In the fall of 2013 Michele and I traveled to South Korea to visit my best friend from High School who is in the Air Force and at the time was stationed just South of Seoul in South Korea.
One day we were heading to the other side of Seoul and we took the subway and upon our exit we happened across a karate demonstration that would be starting shortly. We could hardly believe our luck and thought this could be deja vu as we ran into the bell ringing ceremony the day before.
Tokyo was my first taste of Asia and wow it was impressive. It was like Time Square, squared literally. There were billboards stacked on billboards and everything flashed or was lit up outside of Shibuya station. Within seconds of exiting the train station I was blown away.
One morning, near our hotel, as we came up from the passageway under the street, a procession of Korean guards was marching past us. Of course, we immediately pulled out our cameras and started snapping photos.
Google maps is definitely my best friend and companion everywhere. The problem comes when you are suddenly outside of the US and have no data plan and no ability to use the map, or find a confirmation in your email, or (and this is a big one) speak the language.
When we were planning our trip to South Korea, visiting the DMZ seemed a no brainer. If we were going all the way to Korea, we would definitely make the trip to the DMZ. We didn't think too much about it, apart from knowing that we had to dress well (aka no ripped jeans) and had to be up early for the bus.
FYI, your ATM card probably won't work in Japan. Really important information to know. Something I learned my last time in Japan. And forgot before this time. And it was a mistake. At the airport when we first landed, we took cash out from the ATM.
In the fall of 2013, Michele and I traveled to South Korea to visit my best friend from High School who is in the Air Force and at the time was stationed just south of Seoul in South Korea.