Day 12 Tokyo

We started the day with a late breakfast, a trip to the local cat cafe and then we kinda figured out the subway system and went all the way across town to the Senjo ji and Skytree.

 

Then we went back to downtown area to see the imperial palace.  Except it closed 5 mins before.  The Japanese guard was not willing to bend the rules.  So we went back to harajuku and chilled a bit with a drink. 

Then Ehlan's friend Genta took us out! We had a delicious dinner, lots of drinks then ended the night at the batting cages! It was super fun! The bars were so tiny, sat like 4-7 stools, and I maybe had a few too many drinks but still managed to hit every baseball, ok maybe 2-3 misses.  Not many! 

Day 11- Tokyo

Oi! Tokyo is super cool! I wanna go back some time and spend 2 weeks in Japan. 

Today we went to breakfast, then walked around Harajuku where we're staying. Bought many gifts mostly Hello Kitty and then ate some crepes. 

Then stopped at home to drop things  and met some ladies who were starring in Dream Girls! Unfortunately didn't start until wed when we have to leave. Then we saw a temple, and walked around the park. Saw bonsai trees. 

Day 10 Busan to Tokyo

Flying to Tokyo! Got a little bumpy but made it to Narita... Asked about taxi and was going to be $250 USD, well that equivalent. So the train it was.  Was very easy and we got off at Harajuku, walked down Takeshita street and found our Airbnb around the corner.  We're right in it! Danielle found a fun place for dinner, it was cook your own and very delicious.

Tokyo is so fun! 

Exploring tomorrow and possibly a tour. 

Day 9 - Busan

Fun day with Sarah, Cathy, and Danielle. First we went over to the APEX building and walked along a path and saw a mermaid statue. Then to the Buddist temple.  It was raining but it was still busy with lots of people.  It's really beautiful! 

Then we went to eat about 2 tables full of food. 

After that we were pretty soaked so we changed at home then back out to get a dinosaur chocolate egg. See video on fb.

Then we did a little shopping and off to a water fountain light show. It was cold, but really exciting. A night cap with the gals then we were back home. 

Day 8 Seoul to Busan

Train to Busan then got into our Airbnb. It's tiny but very nice.  We walked to the beach and there was a bunch of sand castles! 

We took the subway to meet sarah and she took us to a place they call penis magkeoli for dinner.  Really good! Lots of carved penises. We ate some traditional foods and flavored rice wine. So good. 

Then we went over to a micro brew pub and sat near the window looking out to the beach and bridge. It was really cool.  Called it a night aroind 1:30 am. Which is tough cause I think we're all kinda jet lagged or just in general exhausted from all the travel. But we had fun. So much fun! 

Day7- dmz

DMZ was intense! 

We then got back to the hotel and went out to dinner after having some drinks at Kathy Bar! The owner was so fun! Then we changed and had a really nice dinner on the suggestion of one of my former colleagues Susan! It was great! 

RI Con Seoul day 6

Last day of the convention. I skipped the morning gen session so I could sleep in! It was glorious! 

Made it to catch the last bit of the gen session, then went into Yoga and Fellowship break out.  I was hoping it would be more asana, but was mostly pranayama. Which I hate. I need to work on that. 

Rotary Women of action was my last beak out. Ermm... Facilities by a man. What? 

Then the Closing ceremony. It was pretty exciting when PSY came out and performed! 

RI Con Seoul Day 5

We went To the opening ceremony and then I went to the Presidents Elect lunch with 2,000 other PEs! I ducked out a bit early so I could go on a tour. The Nanta drum show. I described it as Korean Mr. Bean kitchen Stomp! I think you get the picture. 

Kathryn, Cathy, Paul and I met some very nice Rotarians. Barb from Queensland AU, and Greg from Hawaii. Before the show we walked around for a little bit and saw the oldest Catholic church in Korea.  After dinner we said good bye, and Kathryn, Paul, Greg, and I walked in the very cute neighborhood.  I got a few gifts.  

RI Con Seoul -day 4

We were up super early for the Zone breakfast, and Danielle spoke to the group about the Connecting for Good tour, and all the YP summit information.  She asked us to join her on stage.  Then we went out to the crowd and did that silly dance thing. 

Opening ceremony was very cool! Mayor of Ganjou, John Hewko, nat geo CEO, a spiritual guru with amazing hair, space archeologist, and a toast master. 

At lunch we met a nice guy from

Nebraska and I invited him to sit with us. I went to a break out session in the afternoon, then we hopped on a city bus to get to the ballet. We went across the way to a super mall, found the food court, Kathryn made a friend with the guy who sold is squid and soft shell crab. 

The ballet was wonderful, it was contemporary ballet so it got a little weird but I liked it. Before the ballet started, we met the mayor! 

The last dance group brought some people on stage from the audience. Then all the audience members were sent back except for one lady. She was the last one on stage when the whole dance troop dropped to the ground. She was so cute! 

RI Con Seoul Day 3

We got up early to attend the opening ceremony! It was spectacular! Ban Ki-moon was the first honored speaker.  Then the prime minister of Korea, Hwang Kyo-ahn spoke to the non Korean audience in Korean. I'm sure his message was nice. Then the prime minister of Sri Lanka, Ranil Wickremensinghe, addressed the audience. Luckily in English! RI president Ravi is from Sri Lanka. There were awesome drums, and more tae kwon do. I love tae kwon do set to music! It's pretty rad. 

Kathryn and I hung around the kintex area for lunch, it was super crowded, then saw a bit of the house of friendship, and other booths. We took a pic with an emperor. There we met a few Kenyans. One guy said, "Melissa are you married? I like you!" Then we ran off to city hall to be wed...just kidding! Rotarians are very friendly!

Next up is the symphony. It was really nice, but I hit my wall and pretty much snoozed through it all. I heard it but didn't see it. 

RI Con Seoul day 2

We went to the 3 K walk for Peace, and then stuck around for a bit in the area. We walked near the river and then got a bite to eat and then back to the hotel to change and get over to kintex. The ride was so long! But we got our registration stuff and met up with Danielle, then found the bus and got to the welcome ceremony. That was insane.  It started off very lovely, with a Korean woman dancing in the traditional dress. Then an very impressive tae kwon do exhibition. Breaking boards, back flips, it was awesome. The drum exhibit was wicked! Except for a very hot mic on the whistle trumpet thing. It was piercing! Then the KPop Portion of the evening got underway. Good lord. Some people described it as "soft core," and "late night." I thought it was just NUTZ. Some human Bratz dolls came out and shook their jean shorts, looked like baby hookers, and repeated the same uninterested dance moves about a thousand times.  Then they tried to make us believe some imposter was PSY! I wasn't fooled! And then Korea's finest Diva sang some ballads and we snuck outta there. The buses home were a shit  show, but at least we got home eventually! Looking back it's pretty hilarious, but mildly irritating.  In the moment though, I wanted to punch those Bratz dolls. The feminist movement regressed about 100 years. 

The Rotary International Convention

Day 1- Seoul

After a long travel day, and being awak for about 26 hours, I've arrived in Seoul.  Last night Danielle and I got to the hotel, grabbed some dinner across the street, then crashed out! 

On our first day here in Seoul, we went on s bus tour with Eric, Steph, and Molly. It was a great way to get a first look at the city, and the we stopped off to get lunch and see the old Changgyeong palace built in 1483. 

Then Danielle and I headed back to our hotel to meet up with Kathryn and Cathy, who had arrived earlier in the afternoon. 

We grabbed some dinner, then dessert.