Our Southeast Asia chapter is officially over... In a big way. We're now in Seoul and it couldn't possibly be more opposite from our past two months. Firstly, it's crazy cold here. The high yesterday was -4C. Beyond the climate, this place is the epitome of order and structure. As we flew in the other day, the place reminded me of a computer motherboard, with perfectly aligned standard height buildings looking like capacitors and nice wide roadways linking together the various processors. Everyone waits patiently at the cross walk even when there are no cars in sight, and we can count on one hand how many scooters we have seen or horns we have heard in two days. We're back to paying $4 for a cup of coffee, and it smells wonderful here (which simply means it doesn't smell at all). We can drink from the tap, and it's confusing how to throw away garbage for all the recycling they do.
But for all of it's first world look and feel, it is also surprisingly behind the times in random ways. For instance, we can buy a transportation card for the subways and buses using a credit card, but to put money on it, you have to pay in cash. ATMs are everywhere, but they don't really like American cards, so we have to find cash dispensing machines. Our reliance on Google Maps to find everything is proving to be a challenge. For security reasons, I guess they don't let Google play big brother here. I half expected to see a Samsung technology store on every corner selling all of the latest gizmos. We have done our fair share of city wandering and I haven't seen a single place to get my new technology smell fix. And... No Uber or other ride sharing system.
After a red-eye flight that departed at 3am, we wrapped it up with a 1hr subway ride from the airport
Seoul has an excellent public transit system with the subway and buses seamlessly connected using our CityMapper app. It's shockingly cheap and gets you anywhere within a ten minute walk. This is us in one of the many bus stops.
Which one of these is not like the other?
Mirrors everywhere to make sure everything looks sharp.
Feb 15 - Zombie Shopping
Even though we were exhausted from our red eye flight, our first order of business was to stock up on long underwear and other sub zero apparel. Whereas Hanoi had "Uniqlo" stores, Seoul has the mother of all genuine Uniqlo stores in the famous Myeong-Dong shopping district. Feeling like the Griswolds in Italy, we walked out of there with three bags full of new digs. You know it's a cold place when you can see your breath INSIDE the jacket store.
K-Pop is everywhere. This group has a creepy guy that didn't get the memo about wearing all white.
Despite subzero temps, the streets were full of food and trinket vendors and shoppers galore.
Feb 16 - Changdeokgung Palace
Now properly adorned for touring Seoul, we ventured out to one of the ancient Josan Palaces called Changdeokgung Palace. It was the Korean Lunar New Year, so most of Seoul was shut down but for a handful of places. The main palace buildings are beautiful, and the secret garden along the back was serene, albeit a little dormant here in winter.
We saw many people dressed in traditional gowns.
When boredom sets in waiting for dinner. The only place we found open on Lunar New Year was a wonderful little meat pie shop. Yummy, especially on a cold night.
Feb 17: War Museum, Insadong Shopping, and the coldest visit to a park ever
Our Airbnb is in the Itaewon area of Seoul, adjacent to the once formidable US military base of Yongsan. As our military winds down our Seoul presence, they are converting this area in to a huge public space. An impressive war museum now sits walking distance to our apartment, and given Zane's love of planes, we had to go. This was definitely worth the effort.
This is Autumn taking the previous pic
B51 Bomber
From there we checked out a niche shopping area called Insadong and sat down for some authentic Korean soup. The language barrier proved challenging, and through a series of finger pointing and head wobbles we ordered twice as much as we needed. And, quite to our surprise, we found out what cold noodles are. It's a strange feeling when you think you're spooning in a hot mouthful, and you end up with brain freeze.
It's olympic time here in Seoul. Unfortunately the transportation to and from PyeongChang prevented us from participating firsthand.
The bottom right hand bowl was noodles bathing in a bowl of ice. Tasty but weird.
Cool shopping building that had a spiraling walkway all the way to the top with all the shops along the ring.
PooPoo cafe at the top.
Zane was desperate to visit a park with a frozen lake, so we obliged. The sun was rapidly falling and so was the temperature. Yikes that was cold.
This is the look of someone not having fun and just trying to keep from flash freezing in to a popsicle.
Feb 18: K-Pop and Multi-Bang
Evidence of the constant threat that the South Koreans live with is everywhere, from gas mask cabinets in the subway, to bomb shelters under the roadways.
So when we received this text this morning, we were a little concerned....
Fortunately we had our Google Translate app to see what we had to do. Turns out it was just a note that they were control burning rice patties and not to worry about any alarms. Perhaps this was not as "Extreme" as it needed to be...
We headed over to Gangnam today for K-Pop and Multi-Bang
For over 7yrs Nicole has been religiously attending a hip hop dance class every week. So when we found an Airbnb experience to learn how to dance in a K-Pop video, she had to jump on it. Autumn has been doing the hip hop thing too for a couple years, so this became a mother daughter activity. It's too bad we can't find this kind of thing every week, because as she said when they were done... Dancing makes me feel good!
A short snippet: https://youtu.be/4Qdzo37ebeY
While the ladies were getting their groove on, we boys went on a scavenger hunt to find a Multi-Bang. What is a Multi-Bang? These speak easy establishments are a bunch of small rooms that can be rented by the hour to play Wii, sing karaoke, watch movies, or just sit and talk. They are all over Seoul, and appear to be quite popular judging by the people waiting outside the rooms. One might guess these may host more adult activities, but from the looks of it, I doubt it.
People waiting for their turn in the rooms ("Bang" means "room" in Korean)
Just a small room with a flat screen TV and entertainment options. Comes with free popcorn, coffee, and ice cream!
Feb 19: Lotte World
We were beginning to run out of indoor activities that didn't involve shopping, so we opted for a day at Lotte World, the largest indoor theme park in the world. While the park was average at best with ride lines that were unbearably long, the people watching was spectacular. The Korean people are quite bubbly and in a constant state of primping and selfie taking. They have a curious thing about adorning their heads with trinkity things like hearts and rabbit ears. This was not just a woman thing either. The men were equally cutesy.
Autumn opted to see Black Panther with me in lieu of a couple hours in the amusement park. We ended up at the most massive movie theater complex I have ever seen. Five stories of theaters of all shapes and sizes.
This was one of the smaller venues. Good movie, BTW. Funny that it starts in Oakland, then has a scene in South Korea.
There is a small outdoor area that is doing it's best Disneyland impression.
When in Rome... If the locals are all wearing silly things on their heads, then why shouldn't we?
The indoor area surrounds a huge ice skating rink.
We sat for a good 20 minutes watching the procession of people taking pictures in front of the Lotte World new years celebratory sign.
Feb 20: The DMZ, and Seoul Tower
Throughout our trip we have all had a couple of things that we were looking forward to like Christmas morning when you're 7 years old. Mine was a trip to the DMZ to get a glimpse of the tiny country that continues to poke the bear. Imagine our sadness when we get a message the day before saying that the tour was cancelled due to some kind of diplomatic meeting happening in the JSA (Joint Security Area - where the north and south Koreans stare each other down). What? They chose the one day we are planning to go to have a friendly chat? Oh well, we all wish for world peace, right? Fortunately, after some frantic calls and texts, our tour was adjusted to do everything but stand on North Korean soil.
The only means of accessing the DMZ (2KM area on either side of the Military Demarcation Line) is by joining a tour group and following along the heavily scripted itinerary. Given the circumstances, it makes sense to keep people from wandering about and inadvertently causing WWIII. However, this also creates conflicting feelings of turning something so serious and grave in to a tourist trap and money grab. While the propaganda is in full force, we both came away with a sense that the South is doing their best to reach out and bring peace to the peninsula.
A relic of the Korean War. This steam train is riddled with bullet holes.
The border line is just above Nicole's head.
We made another attempt at a VLOG of our trip to the DMZ.
https://youtu.be/uGx-EcYepq4
We rounded out our stay with a trip up Namsan Hill to the Seoul Tower. From atop the hill there is a wonderful 360 view of the city lights while being surrounded by millions of locks of love. Standing on top of this hill cemented our desire to make a return trip to Korea (but perhaps in late spring or autumn).
Like father, like daughter.
All for now... Next stop, Japan!
Post Script thoughts:
Korea is a country that has been ravaged by war and occupation for nearly it's entire existence. It is a testament to the positive spirit and attitude of the South Korean people, along with a system that cherishes freedom and liberty, that such a wonderful and sophisticated city can grow from the ashes of the 50s. Contrast that with the plight of the North and it is even more striking. Leadership and Liberty matters.