Seoul Caliber
KAL Lounge, Seoul Incheon Airport - 6:46 a.m.
Oh my gosh I may never fly coach again. At least not internationally. Now I understand why celebrities still manage to look like, you know, celebrities when they're traveling. It's because you can take a shower AT THE AIRPORT. And not a sponge bath in a sink in a deserted restroom at the very end of the terminal, either (not that I've ever done that, of course). Airline lounges for "prestige class" travelers give you fresh towels and let you wait out the remainder of your international layover with Pantene-smelling hair!
(Apologies to those of you who are only interested in the Olympic stuff. There will be plenty of that later. For now, I'm laming out over how the other half lives. Please bear with me.)
I can't believe I just got off a 12-hour flight. It was seriously the shortest-feeling transpacific flight I've ever been on. Having power seat controls that let you recline practically completely horizontal certainly helps. I also finally watched Iron Man, and although I recognize this is hardly the time to give my review, it was every bit as AWESOME as everyone said it was. Now I really wish I had seen it in the theaters on opening day with a bunch of fellow fanboys. That last bit (and I'm not talking about the post-credits scene) with the press conference? Would have had me leaping out of my seat, too. According to the inflight magazine, RDJ is totally totally onboard for a sequel (he called Iron Man his new fetish, which... I may have to agree with him there), and I'd be shocked if Favreau didn't come back. I trust a fanboy like Favreau, so I'll be interested to see the franchise's take on a superhero whose identity isn't completely a secret, and I hope future installments will explore meaty stuff like Tony Stark's alcoholism, and, oh geez, how about a franchise adaptation of Marvel's Civil War arc?
Okay, back to the travel stuff. I'm on a five-hour layover here in Seoul. We arrived around 4 a.m. when the airport was mostly deserted and dark. It's a cloudy day in Korea today, so I didn't exactly get to see the sunrise:
I hate not being able to speak the language of the country I'm in. I just feel really lame having to use English for everything. The only thing I know how to say in Korean that isn't a soap opera cliché is "thank you," and I keep forgetting the right way to pronounce it. (Korean peeps: Is it KOMsamnida?) I feel doubly ashamed because the staff on the plane and at the airports keep speaking to me in Korean and I hate to disappoint them. It's not just because I'm Asian, either. For some reason my dad, brother and I get mistaken for Korean (see very end of post) a lot. It's true that our last name is also a Korean surname, but still. This week my brother and his roommates moved into a new place in Irvine, and their Korean neighbors got really excited when they saw my brother. They kept telling him how "handsome" he is. We think they have an unmarried daughter stashed somewhere.
One more picture from Korea. I kind of wanted to take pictures in the plane and here in the lounge, but, you know, you got to be blasé when you're playing businessman/woman. Anyway, here is the famed etiquette bell Heather told me about when she got back from Korea. I haven't seen it yet elsewhere in Asia:
Pressing the button emits a loud and obviously fake sound of rushing water, i.e. a toilet flush. It lasts for about ten seconds long, which I hope would be long enough for you to complete your business. It's kind of silly in practice since everyone can tell the difference between the button and a real flush, but it does save water, and I love the concept. I don't know if this is just Asian etiquette (I've only discussed the problem of private sounds in public restrooms with my brother), but the etiquette button strikes me as something quintessentially Asian: an invention purely for the purpose of concealing something perceived to be shameful.
Oh my gosh I may never fly coach again. At least not internationally. Now I understand why celebrities still manage to look like, you know, celebrities when they're traveling. It's because you can take a shower AT THE AIRPORT. And not a sponge bath in a sink in a deserted restroom at the very end of the terminal, either (not that I've ever done that, of course). Airline lounges for "prestige class" travelers give you fresh towels and let you wait out the remainder of your international layover with Pantene-smelling hair!
(Apologies to those of you who are only interested in the Olympic stuff. There will be plenty of that later. For now, I'm laming out over how the other half lives. Please bear with me.)
I can't believe I just got off a 12-hour flight. It was seriously the shortest-feeling transpacific flight I've ever been on. Having power seat controls that let you recline practically completely horizontal certainly helps. I also finally watched Iron Man, and although I recognize this is hardly the time to give my review, it was every bit as AWESOME as everyone said it was. Now I really wish I had seen it in the theaters on opening day with a bunch of fellow fanboys. That last bit (and I'm not talking about the post-credits scene) with the press conference? Would have had me leaping out of my seat, too. According to the inflight magazine, RDJ is totally totally onboard for a sequel (he called Iron Man his new fetish, which... I may have to agree with him there), and I'd be shocked if Favreau didn't come back. I trust a fanboy like Favreau, so I'll be interested to see the franchise's take on a superhero whose identity isn't completely a secret, and I hope future installments will explore meaty stuff like Tony Stark's alcoholism, and, oh geez, how about a franchise adaptation of Marvel's Civil War arc?
Okay, back to the travel stuff. I'm on a five-hour layover here in Seoul. We arrived around 4 a.m. when the airport was mostly deserted and dark. It's a cloudy day in Korea today, so I didn't exactly get to see the sunrise:
I hate not being able to speak the language of the country I'm in. I just feel really lame having to use English for everything. The only thing I know how to say in Korean that isn't a soap opera cliché is "thank you," and I keep forgetting the right way to pronounce it. (Korean peeps: Is it KOMsamnida?) I feel doubly ashamed because the staff on the plane and at the airports keep speaking to me in Korean and I hate to disappoint them. It's not just because I'm Asian, either. For some reason my dad, brother and I get mistaken for Korean (see very end of post) a lot. It's true that our last name is also a Korean surname, but still. This week my brother and his roommates moved into a new place in Irvine, and their Korean neighbors got really excited when they saw my brother. They kept telling him how "handsome" he is. We think they have an unmarried daughter stashed somewhere.
One more picture from Korea. I kind of wanted to take pictures in the plane and here in the lounge, but, you know, you got to be blasé when you're playing businessman/woman. Anyway, here is the famed etiquette bell Heather told me about when she got back from Korea. I haven't seen it yet elsewhere in Asia:
Pressing the button emits a loud and obviously fake sound of rushing water, i.e. a toilet flush. It lasts for about ten seconds long, which I hope would be long enough for you to complete your business. It's kind of silly in practice since everyone can tell the difference between the button and a real flush, but it does save water, and I love the concept. I don't know if this is just Asian etiquette (I've only discussed the problem of private sounds in public restrooms with my brother), but the etiquette button strikes me as something quintessentially Asian: an invention purely for the purpose of concealing something perceived to be shameful.