Vikingess Voyages

Sunday, February 12, 2012

Sightseeing in Seoul: Gyeongbok Palace (경복궁)

Anette 11:48:00 PM

Yuma and me arrived in South Korea by boat in Busan yesterday, and after a short trip by train we arrived in Seoul. Our first whole day in Seoul was spent on sightseeing in some of the more famous part of town starting with the Gyeoungbok palace (Also known as Gyeoungbokgung, 경복궁 in Korean).
Although this palace was firstly constructed in 1394 it has had a rough history; for instancemost of the palace was burned down and left in ruins during the years of the Japanese invasion (1592-1598) .

One of the main gates of the palace

I have already visited quite a lot of temples in Japan, so I did somehow imagine that the Korean palace probably weren’t going to be that big. It turns out I was mistaken though, there were a lot of temple buildings and we spent many hours looking through all the area. Along with the entrance to the temple area you also get free entrance to the National Folk Museum of Korea as well, so if you want to see it all you better have some time to spend. Here are some of my photos from the palace:

A palace guard

Yuma and one of the palace guards

A close-up of some of the statues

The inside of one of the buildings

Some details from the ceiling in Gyeongbok Palace

More details from the palace

Another picture from the palace area

A circle with statues showing the 12 Chinese zodiac animals

One of the few structures still standing from the 19th century: The Hyangwonjeong Pavilion

Yuma and me in front of the pavilion

A lady in traditional clothing

Some drummers holding a performance

A colorful drum in front of one of the palace buildings

Some more palace guards

South-East Asia Trip 2012

Sightseeing in Seoul: Namdaemun Market (남대문 시장)

Anette 9:33:00 PM

After the trip to Gyeongbok palace we decided to do some shopping, or at least check out one of the biggest markets in Seoul: the Namdaemun market. This name of the market originally came from Japanese, and literarily it means South Big Gate (南大門). The market is quite touristy, and if you want to buy something you should be aware that the people working there will definitely try to trick you into paying a lot more than the locals would. We spent some time walking around in the marked looking at the things they were selling, but we didn't really buy a lot.
Anyway, it is easy to get there, so combined with Gyeongbok Palace it was a nice way to spend the day. If you go by subway you can just take line 4 and get of at Hoehyeon Station.!

One of the entrances to the market

If you want a ridiculously expensive lunch you should try this place..

Cute stuff & fake stuff..!

All sorts of bags

Bootlegged clothing

You can also get some interesting local food at the market

A guy that sold stamps you could get customized like you wanted

Examples from previous customers

A demonstration of sweets

Saturday, February 11, 2012

Travel

Springbreak: By Ferry from Japan to Korea

Anette 5:29:00 PM

Ready for 出発 from Kobe!

On Friday it was finally time for Yuma and me to leave Japan for our South-East Asia round-trip. Our first goal was South Korea, and to get there we were going to go by ferry from Osaka to Busan. We had found tickets online already, about 33 000 yen for a tour-detour with a company called PanStar.

A picture of the PanStar ferry going from Osaka to Busan

Arriving at the harbor we kinda felt like we were in Korea already: almost all of the other passengers were Koreans! A lady even approached us while we were waiting for the ferry, asking us something in Korean we didn’t understand. The ferry itself was ok; it had some tax-free shops, a restaurant and a cafe.

The reception of the ferry

The dining hall in the ferry

Since we are travelling on a low budget we had decided to go for the cheapest rooms on the ferry to spend the night. These rooms were separated by gender, and in every room there were four beds. I was the first one to check into my room, and after having left my backpack in the room I locked the door and went over to Yuma’s room to check if he was ready. We were just about to leave for the restaurant area when I noticed another girl standing outside the door to my room. She couldn’t get in, and when I asked her why she hadn’t gotten a key she told me they hadn’t given her any at the reception – turns out there was only one key that had to be shared with all 4 guests staying in the same room! Considering we were all strangers I find it a bit strange that we weren’t provided with separate keys.. It’s hard leaving the room not knowing if you’ll be able to enter when you come back in the evening, or going to bed knowing that the door isn’t locked. Another disappointing thing about the ferry was that although it was supposed to have free Wi-Fi we didn’t get it to work, neither with our phones nor with Yuma’s computer. Luckily we had brought with us a lot of movies, so since there weren’t a lot to do we ended up watching two of them.. On the positive side we discovered that the convenience store had cheap noodles and curry, and with a table with view over the ocean it was quite nice!

Time for a nap

The ferry also had two shower rooms separated by gender where there were normal showers and two Japanese style pools, and around 7 o’clock there are almost no people there since everybody is eating dinner, so it’s easy to relax. Further, towels, soap and shampoo were all provided.

They do have some entertainment onboard in the main dining hall too for those interested.

Entertainment at the ferry

Ready to leave the ferry at 10 am.

We arrived in Busan around 10 o’clock in the morning, and spent some time checking out the area around Busan Station. We found an interesting Korean restaurant close to Chinatown, and decided to have brunch there before heading over to Seoul. It was good, but as can be expected from Korean food it was pretty spicy.!!

Busan Station

We ended up having lunch at this Korean restaurant

It was good, but quite spicy!

Our 6000-won lunch

Busan harbor

Right now we are in the high-speed train on our way to Seoul with a 55400-wong ticket. The trip takes about 2 hours and forty minutes, but luckily they have internet in the train!

Related blogposts

All blogposts from Korea

Label: South-East Asia Trip 2012

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Restaurant

Restaurants in Kyoto: Museum of Kyoto's Azami Restaurant

Anette 11:25:00 PM

The Museum of Kyoto (京都文化博物館; Literarily Kyoto Cultural Museum in Japanese) offers a great collection of arts and craft for anybody interested in a detailed exhibition on Kyoto's cultural history. The museum is situated in Central Kyoto, and can be reached within 3 minutes from exit 5 of the Karasuma-Oike subway station.

Although the museum has a lot to offer, this post is mainly going to be about one of the restaurants inside the museum's building: Azami Restaurant. Yuma and me have been eating at this restaurant a couple of times, and I really like it. With that said, I'll have to mention that Yuma worked part-time here for half a year, so they give us good service too! x)

Anyway, the restaurant is very nice, so I wanted to recommend it to anyone who wants to have a Japanese dinner in traditional Japanese surroundings. For instance they have a couple of tatami-mat rooms and an artificial Japanese garden, and the Japanese food is of course delicious too. Yuma worked extra hard and translated their menu into English, so if you happend to stumble upon this place then please don't hesitate to ask for the English menu ;)

They offer different Japanese dishes such as oyakodon, teriyaki and Japanese curry, and in addition to this some Japanese desserts such as warabimochi and Japanese style parfait.

Here are some pictures from the restaurant:

Entrance to Azami Restaurant

Oyakodon

Itadakimasu!

Parfait with an alcove in the background

The Japanese garden inside the Museum of Kyoto

More details from the restaurant

A close-up of the alcove

One of the other dining rooms of the restaurant

Another photo showing the Japanese garden

..And for those who'd rather prefere the izagaya-setting they do have that too!

The Museum of Kyoto is having a special exhibition displaying paintings by Hokusai from February 1st - March 25th for those interested!

Inside the Museum of Kyoto there are a couple of traditional streets with restaurants and stores selling souvenirs

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Traditions

Setsubun 節分 - The Bean Throwing Festival

Anette 11:08:00 PM

Friday the 3rd of February is considered the last day of winter here in Japan, and this day is celebrated with a so-called Bean Throwing Festival, or Setsubun in Japanese. It was something we just couldn't miss, so Yuma and me went on a visit to Ken's dorm where they were going to have a small Setsubun-celebration for the students living there.

One of the special things about Setsubun is that some grown-ups wear masks picturing oni (鬼), a type of demon or devil typically appearing in Japanese folklore, so that the kids can "drive away" these evil creatures by throwing beans at them.. Of course we had to try it out too! Haha:)

Me, Yuma and Ken wearing devil masks, prepared to be thrown beans at in the shrine

But before going out it was time for some traditional Setsubun food: the “lucky direction roll” Eho-maki (恵方巻き). This is basically a role of sushi (makizushi), which can grant you a wish if you eat it while facing in a compass direction determined by the year’s zodiac. In addition to this, you are supposed to keep your eyes shot and not make any noise while you are eating it.

Eating Eho-maki, all facing in the same direction

After having eaten, Yuma, Ken and me went to the Yoshida Jinja-shrine (吉田神社) to take a closer look at the celebration itself. Yoshida This shrine dates back to the Heian period, or more precisely to the year 859, when it was founded by the Fujiwara-clan. For the celebration of Setsubun nowadays, the bonfire in Yoshida Jinja is apparently the biggest in Kyoto. No wonder why there are so many people visiting this shrine.. Anyway, here are some pictures from the event:

The firemen keeping watch over the bonfire

Yuma wearing an oni-mask with the bonfire and the crowd in the background.

The huge red tori and the bonfire

Ken wearing his oni-mask too

Without the demon masks.

You can buy all sorts of dried food at the shrine. What about some dried squid?

More dried food

Bonsai!

Japanese style barbecue!?

No Japanese festival without some snack for sale.. :)

Thursday, February 2, 2012

TV interview

The Fuku Musume TV-Show 2012 福娘2012年

Anette 9:05:00 PM

I finally got access to a video showing the Fuku Musume election, which took place in Osaka Desember 2011.! Yay!

A bit embarrassing to watch it though, I was so nervous I messed up the last part of my self-appeal.. You might even be able to see me shaking during the appeal. Oh well x)

I have already written about the Fuku Musume election and the Toka-Ebisu festival in quite a lot of blogpost already, so please feel free to check them out from the links below.

Related blogposts

All blogposts from Japan

Friday, January 27, 2012

Ritsumeikan

Double Master Degree Program (DMDP) at Ritsumeikan University

Anette 10:28:00 PM

For those of you who are considering taking a master degree at Ritsumeikan University it might be interesting to know that this university actually offers a so-called Double Master Degree Program for anyone looking for an extra challenge.
Normally it takes two years at Ritsumeikan to achieve a master degree, but with this program you can get two master degrees instead by studying a year at Ritsumeikan and a year abroad.
Currently there are 7 universities in 5 different countries where you have the chance to go to with the DMDP. These include:

American University (USA)
Erasmus University Rotterdam (the Netherlands)
University of Granada (Spain)
Lancaster University (UK)
Royal Holloway University of London (UK)
University of York (UK)
Kyung Hee University (Korea)

In addition to the chance to studying abroad in yet another country, this program will also make your education cheaper since Ritsumeikan offers a Kyotei-ryugaku scholarship for participants of this program, which means that half of your tuition fees for the year abroad will be covered by Ritsumeikan. And considering tuition fees being high, combined with the fact that it is more expensive to live in Japan than any of the countries listed above, it is quite a good deal if you have what it takes to go through with the program. Besides, it is also possible to do the program in 2 1/2 year if you feel you need more time to finish.

For more information about the program, check out this page.