Year Two in Korea Commence!

I am back for one more year in Korea! Kind of hard to believe. I've had a bit of time to get back into the swing of things after vacation. But I must admit that upon arriving back here, I was a little bewildered why I had indeed decided to renew my contract. It's not like this job is too hard or too stressful, and it's not that I don't enjoy the country. I can't exactly explain what it was (and still sometimes is) that makes me feel this way, but I'll give it a try anyway. Part of it is because it can be exhausting to be a foreigner in Korea. Not so much because it's hard to communicate, though that applies on occasion, or isn't a nice place to live, but mostly because it isn't easy being stared at with a combination of fear, uncertainty and bewilderment. I just get so frustrated by the lack of diversity in this country and the ignorance that lends itself to.
But I think the biggest source of strife stems from the job usually feeling meaningless; am I really making a difference? do the kids even care? what am I really doing here? But even though it isn't a life altering, world changing kind of job (which I don't honestly think I'm cut out for), it really is a good gig. Every job has its down points, and I'm lucky enough to have one that had more good than bad. And it also helped that a student recently told me he didn't enjoy English, but now that I'm his teacher he loves it and really wants to learn English. So even if I can't always see it, I really am doing something positive here.
I'm sure I will have more ups and downs throughout this second year, occasionally wondering just what the hell was I thinking. But happily I am now back in a good place, and want to focus my attention on developing my friendships and doing things that bring me joy. So since I've been back I've been to many a delightful dinner with friends and caught up on people's lives and vacation adventures.

And this past weekend I joined (and met some new) friends for a photo scavenger hunt as part of the Daegu Compass's Sharing Life Festival. I was thoroughly impressed with how organized the festival was. It was a really impressive shindig and so much fun. My team wasn't hell bent on winning the scavenger hunt, so we just had a good time strolling around the beautiful park it was at. It is right by downtown, but I hadn't been to it yet. After the scavenger hunt, we grabbed some dinner. I was so happy to be with people who actually wanted to get sushi! It was a scrumptious meal, and we got our food for a good deal. We then headed back to the festival for the reveal of the winners... not surprisingly, we weren't among the top three. Then the festival concluded with some Holi Hai action as we through color powder and color paint all over each other. It was so much fun, especially with the DJ playing some quality tunes, many of which were by Pitbull! Always a good time. To cap the evening off, we headed downtown, like colorful Easter eggs, for some drinks. It was a fun weekend!

Bali

Well this has been a long time coming! During my summer vacation I was also able to visit the gorgeous Indonesian island, Bali. It was such an interesting place with a beautiful mixture of sandy beaches and mountainous rice paddies. And the weather was perfect. The temperature was comfortably warm, and the sky was a piercing blue occasionally dotted with some puffy white clouds. The people were very friendly and the food was scrumptious!

Rice paddies

GETTING THERE
I booked my flight via Kayak, opting for the cheapest flight available. Lucky me, it turned out to be an executive class seat! So I was really pumped for that. I have always wanted to fly in the privileged section, so it was exciting to get a seat for the best deal available (that I found). But it wasn't without its downfalls... A 6 hour flight from Osaka to Malaysia, a 6 hour layover, and another 6 hour flight from Malaysia to Bali were all in store. But then luck struck again. The flight was overbooked, so Malaysian Air put me on a direct flight via Garuda Indonesia that left at the same time I would have originally flown out. So my travel time was just a third of the originally scheduled time. And it was great, because Garuda Indonesia offers inflight visa service, so I was able to get my visa right on the plane. No waiting in the long line for my visa upon arriving at the airport. I got through customs and out of the airport so quickly. And the flight itself was very comfortable. I drank champagne and lounged in the very comfortable seat. I also watched a few movies. It was a really nice flight. I wish I could fly executive class all the time!

Kuta Beach Sunset

KUTA
Since I arrived in Bail a day earlier than I anticipated, I had to frantically book a hotel once I arrived around 6 p.m. (on Sunday, August 11) I was so happy to learn that the airport offered free Wifi. Thank God for technology! I searched, found a booked a hotel on my iPod for a really good deal. I was a little panicked when the booking fell through the first time, but I was able to get it eventually. I started my tour around Bali in Kuta. It is conveniently close to the airport and one of the cheapest areas to stay. I left the airport grounds to find a taxi, because I wasn't about to get ripped off. The third taxi I hailed outside agreed to the meter and took me to my hotel. He was a nice guy and was jamming out to some reggae music. It was a fun, short ride. And about a tenth of the price it would have been jacked up to had I gotten one straight from the airport. Once at my hotel I ventured out for some food and after got a massage. I got a full body massage, a cream bath (basically a head massage with cream), a facial and a pedicure all for roughly $30. Talk about a great, relaxing deal. It was the perfect end to an evening of traveling.
The next day I changed to my originally booked hotel, which was sadly not as nice as the last minute one I found. But it was cheaper yet, so can't really complain. I spent most of the day on the beach, reading and sun bathing until sunset. That night I went to the large shopping area in Kuta and had dinner at Tony Roma's. I felt a little lame going for an American restaurant, but after living in Korea for a year, it had been a long time since I had steak and ribs. And the food was delicious, so it was worth it. Later in the night I checked out some of the clubs, but felt a bit odd heading out alone. So my night ended fairly early, which was fine by me. Tuesday I didn't do much else. I did a little shopping and chilled on the beach again. And a sucker for massages, I went for a four-in-one body massage that included hot stones and Thai and Balinese techniques.It was a decent massage, but my poor masseuse kept falling asleep. I felt bad for the poor lady, but I was also a little bummed that my massage was not very good. I headed home for the night after and rested up in preparation for heading out the next day.

Pemuteran

PEMUTERAN
Wednesday afternoon after roaming around Kuta, I was picked up to head to my bungalow in Pemuteran in the northwest of Bali. Along the way, my driver stopped at a few hot spots to let me explore popular sights in Bali. We went to Lake Batur and he took me to a really beautiful waterfall. It was a pleasant drive with great views of the numerous rice paddies along the way. I did miss some of the sights on the drive though, because I kept being lulled back into sleep. But to be fair, the trip took five hours.
Pemuteran was definitely my favorite spot on the trip! I would have loved to have spent more time there. The beach was absolutely stunning, and it was such a relaxing area. I really enjoyed that there were large stretched of soft sand, both black and light brown. And the beaches have a backdrop of lush vegetation and some nice, rounded mountains. It was such a stunning juxtaposition. The area reminded me of Kauai.
I arrived in Pemuteran around 5 p.m. Wednesday, so I just went to the beach for a bit and had some dinner. Thursday I spent the first half of the day doing two dives at nearby Menganjan Island. The dives were great! I went on a boat out to the island with a family of five (from France) and a couple (from Italy), but they all went snorkeling. So it was just me and the instructor doing the dives. Nice and exclusive. The sites were both incredible. I saw so many different creatures of all shapes, sizes and colors. I was a little nervous on my first dive of the day, as it was only the fifth one I have ever done. But I got back into the groove about halfway in and I was really able to enjoy the rest of my time exploring the underwater world. After the excursion to Menganjan we returned to Pemuteran and I headed for another day of reading and sunbathing on the beach. I had dinner at one of the resorts on the beach, which served up some delicious Greek inspired dishes. Everything I ate was so delicious. Friday morning I again spent my time lounging on the beach before leaving a bit after noon for Ubud. It was such a relaxing way to end my time on the northwest side.

Independence Day Celebration

UBUD
It was about a three hour drive to get to Ubud, but I wouldn't have minded if it took a little longer. My driver was intent on getting us to our destination as fast as he possibly could. He zipped around the curvy roads that wound up and down through the inland mountains and rice paddies. I was a little nervous, but happily arrived at in Ubud safely. I didn't do much after arriving besides walking around the area near my bungalow, and of course, grabbing some dinner. But on my way back to my accommodation, I stumbled across a celebration for Indonesia's Independence Day. There was a school band and lots of groups of students in the festivities. And several military people. I didn't understand all of the pomp and circumstance, but it was interesting to watch. After some singing and once it started to get dark, many of the spectators and those involved in the even set fire to torches. They then marched down the street with them to conclude the festivities.
On Saturday morning, I joined in with a cooking class, Paon Bali. We started with a quick tour of the market, learn ing about the offerings given each morning and night as well as the ingredients we would be using in our dishes. After we went to some rice fields where we learned a bit about the process of growing rice in Bali. Finally we went to the home of the incredibly sweet couple who ran the cooking class. The husband gave us a brief explanation about traditional Balinese homes, which have special rooms built in upon each cardinal point. One of the most interesting things he told us was that the placenta of each child born into the family is buried in front of the main house. After gaining some new knowledge, we were taken to the kitchen area to get our cooking on. We made an absolute feast: vegetable soup, chicken coconut curry, chicken satay, gado gado (mixed vegetables with peanut sauce), snake bean salad, steamed fish in banana leaves, deep fried tempeh salad and banana and jackfruit in palm sugar for dessert. Everything tasted incredible and was so much fun to make. There were 16 of us students, and we took turns working with partners for the dishes, alternating who took the lead. The cooking class was one of the most enjoyable experiences I had in Bali. I would highly recommend it to anyone! Later that afternoon I wondered around the downtown area and had a delicious carne asada burrito at a little Mexican restaurant. It was so much better than any Mexican food Korea tries to offer. The home-made tortilla alone impressed me, but the guacamole, pico de gallo and meat made it even more delicious. It reminded me a bit of a Chipotle style burrito, but with a bit more of an authentic taste. I also had a really tasty watermelon mojito with real lime and mint! Another exciting thing to see. I ended the night watching a fire dance. A group of maybe 30 men sat in a circle chanting while two women and a few other characters danced around a fire structure that was much like a really large candlestick.
Sunday I went on a long trip to the east side of the island, leaving at 9 a.m. and returning around 6 p.m. I saw Goa Gajah (Elephant Cave), which was so lush and gorgeous. The elephant cave itself wasn't so impressive, but the surrounding forest was beautiful. I then headed to Semarapura (aka Klungkung) for a little history sightseeing. I went to Kertha Gosa (The Hall of Justice), which had a small, but interesting museum highlighting Bali's history. Next I headed up to Sideman for a gorgeous drive through some more rice paddies. After was Tirta Gangga, the floating palace. It was really cool and had some swimming pools, which sadly I did not swim in. Then I finally got all the way to the east-coast city of Amed. The beach there was also lovely, but it was a really quiet area. It would have been a better place to stay and relax at rather than just a day trip, but I'm still happy I saw it. Then came the long journey back, but this time it was along the coast. On the way back traffic was insanely backed up, apparently from cremation ceremonies taking place. It took about an hour more than it would have without traffic, but I finally got back to Ubud after a stop over at the unimpressive sea temple Pura Musceti.
Monday I biked around Ubud and headed to the Sacred Monkey Forest. It was another highlight of the trip. The monkeys were so adorable and the forest itself was incredible. It was entertaining to watch the monkeys interacting with the other people visiting their home, and of course interacting with each other. The trees were really tall and the area was so green. On my way out of the park, I carried my empty water bottle with aims of throwing it in the trash. I attracted one little monkey's attention, and it ran up to me looking at the bottle with such longing. He put his little hand on my for support, but thankfully didn't climb all over me! I was really surprised at how soft his hands were; it was actually a nice touch. But I found a trashcan soon after, and once I ditched the bottle, the monkey ditched me. I spent the rest of the day reading in one of the coffee shops. I happened to stumble across one that was putting on a coffee making competition for its employees. It was interesting to watch them try to make the prize winning cup of Joe. I finished up the day with another meal at the Mexican restaurant (this time shrimp tacos, yum!) and then got a ride to the airport.

Flight Delay Compensation!

GETTING AWAY
Remember my great luck getting to Bali and the roughly 12 hours of travel time I saved? Well that was all wiped away by the terrible luck I had getting home. I had a 19 hour delay, due to technical malfunctions with the airplane. But better to be delayed and have a functioning plane, then go up in a compromised one.I got to the airport around 9 p.m., which gave me plenty of time to check in and wait for my flight, which was scheduled to leave at 12:25 a.m. I kept checking to see which gate we needed, but it wasn't listed, so I started getting suspicious. Sure enough, at 11:50 p.m. it was announced that our flight was delayed until 3 a.m. As a compensation, the airline gave us free meal vouchers. So I went and grabbed one of the meals, and settled in next to an outlet in the restaurant. I was able to pass the time by fairly quickly, because I watched Gladiator on my iPod. So 3 a.m. finally rolled around and we were let into the waiting area by the gate of our plane. But it was to no avail! The delay kept getting longer and longer, pushed back in hour increments. I was really fortunate to have a few other English speakers on the same flight--all teachers in Korea-- so we played some card games and chatted to help pass the time. And it really helped me to not freak out too much. Had I been alone with no one to talk to about the situation, I would surely have been much more miserable. We finally boarded at 6:30 a.m. and started rolling out a bit after 7 a.m., but our hopes were quickly dashed. The plane rolled right back into the gate area and technicians boarded to check it out. About 30 minutes later we had to get off of the plane, and were taken to a nearby hotel to get some food and rest. One of the girls, Heather, and I ended up getting a room together, which turned out to be a fun idea. We didn't really get much sleep, but we watched TV and chatted. It was good fun and we laughed quite a bit. We left the hotel around 4 p.m., went back to the airport and waited again. We finally got on a new plane and left Bali about 7 p.m.
The flight was miserable. I think I got a bit of a fever from lack of sleep and perhaps some bad reaction to the food we had at the hotel. I felt like I might puke the first half of the flight, and even though I was wrapped up with four blankets, I was freezing. Thankfully the flight was rather empty, so I was able to lay out across a middle aisle and get some sleep. The turbulence was really bad the whole time, which wasn't a comfort after learning the first plane had malfunctions in the cockpit. But I did my best to get as much sleep as I could. We got to Korea just before 3 a.m. Wednesday (originally scheduled to arrive at 8 a.m. Tuesday), and I felt a little better from the rest. I had to wait until 6:20 a.m. to catch the four-hour bus home to Daegu. I was so relieved once I finally arrived home. It was such a journey getting back, but I made it safely. Plus we got 200,000 won back from Garuda Indonesia for the flight back, which was a nice touch. And I have always wondered what it would be like to have a long enough delay to warrant the airline putting me up in a hotel. But now that I know, I don't need that adventure again! Even though my trip ended with such frustration, I absolutely loved Bali and am so happy I was able to visit.

Japan

I really loved Japan! The people were so friendly and helpful. And the food was delicious. I was lucky enough to visit several places: Tokyo, Hiroshima, Miyajima, Kyoto and Osaka.

Imperial Palace

TOKYO
I started in Tokyo, and was able to visit Melissa, my amazing friend who I interned with in Italy. It was so wonderful to catch up with her, and I really enjoyed meeting the other interns at the Tokyo Camp Adventure site. I was able to stay in the hotel with her, so it was a really comfortable and affordable sleep! The hotel, New Sanno, was so nice. The bed was ridiculously comfortable and the staff was some of the best. On Friday while the girls were at work, I meandered around Shibuya district, Yoyogi Park and Hirajuku. I had a delicious doner kebab in Shibuya (way better than any kebab offerings Korea has) and did a little shopping at H&M. After that I relaxed and people watched on a bench in Yoyogi Park. Then I walked around Hirajuku for a bit and was able to see some of the girls dressed up in their famous, crazy fashions. Sadly I did not get a picture with or of any of them!
Friday night we headed out to an English style pub that was having a sale of 50 percent off all drinks for the entire day. It was amazing! We got ourselves a few drinks there, and then headed to Greenland, a bar with a roughly 10 dollar cover for all you can drink until 11 p.m. And since we arrived 15 til 9 p.m., we certainly got our money`s worth! The odd thing about bars in Japan is that dancing is technically forbidden in establishments, and signs warning you not to dance dress the walls. But that did nothing to stop us or other patrons in the bar, and we had a great time dancing away. We left Greenland, grabbed some snacks at a convenie and were going to head home, but the owner of a bar nearby called Joker`s enticed us in to his joint with a free drink. We ended up getting two drinks free and some tasty popcorn, which I ate at the bar in addition to my convenie sandwich. An old man next to me kept tapping my shoulder, pointing to my sandwich and laughing. He found it absurd (as did I) that I was eating the sandwich in the bar. But the bar owner encouraged me to take it in when he offered the free drink, probably fearing that had I stayed outside to finish it, I never would have made it into the bar at all. We finally got away from the bar and headed back to the hotel, where we promptly fell asleep after such an eventful evening.
On Saturday we slept in late. We eventually headed to the famous fish market, grabbing lunch at an Italian restaurant along the way. Sadly once we finally got to the fish market, everything was shut down and packed up. So we then headed to the Imperial Palace. The grounds were so beautiful as were the buildings. It was such a nice little area, but sadly we only had about 30 minutes to explore. I could have gone for a little more time, but was happy that we were able to see it none the less. That night Melissa and I had dinner at a ramen restaurant. It was so good! We both got the vegetable ramen and shared a thing of gyoza. Later in the night we joined some of the other girls for a drink in the hotel bar. The staff were so sweet and gave us nachos and a cheesecake! It was delicious. We then headed back to Roppongi for another night on the town. We danced in another `no dancing allowed` bar for most of the night. After working up such a sweat, we headed to a nearby kebab stand to refuel. The kebab was delicious and had lots of meat, but was not quite as good as the one I had in Shibuya. And that was pretty much the end of our night!
Sunday we slept in as long as we could, and the headed down to the hotel`s brunch. Luckily, one of the children the girls work with was able to get us into the 25 dollar brunch for free. It was so good. Everything was ridiculously delicious. I ate so much food, I can`t even remember it all! The highlights were the fresh fruit, cheese, champagne, seafood and desserts. It was a real treat, and certainly would have been worth the price. After doing a quick load of laundry, it was time for me to say goodbye. I was so sad to leave! It was such a delight being able to spend time with Melissa again. And I really loved all the other girls who I met as well. Everyone was so nice and such fun to hang out with.
I was a fool and didn`t exchange my Japan Rail Pass before trying to leave. So I spent a good two hours waiting in (the wrong, then the right) line to exchange my pass and then get my reserved seat for the train to Hiroshima. I was so tired from getting such little sleep the night before, and stressed out that I was going to miss my check in window for my next hostel. Once I finally got my ticket (only the train from Shin-Osaka to Hiroshima had any seats left to reserve) I burst into tears. At that point emotions were just all over the place, and try as I might I couldn`t collect myself for a good hour, crying on and off. When I got on the first train, I was so sad to have to stand; it was a 3 hour journey from Tokyo to Shin-Osaka. But after about 20 minutes into the ride, a sweet Japanese man showed me an open seat and encouraged me to sit down. I was so relieved to be able to sit there for the length of the journey. And I was able to use another kind Japanese man`s phone to call my hostel and let them know I was going to be late. So it all worked out and I was finally able to relax. After getting to Shin-Osaka, I transferred to another 2 hour train to get me to Hiroshima. Adding in the lines for tickets, it took me about 7.5 hours to get from Tokyo to Hiroshima. I was so exhausted by the time I arrived, but so happy to be able to get in to the hostel with no probably. I dropped off my stuff, took a quick journey to 7 Eleven to refuel and then headed to bed.

A-bomb Dome

HIROSHIMA
Hiroshima was a really great city, and I took advantage of its proximity to Miyajima Island. The island was definitely worth a day trip. It is best known for its Toori Gate that appears to be floating at high tide. Sadly, the tide was low the whole time I was there, so I didn't get to see the floating effect. But it was fine, because I was able to walk around the gate on the beach and check it out from a much closer vantage point. I spent the day walking around the island and checking out the various temples and buildings. My favorite was the five-tiered pagoda. The island is also known for its deer, and for good reason! They were everywhere. And not at all concerned about the people milling about. The deer were actually quite aggressive if you had anything they wanted, namely food. They would walk up to someone and persistently try to snatch it from them. I did my eating inside a restaurant, so I happily did not have to battle a deer for my meal. I had some oysters, which are popular in the area. They were grilled and very tasty.
In Hiroshima, I visited the A-bomb Dome and Memorial Peace Park. I happened to be there on the anniversary of the bomb drop, so it was a really interesting experience. I just kept thinking that if I had been there 68 years ago, I would likely have been killed. It was surreal. There were several booths and activities happening to commemorate the anniversary. I walked on a strip of cloth with a dye on my feet for a group collecting footprints. And I visited the museum, which was really informative. It had a good collection of pictures, artifacts and replications of the bombing. Some of it was hard to see, especially the pictures of people with their flesh burned off and their bodies mangled. The thing that impacted me the most, though, was a wrist watch that reads 8:15, the time when the bomb was dropped. It just embodied something being frozen in history. Sadly I didn't have time to say for the lantern lighting in front of the dome, needing to get to my hostel in Kyoto in time for check-in.

The Golden Pavilion

Fushimi Inari Shrine

KYOTO

I did a lot of exploring in Kyoto. I checked out some of the more interesting sites, including the Golden Pavilion, Ryoanji rock garden and Sanjusangendo Shrine. The Golden Pavilion was really beautiful and one of the cooler buildings I've seen in Asia. I also really loved the rock garden. The garden itself was pretty awesome, but the area surrounding it was absolutely gorgeous. It was a lush, moss-covered forest that seemed enchanted with the way the sunlight peeked in. Sanjusangendo Shrine was really interesting as well. It is filled with Buddhist statues. There are so many, it seems like an army. 

During my time in Kyoto, I was able to hang out with my friend Tiffany. She taught English in Korea as well and decided to travel to Japan too. We met up my second day in Kyoto, and headed to nearby Kumara to check out its Onsen (public bath house). This one was special, because it was in a mountainous setting with indoor and outdoor baths. It was rather small, but so beautiful. I loved just hanging out in the bath while gazing at delightful nature. And I also enjoyed the clothes we were given to cover up when walking from the indoor to the outdoor bath. It was so comfortable! We spent nearly the whole afternoon there, deciding to leave a little after 6 p.m. We lucked out, because the last bus into the city was at 7 p.m. We had a bit of a wait, but it was nice to know we still had a sure way to get back to Kyoto! Once we got back we went out to dinner and then ended the night with some sweet karaoke. 

My final day in Kyoto I ran into Tiffany when I went to get breakfast. So we decided to head to Fushimi Inari Shrine together. We didn't see the whole area, because it is ridiculously vast, but we got a good feel for it. It was a really awesome place. There were so many of the orange gates. I believe the official count is more than 1 million! And the bright color was so striking. We parted ways after the shrine, and I headed to Sanjusangendo Shrine, and then on to Osaka.

Sinsekai

OSAKA

I did very little sightseeing in Osaka, but that was perfectly fine with me, because there was little I really wanted to see. I went to Osaka Castle the afternoon I arrived and was pretty content with what I had seen. But my hotel was close to the Sinsekai area, which is know for its gambling rooms and fried food on a stick, so I went to check it out. I had a whole assortment of food fried on a stick: avocado, lotus root, pumpkin, asparagus, salmon, shrimp and scallop. They were quite tasty, but not my favorite meal in Japan (honestly, I think the pack of edamame I ate almost everyday from the convenies may have been my favorite!). I wasn't quite ready to turn in for the night, so I went to Spa World, which is a huge collection of public baths. There is an Asian section and a European section with various styles of baths. From the brochure pictures, it looked like the European section had Roman, Greek and Spanish style baths. Women were in the Asian section for the month, so I was able to use the Islam, Persian, Japanese and Bali style baths. It was a nice and relaxing evening. 

The next day I went to Summer Sonic, the epic music festival that drew me to Japan in the first place! It was absurdly busy. I thought Korea had crowded events; boy was I wrong. It was just incredible how many people were there. Utter insanity. But I made the most of it. When I arrived, the line for the shuttle bus from the train station to the concert site must have been at least a three hour wait. I just didn't have the patience (and I didn't purchase a ticket beforehand, so I wasn't sure if I'd even be able to ride it), so I scoped out the crowd and saw two foreigners trying to flag down a cab. So I ran over to them and asked to join in their taxi. They were really nice and agreed, but we weren't able to get a taxi as they all were busy or kept being taken. So we went one train stop back and caught a taxi from there no problem. The weird thing though, was that the previous train stop was for Universal Studios theme park, so I was a bit shocked when I got off the train and walked into a theme park version of America (i.e. the city walk)! But I didn't have much time to marvel, though the roller coasters did tempt me, as we hurried to get a cab. We got the the site within a 10 minute drive, and I only ended up paying about a dollar more than I would have for the shuttle. So worth it!

Once I finally got to the concert, I walked around the area to get an idea of where things were located. Then I got to see the first band I was looking forward to, Imagine Dragons. They were so good and incorporated so much percussion into the performance. A really great show! I also saw John Legend (pretty good), Cyndi Lauper (awful), Carly Rae Jepsen (a little whiny for my tastes), and the Smashing Pumpkins (good). Additionally, I was able to watch Two Door Cinema Club. They were so great! I really love their music, and that was reinforced by their excellent performance. Sadly I only caught the middle performance, because they were playing at the same time as the band I most wanted to see: Muse! Oh my goodness! Muse was so incredible. They totally rocked my socks. Even though I missed about 20 minutes of their performance to watch Two Door, I heard all of my favorite songs. So I was completely happy with how it turned out. One of the best performances I've seen!

Leaving the concert was not as bad as I had anticipated. The line for the shuttle was again insanely long and no taxis were to be found. But I happened to walk past a public bus stop that had a really short line. I wasn't sure where it was going, but something said JR, so I figured it was associated with the railway system and thought I'd take a chance to see if it could get me to the train station. I ended up waiting for only about 10 or 15 minutes. And it was a pleasant wait, because two Korean guys who spoke good English were behind me. So we chatted a bit, which helped pass the time. It was a bit odd though, because it felt a little like a comfort of home talking to them. Maybe because I was able to speak English and actually converse with someone. But I think also because they were Korean and its like my second home now. So a nice feeling. Anyway, my intuition paid off, as the bus went directly to the train station and I was able to catch a train back to my hotel rather quickly. Leaving Summer Sonic was thankfully a much quicker process than arriving there. But it was absolutely worth it, and I am so glad I was able to see so many great performers. The concert was the last eventful thing I did in Japan, and a nice way to end. I crashed at my hotel before waking up for my morning flight to Bali.