South Korea

We.  Loved.  South Korea. I am so happy that we decided to go. We were literally in Korea for only 26 hours, but it was so worth it. Friday we flew from Honolulu to Tokyo. (The flight was especially fun because we got to watch tons of new movies weve been wanting to see). In Tokyo we went to the airport lounge (Were kinda obsessed with these  but internationally they are so sick. And Tokyo was no exception. My brother in law Bobby seriously hooked us up with Priority Pass and we have used it so much. To say we love it would be a huge understand) We stuffed ourselves with as much delicious food as we could in 2 hours before our flight to Seoul, Korea. I had done some research and Seouls airport is arguably the very best in the world. I kid you not, they have ice skating, concerts, Korean cultural experiences, Museums, free showers, tons of rest and relax areas (quite, darkish, places with couches) tons of computers with free internet, play-places, gardens, extensive free transit tours and I hear they even have a golf course. Guys, this airport is unreal. I convinced Keith that we didn't need to get a hotel and we should just stay the night there. Unfortunately, we had to pass through customs and security so we didn't have great sleeping accommodations, but we slept fine. We got up at 6 and started our day in Korea!

The 4 main things we did included:
1. The Korea War Museum. I like museums but this one, was on a whole other level. We probably spent two or three hours there. It was so informative, the design of the building was beautiful, they had tons of 4D short movies, great exhibits and it was all free. It was Keiths favorite part about South Korea.

2. We were able to go to church and it was so fun. I love going to church in different countries. It was fast and testimony meeting and we had headphone where someone would translate so it was neat to listen to them. Keith got to talk to an Investigator at church who struggles with Korean but was fluent in Chinese. There were 5 missionary companionship in the ward! The church was right by the temple. We went to the Temple afterwards and it was lovely. Sidenote- we got a little lost trying to find the church and temple and after backtracking our steps and frantically looking to find the church before it started, it was so cool to spot Moroni in the distance in between buildings!

3. Palaces
We saw several Korean Palaces but our favorite was the changing of the guards at the Deoksugung Palace. They make such a big deal out of it when they switch up the guards, it is quite the show.

4. The river walk and night market.
The river walk was fun because they would light it up  at night and they had music. I love street musicians. We sat on the edge of the water and enjoyed the music and scenery and talked about life for a while. It was perfect. It also felt good to stop walked because we had walked a lot that day, but then it got chilly so we decided to keep moving. We had some really good street food. The night market was totally jam packed and everyone was pretty much selling the same things like pig head and feet, but we found this (picture below) and really liked it! I don't really know how to describe it but its like a pancake (but its made from like ground up vegetables) and they put this vinegary-onion mixture on top. Yeah, it may not sound too appetizing but we both really liked it.

 



We loved Seoul for many reasons but for one, it was so tourist friendly. From the nicest airport in the world, to the cheap/easy/clean subway system to the awesome maps and tourist information, they really do a good job catering to tourists. I was also impressed how advanced they seemed with their buildings and technology. Things were clean and beautiful and there was a lot to do.

We made it back to the airport in time to enjoy 2 more lounges (I know, obsessed). The first lounge had the best food, and the second had the best ambiance. From Seoul we flew to Guam (enjoyed another lounge) and then landed in Hawaii by 6pm Sunday night!