Articles by mgedwards

A Rave for Hilton Hawaiian Village

I’ve been meaning to write more about our recent experience in Hawaii.  Lately I’ve ranted about bad customer service, but I want to share a good experience we had recently while staying at the Hilton in Waikiki.  The Hilton Hawaiian Village on Waikiki in Honolulu is absolutely fabulous!  It is the only full-fledged resort on Waikiki.  If you’re planning a trip to Hawaii in the near future and aren’t sure where you should stay, definitely take a second look at the Hilton Hawaiian Village.  (The Hilton at Waikoloa on the Big Island is even nicer.)  Although it’s expensive, you won’t regret paying more.  If you’re heading to Hawaii on business and your company will pay for your stay, don’t pass up the opportunity the stay there.

The resort is located on 22 acres at the edge of Waikiki.  It lacks the urban feel of Waikiki, and Hilton successfully managed to design the resort to feel like a commercialized Hawaiian village.  It offers all the amenities you could ask for–restaurants, shopping, massage therapy, you name it.  The resort features prime Pacific Ocean views and a great panorama of Waikiki Beach and Diamond Head.  We stayed in the Ali’i Tower.  The view from our hotel suite was the most gorgeous we have ever seen.  Be sure to ask for an ocean view suite when you check in.  The resort is probably the only place in Waikiki where you can feel like you’re getting away from it all.

We arrived at the resort during NFL Pro Bowl weekend when it was absolutely packed.  Check in was a bit chaotic.  We could not park our car at check-in for more than a minute.  However, after check-in we settled in and enjoyed our visit immensely.  On the night of our arrival we dined in style on our balcony overlooking the ocean.  We spent some time on the beach, and my son played with his cars in the sand.  My brother and his wife joined us for dinner the night before we departed for Korea.   I wish we could have enjoyed it even more than we did.  One evening while I walked around searching feverishly for baby diapers I walked past a lounge in the resort filled with people dining on fine cuisine and Spanish guitar in the air.  I wish I could have stopped for a drink, but I needed to get back so my son would have diapers.  Spending a few days at the Hilton Hawaiian Village was just what we needed before heading to wintery Seoul.  Hawaii is a great half-way point between Asia and the United States.  We hope to stop there often during our trans-Pacific travels.

Today we stayed home and relaxed.  It’s Korean Independence Day today.  On March 1, 1919 hundreds of thousands of Koreans took to the streets to demonstrate against Japanese colonial occupation and to declare independence from Japan.  Although formal Korean independence was not achieved until after World War II, the day is highly symbolic of Korea’s struggle for freedom and independence.  We thought about going to Namdaemun Market today for the first time, but after our experience at the COEX Mall we thought better of it and decided to avoid the crowds.  Instead, I hung pictures up at home and went to the local dry cleaners.  Sometimes peace and quiet is the best way to celebrate.

Itaewon and the COEX

My family ventured out to see more of Seoul for the first time.  We’ve pretty much been keeping to ourselves at home since we arrived, but we decided that it was about time to get out and see some of the local culture.  We first went to Itaewon, a shopping district in Seoul.  We then caught a taxi to the COEX Mall, a shopping complex near Olympic Stadium.  We ended the day having dinner with our next-door neighbors, a cordial couple who lent us their vehicle to use while they were out of town on vacation.  We are so impressed with the caliber of people who live and work here with us.  I am really looking forward to getting to know my neighbors and colleagues better.  While living in the Seattle and Washington, D.C. areas I rarely met any of my neighbors, and we almost never joined them for dinner.  We usually kept to ourselves, something that happens quite frequently in urban America.  Life here is a very welcome change for me.  I’ve been telling people that I had to move overseas to enjoy a "normal" American life.  I much prefer developing good friendships with the people who live around me to being too busy to get to know them. 

We want to explore all of Seoul’s famous neighborhoods while we’re here, especially Namdaemun and Dongdaemun.  We may go out again on Tuesday during Korean Independence Day.  Today we started in Itaewon.  The day was clear and cold, so we did not stay long outside in Itaewon.  We ate Korean food at Don Valley Korean Restaurant located below the Burger King in Itaewon.  The food was delicious.  No offense intended, but I don’t understand why anyone would eat at Burger King in lieu of the local fare.  We ate 불고기 (hot-pot bulgogi), 삼계탕 (ginseng chicken soup), and 반잔 (side dishes).  Side dishes are one of the highlights of Korean dining.  They remind me of Spanish tapas, a hodge podge of dishes unique to Spanish cuisine.  Korean side dishes such as various types of kimchi and bean sprouts wonderfully accent any Korean meal. 

Following our visit to Itaewon we took a cab to COEX Mall, one of Seoul’s largest malls.  My wife really wanted to take our son to visit the COEX Aquarium.  I hesitated going because I did not know how far the COEX Mall is from Itaewon.  Our trip turned out to be an expensive, half-hour jaunt in heavy traffic.  A round-trip cab ride cost about $20, and the mall was absolutely packed with Koreans.  (I only saw a handful of foreigners.)  We should have known that the residents of Seoul would converge at the mall on Sunday, the one day of the week when they can relax and have fun (most Koreans work or study at least half a day on Saturday).  We didn’t visit the aquarium after all.  Our son was too tired and fussy to enjoy sea life, and we thought it would be a waste of money to take him there in such a distressed state.  When I wasn’t tending to my son, I enjoyed people watching in the mall and catching a glimpses of Korean fashion and mannerisms.  I definitely dressed differently than Koreans do.  I definitely stood out in the crowd wearing tennis shoes, a bright ski jacket, and an NFL sweatshirt.  I saw very few people wear sneakers, bright-colored clothing, or logo-emblazoned gear.  Had I known beforehand that I would be going there I probably would have dressed differently and tried to at least make an attempt to blend with the crowd.  I guess I’ll have to trade in my tennis shoes for some casual wear.  Darn.

From the "Things that make you go Hmm" department:  Today we visited the Hyundai Department Store, rode in a Hyundai taxi cab, and passed by numerous Hyundai apartment complexes as we drove through Seoul.  I’m going to have to get used to the omnipresence of Korean chaebol in Korea.  Imagine if General Electric built your car, home, and served as your primary bank and department store in the U.S.  This is very common in Korea.  Korean commerce is heavily concentrated in chaebol, or conglomerates.  

Reassembling your life

I spent most of the day today emptying boxes, arranging furniture, and putting away belongings in our new home.  I also went out to run some errands and eat lunch at a local Korean restaurant, a welcome respite from unpacking.  I didn’t realize how much stuff we own until I started going through all those boxes.  I repeatedly asked myself questions such as, "Why did I ship that?" and "Why did I ever buy this?"  For example, I found out that I accidentally shipped a miter saw that I have no intention of using while I’m overseas.  Somehow, I ended up shipping just about all the boxes previously stored in my garage, and now I have just about every home improvement tool available to me in a home that I do not need to maintain or improve.  If our place has a problem, I just need to call someone in maintenance.  I don’t need to be a handyman like I was when I lived in my own home.  I have all the tools I don’t need, and I’m missing some that I need.  I don’t even have a hammer yet.  My rusty ol’ hammer will come in a later shipment.  In the meantime, I’ll have to hammer nails to hang photos and prints using a heavy-duty wrench. 

I almost bought a new hammer at the store today, but I decided against it.  I already own one; why do I need two?  At first I justified the purchase by telling myself that my own hammer is rusty (accidentally left out in the rain), but I managed to convince myself not to buy it.  I’m glad I said no.  My family has become rather minimalist, partly out of necessity and partly out of desire.  When you live and work overseas, you don’t need as much as you need as a suburban American homeowner.  Too much stuff can be overbearing, and our life has been much too cluttered over the past few years.  We are planning to get rid of as much "junk" as possible as soon as possible to help unclutter our lives.  We want to keep only what we need or really want and avoid becoming transient packrats.  It will take some time.  We have to use up much of what we have bought–like those multiple bottles of laundry detergent–and sell or give away what we cannot consume.  We will still store some items away for our eventual return to the U.S. and for special occasions such as camping and Christmas.  We don’t have much storage room here, but we’ll find creative ways to put it all away.