We're Baaaaaack! Amazing times at the Shilla Hotel in Seoul and Exploring Tokyo!

Oh my goodness!!  I LOOOOOOOVE KOREA AND JAPAN!!  What a wonderful way to begin 2011 :)


We started our trip in Seoul at our fave hotel, The Shilla.  After working straight through the holidays, we wanted to start our trip with some uber relaxation and there is no better place in Seoul than The Shilla to do this.  It has excellent, EXCELLENT service, an awesome gym, yummy restaurants and an extensive wine list at the lounge, amazing outdoor pool to enjoy in the summer  and THE BEST sauna and Korean Bath amenities EVER (Makoto and I are huge hydrotherapy fans and basically live in the pool/gym/sauna/steam room every time we stay here).  We went out our first night in Seoul to meet up with friends but after that, we spent the next few days relaxing, eating yummy food and visiting our fave spots in Seoul.

Entrance to gym/sauna at The Shilla:


Thank goodness we took the time to decompress because...

TOKYO IS CRAAAAAAAAZY!!  Since it was my first time in Tokyo, Makoto was my wonderful tour guide and we spent the week checking out all the major sites (Shinjuku, Harajuku, Shibuya, Imperial Palace, Tokyo Tower, Roponggi, Tsukiji Fish Market (the best sashimi I've ever had), Ginza, Asakusa, etc) which were insane, beautiful and completely inspiring.  I can't get over how clean and organized such an intense city can be. 

And...of course...THE SHOPPING.  Oh. My. Goodness.  I was in shopping heaven.  I shopped.....

and shopped....



and shopped...



and Makoto was so patient...until he finally had a mini (much understood) freak-out on me and reminded me that we had bought another two pieces of luggage to carry all of my treasures back home in :) hehehe.


We were also so lucky to be there during the Sumo Tournament.  Even if you know nothing about sumo, you quickly become a fan.  They still strictly follow all the interesting rituals and traditions of the game, the rules are easy to follow and you can feel the love that everyone has for the Sumo wrestlers (who are considered national heroes).

Makoto eating Chanko Nabe (Sumo Soup):

Even though we were on holidays, we still tried to keep ourselves as balanced as possible.  We knew we'd be doing a lot of this (how can you resist fresh draught beer and "highballs" which are whiskey/soda/lemon at almost every snack bar/cafe/restaurant/izakaya in both cities):


So we still made sure to hit the gym, drink lots of water/green tea and get lots of good sleep in.  One thing we noticed in both cities is that there is such an extreme in the food.  It's either completely healthy, natural and nutritious if you choose to eat traditional Korean/Japanese (Korean soups/ban chan, Japanese nabe mono/sushi/sashimi, barley/green tea) food or completely synthetic, fried and MSG laden (ramen, curry rice, aspartame in almost everything sweet...especially beverages in Japan).  We definitely gravitated towards more traditionally prepared foods but had fun trying everything!|



Also, one thing we always splurge on whether at home or away are massages.  We were in massage heaven in both Seoul and Tokyo but I must say that Ariran Spa in Shinjuku was AAAAH-mazing!  They incorporate both Swedish and Shiatsu massage techniques and finish every treatment with layering hot towels over your body then wrapping you up in a thermal blanket while they gently knead your muscles.  To. Die. For.


I've been up since the crack of dawn (forgot to take my melatonin last night!!) so I did laundry (5 loads) and am looking through all my souvenirs and pics.  I heart Seoul and Tokyo forever and caaaaaan't wait to go back!!!



Now...time to plan the next trip!!!  Spain?  South of France?

Getting Back in the Groove After Vacationing in South Beach, Miami

We spent this past weekend in South Beach, Miami for a quick relaxing weekend.  WOW....people in Miami are BUFF.  I guess that's what happens when you can be in your bikini year round!

One thing I loooooooooooove about being on vacation is not having to cook.  We were lucky to be travelling with our friend who's a frequent flyer so we had all access to the members lounge at our hotel.  Makoto and I had no shame....we were there numerous times a day to gorge on their daily breakfast/lunch/dinner/cocktails & cordial presentations.....pain au chocolat, waldorf salad, tuna tartare, grouper with roasted vegetables and berry mousse galore.  I was in heaven.

Then we came home and the last thing I felt like doing was cooking dinner.  We went to our usual fave Korean restaurant for dinner then forced ourselves to go grocery shopping.  BEST thing we could have done.  We knew that we wouldn't want to make any involved recipes so we grabbed: