​Sokcho is a coastal city in the far northeast of Gangwon-do province in South Korea, not far from Gangneung, another great must-visit city.  Other than the intriguing historical facts regarding this tranquil Korean city, such as belonging to North Korea from 1945 until around 1953 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sokcho), Sokcho is home to the third highest mountain in South Korea, Seoraksan, with the highest elevation reaching 1, 708 meters.  And squid - lots of squid.  Other kinds of seafood can be found of course - there is an abundance of tiny restaurants strewn throughout the city.  You can also try some squid soondae (오징어 순대) in the Abai village, which is an area in Sokcho that is home to people of North Korean ancestry. 
Louis and I spent a weekend in Sokcho last year and it is now on our list of most favourite cities in Korea. Below, I shared some photographs of our tranquil weekend in Sokcho. 

We visited Japan for six days in August, 2014.  Our itinerary included the traditional city of Kyoto, the history-rich Hiroshima and the city that never seems to sleep, Osaka.  I don't think anything that I say or any of my pictures can justify this fabulous country and its interesting people.  Therefore, I will keep my words to a minimum and let the photographs do most of the talking.

We went to the Philippines in 2013.

We went to Beijing for four days in 2012.