Tag Archives: Travel

Plane porthole

After Canada… more travel

It was a whirlwind after leaving the Great White North, with a stop back in Vermont for a recap visit with friends and an amazing concert featuring Trombone Shorty and Gary Clark, Jr.

Then on to Boston to visit other friends and attend an “Off The Eaten Path” food and history tour of the North End (read my review here) & 4th of July Fireworks…

A few days in Philadelphia/NJ area to clean out our storage space in prep for leaving for Casablanca, then back to Baltimore.

We stayed with family and did our own little Charm City tour with stops at the legendary Cafe Hon, and Miss Shirley’s.

Then we headed back to Cayman for a little over a week to visit our old stomping ground… and even more catch-ups with old friends.  And a massive Aladdin-themed cake done by a dear friend and the staff of the Ritz-Carlton.

Aladdin-themed cake

Aladdin-themed cake

Upon returning to Baltimore, we settled in for the get-set-for-Casablanca segment by getting the pets cleared to fly and sorting through Every-Single-Thing-We-Now-Own-On-The-Planet in the basement of my folks’ place.

Ahead of us was the task of getting the USDA clearance up in Robbinsville, NJ and then waiting until the 11th…

Except for one small thing…

Bibimbap. Photo by Jennifer

We’re here…

So let’s get this out of the way first and foremost…

There is no way possible in which the Suji-gu area of South Korea is anything like Cayman.  A week in the USA did nothing to prepare me for the culture shock of coming from a Caribbean island to a major suburb of a major city.  And we haven’t even gone into the city yet…

Yes, really.

During the plane ride I decided to be a little adventurous…

Bibimbap. Photo by Jennifer

Bibimbap. Photo by Jennifer

Korean Air Bibimbap directions.  Photo by Jennifer

Korean Air Bibimbap directions. Photo by Jennifer

Wasn’t too bad and the instructions card really helped.

Korean Air was great, except for feeding us at weird times.  So that when we got off the plane on Monday evening, we were hungry and tired.

Relief was nowhere to be found as we were the last to arrive and others were waiting for us.  So it was a dash to quarantine, where all of Jennifer’s hard work paid off and both of the pets arrived safely and healthy, if not a little worse for wear like their owners.

Gigi & Rooney are okay

Gigi & Rooney are okay

Jennifer & Rooney

Jennifer & Rooney outside the airport

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On the bus to the apartment

The first full day started early with a bus to the school and a quick tour followed by a trip to E-Mart Trader (like CostCo, which we will visit on Saturday) and E-Mart (dept store) for necessities.

Wine @ E-Mart Traders

Wine @ E-Mart Traders

E-Mart Traders

E-Mart Traders

By the time we made it back home, we had started to get silly from not eating enough, so we cruised around the neighborhood…

Fresh market

Fresh market

Street food: Dim sum

Street food: Dim sum

Tomorrow (Weds) I have a free morning and will meet Jenn back at the school for a BBQ.  I think.

 

Waking up in Philly

Whenever we travel out bodies go thru various processes to get things resynced. Not just time change biorhythmic stuff because of daylight but also because the food we eat has different particulates. The water is processed differently in different places and that’s why bagels from the Mid-Atlantic taste better than bagels anywhere else, fwiw.

It usually takes a day or three for all the changes to be absorbed and processed. In the meantime it’s no fun being like an illegal alien, amIright?

Even thru it all, I’m looking forward to making myself a little ill from all the different yet familiar foods here in Philadelphia. And not just the cheesesteaks, but more the small things that make it all the more comforting.

Termini Bakery, here I come.