Dynamic Tourism, China, Business

For the May 1st International Labour Day holiday, myself and 2 friends traveled to Seoul, South Korea, to a friend from college who lives there and another friend who came up for the weekend from Hong Kong.  It was also a nice escape from a holiday weekend in China.  Seoul is a clean, quiet alternative to Shanghai, with much better service, polite people and drivers, and excellent food.  While there’s nothing particularly spectacular or noteworthy about Seoul, its a good contrast to, and reflief from, Shanghai.  Seoul is somewhat expensive even with a depressed currency (K.Won), but it has many things that would be familiar to Americans: Dunkin Donuts, Krispy Kreme Donuts (seriously how do the Koreans stay so slim?!?), Forever 21, American military, sports bars named Texas, etc.

We stayed at a place called Open Guest House near Hanseng University. It was very clean and affordable and Danny was most helpful.  It was very convenient to 2 subway stops and we could get a 3-person room, so this place was a good choice.

Since we didn’t arrive til mid-afternoon the first day, we wandered around Hanseng University area, the figured out how to take the subway and wandered around some more before we met Irene, my friend from college for dinner.  She took us to SoSonJae - Herb-Flower Season’s Korean Cuisine.  It was excellent, with really unique dishes, unlike any other we had in Korea. The owner clearly took pride in his menu with explaining the history and uniqueness of the foods and which the royal family used to eat.  After dinner we wandered down through Instadong which is a popular tourist shopping area, snacking on waffles and other traditional desserts, then walked along the canal-river.  This was apparently a very romantic spot in the city as we saw countless couples sitting down by the river.  We finished the evening with a nightcap of Sochu-juice blend in a bar near our guesthouse.

The next morning the 3 of us got up earlyish and started on our way to Camp Kim - USO office, ie the starting point for the USO day tour to the Demilitarized Zone - the demarkation between Communist North and Democratic South Korea. This was one of the most interesting day trips I’ve been on and for many Americans a highlight of their trip to Korea.  More on this in a separate post.

Returning to town to clean up after walking climbing through North Korean spy/invasion tunnels, we stopped at a Korean barbeque restaurant, where they spoke no English.  Yet, we managed to have a good filling meal of grilled meat wrapped in lettuces with spicy sauces, various kimchees, soup, and beer.

For the evening, Irene had in mind for us to go clubbing at a popular club in Itaewon; however not realizing the dress code we were too casually dressed.  So we wandered around Itaewon-a popular nightlife spot for foreigners-for awhile and I came to understand why the US military was so disliked in Korea.  Later we sat in a bar that was about 80% American military.  About 11pm, it was curfew time for the military so a uniformed US patrol came in and took the active duty out of the bar. Interestingly, it was all girls who were trying to break curfew.

The next morning (Saturday) we took it easy before going shopping in Myeong-Dong to help my other 2 friends find nicer shoes and clothes that they could go clubbing in.  Then we got ready for out big evening. First, dinner at Zen Hideaway a trendy fusion restaurant in Seoul popular for its long leisurely meals and beautiful garden settings. We ate at the location in the even trendier Apgujeong-Dong area, known for its highend boutiques and popular cafes. Then we went to meet my friend from Hong Kong at the Jazz Bar at the Park Hyatt.  After 2 bottles of wine at dinner, sochu and other cocktails at the jazz bar, we were ready to go clubbing!

Well we thought we were ready, until the club in the Ritz-Carlton told my friend at 34 he was too old!  After laughing to no end about that we decided it was also probably the fact that he was an American male (and because of the bad reputation of the military all American men are perceived to be the same). So we went back to Itaewon, the foreigner friendly district to try our luck at Club Volume, where Irene had hopped to take us the previous night.  After arguing with the bouncer for a few minutes about my friend’s age, nationality, occupation, etc we were allowed to pay about $30 to get into this club. Woah! I haven’t seen a cover charge that high since Singapore or Europe. It was a techno-trance club with most people dancing, a few standing around or lounging around tables. There’s a video on my Flickr stream if you want to know what a club is like in Korea.

For our last day, we had to do something cultural so we went to the Gyeong-Buk Palace, National Folk Museum of Korea, and Korean History museum. By contrast to the expensiveness of everything else in Seoul, we paid $3 to get into the Palace, while the museums were free.  The cultural and traditional architecture of Korea is largely similar to China’s.

For lunch we wanted street food, fresh pressed juices, Korean rice cake, deep fried stuff on a stick, dumplings, the whole lot.  We walked and ate and looked at the outdoor fair before ending our day in a ritzy grocery store owned by the family conglomerate Lotte, and having our best waffles of the trip.   It was a very nice way to end 4days in Seoul.

Many thanks to Irene for all the planning and tour-guiding; you really made the trip! Thanks to Sian, @DianaKuan, and @Seungyonce for all the advice on what to see, where to eat, and what to buy.