Smelly Seoul
Annyeong, I'm back from Seoul.
In all honesty, my first impression of Seoul wasn't very good. Prior to visiting, I repeatedly reminded myself Korea is not all about Kpop and Kdrama but really, what's Korea without its Hallyu Wave? I'm interested in their food, language and a bit of history but well, people (except DBSK) and culture wise, I'm all umm.
First thing, Seoul stinks and I mean it in a literal way. Every time I moved to a new area, a different kind of stench drifted to my unlucky nose. The malodor consisted of shit, food waste, and very bad vomit. The floor was littered everywhere and people spit on the ground regardless of age. I saw a teenager do that gurgling sound in his throat and... well it's self-explanatory. Gross.
I think Seoul has a huge aging population. Everywhere I went there were ahjusshi and ahjumma and by huge I mean a train cabin could be completely filled by them! I'm not trying to critisise anything here, I just found it an interesting point to note.
As a foreign visitor, I was looking forward to some blunder at ordering food so imagine my disappointment when the people there could all speak Mandarin. Sigh. If they were Koreans who knew Chinese, it wouldn't be so bad, y'know? Wherever the sun shines, there will be China Chinese. Sigh again.
For most part of the trip, I wasn't feeling very well which probably dampened my spirits. I fell sick on the second day, fever and all, menses came on the fourth day and my back hurt like a bitch, ate some street food and had a very bad stomachache, knees and back ached from the cold wind and I was deprived of sleep so badly I guess I shouldn't be blamed for not appreciating Seoul as much as the other people, eh? Lol.
So what did I really enjoy in Seoul? I love the Seongsan Sunrise Peak in Jeju, the Dragonhill Spa which made me sweat all my toxins out, Gyeongbokgung Palace, Myeongdong shopping area, the magical Narnia-wannabe door near Banpo bridge and... that's about it. LOL. Even the food was pretty normal... I swear I ate much more delicious ones in Singapore. Strange huh.
This trip however, should be the most eventful at making friends or talking to strangers, heh. I sort of made a Japanese friend even if she wanted me to be Korean badly, rofl. I also talked to a few staff at one of the guesthouses I stayed in, which pretty much was an awesome feat 'cos it's really hard to make foreign friends. Most likely we won't keep in touch except on FB where I can stalk them once in a while but hey, it's a starting point right? Hee.
I better write this down before I forget - I saw SNSD. Lol. We went to SM Entertainment office and were casually waiting at the parking lot when one by one, the girls came out. They were mostly dressed in slacks and hoodies except for Yuri who looked like she was heading to a party somewhere in her glamourous sports car. Lol. Not too bad for a five minutes wait. We hanged around for a while longer to try our luck with DBSK but of course, we didn't have a lot of time to wait. I learned from a Taiwanese fan that the boys were already in the building. Changmin ignored fans (as usual) whereas Yunho smiled. Heh. It would have been godsome to see them. Ah...
There are certainly more things to say but I'll write down in point forms in another journal. It's easier to remember that way, heh. All in all, I'm neutral about Seoul. I will go again but maybe not so soon. I need to let my bank recover first ._.
In all honesty, my first impression of Seoul wasn't very good. Prior to visiting, I repeatedly reminded myself Korea is not all about Kpop and Kdrama but really, what's Korea without its Hallyu Wave? I'm interested in their food, language and a bit of history but well, people (except DBSK) and culture wise, I'm all umm.
First thing, Seoul stinks and I mean it in a literal way. Every time I moved to a new area, a different kind of stench drifted to my unlucky nose. The malodor consisted of shit, food waste, and very bad vomit. The floor was littered everywhere and people spit on the ground regardless of age. I saw a teenager do that gurgling sound in his throat and... well it's self-explanatory. Gross.
I think Seoul has a huge aging population. Everywhere I went there were ahjusshi and ahjumma and by huge I mean a train cabin could be completely filled by them! I'm not trying to critisise anything here, I just found it an interesting point to note.
As a foreign visitor, I was looking forward to some blunder at ordering food so imagine my disappointment when the people there could all speak Mandarin. Sigh. If they were Koreans who knew Chinese, it wouldn't be so bad, y'know? Wherever the sun shines, there will be China Chinese. Sigh again.
For most part of the trip, I wasn't feeling very well which probably dampened my spirits. I fell sick on the second day, fever and all, menses came on the fourth day and my back hurt like a bitch, ate some street food and had a very bad stomachache, knees and back ached from the cold wind and I was deprived of sleep so badly I guess I shouldn't be blamed for not appreciating Seoul as much as the other people, eh? Lol.
So what did I really enjoy in Seoul? I love the Seongsan Sunrise Peak in Jeju, the Dragonhill Spa which made me sweat all my toxins out, Gyeongbokgung Palace, Myeongdong shopping area, the magical Narnia-wannabe door near Banpo bridge and... that's about it. LOL. Even the food was pretty normal... I swear I ate much more delicious ones in Singapore. Strange huh.
This trip however, should be the most eventful at making friends or talking to strangers, heh. I sort of made a Japanese friend even if she wanted me to be Korean badly, rofl. I also talked to a few staff at one of the guesthouses I stayed in, which pretty much was an awesome feat 'cos it's really hard to make foreign friends. Most likely we won't keep in touch except on FB where I can stalk them once in a while but hey, it's a starting point right? Hee.
I better write this down before I forget - I saw SNSD. Lol. We went to SM Entertainment office and were casually waiting at the parking lot when one by one, the girls came out. They were mostly dressed in slacks and hoodies except for Yuri who looked like she was heading to a party somewhere in her glamourous sports car. Lol. Not too bad for a five minutes wait. We hanged around for a while longer to try our luck with DBSK but of course, we didn't have a lot of time to wait. I learned from a Taiwanese fan that the boys were already in the building. Changmin ignored fans (as usual) whereas Yunho smiled. Heh. It would have been godsome to see them. Ah...
There are certainly more things to say but I'll write down in point forms in another journal. It's easier to remember that way, heh. All in all, I'm neutral about Seoul. I will go again but maybe not so soon. I need to let my bank recover first ._.