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Night Time’s the Best Time Pt. 2

October 13th, 2011

Where did I leave off yesterday..? That’s right, I had just found my way to Dongdemun, Seoul. So I walk around a bit and bore quickly of the endless shopping malls. Time for a detour – I pick a path and start walking, in no specific direction.

Racers, take your mark.

I head down the stairs to see what this Underground shopping is all about.

As you can tell, everyone in Korea is on their hustle. Streets, allies, underground burrows, you name it are filled with vendors and stands selling all kinds of stuff. I follow the tunnel to the end and it takes me to a subway station.

At first look on the subway map, I don’t recognize a single station. I don’t care though and put some money in a train pass. Lets see how the Korean subways compare to the Muni or the Tokyo subways.

And it compares pretty nice actually. Definitely nicer than the Muni and far less crowded than the Tokyo subways.

I’m able to grab a seat but end up nodding off for god knows how long. I get off at the next exit which happens to be Sillim. According to my cab driver at the end of the night, this area is also known as Sunde (Korean Sausage) Town. Random.

A little pit stop at the neighborhood bodega for a little drink.

Alright enough with this place. I get back into a cab and remembered the hotel concierge saying something about a park with amazing views so I head there. The cab ends up driving for quite a bit and ends up dropping me off in the middle of a pretty desolate neighborhood. Hmm… Am I going to be able to find another cab back to the hotel from here?

I think I see something up there!

As I made my way up to this park, I noticed people chillin’ on top of the brick fence. So I too scaled the brick fence; much scarier than it looks.

Just so you can see how near fatal this was.

And the concierge would send me to a park full of couples… This place was like a Korean make out point or something. I suppose I’ll have to comeback here with a date next time.

Night Time’s the Best Time

October 12th, 2011

After a string of meetings and a well deserved nap, I ventured out of the hotel to explore the city of Seoul. Practically 50% of the cars on the road seem to be cabs so catching one is a breeze. With a mere raise of my hand, 2 taxis pull up, fighting for my fare.

With nowhere to go in particular, I ask my cab driver where I should go. He begins to list all the touristy spots like the newly built Times Square Plaza, Seoul Tower and etc. I tell him I’m not interested in all the touristy spots, but would rather see the every day Korea that most tourists miss. “I want to eat where the locals eat… I want to eat where you eat,” I tell him , “I feel like blending”.

He suggests I walk around Dongdemun, a popular local shopping district. We must have been driving for 30 minutes because of traffic, and my cab fare only came out to 15,000 won which is about $12 USD. That’s extremely cheap compared to San Francisco and almost next to nothing compared to the fares in Tokyo. On route I spot some street vendors and ask him to pull over. I decide to walk the rest of the way and see what all the fuss is about.

2 blocks of food vendors is all I can endure before I end up taking a seat in one. Thank my grandma I can read Korean. I take a seat and order away. I go the safe route this time and order kim bap (Korean sushi rolls) and Chappje (Korean mixed vegetable vermicelli noodles). I’ll be more adventurous tomorrow…

After snarfing down all the food, I get back on track and head towards Dongdemun. Here’s a really cool, historic building (don’t ask me what it’s called).

I think I’m finally here…

And now I’ve gotta leave you guys hanging. Part 2 from this night tomorrow.

Korea Bound

October 11th, 2011

It’s 3:30am when the cab pulls up to take me to the airport. Why I booked a 6am flight, I have no idea.

I get to the airport and it’s empty. Not just empty like not too many people, but empty like I’m not sure if the airport is open. Am I still asleep? I’m definitely still dreaming.

Regardless, I’m Korea bound.

As soon as I land, my driver takes me straight to where I need to go. I’m in Korea for a little business and a little R&R, but most importantly I’m here to visit the Oracle, which is both business and personal. We leave Incheon airport and head to the mountains of Suwon, about an hour South of Seoul.

After an hour or so behind traffic, we finally get to the mountains of Suwon. My driver’s sedan can’t go further up the road so I make rest of the journey solo on foot. With a bottle of water and my camera on hand, I trek up the mountain, asking hikers and residents along the way for directions. ”Yes, yes, you go straight up that way.”

I tread carefully along the path so that I don’t fall and damage the camera. The hike isn’t easy by any means, especially in my sneakers. Such is life I suppose.. We just have to adapt and endure whatever comes our way. I don’t take any more photos from this point on because I literally need both my hands to scale the rest of the hill. How does anyone live up here much less an elderly woman?

I finally make my way to the top and get to the residence of my Oracle. Don’t let all the backward swastikas scare you. In Buddhism, the symbol signifies eternity.

The reading lasts two and a half hours. Heading back down the hill, I’m ecstatic.. Ecstatic because I got a very good reading and she nailed me on the dot. She went into detail about my past so I’ll believe what she has to say about my future. As she does with many of her other clients, she logs down my reading in a book so that I can call upon her anytime and revert back to the reading. When I get back down the hill, I find my driver asleep in the car. I promptly wake him up and we head back to Seoul. I have lots to think about, lots to contemplate and plan. Let’s go.

Midtown Madness

October 5th, 2011

After 2 perfect days in Tokyo, today was an all day shower. To get out of the rain for a while, I stepped into the fairly new Tokyo Midtown’s Galleria. Damn it’s nice.

Built in 2007, Tokyo Midtown is a 3 billion dollar complex which includes commercial, residential and hotel space as well as the tallest building in the Tokyo prefecture (4th in all of Tokyo, the city).