Tokyo Disney!!!

For my birthday Zak and I made a last minute decision to use our flyer miles and head to Tokyo for a a few days. He asked me what I really wanted to do for my birthday and I said "TOKYO DISNEY!!" I am a big theme park enthusiast and have a very nostalgic love for Disney, so it seemed like the logical choice. :) We booked our flights and hotel about a week prior to leaving and it made me realize that it would be impossible for me to book a vacation any sooner than that because a week felt like a month!

So in typical Zak and Nikki fashion we wait until last minute to pack and figure out what we are bringing with us. If you remember in a previous post we had lost our beloved hard core sony cybershot while our family was in town so we bought another updated one to replace it. Well, unfortunately we realized that we had no idea where that one was either. We searched every nook and cranny for hours it seemed with no luck.. I mean the camera is BRIGHT yellow.. how could we lose it?!? Alas, people are thankful for our purchases because now we have given the city of Pyeongtaek not one but two shiny cybershots...for free. :(

Sadly we had to depart without the camera and headed to Incheon Airport. We decided to drive this time since we were only staying for a few days and parking was only 8000won a day (about 7-8usd). Thank goodness my husband knows how to drive like a race car driver because we almost ran into an idiot who missed their turn on the freeway that decided to STOP their car and put it in REVERSE at the fork in the road. I can't make these things up, I promise.

Upon arriving at the airport we picked up our duty free items that we purchased earlier in the week at one of the huge duty free malls here in South Korea (perk!) and made a last minute decision to buy another cybershot...sigh... this time though we didn't get the rugged one in hopes that it will turn up in a seat cushion one day.

So here are some test photos from our new camera on the airplane!

The flight is very short from Seoul to Tokyo, about 2 1/2 hours. At the airport I found something unique.. a smoker's room, outside! Way to keep the air fresh!

From the airport we took a bus directly to our hotel (The Hilton Tokyo Bay) it was about a 75 minute ride and cost about $30 per person. 

When we got to the hotel and checked into our room we realized we had a beautiful view of the Tokyo Bay! Here are a few photos we got:

And what better way to escape the outrageous hotel food and drink prices than this: 

At Tokyo Disney there are actually two parks, Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Sea. They were both amazing!! Here are some photos from Disney Land:

 The weather was more favorable the day we went to Disneyland but that didn't keep us from having a good time the day we went to Disney Sea! It did actually start pouring rain the day we were at Disney Sea (my birthday) so unfortunately the only photo were these:

But we did however have TONS of fun there. It was a more thrilling park than Disney Land, as it included the Tower of Terror (my new favorite!) and other rides that are only in Japan.

And for your viewing pleasure:

Overall it was a great trip, I wouldn't change a thing about it. My birthday was a great success, and we are now looking forward to Christmas.

I am sorry for not blogging recently, I just got done with an 18 credit semester so that had me pretty busy. For now we are just enjoying the Christmas season and I am still waiting for it to start snowing regularly around here... call me crazy. :)

Hope you all are finding yourselves in good spirits, happy holidays!!

Thanks for reading xxx

Everland Halloween Style!

One of Zak and I's favorite amusement parks in Korea is "Everland". They have such an array of things to do from watching monkeys, seeing a liger, drinking German beer and riding their awesome wooden roller coaster! Every season they decorate the park and since September they have had Everland decorated in a Halloween theme. Here are some photos of us from when we went recently:

See the animal crossing above the people?? :)

I have no idea what these are, any ideas?

Or this for that matter but it is so darn cute!

Oh you know, Korean Tarzan and his sidekick.

Please envision as this picture was being taken Zak not only feeding the birds but accidentally dumping bird feed on a Korean Woman's head... thats what happens when you are two feet taller than everyone else around you! Ooops!

I didn't understand why this photo was winking at me as I was waiting to get on a ride.

Me after one of the Halloween shows in my new cool witches hat that comes with cat ears. ^-^

And once the sun sets all the goblins and ghouls come out to scare everyone

It was a lot of fun, if you are in the area you should definitely check it out and don't forget to print your foreigners discount from their English friendly website! 

Everland Resort

Thanks for reading and Happy Halloween!!!! xxx

Oktoberfest @ the Seoul Grand Hilton

As I was perusing one of my Korean foodie blogs Seoul Eats I noticed a post about Oktoberfest in Seoul at the Grand Hilton and jumped on the opportunity to get tickets for this event. It was a surprise to Zak and I managed to actually keep it under wraps for the week prior to the event. I usually spill the beans within 24 hours of planning a surprise, so this was a big step for me! :-P So this event was a one time rate for unlimited German beer and cuisine, a live band from Germany, and a whole lot of fun! We definitely enjoyed ourselves and drank enough Paulaner beer for the year, I love Oktoberfest. It was nothing but a ballroom full of people who like to drink beer and eat pretzels, my kind of people!

Me in the hotel room before we went to Oktoberfest, trying to contain myself of spilling the beans! Oh and thanks for the free bottle of wine Seoul Grand Hilton, I had to drink it before Oktoberfest or else my husband would have been on to me that we are going to a drinking event if I didn't pop it open... ha ha

And now onto Oktoberfest, this right here made every penny worth it:

Tapping of the keg!

This Korean boy in his lederhosen was just too cute, even though he looked forced to wear this by his mother...

Zak about to arm wrestle..

We drink Paulaner beer! I wish you could here me singing this, because I have literally been singing it since Oktoberfest..

Drunk Nikki being silly..

And the people we shared our table with, they pretty much won all the competitions, the lady on the left it one hell of a beer chugger.. and the one on the right dominated in womens arm wrestling.

And a video I have put together from the event, beware there are embarrassing drunk moments that you will probably enjoy.. but hey it was Oktoberfest!

In all this was definitely an awesome time, we cannot wait to go again next year!!! I might just order some lederhosen  ;)

Hiking in Cheonan

Recently Zak and I went hiking in Cheonan, a city south of us, on the Taejosan Sanak Trail. There are many entrances as you can see by the map below, Zak and I had a goal to get to the large Buddha located in the middle of the map. Little did we know that we were starting on the wrong end and 2 hours later on a very steep hike we were only half way there and the sun was beginning to set. Even though we didn't make it to Buddha, we did have a great hike! (Next time Buddha, we will be rubbing your belly!)

Zak cheesin' at the entrance

This my readers, is the attire of a Korean hiker, you will undoubtedly feel under dressed whilst hiking among them.

Hmm what is this?

Oh I see, so you want me to walk barefoot across these rocks...

Beware, do not grab the ropes for help, I almost made this mistake. See below:

A viewpoint along our hike

Cheonan City

A very wobbly but pretty cool sky bridge

We were exhausted by the end of this hike, it was a constant incline and every time we said to ourselves "we must be at the highest peak now" we would hit another climb. Hoping to get better at hiking because its no joke in Korea! 

Thanks for reading and happy trails!

xxx

No really..say what?!?!

So not even 10 minutes after my last blog post (the no petrol month) Zak and I realized that not one of our bikes that we have invested a lot of time and money into but TWO have been stolen. I really hate thieves.. like really... ughhhh..

No petrol month has officially been post-poned.

:(

One month with no petrol, say whaaaat?

So Zak and myself have decided to embark on a little adventure that we have given a lot of thought to. Starting tomorrow (October 3) we will be spending the following 4 weeks without using 'gas'. This means no driving our car, no taking taxi rides, no rides with friends, no public buses, no cross country buses, and no fuel burning trains. That leaves us with our bicycles, the subway, a train called the Norioo which is fully electric (but doesnt go as far as the fuel burning trains, and is limited in schedule), and the hover-round electric wheelchairs that everyone seems to think are a form of transportation around here.. ahh if only I had one handy...

To prepare for our adventure we made quite a large shopping trip to our favorite place.. Costco! :)  We have stocked up on enough meat and food to last us a month so we dont have to make any large grocery shops except for some veg and milk here and there.

Yay I heart Costco! By the way if you are here in Korea and have gone to Costco but have not tried the Bulgogi Bake in the cafeteria.. to.die.for. Try it!!!!!!!!!!!! 

Anywho, we have decided to do this not only to prove to ourselves that it is possible to go a month without using fuel but also to kick start some healthier living. And we figured it couldnt hurt to get our carbon footprint down! I am pretty excited about this challenge, I know it will be hard and most people will think we are rediculous for doing it but Zak and I are ready to prove that we can do it. I will be sure to give you our weekly update for the next four weeks.

Thanks for reading and wish us luck!
xxx

Nikki's Trip Back to the U.S. (Part Two)

After returning home from Ohio I spent a few days relaxing in the pool and enjoying time with my nephews that live in Florida. My mom and dad have a beautiful house close to the beach and equipped with a refreshing pool in the backyard, definitely a good reason to go home for a few weeks. :) It is always very nice to catch up with family, and it always feels as though you just left. 

My lovely mother :)

And below are a series of my favorite photos that I took of my nephews (Levi and Elijah) while I was home, I miss them so much but am so happy to be able to see them every year and be a part of their lives. Love you both so much!

I then went further down south in Florida to visit my beautiful sister. We had a few days of catching up and lots of great wine. :) It is hard to live so far away from family but it is a great feeling when you can reunite, even if it is for a short time. 

After visiting my sister I went back to my 'home base' aka moms house and caught up with my brother and sister in law who live about 30 minutes down the road, but somehow managed to not get a single picture with them!!

I also took a day and saw my Grandma whom I always enjoy seeing because that woman is a breath of fresh air, she will just tell it like it is!! Grandma lives in Georgia so while in Georgia I drove up to see Zak's dad and step-mom who live outside of Atlanta. I can always guarantee a great meal and margaritas when I see them! Food+Margaritas= Good Time!

And there you have it, my 5 week trip that felt like 5 days. It was great to catch up with everyone, a lot of traveling but well worth it! 

Much love to you all xxx