Back to America!

Traveling on a cross-continent flight makes the day super long. What was a one day flight is in reality more than 24 hours of travel. It seems like two days ago that I left Korea... which is probably true, given that I was on the plane for 12 hours.....

That was it for our 2.5 weeks of travel. It seemed like a dream now that I am back in LA, looking at the same scenery that I see 2.5 weeks ago. Nothing changed. Did this trip really happen? I suppose the blog (and all the stuff I bought) is the only evidence I have of this trip.

Walking at night in LA is quite different from Seoul. It's really quiet.... so much so that you are given too much space to think. In Seoul, there are tons of people everywhere. Even if you do decide to walk in your neighborhood (not sure why you would want to do that since it's SO HOT and so hilly), there are still people walking around, smoking, and just eager to get somewhere - out of the neighborhood. But in LA, it's so quiet that you're basically the only person walking outside at 10pm. The quietness makes you think a lot.

Alright, enough philosophical views and etc. Back to our last day in Korea.

We cleaned up our luggage in the morning around 9am, got out of the Airbnb at 10:30am. Fortunately, we met our landlord, John, on the way out, and he gave us a ride to the subway station! Score! It was super hot by that time and it was very nice of him to not let us walk in that hotness!

He had been very helpful in our trip.... whenever we accidentally meet him outside our room, he would always give us some tips for our travel. Super nice guy!

We got to the airport at 12pm, and we had to meet a friend's friend there to pick up her dog. This was a first for us - bringing a dog with us on the flight! Well, not exactly. The dog was gonna go inside the cargo ride.... he looked totally scared.

His name is Mongsi, and he got SO MUCH attention in the airport! Everyone was much nicer to us because of him :) Joyce and I kept thinking about Mongsi during the plane ride.... is he ok? Is he scared? Did he poop? Fortunately, he was a stellar dog! I didn't hear him bark at all to anyone in the airport in Incheon, and also in LAX! We finally got Mongsi back to his owner!

It was very interesting how I got Mongsi in LAX. So I asked the Asiana person where I can pick up the dog, and they took me to the oversized luggage section, opened an elevator, and there he is! I took Mongsi across the customs declaration, and all they did was take the electronic receipt I did at the customs beforehand, and that's it! They didn't even ask to see the rabies certificate. What the?! I feel like American security is just not consistent in what they consider strict and not strict. They would tell you that you need this and this, and make it sound super serious, and then not care once you got it. And then they'll be super strict on the non-essential items. Bleh.

Ok, back to the plane ride. Pretty uneventful beside all the turbulences we experienced. I think turbulences are what make me super scared of plane rides. And I'm gonna guess that it happens more in the summer... sigh. Fortunately, this time, I get to sit with Joyce the whole ride! This made the ride feel so much shorter......

I watched a fantasy Korean movie (Be With You) on the plane (the only one I can actually understand due to English subtitle. Because the earphone wasn't that great, I couldn't hear any other movies that didn't have subtitles/captions).

It was quite sad.... so I cried a lot in the movie :( But I do recommend it!

And then I tried to set record in Tetris again..... successfully beating the other people on record!

And then there are the meals.

First meal - ssam bap. Basically, they gave us this variety of leaves to wrap bulgogi and rice in. It was pretty good!

And this miso soup came in as a miso cube that they poured hot water in. It then dissolved into miso soup.

Second meal - snack. It was a chicken burrito. Not bad, can't complain.

Last meal - porridge. I don't think it was very good...

And then my first meal back. Some tacos (I was famished. As I am now..)

Oh and when we were waiting for our luggage (which took a long time), it was this decal that I put on my luggage that helped Joyce notice it!

I love this guy! He's so cute! I guess his name is Boss because in another sticker, he said "My name is Boss!"

Ah right, my new acquired favorite character on this trip - Pororo.

Got this from Paris Baguette right after we got our tax refund from Incheon Airport. I was famished. I think that is the theme today.

And then got these cookies as well.

And lastly, people reunited at the airport!

That's it friends! Thus ending our 2.5 weeks of vacation, which really just felt like a dream. Now back to reality, and figuring how to escape the heat while keeping up the walking routine in America....

Ah, lastly, I want to thank my best travel partner - Joyce! I'm so glad that we get to take 2.5 weeks to travel together - no better travel partner! I think our travel style are, for the most part, similar enough that we can do the same thing together. And when our interests are different, we are ok to just do separate things for a while. The most important thing about traveling together is finding someone to travel with who has similar traveling style... whether that's the places you want to visit, things you want to eat, living habits, pickiness, etc. When it's too different, it's really hard to live together for an extended amount of time..... Glad we share the same humor, same living habits, same laidbackness (of course, Joyce is way more laid back than I am), same food interest, and entertaining me on my obscure interest at times. Thank you Joyce!!