If you can plan your perfect holiday, what would you do?
1. Greece: island hopping
For some reason, I always liked Greece. I think a lot of people agree with me on the statement. My first attempt to visit this gorgeous country failed last year, but I believe I’m going back sometime soon. Maybe because of the image from Mamma Mia! the musical, or the movie ‘Sisterhood of Traveling Pants’, I fell in love with the destination I’ve never been. The romance part of those stories got my girly heart, perhaps, but whatever the reasons are, I love Greece.
I got introduced to Greek cuisine in Seoul. The chef of Greek Joy is Korean, but he learnt his cooking from Canada when he lived there for about ten years. Now he is master at Greek food. Ever since I tasted Mediterranean cuisine from that restaurant, I couldn’t let go of the taste. Stuffed grape leaves still remains as one of my favourite food. If I can taste the authentic Greek cuisine in beautiful Greek islands, I can definitely say that is my perfect holiday.
2. Hawaii: the world’s largest observatory
Hawaii was the ultimate exotic travel destination to me since I was little. Everything looked different in Hawaii (from TV and book of course). The tropical weather, Hula dance, volcanos, flowers, and exotic-looking people; all very mysterious for me.
After I got myself into astronomy, a trip to Hawaii earned a totally different meaning. Mauna Kea mountain on the island of Hawaii is where the world’s largest observatory is located on 4,200 meter high summit. Thanks to the hight, it gives the clearest view of the deep sky human could ever got through the thick atmosphere.
When I was working at an observatory in Korea, we used to compare the size of our dome to Mauna Kea’s, and it was forty times bigger than our little observatory dome. Seeing the clearest sky on earth, from the largest observatory became my dream. Along with the active volcanos (I mean, who doesn’t like to see them?), and wild nature, Hawaii would be my perfect holiday. I don’t mind seeing an active lava from afar either.
3. New Zealand: meat, cheese, wine and repeat
As a traditional Korean, I highly value good quality food. Fresh vegetable, good meat, well-prepared meal are some of the most important factors of Korean’s life. New Zealand was one of the few countries that I respect for their food. I visited New Zealand back in 2004, and I went back in 2006 because I loved it so much. New Zealand was my first backpacking (and overseas) destination, and impacted me pretty hard. The trip opened up a whole new world for me: the language, culture, cuisine, way of living, and life.
I loved the experience in New Zealand both times, and absolutely fascinated by their high-quality food products. I used to drink milk 1liter a day when I was growing up. It was the cheapest luxury we could have. We didn’t have cheese, but as a lover of milk, it was inevitable for me to fall in love with other diary products. It was the first time I had blue cheese, along with other stinky ones, and I loved them all. Also, how can I not mention their wine? I enjoyed our wine and dine at home, every evening. The dine was usually prepared with high-quality New Zealand meat. I ate meat pie for snack, bacon for breakfast, and steak for dinner. If I can do it again, consume meat, cheese, wine and repeat, I’d be happy to gain some weight in exchange of the happiness. What could be better holiday than this?
#Disclaimer: These are my answer for the question https://www.happinessincluded.co.uk/ asked. If you can plan your perfect holiday, what could it be?
