Santorini Park, 1000 Sook Food and Farm, and Wat Huay Mongkol Temple In Cha-Am And Hua Hin, Thailand

Our first full day in Hua Hin was chock-full of activities. When we woke up, our plan was to take a bus to a bus that would take us to Santorini Park in Cha-am, a town just north of Hua Hin. However, the bus that goes to the bus only comes once every 30 minutes and it would have been too long of a wait, so the staff at our awesome condo complex called a cab to ask for the price - it was 600 baht one way or 1300 for the driver to stay there and bring us back when we were done.

Yes, please!

We ended up getting so much more than we bargained for! The driver spoke good English and showed us all kinds of places along the way, and we ended up seeing a lot more than we would have seen in two days had we been dependent upon public transportation. Hua Hin is much smaller than Bangkok and public transportation is basically a couple of buses, taxis, and tuk-tuks - they don't have a metro or light-rail system.

Our first, and longest, stop was Santorini Park, a gorgeous complex that has two separate sections: one is a small town that looks like Santorini, Greece, that has a bunch of rides like a Ferris Wheel, water boats, trampolines and a carousel, and the other is a water park, which looked awesome, but the twins are afraid of water that is in movement, so we know from the get-go that we wouldn't be going there. What we have at our Airbnb is plenty and enough at their ages.

The way it works is that each ride is 120 baht (about 12 shekels/$3) so not so bad at all, as long as you don't go crazy and on a million rides. There's a pass that anyone who is 110 cm tall can get for 495 baht (=4 rides and a bit) so if you go on five or more - it's worth it. Sophie is 107 cm. We literally checked the day before. Whoops, right? Wrong. They measured her and we told her to stand on her toes a bit and it was enough, she got the pass. We all went on the merry go round, and Rony and the twins got off and Sophie stayed for another round. She went to the second story of the carousel and I didn't mean to stay on, but suddenly we were moving so yey for quality mother-daughter time.

Our next stop was for ice cream because it was 5 million degrees outside again. It was delicious and so needed. Chloe turns hot pink the moment we walk outside - it looks like she's really suffering from the heat, but she doesn't complain at all, so we aren't positive.

Side note: I mentioned that the kids have been getting tons of attention, and Chloe in particular. We haven't yet been able to figure out what it is that make people jump at Chloe all the time for photos, many times ignoring the other two kids altogether. They don't care, especially since they have already posed for so many photos that Ethan has literally been telling random people no more photos. Rony thinks that the pink, chubby cheeks and curly hair must be a big part of it. She also plays along really well and flashes her smile at everyone. I don't know, but it's sure fun having her get so much attention when it's usually Ethan who does back home. I hope she doesn't need rehab when we get back home.

We went on to the next stop, which was water boats, but that's only from 100 cm or 110 cm, so the twins couldn't go on. Rony went outside with them for something else, and every place they went, they were told they were too young - even the gymboree! It was very very frustrating for them. We arrived very close to when the park opened, and it was very empty. Sophie was alone on the boats, so I am pretty sure she rode a lot more than the 10 minutes that she was supposed to ride.

The view from the Ferris Wheel - this is mostly the water park

We met back up with an extremely frustrated Ethan, Rony and Chloe. We all went up on the Ferris Wheel and the kids had an awesome time. Surprisingly, none of the kids were afraid of the height. Fun fact: Ferris Wheel is capitalized because it was invented by a guy named Mr. Ferris.

From there, I took Sophie to the trampolines, the kinds that come with a harness. She has been wanting to go on one forever and I always felt she was too young, but these were slightly smaller than what we have in Israel so I told her to go for it - and she was just through the roof ecstatic. Rony took the kids to the gymboree, but they wouldn't let them in since they aren't 100 cm yet (they are about 84 and 87 cm, more or less). There is no reason at all not to let them in there, there's nothing there that's dangerous and there wasn't even anyone there. The only playground said 4-8, but it was even a bit scary for Sophie - who was amazing!  Check out her leg-work!

When Sophie got off the trampoline, I told Rony that I'm going to the gymboree and I was able to convince the poor teenager manning the place to let all of the kids go in - double score because the kids got to all play and we all got to be in an air-conditioned space! But there's a caveat - they need to wear socks. Apparently, one needs to walk around with socks in their bag at all times, at least when you are going to attractions for children. So I went back outside to get them socks - thankfully, the Thai are prepared and always sell socks at the attractions where they are needed.

So if anyone asks what shopping we have done in Thailand, our answer will be five pairs of socks.

This was our last stop at Santorini - it was already well passed the twins' nap time, plus we hadn't yet eaten lunch. We rushed outside as quickly as possible and asked the driver to take us to 1000 Sook Food and Farm, which we had read great reviews about. The reviews did not fail us - the food was delicious, even though portions were fairly small (which is true everywhere we have eaten in Thailand so far).

It was already about 2 pm and we were all so hungry that we forgot to ask for the food not to be too spicy. Which, in retrospect, was an awful thing to forget. The kids' food was fine, but our food was whoa. My food was fairly spicy, but Rony's was kill-him spicy and he turned bright red. How red? The servers all huddled by our table and laughed at him. I'm not even kidding. At one point, 2 guys came by the table with a broom, looked at Rony, smiled, said hi to Chloe, and walked away. He was all, "Hey, look at me, I'm holding a broom, I'm going to clean - oh guy turning red haha."

We saw a dessert come to the table next to us and we were like we need dessert. We ordered a magnificent dessert that's absolutely a family dessert, and since the server said it would take 15 minutes, Rony took the kids out to the farm part of the place.

A few minutes later, I get a text message from Rony: Someone gave us free tickets. Makes sense, we've been getting free stuff since we came. Just like in South Korea and Japan when we flew with Sophie when she was one. Asia is clearly our thing.

The dessert was divine and after we finished, I went back to the farm with the kids to see the rest. There are very few animals there, they look well-kept, and the kids enjoyed playing with the rabbits again. The place itself is beautiful and it was very nice to walk around, if you don't factor in the killer heat.

We got into the car, and approximately 12 seconds after sitting down, the twins fell asleep on Rony. I did what every loving, caring, considerate wife would do.

I took a picture.

Our next stop, which was 100% thanks to the driver suggesting it on the way there, was the big Buddha at Wat Huay Mongkol Temple. The twins didn't wake up so we put them in the stroller so they could continue to sleep and I walked up to the top with Sophie. They were still asleep when we got back to the car, but we made them wake up as it was already 5:30 pm. We made a quick stop at the grocery store to buy diapers, water, and some fruit, and then headed back. We got back to the condo around 6:15 PM - we left at 10 am! We ended up paying the driver a more than he asked for  (after adding more for the extra stops and time), and it was such a great day. We were very lucky to get him and we absolutely would not have done and seen as much had we not had him. Chances are, we would have eaten at the park and gone straight back home without the rest of the stops.

Obviously, at this point, the day was over for us. We ordered a pizza and all went to sleep, though it took the kids about 400 hours to fall asleep because they had napped late and Ethan's mission in life is to not let anyone sleep early right now.

Rony and I were insanely excited about the next day - we got to visit the WFFT where we had volunteered 6.5 years before! But more about that in our next blog post.

Bangkok Day 3: The Aquarium, The Kids Perform On The Train, And We Arrive In Hua Hin

Day 3 (this trip has been going by entirely too quickly!) was mostly at the aquarium. The Bangkok Aquarium is known as one of the best aquariums in Asia, which we could totally understand. Pro tip: Siam Paragon Mall has a special discount card that gives you a 20% discount at the aquarium (and also a discount at Kidzania, but we decided not to go since it would be boring for the twins). This can be found at the information booth and you need to show your passport.

When we got on the train, it was so full that we almost had to push the kids on. The good news is that there was nowhere to fall because there was no room to move. So at least we had that. We only had to go 6 stops, so it was a pretty quick ride. After the first stop, Chloe suddenly started singing, fairly quietly, the song How Far I'll Go from Moana and the people around us laughed like crazy. She started singing louder, and more people laughed. Soon enough, the three of them were singing the song at the top of their lungs to the delight of 8 million passengers.

Had there been any room, I would have had the kids walk around with a hat. :-)

We got to the mall and went to the aquarium, passing about 8 more Japanese restaurants (and one McDonald's) - seriously, what is going on here? We wonder if this accounts for the rise in prices in this country.

While the price of transportation is still low, as are accommodations, the price of attractions are very high and completely equivalent to what we pay back home. Diapers are more expensive than what we pay at home on sales, but their diapers are really great, so at least that.

The aquarium was awesome, the kids were totally excited the whole time, running from one place to another. We even got to see a play with real mermaids! (Ha.) All in all, we were there about 2.5 hours, including a quick stop to eat. It's really nice, bu definitely not a half-day activity, at least not at these ages. We didn't have to pay for the twins, but it was still an expensive day out. Nevertheless, everyone had a great time.

By this time, everyone was exhausted. We went back to the apartment, and the kids took a nap. We decided to take it easy for the rest of the day and went to the pool on the roof of the building. OMG the building is so beautiful and the pool is gorgeous (there's also a kiddie pool) and the view is divine.

After getting back and showering everyone we had a light dinner, did the wash (so much better than carrying 2.5 weeks of clothing - and having to do 4 loads of laundry when we return), packed and went to bed.

The following morning, we were picked up at the building and made the 3-hour drive south to Hua Hin. We chose Hua Hin as a location for several reasons, the first being it's proximity to the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand where Rony and I volunteered back in 2010 (and he was also there 3 years earlier). Second, we are not island people, and we did not want to go up north with them this time. Third, Hua Hin is a gorgeous sea-side town that has plenty to see.

We prepared a lot of stuff for the kids to do in the car, but fortunately, after singing the entire Moana soundtrack a few times, the kids all fell asleep, and we actually woke them up in Hua Hin. Score. Let's hope it works this well on the way back. Rony was brilliant and had us picked up at 10 am, which means their nap time would fall on the drive, and it worked perfectly. I married well.

We arrived at our Airbnb in Hua Hin and OMG it is the most amazing place ever. The building is beautiful and the apartment is gorgeous, but the really wonderful part is their swimming pool for the kids, which has the water splashing for about 2 hours a day, but is open all day long.

Sophie went ballistic when she saw that she was going to be sleeping on a bunk bed (our Facebook friends have probably seen the video). We changed clothes and went right downstairs to the pool for about an hour.

After showering, we went to the Night Market where we met my camper from Texas! It was a very exciting reunion, seeing as we hadn't seen each other in around 17 years - the last time I saw her, she was 9 or 10 years old! We had dinner at the Hua Hin Seafood restaurant - the food was excellent! The staff, of course, was in love with the kids and brought out two rocking horses for the kids to ride. Rony was commended for having such great kids because they took turns riding them.

We drugged them.

Not really.

At this point, they were exhausted and we took a Tuk Tuk back to the condo. Seeing as it is a holiday here in Thailand now, the Songkran, there was a lot of traffic and a lot of people in town. We'd like to say the kids fell asleep straight away, but they were up until almost 11 pm at this point, since they were so wired, so we gave them away and continued on the trip alone.

Not really.

I'd like to say we turned in early ourselves, but considering they were only quiet at 11 pm, early wasn't an option. However, we knew we had a long day ahead with some great activities, so we went to bed fairly soon after that.

Bangkok Day 2 - Dinosaur Planet and Snow Town - Fun with Kids!

As I wrote in our previous post, the kids passed out around 6:15 pm and we followed suit around 7. As pretty much everything only opens at 10 am, we weren't in a hurry to get up and go out, so we had a slow breakfast and then headed out toward Dinosaur Planet, which was a 10-minute walk from our AirBNB apartment.

A quick word about the apartment: It is situated in a great location, walking distance to a lot of attractions (including the Sky Train) or just a couple of stops away. The building complex is very new and beautiful, the apartment was large enough for us, but it had no spoons and not enough forks. Turns out that the previous renter stole their silverware.

We headed out to Dinosaur Planet a bit later than we had intended because one of the kids had a 20-minute meltdown (feeling right at home in Thailand), and it was during this time that we learned that the word for twin in Thai is buffet (or something along those lines), which makes perfect sense because you have a choice and you want to eat them both up.

Dinosaur Planet, even though small, was really nice, we started out with this movie introducing the place and there were a few rooms where they explained the place and the history of the dinosaurs. At this time, we kept being rushed through the rooms and it felt a bit like our tour guide in Beijing who kept yelling at us to move and when to take pictures.

But I digress once again.

There were a few things to see and rides to go on, like a 3D ride that was actually quite cool and a bit frightening, though Sophie mostly laughed. The kids got to "ride" dinosaurs (which was for an extra fee) and they also dug for dinosaur bones. They kept not wanting to leave anywhere, but it was about 4000 degrees outside (Celcius, Fahrenheit, Kelvin, whatever you want) so we kept looking for air-conditioned areas. The park was fairly expensive considering its size, but the kids had tons of fun so it was worth it. We walked back to the apartment, though this was already nap time, and had lunch at another Japanese restaurant along the way.

This is a great time to mention that I (Talia) kept saying Japan instead of Thailand and Yen instead of Baht for 2 days straight (actually till the end of the trip). It was both funny and annoying, and the truth is that there is so much Japanese in the area now, at least where we were, that my mess-up it is clearly understood. To me at least. To Rony, too, because he married me and he has no choice. But at least he laughs so I have that going for me.

After Ethan napped and the girls did everything in their power to stay awake and make sure the entire building was awake as well, we took the Sky Train to Ekkamai mall, which was 2 stops away. This is where we learned that our decision to leave the stroller at home was wise - there are no escalators or elevators, so you must take the stairs. At some points, there are escalators up to the platforms, but not everywhere.

I have to mention this is only a problem for twin/double strollers. Had we only had one small child, we would have been able to easily fold the stroller and hold the kid in the other hand and this wouldn't be an issue. I don't regret taking the double stroller instead of 2 singles, though, as I think one is more comfortable.

We walked into the mall and it was all in Japanese. At this point, Rony turned around to me and said, OK, I get it.

I have been validated!!!

There were two separate places here that we had wanted to go to and we hadn't yet decided on one. That is, Rony hadn't decided on one, I couldn't really remember what the choices were. But as we were going up the escalator, I saw the sign for Snow Town and said this is the one. I had no idea what it was, but it looked like a cool place.

We paid way too much money and had to also purchase 2 pairs of socks (and we were off easy as we still had socks in the bag from the flight for 2 of the kids). We were given snow boots and we walked in.

We were thoroughly unimpressed. The first room was basically a coffee shop with a Christmas tree and stands that charged extra fees for all kinds of stuff. This was already the second time that day that we saw that you pay an entry fee somewhere and it doesn't include everything. We continued to walk through, already depressed about the fees we paid. We passed a gymboree that looked small yet cool, but wanted to see the snow parts before going to the gymboree.

Once the kids saw the snow they were shocked - they hadn't seen any before. We rented a sled (because yes, additional fees), but took just one and decided the kids would take turns. Rony showed Sophie what to do (being from Texas, I had never sled before myself), and then we took turns also taking the twins, holding them between our legs. Honestly? It was so much fun. After about 15 minutes, someone gave us another sled, the first gift of the day that was given to the kids.

We probably sled for about an hour and a half. We ended up making them leave so we can see more of what the complex had to offer. We went to the gymboree, and thought it is small, it was really nice. Fortunately, the exorbitant price we paid included all-you-can-drink coffee. Yey! It's the little things.

About 15 minutes in, I took a selfie covered in gymboree balls, and some other local mom saw what I did, laughed her butt off, and then came in and did the same - then she called over her friend and had her do the same.

Talia Klein Perez - setting mom trends since 2017.

Once again, we had to forcefully remove them so we could move on to another room after Chloe got a squeaky doll from an employee. The next room we went to was an arcade that the kids really enjoyed, and then we were kicked out because the place closed and we were the last people there and whoops we were there for over 2 hours even though we didn't think we would stay for even one. Had we not been kicked out, we would have absolutely stayed another hour or two - the kids would have totally sled some more. Ultimately, we had an amazing time and it was unquestionably worth the money we paid. Plus, it was an experience that was completely new to 4 out of 5 of us, which is priceless.

The way back was a bit difficult, we were having so much fun that we didn't see it was already 8 pm, well past the kids' bedtime, and by the time we got back it was after 9 pm and the kids were simultaneously exhausted and wired. It took forever to get them to bed, and us as well.

All in all, it was an amazing day, and it was hard to imagine that we could have another wonderful day like that, but we did, and we will let you know about that later on.

Those of you who are our Facebook friends can see the photos there. Since our kids are in them, we aren't really publishing them here on this public forum.

Bangkok - the flights and day one

Sawadeeka from Thailand!

The kids were, obviously, excited about the flights and the trip, even though they had no idea where we were going. The first flight went well, Aeroflot has totally awesome gifts for kids. Pro-tip: tell them your 2.8-year-old twins are 3. They can't give the gifts under the age of 3, and it's a shame because there is no real reason and the gifts are awesome.

As nicely as the flight went by, and as well-behaved (really) the kids were, it took me (Talia) the entire flight plus another hour on the next flight just to watch one movie.

Why?

Because - Mommy! - every time I - Mommy, I have to pee - wanted to  - Mommy! Water! - put my headphones - Mommy, where are my crayons? - on to watch - Mommy, I have to pee again - the movie I kept - Mommy, I want Daddy - being interrupted.

But I digress.

The headphones for the entertainment set are horrible, they are the type you put in your ears and we couldn't get the kids to use them because they were too big and uncomfortable. These are the type with a double-plug anyway so it isn't like bringing your own would be beneficial.

We rolled through Moscow Airpot, where apparently babies never ever have their diapers changed, thus leaving us to change the kids' diapers on a bench, and got on the next flight. After we boarded, I reminded Rony to say the twins are 3 when they come by with the gifts, which we did.

While it was uneventful as far as turbulence was concerned, the flight was pretty awful. We had purposefully taken a night flight and were just not permitted to sleep. The flight took off at 9:30 pm and landed at 10:30 am, so by all accounts, we should have been able to sleep.

But, no, and lack of sleep is a form of torture and babies know it and so does Aeroflot. UGH. 4 hours into the 8.5-hour-flight, people (including ours) fell asleep. Within half an hour, the cabin crew announced that everyone is required by law to fill out immigration forms for when we land - in freaking 4.5 hours! WTF? Was it really necessary to wake everyone up for this? So they hand out the forms, people start filling them in (not us because PFFT, no) and then they turn off the lights.

SRLSLY?

The announcement woke one of the twins, I think Chloe, and her crying woke Ethan, or it could have been the other way around, I have no idea because it was freakin' 2 am or 5 am or I don't know what time, but we should have been sleeping. We finally were given permission to go to sleep 4 hours into the flight.

For one and a half freakin' hours. No, that's fine, we don't need sleep. No worries. We will definitely not be taking Aeroflot again for an overnight flight. It was horrible. We had taken it specifically so everyone would sleep through the flight and no one did. The kids maybe slept 2 hours.

We landed in Thailand, the country that shall henceforth be called Land of the Chloe, and, by the time we got our luggage, the kids had been hugged, kissed and photographed by close to a dozen people. Everyone stops us everywhere we go, not unlike with Sophie when we were in South Korea and Japan. While they think all of the kids are cute, they are particularly enamoured by Chloe. Looks like she is the epitome of beauty here in Thailand.

We took a cab to our AirBNB apartment, which is perfectly located, put our stuff down and went on a search for food. Our host told us that we are very close to a mall so we went there. It's a gorgeous mall - and completely high-end: Gucci, Armani, Tiffany's - you know, our kind of shopping, especially since creating 3 humans in 2.5 years.

We went upstairs to the food court and ate a Japanese restaurant (ha) and, while Rony went to the grocery store, I got the kids ice cream. Then I get a text message from Rony (we both got data packages).

Rony: When you're done come to the grocery store
Me: OK
Rony: You have to come now
Me: Hold on, the kids are getting free stuff again

We came and, as omigosh there was the biggest Peppa Pig display I had ever seen.

Which isn't difficult seeing as it is the only display of Peppa Pig I had ever seen.

We let the kids pick some Peppa Pig cookies because we are on vacation and it isn't like we can be coerced to get it at home.

As it turns out, the store is a Japanese grocery store with a bunch of stuff that we used to eat in Japan and all kinds of things that Rony loves and it's entirely possible that we may have to leave one of the children here to accommodate everything Rony wants to buy when we get back.

When we were checking out, we suddenly heard the song Happy come on and then clapping. What? We walked outside and OMG, y'all, a flash mob of mall employees. I love Thailand.



We got back to our apartment, showered the kids and they went to bed.

At 6:00 pm. We barely kept them up past 5.

I quickly went to the 7-Eleven by the condo to get some stuff for breakfast and happened upon a parade! This week is the Thai festival Songkran, and this parade is one of the first parts of the celebration. I went to get milk and saw a parade. Score.

We also went to sleep around 7, after Googling "What to do in Bangkok at 6 am with children," because we needed a backup plan.

Turns out there isn't so much to do at 6 am in Bangkok with children, maybe a market. But that's OK because they ended up sleeping until after 7 am so score again.

In our next post, we will talk about day 2 in Bangkok, Dinosaur Planet and Snow Town.

We have grown by 2 more kids - and embarking on another trip to Thailand and Singpore!

Wow. It's been a while. A long while. Three years, to be exact. When we started this blog, back in 2010, we were a young, unmarried couple embarking on a 4-month trip in Asia. Then, 2 years later, we returned to Asia with a one-year-old baby. That one-year-old is now five and she has a sister and a brother who are just over 2 and a half-years-old - twins! We've done a lot over the past 3 years :-)

Tomorrow, we will be taking our first long trip since the twins were born. When they were 1, we went on a cruise through Europe - just one hour time difference. Last year, when they were just under 2 and our eldest was just over 4, we flew to Paris for a wedding and spent a few marvelous days in Disneyland Paris! And now, we will be flying to Thailand and Singapore!

In Thailand, we will be in Bangkok and Hua Hin, a smallish town that's close to the Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand where we volunteered back in 2010. Remember? Talia was with the elephants and Rony was mostly with the bears.

We will be doing a day tour at the WFFT with the kids - we specifically planned Hua Hin just so we could come visit. Since the twins still nap, one of us (probably Rony) will go back to our Airbnb place with them after lunch while the other will stay with Sophie for the second part of the day. It looks like it will be an awesome experience!

In Singapore, we will be meeting our friend, Winnie, who we met at the WFFT - she also volunteered with the elephants. Last year, she visited Israel and we got to see her and this year we will be visiting her. It's just so awesome that we are still in touch with so many people who we met during our one week at the WFFT.

Anyway, stay tuned, we will be updated the blog while we are away. Now that we have all these children, we are significantly more tired than we were back in 2010 so we may not be as funny as before. We apologize in advance.

For now, wish us luck on our loooong flights to Bangkok. The kids don't know yet, but Talia made them each a bag of goodies for the plane that will, hopefully, keep them entertained for a nice portion of the flight.

See you soon!

This is for Chloe, our 2.8-year-old daughter. The lunch box is actually meant to hold the small pieces of the train set and the dinosaurs

This is for Sophie, the 5-year-old. She's easier to pack for because she can entertain herself more with workbooks and can also play travel-size games with us.

This is for Ethan, our 2.8-year-old son. The lunch box is actually meant to hold the small pieces of the train set and the dinosaurs

This is how they will receive their packages on the plane. 

Takayama and Shirakawa-go - our last destinations

As we mentioned, while we expected Takayama to be a whole in the ground, it's really quite charming and we really love it. On the evening that we arrived, we didn't really go out - we just went to the Family Mart to get some dinner and milk for Sophie and turned in fairly early.

On our first full day, we decided to take it easy and tour the town, a decision that we are really happy we made. We ran into a really sweet couple a few minutes after we started and they were looking for some specialty needlepoint shop that her sister had recommended. It seemed that we were going the same way, so we walked into the shop when we found it, and that was just a gem! We ended up getting a few gifts there, but it was really hard to choose, because the place was so great!

The whole town is just picturesque, at least the parts of the old town. Our hostel is really close to the old city, so it was a lot of fun and not too far away, though we ended up literally walking around the whole town!

We walked into virtually every store we saw, bought a few more souvenirs, and tasted loads of local foods (the stores had a bunch of samples of, like, everything, which was a smart decision since we ended up buying some).

We literally walked around town all day, had lunch, walked some more, saw some more cute shops, and watched Sophie play with every dog that she saw.

We turned in really  early (like 8:30 early) because we were exhausted, and we knew we had a very long day ahead of us.

This morning, our alarm clock (Sophie) only went off at 7:45 - late wake up!! But of course, it meant we got a later start than we had intended.

We walked to the old city again where the famous Takayama Festival had begun. During the day, there were tons of cute stands selling everything you could possibly think of. At 11 there was a puppet show, which they have been doing for hundreds of years, and while it was cute, it was really long, so we broke off and had a snack.

We then walked over to the river where all of the floats that would be in the parade later were displayed. It's a really good thing that we had gone to see the floats in the morning, because they were harder to see at night!

Anyway, we grabbed a bite to eat for lunch and got on a bus for Shirakawa-go, an old town about 50 minutes away whose houses are protected world heritage sites. The town is gorgeous!

But a moment about the bus ride. We took a tour(ish) because it was about $10 per person cheaper than going on the regular bus, and the bonus is we got a really awesome tour guide. He was so funny. He kept explaining what we were looking at, but he was hilarious, making jokes and just explaining everything in a really funny way. He even went by each couple/family and took pictures of them for them on the bus!

They took us to a really gorgeous lookout (that we wouldn't have been able to get to without a car), and then we parked and were left to our own devices (with a map).

A world heritage site, the houses in Shirakawa-go are built in a very special manner. Many of the houses are open to the public (at a fee), and have been converted into museums. Some of the houses were stunning! If we ever get rich and built our own home, we will definitely be borrowing some of the Japanese architectural styles.

A few minutes after we arrived, Sophie fell asleep, which was great because it was really late and she hadn't napped, and we would have all suffered if she hadn't napped. Luckily we took the back carrier so we didn't have to deal with stroller in very tight (or impossible) situations.

We reluctantly got back to the bus and went back to Takayama, but the day wasn't over yet, because the highlight of the Takayama Festival is the parade at night!

The parade was really pretty, which you can't tell by the pictures, so we didn't take too many. Sophie had a great time and waved at a lot of people. She also started saying "chien" today, which means dog. So that's her fourth word (First - this in Hebrew (and English), second - thank you (in Hebrew), third - sit! (in French)).

We left the parade before it ended, not because it was boring, but because we knew we needed to get Sophie to bed, and it was fairly repetitive at that point. Sophie fell asleep pretty quickly, so we sat down in the room with two beers to celebrate the end of our trip. I mean, they threw us a parade and everything!

Pictures from Takayama (two links, the second is from the Kyoto and Takayama album): https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152728287190364.1073741838.906005363&type=3 and https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152725771680364.1073741837.906005363&type=3

Back to Kyoto - for 24 hours, that is

Our last day in Tokyo was laid back, we really needed some rest, and wanted to just do some shopping. We spent some time in the hotel room just goofing around, and it was a blast! We are really going to miss spending so much time with Sophie when we get home, which is the hardest part of leaving.

While traveling with a toddler is great, it is much more tiring than our last trip, even though we saw three times as much last time. We thought we hadn't stopped moving for a second, but now we see that we had - each time we had a train ride, be it 2 hours or 6 - we rested.

Even if all we did was write blog posts or read, we had quiet time. We have no quiet time now, and Sophie always needs to be in movement and entertained, so we are finding ourselves a lot more tired than we ever were last time. In retrospect, 3 weeks is enough, the last couple of days have been exhausting.

Anyway, the train to Kyoto isn't very long, about 2 hours, however when we arrived at the station to get tickets, the next 2 trains were sold out, so we had to wait an hour and a half for a train, which got us to Kyoto later than we had planned. This isn't the first time this has happened to us on this trip, and it hadn't even happened once on the last one, which just shows that there are tons more tourists now than the last time, and you must get tickets ahead of time, if possible.

Luckily for us, Sophie slept most of the way. She is so cute when she's awake, but boy is she adorable when she's asleep! We bought some bentos on the train, and they were delish! When we arrived in Kyoto, it was cold and raining, and even though we technically arrived pretty early, around 3 in the afternoon, we couldn't do anything because of the weather. This was very depressing for us because 1) After a long train ride, you want to walk, 2) Finding a way to entertain Sophie for 3 hours was going to be a problem, and 3) We only had 24 hours in Kyoto.

So we went to the only place we could go in that weather - Nishiki food market! Talia had been there last time, but Rony hadn't, anｄ the market has such interesting booths, that it was great going there a second time. We didn't take pictures this time because it was exactly the same, but you can see the pictures from our last trip to the Nishiki market starting here.

We only spent one night in Kyoto, but it was the same hostel we were in last time, and the Japanese guy who speaks Hebrew was still there! He totally remembered our friend, Maya, who came with us last time because she had recommended tons of Hebrew music to him. He talked to Sophie in Hebrew and she was just floored. It was the most comfortable bed we had on the entire trip. K's House, in case anyone was wondering.

The following morning, we tried to get up early because we wanted to make sure we get tickets early enough to avoid any problems. After grabbing a bite to eat, we took a bus to the Golden Pavilion. The bus was soooo slow,  we felt like we were back in Israel. However, the bus was very clear in what the next stops were, and whenever we passed a tourist spot, a recording came on letting us know where we are and the history of the area, which was great. Fortunately, Sophie slept for part of this ride, which was helpful because there was no way to entertain her there.

The Golden Pavilion, which Rony had visited last time (but Talia hadn't), is stunning. The area surrounding it is also gorgeous, and Sophie had a great time walking around. At this point, she already understands that if we put the shoes on, it means she will get to walk, and she gets so excited that she can't stop screaming with glee and flinging her arms!

By the time we were done, it was too late to go to the castle we had intended on going to, but we are already used to it. So, you know, next time. ;-)

We got back to the train station with enough time left to calmly get our bags, which we had left in lockers in a station, and find our train. We had a short train ride and then we switched to a longer ride (about 2.5 hours) to Takayama. This train was actually hilarious - unlike other trains, this one had some kind of a tour guide that kept telling us to look to our right and left, accompanied by countless stories about what we are looking at! It was actually really awesome, especially since Sophie was asleep the whole way.

Takayama is a small town that is basically traveled to only twice a year during the festivals, one of which takes place in a couple of days. While we originally thought it was a hole in the ground, it is actually quite charming and we are really enjoying our time here!

When we arrived, it was really cold - so cold that it started to snow an hour later. Sophie's first snow! She, of course, was unphased. We basically only went to get some milk for her and dinner for us and came back.

Pictures from Kyoto (and a few from Takayama, but the post is already really long): https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152725771680364.1073741837.906005363&type=1&comment_id=39492097&offset=0&total_comments=1&notif_t=photo_album_comment

Tokyo, Kamakura, and Yokohama (again)

We're sorry it's taking us longer than before to post, traveling with a toddler is fun, but exhausting!

Our time in Tokyo was really only meant to be a base for the day trips we wanted to take outside of Tokyo. Our next stop was Kamakura, a town famous for the second-largest Buddha in Japan. We hadn't made it to Kamakura last time, so we were very happy to make it this time.

While Kamakura has a very famous festival, we missed it by a week - it starts the day before we leave. Oh, well, next time. :-) However, Kamakura is far from boring, and it was probably the place where we saw the largest amount of tourists since we had arrived (other than the penis festival, that is).

Our first stop was one of the famous shrines in Kamakura, Hase-dera, and it was gorgeous. Sophie got to use her new shoes again, though she still isn't that used to them. She loved the rocks. We go and show her beautiful gardens with wonderful flowers and plants and shrines, and she only wants to play in the rocks. :-)

Walking through Kamakura was fun to begin with, the streets lined with many cute shops and boutiques, and of course the 100 Yen shop that Talia wanted to go to was closed. Oh, well. 

Our next stop was the famous Amida Buddha statue at Kotoku-in. Apparently this Buddha had been in a structure that was destroyed by a Tsunami in the late 15th century, but the Buddha remained standing, and the building around it was never rebuilt.

Sophie had, blessedly, fallen asleep while we were visiting the great Buddha, that's why she isn't in the picture - we didn't forget about her. ;-) A really nice Australian family took the picture for us, and the daughter gave Sophie a game that they got in a Happy Meal from McDonald's (bringing our tally of McDonald's Happy Meal games to 2 out of 0 meals that we had ordered).

We chatted for a while about our travels and then went to have lunch, where something very odd was on the menu. We have yet to figure out what those are...

We have to mention the subway in Kamakura - it is a very old-fashioned train, and we loved it! It was just very quaint, and even though surely that wasn't the purpose, it was fun feeling like we were going backwards in time.

After lunch, we headed back to the train station and walked over to nearby Danzakura, which leads up to a temple, to see the sakura, but we had missed it by a few days, and while beautiful, the trees were barren. So we turned back,　after hunting for yet another lost pacifier. May it rest in peace in the mouth of a Japanese baby, amen.

The train station in Kamakura is really funny. While it's great that they have so many elevators and escalators, especially for such a small town, some of them are quite ridiculous, covering only 7 stairs!

Our final stop for the day, on the way back to Tokyo, was Yokohama again to visit the local China Town. The area was very pretty and they had a lot of interesting items on sale, however they do not know how to be a proper China Town and their prices were sky high! We did, however, buy Sophie a costume for next year, so yey!

The highlight of China Town was running into the shooting of a really weird sci-fi movie. While Talia comes from the industry, it was still tons of fun to watch, especially since it was basically a kung fu movie without any sound. :-)

Pictures from Kamakura and Yokohama: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152718156235364.1073741836.906005363&type=3

Tokyo and the Penis Festival in Kawasaki

Since we had already seen the great view of Mount Fuji, we decided to forego our original plans (another view of the mountain) due to the weather. We ended up being really lucky that we arrived so early the afternoon before - we could barely even see the mountain that morning (there was a view from the hostel). We felt bad for all the others there who weren't going to be able to see it properly - it's a very long way to come and not see Mount Fuji.

Anyway, we left around noon and had lunch at one of the train stations where we switched trains. There was this great, tiny ramen shop, exactly the type we love: You put your money in a machine, select what you want, get a ticket, and come to the counter. Within 4 minutes you have your food, and it is way healthier than any fast food we can get back home!

We arrived in Tokyo fairly early, but we were pretty beat from the long way there. Our hotel is really nice, but it just confirms our opinions that hostels are a million times better than hotels. They are just so much homier, it's great fun getting to know other people and hear about their travels, and there is loads of advice plastered all over the walls, not to mention the great staff that is really knowledgeable about the area.

Our hotel is located in a great place, just two stops from Tokyo Station (think Grand Central Station, but tons bigger and way more confusing, and not because of the Japanese). As it turns out, this area is the #1 spot in Tokyo for books, and the Klein Perez family loves books, so we just walked a bit among the shops and just had a lot of calm fun. It was raining and too late to really see anything, plus we had spent a lot of time in Tokyo on our last trip, so there wasn't anything major we still wanted to see.

The next morning, it was supposed to rain, so we split up to keep Sophie dry: Rony took her to this amazing indoor playground for kids, called Children's Palace) where she had an amazing time. Ordinarily, Talia would have given up the camera so that Rony could take pics of Sophie playing, however she went to the Penis Festival in Kawasaki, and if you don't have a pictures, it didn't happen.

You read right. The Festival of the Steel Phallus, to be precise. It's one of the last remaining fertility festivals in Japan. It's located in Kawasaki, about 25 minutes outside of Tokyo. The festival is actually a lot smaller than we expected it to be, but it was definitely worth the trip for Talia (and definitely not for Rony and Sophie).

Right when you arrive at the shrine (yeah, the festival takes place at a place of worship, which, by the way, also has a kindergarden), you are greeted by this nice guy:

 They have all kinds of stands there, selling penis whistles and bandanas with reproductive organs on them, and also carving competitions:

Best of all, tons of candy! Really expensive candy, which originally I wanted to buy for work, but it was way too expensive.

 Then the parade began, and Talia had a great spot. This was her favorite float, because it's lead by some really awesome and really creepy-looking ladies.

After the festival, Talia returned to the hotel to find Sophie and Rony trying to sleep. 15 minutes later, having given up, we all went to the Imperial Palace gardens, located fairly close to our hotel.

The palace itself is not only closed to the public, but can't be viewed, but the park itself is gorgeous, and this is a famous bridge:

We saw Israelis there, so we pretended not to understand, as usual. Someone overheard us talking, though, and she apparently spied on us, but we did not surrender any information!

Exhausted from so much activity that day, we made our way back to the hotel and decided to splurge on some nice, homemade McDonald's! As Rony and Sophie waited for Talia to arrive, Sophie received yet another gift - one of the McDonald's Happy Meals toys! Boy, have we been getting a lot of gifts!

We all fainted into bed, and the following morning, Talia took Sophie to the Children's (petting) Zoo and Rony went book shopping for himself. Or, at least, the plan was to go to the Children's Zoo, but as know on this trip, any correlation between our plans and what happens is purely coincidental.

Sophie fell asleep literally after we got off the Subway, so we sat in the park outside the zoo to let her sleep (a tired baby is an annoying baby, you can quote us on that one). Outside the zoo was a really great playground, and when Sophie woke up, her eyes shot open in so many directions so quickly that Talia thought they would seriously come out of their sockets.

As it turns out, the Children's Zoo was closed that day, but the playground itself was really fun, and Sophie was just going crazy on all the different contraptions. "This! This!" So Talia would take her there after literally three seconds, she would shriek and then point in a different direction, "This! This!" It was tons of fun, but incredibly exhausting.

After the playground, we went shopping! We went to the famous 100 Yen Store, Daiso, near Harajuku station, which is 3 floors of awesome, and then walked up and down Omotesando searching for awesome presents for our families, of which we found none. However, we did make it to Kiddie Town, a 6 (!!!) floor toy store that had an AnPanMan doll, which Sophie loves, and that alone made it worth it. She plays with it all the time! There is an entire floor dedicated to Hello Kitty and one for Snoopy, and boy, is that place incredible.

Our next and final stop that afternoon was a kids store where we bought Sophie her first pair of shoes. She's been wanting to walk a lot here, and the leather soft-sole shoes weren't cutting it anymore. We also replaced a couple items that we lost along the way. :-)

Here are the pictures from our first couple of days in Tokyo: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152718156235364.1073741836.906005363&type=1#!/media/set/?set=a.10152716081785364.1073741835.906005363&type=3

The Ramen Museum in Yokohama and Mount Fuji!

We left Osaka and our amazing hostel behind to finally see Mount Fuji! We only saw it on the train last time, and Talia didn't even get to see THAT because she had fallen asleep! Sophie spent the rest of the time flirting with everyone on the train. Of course, pictures were taken, and an older couple on one of the trains gave her cookies, as well.

Since it is a very long way (about 6 hours all together), we decided to stop halfway through in Yokohama and go to the Ramen Museum! The museum tells the history of ramen in a language we don't understand (Japanese, yo), but downstairs is where the action REALLY happens.

The bottom 2 floors are a reconstruction of Tokyo in 1958, which is when instant ramen was invented. The streets are narrow, there are games that were played on the street back then, and there are so many tiny touches there that made it so much fun. And, of course, the place is FILLED with ramen restaurants, which we ate at.

DELICIOUS.

We then took a few more trains to get to our town by Mount Fuji, and mercilessly, Sophie slept almost the entire way. SCORE!

We arrived easily at our hostel, and Talia saw a gorgeous postcard of Mount Fuji at the reception, and it turned out that the exact spot is only a 20 minute walk from our hostel!

Luckily, the girl working at the hostel told us that there are steps to go up, so Rony loaded Sophie up on the carrier and off we went. What she DIDN'T tell us is that it was a 20 minute walk to get there, but a 400-stair climb to get up after that!

It was exhausting and we seriously don't know how we made it, especially Rony with Sophie on his back, but we did, and boy, was it worth it!

Pictures from Yokohama and Mount Fuji: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152705771380364.1073741833.906005363

Osaka days 2 and 3 - The Science Museum, Universal Studios Japan, The Osaka Castle, Sakuranomyia, and Horyuji Temple

We started our second full day in Osaka at the science museum, which is such an amazing place for kids! First of all, it is free for kids up to the age of 15!

The best part is that you can touch EVERYTHING and there are a lot of activities there, so Sophie had a great time pushing buttons, turning things, and just climbing on everything. Yes, sir - we are introducing our girl to science as early as possible!

After the museum, we headed out to Universal Studios Japan! The place is really nice and the rides are tons of fun, but the kids are on their spring break, so the place was FULL and the lines were insanely long.

At one point, we searched for a place to eat at the park and found a great restaurant, smack-dab in the middle of the park, that had sound-proof windows, and it was divine. No, we are NOT old!!

Rony's soup came with STARS in it, and when the dessert came, the waitress came to Sophie with the cheesecake and drew a picture of Elmo on the plate!

After dinner, we walked around a bit more, and then we split up - Rony took Sophie back to the hostel and Talia stayed at the park until it closed at 9 so she could ride the rides she didn't have the opportunity to do before. Best. Husband. Ever.

While this post makes it seems short, we did SO much walking that day, and we were so exhausted when we got back that we couldn't even fall asleep!

The following morning, we headed out to Osaka Castle to see the Sakura. Everything is so beautiful! We took so many pictures, and it's really hard to decide which angle is best, so we just kept walking around. We then walked over to Sakuranomyia, which is another area really loaded with cherry and peach trees in full blossom, and it was just tons of fun to walk around.

Our next stop, after lunch, was about an hour outside of Osaka in a town named Horyuji, where Sophie received a pinwheel from a lady at Tourist Information. This town has the oldest Buddhist temple in Japan, dating back to at LEAST 711! We had planned about half an hour there and then we were going to proceed to Nara, but we didn't realize how huge the place was and we never actually made it to Nara (which we didn't get to really see last time either.)

As we were about to enter the temple area, a man approached us and introduced himself as a Goodwill Guide. Talia had read at our hostel that there are these guides who, for fun and for free, give tours of major tourist locations, and this was one of them. He took us around the temple grounds and gave us really interesting information that we wouldn't have known otherwise. For example, the big communications tower in Tokyo, which was being built when we were in Tokyo 2 years ago, was built in an earthquake-resistant way that was based on the pagoda at the Horyuji Temple!

Since we didn't have time to go to Nara (again!), we decided to go back to Tokyo and decide there what we wanted to do, but we were BEAT when we got in and Sophie had to practically put US to bed.

Here are our pictures from these two days: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152705721865364.1073741832.906005363&type=3

Okayama and Osaka day one: The famous Osaka aquarium, an awesome streetshow, Americamura, and Dotonbori

We left Kei's house first thing in the morning, and immediately Sophie made friends with yet another small kid who ended up giving her one of his toys as a present, a finger puppet from a famous cartoon in Japan, Anpanman.

We had a 3-hour train ride to Okayama, most of which we all spent sleeping (score!) We had been to the famous Okayama gardens on our last trip, and it was beautiful, but we knew it would be stunning this time because of the sakura, which it was.

We walked back to the train station, because we just love walking through Japan! There are very few days that we don't express (to each other) how much we love this country. We took a direct train to Osaka and located our hostel, J-Hoppers, in the Fukushima area (not where the tsunami hit, it's a neighborhood in Osaka).

The area is GORGEOUS, a narrow street with a bunch of restaurants and, apparently, this is the "hip place for young people" - or that's what was written on a local map. :-)

The hostel itself is great - the staff is awesome and the room is really big for a hostel - no small thing when you are traveling with a baby. There is even a bathtub here (score!) though Sophie keeps crying in it. The bed is comfortable, and Sophie still subscribes to the 80-20 rule: She gets 80% of the bed, and we get 20%.

She kicks us a lot at night, but we don't mind - we just turn our backs AND PRETEND IT IS A FREE THAI MASSAGE. Are you jealous yet?

By the time we got in, it was time for dinner and sleep (for Sophie), and we got ourselves some delicious food for a stupid price at the 7-Eleven 2 buildings down.

The next morning, we started our day at the Osaka aquarium since it was raining, though we had planned it anyway. Sophie LOVES animals (and, really, any nature), and the Osaka aquarium is apparently #2 in the world - and we can see why!

Even though it was drizzling, there was an AMAZING street show going on outside. While we don't generally stop to watch people juggling, this guy was HILARIOUS. We didn't understand a single word he was saying, but we couldn't stop laughing - it was like watching a dubbed samurai movie! You can watch the video here: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=rRbi75-0P0I.

The aquarium itself was spectacular - they built it in a way that you don't feel like you are watching fish in a tank, but in their natural habitat.

And Sophie went BALLISTIC. She wouldn't stop laughing and shrieking with joy, and even pushing other people out of the way so she could see more. About an hour or so in, she lay her head on a chair and fell asleep 2 minutes later on Rony.

We then went to have some lunch at the mall next door, and ended up at an all-you-can-eat BBQ place that was sooooooo delicious! You take any meat or veggie you'd like, dip it in tempura, and into the oil it goes! Wow, that place was awesome.

Our next stop was Americamura and Dotonbori, two areas that are great for people-watching. Talia bought some bento gear at the 100 Yen shop (like a $1 store) and we really enjoyed just looking around and seeing all the random and nifty shops all around - they even have a whole booth dedicated solely to clothes for dogs!

Here are the pics we took from these 2 days - we are clearly taking less pictures than before :-) https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152703332520364.1073741831.906005363&type=3

Fukuoka and Yawatahama - We are home!

As we mentioned, we were incredibly sad to be leaving South Korea, but at least our vacation wasn't over! We arrived at the airport and were excited to discover that the Koreans just keep on being awesome until you leave!

As we walked towards the check-in counters, we passed a phone-charging station (!!!) and an airport representative informed us that we don't need to wait in line because there is a special check-in for families (!!!)

We checked in, breezed through security, and walked towards the gate where were awesomely surprised to discover a playground! As we waited, Sophie got to slide and play. Of course, this meant that she cried when we had to board the plane, but so did the rest of the kids, so whew.

We had the same great service on the plane - a trash bag, box of tissues, and a small game - and arrived quickly in Fukuoka, Japan. As in Korea, we were removed from the line and passed through customs quickly, got our luggage, and went to the hotel where we had HEATED TOILETS. We are back in Japan!!!

Since Fukuoka was just a pass-through town for us, we hadn't made any plans, but we walked over to the main shopping district - Watanabe-dori - anyway and were really surpised to see all the action. Tourist Information told us where the sakura (blooming of the cherry blossom) is, and we headed in that direction and had a delicious dinner, where we learned Sophie was just as popular in Japan as in Korea.

One really awesome thing about Fukuoka is that during the day, the sidewalks are empty, but at 6:30 pm, minivans suddenly drive up onto the sidewalk, and dozens of Yatai - mini-restaurants - pop up! They mostly serve yakitori - food on a stick - and they have 2 benches or about 8 chairs for guests to eat.

After a good night's sleep (hahahaha, who are we kidding, we haven't slept in 13 months), we headed over to Beppu, where we did nothing, and boarded a ferry to visit our friend, Kei, from our last trip to Japan.

The ferry ride was fairly uneventful, though lots of fun. Sophie made new friends, as usual, who played with her, and we bought bento for lunch! She definitely wore Rony out by running up and down the stairs ( well, up, Rony had to take her down), and expressed an intense desire for 2 men's beers.

Kei picked us up from the ferry (which was awesome) and took us to see the sakura at a park nearby. The Sakura is the best time of the year to visit Japan, and we missed it by a few weeks last time. This time we came JUST in time! It is only a few weeks long and started early this year, so we are very lucky.

Traditionally, families have picnics under the trees, and older people congregate and just have beer (apparently you are supposed to get drunk). Apparently we were quite the spectacle - not only do we have a kawaii (cute) baby, but this town NEVER sees non-Japanese people, somwe were offered beers (Sophie REALLY wanted one) and snacks, and we sat there for a while since it was really nice outside.

We arrived at Kei's apartment where Sophie was greeted by her pug, Anzu, and it was love at first sight - for both! Anzu had never seen a baby before and quickly became her watchdog, which is hilarious considering she's even smaller than Sophie!

Kei organized a really nice do-it-yourself sushi bar for us for dinner and had invited some friends, a few of whom we had met last time, so it was really like coming home for us to a place we knew and people we had met.

The visit was entirely too short. Kei worked most of the next day, and we took it easy - did some shopping, walked around, and ate, and Talia bought some bento supplies for 100 Yen each (about $1), so she is very happy.

The following morning, we left Yawataham early to make our way to Osaka, where we will be spending the next few days. Kei was awesome and brought us a bag of goodies for thelong train ride ahead, including an Anpanman toy for Sophie, which she really loves playing with. She remembered that Talia likes sparkling water and that Rony loves the Meiji chocolate-covered chocolates, and made sure both were in the package.

Sophie updates:

1) She hates sticky rice. This is the first food we have seen her consistantly spit out.
2) she learned how to drink from a straw. It works 3 out of 4 times. Good statistics, but the 4th time is brutal and the drinks ends up everywhere.
3) She has gotten used to the attention, so when she doesn't have groups of people around her, she gets angry and starts acting cute ON PURPOSE, hoping for a reaction from the crowd (it usually works).
4) She drinks real milk now, not formula. We keep it to a bottle in the morning and a bottle in the evening.

Sorry we take a while to update - on the last trip, we would write on the trains,,and that isn't an option right now. :-)

Pics from Fukuoka and Yawatahama: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152695105270364.1073741828.906005363&type=3

Korea - day 4, final day: Gyeongbokgung Palace, the Kimchi Museum, andsome shopping

Today was our final day in Korea - tomorrow we fly to Japan. Today, for a change, went FAIRLY according to plan. Our first stop was the Kimchi Museum at the COEX mall, the largest underground mall in Korea. And OMIGOODNESS it is huge. It's a miracle we didn't get lost.

Kimchi is a national food in Korea that is served at every restaurant with every meal you have, other than maybe McDonald's. It's fermented cabbage, turnip, or a handful of other vegetables, and it is delicious, but spicy - sometimes too spicy (but yey for our sinuses!)

While we thought it would just be fun, it ended up being really interesting - we even got to sample some kinds of kimchi that we hadn't had yet, and come on, who DOESN'T love spicy chili vegetables at 10 in the morning?

As we made our way out, we saw a bunch of young women dressed in neon blue and OMIGOODNESS we stumbled into a Samsung conference where the were displaying all of their phones and FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, Talia needs a Samsung Note 2 for her birthday. You have 5 months to raise the funds.

After about 20 minutes, Rony managed to pull Talia out of there, though he couldn't get her to shut up for half an hour, BUT HE KNEW WHAT HE WAS GETTING HIMSELF INTO WHEN HE MARRIED HER, so really, he can't complain.

But we digress. Regretfully, we left this really awesome mall because we had palaces to see, souveniers to buy...

We had read online that Gyeongbokgung Palace should take about an hour, and it was gorgeous. Like the other palaces, it has a very rich history that can be summed up in one sentence: Built 600-700 years ago, the king held his meetings here, and then the Japanese burnt it down. This particular palace, while stunning, is a complete reconstruction from about a decade ago. Our closets are older.

Even though it was supposed to take about an hour, after almost 2 hours we left before we even saw everything because we almost ate dirt. We had lunch at the palace restaurant because we were incapable of walking farther, and we have to say, each place we ate here has been incredibly delicious!

Our next stop was Insa-dong, again, because it is a great place to buy souveniers and we wanted to get some more lf that awesome candy we got the last time for our families.

We headed back to the hotel for our last night in South Korea, not before taking our picture at the (Hoppa) Gangnam (Style) station, because, dude, they check your pictures at the airport (not really).

As Rony put Sophie to sleep, Talia ran out to the Lotto Mart nearby to buy the really awesome rain and wind stroller cover that all the babies here have. We hadn't seen many babies at ALL, but every single one of them had this cover and it is not only gorgeous, but very functional - it goes all around the stroller, so Sophie can't pulll it off AND THAT IT PRICELESS. Plus, you can open the front flap to take her out and put her in without having to remove it, and she can see through it perfectly and STOP JUDGING US, THIS IS OUR LIFE NOW. The best part is that she LOVES it - she feels like she has her own space and sometimes tries to close it herself when the flap is open.

OK, enough with the excitement about stroller covers, this is the longest paragraph we have written to date!

We were very sad to leave Korea. It's beautiful, the people are amazingly nice (very similar to the Japanese), and we didn't get to see a quarter of what we wanted. We will DEFINITELY be back. On the upside, Sophie won't complain that she only got to go to Korea when she was too small to remember!

At the Seoul subway stations, we had the distinct pleasure of learning how things should be done:

1) If you miss the elevator, you will fall into a sea of water.

2) If there is blood on the floor, find children to clean it up.

3) If you are a mother, do not climb under the rail to skip paying or your daughter will cry with embarrassment.

4) If there is an old lady in the vicinity, help her to her seat by humping her.

5) If a woman is about to give birth - deliver her baby.

We finally uploaded our pictures from Korea - you can see them here.