Dubai Cruise - Seoul Layover (Feb 7th - 9th)

Seoul was a quick layover for me. It was on my routing so I figured I minus well check it out. I was flying from Hong Kong which was 18 degrees to Seoul which is currently -17 degrees. I definitely wasn't prepared for this weather so I guess the first stop is to get some gloves and scarf in the morning.

Street stall on wheels...

....looked real yummy.

Had to try it.

It hit the spot!

This is my second visit to Seoul. The first time was about 12 years ago and to be honest, I didn't remember much of it. The things that stayed in my memory bank was that people were quite pushy and did not speak much english. My impression during this trip was better. People still didn't speak much english but definitely weren't pushy and were not rude. One thing that I noticed this trip and the last was that Seoul is very technologically advanced. 12 years ago, I noticed that they had Samsung flat panel monitors everywhere in the subway displaying their advertisements. This was when North America was just starting to go away from CRT's. This trip, they had the monitors even bigger and thinner. But what impressed me is that Seoul now has WiFi throughout the city; on the streets, in the subways, and in the buildings. All you need to do is buy a prepaid card like you would for a cell phone package and you have the convenience of the internet at your finger tips. Everyone was using a Samsung smartphone; the Note 2 was the most common, then the Galaxy S3. I saw some iPhones but that's about it for phones. You can tell that Samsung dominates the city. Samsung ads were all over and you see nothing but. In Korea, Samsung is a conglomerate that does much more than electronics; they have life insurance, heavy industries, construction and even operated a theme park. I wanted to go to the Samsung D'Light which was like a Samsung Electronics superstore but it was closed.

I got to Gangnam but didn't see Psy around anywhere.

Individualized stores of the Bukchon shopping area

A street stall that looked really good. 

Selling deep fried rice cakes

So I spent my one and half day layover looking for culture, history, and design. I visited the Bukchon Hanok area where I did a walking tour of heritage courtyard houses. These houses originally belonged to aristocrats and are pretty much the last remaining ones in Seoul. Over the years they have been demolished for new development and it was not until 1977 that these houses were designated as Local Cultural Asset and were slowly restored. Nearby this area were markets selling Korean antiques and novelties. They were small pedestrian only streets with quaint little shops all with individualized architecture. It made for a great walk and exploration. I also saw lots of little food stands along the way and couldn't resist trying the local flavours. The stall I stopped at in the Bukchon area was selling deep fried donut style cakes with fillings inside. I really didn't know what it was nor did they know how to explain it to me. It looked good, especially in this freezing cold weather, and I was adventurous. It turned out to be quite yummy. The dough was extra chewy and the filling was slightly sweet. That kept me warm for a bit then I continued on. Eventually, I ended up trying three different stalls and ended up skipping a proper lunch that day.

Looking into one of the Honok homes

The interior courtyard, fairly typical of these homes

Cold but happy in the Bukchon Hanok area

Evidence that it was cold

Looking down the street. Can you see the modern buildings beyond?

Next stop was the Myeongdong District, a young shopping area which is also the cosmetic capital of Seoul and maybe even the world. Korea had a lot of cosmetic brands and they all had their individual stores here. I was assigned a mission from my wife to hunt down a specific BB cream for her. So with a picture of the box, a smart phone, and a GPS, I proceeded to this area jam packed with young adults hanging out on a Saturday afternoon. I must have visited 10 different stores all of which didn't carry this specific brand nor could they tell me where to find it. So after all that walking without any luck, I aborted my mission and took interests in another street stall. This one was manned by a husband and wife team which were selling boiled snails, some sort of intestine with soup, dumplings and spicy rice cakes. I opted for the rice cakes cause I remember having them before at a Korean restaurant back home and the was tantalizing over how good the spice would taste in this cold day. On the way back, I headed over to the Agpujeong District where high end retail stores were clustered. It was recognized as the Redeo Drive of Seoul. My objective was to check out specific stores which I had researched to have nice interior designs. Unfortunately, by the time I got there, it was dark and many were closing. I guess I will have to resort to the internet images.

A small restaurant in Bukchon that got my attention. Notice the rubber chicken?

He was selling grilled chicken skewers

It was apparently quite famous and decidly very yummy!

The street stall I stopped at in Myeongdong

This was a great sight on a cold winter's day

The next day, I really only had half a days time because of my flight time. I chose to spend the time walking around Gwanghwamun Gate. This was one of the few historic city gates of Seoul. I didn't expect much initially, but when I got here, I realized that Gwanghwamun was actually the main gate for Gyeongbokgung Palace. This palace complex is about the same size of Disneyland and was originally built in 1395, three years after the Joseon Dynasty was founded. I took lots of pictures and spent an hour walking around the palace grounds. I learned that this complex was destroyed by fire during the 1592 Japanese invasion. It stood derelict for 276 years until it was rebuilt in 1867. In 1915, during the Japanese occupation, all but 10 buildings were demolished since it was the symbol of Korean sovereignty. I'm not clear on the history, but I presumed that the Japanese coveted Korea and kept on attacking them within a span of 300 years. The current palace is an effort of restorations that took place in 1990 and was completed in 2010.

Gwanghwamun Gate 

Me in front of the gate

A guard at the gate.

A few more guards at the gate.

Seoul turned out to be very interesting. It's a high tech city where the people are very fashionable and presentable. I was walking around the streets in -17 degree weather, bundled in layers and layers of clothes but I can see the Korean women wearing short skirts. They might have been cold inside, but they looked good on the outside. In fact, Korea is rumored to be the plastic surgery capital of the world in terms of how much gets done. It's very common for people to have multiple plastic surgeries to improve their face. I heard that moms would give their daughter a plastic surgery as a gift when they are 18. When I was walking around, I did see many advertisement of plastic surgeries showing before and after shots. I also saw many plastic surgery clinics so I guess these operations may be as common to them as north americans going to the diet clinics.

Korean drum with Gyeongbokgung in the background

Writeup on the history of Gyeongbokgung. Can you read it?

The changing of the guards

Further inside the palace grounds

Looking up from under the incense urn

Seoul also offered a lot of history and culture. One thing that I am dying to find out is the original roots of the Korean people. I suspect there is some correlation to the chinese, because there are many similarities. Koreans and Chinese share the same new year and I've noticed some words in Korean mean and almost sound the same as they do in Chinese. The current day written characters are different but the signs in the historic palaces and gates use chinese characters so maybe it was an evolution from the same tribe? If anyone knows, please enlighten me.

The wonders of the Coast Mountains from the air

This trip felt like a long time for me. I started to miss home and work about 12 days into the trip. It was a clear winter's day as I was flying back to Vancouver. I could see the majestic coast mountain range and that familiar comfort of seeing Vancouver from the air made me smile. 

I'm home.