Hey, everyone! Well… it has certainly been an eventful week. I was lucky enough to spend it with my beloved Queenstown friend, Jasper. We were able to explore Seoul together, do some shopping, eat some amazing food, and do the renowned DMZ Tour which offered a view of North Korea. It has been a really magical week!

(Update: I am including a link here to my new Spotify podcast where Jasper and I talk about our week together. )

Seoul Forest

Unfortunately, Jasper’s initial flight was delayed by about seven hours. I try to keep my hopes up when it comes to flights. I’ve had some really awful delays and cancellations in the past, so I try to just… hope for the best lol. However, immediately my mind went to – what if Jasper doesn’t get here? Well… he did!

I was able to check into our hostel earlier in the day. I unpacked, exercised, had a shower. I was super pleased to be in a private room again – just the two beds for Jasper and me. Yahoo!

Jasper arrived in the early afternoon. He texted me, “I’m here,” and I suddenly felt very excited. I went downstairs to let him in and we shared a big reunion hug. Poor thing had just gone through a major flight delay followed by an 8 hour flight… but had made it safely.

I figured Jasper would want some time to take a nap or rest, but he was ready to adventure. We took the train near Seoul Forest. Our first stop of the day was going to a purse store so Jasper could pick out a new bag. It was a funny introduction to my Seoul adventure with Jasper – I was getting a side of Seoul I hadn’t yet seen before… the shopping opportunities. When I’m by myself, the main objectives are sightseeing and food. Shopping doesn’t really fit into the equation. But aside from visiting me, shopping was Jasper’s reason for wanting to come to Seoul. And it was actually fun to see a different side of the city, one I hadn’t yet experienced.

After Jasper selected a handbag, we walked through Seoul Forest. I’m sure, like much of the things I’ve seen in South Korea so far, it would have been a lot more beautiful once flowers started to bloom. I was about a month too early, damn it!

We perused through the park, catching up on All the Things. And then we stumbled upon a little corral that had some deer in it. Unfortunately, they were fenced off and had their antlers cut. Which… was a total bummer. Jasper and I took some selfies and after maybe an hour, left the park.

Jasper realized that the flagship Olive Young store was nearby. While he had planned to visit it closer to the end of the trip, we decided we were in the area and would just go check it out. Olive Young is a super famous skin care/makeup brand from South Korea. The flagship store was three stories and it was packed with people. Jasper was definitely overwhelmed, but managed to snag a few items that were much cheaper compared to if he bought them in Malaysia or South Korea.

By the time we finished, it was early evening and we were hungry. I had been waiting for Jasper to arrive to have Korean BBQ, which is sort of a staple in South Korea. Unfortunately for me, it’s something where you can’t really go by yourself. Most of the meals require a minimum of two people (not to say I couldn’t eat it all myself). Anyway, the Korean BBQ was… unreal. I was so happy to be enjoying it with one of my dear friends! (Jasper did the cooking since I am awful at cooking meat lol.)

Our server started chatting with us and we learned she was from Mongolia. She had received a scholarship to study in Canada but Covid happened and she lost the scholarship. She decided to go to South Korea instead. She didn’t know a word of Korean – but she’s certainly learned it now! Her English was also impeccable – I could have easily thought she was from LA. She told us that she learned by watching American movies as a kid. How wild is that?

She also came up to us a little later and said, “I hope this isn’t weird… but I just have to tell you guys that the way you talk is very soft and gentle. I was really stressed before you came in [because people tend to be loud and rambunctious at Korean BBQ].” She was basically telling us we helped calm her down by our demeanor, which I thought was really touching. So sweet!

After dinner, we took the train/bus back to Hongdae, the neighborhood where we would be staying the rest of the week. We caught up some more in the evening and then went to bed.

Changdeokgung and Changgyeonggung Palaces

It snowed overnight, and was still lightly snowing in the morning. I ended up having a relaxing morning while Jasper went to an appointment. He went to do a Color Analysis, which is where you learn what type of makeup you should wear based on your skin tone, what color of clothes, etc. Once Jasper returned, he told me, “I’ve been doing everything right. I already know my colors.” Haha. That’s right!!!

Jasper and I got in the habit of having light snacks earlier in the day (gimbap, noodles, etc.) and then binging for dinner and dessert. After a stop at GS25, the local convenience store, we took the train to check out one of the palaces in Seoul. The first one we stopped at was Changdeokgung.

I wish I’d paid a little more attention to the history of the palace, but Jasper and I were just chatting and strolling through the area. Because of the melting snow, water was pitter-pattering off the slanted, traditional rooftops of all the palace buildings. It was such a mood.

The palace was huge. While we weren’t able to really go inside any of the rooms, we could walk through various alleyways, look through the windows, etc. It was honestly pretty impressive. The patterns and designs underneath the roofs and on some of the walls was astonishing. Such a lovely area!

We ended up paying an extra 1000 won (like 30 cents) to go to another palace very nearby, named Changgyeonggung. For me, this one wasn’t quite as impressive but still had some cool areas.

Once we’d finished walking around the palaces, we went to a nearby Hanok village. Along the way, we witnessed some local, peaceful protests regarding the President of South Korea. If you’re unaware, he recently declared martial law and was then impeached. It was sort of a whole thing. His supporters blockaded his building, trying to keep him from getting arrested. Crazy. Somebody handed me a pamphlet in English to explain what the demonstration was protesting.

After exploring, we returned to the hostel to relax before dinner. Our typical schedule was: explore in the morning and early afternoon, come back to the hostel to relax and maybe nap, then go out for dinner.

For dinner, we had round two of Korean BBQ. This one was even better for me because the amount of sides that came with it were unreal. So much kimchi, so much banchan in general. I was practically salivating and in a slight hysteria. I couldn’t stop talking about how good the food was. I joked with Jasper that it’s almost as if I was No-Face from Spirited Away, just binging on food non stop haha. We’d also ordered a delicious kimchi stew, so… it was a very big food night.

We ended up going to bed early, since we had to be up at 6am for a tour the next morning.

DMZ Tour

The DMZ tour was highly recommended to me by a couple of people. While it was slightly expensive, it seemed like a necessary splurge. Jasper and I woke up around 6am and got to the meet-up point by 7am. Our guide, Kenny, shepherded us onto the bus to begin our day. From the get go, Kenny inundated us with a plethora of information.

Kenny’s grandfather was from North Korea but came to the South during the war. If you don’t know much about why North and South Korea are separated, check it out. It’s all super fascinating.

If you guys aren’t aware, the DMZ is the Demilitarized Zone, and is basically a section of land separating North and South Korea. It is the most heavily militarized border in the world. Kenny shared with us that 150 people actually live in the demilitarized zone. All 150 have to be counted each day, and they must be home before dark.

Before entering the zone, soldiers came into our tour bus to check our passports. Good thing I thought to bring mine!!! (We couldn’t take pictures of the soldiers FYI but we saw them a number of times and also saw some tanks driving over a bridge at one point.)

Our first attraction of the day was Peace Park. Peace Park used to have a bridge connecting North and South Korea. After the war, it is the bridge that was used to exchange prisoners of war to the other side. North Korea has since blown up the bridge. However, South Korea reconstructed it, but only where it touches South Korean land. I was in awe of the area because there were chainlink fences with barbed wire looped around the top. Fixed to the chainlink fences were ribbons, which I believe were tied as prayers/wishes for those in the North. Some people who have since escaped the North may come to the area to think of their loved ones still stuck in the North and tie a ribbon to the fence. It’s honestly such a sad concept. The juxtaposition between the gritty, dark barrier of the barbed wire fence met with the colorful, hopeful ribbons was really something.

We also saw a very old train from war time, riddled by bullet holes. And we were also able to stop at a shop where we could buy North Korean won. Jasper and I wanted to see how much it cost before committing. I almost said no, but as I was turning away, I changed my mind. It was relatively inexpensive and considering I’ll likely never get to North Korea as an American, it seemed like a cool idea. (Also, Kenny told us that in North Korea, you can’t fold Kim Jong Un’s face on the bill, or you will be detained. This is an older bill btw.)

Our next stop of the day was… a suspension bridge. Jasper and I were joking because we have seen SO many suspension bridges while hiking around Aotearoa New Zealand, so we didn’t think we would be impressed. But… it was a pretty huge suspension bridge!

And it also was one of the areas where North Korea came over to fight South Korea. We had to hike up to the bridge for maybe ten minutes. It was kind of steep and because it had snowed the day before, it was slippery in certain bits. There were old bunkers along the walk, too.

On our way back from the bridge, I saw that one of our tour members had fallen down. There were a few people standing around, but no one seemed to be doing anything. Kenny, I, and some others stayed with her to try to help her out. It seemed she had a pretty bad strain and even with our help, she could hardly stand up for more than a few seconds. We looked at her ankle and it didn’t seem bruised, or broken. I offered her water and Kenny nearly called an ambulance but the girl decided to just scooch down the hillside instead lol. For a moment, I wondered if the rest of the tour would be cancelled but all was well. Her ankle got better throughout the day.

After the bridge, we went to the Third Tunnel, our penultimate stop of the day. So basically, North Korea had secretly been digging tunnels that led from North to South Korea. The first was discovered by South Korea in the 70s. They discovered three more after that. North Korea had a plan to dig these tunnels and then ambush South Korea. They’ve since stopped digging them because now they can just use nuclear weapons lol. YIKES. So, we were able to go down to the Third Tunnel. Unfortunately, no pictures were allowed, but basically we walked down a 45 degree ramp below ground for maybe five or ten minutes. That’s when we reached the end of the tunnel that had been dug by North Korea. You could see the indentations on the walls from the dynamite sticks. (Fun fact: North Korea claimed it wasn’t them that built the tunnel, but South Korea. However, the direction of the dynamite indentations indicates otherwise.)

The tunnel was very small and I was hunched over much of the time. Luckily I had a helmet on because I hit my head twice haha.

We were able to see through a small window that showed the next blockade, which led closer to the North Korean border. This was as close as we were able to get to North Korea. Up until a year ago, the tours were able to go practically as close as the border. Unfortunately, an American soldier decided to step over the border… and they’ve shut down that part of the tour. Damn! Kenny told us that they’re considering re-opening it in the next year. Perhaps I came to South Korea a little too early!

The best part of the day was our last stop – the New Dora Observatory. This is where we were able to see and enjoy the landscape of North Korea. Unfortunately, again, no photographs of North Korea were technically allowed. There were a couple spots where we were able to sneakily take photos before entering the Observatory because the North Korean soldiers wouldn’t be able to see us even with binoculars at that point, but once we were in the Observatory, there was not a chance. While we couldn’t see the North Korean guards, they definitely had their eyes on us and apparently are instructed to shoot if they see someone taking a photo. How crazy is that?

North Korea is the mountains in the background of the above images.

The landscape was beautiful though, and our guide Kenny texted us photos of the landscape back when it was allowed.

What was really interesting about observing North Korea through binoculars was just how barren it was. There were so, so many buildings. But even after peering through the binoculars steadfastly for maybe ten minutes, I didn’t see a single soul. Not at the guardposts, not on the streets. Nowhere. To be fair, many of the buildings were very far away so even with binoculars, it’s hard to see. But no cars? It was just crazy.

One funny tidbit is that North and South Korea keep building competing flagpoles. Currently, North Korea has the taller flagpole, but that means soon enough, South Korea will be building one even taller. Kenny had sent us photos of these flags, so I’ve included them below.

Off in the distance, we were able to see what is called a “jamming tower,” which actually blocks all GPS signals from entering North Korea. W I L D.

South Korea also blasts K-Pop music in the direction of North Korea on giant speakers, and apparently North Korea blasts really ugly, unspecified noises towards the South.

Oh, another interesting thing… a few years back, South Korea was sending balloons with care packages for those in the North. In retaliation, the North sent huge balloons filled with garbage bags of manure and human feces. YIKES.

The thing that struck me the most was just how similar the landscape was between the North and the South. I said to Jasper, “it’s like… they are the same.” And they are the same. Multiple times throughout the tour, Kenny talked about his hope for reunification one day. He even ended the tour saying hopefully, when that happens, the next time we’ll see him will be in North Korea. Unfortunately, Kenny explained, since Kim Jong Un has been in power, tensions have gotten so much worse between the two countries. When Kim Jong Il was in charge, the North and South had a much better relationship.

Sad. It is really sad stuff! To think that there are 5 million displaced North Koreans in the South, that most people have ancestors or connections in the North that they may never see again… Man.

When someone manages to escape North Korea (which is rare), they are offered a South Korean passport immediately. This is the way.

Sigh.

It was a long day, an educational day, and a super, super fascinating day. I’m really glad I went on the tour. It started at 7am and finished a little after 3pm.

That evening, Jasper and I went to do some shopping in Hongdae and then got FRIED CHICKEN. It was maybe the best fried chicken sauce I’ve ever had in my life. It honestly was a foodgasm. In fact, it’s going to be my final meal in Seoul tonight!!!

YUM.

Jasper ended up buying some clothes that night… I ended up buying a pair of bell bottom sweat pants, too. After food, we retired for the evening.

I had dreams of trying to outrun ballistic missiles.

Naksan Fortress Wall

Our original plan of the day was to go back to Bukhansan National Park, since I thought Jasper would enjoy doing a hike there. Unfortunately, the tendon on Jasper’s heel had really been hurting him and so we decided against it. I had a chill morning while Jasper did some shopping. It was the first day in a long time where the weather was gorgeous.

As a compromise for not going to the national park, we ended up taking the train to walk along the Naksan Fortress Wall, which was the original wall of Seoul city. Like many things, it has been reconstructed. I’ve since learned, much of these things had to be reconstructed because of damage during wartime.

We first stopped at Namdaemun Market, where I bought myself a new hat I’d seen a few days prior. And then we went on the fortress walk! I was wearing a shirt that Jasper had intended to give me. It was a shirt of his that I’ve always loved during our time in Queenstown together. Black pleather, Ivy Park.

And he brought it all the way from Queenstown for me, because he said he always thinks of me when he wears it. While I was so incredibly touched by the gesture, and was eager to add it to my collection of belongings, I decided after a day of wearing it that despite loving the shirt… it isn’t the right fit for me. Jasper can wear it any time, any where, and look amazing in it. It’s kinda sporty and that’s definitely Jasper’s look. But… I just can’t pull it off in the same way – and that’s okay. JASPER – while I’m so, so grateful for the kindness and the thought, YOU are the true owner of this shirt! Just keep thinking of me any time you wear it 😉 It’s like I’m there with you!

I’m very glad we went to the Fortress walk, because it actually gave us some really pretty views of the faraway mountains of Bukhansan National Park. Even though we weren’t able to go there, Jasper could at least see the mountains!

We stopped back at the hostel and then went out for tonkatsu, which is sort of like a Korean schnitzel? It was yummy, but it was hard to compare to the feasts we’d had the previous nights. I was a little disappointed BUT only because it was such a different experience. The food was great, but it was no Korean BBQ!

Final Day and Jasper’s Departure

Jasper and I didn’t have much of a plan for our final day. Because his foot was hurting, we limited our walking and kind of just hung around our neighborhood. It was a beautiful day outside. Early on in our trip, we had seem some photo studios (basically little shops with multiple photo booths) and told ourselves we’d get some pictures before Jasper left. So, that’s exactly what we did. And they turned out SO cute. I now have mine in my Nintendo Switch case, so any time I go to play my games, I’ll see the pictures of us.

And then for dinner??? Well, it just had to be Korean BBQ, didn’t it? We went back to the same place as before, the second night Jasper was in town. It delivered once again.

Jasper and I went to bed earlier than normal, although with it being a Friday night, people were being rambunctious both in the hostel and out on the street. It was hard to fall asleep. At one point, I went up to the rooftop to vape. I reflected on my time in South Korea and thanked the universe for getting me here. Taiwan, South Korea, soon Japan. And even all the sights I’ve been able to see prior to this round of travel. I feel so, so grateful to be living the life I do. And at the same time, I was feeling a little melancholy to be leaving South Korea. It has really been a steady uphill climb in terms of my attraction to this country.

In the morning, Jasper and I went out for a lunch of bibimbap and stew. We checked out of the hostel, Jasper walked me to my new hostel where I dropped off my bags… and then it was already time to walk Jasper to the train station.

It was strange to watch Jasper leave. We shared a big embrace and then I watched Jasper go through the turnstiles and turn around the corner. I got a little teary-eyed. It was SO nice to spend time with a close friend in South Korea. Jasper always picked out which restaurant to go to, navigated with GPS, etc. It was nice to just be able to shut that off for a moment. Traveling solo, I always have to be planning where to eat, how to get to the next spot, etc. Jasper helped ease the burden for a little while, which was such a delight.

And not only that, but I was able to spend time with him! It had been just about six months since I left Queenstown, and I’m grateful we were able to be reunited. We have tentative plans to meet up in Malaysia when he stops there later in the year. I really, really hope we can make that work, if only to meet up for dinner. Hopefully we can do some sightseeing together, too. Fingers crossed.

Love you, Jasper!

Miscellaneous

Jasper… didn’t snore! That was a new development, and something he’d somewhat recently trained himself to do. Why couldn’t that have happened for all those months we shared a room in Queenstown!!??!!!??

The night before Jasper arrived, I actually met up with another friend I’d met in Aotearoa New Zealand, too! I’d met Marko during the few days I’d spent in Kaikoura. We had kept in touch and I knew we were going to be in South Korea during the same timeline. Well, we met up for dinner at a food market and then went to a sauna afterwards to escape the frigid cold. Marko is from Croatia and the day I saw him was actually the penultimate night of his travels. I believe he said he’d been away from home for a year and a half(?) and was finally headed back to Croatia. How strange to be crossing paths where I am only just beginning my year of travel and he is ending his.

Art of the Week

I’ve been wanting to do a revamped version of a shroom girl for a while now and finally got around to it. Lately, pink skin has come to be my favorite but after making this piece, I think I lean towards a darker shade. I drew this piece at my hostel in the Itaewon district of Seoul, South Korea. Still working on face proportions – it seems to be a never ending lesson for me. During certain times, I feel I’ve gotten it down. Other times, I try to explore new ways of connecting the features and it takes some practice to get it right. I’ll get there in time!

In other news, I think I have just about one or two chapters left before I finish the first draft of my new novel, The Death of Duncan Lee. As always, if anyone is interested in reading this draft and giving me feedback, it would be much appreciated!

I also have just recorded a podcast with Jasper, detailing our travel journey over the past week. It is funny, cute, and I hope a little informational. Once I edit it, I’ll be posting it here and on social media. Be sure to follow along! I think it will be a nice project. I’m excited about it!

Reflections

So, what’s next?

I have just a little over 12 hours left in Seoul. I’m currently typing up this blog. For dinner, I’ll get fried chicken… I’ll make sure everything is packed up, and then I guess try to get some sleep. I have to be up at 4am to head to the airport. And then, I’ll be on my way to Japan!

I have a few days solo in Japan, but on the 26th, my friend Gene from Cairns, Australia will be visiting me until the 6th of April. It will be nice to once again have a travel buddy for a while. Some other Queenstown friends will be in Japan around the same time, so I’m hoping to reconnect with them as well.

It feels really nice to have familiar faces to meet up with during this upcoming year. I wish friends and family from home could visit, but I am so far away. Yet, it’s not too far for people from Australia and New Zealand, which is proving to be a good thing. I can’t wait!

I am really looking forward to Japan. Tokyo was one of the first places I ever wanted to travel to as a teenager, so I’m thrilled to finally get my chance. Yahoo!

Until next time, sending you all my love. x