Seoul - Day 1

The idea of stopping over in South Korea for a week or so before I continue on my journey to Chapel Hill was mooted way back in the summer of 2011, but it almost did not materialise when online searches repeatedly returned exorbitant prices that I could not afford. Ultimately some exchange participants were spending almost $3k to fly from Singapore, while my friend spent $2.2k to fly to New York. A stopover in Korea for about a week turned out to cost about $2.4k, which was a price I was comfortable with. Moveover I save on accommodation, so the plan was set.

The flight there marked the first time I ever flew solo on an aircraft; all other flights were achieved with friends in tow. As it turned out, flying was as simple as following all goddamn instructions. It was a Korean Air flight and flight attendants were all Koreans and speaking in the Korean language, but their proficiency in English was high enough to be understood. Another plus for me: the seat beside me was empty, which meant slightly more space for adjusting myself. The minus was that it was an overnight flight, and I didn't really get much sleep.

Small trouble at the airport: I was given a white Customs Declaration Card by a flight attendant on the flight, which I thought was enough. Until I queued up and reached my turn at the airport did the Customs Officer tell me that I needed an Arrival Card as well, so I had to get the card, fill it up, and queue from the back again. It was more than half an hour before I finally cleared the Customs and retrieved my luggage.



First photo! It took almost two hours to reach his room from the airport via the Seoul Metropolitan Subway. While we were on our way to lunch, we met his Singaporean friend there on exchange as well, who kindly helped us took this.


First meal : Authentic Korean BBQ buffet! For 9,900 won, or about S$11, we could eat all we could, which would cost $20 in Singapore. And it is so much better to eat BBQ buffets in Korean winter; the warmth we get from all the heat is indescribable. Perhaps because there was much less oil in the meat they offered, there was very little oil splashes from all the cooking.

After the very long lunch, we went to Myeongdong.


Myeongdong is a key shopping distinct in South Korea, and it looks like a cross between our Orchard Road and Taiwan's various 夜市s. There's plenty of shops around emitting dazzling bright lights in all class and fashion, but in addition there's all the street stalls in the middle of walkways hawking all kinds of things from clothes to food.

We ended the day with Mission Impossible 4 movie haha.

Seoul - Day 1