Japan/SoKor Day 19: Gwangju to Suncheon

December 29, 2009
SoKor Day 19: Gwangju to Suncheon

Yesterday's travel from Osaka to Korea and excitement of arriving in a new country and seeing old friends, as well as the several weeks of backpacking on my own had finally tired me out a little. (But just a little) :) We got up late and headed out of the hotel and to get some coffee at a place called Coffee Story. The waiter looked about 18 and had a sweatshirt on that said "San Francisco" which I thought was so funny and awesome. I said to him, "I am from there!" and pointed to the word "San Francisco" on my luggage bag. "Ohhhhhhhhh!!!!" he exclaimed, and shook my hand as if he just met a movie star. Very funny!

Across from Coffee Story was a clothing store which had another random North American-ism, a hilarious blue sweater with a Canada Maple Leaf and a Deer on it! I saw it from across the street and loved it, so we walked over to see if it was 1) not too expensive and 2) they had my size. We walked in and the guy in the store came up to me, we asked if they had it in "Large" and he looked worried. "Oh..." he said, and proceeded to measure and pat my shoulders with his hands, generally trying to size up my broadness compared to the standard South Korean male shape. "Very sorry. One size-uh fits all-uh only!" Apparently that is quite common in South Korea, body types can be so similar that some clothing stores only have one size fits all clothing, because often, it actually is one size fits all unless you're a tourist like me. So that was too bad, I was hoping to buy a Canadian sweater in Korea just to have a story to tell about it. :)

We then took off to some of the subway markets. There were sooo many fake brands there, and a lot of US obsession - lots of fake Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger and J-Crew clothing. We then headed towards the bahhhssu tehrminalle to go catch a bus to Suncheon. It's SO much easier to travel when you have a travel buddy who can help. :) Lisa was particularly excited to be in a big city and was keen to go to one of the funny American chains in the bus terminal so we hit up T.G.I.Fridays! I was keen for some familiar food too, and that was a hilarious experience. It's quite funny to go to those kinds of American chain restaurants in other countries because it's an attempt at Americanism, but it's always got a very unusual or hilarious local twist (like that nearly unpronounceable "Juicy Chicken Agatougarashi" McDonalds sandwich from Japan, and Beer in a plastic cup at McDonalds in France!) T.G.I.Fridays was no exception, they gave us a "Serviceuh" - a free gift "for your service" as a thank-you for coming to eat there. It was a boy and girl coloured matching scarf with a cute character clip, and also a couple of bottles of mouth wash! So funny.

From the bus terminal we left on a bus to Suncheon and I was really interested in the scenery. There were a lot of rice paddies, layered on cliffsides. We saw a lot of bamboo groves where the bamboo had leaves, I've never seen that before. There seemed to be a lot of farming and agriculture everywhere. Lisa said that South Koreans make good use out of every piece of land they can - if there is a place to plant food to farm, it will be used!

Lisa is an old University friend who is now teaching conversational English at a school in Suncheon, South Korea. We arrived and went to Lisa's school to meet her Vice Principal. It was incredibly fascinating to see how the importance of learning English is viewed in South Korea. Lisa teaches "Grade 2" at an all-girls school, which is equivalent to Grade 11 in the US.

Lisa showed me one of the assignments she gave the students, which I was just blown away by. She wanted to get the students to think about why they were in her class, and try to get them to focus by thinking about the benefit of learning English. She had them write an assignment called "Why should I learn English?" and she showed me a few examples. I thought it was completely fascinating, and a really unique window to see inside the minds of young South Koreans. All of the answers were very interesting: "To travel (leave Korea)", "Because USA is strong", "To meet famous people." This was a very interesting insight into the Korean mindset, and the view towards the USA. When Lisa arrived, the students asked her, "Do you know famous people?". There seems to be a bit of an obsession in Korea about American culture, there are plenty of K-Pop celebrities in Korea, so why are high school students so interested in US celebrities? Tons of thoughts were flying around my head from seeing the student's ideas on paper. At Lisa's school I also learned more about English teaching in Korea, in general. There were lots of extra books, and DVDs to learn from, extracurricularly.

We then headed back to Lisa's apartment to drop off all my stuff. America's Funniest Home Videos was on TV, and Lisa said it is a very popular show because there are a lot of fat people on it (?!!) This is very funny for Koreans, apparently because there are not a whole lot of overweight people in Korea (i.e. the "one size fits all" sweatshirt in Gwangju).

We then headed off for dinner, and got some "Bebimbap". It was a big bowl of rice, red pepper sauce, cabbage, with pickled radish and kimchi on the side. Very good and very hearty! Excellent to warm you up on a cold evening. We also got some "Kimbap", which Lisa referred to as "Poor man's Sushi". It had Spam in it! SPAM?!!!!!!!! As it turns out, Spam is actually very popular in Korea. No one seemed to know why it was so popular there, but maybe because American soldiers brought it over to Korea when they were there for the Korean War? I wonder if Wikipedia knows... :)

Aside - just checked Wikipedia and here's an interesting quote:

The surfeit of Spam in both North and South Korea during the Korean War led to the establishment of the Spam kimbap (sushi roll). With no more fish or other traditional kimbap products, Spam was added to a rice roll with pickle and cucumber and wrapped in seaweed. In Australia, Korean shops sell these as "sushi rolls", as an alternative to the traditional style of Japanese sushi rolls - but without the Spam.

Then, we had the best food EVER for dessert. We got these incredibly tasty street-food pancakes called "Ho dok" - so friggin' good!!!!!!!!! They are tasty pancake things with cinnamon in them. So frickin' awesome.

We then walked to one of the downtown areas and this was very interesting. There were lots of Love Motels as there were in Gwangju. Also plenty of Noraebongs (Karaoke booths) and Norae"towns" (I think those were the somewhat dodgy ones where you can pay girls to come and sing and drink with you in the Karaoke booths?!). Vending machines were similar to Japan but less frequent and had plum juice and aloe juice in them. We wandered to a store called "Morning Glory" which is a popular spot for the girls that Lisa teaches. It was a funny tween girl stuff store, with lots of school binders with poems or song lyrics printed on them, most badly translated or moderately terrible English at best. I bought some "Engrish" stickers for friends back home, and they were really weird and funny.

Back at Lisa's place, I met her hilarious cat, Mokah. This Mokah cat was so cute but it was hard to get her to come and hang out. Lisa told me an interesting story of the rescue shelter, and how Mokah's tail looked weird because previous owners tend to break a cat's tail a certain way to say that the cat is "their cat". Hearing about this really made me angry at this local practice ("How 'bout a $^&#@&$ collar?", was what I was thinking). This poor sweet cat was so nice but seemed so nervous. Lisa said she doesn't seem to like men, and also preferred foreigners. Probably because of her traumatized past! Poor little cat. I bet she was very happy to be in good care now at Lisa's place.

We then took a longer walk and got a maple bun called a "Roti". The cappucinos were very good and better than how they made them in Japan! We chatted lots more about South Korea and it was very interesting to hear Lisa's perspective on South Korea and see and hear all of these culture shock things over the past few days.

In general I get a feeling that South Korea feels that it needs an American connection for business, stability, military presence, etc. But at the same time, I get the feeling that Korea is actually quite uncomfortable with the scope of the American influence on their culture. It's very strange to see Dunkin' Donuts, T.G.I.Fridays etc, but at the same time no English signs anywhere. Also, a very few amount of people over 30 seem to speak English. It feels like they think they need US influence but they have not taken the practical steps to get there (eg English signage on Bus stops) like Japan has.

It's possible that the lack of English speaking is just generational - kids are learning English in schools now. The government/teachers seem to be pushing English learning very hard, but only recently.

The freakin' amazing Namitatsu boxer-briefs I got in Fukuoka a few days before. They have a Samurai on the back with a surfboard, fighting an octopus. Fantastic!

View from the motel

Lisa at a coffee place called "Coffee Story"

Drinking some weird tea, great times

Take a close look at the blue sweatshirt outside the "Diva" store - it's a Canadian maple leaf with a deer on the front! I wanted to buy it but we got in there and the guy patted my shoulders and shook his head, "I'm sorry", he said, "One size-uh fits all-uh!" I guess a lot of Korean people have a similar build, so they only carried one size of all their clothes!!

Random street stuff

A bread place called Paris Baguette. Advertising girl and guy on the outside wearing cutesy cat ear hats.

Sugar coated garlic bread. It was TERRIBLE. But I had to try it. I didn't have to eat the whole thing... but I did anyway :)

Socks!

T-bag

It is common for guys in Korea to show their love for their girlfriend by buying a HUGE teddy bear. This one was particularly expensive, about $850 USD!!!

Maca-Donalds-uh

30th Anniversary burger

Unusual fashion in the subway vendors

A common thing in South Korea is matching girlfriend-boyfriend lingerie

Ajuma clothing

More Ajuma-wear

Engrish sweatshirts

TGIFridays and other places often tell you where all the ingredients come from.

Rice Paddies along the way from Gwangju to Suncheon

Lisa at her school

Cool poems on the wall

"Skill to DO comes from DOING"

I took photos of people's homework :)

Toy Story 1 and 2 in Korean

Lots of books and opportunities to learn

The coolest idea ever. Lisa asked the students to do a "why did you want to learn English?" handout. Very insightful answers.

This was such a cool idea

Kimbap, the "poor man's sushi" as Lisa called it. Careful, it might have Spam in it!

Lots of tasty sides, Kimchi and pickled radish

Lisa mixing her Bebimbap, a rice and vegetable mixed bowl

Me rockin' some Bebimbap

Trying SO hard to use the impossible metal Korean chopsticks!

My first taste of Kimchi - it was good!!

A lady making some Korean street food, the "Hodok". It was so friggin' GOOD!!!!!!!!!!

Nightlife heading into town

Pretty street lights

Downtown area

More businesses and cars zooming by

Wandering downtown

Great lit-up archway

Vegetable and fruit stands on the side of the road

Vegetables for sale

Lisa at the "Roti" bun and coffee store

Lisa with a bunch of animals that have cute other animals on their heads

Helllooo, Copyright Infringement!

More random buildings

T.G.I.... beer?!

Greek Columns

Diamond hotel logo was cool.

Tiny tiny laundromat, wait until you see the size of it!

Tiny Laundry

Someone closing their fruit stand for the night just puts a random blanket over it and goes home!

Star Wars Force Unleashed 2 from E3 2010

Japan/SoKor Day 19: Videos

Here are a couple videos from my first night in Suncheon. Lisa's cat Mokah was absolutely hilarious and a big talker. It took ages for me to get the cat to come and hang out, but this sure was a cute cat. We also wandered around Suncheon for some street food, and also took some pictures on the street of various dodgy nightlife options - "noraebongs" (karaoke rooms) where you can rent girls to come and sing with you in the karaoke booth, love motels, rampant copyright infringement (the Lexus Hotel - fancy!) and the like. I really didn't expect this kind of stuff in such a small town.


Mokah the hilarious cat


First we got some Ho-dok, a cinnamon-filled pancake which was absolutely awesome. Then we wandered the streets of Suncheon taking photos and wondering just why there were so many darn awkward and dodgy nightlife "establishments" in such a small (and I guess, not so innocent) town.

Pixar Canada intro video

Cool video with some pics inside the Pixar Canada studio:

The Force Unleashed 2 Cinematic Trailer

Awesome Nike football commercial

Holy moly, great Nike football commercial. Another awesome sport-related video to post :)

Adidas Star Wars

Another sick Adidas Star Wars video. Sweet comping and Snoop is hilarious with a lightsaber!!

Japan/SoKor Day 18: Videos

Here's a short clip of the lounge place and a longer clip of all the funny dogs and cats in the petting cafe.


Note that the dogs and cats here were very well cared for and loved by the employees. We saw them treated very well. This one white dog looks a little sad, but I think he was just tired cause of the time of night we went to the cafe. The animals seemed to be cared for very well.

Japan/SoKor Day 18: Korea! Friends! Food! Dogs with makeup!

December 28, 2009
SoKor Day 18: Korea! Friends! Food! Dogs with makeup!

Off I go to South Korea! Today I got up early at the Capsule Hotel, about 7am. I successfully made it through the complicated system of lockers and keys and managed to get all of my baggage and my shoes back, and deposit my yukata robe and classy 1/2-length pants in a washing bin. In pure Jutan preparedness style, I had already scoped out how to get to the train station the day before when I was walking on the Dotonbori... so I just grabbed my stuff and headed out quickly, and it only took 10 minutes to walk to the station with all my stuff! Awesome.

I got on the train right away, and it was super fast to the airport. I had a couple of extra hours, which was cool. I met some Australians, and hung out for a while. The one dude won the Apple Designer Awards, Student Category! That was very cool - he won a scholarship of some sort which included an internship at Apple, I think. That rocked. He was super interested in my job, and excited to hear my story too. I grabbed some Beef Udon and "Hotteh Cohii" which was great. Then I got onto a plane to Seoul Gimpo airport, one of the two Seoul airports, where I'd stay for a long-ish tranfer, waiting a few hours for a local flight, preparing to head down to Gwangju in the South-West of South Korea to meet Erin, Jon and Lisa.

Arrival in South Korea was super quick. They looked at my paperwork and stamped my passport and then off I went to go explore the airport. The first food I saw: Dunkin' Donuts!??!?!!! That was a huge surprise, and I was a little desperate for something familiar so I finally got to try Dunkin' Donuts for the first time... in Seoul. :) I got money out of the ATM... ₩300,000?! It came out as 30 x ₩10,000 bills, that was insane. The exchange rate to the US$ was roughly 1 more decimal place from Japan, so this was approx $250. I.e. the 10,000 Won bills were about $9. Oh, so complicated.

I changed terminals to the domestic one and checked into my local flight's airline. They were quick to send the baggage on, and I noticed my backpack is now 16.5kg == approx 37 lbs. (It was 25 lbs on leaving the US). That's a lot of souvenirs already! Also, that explains why my knees have been so mad at me for carry so much crap.

Once I had my tasty random American donut and coffee, I sat down to relax for a bit and write my journal, and I just got to sit and "people watch" for a bit. This was incredibly interesting, and since I'd just been in Japan it was especially interesting to try to make a note of my first impressions of Korea, as compared with Japan. I thought it would be interesting to record these impressions so that I could read them after the trip and see if I thought Korea was or wasn't like what I thought it would be at first glance.

Some first impressions:
(*Please note these are just some things I noticed on arrival. I'm not meaning to classify Korea in some way compared to Japan, or make unfair comparisons. These are simply just a few first impressions, that's all. This was purely based on my interest and what I noticed as feeling different than the Japanese culture that I'd been immersed in for the past few weeks. Specifically, I immediately noticed a lot of difference in the fashion choices, as well as general cultural similarities and dissimilarities.)

• People's dress seems different than Japan.
• Less like small, cute kids
• More "adult", "business"
• Hair styles are not as coloured and crazy and curly
• Hair is more plain, straight, often up in a bun (business style)
• It's colder here, weather-wise
• More people wearing high-heels
• There were a lot of people in military suits. (This also may just have been because we were at the airport and a lot of people were traveling for the holidays)
• People were not "impolite" by any means, they still seem to be polite in general, but not to the extreme that I saw in Japan
• Workers/Cleaners/Janitors at the airport were VERY different, and this uncovered a significant difference between the two cultures. In Japan (if you recall a previous post when I talked about the Shinkansen train cleaning crew), the cleaners in Japan were a Strike Force! They were very fast and extreme, like an elite cleaning force. It was amazingly precise, calculated, and a very focused, planned effort. In Korea, I'd say it looks more like a standard cleaning crew that you'd see in North America. People were cleaning up, at a regular pace, just not in a choreographed effort :)
• Clothes were darker and less loud, which possibly could be just because of the colder weather
• Korea already seemed more easy-going, less rushing around and people racing from place to place so far.
• I saw a 1 1/2 hand offer back of my receipt and my passport, one arm out and the other hand on the bicep. That was awesome!!! In Japan, I pretty much always saw the full 2-hand hand-back whenever you got your change or a receipt or anything, as well as a deep bow of gratitude for your service... even at McDonalds! The 1 1/2 hand offer was very funny and I loved it, similar to Japan but different in it's own right.
• Prices seem cheaper already than Japan, even in the airport in Seoul.
• A big burger meal at a restaurant in the airport was only ₩5,000 - about $4.50? In USA that would be like $10.
• LOTS of Hipster glasses! So many people have them!!
• Still some vending machines, but not nearly as many as in Japan.
• I saw my favourite vending machine drink, "Pocari Sweat"
• Also saw the hot drinks in vending machines, like in Japan.
• There seemed to be many less of those gift stores that I saw everywhere in Japan - at any place in Japan there would be a store to buy some local rice baked goods or sweets for the people you were going to visit at your destination. There seemed to be WAY less of those already.
• Less bowing! I miss it already! There does seem to still be some bowing, but not as frequent as in Japan. :)
• There is a similar "Irashamise" phrase that everyone yells when you enter a store.
• I saw some similar foods: triangle to-go sushis in convenience stores, and a few bento boxes
• Then, lots of WAY different food: something I thought could be olives, but on tasting I realized it was probably quail eggs (it was), kimchi (which the lady at the restaurant was cutting with a pair of scissors!), and vegetable porridge (which was HUGE portion - I only ate half of it). There seems to be a lot of extra side dishes that come for free with your meal.

After some food and people-watching, I got onto my flight to Gwangju - it was 35 minutes!! So fast. I arrived in the tiny Gwangju airport, grabbed my bag and went out to find a taxi. I read online that Gwangju was tiny enough that you just needed to say "Baseu Tehrminale" to ANY cab driver and there was only 1 major bus terminal, and they would know where to take you. I got into a cab and said "Baseu Tehrminale"... NOTHING. The taxi cab driver had NO IDEA what I was talking about. Crap. "Bahhhsu"... "Bahhsu Teh-her-mean-aal?" I tried a few different pronunciations and he had no idea what I was saying. He was asking me some questions and I really had no idea what he wanted to know. He made some hand gestures which I thought meant "out of town" or "inter-city" or something, so I said "Yes!" At this point I didn't even know how to say "Yes" or "No" in Korean yet. Oh man. I saw a sign that said "Bus Terminal" and then he DIDN'T take it... and went way around the city another direction... oy. I had no frickin' clue where I was going. He seemed apologetic and said "No Englishee!" I laughed and said "No Korean!" :) We both laughed at our complete lack of understanding of each other, it was funny and crazy. Of course I was so stupidly organized about the trip that there was never any real danger of getting lost or not finding my friends eventually - I had their cell phone numbers in multiple places (iPod, printed document, saved in my Gmail Japan email folder, etc.) So if I REALLY got lost I could borrow a cell phone and call them, of course. Also my Korean/English guide was in my backpack somewhere, so I could always get that out and point to words if I actually needed to. For now I figured I'd just wing it and hopefully it would work out fine. Having the "safety net" was nice, but I didn't want to use it cause that would be like cheating :)

Eventually I saw another sign that said "Bus Terminal" (actually in English) and realized that he must have been asking me earlier which bus terminal I wanted. Damn WikiTravel told me there was only one! I finally arrived at the Bus Terminal and the 20 min cab ride was super cheap. When I got there, Lisa told me to ask someone for "Baskin Robbins-odee" - i.e. Baskin Robbins. :) I found it after some wandering, and Erin and Jon were there!!!!!!!!!! So nice!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was SOOOOOOOOOOO great to see a familiar face and especially such nice, welcoming familiar faces. :) We were gonna get something weird called an Ice Cream Fondue, but they were sold out so we decided to head out for food when Lisa arrived.

We then taxied to Shinae (downtown) and checked into a... Love Motel. This was an unusual experience already. This is actually really just like a regular motel, ₩35,000 ($30) a night, with TV, Internet, etc. Very cheap! I think some of these places can be really dodgy (and are supposed to be for business people to go "spend the night" with their secretaries and so on) - crazy. I learned that the parking lot had long drapes down so people could have some privacy to park their cars there, so if someone walked by they wouldn't recognize their boss's car or license plate number. How crazy is that?! Anyway, it was an eye-opening experience already, but other than having cool heated floors (very Korean), the "dodgy" love motel was nothing more than a really cheap, convenient motel. Oh yeah, one weird thing. You pay the guy upfront for the room, through a small window, and he gives you the key for your room. When you leave you can just deposit the key without having to talk to anyone directly (so you can hide your shame, I guess?!) Anyway I was pretty interested to stay in one of these motels so I could see what they were like. Lisa and her friends had stayed in this particular one before so they knew it was safe and not actually dodgy, so I was comfortable there (and, more importantly, comfortable to leave my camera and passport there while we were out) :)

We then walked to a big sit-down family-style restaurant for dinner. We got a big platter called "Mae un chim dalk" which consisted of glass noodles, peppers, potatoes, carrots, sesame sweet teriyaki sauce, and chicken. It was SOOOO good!!!!! Very warm and hearty, and LOTS of food. That seems to be the usual so far in Korea: lots of food, and very hearty! We also got some local beer and soju (which I think I found out is NOT the same as "Shochu" from Japan, though maybe similar). Jon suggested we try soju and mecju (beer) together in a combination that people called "Somec". It was good!

After the fantastic dinner place, we left to go to an excellent coffee place that Lisa recommended called "Ethic". The decoration was a combo of different influences: hindu, indian, thai... and the had tons of candles and tea lights. It was glorious! We continued the evening there, catching up on life and chatting about my experiences in Japan and Jon, Erin and Lisa's experiences in Korea and plans for traveling in the future. It was awesome. We tried some more local things there, including a soju and kiwi fruit cocktail, very good! Chillin' there was just perfect, especially after such a long a busy/exciting day of travel. I learned the work "Assah!" which means "Awesome!" - I'll be using that one a lot.

Sadly then Jon and Erin had to leave and head back to their town, which was sad. They were so great to chat with and I think it was the first time I had met Jon. What a perfect couple, they were the greatest and so nice to me, they rocked. :) Lisa and I then headed out and wandered past a place called Coffee Story and people kept staring and waving at us from the windows.. maybe because we were obviously foreigners?! Unusual!!

Lisa and I then walked towards a "Dog and Cat petting cafe" and it was an insane experience. I had really wanted to visit one of these after hearing about them before my trip. This one was especially crazy because all the animals had clothes and makeup on. See pictures below, this one is really better to explain just through the crazy photos. :) The white dog with pink hearts on his cheeks looked like he totally didn't want to be there. It was a cool lounging place and we hung out for a while and got a tea while petting some cute cats and dogs. There was a poodle thing with hair that was done like a real person's hair, that was SO weird. Apparently they offered a dye colouring for your pets and portraits of your pet in a suit. Culture shock, for sure.

On the way back to our moulin-rouge-esqe hotel, we walked by a "sweet potato lady" grilling sweet potatos on the street. We grabbed a bag of them for like $1 and it was super good. I also learned about "Ajumas" - older Korean women. The "sweet potato lady" was an "Ajuma" and had permed hair and very loud floral pants. It sounded like this was a common fashion choice for older ladies in Korea. Very interesting. It was good to see that these people garnered respect. As foreigners, we made very sure to be very thankful and say "Kamsamnida" (thank you) in Korean to her.

What a day!!!!!!!!! Korean is already very, very different from Japan. There is a whole new set of cultural intricacies to learn about. Here I go!

On arrival in Korea, literally the first food place I saw. I was really surprised as American chain stores were not that prominent in Japan (other than the obvious ones like McDonalds)

First meal at the airport in Korea: porridge (terrible!) and what I figured were olives, but were more likely quail eggs (they were) and some kimchi (surprisingly delicious)

Whoaaa!! Snow!!! Much different weather than Japan already.

Erin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I met Erin, Jon and Lisa at "Baskin Robbins-o-dee"

Street vendors, bright lights, and still lots of signs I don't understand :)

Lisa at the dinner place

Awesome Coca Cola logo on a bottle

Random cheap Beer, Soju, and lots of free side-dishes

Using scissors to cut up the kimchi!

Good friends and good company :)

Diggin' into the food, and trying super hard to use the thinner, metal Korean chopsticks

One soju bottle done, and one more to go!

This time, trying the "maple" soju

VERY cool loungey place with candle lights, relaxing and very awesome

Beautiful setting

Learning the "Korean style" of taking photos with your hands covering your chin!

Happy to be hanging out with good friends

Amazing!!!!!!!!! Absolutely perfect relaxing spot after a busy day of travel.

Cat/Dog petting cafe... here we go! This is a pet store, where you can come and buy pet supplies. You can also buy a coffee and just sit and pet the animals and hang out with them. This cafe is particularly unusual because it's also a "beauty parlour" for dogs and cats... so they had all kind of way-too-cutesy clothes and "makeup" on them. It was SO INSANE. This lands firmly in the category of "you'd never see this at home" :)

This poor guy looked soooo sad :( He actually got a little more excited later, I think he was just tired cause it was late at night. The story we made up is that we figured "he" was a boy dog, and was sad because he was so emasculated by having pink heart makeup on his face. Notice the high-heels in the background - those were some girls in clubbing clothes who seemed to be friends with the owner, or possibly worked there.

Uh, this dog has nicer hair than I do. And is wearing a Santa costume. Oy.

Lisa and this little poodely dog

This cat was so fed up that he went to sleep.

The santa dog with the long blond hair, the clubbing girl, and another dog looking longingly at the door, hoping to escape. Not really, of course... they were very well cared for :)

The cat who got tired of all the affection and went to sleep.

One of the clubbing girls and a cat in a dress

Me and a dog with a bow in her hair

Me and our friend the "sad dog"

The owner of the pet store and the "sad dog", who turned out not to be so pouty after all. Once she got some attention from the owner, she was very happy!

Quick note on the Japan/South Korea travel journal

Hi friends,

Thanks all for your interest and love for the Japan/Korea travel journal! I've been back in the US for 5 months and I'm STILL not done the journal, yes, it's insane!

So I'm gonna aim to finish it off completely this month if I can. I've only got about 7 days of posts left, and 90% of them will be the South Korean leg of the trip, so the scenery and vibe of the trip is juuusst about to change up pretty fierce. Enjoy!

I'll be done this just in time for the next trip :)

Also: if you joined the party late, my final post in the trip series will just be a straight link post back to all the previous entries. Booyah.