You Can Tell a Cat Is Happy by Its Tail

The last of the sun.

Mugichatime

I first had barley tea after a particularly hot summer's day back in high school. Coming in from the blinding sunlight, his mom had a cold pitcher of tea in the fridge and he enthusiastically offered me some. My initial impression was that it really didn't taste like much but kinda smelled like fish. I'm pretty sure that this comment greatly annoyed him, I think because that was the drink of his childhood or something. At the time I was like whatever, it smells like fish, so we moved on and I remained entirely indifferent to barley tea.

My second encounter with barley tea happened in Seoul, when I was incredibly dehydrated after climbing the stairs up to the base of Seoul Tower without the foresight to bring a bottle of some sort of liquid or change for the vending machines. It was a moderately hot day and I was sweaty and out of breath, and also too obstinate to accept my friend's offer to buy me a drink. I came across a convenience store on my way back to Myeongdong, got a 500mL bottle of boricha, and downed it in less than half a minute. Literally. It was so good. But I was still thirsty so I wandered into a different convenience store, found the same bottle of barley tea for the same price (nice), and I downed that in maybe less than a minute. I thought to myself, I drank that entirely too fast and I am going to die, except I didn't so I then attempted to figure out how to get to Gangnam since it was our last day in Seoul and I should visit the area that inspired that song. A friendly biker asked me if I needed help when he saw me staring at my map for too long, which was nice because it seemed like a lot of the bikers were trying to run us over. I am mostly kidding. Anyway, I thanked him and we gave each other a thumbs-up - thumbs-up and a-ok were key methods of communication during this trip - and then I didn't do much in Gangnam when I got there.

I've tried roasting and simmering my own barley but it's just not the same as the storebought bottles and teabags. The colour is lighter and the scent isn't as strong. Any tips on roasting barley without setting off the fire alarm?

CANDANRAN TAKE ASIA: Seoul

Gyeongbokgung Palace

This is the final instalment of us "taking Asia", which is not actually all that much of Asia but rather three cities in three countries. I personally feel that three countries is a lot and I can't remember the last time I was on a plane. During the course of this entire trip, I flew on 8 different planes. (Layovers made it cheaper.)

I didn't really know much about Seoul or South Korea in general, so I pretty much just went along with whatever Can & Ran had planned. Ran did a project on South Korean architecture so she already knew a lot and handily served as our personal tour guide. Can knew some stuff from Korean dramas and boy bands. In comparison, all I knew about South Korea was DBSK (thank you Can) and the Return of Superman (thank you Siobhan).

I ate really well in Seoul. I have never had soondae or hotteok before but I was hooked on both by the end. Can and I were on a quest to find the ultimate hotteok and found it in a food stand outside Changdeokgung Palace - old ladies seem to make the best ones.

Bukchon Hanok Village

This is a traditional village that attracts a lot of tourists, obviously ourselves included. There are still people living in the houses so there are signs asking tourists to be quiet and respectful in this neighbourhood. A lot weren't, unfortunately.

Hwaseong Fortress

We also did a day trip out to Suwon, which became one of my favourite parts of South Korea. The stairs up the fortress wall weren't so fun and reminded us to exercise more but also provided a beautiful view. While part of us wanted to walk along the wall, it was kind of a long walk and kind of a hot, sunny day. We ended up taking those dragon trains which was kind of hilarious when they joined normal cars on the road, however briefly.

Hwahongmun Gate

The above and below pictures are what surrounded me as I stood on the rocks in the middle of the river. There were so many moments during this trip that made me think 'this would never be allowed in Canada'... I enjoyed them while I could.

Ewha Womans University

Changdeokgung Palace

A summary:

• There are honestly so many beauty stores. Land of the beauty products, indeed.
• And the sales associates in the beauty stores are almost aggressively helpful. They would follow you around the whole store.
• I bought, like, 17 pairs of socks.
• Seoul had even less garbage cans than Tokyo, yet the litter is not as bad as Toronto.
• I was as amazed as anyone else that we didn't actually get hit by a motorbike during our time in Seoul.
• I like airplane food.

Thank you Ran & Can for accompanying me on this trip. I'd prefer no other travel buddies. Or buddy buddies. ♥

✧ Penelope Lane ✧

CANDANRAN TAKE ASIA: Tokyo

The comforting glow of the vending machines as we stayed overnight at Haneda. We would soon discover that vending machines are practically around every corner in Tokyo.

Our flight got in a little past midnight. When we booked our tickets, we thought this would be fine because people sleep in airports all the time and we were willing to spare a bit of comfort if it could save us money. It was actually kind of fun and a little eerie, although I think my travel accomplices would disagree on the fun part. There were so many sleeping bodies strewn about.

I took a lot of street snaps, except not of passer-by fashion but of actual streets. I'll spare you the monotony and only post a few.

Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden

Harajuku! Cat Street has a deceptive title, although we did our homework beforehand and knew to expect fashion rather than cats. We observed the chaos of Shibuya Crossing from up above and down below, which isn't actually all that chaotic when you're actually walking among it, and we said hello to Hachiko.

Tsukiji Fish Market

Nakajima Tea House

Some tea and sweets in Hamarikyu Gardens, as per the recommendation of the greeter by the garden entrance. He was an excited old man who told us all about the gardens and included his own personal recommendations for the best spots, which turned out to be practically everything.

Tokyo Imperial Palace

Fuji Shibazakura Festival

Sakura ice cream as we enjoyed the festival! I took every sakura option I came across, including sakura taiyaki.

The pink moss was actually past its peak bloom but it was still super crowded. Afterwards we went on Tenjo-Yama Park Mt. Kachi Kachi Ropeway, which has the most messed up folktale behind it, I love it. It also provided a view of Mt. Fuji without the usual crowds on ground level.

Zozoji Temple

I met some friendly cats here. The ginger cat was so lovey - it would rub against my leg and then roll around on its back, asking for pets. There was also a black and white cat and a cat with one blue eye and one green eye. I wanted to bring them home with me.

The Last Day: Breakfast

I have many thoughts on my stay in Tokyo, but I'll try not to bore you with excessive detail.

• As Can says, Japan has perfected the egg. I had the most softly poached egg in all of the universe in my curry. It flowed like a liquid.
• I enjoy the vending machines used in restaurants to order as I am all for minimal social contact.
• I satisfied my craving for tsukemen.
• There were so many crows in Tokyo! At one point, their cawing blended together and sounded like a symphony.
• No one uses a bike lock and that's all sorts of amazing to me.
• We tried natto and discovered that the off-putting aspect wasn't the smell or the taste but the texture. It was so stringy.
• Everyone warned us that Japan would be expensive and yet everything seemed fairly reasonably priced? Or maybe we're just cheap by nature, so we were naturally attracted to cheap food too.
• I loved all of the gardens! Beautiful!

I managed to check a lot off my checklist, although Mister Donut eluded me. That being said, there's still so much I want to see, so I'll be coming back to Japan eventually, hopefully, one day in the distant future. I'm not quite sure when.

CANDANRAN TAKE ASIA: Hong Kong

15h of flight time, 20h in transit total, and we found ourselves greeted by the humid air of Hong Kong. Hong Kong was different from the other cities we visited because Can & Ran had family there and they had travelled there before. That was great for me because I then left them completely in charge of the itinerary and transport (minimal effort on my end) and because I got to stay with Ran's relatives rather than spending money on a hotel. Thank you Auntie and Uncle Simon!

Victoria Peak

We ended up going to the Peak on one of the gloomier, cloudier days, but I was fine with that because I didn't really want to deal with sun on top of the humidity. I'm good with dry heat but I cannot function in humidity, it makes everything feel heavy and gross. Can suggests I visit a desert next. However, Hong Kong appears to be an ardent believer in AC and I have a great appreciation for that.

The average human body is 65% water but I'm fairly certain I was 98% Pocari Sweat in Hong Kong.

Repulse Bay

It feels like so long since I last went to the beach. We felt really lucky because most of our sightseeing days were bright and sunny! Okay, the above photo doesn't look so sunny but it was, trust. And, as was just mentioned, the day of the Peak was cloudy. Also on the last day of Hong Kong we were lucky enough to experience a black rainstorm so we had to cancel our plans to go to Lantau Island. But other than that.

Stanley Beach

One of my favourite moments in Hong Kong was eating at this super cool dai pai dong. The extremely narrow, sketchy entrance leads into a large room equipped with many powerful fans, thankfully. It reminded me of Zelda, when you crawl through tiny tunnels or whatever and find a treasure chest on the other side. (I never finished Ocarina of Time because I was too scared of the monsters so don't quiz me beyond the beginning.) In our situation, the treasure was food! That we paid for. Admittedly the comparison isn't perfect.

Happily we got to see a high school friend who had left Canada for university and work in Hong Kong. He took us to a super traditional dessert place - Can & Ran seemed equally uncertain about the hardboiled egg in the black sesame soup. (It was pretty good.) I asked him how he dealt with the heat and humidity and his simple answer was that he doesn't, he just sweats and suffers.

This driver decorated his bus! He apparently likes hunting, if the photos of him proudly holding up various dead animals was any indication.

We went through the Mongkok markets, of course. The Ladies' Market gave me some fun memories involving my inability to bargain. I didn't end up getting anything because 1. the vendors are a bit intimidating and I'm the opposite of that, and 2. they were trying to rip me off a lot (because tourist). I'm just happy I didn't get pickpocketed.

Goldfish Market

Bird Market

Not Pictured: Broccoli Dish

It should go without saying that I loved the food. I had siu long bao at a restaurant with one Michelin star, discovered food courts are on a whole other level compared to those in Canada, and enjoyed some delicious homecooked meals with Ran's relatives. I was told Auntie only makes sweet and sour pork for very special occasions!

Auntie said I should wait at least ten years to visit again because I had exhausted all of the interesting things there is to do in Hong Kong, besides the obvious of shopping and eating. I definitely enjoyed my week and a bit in Hong Kong but I think she may be right.