20:22
leewhat
Ok, so, it's the first weekend of being in Incheon and I feel completely lost. For example, I remember being in E-Mart (a superstore type place in Korea) and it taking me about 40 minutes to A) ask for a map of the city we were standing in, and B) find the right kind of map that I wanted (I wanted a road map so I could get my bearings and the best they could offer me was one of those maps of Korea that you might find in a Geography class) - but the staff were really friendly :)
Next mission: find a payphone to call my friend to see if she wants to meet up (she is Korean/British and she managed to borrow a phone off her aunt). I figured that they'd be one in the subway and after another 40 minutes I find the subway entrance and the payphone. Oh, and by the way, I discovered the other day, after living here for about 2 weeks, that there is a payphone directly outside my apartment building... salt in the wound.
So, we meet up and her Dad (Korean) buys the four of us - my friend Jen was there too - dinner, which was unexpected and I remember it was an amazing meal. Also, if someone way older than you offers you soju, unless you bluntly say 'I don't drink' or whatever, you'll more than likely get poured some regardless of what you say :) I love Korea.
Anyway, Yumi (the Korean/British girl I was talking about) says that she has to go to Seoul to see her family for some Korean holiday, that I still don't quite understand. So, we tag along and we get the Bagley's (my Alabama married couple friends) to meet us there!
The subway to Seoul was a doddle, although very crowded, and it only takes about an hour from Bupyeong to get there (even less if you get lucky and get the express).
Ok, so what did we do? We first shot straight to some kind of flea market that Yumi's Dad took us to so we could see if there were any cheap phones about. And there were cheap phones galore! But not the ones anyone would ever want to buy or even touch (my hands never left my pockets). For example, one stall out on the street was offering phones in a pot on a blanket on the floor and there was a mangy looking dog licking all the wares he was offering and to top it all off there was a nice backdrop of Korean porn. It was just sitting there amongst all the electronics and other randomly assorted goods. Lovely. But, to be honest, it was a great laugh. Here are some photos:
This is a guy selling picked snakes in a jar. I think you drink it and eat the snake, but I can't remember exactly what my friend told me...
Anyway, so after that we wander around Seoul for a bit and admire the city. Then we met up with the Bagley's and we headed to Seoul tower and to find a hotel for the night! The hotel we found was passable and slightly cheaper than the rest and after we checked in we took off to Seoul tower!
They had a light show at Seoul tower and this is the coolest picture I took of it:
and this is me at the base of Seoul tower:
Unfortunately, it was a bit of a foggy day. But the trip was off-the-cuff and I'll definitely go back there in the summer :) Also, if your wondering what all those colourful things are at the bottom of the picture, they're locks and 'lovers' are supposed to attach a lock to the railing and write a wish on the lock. They are then supposed to come back a while later (a year?) and then find and unlock their lock and see if the wish was true or some crap like that.
After Seoul tower we had the standard Korean BBQ and then got drunk around the tourist area, which is this amazing place:
I am DEFINITELY going back here :D
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