Hola folks. Spent a big portion of the day visiting the Korea War Memorial Museum. It was really good with a bunch of restored planes/tanks/ships on the outside, then informative and interactive exhibits on the inside. Plus they had a cinema playing a free Movie (English Subtitles). The pollution was bad here today, some of the worst I’ve seen besides Beijing. But most of the pollution IS coming from China, ugh.

Statue of Brothers.
This is a memorial of two brothers who were fighting on the opposite sides, and happened to meet on the battlefield. (true story). Read more here
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of_Brothers

B52 Bomber.

Truck/Tank combo

Replica of old Korean naval war boat

Side view of the armored “Turtle Boat”

Afterwards, decided to head back to the Namdaemun Market (a street market dating back to 1414) and eat from the vendor stalls for dinner; then do some more shopping. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Namdaemun_Market One of the nearby shopping centers had an awesome light show going on.

Assortment of things wrapped in dough and fried. My favorite was the spicy seafood one.

Some delicious omelet thing with meat, onions, cabbage, and sauce.

We’ll try a lot of things, but “Roast Lobster with Cheese”… ewwwwww
If it wasn’t $15, we may have given it a taste test just to do it.

And then it started raining.. ugh. What to do? Go bowling!! It was a blast, except it’s ONLY bowling. There are no nachos, hotdogs, or beer to enjoy. People just bowled and left, it’s not a “hang out” place like we have at home. Shawn beat me 2/3, and there were some interesting house balls available for use.

Weird bowling ball #1. WTF?

Interesting bowling ball #2

Nothing better than bowling, on a cold/rainy Saturday night!

Heading back to the subway station, we ended up on “Cartoon Street”. Kinda weird, but it’s ligned with a bunch of cartoon statues everywhere.

“Cartoon Road” with a bunch of crazy fun stuff everywhere

Back to the room with our Soju Bombs and weird snacks for the evening.

tonight’s snack chips. “Tomato & Shrimp”.. and “Chocolate & Shrimp”
Not sure about either of them, but we shall see….

You get the point, it was 9 miles of strolling today according to the pedometer. We originally headed out to do an “easy” hike to a temple, but when we saw people coming down the mountain in full-gear (boots, hiking poles, and large backpacks), we decided we probably weren’t equipped to deal with the snowy mountain conditions. Just decided to roam instead. So more awesome shopping and food, and the tech makes it so easy! Also, Shawn broke down and bought some “smart phone” gloves like mine, cause it’s too cold to take them off!

Snowy mountains, but hard to see from the pollution/smog from China.

My latte comes in a cute cup!

Shawn was too scared to use the river crossing. Not sure why, it’s only 30 degrees here today. It’d just be a bit cold if he fell in

“Chicken & Beer”.. it’s a thing here. Really really big fad. There are “chicken-n-beer” places everywhere!

Gotta love the future!

Looking at a picture menu and pointing works most of the time for ordering food. But what to do when it’s just a bunch of chicken, and you don’t know the flavor? Use Google-Translate, and bam!! It will translate anything you point your phone at. Here’s a vid showing it deciphering a Korean menu.

Soju Bombs away

We found a waterfall in Korea!

Kinda freaked out, until we realized it’s the symbol for “temple” here.

Ahh.. this is the way to the temple we’re looking for.

Finally, found a selfie stick to buy

Selfie, waiting for our next subway train. Shawn is finally over the walking.;-)

Took the day easy, and had a relaxing time. Korea has a bunch of themed cafes everywhere, especially with animals.
There are cafes to play with cats,dogs, goats, and reptiles! Enjoyed a cat-cafe, then went to a private cooking class. We’ll have to have a dinner party when we get back!

Ended up buying some new gloves that let you use your smartphone with them on. Awesome!

Cat Cafe!! Missing my kitties at home, no problem. Stop at a cat cafe to sip coffee and chill with a bunch of cool cats.

Picking out our ingredients at the street market

So many delicious kinds of kimchi to pick from at the street market

Shawn da Chef, in his cute kitty apron.

Prepping the stock for the stew

Prepping the bulgogi marinade

Getting ready to eat!

Blury selfie, eating the stew

Bibimbap is done. Cant’ wait to eat it

Sundubu Jjigai (Spicy Stew) was delicious!!

Bibimbop was delicious!

Bulgogi, my favorite!!

Guess what happened? Awesome times!! Remember folks, we’re all just human. Everyone loves good times, good food, and good company.

Today we lounged, went to the Korean National Museum, and went on a food/drinks tour.

Brunch!! Kimchi Fried Rice, Fish Pancake, and a Bento

Fish Pancake on a Stick. YES!!

Korean National Museum

Four story pagoda carving!

ZEN! try it

Museums are awesome. Visit them everywhere and donate!

Still on the 1st floor, at least we can come back tomorrow to see more.

Museum is over, time for our Food/Drinks tour. Our guide “T” was great, and our traveling companions for the evening were awesome too!!

Our awesome host for the evening “T”, getting our Korean BBQ ready

Eating Korean BBQ… drooooollllll

No, it’s not daylight. The lights of Hapjeong are just that bright.  Also made some new friends for life!

More Seafood n Noodles. Delicious!

Bar 2, tasting 5 types of rice wine. And yes, we split all of these amongst the group.

14 inch seafood potato pancake. Yummy, and it soaks up the rice wine.

Yikes.. Let the Korean drinking games begin.  Our host “T” starts us off with something fancy…

Next trick, I nail it first… (Sorry Tiki Lounge and LAB, we’re bringing these home)

Shawn get’s it next..

Our new friend “Vibes” is up to the challenge.

Ok, time for more amazing food!

Seafood, seafood, seafood, and something tasty

Ruh Roh Raggy…. the subway just closed. Oh…. guess we’ll keep going Round-the-World-in-Beer, and wait for a taxi.

Yeah… Ummmmm… Wellllll… Okkkkk… I got nothing to say about this. 😛

Love Engrish..
This is a single stall bathroom at a restaurant. The only thing I can figure is it means “Hay dudes, don’t piss everywhere cause your fellow guy may have to clean it up”

Peace and Love!!

Took the DMZ tour today, and got to gaze in to North Korea. Unfortunately the JSA was closed today (where you can step foot in to NK in a joint conference room), but had a good time and very clear views to look at the sites through scopes. Afterwards, went and checked out the Gangnam district made famous by everyone’s favorite song/video “Gangnam Style” (go ahead, click the link!)

Holy Shit… our first glimpse of NK across the river, taken from the tour bus.

Thomas the Tank’s sad cousin. (Last train to leave the DPRK for Seoul, and was heavily damaged by munitions)

Freedom Bridge between North and South. Someday they hope it will be open between both countries.
Oddly, there is a janky amusement park at this site too. Just where I’d want to spend my summer days….. :/

Prayer ribbons by the Freedom Bridge. Tokens from people hoping for the safe reunification of their loved ones in NK.

Wow, a bit more touristy here than I’d thought…..
This stop had a museum and we also got to go explore in to the “3rd Entrance Tunnel” that was dug by NK trying to infiltrate.

This could be anywhere in the world, but holy shit it’s North Korea!! yikes
Hard to see in the pics (but amazing through the binoculars behind us). Dora Observatory overlooking North Korea. We could see the fake propaganda town very close, and also the town of Kaesong (real town) in the distance. Fucking crazy!

Sorry Mainland folks, only the Hawaii people will get to take a taste of “Uncle Kim’s finest Alcohol”
Yes, this is some kind of mystery-liquor brewed in North Korea, and can only be purchased at the DMZ.

Oh shit, we drank too much of Uncle Kim’s brew, and bought train tickets to Pyongyang, NK….
Nah, this is Dorasan Station. A new rail station at the boarder that is connected to North Korea again, not in use but they hope it will be one day.

After the tour, decided to check out Gangnam. And damn, it’s fucking freezing here by the way so we didn’t do much outside. Basically shopped and hopped around to different bars/cafes.

You know you have the song running through your head now, muahahahahaha.

Ummmm… I can’t get Shawn to stop dancing. LOL

Spicy Ramen with Quail Egg. Perfect to warm up on a freezing evening.

Wonton Ramen, delicious!

Looking for a place to get a beer in Gangnam.

Beer/Cocktails, nice end to a long awesome day.

Made it safe n sound, slept well, and went exploring. Tomorrow we’re going to do a tour to the DMZ on the north korean boarder, so stay tuned for that exciting update.

So far today, just breakfast of spicy kimchi noodles, yummy!

breakfast of champions

gobble gobble

Stopping at a coffee shop for coffee and wifi. Decided to try the “Squid Black Ink &, Cheese Bread” Delicious!

don’t be scared

Aloha!

funky xmas tree

2018 Winter Olympics mascots

2018 Winter Olympics countdown

brother from another mother

Deoksugung Palace

Deoksugung Palace

Deoksugung Palace

Random meat on a stick. Woof, meow.

Merry Christmas

Ending the evening with delicious beer and snacks in the room.

Yummmmmmm!!!! Why can’t we get chips like this in the USA?

Thanks to TBone’s Mario Andretti skills, we (barely) made it on our flight to Ohau. Wasn’t really worried, cause our flight to Korea is delayed a bit, so we could’ve gotten the next hopper.

on the way to Honolulu

Now our flight is delayed 3 hours, it was late coming from Seoul because of fog. Luckily we have access to the lounge with free drinks, snacks, and internet. woot! We’ll be taking off at 4:40pm HST. Hopefully the free wine helps us to sleep the whole way, lol.

Honolulu lounge is rocking

Finally, wheels up fo Seoul. Thanks for following, and Stay tuned!

Kimchi bound

We’ll be going to South Korea from December 23 – Jan 1, please stay tuned for daily updates. We love comments!

lf you haven’t commented before, all we have to do is approve the first one, and the rest will auto post. Aloha!

Boarded, and on the way to lax,then home
Cheers!

It’s been fun, but unfortunately we have to return to the tropics half way round the world (literally).

Started out by climbing The Monument to the Great Fire of London in 1666, it’s only 311 stairs to the top with great views.

Are we there yet??

We did it!!

00″ class=”size-medium wp-image-649″ /> Random shot, this is where the latest Jame’s Bond pic, Spectre, was filmed. (spiral walkway)

Never ending stairs

Yay breakfast, had the “Traditional British Breakfast”… Poached Eggs, bacon, sausage, and the infamous Black Pudding. Tried it, it’s actually not too bad… I just think my mind kept getting in the way of really enjoying it.

Yummy

Next stop, get on the Tube, Mind the Gap, and go to the British Museum. Good times to be had by all!

Ze Grand Entrance

I always feel like.. somebody’s watching me… (besides the incessant CCTV here)

Just chilling in front of the Nereid Monument

Rapa Nui (Easter Island) Statue

Next stop, West London. Completely NERDING OUT on the TARDIS in London!!!!!!!!

Things aren’t even Wibbly Wobbly yet

Time for a last minute show in Piccadilly Circus? Nope, just billboards and TGI Fridays (WTF??)

Ugly London

I like this ale, but I could be biased by the name…

Heading back toward our place, found a boat that’s a bar. Stopped for some cider at the Tattershall Castle Ship. (it stays docked) One pint, the home before the night-club begins. The red in the pic is from the heating lamps above, because it was COLD. brrrr

Beam me up Socttie

Ok, as Bear says.. “Final Final”.. Stopped by The Black Friar Pub before our temporary home.

Jagermeister is so much tastier in Europe!

Time to go home, in the tunnel between the pub and the train

On the tube home, and goofing off. Yes, we’re home fine, or else I wouldn’t be posting. 🙂

Tomorrow is heading home, a long day of flying. Yay. Stay tuned for the next installments. “Mike’s 40th birthday bash in Oklahoma”, then “New Zealand hiking/camping”

Wow, this went quick. We only have Saturday left, then we fly home Sunday about noonish here. I took the day off work while that sucker Shawn went to his class, and got learned in the art of bending light with optics.

What’s a gal to do all alone in the big city? Let’s see…

Everything you wanted to know about London history, and all the cool stuff they dug out of the Thames over the years.

Cool old stuff, including Cinderella’s original chariot.

Prince Charming’s original armor.

Wood walls from an old jail cell. Even their boredom graffiti was elegant back in the day.

Hay mom, I got some more tattoos

After the museum, I decided to get on a bus to check out Kensington Palace on the other side of town. We took many a bus the previous Saturday, how bad can it be?

F*ck the traffic. Tower bridge is cool, until you sit on it for 5 minutes in gridlock.

Traffic is ok on the weekends, but I quickly found that it SUCKS during the week. I ditched the bus, and hopped on a river ferry to the other side of town.

The View is good at least!

After the boat, I attempted to hop on another bus to go see some more sights, but traffic was gridlocked, and Shawn finished class early. I started walking across town to meet him, and got to cut in front of Buckingham Palace to get there, it’s less crowded today.

Gates to the palace

We decided on a rendezvous at the Bag o’ Nails Pub

You can’t go wrong with a name like this

Arghh matey, come and have a pint o ale

Then we started walking back toward our end of town. Shawn had downloaded an app that would map your route, but also show you pubs on the way. Next stop the Albert’s Pub

If it’s cold, you cram into any spot you can find indoors. wall to wall people

If it’s hot/stuffy inside, just take your ale out to the sidewalk

Friday Crowds at the Barley Mew

If Dan Mac & Henry Rollins had a baby.

Pub food to soak up the cider

Contemplating life, with ale-foam in the beard..

Inside The Black Friar, great art

Outside The Black Friar, not so stuffy

Last stop before home, The CockPit Pub

So sad, they won’t serve Shawn here.

After more cider I told Shawn, “Bessie’s mom would love this place, it’s covered in cocks!” You all have dirty minds!!! I was talking about the rooster art all over the pub, because she collects it. 🙂

cock-a-doodle-doo!

Glad my glass tells me it’s empty. Good night everyone

Ok, we’re back to more fun things on this side of the pond…

Thursday after work, we went down to the West End and watched the musical The Book of Mormon (by the creators of South Park). It was HILARIOUS,an highly recommended to all if you get a chance.

My bar wench is getting some pre-theatre drinks

Found a spot! Hard to do in the theater district right before all the shows start.

LOL, they actually printed this on our tickets. (zoom above the show name)

OMG, Theatre!!!

Sneaking selfies before the show.

Post show ciders

Blog has been a bit boring this week with the work schedule, but I’m off tomorrow (Fri) and will have some good stuff to post.

Tonight we’ve got tix to London’s version of Broadway, The West End, and we’re going to see the Musical The Book of Mormon. It’s written by the creaetors of South Park, and everyone tells us we’ll be laughing in tears the whole time. Excited!!

After class/work yesterday I met up with Shawn and his classmates for a gathering at the pub. (You see a theme here right?) Had a good time meeting everyone, and making new friends.

Another cute pub tucked away down a small street

Shawn discussing the bending of light rays with another student

Mangus (from Scotland) talked us in to trying the Scotch Egg for dinner. It was delicious, and I’m going to make these at home. It’s a soft boiled egg surrounded by a meat-loaf mix, then rolled in breading and baked. SO GOOD!!

Perfection!

Back in the apartment, getting ready to watch the last episode of The Walking Dead. Ugh, so pissed how they ended this season!

Why didn’t we find this magazine sooner? It lists all the pubs, hours, food types, and what ales they’re serving currently. We also found a beer fest we may try to go to on Saturday.

The Ale Bible of London

Blah, blah, blah work stuff during the day. For those asking, Yes, I totally ate the sandwich-in-a-bag, and had no problems the next day. 🙂

Since we were missing home, Shawn found the Kanaloa Tiki Bar in the heart of London. How bad can this be right??? Let’s just say we can’t wait to get back home to the best Tiki bar in the world!

The decorations were cool, and our drinks looked lovely. But they tasted terrible, ick, they were using a pitcher of pre-mixed cocktails and it wasn’t even busy.

The Trojan Horse of Cocktails

Obligatory pic with one of the Tiki Statues

We miss you SouthShore Tiki Lounge!!!

Leaving that place, we came across an Irish Pub and figured we’d continue with our non-english evening. The Tipperary claims to be the original Irish Pub of London, and survived the great fire of 1666. I had a great Peated-Ale here, but it was odd that the Irish place was playing the entire Use Your Illusion II cd in the background. (Sorry, no pics)

Down the road a bit we hopped in to a traditional looking pub, but it turned out to be the “Applebys” of London. Shawn tried the Lamb Shank Shepard’s Pie, and it was gross. Instant mashed potatoes, overcooked rubbery lamb, ick.

Worst meal yet here

I played the slot machine for a couple of bucks, but didn’t win.

Shawn takes blurry pics

Last try for the night turned out to be a winner. I’ll try to remember the name later. But it was on a nice little street, and you could stand outside with your beer and enjoy the weather. Ended up talking to a bunch of nice folks from the UK, Ireland, and Scotland.

Finally, a good pub to end the night on

Tonight we’re meeting up with the group from Shawn’s class, so I’ll post some pics from that later. 🙂 Cheerio

Another good day! It’s guaranteed you’re used to a time-zone when you are awaken from the alarm clock easily. Had some coffee in the AM, then blah, blah, blah, blah (we both worked). On to the fun stuff…

Shawn had a good day at his class, but came home with a broken shoe from his walk home. Normally in Maui this isn’t an issue, since we can go to any store/gas station/grocery to buy slippahs… but they don’t just have dress shoes at the Tesco in London.

Ruh Roh, this won’t work.

I finished up work for a bit, and we went on a quick mission. 1. New Phone (since his International one was dying) then 2. New Shoes. We were able to accomplish both so now he doesn’t appear completely homeless. Yes, he has shoes AND a phone that works!!

After all that shopping (why does he say “I” do all the shopping?).. Had a pint at the local pub, and then back to a meeting for me.

Pre Meeting Pint of Ale

Then afterwards we met up, and went to a Gin Distillery that a local had recommended. The City of London Distillery, and glad we had the address, because it was down a narrow street (some would call an alley) with a nondescript sign.

It’s the right address… let’s go down the stairs!

Yep, we were at the right place. Very relaxing with low candle lighting, comfy large leather chairs, and a sharp attentive staff ready to answer all your questions about distilling gin.

The Stills are named Chelsea and Jennifer

Shawn is jealous of the stills

Menu

Relaxing after a hard day of work

After trying a couple different gins there, it was time for bed! On to the walk home.

St. Paul’s is a great landmark

St. Paul’s again, and my camera is sucking in this light.

No decent food places were open at 10pm in the area, so I opted for a sandwich to go from the local shop. (For Maui folks, this is a nice version of Minute Stop) In the spirit of adventure, I went for the sandwich-in-a-bag. Can’t be any worse than fried crickets or horse sashimi.. right??

Diarrhea, Cha Cha Cha

Ok, fine, one more pint at our local pub. Twist my arm!!

yummy, then good night!

A great Sunday was had. Sights were seen, pints were drank, and fish/chips were eaten. We’ve been really lucky with the sunny weather so far, only a few minutes of showers in the evening. I’m also happy that they finally fixed the internet to the promised speeds so I can get some work done tomorrow, while Shawn is at his class.

First stop of the day was Big Ben, ding dong! A lovely sight that we would see many times though out the day.

Que hora es?

After breakfast, we decided to buy one of those double decker bus “hop on/off” tours, and we were both amazed that it was actually worth it. Spent the rest of the day cruising around town enjoying the sites.

Hearing too much about John Lennon, Shirlock Holmes, Elton John, Jackie Collins, Ian Flemming, and Mick Jager between sights…

Westminster Abby famous people being married and buried here for a long long time…

You can look, but you can’t touch (or visit).

The changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace is a crowded affair! Glad we got to see it up close at London Tower the day prior. The Queen doesn’t even live here, she lives at Windsor. However there are still 400+ full time staff that live/work at the palace. We didn’t feel like paying $100 each for an hour tour of old furniture.

A different kind of trigger control

The palace with no Queen

The Royal Horse Guard keeping an eye on things. There are huge signs on either side warning that the horses will bite/kick; but that didn’t stop people from holding their babies close, or encouraging their kids to “pet the horsey”. Like their standing counterparts, they don’t say a word (no matter how dumb people get).

Not Mr. Ed

I told Shawn to make a funny face, and I got this. LOL!

that’s your funny face?

Guy in front of us isn’t as amused by the Selfie Stick as we are. Thanks Mike n Bessie for that awesom joke xmas present.

take a happy pill please

“Look Kids, it’s Big Ben &Parliament again”
– Clark Griswald

Tower Bridge

the London Shard

these busses get CLOSE here. Our buss weaseling his way in to a spot.

Aloha. Things are going good so far, we managed to death-march our way through the day denying ourselves sleep until the evening. We were both able to sleep through the night, and are reset for UK time. 🙂 Not sure what adventures we’re off to today, stay tuned.

Walk along the River Thames, with London Tower Bridge in the Background

London Tower Bridge

Entrance to the Tower of London, an historical Palace/Fortress.

London Tower Entry

Our Beefeater Tour Guide, hilarious and insightful. For some reason I want some Gin now. 🙂

Our Beefeater Tour Guide

Having fun with “The Gherkin” in the background.

The Gherkin

Seasons?? What is this sorcery?? Oh yeah… it’s SPRINGTIME with everything blooming. 🙂

Spring Time

The Tardis went on a diet!

Skinny Tardis

Dinner at the Pub. Fish & Chips, and Steak Pie

Fish & Chips, and Steak Pie

Whew, we made it til the goal of 9pm. Time for bed!!

Aloha from sunny London. Flight went great, and our apartment is nice. Off to get some lunch, a pint, and sightseeing. post some pics later. 🙂

And we’re off! In Dallas currently hanging out with my family for the day, then flying to London tonight. Stay tuned for the latest adventures and pics. 🙂 Thanks for checking in!

Well, it was fun. At the airport casino.ve, heading to Philadelphia. We’re staying the night before heading home to Maui on Sunday. Going to get an authentic Philly cheese steak sandwich, and try talking Shawn in to heading to a casino.

First class rocks with lay flat beds