Last Day in Seoul

My last day in Seoul was a quiet one.  Heather left for the airport before me, so I spent the morning wandering up and down Insadong street one last time by myself.  I had a few thousand Korean wons left to spend!

One of the few shops open early.

Empty Insadong early in the morning.

A funky animated character store.

I arrived at the Incheon International Airport a few hours before my flight.  A large sign boasted that the airport was voted the best airport in the world nine years in a row.  As it turns out, the sign was not boasting; it was merely stating a fact. 

First, the airport is beautifully clean and modern, filled with loads of natural light and large plants. 

While walking around, I found a Hello Kitty Cafe and a Charlie Brown Cafe.  

I also found a live strings and piano performance of classic love songs.

At the Korean Heritage Center, the free craft for the day was a 3-D paper doll wearing traditional Korean clothing.   As I was finishing my craft, a reenactment of a Korean royal family processional passed by and stopped in front of the heritage center for a ceremony.

My finished paper doll.

The craft area with processional passing by outside.

The royal processional in front of the Louis Vuitton store.

It was so easy to pass a few hours at the Incheon airport, which is by far the nicest airport I've ever visited.  

The flight from Seoul to Dallas was only 12 hours and went by very quickly thanks to a good book and no thanks to the kid next to me who promptly asked me the following question: "So, did you hear about the Malaysian Airlines Beoing 777, the same kind of plane we're on, that disappeared a couple of days ago over Vietnam?"  No, I had not heard about the disappearing plane and no, I do not talk about freak plane incidents as I am about to embark on a 12 hour flight, especially if it is the same kind of plane I am riding in and it disappeared very near to my departure location.  I politely ignored his comment and said farewell to my final view of South Korea.

    

Because of the time difference, I left South Korea at 6:00 p.m. on a Sunday and landed in Dallas a little after 5:00 p.m. on Sunday.  It was an amazing feat of time travel.  

My trip to South Korea was my first trip to Asia, and it was a lot of fun thanks to my super travel guide.  Thanks again Heather!  I can't wait to see you stateside. 

A Korean Bathhouse

Day six in Seoul.  One of the few things remaining on my list of things to do was visit a jimjilbang, a Korean bathhouse.

Heather and I visited the Dragon Hill Spa, a bathhouse located
in the building behind us.

Bamboo entrance to the spa.

Upon entering Dragon Hill Spa, Heather and I were given a waterproof wristband with a key that opened a locker where we stored our shoes and a separate locker where we stored our belongings.  We were also given a set of gym clothes to wear in in the unisex areas.  

Inside the spa, before entering the women only area.

Before visiting the unisex area, Heather and I visited the women's area containing a number of heated pools and two saunas.  The pools were varying temperatures, some had tea or minerals in them, some featured massaging jets, and a couple were outside.  There was also a special area where a spa employee would scrub all the dead skin off your body. Everyone is naked in the segregated area, even the lady who scrubs dead skin off your body.  I politely declined the offer to scrub my body as the idea of being scrubbed by a naked woman, while I was naked, was just too far out of my comfort zone.  

The women's area.  "No Entry to the Male."

After relaxing my tired muscles in the heated pools, Heather and I put on our gym clothes and headed to the unisex area.   I really enjoyed the sauna with blankets over a bed of pebbles.  The pebbles were surprisingly cozy. 

The pebble sauna.

The pebble sauna.

The bathhouse was very different than a spa in the United States.  Unlike the quite, tranquil atmosphere of a spa in the U.S., the Korean bathhouse is a busy place filled with families, couples, and friends  There was an arcade, a cafeteria area, saunas, and rest areas.   In one large room, people were sleeping, talking, or watching TV while kids ran around.  There are also sleeping quarters because bathhouses are open 24 hours.

A large rest area where people were lounging.

An ice room - probably more popular
in the summer.

In the afternoon, Heather made reservations for us to watch a traditional Korean music and dance performance.  The performers were wearing Hanbok (traditional Korean clothing) and playing a variety of instruments I had never seen.  My favorite musical performance was a group of three individuals playing a peaceful song on instruments similar to a guitar, flute, and rain stick.   My favorite dance performance was a group of dancers with long ribbons attached to their hats.  The dancers controlled the movement of the ribbon by bobbing their heads while they danced around to loud drum music.

The Seoul Arts Center where the performance was held.

Heather and I ate dinner with several of her foreign friends at a Mexican food restaurant.  Yes, I live 11 miles from Mexico and I  traveled half way around the world to eat Mexican food.  Unlike Mexican restaurants at home, however, this restaurant was located in busy area with loads of lights, people, and stores.

The restaurant was also located near the Cheonggyecheon stream that flows through part of Seoul.  Even though it was darn cold outside, there were still a lot of people out and about.

On the way back to our apartment, we transferred subway lines in a large subway station with a big undergound shopping area, one of several subway stations like this in Seoul.  I don't know how Koreans resist the temptation to shop at every corner.

Subway shopping area.

Shopping for socks in a subway station.

Seoul Trekking

Day Five in Seoul.  Heather's friend Emerald guided us on a mountain hike along an old fortress wall. On the way to the trailhead, we passed through a 600-year-old university and found some public exercise equipment placed on a mountainside clearing.  Who needs an indoor, electric elliptical machine when you can do the same thing outside with stunning views?

The actual trail ran very close to the Blue House, the Korean version of the White House.  Because of our proximity to the Blue House, and likely due to South Korea's tense relationship with the nearby North Korea, we were required to show our passports and obtain a pass to hike along the fortress wall.  

The trail rules prohibited leaving the trail path or  taking photos outside designated areas.  Enforcing these rules were Korean military men standing guard all along the trail.  The military men followed us when we ventured into a designated lookout area (we did not dare venture off the trail), and they radioed ahead when we moved along.  It was strange to be so closely monitored by members of the military in a foreign country, even if it guaranteed that we could not get lost on the mountain.

Of the several dozen military men standing guard on the mountain, I only saw one with a visible firearm.  Emerald explained that the armed man only carried rubber bullets because live ammunition is reserved for times of active attack or firearms training.  Although I had already learned that police officers in Seoul do not carry a firearm, I was surprised that these military guards did not carry firearms with live ammunition given the shear number of men guarding the trail and the scrutiny with which they watched us.

About half way through the hike we learned we could take photographs so long as we did not photograph certain military installations and fencing, a liberating piece of information considering the amazing views of the city and surrounding mountains all around us.

The hike ended at an old city gate.  We returned our hiking passes, hopped on a city bus, and traveled to a noodle restaurant near our apartment that Emerald recommended.  I had a very difficult time eating the super long noodles with chopsticks.  Emerald was very kind to notice my frustration and order a fork and spoon for me.  Later, I saw a man eating the noodles by slurping them into his mouth.  Had I known that slurping was acceptable at the dinner table, I might have given the chopsticks a better chance.

An old city gate.

Noodle meal.

Emerald shows off his chopstick skills.

In the evening, Heather, Emerald, and I passed this large statute of King Sejong.  King Sejong is also featured on some of the Korean paper money.  He is well respected because he oversaw the creation of the characters for writing in Hongul, the Korean language.  We also walked to a well-preserved hanok village.  A hanok is a traditional Korean house, and it has curved rooflines similar to the palaces we visited earlier in the week.

King Sejong

On the way to the hanok village.

The hanok village.

The day ended with warm drinks in a nearby cafe.  Another one of Heather's Korean friends joined Heather, Emerald, and I.  Spending the evening at a cafe with Heather's Korean friends was a nice way to experience the Korean culture.

Art and Architecture in Seoul

Day four in Seoul.  After a slow morning, Heather and I finished walking around the shops on Insadong street.  One of my favorite areas was the Ssamzie-gil complex:

Ssamzie-gil is an open air courtyard surrounded by shops built along a ramp that gradually winds up four levels.  The shops sell very nice, locally made traditional and modern items ranging from shoes to soap to music boxes.  I loved the creative use of yarn and foam to decorate the ramp on one side of the courtyard.

Shops, ramp walkway, and yarn decor behind me,
courtyard below.

At the top of the ramp was an area covered in tags with hand written messages.  I didn't leave a love note for Chris because I left a love lock at Namsam a couple of days earlier.  Only one gimmicky gesture of love is tolerable.

Thousands of messages.

Hopefully the cartoon couple is saying something nice.

The only kind of graffiti I saw in Seoul.

Insadong also features many small art galleries.  It was so relaxing to walk around the shops and galleries to look at the eclectic mixture of artwork.

I bought a small piece of art by this man.  His name was Kim.

Insadong was one of my Favorite places in Seoul.  It was so easy to lose track of time wandering around the shops and galleries, eating street food, and watching the sights on the street.  I am so glad Heather picked an apartment just a couple of blocks from this area because I was able to experience the area early in the morning when the shops were just opening, during the afternoon in the midst of snow flurries, and during the night time bustle.

Street cart on Insadong.

View of Insadong street.

Psy visits Insadong.

Heather and I returned to our apartment for lunch and then headed to the Leeum-Samsung art museum. 

Museum Entrance.

The museum consists of three wings: (1) a wing dedicated to traditional Korean artifacts, (2) a wing dedicated to modern and contemporary art, and (3) a traveling exhibition wing.   I spent quite a bit of time looking at the Celadon pottery in the traditional art wing.  Celadon pottery has a jade hue and several of the pieces dated back to the 12th century.

A set of makeup jars, one of my favorite pieces.

A large spiral stairwell winding down four floors separated the traditional wing from the modern wing.  At the top was a skylight, and the bottom opened up to the main lobby.   

From above.

From Below.

I visited the traveling exhibit last, which was located in this space:   

Designed by Rem Koolhaas.

The traveling exhibit was several oversized black and white photographs by Hiroshi Sugimoto.   The black and white photography matched the space perfectly.

Outside the museum is a sculpture area.  I liked the changing reflection of the dense hillside surrounding the courtyard as viewed in a large sculpture of metal spheres. If you look closely, you can see me in a white jacket taking the pictures.   

The three wings were designed by different architects, which gives the museum an interesting look. The brown circular portion of the building is the oversized spiral stairwell.  It connects the modern wing, on the right, to the traditional wing, the brown building in the back on the left.  The wing featuring the traveling exhibit is the glass area on the far left.

The large building behind the museum is a hotel.  A wooden walkway along the hillside connects the hotel to the busy streets below.  The wooden walkway provides a nice view of the city over the nearby rooftops.

For dinner, Heather and I walked to a Mediterranean restaurant in Itaewon, an area popular with expats.  There was some interesting architecture in Itaewon, and we even saw a nice red sunset.

As Heather and I were walking in Itaewon, I told Heather I was craving a soft, warm cookie fresh from the oven.  Heather told me that we were in the only place in Seoul, the area inhabited by foreigners, that sold exactly what I was craving.  Within minutes we were standing outside a window looking at big, warm cookies.  Heather's knowledge of Seoul really impressed me, and I was so glad to have her as a guide.  My white chocolate chip, dried cranberry cookie was a good way to end the day.