip filled with new experiences and memories, despite revisiting many places I've been to in Japan already. I'll post a reflective post sometime during Winter Break about this trip!

It's good to be back home! Though I do miss Asia...

Day 44 (Aug 21) - Last full day in South Korea

 We started the day by grabbing some congee for a late breakfast/early lunch. The portions were a lot bigger than I expected but were quite flavorful. Fully fueled, we headed to explore whatever we could for our last day. It started with a store that sold stationary, but at a much higher price than I'm accustomed to. The atmosphere was pleasant, but nothing tickled my fancy. Since we were starting to feel thirsty, we headed to our next stop.

Nudake café in Gangnam was extremely busy, but we were able to grab a seat before I headed off to purchase drinks and dessert. I got some sort of fruity drink while she got a matcha latte. As for the dessert, it was some sort of cake that had a whipped cream filling. The drinks were great, but the $20 CAD dessert tasted like a dry croissant with filling. I can't say that the inner décor was to my liking as well, being quite dark and decorated in a way I didn't find intriguing.

After the café, we headed to a small mall. It wasn't busy so we were able to stroll leisurely. There was a small arcade section with a mini-game machine: The Bishi Bashi. We tried finding one in Hong Kong, but it was occupied. The one here was empty, so we took our time to beat the game. Every time you lost your two lives, you had to put in more coins. I think I ended up putting in around $6-7 CAD while she only had to put in $3. The mini-games reminded me of Mario Party, for those who never played Bishi Bashi before. 

After finishing, we headed out of the mall and walked around for a while before taking the metro to Gundam Base Korea. I was looking for a particular Gundam, but to no avail. We were running tight on time, since we had one last event to attend: Nanta.

Nanta was a comedic show about four cooks trying to prepare for an event. The beginning of the 90 minute show was a bit slow, but it got better as it went on. There was acrobatics, live drumming and a whole range of other activities. Once it was over, we stopped by a restaurant for a late-night dinner. Dinner wasn't anything special, but it was a good way to end the trip.

After making a brief stop at the night market for the last time, we headed back to the hotel to do a final pack before heading to sleep.

It's going to be a long day tomorrow back to Calgary!

Not many pictures were taken this day for some reason, so here's one of the Gundam Base in Seoul. 

Day 43 (Aug 20) - Around Hongdae

 Since she was feeling better, we were able to make up for lost time by spending most of the day traveling. This time, it was off to Hongdae.

After finishing up leftovers from last night, we got ready and headed towards the metro. It wasn't too far from our hotel, taking us approximately 30 minutes to get to Hongdae. We walked towards Egg Drop, a shop that sold artisan sandwiches. It was a little bit on the pricier side, but they had a lot of stuffing. Taste wasn't too bad as well, with the flavors mixing well with one another. Once we've eaten, we headed towards our next location, which was only a few minutes away.

Thanks Nature Cafe was known for having two sheep on its premises. We first went inside to grab some drinks and to relax a bit before heading back outside to pet the sheep. Fortunately, it wasn't too busy so we were able to get a lot of time with the two. Once we had our fill, it was off to the next cafe.

It was a bit of a walk, but we managed to head down a shopping street that reminded me of Kensington back home. We soon found our destination: Cloud with Sky Dog Cafe. There was a lot of barking, which we could hear a block away. As we entered, we saw at least 15 different breeds lounging around or playing with the various guests. Unfortunately, some of the dogs didn't seem to get along well with one another, but overall, it was an interesting experience. The drinks were quite refreshing, though it wasn't unlimited, unfortunately. After spending nearly two hours here, we left and headed to find some dessert.

Along the way, we stopped by a building that had a BTS store, and at that time as well, a NewJeans pop up. I don't know much about those two groups, but we ventured inside for a while to see what they had. Soon after, we stopped by a Line Friends and a Kakao Friends store nearby. With nothing really sticking out to us, we continued on our way to a shaved ice/bingsu.

We found a dessert shop that had a wide variety of sweets, and a relatively long line up. It was hard to find a table, but we were fortunate enough that we arrived when one other couple finished. We ordered a mango bingsu to share between the two of us. It was full of flavor, and filled with various mango and cheesecake chunks. I would have to say it was my second favorite shaved ice on the trip (right after Tsujiri in Uji). Once we finished, we headed out to shop for beauty products. Seeing a candied strawberry stand nearby, we grabbed one before deciding to head back to drop off our shopping. Not wanting to walk all the way back to the metro station, we hopped onto a taxi back to our hotel. Taxis in South Korea are relatively affordable!

After taking a breather in our hotel, we headed back out for dinner. We ended up at a restaurant that specialized in one dish: a chicken stuffed rice in soup. The chicken contained a healthy portion of rice and other stuffing like chestnut and ginseng. There was also a shot of what I read is ginseng liquor. I'm usually okay with drinking straight shots, but I couldn't muster this one. Little did I know, I could have poured it into my soup. Out of everything I had in South Korea thus far, this was the most unique and perhaps one of my favorite meals in the country. Once we finished dinner, we headed back out and explored Myeong-dong some more. We ended up purchasing some tarts for dessert before getting more shopping done.

Just one more full day in South Korea! It's been a very long, but fulfilling trip to Asia thus far!

At the BTS store. I have no idea what those mascots represent. 

Day 42 (Aug 19) - Traveling around Myeong-dong

 We didn't come back to the hotel late last night, but we ended up waking up quite late. There was a restaurant nearby that we stopped for lunch. We got beef soup, which was quite filling. It reminds me of the oxtail soup back in Calgary. After lunch, we strolled around the district to shop for a bit, before heading back to the hotel to rest. She was feeling ill, and I was strangely feeling tired myself. After taking a nap, I got up and went out on my own to finish some errands.

Traveling on my own in Japan is one thing, where I knew the customs and language enough to squeak by. Fortunately, despite not knowing South Korea, it wasn't as challenging as I imagined it would be. I started off by visiting a nearby music store that I saw the night before, to get a CD for my brother.  They had a wide variety of popular Kpop groups, with many I recognized either by myself listening to them or having my students talk about them back home. After picking up the CD, it was off to purchase dinner. 

We wanted to try gimbap and BHC, so I found the gimbap restaurant that she wanted to try. It wasn't very busy, so I was able to place my order and have it made in about 10 minutes. After collecting the gimbap, it was off to BHC. It wasn't as busy as last night, but there was still a relatively long line. I placed my order and was told that it'll take about an hour. Having explored much of the night market last night, I decided just to wander around another section of Myeong-dong. The streets that I went down wasn't filled with as many tourists as the night markets, but they still carried the same charm. I ended up stopping by a large Lotte department store. Wanting to see how similar they are to Japanese department stores, I entered. The layout did seem reminiscent of Japan, and they even had a food hall on the basement level. I went down to the basement to see what they had to offer. I ended up getting more gimbap and a roll cake for dessert. After strolling down the various stalls, it was time to head back to BHC to pick up my order.

With my hands filled with bags of food, it was time to head back. I wanted to grab some fresh fruit drinks from the night market, so I stopped by a vendor we visited yesterday. Now, with my hands extra full, I made the trek back to our hotel. I'm horrible when it comes to directions and I tried to rely on my sense of direction heading back to our hotel. I admit, I did take a wrong turn and ended up going down a familiar path, but one that took me further away from our hotel. It didn't help that I tried using Olive Young as a guide post, since there were many Olive Young stores. I eventually did a U-turn and found the right direction. There was a red onsen sign near our hotel which helped me hone onto the right street.

That pretty much marks the day! It was a pleasant experience traveling on my own for a while. Maybe it's just me, but it didn't feel as hot and humid in South Korea in comparison to Japan, which also helped. Just two more days to go in South Korea!

As for dinner: the gimbap from the restaurant was decent with the rice still tasting fresh and the fillings having full of flavor. The gimbap from the department store though, hits on a whole different level. I can't say why really, but I really liked it more than the other gimbap. The BHC chicken though... was a bit of a let down. It was good, but wasn't enough to blow my socks off. It was nice that they offered a large container of pickled radish and a coke can though!

Waiting for the BHC chicken!

Day 41 (Aug 18) - Good bye Hong Kong, Hello South Korea!

 I had to get up early to finish packing my suitcase. We weren't able to fit everything in the medium-sized suitcase we brought from Canada, so I borrowed one from my girlfriend to bring to our next destination. It also helped that the newer design meant having four wheels. I don't have to lug it behind me all the time now.

Her mom and brother had to leave early to prepare, so I said my goodbyes to them before they went. It was somewhat sad since I won't be able to see them for a while. I'm grateful that they treated me very kindly over the past week and a half. As I finished packing, her dad went to grab us some breakfast before it was time to go to the airport. We had some baked buns, which was a nice way to end my trip to Hong Kong. As we were about to leave, it started to rain quite heavily. We had to use umbrellas to ensure the suitcases didn't get too wet as we made our way to the van. The drive seemed somewhat perilous as well with all the rain, but her dad managed to drive us safely to the airport. I said one final goodbye to her dad, which ended up with a hug! I didn't expect that at all, but it was a nice way to end the first time I met her parents. I admit I was nervous meeting them the first time, but they showered me with food and hospitality throughout my stay.

As her dad drove away, we entered the airport. Security was relatively easy and we went to our gate to await our flight. It's my first time taking Cathay, but the service was top-notch. The seats were comfortable and they had a wide variety of movies to watch on the flight. They even served a meal, despite the flight only being about 3 hours in length. And perhaps the best part was the Haagen-Dazs ice cream! I ended up watching the Mario movie (alright) and Infernal Affairs (I can see why this was critically acclaimed). 

It was nighttime when we landed at Incheon airport. They had something similar to the Narita Express, so we took that train to Myeong-dong, where our hotel was located. Fortunately, it wasn't too hard to find our hotel, so we checked in and dropped off our luggage. We wanted to try the famous BHC fried chicken branch so we made our way down the streets to the shop. The streets were filled with tourists, as we walked past a night market and various Olive Young (Health and Beauty store) stores. As we approached BHC, there was a large line up waiting to enter. Not wanting to wait so long, since we were quite hungry, we ventured back to the night market. I got the chocolate mint drink that I saw in Hong Kong at Coco, but I was sorely disappointed. It reminded me of the chocolate mint protein drink I had at home, which wasn't what I expected from a bubble tea place. We ended up getting some sort of egg... pastry, the spiral potato stick and a type of... pancake before calling it a night.

As we walked back towards our hotel, we stopped by a 7-11 to stock up on snacks. Unfortunately, there wasn't a large selection at this 7-11. Not wanting to compare to Japan, the service at this 7-11 was... different (to put it nicely) from the hospitality in Japan.

But a decent start to my time in South Korea!

Our plane to Incheon Airport! 

Day 40 (Aug 17) - Last Day in Hong Kong!

 With the last full day in Hong Kong upon me, I did what any sensible traveler would do: I slept in. After waking up later than I would normally have, we took her dogs to the enclosed area for one last time. I'll miss her dogs. They're relatively well behaved and were so full of love. Her Labrador really loved it when you scratched her lower back. Her mixed dog was always so gentle when you fed him food directly from your hand. Hopefully, I get to see the two of them very soon once again!

After lounging around for the day, we went back to her mom's restaurant for dinner. I got a shrimp-based soup this time around -- it was unique in terms of flavors though not my favorite way to eat ramen. For anyone that loves shrimp though, I'm sure it'll suit their palette. As we were waiting for her mom to finish cleaning, we stopped by some other stores to buy some food to take home to eat. 

It's hard to believe that my time in Hong Kong is finally coming to an end. True, there wasn't as much exploring in comparison to the Japan leg of the trip, but it was a much-needed break from the constant need to see attractions. Hong Kong definitely has it's charm that is different than Japan or Taiwan. It also helps that I'm able to understand somewhat what people are saying. I was fortunate as well that I had accommodations covered and food for that matter! As for next time, I'll make it a goal to visit the island and to try other types of cuisines that I wasn't able to this time around!

As for tomorrow, we'll be heading off to one last country before coming back to Canada!

The rare time I see her Labrador smile/have a somewhat happy face. 

Day 39 (Aug 16) - Ramen in Hong Kong

 For the last two days, we had no set plans. I got up late, took my time to watch some anime and just relaxed for the last few days in Hong Kong. I gave up doing work at this point, so I made sure to consume as much media as I can before I lose that free time.

We had a late lunch, courtesy of some Hong Kong-inspired sandwiches. They weren't half bad, though I cannot recall what they consisted of at this point. Once we finished eating, we took another break before I took her dogs out for a walk. It was my first solo walk with her dogs, so I took them out one at a time. I started with her mixed dog, since he would pine if the Labrador went out first. After going down the usual path, we ended up at the small fenced area for him to roam free for a bit. Once it seemed like he had enough, we headed back home so I could take her Labrador. We followed a similar path for her Labrador before heading to the enclosed area. Unlike her mixed dog, I didn't end up locking the gate, but just closing it instead. Near the end of her free-roaming, she trotted down towards the gate (which is nothing I've ever seen before because she didn't seem to like running much anymore at her age [9 years old].) She proceeded to use her head to open the gate, and walked out herself! I had to jog to catch up to her and to clip her leash back onto her harness. They weren't joking when they said Labrador Retrievers were smart!

After the walk, we got ready to head into another district of the New Territories where her mom operates her ramen shop. It was still a bit too early to get dinner ourselves (waiting till near closing time when it's not as busy), so we walked around the little shopping alley. Since I didn't drink much during the day, she got me a bubbletea to keep me hydrated. After about 20-30 minutes, when it didn't look as busy inside, we headed in for dinner. The ramen I got was a tonkotsu based broth with thin slices of cha siu. The cha siu was unlike what I've ever seen, with it being red instead of the normal light grey that I'm accustomed to in Japan.

Upon the first few bites, a wave of nostalgia hit me. It's not very common I had ramen that tasted like Japan. The broth was lighter than other Tonkotsu broth I had before, but it worked well with the noodles and cha siu. The cha siu was extremely flavorful, and complemented the broth well. And of course, the soft boiled egg. There's something about eggs in Asia that I can't replicate here in Canada.

After dinner, and waiting for her family to finish closing the shop, we headed back for the night. 

One more full day to go!

So good... I wish ramen wasn't that calorie dense. 

Day 38 (Aug 15) - Finishing Chores in Hong Kong

 With the last few days in Hong Kong upon us, we started the day with dim sum in town. Overall, the food was good and reasonably priced. The flavors didn't stick out, but I was satisfied when we finished eating. Afterward, we went to a delivery courier to collect packages and ship some items. Very soon after, we headed back to her place to do more chores.

She cleaned up her room while I was there for... morale support. After finishing most of her room, we headed back to a different part of town for some appointments she had booked to deal with her other tasks. That took a couple of hours, so when we headed back home, it was to get ready for dinner with some of her other relatives. 

We ate a Chinese styled restaurant (not 100% sure of what type of Chinese cuisine) that served a variety of dishes. There was even orange juice, which was something new to me since I almost always drink tea (or pop) at a Chinese restaurant. What was unique about this restaurant was each person had two pairs of chopsticks: one for personal use and one to pick up food from the dishes in the middle. I was feeling pretty tired near the end of dinner, which I can usually tell based on how much Cantonese I can understand. Normally, I should be able to pick up around 20% (assuming I'm concentrating hard), but when tired, it goes down to almost 0%.

Once dinner was over, we headed back home to relax for the rest of the night. Only two more full days in Hong Kong!

It was a nice, hot day. Sometimes I wish I had a longer break during the spring or fall for travel. 

Day 37 (Aug 14) - Haircut in Hong Kong!

 Despite not having much to do for the day, I woke up decently early. We ordered food for breakfast, which was delivered via Foodpanda (similar to DoorDash or Uber Eats). Honestly, I don't know the names of all the dishes, but there was some sort of noodle dish, fish ball skewers, and a type of soup. All were good and kept me full past lunchtime.

After resting for a while, including my feeble attempt at doing work, we headed out to town. I needed a haircut since my original plan of getting a haircut in Ikebukuro back on July 11 did not materialize. My hair wasn't super long, but it was starting to annoy me. We didn't have much luck in terms of drop-ins until we found a place near the bus stop. The salon was priced a bit more than some other places we saw, but it looked like they would have room to have me come in and get my haircut. It started off with a shampoo that felt nice, then the cut itself. The hairstylist had a look in mind, which he showed me via an Instagram photo. It looked good to me, with what I could see without my glasses on, so I agreed on the cut. After he was nearly done cutting my hair, he seemed to have a change of heart and was wondering if I wanted a perm. Not wanting to dish out money for a perm, I asked him to talk to my girlfriend for her advice. The split-second look on her face told me all I wanted to know about my haircut. Fortunately, she was able to explain how we didn't have time for the perm, so he finished what he did and let me go after we paid.

All I can say is that my haircut was... interesting. I couldn't stop laughing every time I saw my own reflection. But enough of that -- it was off to find some dessert. There was a MeetFresh nearby, so we ventured in. The first time I went to this chain was back in Vancouver; we ended up ordering the taro ball milk with pearls. Maybe I'm just biased, but it tasted better than back home in Canada. After we finished, we took the shuttle bus back to her neighborhood. 

After getting comments from her family about the haircut, we went to walk her dogs. The walk wasn't out of the ordinary. After coming back, we ordered dinner. It involved chicken wing tips (I believe that's what it was), and it was extremely good. The chili peppers really give the tip flavor. We also got the same fruit dessert that I had during my first day in Hong Kong. Overall, a scrumptious dinner. 

My girlfriend and I then proceeded to play Ticket to Ride, a game she picked up during her homestay in Europe. We usually just played with the two of us, but her brother was able to join us this time around. Out of the two boards I played (Europe and Japan), we played the Japan expansion. Not going to lie, but playing it made me miss Japan, despite it only being a few weeks out. 

After finishing our game, I was off to sleep for the night! Only three more full days left in Hong Kong. 

Her Labrador seems to be tired as well! She's so cute!

Day 36 (Aug 13) - Staying Back With a Walk By The River

 The last bit of Hong Kong was very laid back. We didn't have any set plans, and I wanted to lounge mostly at home. We started the day with lunch at a restaurant in town. They were serving customers outside, and there was a bit of a wait. It didn't help that it was starting to rain quite heavily, but fortunately, her dad kept umbrellas inside his van. I got myself some sort of noodle soup with eggs and sausage off to the side. The meal was simple, yet the flavors had a really homey feel. Once we completed lunch, we went off to her mom's restaurant so that they could set up to reopen after their one week vacation. 

Her mom owns a ramen restaurant. The interior was very reminiscent of Japan with the mural on the wall. The water jugs were the same double-walled ones they used in ramen restaurants in Japan! There was nothing for me to do, so I mostly sat there while they prepared for tomorrow. After about an hour or so, we headed off to another district to purchase ingredients. 

After getting back to her place, I took a nap, which ended up being a few hours. Upon waking, we decided to take her dogs for a longer walk down the river near her house. It was a peaceful walk down the river with little foot traffic. The only issue was the swath of mosquitos biting us along the way. There was a scenic spot with benches, so we sat there for a while letting her dogs take a break. We headed back to her place and it was then time for dinner. 

For dinner, we ordered from KFC. Instead of delivery, we opted for take out instead. The closest KFC was at the mall where we had Sushiro the day before. It was quite packed inside, but they seemed to be efficiently dealing with their orders. Once we grabbed our food, we stopped to purchase some dessert as well before heading back. I was actually quite surprised how different KFC tasted in Hong Kong in comparison to Canada. I have yet to try it in Japan, but the KFC in Hong Kong was quite a bit better compared to here. The chicken was quite flavorful and tender. They also had egg tarts and rice dishes! The egg tarts were not as good as Macau's but were a nice finish to dinner.

All in all, a day to recharge. Not many more days left in Hong Kong. 

As we were driving to another district from her mom's restaurant. 

Day 35 (Aug 12) - Roll Cakes and Wagyu

 After a long day yesterday, I ended up sleeping in till around lunchtime. We headed out to a nearby department store for dim sum. There was a relatively long line to enter so we decided to grab some sushi at Sushiro next door. In comparison to Japan, the pricing and quality were quite similar. I felt the selection wasn't as vast, but it had all the types that I typically enjoyed. Once we finished eating, we headed back to rest before heading out for the afternoon.

Our first stop was to explore the space museum, but we were running short on time and the museum looked extremely crowded. We ended up skipping the museum and headed to another mall which housed our next event. Since we now had some time to spare, we grabbed a drink and people-watched for a while. When it was time, we headed to our class.

A few days ago, we made some Sumikko Gurashi macarons. For today, we learned how to make Swiss roll cakes that were garnished with rose petals. Unlike last time, I had to make my own. I think I did a decent job, though cutting my roll into three equal pieces and decorating it with rose petals was a challenge for me. Nevertheless, it came out looking somewhat like a roll cake. Once we thanked our teacher for the day, we headed back to explore the area we were in for a while. We had some time to kill before dinner.

We stopped by a Royce outlet to get some souvenirs and chips (regular chocolate ones this time). We then met up with one of her friends (and her friend's husband) before walking to dinner. We ended up having dinner at an upscale yakiniku restaurant that served Miyazaki wagyu. The beef was simply out of this world in terms of flavor. It also helped that her friend's husband was a professional chef. He ended up cooking all the food for us, making sure that each piece was cooked to the right temperature. I admit I was worried about what happened in Saga back in 2017, but fortunately, that was not an issue. There were different cuts from the cow, and despite my tongue being quite bland, I noticed a slight difference in how each piece tasted. I can't recall eating so much wagyu before, that I ended up upsetting my stomach from all the richness. Nevertheless, it was probably the best meal I had in Hong Kong thus far. 

Once dinner was paid for, we headed out to near the harbor. There was a whole bunch of people enjoying the night and buskers off to the side. A group of singers, with a pianist, really stood out to me - probably because they were singing Jay Chou songs. After soaking in the moment, we headed back to the metro in where we parted ways.

The trip back to her place was relatively short, and we were fortunate to get a ride from the train station. As for my night routine, I took a shower before calling it a night.

It's hard to believe that nearly a week has passed by for me in Hong Kong. Unlike Japan and Taiwan where we were constantly on our feet, it was nice to have a laidback portion of a trip, and where I actually got to learn a few new things. Now I just have to get the ingredients so I can make macarons (though I doubt I'll be able to do it successfully) and roll cakes (might be easier). 

This building caught my attention as we were heading to the space museum!

Day 34 (Aug 11) - Macau!

With big plans for the day, I woke up early to get ready. Her dad drove all of us to the bus terminal near the airport. We were going to Macau for the day.

There was customs and security to go through, but that was relatively quick in comparison to an airport. Her dad purchased bus tickets for all of us, and we waited in line for the shuttles. The lineup was long, but buses kept coming every few minutes or so to pick up passengers. We were able to get seats near the front of the bus, which was nice since we were driving across a long bridge by the... sea(?). After about 90 minutes, we arrived in Macau. We got out of the station and waited for her uncle to come pick us up.

The first stop was to a registry for her family to get some documents sorted out. Once that was completed, we headed to a Portuguese section of the city, that you could tell was heavily inspired by European architecture. We stopped at a restaurant to eat. The food was simple, yet delicious. There was a chicken dish sprinkled with what I'm assuming is cheese. We also got some quite good cutlet sandwiches. The meat slices were thin but full of flavor. Once we finished eating, the two of us explored the town for a while her parents and uncle stayed at the restaurant to chat for a bit. I don't know much about Macau, but it had a totally different vibe in comparison to Hong Kong. It kind of reminded me of my time in Europe back in 2007, with the colors and buildings. After we went back, we stopped by Lord Stow's Bakery - apparently where the Portuguese egg tart was created. The tart was great when hot with a delicate flavor of vanilla and egg. (Or what I perceived as egg). After getting the tart, we headed to see her grandparents before heading to a beach nearby that is known for it's dark/black sand. It was cloudy, so it didn't feel so hot, but it was still quite humid.

Since we had time before dinner, we headed to equivalent of Paradise in Las Vegas. It really felt like I was back in the States, with all the famous hotel names scattered around the area. We ended up going to the Venetian. I tried my luck with the slot machine, but quickly lost everything/ Fortunately, they were serving drinks, since I was quite parched from traveling all day. After gambling for a bit, we ventured around the hotel to see the various luxury shops. 

After getting our fill of the hotel, her uncle came to pick us up before we headed back to grab more egg tarts for her relatives we were meeting for dinner. Dinner was at a Portuguese restaurant, and the food was simply amazing. There was a curry dish that was really to my liking - I couldn't really identify what type of curry it was, but it really hit the spot. After getting stuffed with the various amount of dishes, it was time to head back to the bus terminal.

At the bus terminal, we said goodbye to her relatives before boarding a bus back to Hong Kong. Despite it being late, it was still quite busy, and we had to sit at the very back of the bus. After 90 minutes, we made it back to Hong Kong. After getting back to her place, I took a shower and crashed for the night.

It was nice seeing Macau. I would want to go back one day to explore it a bit further to see what else it has to offer. As I write this blog, I can still taste those Portuguese tarts and food from the restaurant. Maybe I should head to Portugal next summer...

I guess it's a plaza? Despite not planning this trip, I should have done some background research on the places we were going to before actually arriving at these locations. 

Day 33 (Aug 10) - Summiko Gurashi Macarons

Unlike yesterday, I woke up relatively early since we had plans. It started with dim sum with some of her relatives from her mom's side. Her dad picked up some relatives in the van before we headed to the restaurant. 

The restaurant has nice views of the Tuen Mun River (if I'm reading the EXIF data correctly). The food was good, though nothing extraordinary. Once we were done eating dim sum, we had a class to attend. Her dad drove us to the nearest bus stop so we could take it to the baking class near Kowloon. The bus ride was relatively uneventful, so I slept on it for most of the trip. As we approached our stop, we got off and headed towards a large building. The baking class was up a few floors.

There were only four of us there. Besides us two, were a mother and a young daughter. Our task for the day was to create Sumikko Gurashi macarons. For those who don't know Sumikko Gurashi, they're a branch of San-X (I thought they were part of Sanrio until doing some research today). I started liking them after using their sticker pack on WhatsApp. I let my girlfriend do most of the work, not wanting to screw up. We had three hours, and it took nearly all three hours to create the macarons. They had the... "dough" (not sure of the proper term) set up, so she carefully filled the template provided for each character on hand. Once she crafted each macaron, my job was to put on red slashes to represent cheeks. I think I did alright, except for one of the characters in which the cheeks were lopsided!

 Once we took pictures, we packed up and left. We walked around Kowloon and found a place to eat dinner. There was a restaurant serving egg noodles, topped with shredded pork. It was a simple dish, but the flavors were strong and delightful. Once we finished dinner, we headed off to get some ice cream from a truck that's apparently famous. The ice cream itself wasn't too special though since it reminded me of any vanilla ice cream you can find in Canada. 

After eating, we ventured to a toy store in search of a Gundam(s) for my brother. It took us a bus trip, in which we were able to find the store with relative ease. The store had a variety of various toys, with a small corner dedicated to Gundams. Unfortunately, I was only able to find one Gundam that my brother wanted. The prices were extremely reasonable, even compared to Japan! After purchasing the Gundam, we headed to a nearby dessert shop to get yam and taro balls. We had to eat relatively quickly to catch the train back to her district.

After a relatively long trip back, we ate some of the macarons at her house. There were two types of filling: vanilla and chocolate. Both were quite good, though the novelty was mostly due to the characters. It was kind of sad eating our... I mean her handiwork! Soon after, we headed out to walk the dogs. Instead of walking far, we stopped by a small garden in which we were able to let the dogs free. They spent a good amount of time strolling and sniffing the place, before it was time to head back home for the night.

Tomorrow will be another busy day since we'll be heading to Macau!

A close up of the pieces. As you can see, the tonkatsu character (without the bow) had uneven cheeks. 

Day 32 (Aug 9) - Kicking Back in Hong Kong

 We had no specific plans in mind for the day, so I ended up waking up late. We headed to a nearby restaurant for lunch. I got myself a rice dish with various toppings. What I found interesting was how they had an empty bowl and hot water at the table for us. That hot water was used to clean the utensils since that was what people used to do in Hong Kong back in the day. Nevertheless, the food was good and had a homey feel to it. Once we finished breakfast, we headed up a mountain to view parts of Hong Kong's New Territories. The view was serene, with various firepits and picnic tables on the bottom for people to enjoy themselves on a nice hot day. After spending some time, we headed back to town to shop for ingredients for supper.

Once we got back, I ended up doing some lesson planning for what I presumed would be my assignment for the next school year. I took my time and made sure to just sit back and relax. As I mentioned before, it was a nice change of pace from always going from one place to another. In the evening, my girlfriend's parents cooked a meal that consisted of chicken, fish, and bok choy. There was also congee from yesterday's dinner (I forgot to mention, they had rice that was cooking underneath the steamer so that the juice from the meat and seafood could flavor the rice), which seemed to taste better a day after. 

After relaxing after dinner, we went to walk the dogs again. The Labrador seemed a bit more restless during the walk, but we managed to get through the walk-in one piece.

Tomorrow will be more eventful, but I should be well-rested!

I regret not getting a mint chocolate flavored bubble tea...

 

Day 31 (Aug 8) - First Full Day in Hong Kong!

 After waking up, I headed down to the town with my girlfriend and her mother for a late breakfast/early lunch. It was a noodle restaurant that served a variety of different types of noodle dishes. I can't remember what type of noodle I got, but the soup was flavorful. It reminds me of Dagu Rice Noodle in terms of the broth. Once we finished and paid, we explored the various markets. Her mother left to do more shopping eventually while we ventured onto a department store. We ended up getting some bubble waffles before heading back to her house.

Once we arrived back to her place, we tidied (or more like I watched while she tidied) her room before taking it easy for the afternoon. I got in a lot of playtime with her dogs and started to grow quite fond of her Labrador. Her dad came home from a job late afternoon, which meant it was time for dinner. Her parents took us to a seafood restaurant that served various types of seafood. We got a set meal that included beef slices and seafood. She and I actually got to pick our lobster, crab, clams, and abalone from tanks they had near the front of the restaurant. Once we picked out our seafood, the waitress took away the buckets we placed them in for them to get prepared for us to steam at our table. It was a fantastic dinner filled with a lot of seafood, meat, and vegetables. As for the vegetables, there was a buffet-like section that served various types of greens. 

After stuffing ourselves for a couple of hours, we headed back home. I got the chance to walk her dogs with her, which was something I hadn't done in ages (I believe the last time was in Japan when I was in elementary school). Her Labrador was a relatively calm walker, though can be stubborn at times if she really wants to go a particular direction. It was a lot cooler during the night, in comparison to the day, so it was a pleasant walk. Once that was over, we got back home. I ended up showering and prepared to hit the sack for the day.

A relatively quiet day, but a much-needed break after all the traveling I have done so far. Almost a full month has gone by since I left Calgary!

Maybe a bit chubby, but she's so lovely!

Day 30 (Aug 7) - Onto Hong Kong!

 We woke up and did one final pack before leaving our hotel. We took the metro to the airport, meaning I could use the second purple token I had on me. We were flying on a low-cost carrier, but the service was top-notch. They even served a small snack! As we arrived at Hong Kong International Airport, we waited for her dad to pick us up. I admit I was feeling quite nervous since I've never met her parents before. 

It wasn't too long of a wait, as her dad soon arrived in his minivan. We quickly loaded the luggage into the back before climbing into the vehicle. It was about a 30-minute drive to her place, so I sat there listening to the two of them speaking in Cantonese. Unlike Taiwan, I was able to pick up about 20% of the language, so I had an inkling of what was being said. As he was driving, her father greeted me quite warmly, which helped ease whatever anxiety I had at the moment. 

We arrived in her neighborhood and walked towards her unit. Before opening the door, I could hear the sound of paws on the hardwood floor. As the door opened, there was a flurry of two golden-colored dogs! I was also worried that her dogs might be aggressive with me, but fortunately they treated me like a long-lost cousin. It was also at this time that I met the rest of her immediate family. After quick introductions and playing with her dogs, we unpacked before deciding on what to eat for dinner. I was famished at this point since I didn't eat much besides the snack on the plane.

We ended up ordering from Pizza Hut. Despite it being close to her place, it took nearly 90 minutes for it to arrive. It was considerably pricy compared to Canada, but the quality was not the same as back home even. Granted, they seemed to have more variety in terms of food choices than they did here, but I thought it was rather standard fare. The soup, tasted like it came from a can (which it probably did) and the chicken wings were a bit soggy. The pizza was doughy, but being hungry, I didn't really care what I was eating at that point. Once dinner was over, we relaxed a bit before heading back to the airport. One of her family members and partner was actually heading to Japan that night so we went along for the ride. 

After dropping them off we stopped in the town by her neighborhood to pick up dessert. I don't recall what it was called, but it's essentially fruit, sago, jelly, and milk if I'm not mistaken. This was actually quite good due to the sweetness of each fruit and toppings. Once dessert was finished, it was time for a quick shower and bed!

Another travel day, though filled with new sights as I've never been to Hong Kong before. Unlike Taiwan, it was nice being able to somewhat understand what people were saying to me!

Her Labrador! She's a cutie!

Day 29 (Aug 6) - Last Full Day in Taiwan

 There's a region of Taiwan known as Jiufen. Spirited Away, one of my favorite Ghibli movies, was inspired by this location. We had plans to go visit but ended up keeping it simple by staying within Taipei. I wasn't feeling the hour-and-a-half ride, so we ended up getting some bubble tea before heading over to a popular restaurant for a late breakfast/early lunch.

We got a beef noodle dish and a chicken noodle dish. Both were quite succulent, though the chicken tasted better for me. Once we finished, we quickly left since people were lining up outside in the heat, wanting to eat here as well. We ended up heading to a small market that sold various sweets. We settled for some shaved ice. It was covered with guava syrup, and some sort of mango gelato on top. There were various cut-up guava surrounding the bowl of ice, which was a nice change of texture from the ice. Overall, it was good, and once again, a nice reprieve from the heat. 

We ended up heading back to a department store that we visited yesterday to purchase some goods before heading back to the same night market (albeit during the afternoon) from last night to buy more chicken. Since it was really early, there wasn't a long line up. We placed our order and wandered around the street. It was a stark difference compared to the night before, looking almost deserted save people getting ready for the night.

After we picked up the chicken, we headed back to the hotel to rest before searching for a different night market to try. After catching a bus, we walked for a while to get to this second-night market. We stopped by a store to grab some mochi before arriving at the night market. I don't recall the name of the night market, but we grabbed a variety of different dishes: clams, sausages, taro balls, and even stinky tofu. Not wanting to lug all the food onto a bus, we flagged down a taxi to take us back to our hotel. 

After eating dinner, my girlfriend really wanted to go back to the first night market to play the scooping fish game, so we departed from the hotel. Perhaps it was later than when we arrived last night, but the little arcade wasn't nearly as busy. We had a whole "fish tank" to ourselves for a good half hour or so. After watching a tutorial, she was able to catch over 70 fish herself! She traded in her fish for a prize, and we headed back to the hotel for the night.

It was overall a short visit to Taiwan, but a good start! I've never been to another Asian country besides Japan, but the atmosphere was somewhat similar. Unlike in certain places in North America, I felt safe walking the streets at night. It probably helped that even at night, the streets were quite busy, making it feel comfortable. Taiwan is also quite affordable when it comes to accommodations and food! I'll probably opt for a different hotel next time, but it'll be nice to visit other areas of Taiwan during a different trip. 

If I had to hazard a guess... probably be a residential building? I like the mixture of colors here with the brilliant blue and dull gray. 

Day 28 (Aug 5) - Junji Ito Haunted House and Night Market!

 We woke up relatively early to grab breakfast nearby. There was turnip cake if I remember correctly and some other types of food. Unfortunately, I didn't take any breakfast pictures, so I cannot truly recall what we had. After breakfast, we took a bus to our first location.

It is a historical site in Taipei, known as the Cultural and Creative Park. There were several different Japanese-themed pop-ups, including a Junji Ito exhibit. I'm not a huge fan of Junji Ito, but my girlfriend enjoyed his works. It turned out to be a haunted house-type exhibit. There were groups of 6-8 people going in at a time through the haunted house, connected by a thin rope that we were all holding. Fortunately, we weren't the first in line, so I could close my eyes as we went down the corridors. I didn't expect jump scares and actors, so that really caught me off guard. Certain instances made my heart beat extremely quickly. When I thought it was over, there was actually a second route. We lined up again, unfortunately, being at the front of the line. A younger couple behind us agreed though to take the lead after we asked if they would be interested in leading the way. I admit, I'm a huge coward when it comes to jump scares or horror movies. For the most part, this second route didn't seem as scary until the very end. What I thought was a mannequin was actually a real actor. She did an extremely good job portraying a statue that I actually screamed out loud.

With that part out of the way, we ventured to the other different exhibits before heading off to eat lunch. We stopped at a food court that had beef noodles and a famous soybean-type soup. The lineup was long for the soybean-type soup, but we eventually got some to try. I didn't find it extraordinary though, so the wait was not really worth it in my books. We then headed to a nearby cat café to sit back and relax. The café was quite busy, so we had to reserve a time slot before we headed off to walk around for a bit before our scheduled time. Once we were able to get into the café, we got a drink and cake to share, which turned out to be pretty good. The café was very photogenic, which they probably designed on purpose to help people who wanted to post pictures on social media.

Once we finished, we headed back out to get pineapple pastries at a famous bakery. There was a lineup, but we managed to get through after 10-15 minutes. It was sweltering hot outside, making the a/c bakery a welcome relief. Once we got our pastries, we headed to another café to eat some shaved ice. The shaved ice was quite large, so fortunately we only ordered one to share. After getting through the shaved ice, we headed to a nearby mall/department store to look around and, once again, escape from the heat. 

Our next destination was Taipei 101, the tallest building in Taipei. There was quite a line up to purchase tickets, but my girlfriend was able to find automated machines that allowed us to bypass the lines. We weren't able to go all the way to the very top, but the 89th floor would suffice. The wait for the elevator took a while, but we eventually got the chance to go up. It must have been the fastest elevator ride I've ever taken. My ears popped due to the rapid change in altitude.

We explored the floor and found a place where we could eventually sit to enjoy the sunset. Once we got our fill, we queued in line to take an elevator back down to the main floor. It was time for dinner, so we headed off to a night market. I don't recall the name of the night market, but it was jammed pack with people and various food carts. We started off with some corn, which was not bad. Our second dish was a noodle soup/dish that had oysters and pork intestines. It was only about $1, but it literally blew my mind. Maybe hunger played a factor, but I was thoroughly impressed by how good the dish was to me. It's definitely top two in terms of my trip this year. We also tried some taro balls, quail eggs, and bubble tea at the night market. There was also a famous restaurant that sold cold chicken mixed with various spices and sauces. That turned out too be pretty good as well. All in all, food was cheap and good.

We finished off our night by heading to a small arcade where they had the fishing-with-rice-paper game. Since we had no idea how to play, we didn't end up doing too well that night. After that, we headed back to our hotel to rest for the night.

A full day with various sights in a country that's new to me. 

 From the 89th floor of Taipei 101. Pictures of the city skyline may look generic, but it's always nice to see. 

Day 27 (Aug 4) - Hello Taiwan!

 Since we needed to be at the airport relatively early to catch our flight, we planned our route the night before. Fortunately, things went pretty smoothly as we headed to Fukuoka Airport. We arrived at one terminal, but had to take a 15 minute shuttle to the other terminal for our flight. Security took a while, but we managed to get through with lots of time to spare. It also helped that there was a delay with our flight. Due to the amount of time we had, we shopped around the duty-free stores for souvenirs. It was here that I discovered Royce chocolate-covered chips. Who knew you could combine chocolate and potato chips to create a wonderful, yet life-shortening, snack? I typically do not like white chocolate, but it was a delightful combination of sweet and salt. 

We also bought some breakfast from the 7-11 near our gate. The line was relatively long at this 7-11, but we managed to get through in under five minutes. Once it was time to board, we gathered our belongings and headed to our flight. It was my first time flying with Tigerair. Despite being a budget airline, the seats were relatively comfortable. After about two hours, we arrived at our next destination: Taiwan.

There was a long line waiting to go through customs, so I took my time to savor the sights. I've never been to another country in Asia besides Japan, so it was interesting to compare and contrast the differences. In terms of Taoyuan Airport, it seemed very similar to Japan in terms of service and speed. I don't know a lick of Taiwanese, but fortunately, my girlfriend is fluent. Once we got through customs and immigration, we headed to try our luck for some money that the tourism industry was handing out on IC cards preloaded with 5000 NTD. Apparently, there may have been a way to increase your chances of winning, but I clicked on the first item I saw on the screen (you have to click on falling balls on a screen to see if you won or not) and got a message stating that I did not win anything. My girlfriend on the other hand, was able to win, so at least we had 5000 NTD to spend! 5000 NTD works out to be around $200 Canadian, so I didn't think it would last that long. Boy, was I wrong...

Once we converted some money to get NTD, we headed down to their metro. I got a Yoyo card (equivalent to Suica in Tokyo) and two purple tokens. These tokens were one-way tickets, which was quite unique! We were fortunate enough to grab seats, as we headed to Taipei from the airport. The ride was scenic, with a lot of greenery on both sides. I cannot recall how long it took, but it didn't seem too long to get to Taipei Main Station. Once we left the station, we took our luggage to our hotel. It was quite hot, so I was glad when were able to make it to our hotel. Our room was extremely tiny with no windows. I opted to save money on accommodations (there was a Citizen M hotel which was not much more, but it was further from the station), though was starting to regret it when I saw the room. The shower had no separate wall from the toilet, meaning that you'd have to aim the showerhead in a way to prevent flooding the bathroom. Apparently, it's common in Asia, but it was a new experience for me. Fortunately, as I later found out, wasn't too difficult to shower (First World Problems). 

The a/c blew cold, which was nice. After we rested for a bit, we headed out. Despite the small rooms, our hotel was located in a prime area of Taipei. There were a lot of small shops and restaurants around us. We started off with bubble tea. If I remember correctly, my drink, with pearls, was under $2 Canadian. I was expecting a mind-blowing experience, but it tasted similar to bubble tea that I could get in Canada (just not for that price). We walked towards a busy shopping street that had a pinball arcade. There were two different games, but we had no idea how to play initially. After getting instructions from the staff member on-site, my girlfriend explained to me how to play both types of machines. It was surprisingly addicting, and we managed to win some small prizes after spending... CAD 10 each or so. I believe we also spent nearly 90 minutes in this arcade, so it was money well spent.

It was time for dinner, and my girlfriend made plans to meet up with one of her friends. We had dinner at a hot pot restaurant. The two of them had fun catching up while I enjoyed the food and the sights from our table (the restaurant was up on the second floor of a building). The hot pot broth was savory while they had unlimited rice. The meat they ordered was also top quality with a lot of marbling. There was also a juice/drink we got which was sweet and tangy. And the best part: it was CAD 100 for 3 people. 

Once dinner was over, we walked around for a while to digest. We parted ways near our hotel as her friend took the metro back to her place. We headed to a nearby 7-11 to purchase some snacks for the night. It didn't seem like there was as much selection compared to Japan, but everything was reasonably cheap. 

So far, I've had a good experience in Taiwan. Everything is affordable and the area we were in wasn't overly crowded. 

What I noticed about Taiwan in comparison to Japan was the vast amount of mopeds. I would say on anecdotal evidence that there's an equal number of mopeds and vehicles in Taiwan!

Day 26 (Aug 3) - Last Full Day in Japan

 For our last full day in Japan, we opted to spend the day in Fukuoka prefecture. We started by heading to Yanagawa to try out the river cruise that they had there. It was an extremely hot day; I didn't feel like the umbrellas did much to help us keep cool. As we arrived at the dock, there was the option of renting bamboo hats. Since we won't be able to deploy our umbrellas during the cruise, we thought it would be wise to rent the hat for our 45-minute trip. We boarded the boat with the help of our guide - a thin middle-aged Japanese man. He provided a lot of commentary in Japanese and with some English as well. There was a rest stop for us to grab something cool. We got some ice cream to help us beat the heat. At this point, I was sweating buckets.

After the tour, we walked around Yanagawa and waited for a bus to take us back to the station. My girlfriend was able to find us special day passes that allowed us to travel on trains (and the river cruise) for a discounted price. It was tight, but we managed to make it on a train that would take us to our next stop: Dazaifu. There's a special Ichiran that serves ramen in pentagon-shaped bowls. If I remember correctly, it's popular with university students since this ramen is supposed to help them pass their classes. Not only were the bowls shaped as pentagons, but the chopsticks and seats were as well. I believe the pentagon shape is similar to good luck charms? 

After we finished eating, we went outside to a heavy rainstorm. Despite having umbrellas, we waited for the storm to ease a bit before heading to a nearby Starbucks. The Starbucks was beautifully crafted with a lot of wooden beams supporting the building. It was quite busy, making it difficult to find a spot. After a few minutes though, we were able to secure a table. We spent some time relaxing here before proceeding to Tenmangu Shrine, which is a shrine dedicated to a scholar. It wasn't very crowded so we were able to walk at a leisurely pace throughout the shrine. 

We proceeded back to the station to head back to Hakata station. making a pit stop at a nearby bakery to grab some food to eat when we arrived back at our hotel. After resting for a while, we headed back out to LaLaport Mall. The main reason for me going there was to finish the trifecta. Nu Gundam was magnificent to see. I want to say it looked bigger than Unicorn and RX-78, though didn't seem to move as much compared to the former two. We ventured inside the mall to do some shopping and look around before heading back to the bus stop to take a bus back to Hakata Station. We stopped by Yoshinoya to grab dinner before returning back to our hotel to rest for the night. 

 Thus mark the end of our Japan trip. Not a lot of new prefectures or cities this time around, but there were many areas within the same cities I've been to before that I never explored. I always thought I had a good grasp of traveling Japan, but it's certainly different traveling with someone who lived in Japan and can actually speak the language. There were many fond memories formed, and a lot of good food (instead of eating konbini like I used to do back in 2017 and 2019) was consumed during this trip. I never would have expected to go camping in Japan, nor go to as many onsens as we did this time around.

This isn't the end though! It's off to a new country tomorrow!

Heading towards our river cruise! Pictures cannot capture how hot it was that day. 

Day 25 (Aug 2) - Goodbye Country Roads Youth Hostel

It was difficult to sleep the night before; probably due to it being the last night in our room. Despite how hot it can get at night, I was getting used to our room. After waking up, we performed our last breakfast setup before we proceeded to wash the dishes. One of the hosts had to leave early to attend her other job, so we said our farewells. After a small break, we did our last morning chores before finalizing packing our luggages. Our host took us down to Joyfull for lunch. (Joyfull is equivalent to Denny's in my opinion.) I believe my lunch was only $7 for a set meal, yet it was quite good for what you paid for at Joyfull. It was bittersweet saying our goodbyes, but instead of a "sayonara", it was a "ja mata ne". We'll be sure to come back to volunteer again, or maybe as guests next time! (I wouldn't mind having a/c next time haha).

We took a bus to Hakata station for the last leg of our Japan trip. It took about two hours, so we managed to get some shut-eye on the bus. Once we arrived, we checked into our hotel before proceeding to explore Fukuoka. I've been to Fukuoka back in 2017, but didn't explore much besides Canal City. This time, we were in the heart of the city. We spent most of the day shopping at various stores like Bic Camera and Uniqlo. It was getting dark after we finished shopping so we headed to find an Ichiran near the station. Unfortunately, the line looked extensively long, so we ended up purchasing food from a 7-11 near our hotel.

It felt weird going back to a tourist after spending the week in Yufuin. It does help cement my desire to live in the countryside if I ever move to Japan (slim to none chance of that happening, but who knows?)

Not the same Joyfull as the one in Yufuin, but saw this as we were passing by in Fukuoka. 

Day 24 (Aug 1) - Back to Yufuin for the Last Evening Shift

 Since we were only needed during the evening shift, we checked out late at our hotel in Beppu. The streets were relatively quiet as we walked towards the train station. We strolled around the station for a while before boarding a local bus that would take us back to Yufuin. Unfortunately, I was doing some last-minute shopping, so we were nearly at the back of the line boarding the bus. I wasn't able to grab a seat initially, but after about 20 minutes, I was able to grab one. The ride was scenic and quiet. There wasn't a lot of traffic heading towards Yufuin.

Upon arrival at the bus terminal at Yufuin, we still had time left so we proceeded to find lunch. We wanted to try black chicken ramen, but unfortunately, the shop was closed for that day. We ended up stopping at a nearby burger joint. We passed by this place a few times (as we walked towards the station) and it always smelled great. They had a bungo beef patty, so we opted to eat those burgers. They were big and full of flavor. I personally enjoyed these burgers more than just eating the bungo beef with rice. After lunch, we stopped by the Milch cafe that was only a few minutes away from the burger joint. We grabbed more cheesecake and relaxed in the cafe till it was time to take the bus back to Country Roads Youth Hostel. 

The evening shift was relatively quiet. We only had to prepare the table for dinner. Normally, the host or my girlfriend would make the announcement to the guests to come down for dinner. They had to do it both in Japanese and in English. Since it was the last night, I gave it a try. I'm sure my pronunciation of some of the words were incorrect in Japanese, but I think I was able to pass on the message. Once everyone was done dinner, we washed the dishes and did one final evening sweep.

It's hard to believe that a week has passed by since we arrived in Yufuin. There were a large variety of activities and tasks each day that it felt more like a two week vacation in itself. It's probably one of the best experiences I ever had during my travels, and something I will remember for a long time. If I ever do another homestay, I'm not sure if anything can top this experience! I may just have to ask them to take me back in the future!

The Shiny Uncle who's the father of tourism in Beppu. This was in front of the station. 

Day 23 (July 31) - The End of Survival Camp and Beppu!

 It was rough getting sleep in, but I think I managed a few hours. I wanted to see the sunrise at the beach, so we got up and headed down to where we had the bonfire last night. There were the remnants of the fire (mostly soot) while we waited for the sun to rise. A few other campers came down as well to see. It was another surreal experience, only eclipsed by seeing sunrise on top of Mount Fuji. What made it more magical though was the lack of other people viewing the same sight.

When everyone was up, it was time to catch breakfast. There were some canals in the forest that housed crabs. We were armed with disposable chopsticks from yesterday and a few containers. Unfortunately, despite doing karate for a while, I'm no Mr. Miyagai. I wasn't able to catch any of the tiny crabs. However, my girlfriend was able to catch a decently-sized crab that she was able to scoop up! Once we caught enough crabs and walked around a section of the beach that we hadn't explore yet, it was back to the campsite to cook breakfast. The smaller crabs were deep fried while the bigger crabs were used to make crab soup. I never ate small crabs, shell and all before. It was crunchy and delightful. The miso crab soup was also quite tasty, with a strong taste of crab (of course). 

After cleaning up breakfast, we headed back to the beach for some activities. We played a variety of games like tossing a Nerf football, frisbee, and beach volleyball around for about an hour. As a group, we had to meet a certain amount of consecutive catches or tosses before moving on to the next sport. To finish off at this beach, we broke down into groups and wrote a message on the beach (Welcome to Oita I believe... I can't recall, to be honest). I've been working on my hiragana, though luckily she was able to ensure we did it correctly.

Once completed, it was time to leave camp and venture onto Beppu for lunch. I was sweaty (probably stinky as well), tired and sore from sleeping on the ground. The experience of camping in Japan though, and with people who knew how to camp, was an experience I never expected to have in my lifetime. I managed to catch some sleep during the nearly one-hour ride to Beppu. Along the way though, we made some pitstops. There was an area where we got to see horseshoe crab! Some of the campers were kind enough to try and explain how they molted and grew bigger each time they did so to us. After walking around the mud plains with the horseshoe crab, we headed off to find a restaurant to eat. We arrived at an AYCE restaurant that served yakiniku and sushi. The selection wasn't extremely vast, but the price was extremely cheap. I believe it was roughly $10 CAD a person? I made sure to eat my full after not eating as much the night before. Once we finished lunch, we took a group photo outside the restaurant before saying goodbye to one another. I probably won't ever see those people ever again, but it was somewhat sad to say goodbye to them.

Our host dropped us off at an onsen before he headed back to Yufuin first. We had the day off today, so we decided to explore Beppu! At the hot spring, we were able to book a private onsen. I never enjoyed an onsen as much as I did that day! The private onsen also had an a/c! After spending nearly an hour bathing, we went back to return the key to the private onsen before heading to their relaxation lounge to sit around for a bit. One particular funny moment was when we were lying down, I kept rubbing my cheeks since I used the lotion they had at the onsen. My skin felt quite smooth, so I motioned to my girlfriend to feel my cheek. She was a bit confused because I kept patting my cheek when I motioned her to feel, so she ended up slapping me. We couldn't stop laughing after that moment. I'm sure that the slap was loud enough that it startled the quiet room of other people relaxing after their bath.

After feeling refreshed, we headed outside the onsen to purchase some eggs that they had been soaking in the extremely hot spring water. It was then time to venture around Beppu. Beppu is known for the seven Hells - hot springs with extremely hot water that is meant to be seen rather than bathe in. We weren't really interested in seeing all seven, so we went to a nearby one: Shiraike Jigoku (White Pond Hell). There weren't a lot of tourists around so we took our time walking around the pond. There also was a small aquarium that was filled with Arowana. After exploring, we headed to eat an early dinner. 

There's restaurants around Beppu that used the hot springs to help steam food. We found one restaurant that specialized in this cuisine. We got a variety of different vegetables to eat, along with some steamed buns. Honestly, it tasted like regular steamed vegetables to me, but the experience was nice to try. After dinner, we headed to our hotel for the night to check in. After resting for a while, we headed back out to find Beppu Tower. Beppu Tower wasn't extremely tall, but it was devoid of any tourists when we were there. We got about an hour to ourselves to see the view and to go through their "galaxy walk" corridor, which was a highway with twinkling LED lights. After the tower, we headed to a nearby Lawson to stock up on some snacks for the night before heading back to our hotel. 

It was an eventful day that was both tiring and relaxing at the same time. Even to this day, I can't determine whether camping was the highlight of Japan 2023 or not. I guess time will tell!

 

Day 22 (July 30) - Start of Survival Camp

 Our host mentioned how he had a yearly event for guests and locals while he was driving us to the station a couple days back. One year, it was a survival hike, where they went hiking for a full day. This year, the theme was survival camp.

I wasn't quite sure what to expect since I've only gone camping in Canada before. One of our hosts left early to go set up with the guests and locals while we stayed back to take care of the morning chores after breakfast. We spent a good deal cleaning as much as we could before our other host told us to get ready to head to our destination. 

It was about an hour to our destination. Our host drove through mountains and forests for a while before we got a glimpse of the sea. I always wanted to see Shimonada Station, which is an unmanned train station that has a beautiful view of the sea. We stopped by a Lawson's that faced the sea, which was close enough in my books to my initial dream. After picking up some food for lunch, we headed off to the beach where our other host and guests were at the moment.

I haven't been to a beach since Mexico in 2014. Our host had some paddleboards that he had placed aside for us to use. We'd never been on paddleboards before, so we ended up just sitting on one of them while we paddled around for a while. The beach was quiet (with only our group and another group a distance away from us) with a relatively clear sky. It was a surreal moment to say nonetheless. After spending time paddling, we got the opportunity to go snorkeling. I never snorkeled before, but it seemed similar enough to scuba diving, which I had done in Mexico. I was unable to wear my glasses, but I could relatively see in front of me. We snorkeled further out and I started to notice more aquatic life. I admit, I did freak out when I saw jellyfish and ended up pushing my girlfriend towards a pile of rocks as I tried fleeing from one. (She did end up with scratches on her leg.) After having enough of snorkeling, I went back to shore. It was about this time that everyone else started cleaning up and getting ready to move to our campsite.

Once we arrived at our campsite, we were broken down into two teams. The first team was responsible for cleaning the fish that they caught for dinner, while the second team was responsible for collecting pieces of wood to set up a bonfire. We both ended up on the second team, thus headed down towards another beach to collect driftwood. My mistake was not wearing socks (since I was woefully unprepared for this camping trip -- didn't have my swimming trunks with me so I ended up just wearing a pair of shorts) since they were wet from changing back to some clean clothes back at the other beach. I ended up getting blisters on my ankle from my shoes as I collected the various pieces of wood. It was hard work, but rewarding nonetheless. One of the guests, who seemed to be a close friend of the hosts, came down after cleaning the fish to help us set up the bonfire. 

Once the bonfire we set, we headed back to the campsite to eat the fish that they caught. There was sashimi and fish soup all around. I didn't want to eat too much, so I ended up drinking mostly the soup. It was surprisingly not fishy and quite tasty. Once we finished eating, we cleaned the table before heading back down to the beach.

Sunset was approaching, so a bunch of them started some tinder to get the bonfire started. Once the bonfire had enough steam, we sat back and enjoyed the scene. This place was quite remote, so there wasn't anyone else besides us on the beach. People were happily talking to one another, or taking pictures beside the fire. Our host even showed his physical prowess by jumping across the bonfire! As it got darker and darker, some of them went back to their tents to get changed back into their swimsuits. They proceeded to head into the beach, under the moonlight. I opted to stay dry, but it was oddly peaceful enjoying the beach on a dark night with people splashing around.

Once everyone got out of the water, we went back up to camp to head off to the local Lawson to purchase snacks. We had a challenge to see what we could purchase with just 500 yen (so around $5 CAD) each. I don't recall exactly what I got, but I managed to get a popsicle, a drink, and some other snacks. It seemed like most people got ice cream or instant noodles. Unbeknown to most, we still had snacks from lunch time. >=)

We headed back to the campsite to eat, before some started to prepare for the night. I got ready myself by brushing my teeth in the bathroom nearby. Being a campsite, I was surprised they had running water, but there were literally insects in all of the sinks and toilets. My girlfriend and I had our own tent (that we had trouble setting up, so fortunately some of the locals helped us). We went inside and tried to sleep. Most of the others were sleeping on concrete while we got a location with grass. It was a bit rough, but I did manage to drift off to sleep.

That marked the end of the first day. I would have never expected to camp in a different country, let alone with local Japanese people. I had the opportunity to paddleboard, snorkel and experience how people from another country camp. 

A shot that my girlfriend took. As you can see, just sea!

  

  

Day 21 (July 29) - Non Eventful Day

 We woke up at the usual time of around 6 AM to help out with breakfast. After breakfast and dishes, we had a 45 minute break before we had to start our morning chores. Unlike the other days, we decided to stay back instead of heading down to town.

Most of the afternoon was spent in the dining room/living room area. I had the chance to catch up on some manga and read some articles. Feeling a bit sleepy, I then proceeded down to our room to take a nap before our evening tasks.

The evening dinner was busier than I was accustomed to, probably because it was the weekend. Other than that, everything went quite smoothly.

It's a good thing since tomorrow (July 30) will be a very eventful day!

We were doing a "super wipe" of the main floor. I wanted to make sure I placed these Demon Slayer Figurines back in the right spots!

Day 20 (July 28) - Bungo Beef, Animals and Sports

 We didn't have to wake up at 6 AM this morning to set up breakfast, so we slept in till around 8 AM. After eating our own breakfast, we rested for a bit before starting to clean up the rooms. We had our snack break at around the same time before heading back to work.

Once we finished our task, we got a ride to the city from our host. We found another restaurant that was known for selling Bungo Beef. We each got our own set. The beef was quite tender, and full of flavor. After finishing up lunch, we went back to walk around the main road; more specifically towards the animal section off to the side. 

We started with a cat cafe. It wasn't as big as the one in Tokyo, but they had a decent selection of cats. Most of them were asleep at this point, but some were moving around the various guests. My girlfriend was able to get a cat to sit on her lap for a while. We spent nearly two hours here before proceeding to the nearby owl zoo. 

There was a large variety of different owls, with some allowing you to pet them. After spending time looking at the different owls, we then walked towards a few souvenir shops nearby to purchase items to take back to Canada. Fortunately, we were able to take the bus back to our hostel again after we were done shopping.

Unlike last evening, there were six meals to prepare for the night. Once we had our dinner, we washed the dishes before taking a quick break before heading to the local community centre with the host and some guests. Every Friday, he takes people from the hostel to play a variety of games at the community centre's gym. For that night, we played tug of war (our team got our butt kicked... I blamed it on my shoes!), soccer, dodge frisbee (like dodge ball) and some sort of game where you had to capture your opponent's base and avoid getting hit by small balls. It was an enjoyable evening, and nothing I would have ever imagined doing in a foreign country. I don't even participate in these community events in Canada. The locals that were also there to play with us were quick and friendly, which you don't often see in the bigger cities of Japan. (I always find the Japanese to be polite, but never super friendly). 

After 90 minutes or so, it was time to head back to the hostel. I was drenched in sweat, so I took a nice relaxing shower and bath before heading back to the living room to enjoy some match pudding to close off the night.

It makes me wonder now why I never tried homestays before. I might have been just lucky to have had a great host who offered many different activities (night tour, Friday sports night, and one more major event that will be blogged about in a few days hopefully).

From the tug-of-war event! We were broken down into three teams for the night.