Oh the joys of travel –

One would think with a name like Peach Aviation that the flight to Seoul would have been…well, peachy. The first mistake was found a week before departure. The flight was at 2am! It’s a 2.5 hour flight from Tokyo to Seoul and, at the time of booking, I assumed 2pm. Why would anyone fly at 2am?!

The second fiasco was encountered at the check-in counter. Unlike all other airlines, Peach includes both your bag and personal item for their weight allowance. We were over and asked to pay a luggage fee of $100 which was 100% of the ticket price…ugh. We were able to get that down to ~$38 by making one set of luggage pass the weight requirement and then requesting the fee be charged in the more favorable Japanese Yen exchange rate. Overall, not a good way to start any trip.

Seoul –

With all wheels on the ground and a quick nap on an airport bench we took a train to the War Memorial of Korea. This awesome, FREE, museum reviews the history of war in Korea in an artistic, commemorative manner. It was nice to see how much the USA was recognized throughout the building for our part in the Korean War. During our stay in Seoul, it was hard to believe the city was once under siege 66 years ago.

Random fact: Did you know that M.A.S.H. (Mobile Army Surgical Hospitals) was started during the Korean War?

Food –

Food is always a highlight of Isabelle’s day/life. Normally, our food choices are meticulously picked out based on reviews from Yelp or Foursquare. Our lunch stop this time though was decided out of need, Isabelle’s hangriness! It was a crowded restaurant which is a good sign and had some English on a menu. We later learned it was a Jeongol restaurant which is a stew cooked at the table. We were lost at first, but a quick Google search and spying on the neighbors got us through it.

Random fact #2: Did you know in Korea utensils are hidden in a secret drawer underneath the table?

The best food we got to taste was Korean BBQ. It’s everywhere! Luckily this time we had a local to help us out. Tyler, a friend of ours, has been living in Seoul for the last 7 years and treated us to some great Korean BBQ. He ordered, cooked on the table’s grill and showed us the various ways of eating the BBQ. While Tyler was educating us on the Korean language, the floor began to vibrate and Tyler mentioned they must have turned on the washing machine downstairs; however, soon after Tyler got a text that an earthquake south of Seuol just occurred!

As we were hoping on the train back to the hostel, Tyler noted that our hostel was located next to the hip night scene. The homebodies we are, we were completely unaware! Thanks for a great dinner and the travel advice, Tyler!