Author: travelswithfroggy

Traveling to Osaka…

No problema.

Now that I’m here, and have once again known the taste of peanut butter, life is even better.

There’s a store nearby with affordable groceries, and so much more. Its like the smallest Grocery Outlet combined with the biggest dollartree, combined with a walmart, combined with?????

The hotel itself is a businessman hotel converted into ????

Only 10 bucks a night!!

Living pretty,  my friends

Here’s todays pictures…

Today’s breakfast
The plane was at 10% capacity
That’s about 10 dollars to get into town
Small but have i mentioned that its 10 bucks a night?
Allisa, this one’s for you

Didn’t do much..

Today just took it easy. Went to the post office and took a few walks.

Here’s todays pictures…

This is the coffee shop I’ve been looking for!!
If you read between the lines, this park has no real or imagined significance, and it doesn’t. It is, however, a nice place to sit and have lunch. And that’s what I did.
Kind of foreboding
Hmmmm

You’d imagine since the structure is basically new, I’d be able to go closer

This is the type of market my father would like. Instead of fish and vegetables, blocks of old drill presses and broken grinders

This is the shop I’ve been looking for, actual home made and artisanal stuff. I even bought something
These heart things are all over the shopping areas

I found out…

What would happen if I didn’t have someone to follow off the bus: I got off at the wrong stop. Found this calm beach though, so, winning?

Eventually I got to Amnam park, which was lovely. Lots of cute little dogs running around.

After a late lunch, I went to the *biggest shopping mall in asia!* They’re proud of this, you see. The food court alone is a reason to come here. I spent most of my time looking at the ridiculousness of it all.  The prices aren’t that bad and for a food court the quality was high.

 It’s as delightful as a mall can be, for a while. There’s a driving range, ice rink, rooftop gardens, concert hall, etc.

So I would swear that I’ve been to bigger shopping malls before. It’s nice and everything, but….

After a bit, it was just a mall again. Time for a walk along the Suyoung river. Very well maintained area and lots of exercisers so super safe.

Songdo beach
Songdo beach Skywalk…so fancy
Hey! Another mermaid…
Lots of divers, probably looking for urchin? That water can’t be warm
Typical little resort area with lots of seafood restaurants
Little play area for parents who are afraid to let their kids play in the ocean
The way to Amnam park was this long gangplank type arrangement
Lots of families fishing
If you don’t catch anything you dont have to go home empty-handed. The shops here sell very fresh stuff. Also here there’s toilets, tennis courts, croquet area, all kinds of cool stuff
Time for a coffee break!
Great views of the ocean
Easy walking and so shady. I’d def come here on a sunny day
“Is a hunam being capable of disposal”…Lost a little bit in the translation but I liked it

The modern art is everywhere here
Some type of echinacea?
Its a chicken cutlet, fried with onion gravy, green onions, soup, and pickled radishes. All for about 4.65 usd.
This is common in Japanese places. You pay at the beginning via this machine. That way when you’re done, you can just leave. It’s convenient.
So that other, clearly inferior knockoff Trevi fountain wishes to be this someday

The mall has a boutique grocery store. It had every foreign snack ive ever tried or wanted to try. The selection was RIDICULOUS. I could have spent 200 bucks on snacks
But I settled for 2.oo dollars on these coffee peanuts. My stomach hurts
I forgot to mention the art gallery. it was free

I couldn’t figure out how to get inside the driving range.
For some reason these dinosaur models exist on the rooftop of this mall
Even more inexplicable is the scale model of a pirate ship, complete with parrot and skeleton
This…..this is nice
This is at the OTHER rooftop garden…bc there’s two
Down at the waterfront things are back to normal….public art in a park. Whew
Another Stargate!!!! jk, its actually a bronze by an artist named Lee, called “rising sun”
This onion thing is neat

I call this one “Thunder Chicken, destroyer of men’s souls”

Looooong bus ride…

This was going to be the breakfast of champions but…..mayonnaise 
Haeundae beach
This place reminded me of Hawaii
The Korean/Irish bar you’ve heard so much of
Nice family place

Until I get to Copenhagen, this little mermaid will do

The county has developed this area well, lots of traffic free areas and toilets lol
Dongbaek Park

You know if I ever have to go somewhere and cant just follow everyone off the bus I’m in trouble
You can tell a lot of tourists come here by the number of food stalls
This is an unusual gate bc theres no gods guarding it
Its also an unusual place bc it’s by the ocean, instead of mountains
That red ball is the sun, I think

This completely fake and constructed shrine had a snack bar in it lol
Youre supposed to wash the statue, this achieves something

This isn’t forced perspective, this giant post box is awesome. Mailing postcards from temples is a thing
Had to quit the temple, too crowded
The sign says Vegas, the cheesy light fixture says the most sketchy neighborhood I’ve been in yet, also masquerading as a Chinatown 
So much Russian….also saw 2 Russian hookers I didn’t have the nerve to take a photo of
I’ll admit, there are slightly more Chinese restaurants here than other places
You’ll see that nobody is here…on a busy Saturday…there’s a reason for this
This chiz bif looks intriguing
Another Saturday, another demonstration. I watched for a long time, the police here are absolutely committed to public safety