Stories

After waking up Sunday afternoon(!), I headed down to Shibuya to start exploring near the iconic crossing. While in the area, I found some great places without much of a plan, including this rooftop garden, a Diesel Gallery, and some incredible food.

26 July 2025

Arrival in Tokyo

With only 4 days in Tokyo, I absolutely hit the ground running. The first 12 hours in Tokyo were a whirlwind, but in the best way. I found some AMAZING ramen for dinner, and headed out to the bars around the Shinjuku area. I made a few friends, some of which showed me around the area and others I'll have to catch up with in Amsterdam. It was an incredible area, with a wide variety of locals and tourists contributing to a relatively young and diverse queer bar and clubbing scene.

Tokyo

17 July 2025

Wine Bar and Clubbing

What a fun night! The night started off at Bar 420, a Portuguese wine bar, with a new friend, Jocelyn, from Melbourne. We had met a few weeks ago and talked about going to a wine bar together, and were both excited to make it happen. When we arrived we ordered 2 flights of port wine samplers, a plate of roasted chicken and potatoes, and octopus ceviche. After spending an hour or two carefully tasting and discussing each wine, we dove into the food and finished off the glasses. I'm thinking that the Taylor LBV was my favorite port we tried, perhaps only because they didn't serve a Madeira. It was nice to have a calm, peaceful, and nice dinner. We had an opportunity to discuss cultural differences between America and Australia, and I even shared about my fascination with Madeira, stemming from this past Valentines Day. It was quite interesting to learn that tequila is not so popular in Australia, and that going to the club is less popular after about age 21 there, because of such the young drinking and partying culture. After such a good conversation and meal, we decided to head back to campus to get ready to go out with some other friends of hers.

Around 10pm that evening I met up with the friend group, of whom all I only knew Jocelyn. They all seemed nice enough, from Melbourne and America. The rain had picked up and we got soaking wet heading to the train, but the weather cleared up once we got to Itaewon. I enjoyed explaining the gay scene and "Homo Hill" to the girls on the way to our first bar, which they giggled at sheepishly. That night we went to a pub for pre-game drinks, then Day&Night club, and another open-air concept club.

Day&Night was fun, with decent music and free drinks to keep it busy, but ultimately lacked the attendance that would likely be typical for a weekend, given that it was a Thursday. At the club I met two Korean girls who were enamoured by my evidently American-style dancing when Cardi B came on. They gave me a few shots and we exchanged instagrams, very sweet and cute.

After the cabana club, half the group headed back to school to prepare for their flight to Jeju the next day, while I stuck with the American girls as they went to the next club, but just for a few moments before I ordered my uber.

16 July 2025

Night at the Museum

The National Museum for Modern and Contemporary Art - Seoul (MMCA), had been a place I wanted to visit for a while and was excited to spend my Wednesday afternoon doing something calm and at my own pace. Earlier that day I had not been feeling well, and struggled to feel focused or present in anything I was doing. This evening, I was hoping for just a calm afternoon to ground myself and reflect on the week so far.

While the light rain intensified as I entered the MMCA, I very much enjoyed exploring the beautiful space. Here are some of my favorite pieces that I saw! It was fun to walk around the exhibit and feel good about just exploring, with nowhere to be, no rush, and no worry. In that sense, I appreciated experiencing the museum alone. However, I did make a friend there, Thor who is originally from Iceland but going to school in New York and visiting Seoul for the summer. Him and I seemed to be the only white people in the exhibit, and he caught my attention with his striking blonde hair and blue eyes, and seemed about my age. Although handsome, I really found interest just in the sense that it really is rare to see white men of my age here in Seoul, and presumed he must be a traveler as well. After following each other around the exhibit for quite some time, awkwardly, I made conversation and we got to talking more about his solo travels in Asia, the Busan party scene, and my plans for the rest of the summer. It was nice to chat, and after getting his instagram we parted ways.

After wandering the exhibits, the rain had intensified and so had my hunger. I found a Michelin rated dumpling place on the map nearby and decided to try it out. The dumplings and soup went well with the rainy day, and I tried a rice wine which was surprisingly refreshing. I had some other plans for the evening, but the rain intensified to a point that on my walk to the bus stop I became soaking wet, to an uncomfortable point. With no taxi's available, I rode two busses for about an hour back to campus - a less ideal end to a peaceful afternoon, but nevertheless a good story.

Seoul

11 July 2025

Day 1 in Jeju

Jeju Island

11 July 2025

Meeting Desiree & Annabel!

Desiree, one of my best remaining friends from high school and someone that I feel grateful to have reconnected with in the past few years, spent the last few months studying abroad in Seoul. Unfortunately that meant we had not been able to spend time in Denver like we had in the past, but by some scheduling miracle her layover in Seoul from Vietnam to the States left just enough time to grab coffee before my flight to Jeju. Desiree, her sister Annabel, and myself met up in a cute coffee shop out by the airports, where we caught up like we had spent no time apart.

Talking about life, travels, school, careers, and family was so nice, and it was comforting to talk with someone familiar after feeling fairly isolated the last week or so. Thank you, Desiree and Annabel for catching up! It was so great to see you!