Category Archives: travel

if san francisco and paris had an asian love child

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Her name would be Seoul. And I would love her as much as I love San Francisco and Paris.

I had such a wonderful experience in South Korea. Before I get into it, because this is going to be a serious undertaking and will require multiple posts, I need to share with you that I have never in my life had any desire to visit Korea. Ever. But then I moved to Japan and it’s just a two hour flight across the Sea of Japan (had no idea that’s what it was called until right now). And then a friend of mine from childhood moved their. And, I don’t know, it just seemed like a fun thing to do.

So I booked a plane ticket for my first long weekend. Then I rebooked it when I realized that I had to be there super early Saturday in order to take a tour of the DMZ. I was planning on arriving Saturday morning to save myself from spending money on one more night in a hotel…instead I ended up spending a small fortune changing my ticket. But there was no way I was going to visit Seoul and not go to the DMZ because I knew I was only going to go there once, so I needed to do it all!

How wrong I was. I will definitely be back.

Maybe it’s because the only other Asian country I’ve been to is Japan. Maybe it’s because I had really low expectations. Maybe it’s because I hadn’t really been out of Tokyo since I got here. Whatever it was, I fell in love with Seoul.

Here’s the thing about going to foreign countries by yourself for the first time, especially when you don’t speak the language. It’s scary. At least for me. I don’t ever want anyone reading this to think that I just do these things and it’s the easiest thing in the world. Up until I got on the plane…no, to the hotel in Seoul…I was wondering what on earth possessed me to fly, alone, to a country where I had never been and didn’t speak the language and wouldn’t have an iPhone (at least not with any service) to help me out. And no where does a 5’8″ blond haired, green eyed girl traveling alone feel more foreign than in Asia on a flight between two Asian countries.

In transit to my hotel on the Limousine Bus, I got really stressed. (I probably should have taken a taxi, but I’m equal parts crazy and stubborn and I am a firm believer in cheap transportation). The bus driver didn’t understand me. I showed him the address (in roman letters) and it was clear he only understood part of it. (No idea why I didn’t pull the map out at that point.) When I finally did pull it out was when he was instructing me that it was time for me to get off and my pride (it’s an issue) made me just hop off without asking or pointing to see if I was really in the right place.

As it turns out, I wasn’t. I wandered around for about 10 minutes before it was clear that where I was was nowhere on my printed out google map. And it was a Friday night in Gangnam (which is where I was…as I would find out later) and there wasn’t an empty taxi to be found. So, I did what anyone who’s lived in a big city would do (I think). I wandered down a big street until I found a subway station and figured out where I was and where I needed to go. Turns out I was just one stop from my hotel, so I hopped on the subway, figured out exactly which exit I needed and found my hotel. My very nice, very clean, very happy hotel.

Now that the stressful part was over, I was starting to really like this place. (Yes, a hotel will do that to me.) And then I got to my upgraded room on the top floor (20th) and looked out my window upon this incredible view. Like was becoming love. You can tell a lot from a skyline.

I fell into bed completely exhausted.

On Saturday, when I got back from the DMZ tour (a post of its own), I wandered around for a while, enjoying the city and having no real plan. I randomly saw this changing of the guard performance at one of the palaces.

Then I used my little iPhone app (iTour Seoul – I recommend it) to find a good place for lunch. Unfortunately the map in the app only works when you’re online, so there was a little more wandering involved since the directions are pretty basic, but it ended up being a great restaurant, so totally worth it!

Galbi, delicious Korean BBQ ribs, with kimchi and all the fixins. 

After lunch, I decided to head toward N. Seoul Tower, at the top of Namsam Park. I had had no intention of climbing up the mountain, but without a map (don’t ask…I have no idea what I was thinking) and no sense of where I was, the tower itself was my only real point of reference, so up the mountain I went. And I’m so glad I did. I wandered through this little folk village (tourist attraction) first and happened upon a Tae Kwon Do concert (did you know that they are called concerts?) which just made me smile. (It’s a little long…)

And now, an onslaught of photos. This was the path up the mountain and the view from the top. I think you’ll understand how I fell in love with this place. Enjoy the photos. More to come…

The view…already half way up to it.
A cool tunnel
Along the way

I couldn’t resist

Up, up, up…
And up some more..
Looking back down to see how far I’d come
A lookout point…half way there
So green
Almost there
A yuzu smoothie at the top
Locks of Love

gangnam style

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So, the South Korea trip post (or maybe posts?) is coming, but it’s going to be a serious undertaking. In the meantime, please enjoy this little gem of a video. Gangnam, by the way, is a neighborhood in Seoul and where I happened to have been dropped off (accidentally, due to a translation issue) my first night there, at 11:30 pm about half a mile from my hotel. It’s a crazy place at 11:30 pm on a Friday night. 🙂
P.S. Thanks, Harrisons, for the introduction to this awesomeness!

dear you…inspired by the events of the last month (a whole month sans blogging? wthh)

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Amanda, our waiter, Kelly, me, and Sarah J. at Graham Elliot
in Chicago for Kelly’s birthday!

Dear besties (all of you),
Thank you for being amazing friends. Thank you for being the types of friends I can see after a week, a month, a year, or a decade, and being able to pick right up like no time had passed. Thank you for not judging my choices. Thank you for always being supportive and having my back. Thank you for listening to get excited about a new boy (and then understanding when I need to talk about why it didn’t work out). Thank you for giving me so many fun memories throughout my life.
Love,
Chloe
P.S. the rest of this post is not so sappy.

Dear Girl Scout cookies (particularly Samoas and Tagalongs),
F-you.
With much regret for the number of you I’ve consumed in the past two days,
My arse
Dear Delta Airlines,
I understand why it takes so many trips/miles to get Medallion status, but that doesn’t mean you should board your planes in the MOST backward way possible. It’s faster for everyone if you just board the plane from back to front. Also, your terminal at JFK sucks. I mean, water catches and hoses to deal with a leaky roof? If I make Medallion status this year, it will be worth it, but only by a little. 
Chloe
P.S. I’m only doing this because I’m hoping to move far away in the very near future and think it will be worth it since my company uses your airline.
P.P.S. Do your flight attendants really let people paint their nails on the plane and then ask me if I’ve said anything to the woman when I complain about the smell? Isn’t that what they are paid to do?

Dear lady painting your nails on the plane,
Seriously? Il y a des limites, quand même.
A girl who takes personal maintenance seriously, but realizes there are limits

Dear college band on my flight Sunday,
Was it really necessary to travel in your matching outfits on a red-eye? A RED-EYE?! And your outfits…not super attractive. And why were you all so chatty? Thank goodness for noise canceling headphones and Tylenol PM.
With hopes that you don’t bug other people as much as you bugged me,
A normally pleasant traveler (okay, maybe not lately, but Delta and their stupid boarding and ghetto JFK terminal make me mad!)

Dear 55+ year olds currently hitting on me online,
You are all old enough to actually have sired me. Yes. That word is gross. And that’s why I’m using it. It’s gross that you are hitting on me. You have children old enough to be my siblings and none of you have enough money to make me consider marrying you for it. What I’m trying to understand is how it is you think that I would actually be interested? Especially since I’ve clearly stated on my profile what the upper end of my age limit is in terms of a potential future spouse, and you are well outside that range. You like to say that age doesn’t matter, but when was the last time you went out with a 76+ year old woman? And I think I’ve made my point.
Thanks but no thanks,
A woman who still feels anything over a six year age difference is inappropriate
P.S. For those of you paying attention, there was a boy…there no longer is a boy (by mutual decision)…so it’s back to the drawing board (or internet, as it were).

Dear Spotify,
I’m pretty sure I’ve written you a letter before, but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to adequately express to you just how much I love you. I LOVE YOU!
Chloe

Dear Broadway,
Thank you for giving me a reason to love you once again. Seriously, it’s been a very dry year, but a few weeks ago, when the lovely Sarah J. (Sare, that’s your new nickname, btw) and Co. were in town, I got to see both Newsies and Once. I realize that Newsies is kind of a silly show, but oh how I loved it. So entertaining. And so fun to see some of the great Broadway dancers from SYTYCD. And then there was Once. I was worried I would not love it as much as the movie. I was worried that no one could be as good as Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. I had no reason to worry. Wow. Just wow. I can’t wait until I can see it again. 
With a song in my heart and a smile on my lips just thinking about you,
Chloe
there are a number of things I would change,
but not bad for two hours start to finish

Dear Art Studio NY,
For many, many years I have believed that I have very little artistic ability, so finally, I decided to conquer my fear and just take a painting class. And while I definitely don’t think I’ll be winning any art competitions any time soon (are those even a thing?) or selling a painting, I had a fabulous time learning a little bit about painting and feel pretty good about my two hour painting. Hopefully I can find the money to take some more classes in the near future.
Love,
The girl who is so happy she manages to find 20 seconds of courage to sign up for things that scare her

best pea soup ever

Dear Graham Elliot (and Kelly),
Thank you for what was probably the most amazing dining experience of my life. I knew I was in for something special for Kelly’s birthday dinner, but I had no idea just how amazing it would be. And with the best company in the world (Kelly, Sarah, and Amanda) how could it not be enjoyable. But the food. Oh, the food. Fourteen glorious courses and several adult beverages (mine were of the virgin variety, but still pretty special) and I am forever changed. 
With much love (and much higher expectations for future tasting menu experiences),
A wannabe foodie

palmyra

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Just shy of five years ago, I headed to upstate NY to spend some time with my just exed ex-fiance (yes…sometimes I’m slightly masochistic). Needless to say that, while Palmyra was beautiful and it was fun to spend some time in upstate New York, the memory of that place was slightly tainted. So, when Montreal became cost prohibitive for our Memorial day weekend trip and Maria suggested we head to Palmyra instead, I was all for it. I was ready to make a new memory. 

The entire weekend was amazing. We stopped in Poughkeepsie where we were able to visit the Walkway over the Hudson, the Eveready Diner (featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives). We stayed in Albany the first night and let’s just say it was an experience. It’s the state capitol of New York and it’s kind of creepy. We decided it would be the perfect location for the next Will Smith post-apocalyptic summer blockbuster. Just to highlight the weirdness of the place, when we attended the little church Sunday morning, a very nice woman (probably my age) sitting behind us with her three darling children introduced herself and then proceeded to ask us why we were visiting. That probably doesn’t sound that weird, but it was the look on her face. A look that screamed, “Get out while you can! And take me with you.” 
And then, Sunday, we made it to Palmyra where we were able to walk through the Sacred Grove with almost no one else around. I’m sure it was a really great experience for both Jenna and Maria who had not been there before. For me, it was great in a different way. While I am well over the pains of my broken engagement, the fact that I’m still single when I would prefer not to me is a little painful. So I was dealing with a lot emotionally. Add to that that I had recently been out with a guy a couple of times who is nice and fun, but has no long term potential (sometimes I think that’s more painful than not dating at all) and it was just a lot to deal with…and yet it felt good to be dealing with it.
The next morning, as I thought more about my current single status and my desire for it to be otherwise, I had a very clear question come into my mind. What would you be doing if you weren’t worried about getting married? And so many thoughts came to my mind; getting out of debt, spending more time serving others, not stressing out about the fact that I am not now, nor ever have been, nor ever will be a size 6. You know…stuff like that. And while it is now two weeks later and not worrying about not being married is not easy, I am able to remind myself of that little question when I start to stress out (more to come on the dating front…).
And back to the weekend…while all of this emotional stuff was going on, the fun and games also continued. Seriously, road trips are the best! Especially road trips with friends who see nothing abnormal about starting dinner with Red Lobster cheddar biscuits, and then continuing on to P.F. Chang’s…only after seriously debating whether a stop at Chili’s for some chips and queso might be necessary. That’s right. Did it! Oh, how I love my friends! 

exactly what i needed

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This weekend I was supposed to be running a half marathon in Philadelphia with my lovely friend Anne. Sadly, neither one of us was really in a good place to do it…both struggling with various injuries. Thankfully, it would appear that my calf is almost back to normal, but running a half marathon probably would not have been the best idea. So, instead, I decided that it would be the perfect weekend to go visit Anne in DC before she and her husband move to Africa for the next two years.

Best. Idea. Ever.

Anne texted me on Thursday to ask me what I wanted to do. My response was “Nothing”. I’ve been to DC before and done the tourist thing, but I live in the most touristy city in the US and the last thing I wanted to do was push through crowds of tourists to see sites I’ve already seen. Thankfully, she was on board with that. So, we suburbed it up all weekend, which included going out to eat, going for a walk to get ice cream, laying by the pool until it started raining, and a little window shopping. It was lovely.

I realize that my life is filled with girl time and I have the most amazing girlfriends, but there’s something that I really appreciate about my happily married girlfriends and the time I get to spend with them. I think sometimes it’s so easy being single and having a bunch of single friends to create this fantasy about married life. (I know all of you married ladies are laughing right now, but try and remember what life was like when you were single…try and contain yourselves.)

And despite what you all might be thinking, it’s not because it makes me realize how great my single life is…I generally appreciate that. I think it’s that it gives me hope and makes me realize that it’s worth waiting for that guy who really wants to be with me and appreciates everything I have to offer. My girlfriends have all married great guys. None are perfect, nor are my girlfriends, nor are their marriages, but they are good. And they are happy. And isn’t that worth waiting for?

Um, on top of all that, I just love Anne. She’s one of my favorite people. And while we weren’t able to run the half marathon this weekend, we did relive some great St. George memories and we made plans for our next race: Casablanca, Morocco in October 2012. My goal was to run another marathon next year and doesn’t that just seem dreamy? I’m trying to convince her to run the Great Wall Marathon after that, but I’m not sure she’s going to be having it.

Oh, and we also planned out the next 10 years of my life. But I’m going to go ahead and keep that to myself for now…but I’m kind of excited! Such a lovely weekend with such a lovely friend.