Will Steven ever learn how to use chopsticks?: Seoul

Showing posts with label Seoul. Show all posts

Saturday, March 22, 2008

Julie's Take on Seoul - Day 2

When you're power traveling with Phil and Steven, there is no time for blogging.
I have left the two in the Kansai area of Japan (yes, we have made it to Japan) in order to come back for my school's graduation.
So I'll get you all up to speed one post at a time.

We had a slow start on day 2 of Seoul. (Yes yes, I was the main cause.)
As a result, we only had 5 minutes to walk around Bongeunsa Temple.

Then we rushed off to meet Phil+Michael at the school they work at for a tour.
Here's Steven brushing up on his Hamlet soliloquy.

Can you tell what that is that we are holding?

It's a friggin' Oscar, people! One of the directors at Phil+Michael's school was awarded for making a documentary.

It was so fun holding that thing. Quite heavy! Those actresses aren't just acting like they're having a hard time holding it up with their skinny wrists.

Here's Steven's acceptance speech.

After the tour, Phil's assitant Cindy took us to a yuuuuummy Korean BBQ place. We didn't have to do any work. The BBQ lady cooked, we ate. She cooked, we ate. Mmmmmm.

With our bellys full, Phil, Steven, and I decided to go back to that temple to finish seeing everything.

Here's Phil looking serene in front of the tallest Buddha statue in Korea. The marble floor is where meditators can sit and empty their minds. Phil and I sat for about 5 minutes. Very peaceful.

After quieting our minds as much as possible with a 5-min meditation, we decided to go on a walking tour that one of our books recommended.

Walking makes Julie hungry. No worry, stall lady with yummy goodness to the rescue; we had some pot stickers.

Now all along the walking tour, I was trying to meet up with one of my grad school friends Liz, who happened to be working in Seoul. After a couple hours of missed meetings, dying phones, and general confusion, we finally were able to find each other near Namdaemun market.

After about an hour of shopping, we parted ways with Liz and started walking towards Seoul Tower. This walk was a b1tch! We had to hike up, up, up... what was the guidebook thinking including a fricking tower on a mountain on a walking tour? (We didn't have to walk all the way up, but even the walk to the base of the mountain was very steep.) And to top it all off, when we got to the cable car that would take us to the top , there was a sign...

"The cable car will not be running from March 10th to the 21st. We are sorry for the inconvenience."

...

So we took a taxi.

Dumb tower...

But hey, it was a nice view.

And we got a fun shot with an overhead mirror.

And they had a funky laser show on the tower itself.

It's a nice tower... just don't go when the cable car isn't running. In fact, just take a bus up!

After a long day of walking, it was time to move location and get a good night's rest. On to Busan!

Monday, March 17, 2008

Julie's Take on Seoul

As you may imagine, Phil, Steven, and I have been running around Seoul like crazy -- I have enough material for 20 blog posts. So I'm just going to put up some of the best pictures to take you through our travels.

Goodbye, U.S.A. Helloooooo, Korea!

Arriving in Itaewon, the "Homo Hill," where our hotel, The Hamilton, was located. I would rate it 3 stars.

Early in the morning, we joined a tour that took us to the DMZ, a demilitarized zone between the two Koreas at the 38th parallel.

Phil and Steven with Freedom Bridge in the distance. This is where South Korean and North Korean P.O.W.'s crossed to be returned back to their respective homes.

Steven and Phil outside the 3rd tunnel that was discovered that North Korea dug in order to invade Seoul. Our tour guide was quite frank with her description of the political state of affairs.

"Please do not take any photos in the DMZ. If you do, you will have a veeery special memory."

"At first North Korea didn't admit that they had dug the tunnels. But now they do. And there is a lot of evidence for it anyway."

"In the DMZ, there is a South Korean aboriginal village that is protected by the UN, and a North Korean propaganda village that is not real -- no one lives there."

"Before, there was a U.S. base in the demilitarized zone, but the North Korean spies would infiltrate and kill them, so they left the area."

A station that will run from Dorasan, South Korea, to Pyeongyang, North Korea, in the future. Very symbolic, very optimistic, a little heartwarming, mostly sad.

Back from the DMZ walking around Seoul. Steven and Phil in front of City Hall. "Guys, turn around! It's right there!"

Steven and I at an amaaaazing restaurant for lunch. The place did not have an English sign, but my newly-acquired-in-the-bus makeshift Korean alphabet skills saved the day! "Pa...k...ss...i...m..." It's here, it's here, it's here!!" Park-ssi Mulgo on Jebi: I rate it 4 stars.

At Changdeokgung Palace with Phil+Steven's friends, Phil+Michael. A UNESCO world heritage site. Huge and beautiful.

So during the Changdeokgung Palace tour, the woman kept saying how the Japanese invaded Korea and burnt down this gate, that hall, that over yonder pagoda. And every time I would feel a little pang of guilt, which the boys thought was hilarious.

The killer came when the tour guide said:
"Now, 1945. Of course it is a very important year, when the war ended. Actually, it was between the U.S. and Japan. And.... Japan lost."

And then what does Phil do? He starts chuckling away for a good 5 minutes!! Omg I don't know him...

After the palace, we headed to Insadong, an artsy area with lots of nice souvenir shops. Phil, Michael, Steven, Phil, and I stopped for some tea at a nice cafe. The tea was potent but definitely much-needed since it was getting really cold and we had been walking around all day.

After shopping around and having dinner in Insadong, we took the subway back to Itaewon. And we were standing in front of this lil' lady lookin' very stern in her perhaps feigned sleep.

"Hello, lil' lady! I'm Phil, I'm happy to be in Korea!"
"Stupid foreigners... standing in front of me..."

We visited Phil+Michael's apartment in Itaewon and then turned in for the night.
That's the end of Day 1! Day 2 to come soon!

Sunday, March 16, 2008

A Very Full Day of Seoul

Our internet connection (or my crappy laptop with the combination of the crappy hotel connection) at our hotel in Seoul is not the best, so this post may be a bit brief.

We stared our day yesterday in Seoul with a tour of the DMZ at the borders of North and South Korea. We visited the freedom Bridge, that POW soldier's from The Korean crossed into their respective countries at the end of Korean War, a tunnel dug by the North Koreans' believed to be used to invade South Korea and then the border observatory of North and South Korea. At the observatory we were able to view a very hazy North Korea. At the termination of the tour we visited the last train station/stop in South Korea at the border, the he three of us were able to pose with a very serious looking South Korean soldier.

We returned to Seoul to look for a quick lunch spot. After a bit of searching through the maze of side streets we found our restaurant, Park-ssi Mulgo on Jebi, thanks to Julie's newly acquired understanding of Korean symbols. The restaurant is a small 4 table establishment in the Insadong neighborhood and the food was simply delicious!

Following lunch we met up with our friends Philip and Michael at Changdeokgung Palace. One of Seoul's 5 palaces. After an extensive 90 minute tour of the palace grounds we meandered over to the Insadong Market where tons of Korean souvenirs and other art items were for sale.

During our stroll through the market we stopped at a traditional Korean Tea House for a break from the frenzy of the Market. The tea house was exactly how I pictured one to look like, small and intimate with a lingering smell of mystery.

After more shopping through the interesting shops and stalls of the market we stopped for dinner at a Korean Bibim bap (meat and rice bowl) restaurant where we were all able to try soju; the "Sake" of Korea.

We ended our day at Philip and Michael's apartment with some hot tea, soju cocktails and snacks before returning to our hotel for the night.

Overall a great day in Seoul!

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Tara and Loren's Take on Korea

They have photos and descriptions of the 3 palaces on our itinerary, plus the DMZ and even Suwon (Folk Village).

http://www.ltwaller.com/Korea/index.html

Seoul - Message from Liz

"Awesome! I have been to the Gay Hill area in Itaewon. In fact, I felt like I was in the midst of a dance battle with a rather slim guy. I can't remember the name of the bar, but there is a place across from Queen. It was fun dancing on chairs in Queen because it was really, really crowded and there wasn't enough space to dance near the bar.

You should definitely visit the Hongdae area of Seoul. It's near Hong-ik University, which is an art school here."

Example of graffitti in the area:

"They have fabulous restaurants and cafes with excellent atmosphere.

They also have clubs and shopping, but I haven't been to any clubs there. I'll check your itinerary and let you know in a sec what I think.

Hey your itinerary looks wonderful! Working for one of the biggest hogwons (school?) in Seoul, I haven't had a chance to go to the museum or to the palace. If you guys go in the afternoon, would you mind if I tag along? It depends on whether I have to do something else at work, but I finish at 2 p.m. on Mondays. I could meet you at the museum or the palace. Also, I don't know if you will have time or if you'd like to go or not, but I've heard that Namsam Tower has wonderful views of the city