KirkygoestoAsia3
 Korean Republic On Monday 16th July I got the 6 hour ferry from Hakarta Japan to Busan. The highlight of the journey was two Korean 17 year olds wanting a picture randomly taken with me - presumably because I am white (or perhaps because of the length of my hair) :) In return, they took a picture for me where I am wearing Captain's clothing - clearly made for a small adult. People know I genuinely try not to care what other people think about me, and so I was happy to adopt a few poses. In the evening I went to a posh restaurant with 'J' - who was staying in the same dorm at this really good hostel with a balcony over the coast, whereby we had a platter of seafood - caught and cooked from the fish market directly beneath the hostel. I decided to not go to the Jeju islands but stay in Busan as there seemed enough to do and I was coming down with a second dose of man-flu (3 back-to-back overnight 'sleeper' buses) so on Tuesday 17th, all I did was take a city bus tour around the beach areas and then spend the afternoon doing internet research on what was the best (time x cost) way to get to Seoul. I am not sure the two milkshakes and two ice creams at the nearby McDonalds helped or not but I did endulge in some local delicacies on a street stall - the fired fish and the pancake with seeds and chocalte were lovely. On Wednesday 18th July I decided to spontaneously leave Busan to go to Seoul, it just felt right to do so, and it was only in the evening when I had gone to the airport to purchase Sunday's plane ticket (Ie I couldn't purchase it on the internet and Korea was nowehere near as expensive as I thought and so it was useful to get rid of the cash) that I found out there was a typhoon in Busan and it was meant to be in Seoul on Thursday afternoon!!! The train journey from Busan to South Korea incidentally was very pleasant, as the track goes through the hills - but I still can't understand why at the end of the journey, an full and instrumental version of 'Let It Be' by the Beatles blasted from the speakers??? Very random. The Soul Base camp hostel is fantastic - it has 48 beds (of which some of those are just mattresses in a wooden man-made cupboard) in 3 large tents inside the building - I loved it!!! On Thursday 19th, I went to the Korean Football Association as part of my process to find out more info on potential employment opportunities in Korean football. I was sent to the International Relations Dept whereby my e-mail was apparently one of many to be read by the person in charge on return of their business trip - if appearances really do matter, then nevermind!!!! I then went to the Seoul Palace temple before seeing the old fortress wall, finding a gym and swimming to do some exercise at the weekend. The highlight was going to the Prison museum - seeing the room whereby the invading Japanese hung Korean 'freedom fighters' was humbling. On Friday 20th, I went to the World Cup Stadium museum and relived the memories of the 2002 world cup before having an authentic Korean lunch (I was so proud I resisted the KFC across the road) of various pickles for starters with beef, rice and various vegetables for the main course. Thank goodness they had an English menu and a spoon - I am still too impatient and uncoordinated to use chopsticks :) In the afternoon I went to the Korean Drumcats show - whereby for 90 minutes 6 very attractive girls in their early twenties in skimply clothing, rock the show by playing Korean authentic and modern drums (all amplified of course and against a backdrop of loud pre-recorded music). It was fantastic because they get the audience to participate and when there was only approximately 50 of us, and I am the only a) Western person in b) the cheaper seats - you can't hide!!! In the evening, Ninny from Germany, Shloeme from Israel, Alfred from Australia, Wieju and Andrew from Taiwan and I went for a few drinks in a local nightclub (our hostel is in a student district). At first, I thought Andrew (elected leader simply because he has been in Seoul the longest) had taken us a youth club (I recollect seeing only two ladies in there who could have been over 21) but I have to say dancing along and getting slightly merry to a mixture of American and Korean hip-hop was very entertaining. We all went home together at about 3am having had a great time. I rested my Soul (deliberate play on words folks) for all of Saturday 21st morning listening to my Ipod and updating this blog before intending to go to the Korean war Museum, the National Museum of Korea and finally the evening football match at the World Cup Stadium between FC Seoul and Busan (split loyalties for this game). FC Seoul won 6-0 so I got my money's worth and what is memerable is throughout the game they have a guy on the mic and cheerleaders constantly getting the crowd up in a frenzy. On Sunday 22nd I went on the Delimitarized Zone Tour in the afternoon. Being told there were certain areas where you could not stand and aim to take photographs (Ie of North Korea) was a little unsettling because North Korea have built tunnels and destroyed Navy boats recently to attack South Korea and so they are no stranger to causing 'accidents;. In the evening I flew from Seoul to Tokyo and stayed in the departures lounge all night (with me clutching my two bags) which is more comfortable than what I imagined. Why did I intentionally make myself homeless tonight by sleeping at the airport - early flight tomorrow.
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Diary Photos
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South Korea |
 South Korea |
 The museum of Seoul |
 Seoul |
 Seoul |
 Seoul |
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 Traditional Korean food |
 The drum cat girls |
 The Korean Museum of War |
 Seoul |
 Don't tread over this line!!! |
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