Fukuoka - A Comfort Hotel with an unbeatable location!

We are back in Fukuoka, Japan again and I wanted to share another hotel with you. If you can get it for a decent price, the Comfort Hotel Hakata offers rooms much larger than your standard Japanese business hotel with a free included breakfast to boot! 

It was a real treat having enough room to move around and also keep our bags open if needed to pack/repack. This normally is not the case for most Japanese hotel rooms around this price range. The best part was the location being just a short walk away from Hakata station, the largest and busiest station in the Kyushu region! It hosts a department store and large Tokyu Hands store as well. Plus, around the station are plenty of other shopping and dining locations. The station also provides easy access to other areas of Fukuoka or Kyushu. 

I took a short time lapse video out the room window which you can see below, along with the room tour. 

I have also taken more interest in my YouTube channel lately and have been making actual thumbnails as well as properly hash tagging and labeling videos! I appreciate your subscription and continued reading of my blog as well!

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Fukuoka - A Frequent Destination

At the time of this post I have visited Fukuoka, Japan on many occasions. The below video is from one of many hotels I have stayed in during my trips to Fukuoka. For those living in Korea, Fukuoka offers very close access to Japan. Often low-cost carriers will have very affordable flights. The airport is also only a few stops away on the subway from the city, unlike Osaka or Tokyo where it takes significantly longer to get into city-center. Fukuoka also offers a good starting point for exploring Kyushu. There are other airports around to get into the region however, I feel many start with Fukuoka.

I still plan on maintaining this blog albeit with longer gaps of time between posts. I will continue to upload hotel room tours to my YouTube channel and will also continue to (try to) re-post them here along with more content for the blog.

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My Korean Life #63: Busy Bee

Long time no blogging! Apologies for the vanishing act but now I am back!

I actually started another job back at the beginning of February so now 2 jobs...and they happen to be at opposite ends of town from each other. I am definitely making use of the fine public transportation here in Seoul. You may have even seen me more on the Internet lately. Due to the long commute, I picked up a discounted subway fare card that actually discounts my rides quite significantly (less than KRW 1,000 per ride). While there are some rules that go along with the card, overall it's a great savings. 

In other news I should have a few more blog posts coming later about a trip to...you guessed it...Japan! Of course I ate everything in sight and also visited some iconic places. Stay tuned for more coming soon!

Here is a short preview of what's to come (Hotel room tour!):

APA Hotel Kanda Jimbocho Eki-Higashi (アパホテル 神田神保町駅東) 

Random note: I recently had the opportunity to try the BIG Sour Patch Kids and I must say, I like the larger size. Less chance of them getting stuck in your teeth.

My Korean Life #59: 여수

At first I thought I could squeeze both Yeosu and Suncheon into one post but it turns out I have too many pictures and it would be too long as one blog post. So, I will be splitting them up. First will be Yeosu located in the South Jeolla Province of Korea. I will be pointing out some of the highlights as well as embedding maps so you can see exactly where I went! If you have a free weekend, I definitely recommend checking out Yeosu.

YEOSU

Yeosu Expo Station

While there are buses as well as slower trains to Yeosu, I recommend taking the KTX train. It is a fast albeit expensive option. The trip from Seoul to Yeosu will take you less than three hours via KTX.

Yeosu Expo Grounds

Yeosu was host to Expo 2012 - a world expo consisting of many different countries exhibiting around the theme of "The Living Ocean and Coast". The grounds and some of the building are still open to the public.

Grim Garden Guest House

The Grim Garden Guest House is located only a short walk away from the Expo grounds and looks to have been constructed very recently. It is locally owned and operated with many different room types. I stayed in a double room but there are also dormitories, triple rooms, and traditional Korean style rooms where you sleep on the floor. The rooftop has a large garden and reading room. A free continental breakfast is offered in the morning as well as free Internet throughout.

Yeosu Railbike

The Yeosu Railbike runs along a cliff on the coast of Yeosu and is a great way to take in the views of the sea. The track goes through a tunnel as well with a turn table at the end of the track to let you pedal back to where you started. The bikes are geared to allow easy pedaling even uphill.

Approximate Beach Location

Very close to the railbike area is a small beach. It's within walking distance from the railbike station and also has some restaurants and cafes near it.

After riding the railbike I enjoyed the local Yeosu specialty of Soy Sauce Crab (간장게장). There was also 양념게장 served in the set menu. It was all very reasonably priced and delicious.

 

Cable Car Location

The cable car is has two stations. One located near Odongdo and another located near Dolsan Park. Both stations have a variety of facilities including convenience stores, restaurants, and cafes. The cable car is suspended over water and provides good photo opportunities during the ride. Most people buy round trip tickets although one-way tickets are available. The attractions near the cable car stations are free of charge while a ride on the cable car is KRW 13,000 for a round trip ticket. There are cars that have a glass bottom and you can enjoy those for slightly more.

Stay tuned for the next post about Suncheon (순천)

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Fall Vacation Trip: Fukuoka Day 1

During the end of the September I took a quick trip over to Japan. It so happens that one of the cheapest places to fly internationally from Seoul is Fukuoka. Some of my former language school classmates are from the area and it was also a place I had never visited before. Searching the budget airlines from either Korea or Japan can usually land you a decently priced flight.

Landing in Fukuoka and getting into town is quite simple. There are buses, the subway system, and other ground transportation readily available. After taking the subway into town, it was a short walk until the hotel. The hotel is located nearest Tenjin station and that station is attached to a large underground shopping complex. Above ground, there are a number of other shops, restaurants, and department stores.

It was a pretty good place to call home base for the weekend.
Check out the hotel room tour of the Richmond Hotel Fukuoka Tenjin below:

After checking into the hotel it was time for dinner and what better way to kick off a trip in Japan than to enjoy some ramen and gyoza! Both were delicious!

After dinner was a stroll around the neighborhood

Also, I can't forget to mention this awesome mirror that didn't fog up in the hotel bathroom!

Stay tuned for Day 2 and 3 coming soon!
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Summer Vacation Trip: Tokyo Day 1

This past June I had the opportunity to visit Tokyo! It also so happened that a few of my friends were going to be in town at the same time. This was also my first time flying on a Boeing 787! The windows were larger than usual as advertised, I didn't play too much with the dimming function though as it was kind of cloudy during take off.

Cloudy Day

In-flight meal - unexpected as the flight was really short

After arriving, taking the bus to my hotel, and meeting up with my friend, we headed to lunch at a Tsukemen restaurant. It was packed as it was right around lunch time and a lot of office workers and tourists were out and about. In short, it was delicious!

Delicious!

The famous Shibuya Crossing and Hachiko statue! This is probably one of the most photographed intersections but I wanted to snap my own photos as well! Many people hang out at the Starbucks facing the intersection to take pictures when the traffic lights change and all the people cross the street. The Hachiko statue is a common meeting place right outside Shibuya station and there were a ton of people taking pictures with it when I was there.

Shibuya Crossing

Shibuya Crossing

Hachiko Statue - it was election time so I think that is a campaign ribbon

After a brief stop at the Tokyo Sumo Museum we headed to the Edo-Tokyo Museum. The Edo-Tokyo Museum has some amazingly detailed dioramas and exhibit displays. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Dinner was sushi! I got a whole plate of different types of tuna from your normal, everyday tuna to some really delicious, fatty tuna!

Look at all that delicious TUNA

TUNA TUNA TUNA

The hotel I stayed at was the Tokyu Stay Shibuya. It is about a 10 minute walk away from Shibuya station. I think the location was fine as it is located near a grocery store and side streets with a few restaurants. It is also far enough away from Shibuya station to feel separated from the main hustle and bustle of the area. Below is a video tour of my hotel room as well as a map of the location. It is meant as an extended stay style of accommodation so there is a small kitchenette and washing machine in the room.

Stay tuned for more coming up soon!
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