Wherever you go, there you are. (Where in the World 2)

Sorry to have kept you all in suspense!  I'm safe at home in Korea and generally very happy about life.  My visit to Arizona was a great boost for me and it was amazing to be able to spend all that time with my father and sister. 
To pick up where we left off, the drive out to the Hot Springs turned into a rocky dirt path and dad didn't want his car to suffer the last 5 miles of the road.  So we turned around and walked around at Lake Pleasant instead.  A nice afternoon which we capped off with another trip to the sushi bar.

Another day, the three of us visited the Phoenix Zoo, though unfortunately many of the exciting animals were put away for whatever reason. Somewhere in this trip, New Years had to happen - Ellie and I booked tickets for a very hot looking party in LA and made a reservation at the hostel in Hollywood! About half-way there, we realized that was the first road trip we'd ever taken together, surprisingly.

We met my Korean friend in LA (he just moved there to go to college), went shopping, and ate some yummy Thai food before the big party. We all had a great time that night, stumbled back to the hostel at 2:30, got up in the morning and went exploring for New Years Day excitement. Typically there's nothing open, but around Santa Monica and Venice Beaches we found a bit of entertainment.

Shortly after returning to Phoenix, my sister left to meet her man in Denver and embark on her "real" vacation in Puerto Rico (*lucky duck!!!*) and my dad and I were left to pack up and say sayonara to ours.  We did allow ourselves one more touristy moment: Taliesin West is located just outside of the city.  Pronounced "tal-ee-EH-sin" this is the name of a winter house Frank Lloyd Wright designed for he and his wife.  He also started a school of architecture where he would bring students each fall.

Overall, it was an excellent trip.  Though I did have the worst trans-pacific flight on record, and trust me - I know what I'm talking about.  I've now made that flight seven times.  I love flying.  I love meeting new people, and am pretty understanding of people's quirks and habits.
This time, my mistake was clear.  I had arrived in LAX over 3 hours before my connecting flight with a need to check in.  I was first in line to get my boarding pass, and like usual I was busy checking my paperwork, assuring that my baggage was checked through, figuring out the security checkpoint, and finding my gate.  Too busy to ask for the aisle seat I wanted.  (Damn that poor memory of mine...)

So because of that one small error, and the fact that I was on what was probably the oldest plane in Asiana's fleet, my flight sucked.  So.  Bad.  My in-flight entertainment worked only intermittently, my overhead light never worked (so I couldn't even read), and the people around me were pretty ridiculous. 

I was so happy to get off that plane, onto the KTX, then into my bed at home I can't even tell you!  It took me almost 4 days to really recover from the jet-lag, and all my photos are trapped on my laptop (with which I can no longer connect to the internet, for no apparent reason), so please give me some time.  I'll be sure to let you know as soon as I post all the evidence :)

In the meantime, let me link you to my recent published articles.  I wrote about Busan for my friends up at Daegu Pockets Magazine: Battle of the Bands, my favorite bar/restaurant, and a great sauna here.  Flip to page 13, that says 2 days and 1 night in Busan.  Enjoy!