We saw one place where there were eastern toilets (hole in the ground, you stand over it), but the hotels, restaurants and public transportation houses all had these great toilets we all fell in love with and decided we wanted to install in our homes.
The toilets were just the beginning of learning of a new culture where everyone we encountered was polite, friendly and helpful despite a major language barrier. Pictures were a great help, and the way to survive as you would point to what you wanted to eat, for example.
Karen Knight
In Korea, the choices were plentiful and delicious. Always a protein – Korean BBQ of beef or pork belly, fried chicken or grilled chicken on skewers, sticky rice and lots of sides ranging from fresh kimchi to radish and fermented kimchi to bean sprouts and potato salad.
In Japan, meals often included lots of sushi or sashimi, wagyu beef, pork or cooked fish, curries and more sides, including miso soup (not a fave) and tofu to cauliflower mousse, marinated shrimp and red cabbage slaw with apple.
In Hiroshima, we enjoyed Okonomiyaki, a savory Japanese pancake made with a flour-based batter, shredded cabbage, and other ingredients.Karen Knight
I never quite mastered using chopsticks, often metal and slick to use, but the spoons in the drawer at the end of the table were always available, as well as a fork requested of the wait staff. Most restaurants use QR codes, so you can easily order your food and pay for it once the staff brings it to your table. The drawer also held wet naps – what a great idea instead of using lots of paper napkins.
There are markets galore, where many shop owners offered foods to eat, sweets like mousse, flan, mango or matcha ice cream (made from green tea) and crepes, and happy waving cats, a sign of prosperity and welcome.
With a 7-year-old grandson at home, I was on a quest for Pokemon cards and anything with the KPop Demon Hunters. When I found a place with hundreds of Pokemon cards, it was a young Australian tourist who explained what I should be looking for!
In Korea, we hit all the top spots, including the guard-changing at Gyeongbok Palace, the largest of five palaces; visiting Bukchon Hanok village and its 900 traditional houses up and down steep hills, and Yangdong Folk Village, the largest traditional village, with its 160 old houses and 500-year-old thatched-roof cottages nestled within the valley.
Gamcheon Culture Village in Busan, South Korea, is a vibrant, hillside neighborhood known for its colorful, terraced houses, labyrinthine alleys, and public art.Karen Knight
Fifty-four of these homes are over 200 years old and have been excellently preserved in their original state, offering the opportunity to view a variety of unique traditional Korean houses in person. Sadly, the village has few, if any, young people, because the Koreans, like other young adults across the globe, are moving to the city for high-tech jobs, away from many of the traditional jobs such a farming or fishing.