Wednesday night, I would call it last night but it's Friday evening here so..., I thought getting to the airport was going fine. I was all packed, actually ate dinner, took a short nap, picked Micheal up when I told him I would and then realized when I got to my gate that I had left my cell phone in the car. Not a big deal, I can't use it over here anyway. Then, maybe ten minutes later, I realized that I had forgotten my credit card and debit card. I was thinking that I might not have enough cash and if I ran out I could just use credit, until I discovered this. I freaked out just a little but, but was relieved when some kind strangers let me call Micheal with their phone and he brought my stuff back to the airport. Life saver, that brother of mine is.
There was a nicest couple sitting next to me on the plane. They were older and traveling to Singapore to visit their daughter and granddaughter. The women seems to never sleep. If I had to guess I would say that she is Philipeano. She talked to me about my knitting, which I did quite a bit of on the plane. I got a hate and a half done, in addition to watching three movies and sleeping like four hours. Every time I was awake she was too, and she told me that she didn't really sleep while I was asleep, but they were getting a room at the hotel in the airport (there's a hotel in the airport!?) so she would sleep there. Lucky lady.
hello from korea. it's chilly and both of us are tired
Anyway, PK was nice enough to come get me from the airport at 7am. I got in at 5:20am, but I was more than happy to wait for him to get here. We took the train into the city, which took about an hour and a half and involved two transfers. It was so crowed due to morning rush hour and people just shovel you to get on. It was really great for my hatred of strangers touching me. I came up with a couple of things to say about the experience in general; I think someone impregnated me on the train this morning. I fell asleep standing up but was cushioned by the strangers around me and didn't fall, and I sure hope that Korean business man enjoyed my breasts on his back for 20 minutes of his commute. So maybe none of them are funny but after 3 hours at O'hare, a 14 hour flight and a two hour wait at Incheon, it's what came into my head.
Anyway, Paul and I got to this shopping area where all the shops were still closed and no one was really around. He kept telling me how busy it gets there, and I believed him. It was just nice not to be cramped in an airplane seat or touched by strangers. We stopped by a little second floor restaurant and ate "rice porridge," mine was mushroom and beef and PK got chicken and vegetables. They came in huge bowls and Paul and I split them. Everyone in the restaurant was a 22 year old Japanese girl, a fact that kept freaking PK out but in a good way because he likes 22 year old Japanese girls.
Post breakfast part 2 for me, we headed over to some underground shops, most of which sell glasses, and then to the Gyeongbokgung Palace. The Palace was a complex of courtyards and smallish buildings. Of course in our haste to get in, we totally forgot to grab any sort of informational pamphlet and had no idea why anything was important or it's historical context. It was really muddy but also really beautiful. You could see mountains in the background if you looked in one direction and modern buildings if you looked in the other direction.
part of one of the buildings with beautiful mountain background
The weather was pretty nice, but it could have been ten degrees warmer for my taste. It was super sunny and maybe in the upper 30s. I took a bunch of pictures, which I will post later when I'm not in the airport. The Museum of Folk is inside the palace so we checked it out. It contained a lot of replicas and recreations, which I thought was a little disappointed. Paul told me that the Korean people are very protective of what they have left of their historical artifacts because they have had so many people steal from them and invade them. That's understandable. He said that the national museum would have much more. What can you really expect when it was basically free. Admission to the palace and museum cost about $3 USD.
Post palace we visited two statues, one of a general and one of an emperor that were important to Korean history. Of course I can't remember their names, but PK told me their stories. He was a super tour guide and gave me a lot of historical facts and cultural tips. He tried to teach me a little Korean, which probably would have gone better had I been running on more than four hours of sleep.
king who's name i don't know
general who's name i also don't know
We walked around some more shops and eat lunch at a place called Pork Cutlet Restaurant, which had super tasty breaded pork cutlets. PK said it's his favorite in the city. We also ate these compressed rice cake things that had a spongey consistency. One was a little sweet and fruity and one was a little more savory. It's tough to describe them in my tired state, but PK said they are a traditional Korean snack.
We got some tea and then took the train to Paul's neighborhood where I caught a "limo bus" to the airport. I took it because PK thought I would get to see a little more of the city, but I fell asleep for most of it. Now I wait for my flight to Bangkok, which seems to be delayed. We were supposed to board ten minutes ago and as far as I can tell our entire flight crew is sitting two rows away from me in the waiting area.
Sorry for mistakes. I'm pretty tired.
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