Dear All,
It was South Korea trip, I just had. It was an incentive trip from the company I work for so I had to break my 2008 principle of travelling in Thailand . How could I say NO to a free trip? LOL
I spent 4 days there basically in Seoul and a bit in its adjacent towns. On the first day I was on my own, really. I was surprised that the other 100 workmates didn't want to go earlier than the official trip. It's just one day to take care of our own expense. I think it's very affordable. However, I know that about 6-8 people stay longer. Anyway, from this behaviour, I am considered by other workmates a self-confident girl. But from my point of view, I just think this is just something I should do for my life, for my own experience. In the same time, I wonder what other people are thinking. There should be more than 8 people staying longer in Korea in the case nobody wanted to stay earlier like I did. Or is it because this is South Korea , the country which has become more popular only for the past 5 years in terms of tourism? I’m not sure. Last year, when we visited Japan , there were more people stayed longer or went earlier than the official trip. That time, I went 3 days earlier.
Pls do not think that I always have a friend everywhere I go. In Korea , I don't. This is not my style to travel alone. I remember 4-5 years ago, once I was looking for a friend or friends to travel to Northeast of Australia with me. I was keen on Queensland , Whitsunday Islands and around. At one point when I asked one of my best friends whether he's interested in. He refused.
I told him "Even you! You can't go?"
And then he said, "Why don't you just go by yourself?"
Next thing I thought was I wanted to storm out from the room but I didn't. I said "That's so mean!! Why did you say that? You want me to take a photo of myself?!!! Don't you think that a women travelling alone could be in danger?"
It's not like women always win in an argument. My friend was kind of stun with my reaction while I didn't want to believe what he just said. :-D It's a clash of experience. By the way, this friend was not Thai.
Back to today, wandering around Seoul on my own for 1 DAY was acceptable. I just imagine that Seoul is Bangkok so I'm fine. lol I can do it. I made it! Even though it's just one day, I needed to prepare quite many things to make sure I could survive. I don't have a travel guide book like I usually do, I don't have a friend, and I've never been interested in South Korea before. Basically I have to start from the ground to gather all basic information. Internet, friends who had been there, and my L'Oreal counterparts in Korea all helped me so much to get this done. Together with a lovely weather, I had a great day in Seoul :-) I'm so grateful.
Let’s start our pre-day 1. Before day 1, oh! I had to show off a bit that I got upgraded to a business class. The flight attendant on the ground told me that the seats were fully booked so she upgraded me to a business class. Wow! I’m glad it’s fully booked. Hahaha! However, it’s late at night so I didn’t have time to check the seats in economy class whether they were all occupied. It doesn’t quite matter. I was in business class for the first time for international flight. My really first time was in Egypt but it’s on domestic flight and I had to take the business class because all seats were fully booked. Anyway, in Egypt you don’t quite feel any difference, to be honest. My flight to Incheon airport was at 11PM of Thursday 12th to arrive at about 6.50AM of Friday 13th. Five-hour flight with 2 hours ahead of Thailand . Great seat 180 degree I could lie down! Good foods but the drinks are not so good when compare to Thai Airways. hehe
As the flight took only 5 hours to Incheon airport, I hardly slept. I haven’t had dinner so I had it on the plane which approximately I slept for only 3 hours. After we landed, I headed to grasp Seoul map and caught an airport bus to the guesthouse. It took about an hour and a bit to reach the Seoul city so I fell asleep. It was quite easy and I woke up just in time when the bus driver shouted that “This is Anguk Station”. I grabbed everything and got off the bus. After I got off and refreshed myself a bit. I found out I dropped my guesthouse map on the bus. Oh-o. The trouble came! The city map in my hand is a pretty rough and how would people know my cheap guesthouse!!! Since I arrived here earlier (even the airplane landed earlier than its schedule), it’s a sign of something –a sign to WASTE my time!! After I focused on the direct where I was (it is difficult at first because Koreans drive on a so-called “RIGHT” side of the road), I walked to the street I thought my guesthouse was located. It wasn’t. I couldn’t find one and thank god that the road was short so I could find out easily that I made a mistake. But on the negative side, I did need help.
I risked by asking working people on the street but you know it’s just a cheap guesthouse. No one knows!! And then, my little angel appeared! Not a policeman or a postman but he’s a newspaper man!! Ha ha! I was sure I was near Beewon Guesthouse but I didn’t take the right street apparently. As he’s a newspaper man, his English skill made me confused! He drew a map but it’s too rough. Therefore, I used my sense of direction to follow his rough map in my head (He drew a map on his newspaper so I couldn’t take it!!) until I got lost again but this time, I was lost in front of Crown Hotel. Hotel business is about service so I have to make use of it! I asked the receptionist whether I could use the internet or not. She said yes and it was free of charge!! I now believe South Korea is a developed country, hahaha. I searched and asked the receptionist again to point me out where I was and finally, I found the way to Beewon Guesthouse. Also, I found that initially I took the street which was paralleled with the street that the guesthouse was on.
Finally I found the place, oh kinda exhausted but still excited..it was probably 9AM I think. I couldn’t check in before noon so I left my suitcase at the guesthouse office and took a shower before starting a long day. While I was taking a shower, I thought about what my workmate spoke to me before I left the office that if this was my first trip by myself, perhaps something nice may happen like meeting my partner during a trip. “Ah…a romantic holiday, one of my friends had it. Yeah, it would be nice if it happened to me. Well, it’s just one day on my own so it’s impossible that it’s gonna last long. Anyway, I want one if there is no harm.” I smiled to myself :-) Done for shower!
I came down to the ground floor and walked towards the guesthouse office. There was a young man who was looking at me as if he was looking for something (in me). Lol As I came from a land of smile, I smiled back and said “Hi”.
“Are you a receptionist?” He asked.
“Ah..no, I’m a guest too” I answered. Now we know what he’s looking for, lol.
“I want to ask the receptionist whether I can leave my stuff in her office because I’m going out”. He said.
“Ah, yeah, I think you can. I left it there too. Just put it there I think.” I expressed my opinion.
Then, the receptionist came. He sorted out his things. Then, I asked him.
“Will you check in later?”
“No, I’m leaving today. This is my last day. So I wanna leave my luggage here. Then, I can go out, you know.”
“Ah..ha. How long have you been here? This is my first day. I can check in after noon so I put my luggage there too.”
“I just arrived yesterday” He replied and laughed.
“What?!? You stayed here just one day?” I was surprised
“Yeah, this is kinda like my transit so…just one day. It’s okay”
“Where are you from? Taiwan ?” I asked.
“I’m from Japan . And you?”
“Oh, really? Your English is pretty good. I’m impressed. I’m from Thailand . I’m Nam . Err..Namrin if you can see my name on the board… that one, with longest last name up there.” I told him and laughed.
“My English is okay. Thank you. My name is Yohei. Yohei Maruxxxx. (Not sure whether I should reveal all of conversation, hehe)
“Ok Yohei, where are you going today?” I asked a bit more.
“I’m going to Changdeokgung, the palace near the guesthouse”, said Yohei.
“Hey, I’m going to the same place and after that, I’m going to the er… Deoksugung. It’s the palace as well but not far from here. We can take a train for 2-3 stops and get off at City Hall station. Maybe we can go together”
“Yeah, sound good to me. But I have to come back here at 3. But it’s ok. It’s good to travel with someone”, said Yohei.
Have I ever told you that guys are easy? HAHAHA just kidding!
Then, he told me, “You know, I’m actually planning to go Thailand this year or next year. Do you have any advice?” See? I didn’t invite him at all. He said that by himself. So we continued our conversation about a few tips when travelling to Thailand as our first visit of the day began.
We arrived at Changdeokgung or you can call Changdeok Palace . (gung means palace). This is a very nice and big palace. It had been served for Joseon period (1392-1910). There are free English tour guide available at 11.30AM but we arrived there at 10.30. I was not keen on waiting really so we took the Japanese tour guide round. This meant Yohei would be my personal translator. To be honest, I was so into the history as I was not going to take any exam after this so I just enjoyed the buildings and the beauty of the garden. Moreover, there were about one hundred of Japanese in this tour round. That’s another reason we were not in touch with the Japanese-speaking Korean guide and the palace’s history. Check out the photos, please.
If you are from East Asia , you would find the buildings are having something in between Chinese and Japanese or let say Chinese. So it’s beautiful but to be honest, it’s not stunning. I didn’t mean to underestimate Koreans but that’s the way I feel. And I think this is why Korean tourism is not very strong. However, they have become a developed country with good economics so don’t worry about it.
Next we took the underground to City Hall station to go to Deoksugung ( Deoksu Palace ). But before that, we had lunch at a very local restaurant. It’s Bi Bim Bap, we ordered!! It’s a very nice rice bowl with different vegetables on top. Sometimes, they have egg and either fried beef or fried pork or fried octopus in it too. In English they may explain to you as rice salad. However, this is much MORE friendly than Kimchi (preserved cabbage in red sauce). Therefore, it’s a shame if you have never tried when you go to Korea or a Korean restaurant. I’m serious!
During lunch, we introduced ourselves to each other that what we are up to. Yohei is an undergrad student in Japan but this is his second time of studying. The first time he studied 2 years but then dropped out. However, apparently he’s years younger than me. Therefore, this is not a romantic holiday at all. I didn’t expect that, did I? LOL. He was surprised to know that I work. He didn’t explain further why he reacted so. Anyway, I interpreted that as a good sign meaning I look younger than I actually am, hahaha.
Deoksugung is nice but half smaller than Changdeokgung I think. The palace is in very downtown opposite to the Seoul City Hall . So when taking some photos, we had a high scrapers as background. It’s kinda funny. And in this palace, there are a couple of modern buildings in the same area. One is the art gallery and the other is Seoul Museum or something like that. So that’s a bit a major contrast. What I like most about Deoksugung is the guard rotation performance. They demonstrate how the security guard in the palace switched their shift. Everyone is in Korean soldier uniform so it is really cool :-)
After Deoksugung, I had to say goodbye to Yohei. It’s been a good day with him. Perhaps we could meet in Bangkok if he will visit here really. I also sent him off at the guesthouse. It’s not that I was so nice. The reason behind was I wanted to check in and take a NAP! I had only 3 hour sleep last night. And before I came here I slept only 5 hours a day for 4 days in a row plus tomorrow morning I had to get up early to meet my workmates at the airport at 7.30AM. Thus, I was sure I needed more rest. A nap lasted for 3 hours….zzzzzzz
It’s 7PM but it’s still bright. Brilliant!! I knew that the sunset at 8PM in this season. I walked to Insadong market which appeared to be a souvenir market. I had got in and out to different shops to check out stuff. Another good thing in Korea is everything has price tag. So you know the price and can compare it with another store easily. However, you can’t negotiate much here even it’s a street stall. It’s different from Egypt and Thailand . I’ve got a few things I wanted for my friends and family. Then, I headed to Cheonggyecheon Stream.
It’s quite a long way before reaching the city stream. I passed a shopping street I guess. It gave city feeling to me. So I hopped into a few shops along the way. Basically just window shopping but that took quite some time.
And about 10PM or so, I was now at Cheonggyecheon. It looked nice and clean and looked more like human made stream but it’s originally natural until the Seoul City has decided to develop it to be a meeting point and a new sightseeing. Then, concrete came along with the lights under the water. It also looked like a pool somehow. lol. But it’s nice. I wish you could be here with me.
I walked back to the guesthouse by using another street so I passed the pubs and bars area which was behind the shopping street. I was tempted to check out but as I was now alone and my watch showed 11PM so I could only walk through that 100 bars and I didn’t stop by any place. However, I got into 7-Eleven to buy a bottle of fruit juice and sushi roll for being my breakfast tomorrow EARLY morning.
I came back to the guesthouse safe and sound. Let’s a call it a great day! Oops it’s already a new day….nite nite….zzzzzz
Day 2 to come...
Namrin
Photos
http://s222.photobucket.com/albums/dd191/namrinb/Photo%202008/South%20Korea%2013-16%20June/?albumview=link
