Asia - Last year

Last summer, travelled to Asia with my Dad. We started out in Seoul staying in the Jongno area.

Spent time taking in the sights and some tourist attractions but spent most of our time just exploring the city on foot, trying out restaurants, and seeing family.

I couldn’t post everything but there’s so much to do in Seoul. Lots of access to a wide variety of foods, some Michellin bib gourmad restaurants, an insane amount of coffeeshops, and of course the historical sites., My first time in Korea was back in 2019 before this trip and I remember feeling some friction getting around but this time around it felt much more accessible and easy to navigate even without having a good grasp of the language. Being with my dad helped but even when I was on my own, I felt like I could get around with just English - which wasn’t really the case in years before.

Would love to go back and explore more of Seoul and Korea in general - so much more to see and do, and I feel like I only scratched the surface on this trip.

We then headed to Singapore for a bit - I think I had the most fun taking my camera out around Haji Lane near the historical Sultan Mosque. Most of my favorite photos came from this area.

Apart from that, we tried to hit up some of the Hawker centers for food, but I underestimated how popular some of these places would be. And with this being my first time in Singapore, all the cuisine was very new to me so it ended up being more enjoyable to try eating at the various food courts in the malls around the city. By local standards, they’re probably not the most economical options, but totally worth it for the variety and convenience.

And then we went back to Korea - we flew into Seoul and took the train down to Busan to stay in Haeundae. Close to the beach and a nice change of scenery. My main interest was to visit Gamcheon Culture Village.

I had seen photos of this place before and it looked like a really cool area to explore and take photos in. It’s touristy but still a nice place to walk around and take in the views of the city and really nice to admire all the art - pretty much every few steps you’ll see some thing fantastic that’s worth admiring.

Also, if you couldn’t already tell, tons of folks wearing hanboks in Korea. Nice to see people embracing the culture and I imagine it was pretty accessible for visitors to rent hanboks in the city.

Then we parted ways here - he flew back to the US and I continued my trip in Japan; I flew to Fukuoka on my own, and then took a train to Tokyo staying in Shibuya near Harajuku. Went on a lot more walks, but didn’t really keep my camera on me. Was more interested in shopping this time around.

I’m particularly excited for the Topologie x Universal Works collaboration helmet bag I got. Sort of a cheaper alternative to a Porter Yoshida Tanker bag but slightly more functional for my carry style. I love the rope loops that can flip around for hand or shoulder carry.

I was also pretty stoked for getting a physical copy of Fantasy Life for Nintendo Switch. One of the few games I knew I could import and play without needing to know Japanese. And it’s just nice to have a physical copy since it’s not sold in the US.

And of course, I had to hit up Nagi Ramen in Golden Gai. It’s probably my favorite bowl of ramen after so many years of coming to Japan.