Vladivostok September 2018

This was my first time in Russia. I was very excited to go and it was only about an hour and a half away from Seoul.

Train station in the city--you can actually go to/from the airport. I just got on a cab (Maxim app, similar to Uber) since it was after midnight.

My hostel was around the GUM department store. The old courtyard has restaurants and dessert cafes. I also exchanged dollars into Rubles.

My burger at Shonkel.

Hitchhiking at the city center

This is the main street called 'Arbat Street' where they have big supermarkets, shops, restaurants and others.

Blin (crepe) was just great!!  It was less than $5 and so good 😋

Tea in Russia very popular more than coffee. I bought boxes of tea like 'Greenfield' and others from the local markets as a gift.

pelmeni is a kind of noodle soup and it's so hearty and good I had two 😂😋

Yeah, Russian alphabets (Cyrillic) is kinda hard to read. But I used Google translate to just recognize some of the signs.

I don't really recommend this pepperoni pizza with pickles..

This was Yul Brynner's birthplace.

A pleasant surprise, I remember watching the movie Magnificent Seven in college.

Ride the 'funicular' or cablecar to reach a viewpoint. The air was so clear and good compared to Seoul!

If you want to try the shrimps, go to the park near Arbat!

They microwave it for you, but you can bring it home and cook it with butter.

Going home @ airport

These Russian dolls were beautiful! I'll definitely go back sometime~

Yeosu December 2017

Hi! It's been a year since I blogged. (sorry 😅) Ray and I flew to Yeosu city just a year ago(plane ride was less than 100,000 won, round-trip, an hour< long ). It was our first time there!

It's a port city in Jeolla-do and we wanted to ride the cable car for a wide view.

The ride was about 15 min or less and from what I remember, it was about 20,000 won per person.

You might want to take a cab there and also call the cable car company beforehand because they close when it's really windy. :/ but safety first!

This is my best shot from the car. Don't you like the red, orange rooves? 🏠🏡

There's also the bridge to Odong-do the little island when you get off, but we didn't go. Next time for sure.

So this little museum is free to enter and it's called 'Hamel Museum' 하멜 박물관. Hamel was a Dutchman who was trying to go to Japan on a mission of the EIC (East India Company), but his ship was capsized and reached Yeosu. Because of politics and other reasons (see Wikipedia), he had to stay in Joseon for more than a decade.

Hamel statue

Windmill in front of the museum 🚢

Poor guy, Ray felt bad for him because the description said Hamel was tortured and forced to provide labor for almost free and not allowed to go home for a long time. 

We also had crab jjigae (stew) which was very cheap and delicious.  꽃게탕 and other seafood is the staple in Yeosu so be sure to try fresh seafood there.

In the shopping area they were holding a fashion show / stage for musicians. 

If you want to get away from the city buzz, I recommend Yeosu. Not many tourists and good for a short trip.