cerealjoe | Entries tagged with pix:seoul

Thank you, Korea, it has been fun!

I've been back to Finland for a day and a half now and it seems that the worst of the jet lag is gone. The weirdest part is that I can clearly remember that some things happened on Friday night, like my mum calling, but I can't remember the details. It's so fuzzy...

The flight back was pretty good, I had a tall Finn next to me and those love to steal leg space. Actually it was rather funny because in Korea I don't know if it was because I was a foreigner or because I stank or something but people generally tried to avoid touching me. They didn't mind bumping or anything but if I sat next to them on the metro, they clearly tried to keep their limbs from touching me. On the plane, my Korean neighbour tried her best to leave me room... my Finnish neighbour not so much, our knees became bffs by the end of the flight.

I also watched some random Chinese film, The Storm Warrios. The point of the film still eludes me. But damn, did those guys have fancy wigs! Or if those weren't wigs, they have pretty damaged hair. In any case, it was one of those films that really should have just stayed a manga... or been about 15 hours long. Or had some sex scenes in it. Just basically after watching it I was glad I didn't waste "useful" time on that.

( more airport randomness and KicKer )

And that's the final post with photos taken locally in Korea (up until I get the Diana Mini film developed but there are still over a dozen shots to be taken before the film is done). I think in total I've posted over 320 photos in the past two weeks... sorry for the spammage but at least I won't huge back logs as I did with Shanghai.

The last post-holiday load of laundry is almost done downstairs, I sent in some work related messages on Friday night, I guess this really means the holidays are over! They restart for a week or so in 26 days though when it's time to move out of Finland. Bah.

And I don't even get to go to a single Tour de France stage this year! They're passing way too far from both Marseille and Toulouse for me to make an effort to fly over so a few days.

Most of my random street photos are on the Diana Mini as I think that those kinds of shots usually come out best on film but here is the street that lead to the small alley I lived on:

There were two middle schools close by and no matter what time I walked up the street there were always students coming and going, it didn't matter that it was barely 6am or already well past 8pm! I do understand that education is seen as a very important thing in Korea but I doubt that making kids stay behind for extra lessons is so wise.

Another thing that really surprised me at first is the fact that there aren't street names indicated anywhere nor number plates. For most places I wanted to visit I had a street address but I couldn't use it besides to look up the location on google maps and then locate myself based on surrounding landmarks. I really don't know how people did it to locate themselves before the age of smart phones with location apps.

( I was staying in one of those traditional houses in Seoul )

A thing that really bothered me about most packaged food was the overpackaging. There really is no need to have such a huge cardboard box for a tiny pouch. Actually why do you need the box at all? It seems that most cookies and sweets come wrapped in way too many layers for their own good! I also didn't see many recycling points for things such as bottles. With the heat the number of bottles one can go through is rather impressive!

( some more food and drinks... and eyemasks )

Oh the meetings you can have in a city! Like seeing your first love... thousands of kilometers away from home.

Yep, Albator (Captain Harlock for the non-French-speaking peeps) is definitely my first love. Albator 78, not really 84. I highly believe that there is a whole generation of people out there who have had their love lives forever ruined because they fell in love with Albator as children. There is just no way one could ever be a better man than Albator!

I was just walking along that Insadong tourist street and I saw some nerdy stuff on the second floor of a building. It turned out to be a "museum"... it looked more like a nerd's parents' garage than anything else but I guess it still beats most museums.

( they had everything from LOTR stuff to Tellytubbies to Astroboy )

During the whole trip I was asked mainly two questions: why travel by myself and why come to Korea?

Well, the answer to the first question is that I'm a loner by nature and seeing the same people for a couple of days in a row tires me out. Always having to consult someone else to know what to do always pisses me off like crazy! It feels like so much time is wasted uselessly when it could be wasted in other ways such as sitting down in a cool spot and catching up on some reading. Visiting that museum is a prime example of stuff I probably wouldn't have been able to do if I had been with others... I probably wouldn't have noticed it even because you can't really just stand around and look up at random buildings when you're with others.

Sure it does get lonely but in the end for me it's absolutely worth it and it's not like I'm alone all the time. I'm always faced with opportunities to meet others, just hanging out in the evening or visiting places.

The sub-question of the "why travel by myself" question is "aren't you afraid? isn't it dangerous?" and the answer is no, I'm not afraid of travelling alone to most places, Korea even more so. Korea is one of the safest places on Earth for tourists. I wouldn't go to many reputedly hot areas by myself at night but it's not like I'm in the habit of doing that in Helsinki either. I also feel that being someone who doesn't really fit in with the population makes it safer because people are watching. There is always someone watching, they might not admit to it and they will lower their eyes when you make eye contact but they are watching. Also I believe that the upbringing of people in Korea and the lack of diversity in the population makes it safer than most spots for tourists.

Chronicles of the last full day in Korea... playing tourist is tiring but someone has to do it!

Let's see the day started with breakfast, even after two weeks I still couldn't handle a proper Korean breakfast. I bet that after a couple of months I could, theory to test out.

In chronological order: Seoul Tower touristy stuff, Charlie Brown, and walking along Insa-dong back in my Anguk 'hood.

( that covers the day till about 4pm or so )

Hei hei, I went to Krispy Kreme Doughnuts the other day. I just feel I should mention that because of the hype that surrounded that chain a while back. This little fella actually tasted of gingerbread.

( more random food testing )

I am also very, very, very sorry to say that the choice in random snacks and sweeties in Korea is extremely disappointing. There was only one kind of Kit Kats in the whole LotteMart! Japan is right next door but clearly those things don't get exported... heck even the koala cookies I brought from China only exist in two flavours here.

Bah. Tomorrow I'm heading out to the Hyundai supermarket, maybe they'll have a better selection.

Not only do they have rides at Lotte World but they also have fake animals!

( Henry fame, museums and more randomness from LW! )

So in conclusion, I think that Lotte World was worth it. Heck, I would have even gone to the ice rink afterwards but I didn't bring a sweater along and just being close to the ice made me cold.

The one thing I could bring myself to do was wear a headband with a random bow or set of animal ears on it. Everyone was wearing one.

So Lotte World... or Adventure something-something. So how was it?

It was quite an adventure indeed! Yes, it is rather big. Yes, like everything else in Korea it has tons of things that shine and blink and all that jazz. And yes, there were tons of people even though it was the middle of the week. By "people" I mean either tiny little kiddies who came with their class or 15-20 year old couples.

( part 1 of 2 of what was going on )

Lotte Adventure World was all kinds of crazy stuff... but that's a story for another day. Now it's time for bed because I have an early wake up call tomorrow to head out to the DMZ.

Only two and a half days left in Seoul, it's going to be hard to leave. But holidays wouldn't be holidays if they weren't limited in time.

No matter how rave reviews are, you really can't bake a good pie on a large scale. There is this bakery, Tartine, in the "foreigner" part of town that's supposed to be one of the best Western style bakeries but really I could bake a pie with better crust and less starchy filling than what I'm eating. But hey, this is all done in the interest of science! Finding the best spots in Seoul where to bum around... and from what I can see this bakery has its regulars who already know the specials and damn I should have gone for today's special instead of rhubarb pie! It was one of those pot pies!

This brings to today's main subject: I've made the decision to only go to touristy places if they're on the way. Otherwise it's just walking around streets and looking for good places where to sit. I'm starting to develop "jambes lourdes", I'm definitely starting to get old and feel the heat. I'm tired all the time, even though I'm drinking a lot I always feel that bad dehydration headache (the hangover kind of headache but without the alcohol). I will learn one day just how people around here survive, I will!

Earlier, along what is possibly the most touristy street in the Anguk part of town I saw a sign for a "tea museum". Like I could miss that kind of thing! The sign ended up showing me down this shady street but the place was pretty awesome. It wasn't really a museum, just a place with lots of tea and I happened to arrive right before brunch hour was over. I got a plater of stuff, from the description I understood it would have red bean stuff and ice cream. It ended up being green tea ice cream, a little cake thing filled with red bean stuff and covered in jelly, some sesame rice cakes and whipped cream... and a cup of herb tea, I figured that if I was going to ingest huge amounts of tea, I might as well have some of the healthy kind.

( tea and some more tea because visiting tea places is serious business )

Tomorrow I'm going to be a total grown up and I'm going to go to Lotte World which is the local DisneyLand and it's indoors (except for one part). Let's say it's my way of putting off acting my age. OMG LOTTE DAMN WORLD! I haven't been to an amusement park in years. Like literally years. I can't even remember when was the last time. And this is like just ten metro stops or so away.

Just look at all the stuff they have! I've been on that site for about an hour and I can't wait to get a map tomorrow and to explore. I'm thinking of going somewhere around 11am so that I can get lunch there (yes, in the overpriced places, I am silly like that)... I'm not sure if I'll be able to hang in there till the 9pm light show but who knows! OMG OMG OMG OMG *squee*

(Korea is getting to me. I've never been excited to go to a huge structure like that. It must be the heat.)

There are five palaces in Seoul which are considered wonderful touristy places. As it happens I live close to three of them... The first one I went to, Changgyeonggung, was obviously closed on Mondays (as are three of them) and even on the days it's open you can only go with a guided tour.

I then went to a second one, Geunjeongjeon, this one luckily turned out to be open on Mondays (but it's closed on Tuesdays) and one can walk freely there and not rely on tour guides. From the structure it's like the Forbidden city in smaller and in Korean.

They have a change of guards a couple of times per day. I do hope those guys in the costumes are getting paid a lot because it must be hell being dressed up like that!

( guards, buildings and statues )

After a while I decided that since I was already in the area, I might as well check out a third palace, Jeongjeon, it was open on Mondays but only visitable with a guide and I had missed the last English visit by five minutes or so. Oh well, perhaps those palaces and I were not meant to be! I did see tons of grandpas playing board games and just sitting around talking. It's an area that's really much better seen through the backstreets. There are no sidewalks so it's up to you to try to avoid cars and oncoming people. Every couple of streets there are the local food stalls, there are ajummas making kimchi, etc.

For an even weirder experience it's worth going a tad closer to the .... which is an uncovered river. It's the local equivalent of the City, there are people clad in business suits everywhere! I was sweating like mad but they seemed rather content just walking along and talking. Just how long would I have to live in Seoul to get used to the heat and the humidity?

My day yesterday was spent in transport and with CSers. Almost felt like being back home as the train was French technology and I see plenty of CSers back home.

There are so many trains going to Seoul from Busan (one every twenty minutes) that they have a system where no one waits close to the tracks, you're let in about 15 minutes before the train leaves. Buying tickets is also amazingly easy on their machines... that made me think, are the SNCF machines also in English or only in French? I really can't remember, or more likely I never paid enough attention to remember.

I'm quite glad I paid more and took the fast train (not just because it felt good seeing that "Alstom" written in big on each wagon) but because I already felt bored after four hours... if it had been seven hours I would have gone out of my mind. The scenery isn't really idyllic, it's just those tall buildings with huge numbers written on them, rice fields, construction works and mountains in the background most of the time.

( more of the same and then some more and trying out some more random food )

I also happened to arrive back in Seoul right on the day of the monthly CS Seoul meeting. I finally got to go into one of those suburban tall buildings with the huge numbers of them. It was a set of "Hyundai" buildings. It was a very, very, very long way away by metro. I'm talking at least an hour. I really don't know how people do it who have to commute daily for hours, that's the main reason why I really think that a flat in Toulon would definitely beat commuting there from Marseille every single day.

Anywho, I was the only recently arrived and short term traveller there but everyone was lovely and there were two absolutely adorable doggies!

Actually attending such events really shows the differences that exist among CS communities. In Seoul and South Korea they seem to have more bigger events (retreats, etc.) rather than smaller local events. Back in Helsinki we mainly have the weekly meetings and the local events that just focus on going out for coffee or things of the sort. And both communities rock, so everything can exist!

Also, if I could give one advice, it's that it's best to bring an international credit card along rather than cash. It's much easier in some places outside of Seoul to find "global" ATMs than a place that would change currency. For example, the closest place to Busan Station (the main train station in Busan which is the third or fourth largest city in the country) is a good twenty minutes' walk away. Actually in Seoul also it's not all that easy because those official looking change bureaus and banks that will change currency all have funky working hours.

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Have I already mentioned that I love the fact that in Korea almost every cafe/sandwich place offers free wifi? Well, as it happens my hotel doesn't have wifi, it's in the "new" city of town (ie it looks very shady but does have those small baseball places that you always see people going to in dramas to practice hitting balls, I have to check out if I can go there... haven't touched a baseball bat since my freshman year of high school), and obviously "new" does not mean "modern". There is a "business center" but hell, I'm too lazy...

So yeah, I'm at this place eating kimchi bulgogi and using the interwebs. Ah, Korea, you are amazing!

Also Korea, I love your taxi drivers but damn, it's hard communicating. But it is kind of hilarious when eventually they warm up to you and they start talking to you and you can't do much more than just smile and nod once in a while. I mean either they really do enjoy telling strangers their lifestory or they're highly amused by me and therefore feel the need to entrain me.

Anyway, here are some photos from my trip to Gimpo airport this morning. Some of the stuff is random and I took photos of some of the kpop-related ads out there. I think there were about seven times more but if I start taking photos of all of them I wouldn't be able to walk more than three hundred meters in an hour.

Let's start with my kpop "happy place", SS501. Yes, they're my kpop equivalent of Arashi. Well they were, now there are stories of disbanding, etc. Basically I got into kpop because of HyungJoon (aka Baby aka HJB) and I've stayed ever since. They're not as lulzy and amazing as Arashi but still... when shit hits the fan in kpop (it happens almost every other week these days), SS501 seem untroubled.

And as a bonus you get some random statue. You can take a photo with it. I'm not quite sure what it was though.

( in the metro, walking on the right side, and some sweat to drink )

Right now I'm on Jeju Island and it's incredible the number of flights that land here. My flight was full, large plane too and they have hourly flights. And that's just one company! When you see how many of them fly here (and have "Jeju" in the name), you can only wonder just how much Korean people love flying here.

On another note, for the first time today I witnessed the "white man" syndom. Middle of nowhere, another "white" person comes the other way, you feel obliged to acknowledge each other...

Alright. Here are some random photos from the guesthouse I stayed at that one night in Seoul and some random cookies.

I think the wallpaper was probably the best thing about the room. I have to admit that I kind wished I had booked in a hotel... because well, I do have the money and obviously the standard for guesthouses around the world is not the same everywhere. Ah well, lesson learnt, we'll see how the Korean hotels compare.

I know I'm not one of those travellers who spent months travelling and who will settle for pretty much anywhere for a night. But I do tell myself this is my first holiday abroad somewhere not visiting family (such problems with having a small family but that is all over the place) or not for work/uni reasons (and therefore with the hotel paid). It also makes me a bad CSer but hey, I like to host... and when I'm travelling usually I like to be independent and so I'm ok with paying for my stay.

Anywho, all this to say that if anyone wants some info on Kim's Guesthouse in Seoul, I have some photos of the room, bathroom, etc. Let's say that it definitely wasn't a B&B like I have experienced in SF or Paris but it was clean enough and the people staying there were also lovely.

( cookies, pillows and breakfasts )

Right now I'm at Gimpo airport, my flight leaves in about an hour... I was planning on getting a proper Korean style breakfast or lunch here but my stomach has jetlag. Just looking at the food here made me rather queasy. So it seems that I'm doing pretty good in terms of sleeping (although getting up was hard) but not in terms of eating.

Now, if I've learnt a few things from kdramas about Korea... it's the following:
- In Korea, people decide to get married and it happens about a week later, sometimes two days later. You usually have to reserve a hotel lounge thing or something and you always manage to have tons of people present even though you only announced the event hours earlier!
- In Korea, you can get pregnant by pretty much just holding hands. I mean kissing will certainly lead you to a baby, there is no doubt about it. (This is only true for "happy" dramas, it doesn't apply to dramas that will fuck with your mind like IRIS)
- In Korea, ajummas love perms. If their hair isn't curly, it's going to be a very bad week.
- In Korea, there will always be someone who will oppose your wedding.
- In Korea, Seoul only has very clean backstreets... they should see where this guesthouse is!
- In Korea, people will always go to talk to cafes right in the middle of the day, even if they have a job. Apparently bosses/supervisors are super duper cool about letting people off for an hour or two at any given point.

And you know what? The ajumma fact is true! There are so many ajummas around, it's incredible. I just feel like walking up to them just to hear them squawk about this or that!

There seem to be two main types of ajummas. The permed haired ones with the see-through visor (pink or purple most of the time). And then there is the ajumma who is dutifully hiding from the sun under an umbrella.

That brings me to another point, apparently t-shirts are ok but tank tops or "marcel" types of shirts are not in. I wore a "marcel" shirt and I think I was the only one. I mean I saw a couple of really short shorts but damn, not a single bare shoulder! Those poor people must have thought I was crazy walking around with such pale skin and bare shoulders. Do not worry people of Seoul, I wore SPF80 sunscren in a thick layer! And so far it seems nothing is red.

But what's the relation between the kdramas and this post? Well, you can also have your wedding banquet at the WC Stadium! So not only groceries, fashion sales, films, museum (and possibly a football match), you can also get married while you're at it!

Right next to the stadium they made this little park where they tried to put some old school stuff.

( a bunch more of stuff I found interesting in the area )

And now to the part which makes me glad that the new camera can take rather ok high-res photos.

There was this ajumma and ajusshi that were walking in front of me and they basically pretty much fit all my ideas of what an ajumma and ajusshi should look like. Especially the ajumma! She had the perm, the visor (purple), white long sleeves to protect her skin from the sun, white gloves (to protect her hands) and shorts which weren't really her type. Whenever they had to wait to cross the street they'd go over into the shade.

Yes, I'm a creeper. But that ajumma was perfect!

At least so far I've resisted my urge to photograph kpop related ads. I've seen Hyori with soju, Big Bang with some chicken (for the WC), F4's Kim Kibum for some phone, TOP for Lollipop2, Bi/Rain ads for pretty much everything, Nichkhun for some phone, all of 2PM (or rather 6PM) for some random drink, etc. They're everywhere! Maybe it's the same in Finland but I really don't know that many famous Finnish people.

And on another note, I just went to the local FamilyMart and the guy there looks like the twin of an actor from a drama. But I can't remember which drama and who the actor is. It's been driving me mad for an hour now... it's an actor that's not "hot", his charm comes from somewhere else. Argh!!!!!

For as long as I can, I'll try to update on the Korean trip as it happens... let's see if I will still have the courage after this post :)

In any case, after finding the guesthouse (humm... a review of all the places I will stay will come later) in the backstreets of Hapjeon, I set out towards the World Cup Stadium.

( so many signs everywhere! And let's learn about football! )

It's kind of sad to see that now the WC stadium is home to a huge supermarket and cinema and fashion mall... besides being the base for Seoul FC (or I think that's what the team is called).

( stadium and mall at the same time... )

( very, very, very important info from the museum )

Alrighty! I am in Seoul! And I have survived the trip. It's not my first to Asia and I don't think it's the longest flight I've ever taken but man, it sure did seem long! Maybe it's because I didn't manage to catch any sleep at all... even though I got the emergency exit row and therefore lots of legroom.

The adventure started at the airport.

(I call the little fox mini-Chullie, named after everyone's favourite @heedictator who loves his cats. A lot.)

Bird watching at the airport facing away from the windows? Nope, this Japanese tourist prefered to stay away from the crowds that formed around the tellies showing the #ned-#jap game.

( seven more - flight and first impressions of Seoul... well, Incheon )

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March 2017

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Page Summary

Final photos from Korea!
The Anguk 'hood
Gali geeks out in Seoul
Last full day as a tourist...
Foods reviewed, part 129381
Gali acts her age (part II)
Gali acts her age, part I
Lotte World... part 0
Tea, tea and more tea.
The palaces of Seoul
KTX is like the TGV... only thousands of kilometers away
No wonder becoming a star here is worth more than being the president.
Random photos from Seoul (1)
Ajumma/ajusshi, look them up if you don't know what they mean.
The 2002 legacy.
First steps on Korean soil.

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Where is Gali(nette)?

aka The day we caught the train

Entries tagged with pix:seoul

Final photos from Korea!

The Anguk 'hood

Gali geeks out in Seoul

Last full day as a tourist...

Foods reviewed, part 129381

Gali acts her age (part II)

Gali acts her age, part I

Lotte World... part 0

Tea, tea and more tea.

The palaces of Seoul

KTX is like the TGV... only thousands of kilometers away

No wonder becoming a star here is worth more than being the president.

Random photos from Seoul (1)

Ajumma/ajusshi, look them up if you don't know what they mean.

The 2002 legacy.

First steps on Korean soil.