I guess I've posted most of the photos I took during my trip to Tokyo now. More to come when I'll travel again!!
So, as I haven't been posting that many recent post lately, I think I'm almost 6 months late with many posts... So my "recent" posts won't be that recent anymore :D
As I told before, I had a fever during my trip in Seoul and Tokyo... I'm not sure how bad my condition was, because I didn't buy a thermometer, but I know I had a fever (or is it normal to feel cold even when the temperature in the room is +30C and I'm sleeping under 3 blankets..?:D)... Luckily they sold some medicine in convenience stores (unlike here in Finland, I have never even seen such medicine here!!!!). There was no text in English, just that "self medication" but at least I felt better after taking that medicine :D
Anyway, since I felt better, I decided to go to Ebisu (it's difficult to remember which one is Ebisu and which one is Yebisu because Yebisu was written all over Ebisu... Got it?) to see a photography museum. But it was closed :s I took a little walk around Ebisu and then went to Harajuku which was very close.
Harajuku on an early Tuesday morning... Not so bad, last time when I was there, it was Sunday... Harajuku was a bit too crowded then, but on a Tuesday it was just fine. At least it was easy to find all the nice places, just needed to follow the others :D
The last time I had eaten crepes was two years ago (in exactly the same place!!), but the taste was as good as before:)!
And after a long day of walking... I mean, shopping, I went back to my hotel via 7-eleven. The food is so cheap, and the packages are so cute...:) Too bad the 7-eleven near my hotel was really small, and there were no supermarkets around, so most of my meals consisted of instant noodles/tea or sandwiches/juice. I know, not so healthy, but at least I drank those vitamin drinks :p
//RECENTLY:
My feet are fine (or actually not fine, but it's a long story, and they're basically fine because I can walk;). I've been quite busy because of all that school stuff as always... And on Tuesday I'll go to Helsinki for an entrance exam!! Hopefully it'll go well, as I really really really want to go to that school I'm applying for! ++ I found a nice apartment, or should I say, house, in Helsinki♥
I love traveling by train- so Japan is perfect for my purposes... So many trains, and the tickets are cheap! I got train/metro/bus etc. cards in both Seoul and Tokyo, because they're easy and fast to use. No need to know the exact routes because you pay as much as you travel.
In Seoul, T-money card (picture on the right) is the most common card I think, or at least it's the only one I found. You have to pay for the card, and then add some money on it, and you can use it as long as the card has some money in it. I put about 50€ on my T-money card, because I wanted to make sure I could afford all the journeys in Seoul and around... But I actually about 40€ was left on the card when I left korea!! I don't know how that's possible, because I used the subway quite a lot :o The card is still in my wallet, waiting for the next trip... Who would throw 40€ away anyway??
The card on the left in a Pasmo card, the transportation card used in Tokyo area. Also, cards called Suica are sold there, but the cards are basically the same, except that the Suica one has a cute penguin in it!!!!! I bought my Pasmo right after arriving in Tokyo, there were no machines selling Suica ones nearby... What a shame :( Going around Tokyo is a bit more expensive than in Seoul, but it's still not really expensive (compared to the public transport in my hometown... I just count my monthly bus fares here in Oulu, it'll cost more than 256€ in a month if I didn't have a bus card... Crazy isn't it? With a bus card it's 36€, and I can use the bus as many times as I want.)
Anyway, the thing that's really great about T-money and Suica cards is that you can actually use them as credit cards. I didn't know it was possible, or actually I hadn't even heard of the whole thing before my last day in Tokyo... I was waiting for a train in Ueno, and got thirsty. I saw a vending machine with text "Touch this censor with your Pasmo/Suica card to get a drink"!!!! I bet I looked like that--> http://www.flickr.com/photos/riazorenho/1016624342/ when I noticed that those cards can actually be used for buying stuff! Awesome...
My friend linked that video to me years ago... So of course I had to try to find such pudding in Tokyo!! I couldn't find a Giga Pudding, but found something that was alike! And luckily not that big, I mean, gigantic... Yummy!!:)
The above pics were taken near my hotel in Asakusa. And the Fanta grape is from my first "trip" to KFC... The food wasn't that great, but something really funny happened to me there! An older woman, probably in her 70's, came to talk to me like this: (partly in English, partly in Japanese, so sorry for my mistakes) (W means the woman, and M is me)
W: こんにちは.
M: ああ、こんにちは!
W:あなた は アメリカ人 です か?
M:私 は フィンランド人 です。
W: English?
M: Yes.
W:フィンランド?
M:はい.
W:すごい... Student?
M:16 歳です.
*W gives me some Hello Kitty items*
M:??
W: Take.
M: ハローキティ?
W:はい, ハローキテです.
M:ありがとう!
W: Have a nice day!!
That was really strange indeed... But the woman was super friendly, I think I've never met anyone so kind so a stranger before :D
//RECENT:
I will have a free day tomorrow, no school at all♥♥♥
I decided to write another travel post this weekend because nothing much happens in my daily life. I must focus on studying because there's just one month of school left before the summer holidays will begin♥♥ I'd love to be on vacation already (who wouldn't??)...
Oh anyway, this post is all about Everland, which is an amusement park in Yongin, South Korea. You can see their website here. The park is mainly outdoors, so it wasn't the best idea to go there in the winter... I got a fever which disturbed my travel a bit. But I still think it was worth a visit:)
At first we went to Africa. I mean, a zoo that was full of African animals. And chicks (I mean those small birds, not girls..)
And penguins♥
We didn't have much time to spend in Everland, and it was cold, so we just saw the zoo, bought some stuff and visited a couple of rides.
I rode this one! It wasn't scary at all, so I was a little disappointed... Where were all the scary ones??
The last full day in South Korea: I went to a folk village and the Everland amusement park with my pen pal of many years and her family! But before going, I had to eat breakfast of course. The great thing about my hotel was that it was exactly in the centre of Myeongdong shopping area- and there was a 7-Eleven and many other shops just outside the building... So I could just go and buy my breakfast really easily. And the food was much cheaper than in Finland...
Anyway, after breakfast I went to Sunae station by metro- I knew the way already because I had been there before. I think I went to Sunae at least 3 times during my trip, so I think I could go the same way with my eyes closed :p
Then we went to Yongin by car, and visited a Korean folk village. You can see their website here. Of course it was a little cold there, since it was winter... But we drank some hot chocolate and ate noodles to warm ourselves up :) There was so much to see, and we didn't have time to visit all the places because we wanted to spend a good deal of time in Everland as well!
So, the next travel post will probably be about Everland ;)
Hehe I know most of you probably think subways are boring- but I come from a little town with no subway at all, so I love traveling by subway... It's super comfortable and fast as well! These ones were taken on my way from Myeongdong to Yoido :)
See the black board with text "KISSA" in it? Kissa means a cat in Finnish, and exactly when I saw that board, I also saw a cat!! What a coincidence... This was taken somewhere between Myeongdong and N Seoul tower. I didn't go there though, because the place was so full of people and I has just a little time :(
And this one was taken when I was walking back from Mt Namsan, where the N Seoul Tower is located. Can you see that house on the right? When I saw it, I thoght "That's a dream house!"... I have no idea why I thought so, but somehow, that little house is really cute!
My way to celebrate New Year... Before going to Bosingak!:)
