The answer to my last blog is....Fukuoka, Japan!!!!  The crazy thing is, they NEVER checked our tickets....on the way there or back. They never ask us for anything. On the way home I think I figured it out though. The lady kept walking up and down the aisle with some type of hand held computer. I think she was checking it against seats sold, and if you were in a seat that had been purchased, there was no need to bother you. The train would be fun for the kids as well. If you have 8 people traveling you can get a 'family seat' where you have 2 rows that face each other. When Hubby's brother visits us in July, I think we are going to take them to Busan by bullet train, but we will stay in Busan on the beach! So, here is a picture of what the first class car looks like...nothing too special, but nice. They have a little guy, like a flight attendant on the airplane that travels up and down the aisle with a cart where you can buy things, but be sure to flag him down because he practically runs through the car!  (In past blogs I have refered to MIL as Grammy.) Here is Grammy on the train with her Starbucks we brought with us. This woman cannot live without Starbucks. Oh, I forgot to mention, the bullet train takes almost 3 hours from Seoul Station to Busan.  And here she is in Busan, South Korea.  We took a cab from the train station to the ferry. If you have a friend that speaks and writes Korean, it is helpful if you have them write in Korean where to take you. If you don't have a friend that speaks or writes, don't worry, most Korean's speak English, or you could show them your tickets to where you are going. I use Marco Polo Travel in Iteawon, and Marco wrote out everything for us in Korean. He TOTALLY hooked us up on this trip. His number is 02-757-2300, use him, he is awesome! The ferry was great, Marco booked this for us, but you can do it yourself by going to this website. Here is a picture of our ferry, it looks so tiny compared to the one on the right. Our boat is straight ahead in this picture, see the blue roof top, just to the right of it is our boat - it almost looks like one of the crates.  When we first got on the boat, we thought we were in BIG trouble, as it was rocking like no other boat I have ever been on.  We located the barf bags right away, and we were thankful when we did not have to use them. The boat was actually a very smooth ride once it got going. The ferry takes about 3 hours to get from Busan to Fukuoka, and the cost is 220,000 won. You can take a cheaper ferry, but it takes 15 HOURS to get there. Here is a picture of the boat, instead of a 'flight attendant' type; they use a TV to give you directions. I snapped this picture; make sure you read what it says. Also notice that this boat does not sit flat on the water is is on some sort of risers.  A dream come true.....Grammy in Japan! (I kind of feel like Oprah!)  Where in the World is Trish? 05/23/2009
Can you guess? This is what I had for dinner tonight....    Day 10: The Grand Finale, SONGKRAN!! 04/28/2009
What a great way to end a fantastic vacation! When we booked this trip, we had no idea we would be here for Songkran. When we ask what Songkran was, the locals informed us it is the Thai New Year, a day for throwing water on each other! This is done not only to cool each other off since April is the hottest month in Thailand, but it is a sign of respect; ”The throwing of water originated as a way to pay respect to people, by capturing the water after it had been poured over the Buddha’s for cleansing and then using this "blessed" water to give good fortune to elders and family by gently pouring it on the shoulder." Over the years, it has been commercialized, as with most holidays today.  Buying water guns....  This girl is filling up her container - you could pay her 100 baht to fill your water gun, and hope she didn't drench you in the process.  Here we are trying to take a little break from the insanity.  Maybe this should be our Christmas card....  A few more fun shots from Songkran....    Needless to say, we could not wear those clothes to the airport. We still had a few hours to kill before heading to the airport, so we tried to do a little shopping, but found most things closed because of the holiday. I loved the little bags of drinks here...  After an unsuccessful shopping trip we decide to head back to the hotel and do a little swimming, and it is a good thing we did because this is the day Boy 2 learn to swim ALL BY HIMSELF!  Did I mention how much I LOVED this pool?!?! :-) 
Day 9, Part 3: Pool Fun 04/25/2009
I had to break this blog up into 3 parts because I took over 200 pictures this day, and I 'needed' to share it all with you! Here we are back at our hotel....our view was amazing.  We did a little shopping....  Picked up some dinner....  Then headed to the 4th floor of our hotel for a little swimming! The swimming pool area was by far the 'coolest' hotel pool we ever been to. There was a beach area with sand, cabanas where you could hang out and order drinks, there were chairs in the water...a perfect place to relax after a fun filled day of sightseeing!  This is the life.....   I so want a pool like this one!!   After touring the Grand Palace, we headed down to the Chao Phraya River for our tour on a longboat. We had a great time touring the river and some of the canals. The poverty was heart wrenching and the palaces were spectacular. Many times you would see a palace, and right next door would be extreme poverty. This was one of my favorite things we did in Thailand, as no one complained and everyone had a good time.        This is a picture of a longboat, like the one we were on.    This is a picture of a floating restaurant.  I loved this little girl, she was so pretty. She was hanging out with her family selling bread to tourist so we could feed the fish.   Here we are buying drinks and souvenirs from this lady’s floating store.  When we were getting off the boat, we saw this guy washing his clothes.  On our way back to the hotel, our driver stopped so we could buy water guns for the Thai New Year, Songkran, which was the next day. Hubby was going to buy small guns, but the driver insisted he purchase BIG GUNS...when I post Songkran, you will know why... ;)  Day 9 Part 1: Bangkok, The Grand Palace 04/25/2009
The Grand Palace served as the offical residence of the Kings of Thailand from the 18th century to the turn of the 20th century. The present King of Thailand; King Rama IX, however does not currently reside there but at the Chitralada Palace, which we did not get to see.   These were 2 of my favorite guys....  The detail on everything here at the Grand Palace was amazing.         The kids were miserably hot!     Day 8: We Travel To Bangkok 04/25/2009
Day 8 was not exciting at all. It took us pretty much all day to get to Bangkok. Here we are in the Bangkok Airport.  A couple of pictures while driving to our hotel...   Boy 3 checking in at the hotel...how cute is that?!?!  The view from our room....  The kids were pooped, so we decided to have dinner at the hotel. We opted to have the buffet, now normally I am not a fan of buffets AT ALL, but this buffet was unlike most buffets, seriously, this was the best buffet I have ever eaten at. Now Jana, prepare yourself, you might have a heart attack, but for those of you who like this kind of thing, this was a little slice of heaven. Hubby and I devoured so much of this heavenly sushi and sashimi I thought we might be sick.   Day 7: Our Last Day in Phuket 04/25/2009
 Ahhhh, I love this man. Isn't he handsome?  Being silly on the way to kids club...they love trying to scare each other!    I found Hubby taking a nap on these cool swings.   A few pictures of the resort...     Day 6: Diving at Ya-Nui Beach 04/20/2009
Hubby and I really wanted to dive on this trip; however having so many little ones sometimes puts a damper on things like diving. All the really good dive sites were too far to travel without the kids & we couldn't very well leave them on the boat while we went diving. While we were at Ya-Nui on day 5 we noticed a little dive shop across the street, while this isn't the best spot for diving, it was a good spot for us. We left the 3 little ones in the kids club in our hotel & Hubby, Boy 1, myself and a couple of our friends headed back to Ya-Nui for a shore dive.   Dive master Sabastian helping out Boy 1on his first open water.  Visibility was poor, but we still had fun.   Our friend F, this was his first dive.  My second favorite part of diving......the drinks afterwards! Singha beer was our favorite in Thailand - they were big and cheap.   After diving we headed back to the hotel picked up the kids and took them to dinner. On the way to dinner everyone rand so far ahead of me and Boy 3 we couldn't keep up, so I yelled "STOP" and this is what they did....goofballs!!  Fun times at dinner.....     Girl really liked all the dogs in Thailand, so for her, here is a picture of the dog that sat across from us while we ate dinner...  After dinner we hit the streets for a little shopping, but first we had to find the a banana pancake stand!!  OMG these things were good!!!   After having a few banana pancakes and a bit of shopping we took the kids back to the hotel and put them to bed, (Boy 1 babysat) and then Hubby and I headed out for more fun, and PAIN. Look what we did...yes; we felt this place was appropriate.....  Whoever said tattoos don't hurt, well they LIED!! Mine only lasted 4 minutes, but dear God, I wanted to cry.  Hubby didn't even flinch......  Hubby has been bugging me for 15+ years to get a tattoo with him, I have always refused, but when he came up with this idea, I was game. He has yin, and I have yang. We got this tattoo for a couple for reasons, the Korean flag has a form yin & yang in it (so it marks our time in Korean), we were in Thailand for vacation (so it marks our time in Thailand) and it was a small tattoo so I thought I might be able to handle it. But the main reason I caved and got a tattoo with him is because of the meaning of Yin & Yang. It totally fits us....I could not exist without him.  Day 5: Ya-Nui Beach 04/20/2009
 By day 5 we were all pooped, so we decided to do something low key. Hubby talked to some of the locals and ask which beach we should visit, everyone suggested Ya-Nui Beach, so we jumped in a tuk-tuk and headed out...  Once we arrived at Ya-Nui Beach, we were not disappointed. The beach was small, the sand did not squeak (the sand on Karon Beach squeaked when you walked on it...it remind me of someone running their nails down a chalk board) and was great for playing in and the water was pretty clear.    Girl is like a fish in water, and she LOVES to snorkel!   Boy 2 & Girl had a great time catching snails and little crabs....       We had lunch at a great little restaurant, not 20 steps from the beach where the food was good and cheap, and the beer was COLD!    After lunch we played on the beach a little longer before we got back in our tuk-tuk to head for the hotel. On the way to our hotel we stopped at the overlook for Karon & Patong Beaches....  Back at the hotel Boy 1 & Girl tried their hand at scuba diving in the pool. They both did great....   | AuthorProud Army wife and mother of 4 wonderful children. I love to cook, travel, work out and scrapbook life’s adventures when I find the time. We will be living in Yongsan, Korea for 2-3 years. I will be documenting our adventures here. ArchivesNovember 2009 CategoriesAll Friends, Family and Fun reading: |
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