Life with the Lokeys

Just a little Seoul searching in Korea!

After exploring all the beautiful cherry blossoms in Jinhae and Gyeongju, we headed up to Seoul. Brandon comes to Seoul all the time for work and couldn’t wait to show us this amazing city! We stayed at the Dragon Hill Lodge, which is a military hotel located on Yongsan Army Base. It was perfect for our family. Most of the base has been closed down so I’m not sure how long this hotel will be open. Another great place to stay is the Millennium Seoul Hilton. Brandon stays here when he comes for work and it is in a perfect location to walk around and enjoy everything in the city.

After getting all settled into the hotel, we headed to Vatos Tacos. This is the most famous taco place in Seoul. Everyone I know recommended we eat here! It was so amazing, and the first real tacos I had eaten in almost three years! We ate until we couldn’t eat anymore!

The next morning we headed to my favorite place in all of Seoul to see the cherry blossoms…Lotte World. It’s the world’s largest indoor theme park, and also has an outdoor park called “Magic Island” that is built on an artificial island inside Seokchon Lake. I wish I had been able to get an aerial view of the park because it is absolutely beautiful.

We were so lucky and the cherry blossoms were in full bloom. We were there the first week of April so if you are planning a trip to see the cherry blossoms that is the perfect time of the year.

The great thing about Lotte World is that if you come on a cold or rainy day you can spend all day exploring the indoor part of the park. If you are military you can get 50% off by showing your military ID when you purchase tickets at the entrance. The indoor section is called Adventure, and consists of 4 floors of rides, activities, and food. There is also a hot air balloon ride that will take you to the very top of the park and makes for amazing views of the entire park. All of my boys had so much fun exploring all the rides! My favorite was the carousel!

After exploring most of the indoor area, we headed outside to Magic Island. To get to Magic Island you cross a bridge that is so beautiful especially with all the cherry blossoms in bloom. It also leads to the perfect photo spot overlooking the Lotte World Castle. Magic Island sits right on Seokchon Lake, which is the most beautiful lake in Seoul to walk around and take in the magic of the cherry blossoms. There is also amazing views of Lotte World Tower which is the 5th tallest building in the world and the tallest in all of Korea! I would have loved to go up in it but we ran out of time! See if you can spot it in some of the pictures!

Watching the sunset over the park and the cherry blossoms was so beautiful. Then you watch as the park is all lit up at night! There is also an amazing parade inside the park that is one of the best I have ever seen! All of my boys had the best day exploring Lotte World!

The next morning we got up early to head to the DMZ. Again, this is a place I never thought I would visit. The Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) and Joint Security Area (JSA) stretch for just over a mile on either side of the border between North Korea and South Korea. We decided to book our DMZ tour through the Dragon Hill Lodge, and it was the perfect tour. I learned so much about the Korean War and the history of Korea from our tour guide that I did not know. The tour stopped at several locations along the way. We were also able to go down in the tunnels that separate North and South Korea. You are not allowed to take pictures in the tunnels but at the end you can look through a little hole in the tunnel and see the North. The walk through the tunnels was definitely not an easy walk. It was very long and tight in some places. At the end of the tour, we visited Dorasan Train Station that connects the North and South. It was an amazing day, and my boys loved to learn all about the history. Braydon enjoyed it the most, and he is my son that wanted to go home when the tensions were so high between our countries.

After we returned from our tour, we decided to rest for awhile at the hotel and then head to Myeongdong Market for some food and shopping. If you love Korean beauty products this is definitely the place for you. It is a beauty lovers paradise. One of my sweet friends went to Korea all the time and would always bring me back the most amazing face masks. Myeongdong also has clothing shops, restaurants, cafes, and the most amazing street food. We had to try a little of all the street foods and everything was so delicious! My favorite place was Milky Bee Ice Cream! They have perfect rose shaped ice cream in several different flavors. You have to try one if you are ever in Seoul!

Before visiting Seoul, I was not sure we would have enough to do. Brandon kept telling me what an amazing city it is. He was absolutely right, and there was so much that I didn’t have time to fit in. I need to go back and finish my Seoul bucket list before we leave Okinawa. Seoul now has a piece of my heart!

Back to Bangkok: Day Trip to Ayutthaya

We took a short flight from Phuket back to Bangkok. We had two days left to relax and explore more of Bangkok. We stayed in a different part of the city that was next to all the shopping. We splurged and stayed at the Waldorf Astoria Bangkok. It was an absolutely magnificent hotel. I have always wanted to stay at the Waldorf in NYC so I was so excited to stay here. The hotel was so beautiful and the service was amazing.

We decided to spend the next day shopping around Bangkok. Our first stop was the MBK Center. Inside is a huge market. There are several floors filled with shops of all kinds. Brandon had a custom suit made while we were there. He was so excited because that was the one thing he wanted to get while we were in Thailand. I picked out some beautiful scarfs, and the boys found some neat souvenirs.

There was also a huge mall near our hotel. We had fun looking around in all the stores. I wanted to go in the Louis Vuitton store, but the looks on my boys faces told me maybe next time! I loved all the Christmas decorations!

Finally, on our last day in Thailand we decided to take a day trip up to the ancient ruins of Ayutthaya. Our flight didn’t leave Thailand until 1:45 in the morning so we had the entire day before we had to get to the airport. There are several ways to get to Ayutthaya. We decided to just hire a taxi to take us up there and then drop us off at the airport on our way back. Our taxi driver was very knowledgeable about the different temples in Ayutthaya. He was the perfect tour guide for our trip there.

The UNESCO World Heritage Site of Ayutthaya is about 70 km north of Bangkok. Founded in 1351, Ayutthaya is the old capitol of the Kingdom of Siam. It was once an important trade center between China and India. In 1767, it was destroyed by the Burmese Army. It was once home to over 400 beautiful temples. Today there are around 10 temples left. You have to drive around the city to visit the different temples. You cannot just walk from temple to temple. Our taxi driver was very familiar with all the temples and the order in which we should visit them.

The first temple we visited was my favorite, Wat Chai Wattanaram. It was a magnificent temple situated on the banks of the Chao Phraya River. Inside you will find the row of Buddha statues that were beheaded by the Burmese Army in 1767.

The next temple we visited was Wat Lokkayasutharam. The highlight of this temple is the huge Reclining Buddha. In front of the Buddha is a small alter where visitors can make offerings. There are a few small shops near the temple where you can buy flowers from the Thai ladies to give as an offering. You are also given little pieces of gold leaf by the local ladies to give as an offering. It was neat to experience this different culture.

Next we visited Wat Mahathat. It is one of the most famous temples because of the Buddha head entwined in the roots of an old tree. We had fun seeing who could find the tree in the temple first. I believe the boys were the first to find it!

The boys were starting to get tired so we visited one last temple and as we were walking to the temple we were greeted with elephants just walking down the streets of Ayutthaya!

It turned out to be the perfect ending to an amazing trip to Thailand. We headed back to the airport for our late night flight. I hope that one day you have a chance to visit this amazing country. I never imagined in my wildest dreams I would have had this experience!

Phuket and the Phang Nga Elephant Park

We took the ferry from the Phi Phi Islands to Phuket. It took about 2 hours to reach Phuket. Once we got to the pier we grabbed a taxi that took us to our hotel. We stayed at the Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort and Spa. It was an absolutely beautiful resort. This was Brandon’s favorite place we stayed on our trip. The resort is on Karon Beach which is one of the most beautiful in Phuket. We were happy to just hang out at the resort the rest of the day.

The next day was the highlight of the trip for my family. We could not wait to visit the elephant park. I did a lot of research before we left for Thailand to find a park that treated their elephants in a very ethical and caring way. The Phang Nga Elephant Park was so amazing. There are two different experiences you can book. They offer a half day elephant care experience and a family elephant experience. We chose the family experience because of Colt’s age, and it turned out to be just exactly what we were hoping for.

It took about 2 hours to get to the park from Phuket. You can also get there from Krabi. The park opened in 2015 so it is a fairly new park. In Thailand, families will own their own elephants. A mahout is an elephant keeper. As a boy, a mahout, is assigned an elephant by his family. The bond between the boy and his elephant remains throughout their lives. The mahout must look after and care for his elephant. The mahouts at this park lived there with their elephants. It was neat to learn about the history of the Asian elephants in Thailand.

As soon as we arrived at the park, we were assigned to a volunteer that works at the park. The volunteers come from all over the world to work here. Our volunteer’s name was Amy, and she was from England. She assigned us to our very own elephant to care for while we were there. Our elephant was one of the most beautiful in the park.

After we were assigned our elephant, it was time for her snack. We feed her bananas and pineapples. She loved them so much! I couldn’t believe she could just scoop up an entire pineapple and eat the whole thing. It was amazing to watch!

After feeding our elephant her snack, she went to rest and we went over for drinks and painting. We were given a drink to try that comes from a flower. You can add a little lime to it and it changes the color and flavor. Then the boys were able to paint their own elephant magnets to take home with them to remember their day with the elephants!

After our elephant rested, it was time for her bath. We were so excited to get in the water and scrub our elephant. I was a little nervous to get it with this majestic creature. Colt was also a little nervous about this so he just watched from the bank. Our elephant was so gentle with us, and she loved when we scrubbed around her ears. If she wanted you off at any time, she would just slowly dump you to the side into the water.

After her bath, she went back to rest and we washed up in their showers and changed clothes. We were then given a delicious Thai lunch. It was so good and there was so much food!

The Phang Nga Elephant park was the most amazing experience. If you ever visit Thailand, I highly recommend this beautiful elephant park. I know my grandmother was smiling down on us that day! I definitely felt like Patsy Bea! It was the perfect family experience!

Cherry Blossoms and Sunflowers

Tis the season for cherry blossoms and sunflowers here in Okinawa! I just absolutely love this time of the year in Okinawa. The beautiful flowers begin to bloom all over the island. The Japanese have a festival for each flower as soon as they are in bloom.

Every year I have lived in Okinawa, I have visited a different cherry blossom festival. The last two years I visited Nakijin Castle and Nago Castle Park. This year we decided to view the cherry blossoms at Mt. Yaedake. It was so beautiful. We walked down the mountain through a trail of cherry blossoms!

The beautiful sunflowers also bloom all over the island. My favorite field is the one in Kitanakagusuku. I have visited this place every year. This year when I went to visit the sunflower field, I was interviewed by the Japanese news. We had a little bit of a hard time communicating because my Japanese is not very good especially with my Texas accent.

I love a beautiful sundress especially when visiting a field of flowers. I found this cute pink sundress at Shein, which has lots of cute dresses at very reasonable prices. I thought the pink would be perfect for a visit to the cherry blossoms this year! My white sundress I have had for years but I will link some similar ones to this post. And finally, my new favorite sunhat for Spring. I found it on Etsy, and you can personalize it with your favorite saying!

I hope that you find a beautiful field full of flowers to visit this Spring!

Shop the Look ~ Pink Sun Dress ~ White Sun Dress ~ Hello Sunshine Sun Hat 

ISLAND HOPPING IN THE PHI PHI ISLANDS

After spending several beautiful days on Railay Beach, we headed for the Phi Phi Islands! I couldn’t wait to explore these islands that I had heard so much about. To get to the Phi Phi Islands, we decided to take the ferry. I was able to book the ferry tickets the day before from the same boat stand that is on Railay Beach. The ferry from Railay to Phi Phi was 400 bhat per person and leaves at 9:45 am. It is a little tricky to get to the ferry. The hotel will bring your luggage down to the long tail boats and then the long tail boat will dock right up next to the big ferry for you to climb aboard. Once again, I do not recommend bringing nice luggage as it will be in the sand and can get wet from the water.

The ferry ride from Railay to Phi Phi took about 1 hour 45 minutes. The ferry was nice and big enough to rest on the way to the Phi Phi Islands. The ferry docked at Tonsai Pier, and our hotel was there waiting to pick us up. We had to take another long tail boat to reach the hotel. The Pier was nice and there were several little shops and restaurants lining the street. In 2004, a Tsunami completely destroyed the Phi Phi Islands. Everything is now rebuilt and looks amazing. I can’t even imagine what it must have been like when the Tsunami hit. We knew we would be taking the ferry back to Phuket when we left so we went ahead and bought our tickets before we left the pier. The tickets for the ferry from Phi Phi to Phuket were 350 bhat each.

We stayed at the Phi Phi Island Village Beach Resort, and I highly recommend this hotel. It was my favorite of all the places we visited. From the minute we checked in to the minute we left the service was absolutely amazing. As soon as we arrived at the hotel, we were greeted with the most amazing pineapple drinks and cookies while we waited to get checked in.

We stayed in the two bedroom villa with a private pool. This was the highlight of the trip for Colt because he could swim all day! The resort was so beautiful and smelled so good with all the flowers along the paths of the hotel. Our villa was up on the hillside and there was a cart that would come and pick us up and take us anywhere we needed to go in the resort.

After swimming in the pool, we decided to check out the little village right outside the hotel. There is just a single street lined with a few souvenir shops and restaurants. It started to rain that evening so we decided to just order room service.

That night it rained and the wind picked up and I was so afraid we would not be able to take a long tail boat tour around the Phi Phi Islands. However, after breakfast the rain started to slow down and we were able to hire a long tail boat through the hotel. It was about $70 to book a private long tail boat that would take us on a tour around Phi Phi Don and Phi Phi Ley. It turned out to be the most amazing day! Our first stop was to Pileh Lagoon, which is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been. The boys snorkeled and jumped on and off the boat.

Our next stop was to the famous Maya Bay. This beach was made famous because the movie “The Beach” with Leonardo DiCaprio was filmed here. However, the beach has been closed for tourism since June of 2018. It will remain closed until the natural resources return to normal. Maya Bay is a stunningly beautiful bay with high cliffs on three sides. The whole bay is one big reef. We were able to drive by the beach and to snorkel in the bay. It was so beautiful and filled with little colorful fish.

Our last stop was to Monkey Beach. This beach had the most beautiful turquoise water. The monkeys on this beach can be aggressive so you are not suppose to get too close to them. They will bite and if you get bit you have to get rounds of rabies shots. I warned the boys to not even think about getting too close to these monkeys. We watched as one man bent down to get a picture with a monkey and it jumped on his arm and bit him. I couldn’t believe it.

We had the most amazing day touring the Phi Phi Islands! If you ever come to Thailand you must visit these islands.