December monthly recap

Recently I was quite busy and uninspired to write a new post so I'm bringing this monthly update three weeks late. December was very similar to November with the exception of the winter holiday. I started my holiday on the 23rd of December and ended it on the 8th of January.

Trip to Seoul

On my winter holiday I went to Seoul. I really wanted to see what kind of place it was since I was about to exchange there. I thought it would be very similar to Tokyo but it had a very unique atmosphere that is hard to describe. It was also very tourist friendly and you could get by with only English. Seoul at the time was really cold compared to Tokyo at around -5 degrees Celsius during daytime. I had a hard time staying outside for long periods since I didn't have proper winter clothes.

My favorite part about the visit in Seoul was by far the Korean sauna. As a Finn who likes saunas I had big suspicions about a "hot room" kind of sauna especially after a few disappointing ones in Japan. They had a few different kind of rooms — ice, salt and stone. The stone one was the warmest and my favorite. It was really relaxing and hot, way better than I expected. The sauna facility was really amazing. It was open 24/7, it had a spa, a pc room, a restaurant, saunas and a sleeping area. If I understood correctly it was a popular place to crash for a few nights similar to how capsule hotels are in Japan.

The sauna was in a popular night life district called Itaewon. It had an amazing atmosphere nothing like I've ever seen before. Many of the buildings there were very unique with interesting architecture. It was very fun to just walk around enjoying the brisk air after the sauna looking for a restaurant. Later while looking for a bar I stumbled across a cool fairytale like stone path to some bar. It turned out to be the most amazing bar I have ever visited and it had no entrance fee! It was decorated in a similar sense to the path leading there. It looked like a castle ballroom with some modern night club touches. On the second floor they had all sorts of bar games and it was easy to strike conversations with people. I was very impressed by Itaewon to say the least.

The food in South Korea is also very delicious. I used to hate spicy food but after this visit I have learned to like it. The thing I like the most is how they serve kimchi with almost every meal. I really love kimchi! They have all kinds of wonderful hot soups that are a joy to eat when it's freezing cold outside.

Trip to Kyoto & Osaka

After Seoul I flew to Osaka and spent a few days in there and Kyoto. I really like Osaka. It feels a lot like Tokyo but has a similar rough vibe like Seoul.

I kind of dislike Kyoto since there is just so many tourists. If you decide to visit there I highly suggest going during off-season if you can.

One place I really recommend in this area is the Nara park. It's a huge park with a lot of forest trail with cool statues and shrines. There is also a lot of wild deer you can feed!

New years in Tokyo

I spent the new years eve in Shibuya but it was a very underwhelming experience. There was an absolutely insane amount of people, multiple times that of the Halloween. But since there was no fireworks or any kind of show it felt kind of lame. I guess new years eve is not so big in Japan. However, new years day is cool since temples have small stands that serve all kinds of tasty foods.