Emily's Visit

So I had another great friend come visit me and again I got to show this great place to a newbie to Asia!  So Emily came to visit for 5 days and we fit in quite a bit before she had to go!  Of course we had to hit the pet cafe so we went this first.  We wandered Hongdae and then made our way to the Gyeongbokgung Palace which we got there at 3:50 only to find it closed at 4.  So we decided to head over to Insa-dong and take a quick trip.  

So we got to the Pet Cafe a bit early and walked around Hongdae.  Some random pics.

Getting ready for her birthday dinner!

Once we got to the cafe I was so happy to see they had a new dog and it is a Great Dane!!  He was only 5 months old and named Ben!  He wasn't quite used to people yet but I got a hug in!  

Emily was given this weird wooden rattle thing and she decided to take pictures of it everywhere!  Including a pups head!

Georgina had this little pup for awhile and then the big fluffy one wanted to say hi but the little guy was not so keen and Georgina was a bit nervous!

Super cool bulldog that I love!

So amazingly cute! Just like a big person!!

One of the coolest dogs taking the check for us!

Now on the way to the Gyeongbokgung Palace and we saw this really cool snowbear!!

A rare picture of the super ugly U.S. Embassy in the background!

Our first attempt at the palace!

Massive door at the palace!

Insa-dong time!

Well these aren't needed so much so make planters!!

Yummy time!

Time for the birthday dinner!

Next day now headed back to the palace and getting the City bus tour!

Finally made it when open and we got lucky and it was free!

One goal before leaving Korea was to see a palace covered in snow!  It was very nice in some places.

Emily looking good!

Beautiful!

Emily's process of trying to get both feet up and she failed but it was fun to watch!

What she ended up doing!

Here weird thing again!

The randomness I love in Korea and at the palace I got to hold a couple really cool birds!

Emily is the year of the pig!

This year was the year of the snake!

So we went on the city bus tour and picked the War Memorial of Korea.  It was set up very nicely and we just walked around a briefly looked at everything and chatted!

Love the characters!

Really cool drum!

Traditional fighting boats called Turtle boats!

As always they have to have really cool places for kids to play located in very random places!  Like the DMZ and now a War memorial museum!

Puppies!

Last stop of the day was the Namsan Tower or Seoul Tower on Namsan mountain!

We ate dinner up there at a very romantic place but really good Italian!

Last day of the weekend we had brunch at Butterfingers and then walked around Gangnam some!

Had to try on some of the most ridiculous bows in the subway station!

Mine did look pretty cute and I feel so Korean here!

Then onto the Coex Aquarium!

Super unflattering mirror but funny!

Eating some good dippin dots!

I felt bad because Emily was so sick all week but she was quite a trooper.  We saw a lot and I always love showing Korea and seeing it at the same time!  Well Emily is the last friend to visit and I now have less than 3 weeks left.  So many mixed emotions going on and it is going to be a hard time but I think I know deep down I need to move forward and begin something new!