From Incheon
Writing this from Incheon airport and am a little tired after last night in Seoul so this is going to be a little garbled or if you'd like to give me a lot of credit - my experiment with 'stream of consciousness' writing.
Loved the vibrant energy and buzz of the Myeong-Dong district yesterday. In a strange way it reminded me of the places like the mall road, or tibetian market in Nainital - not in the way they visually or physically resemble each other but in some way the experiences they evoke seems based around the same concept and the flow of people is similar - shops on both sides with people in a fused browsing-shopping mode and shops ranging widely from one to the next.
This stop over at Seoul was kind of unexpected. It's a long story but somehow me - and another girl just as confused as me ;) - somehow didn't realize the flight was the next evening and not that evening. So we found ourselves with a day and a half in Seoul!
The first thing that struck me was how absolutely polite and helpful everyone here was. It was amazing. Everyone from the airline staff, to the immigration officers to shopkeepers and drivers. It was easy to make friends with everyone you interacted with.
Surprisingly a US Visa was enough to get you into Seoul even though none of us had a Korean Visa.
The bus ride into downtown Seoul gave a bit of a peek into the terrain of the country. Way less traffic than Delhi :) though the terrain reminded me of the region around Dehra-Doon.
Couldn't use my laptop when I got into the hotel initially because the plugs were different and even the adapter the hotel people provided didn't work for me. The plus point is I now have a nice new adapater :)
The currency - Won-makes you feel like you're spending way too much money (and korea is actually kind of more expensive than I imagined) When I exchanged money the sweet girl at the counter told me 10,000 won would buy me a sandwich. When I seemed surprised at just 1 sandwich....she sort of comforted me with - ok maybe, two :) A quick way to convert (approximately) is divide by thousand and replace won with dollars. So 10000 Won is around 10 US dollars.
Tried some roasted chestnuts. Not bad but I'd have preferred them spicier :)
Tried some other road food - thought it'd be different but it was like corn dog.
Some of the more exotic road food I was too queasy to try ;)
On a crossing asked a stranger for recommendation for a restaurant. He turned out to be super helpful (Thanks Su-Chan!) and took us to Myeong-Dong district. The shopping district was teeming with people - and he said the rush was so low because of the holiday a day earlier! He took us to an old and famous restaurant - pictures coming - that had a huge line of people waiting to get in.
He introduced us at the door and they took us right in past the line - I felt guilty and a little rude but everyone else seemed not to mind at all! Once inside he explained the dishes and then we ordered.
The food made us realize why the line was so long outside! The kimchi was delicious and very spicy! Loved the design idea of having cutlery in a drawer at the table !!
Followed this up with a stroll around the Myeong-Dong market which is a whole post in itself and then met with a couple of polish tourists - who were super fun and made for a very interesting late night conversation !!
Flying back to Seattle in a few hours - wish I could stay home for another week and then spend a couple of more days in Seattle before flying back..............
Loved the vibrant energy and buzz of the Myeong-Dong district yesterday. In a strange way it reminded me of the places like the mall road, or tibetian market in Nainital - not in the way they visually or physically resemble each other but in some way the experiences they evoke seems based around the same concept and the flow of people is similar - shops on both sides with people in a fused browsing-shopping mode and shops ranging widely from one to the next.
This stop over at Seoul was kind of unexpected. It's a long story but somehow me - and another girl just as confused as me ;) - somehow didn't realize the flight was the next evening and not that evening. So we found ourselves with a day and a half in Seoul!
The first thing that struck me was how absolutely polite and helpful everyone here was. It was amazing. Everyone from the airline staff, to the immigration officers to shopkeepers and drivers. It was easy to make friends with everyone you interacted with.
Surprisingly a US Visa was enough to get you into Seoul even though none of us had a Korean Visa.
The bus ride into downtown Seoul gave a bit of a peek into the terrain of the country. Way less traffic than Delhi :) though the terrain reminded me of the region around Dehra-Doon.
Couldn't use my laptop when I got into the hotel initially because the plugs were different and even the adapter the hotel people provided didn't work for me. The plus point is I now have a nice new adapater :)
The currency - Won-makes you feel like you're spending way too much money (and korea is actually kind of more expensive than I imagined) When I exchanged money the sweet girl at the counter told me 10,000 won would buy me a sandwich. When I seemed surprised at just 1 sandwich....she sort of comforted me with - ok maybe, two :) A quick way to convert (approximately) is divide by thousand and replace won with dollars. So 10000 Won is around 10 US dollars.
Tried some roasted chestnuts. Not bad but I'd have preferred them spicier :)
Tried some other road food - thought it'd be different but it was like corn dog.
Some of the more exotic road food I was too queasy to try ;)
On a crossing asked a stranger for recommendation for a restaurant. He turned out to be super helpful (Thanks Su-Chan!) and took us to Myeong-Dong district. The shopping district was teeming with people - and he said the rush was so low because of the holiday a day earlier! He took us to an old and famous restaurant - pictures coming - that had a huge line of people waiting to get in.
He introduced us at the door and they took us right in past the line - I felt guilty and a little rude but everyone else seemed not to mind at all! Once inside he explained the dishes and then we ordered.
The food made us realize why the line was so long outside! The kimchi was delicious and very spicy! Loved the design idea of having cutlery in a drawer at the table !!
Followed this up with a stroll around the Myeong-Dong market which is a whole post in itself and then met with a couple of polish tourists - who were super fun and made for a very interesting late night conversation !!
Flying back to Seattle in a few hours - wish I could stay home for another week and then spend a couple of more days in Seattle before flying back..............
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