[TRAVEL] Ottawa

Hi everyone, recently I took a short friend with my friend for her birthday. I was surprised to hear that she's never been to Ottawa considering that it isn't "too" far away from where we live. Since she's a history major Ottawa was the perfect place to go.

If you're not familiar with Canada, Ottawa is the capital which is located in Ontario near the border to Quebec. As English and French are the official languages of Canada, you can hear both languages being spoken here. A little fact about me, although I've studied French since elementary school, at best I'm only conversationally good at it. Since I was only there for three days, I could only visit so many places. Here are some highlights of the trip. Enjoy!

This is the Parliament building where Canada's government do it's work!

Rideau Canal near Fairmount Hotel

Waiting to enter Parliament!

Inside 

The Library - the place of dreams! Look at that balcony, the shelves - swoons - 

From the Peace Tower

Crepe :)

At the Museum of History in Gatineau, Quebec.

Sculptures at the Japanese Zen Garden

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[TRAVEL] Busan Tower, BUSAN, South Korea - After Dark

Continuing on from my Busan 2014 trip is my trip to Busan Tower. It was really dark by the time my friend and I arrived. It wasn't planned this way but due to the traffic jam that we had experience coming back from Haedong Yonggungsa Temple (here), our plans were delayed by 3 - 4 hours. Skipping dinner, we rushed over here from our hostel. During this time I was hangry due to hunger, but I managed to feel much better after having a Snicker Bar.  In case you don't know what I'm talking about, here's a video to explain.

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[TRAVEL] Gwangalli Beach, BUSAN, South Korea

While browsing through my photos the other day, I realized that I had completely forgotten to post pictures from my trip to Busan in Spring of 2014. Well, better late than never right? I have always enjoyed looking at other people's travel pictures because they inspire curiosity in me. These days I am often home so when I see pictures of new places, I often feel motivated and I think to myself "wow, I never knew such a beautiful place exists. I want to visit there someday". I don't think my pictures are amazing but perhaps they will show you a new area which you've never been to before.

 Enjoy~

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1 comment beach, busan, south korea, spring, travel

Haedong Yonggungsa Temple (해동 용궁사) in Busan, South Korea

If you follow me on Instagram (id: chrissieblogs), then you would've known that I visited Busan a few months ago. It's taken me quite a long time to go through the pictures but I've figured that there a few places and pictures which I want to share with you :).

The first place that I'll introduce to you guys is the Haedong Yonggungsa Temple also known as the Korean Dragon Temple or Temple by the Ocean. There are a few English names but basically it's a Buddhist temple - a very old and well known one in Busan. 

Before I arrived at Busan, I had no idea what this place was. I learned about this place with my friends when we looked at a Busan tourist map. 

Although Busan has a subway , it doesn't get close to Yonggungsa Temple, so my friends and I had to take the bus. From Haeundae, we took a bus all the way to the "entrance" of this temple. I say "entrance" because the bus dropped us off at the bottom of the hill, and we had to take a ten minute hike up the hill to reach the real entrance. Because Busan's roads are quite narrow, the traffic was really bad.  It took us an hour  to two hours ride to reach here. I felt like we were literally going at snail speed.  

Going back to Haeundae took even longer! It was impossible to catch the bus from the exit of the temple because it was full by the time it reached us. I think in total we had to wait almost two hours to get on the bus and it took another two to get back to Haeundae.  Maybe, it was only because we went during the holidays. The point to remember if you're visitng Busan during holidays: take the subway if possible.

Anyhow onto the pictures!

There were many stalls along the path to the official entrance of the temple. The stalls sold many different things - snacks, accessories, herbs, clothes and many more.

You can even find fresh herbs like this. 

After passing all the stalls, I eventually reached this bamboo path that lead to the temple.

Getting closer, I could see so many bright colors.

There are many high and low points in this temple as it is situated on a cliff. 

From under the paper lanterns.

There were so many more lanterns than I've ever seen and in so many different colors.

I love the view. The temple was beautiful from all areas.

As you can see, there were tons of people who visited this temple. Most of them were tourists.

There were many people that climbed down onto the rocks to touch the water. I tried to do that too but it was actually quite hard.

Anyways, this was my visit to Haedong Yonggungsa Temple. Although I would like to tell you more about this temple, I really can't as I also don't know and I don't want to just copy and paste things. I can only show you some pictures from my trip! I can say that this is one of the most beautiful Buddhist temples, I've ever visited. It's on a cliff! You really can't beat that. 

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Travel: Hello Kitty Cafe in Hongdae, Seoul

Recently, I went to the Hello Kitty Cafe in Hongdae. It's located on a hill in a small alley in Hongdae. I've  seen it a few times before but this time it was the first time I went in.

It was super cute, just as I had imagined, and very, very pink.

 Although Hello Kitty originated from Japan, there are many things related to Hello Kitty in Korea. In HomePlus (a Korean store that sells practically everything- grocceries/ clothes/ makeup/ electronics.. etc - like a Walmart Superstore except with 5 or 6 floors) you can find a half a shelf dedicated to Hello Kitty things - from stationary to mugs.

Hongdae is a district in Seoul, known for Hongik University. It's also known for it's trendy fashion, bars, and clubs, Hongdae is very popular to young people. It's also the place where the StyleNanda flagship store is located. To get there, you need to go on subway line 2, Exit 9.

Here is the outside view. As you can see, there are some people posing outside :)

First Floor: Cute kitty head cut outs in the wall and plush sofa seat. It was quite spacious considering how tiny it looked on the outside.

Second Floor: There are more seats than just the ones shown in this picture but I forgot to take pictures of them. Sorry!

Some really cute pictures of the menu on the wall.

They also sell stuff like mugs, t-shirts, and plushies and yes - those are Hello Kitty heads stuffed into jars - cute but kind of freaky at the same time.

And yes, that's Hello Kitty's picture on my latte :) 

I didn't think the drinks would be that great since the main selling point was the decor of the cafe but I was wrong. The drinks were actually quite tasty and better than some of the other cafes that I've been to. They also lean on the sweet side. They weren't that expensive either -  most drinks are around 4 000 Won to 6 000 Won ($4 - $6) which is really kind of low- normal prices for coffee drinks in Korea.

Hello Kitty cups and placemats!

Hello Kitty napkin!

Overall: If you love Hello Kitty, then you should visit this. It's extremely cute, not far from the main shopping district of Hongdae Station, and affordable :) 

There's also a Hello Kitty museum and cafe in Jeju Island. I really want to visit that one too!

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Recent Interest: Crazy IPad Editing

Recently, I've developed a hobby for photo editing. These are some of my most favorite pictures. If you'd like to see more feel free to follow me on instagram. My instagram id is: chrissieblogs  ^^

Heywha, Seoul, Korea

Gwanghwamun, Seoul, Korea

Insadong, Seoul, Korea

Leave a Comment art, creative, gwanghwamun, heywha, hobby, insadong, Korea, pictures, Seoul, tour, travel, traveling