Seoul, Korea

Vacation's over...

...for James, that is. I'm not even half done. Muahaha. So I'm on my own for most of today, since James has to go back to work and spread the English language to the locals. What to do, what to do? I know, I'll go to the mall.

Well, it's more to grab lunch with James. He left at an ungodly hour (seriously, who the hell needs to learn English before the sun is up?) and by the time I awoke, it was nearly lunchtime. So I hopped into a cab and asked the driver to take me to Coex Mall.

My last days in any given country are always uneventful. I like to keep them that way, and while it appears that I am wasting a day of potential fun, I really don't need leave a country with the natives throwing spears at me, while I grab onto the pontoon of an awaiting seaplane. Bad for the heart.

At the mall, I met up with James in front of Jackie's Kitchen (there's one in Shibuya as well) and headed into the mall to kill some time and get something to eat. Malls are malls are malls. The prices are about the same as they are in Toronto, so nothing really jumped out at me as a "must buy" - though they did have decidedly more interesting clothing than what I see in malls back home.

I just ended up with a few packs of postcards while some Frenchwoman was making small talk with James outside the store. She seemed happy to find someone who spoke something other than Korean. You know, I have to say that Seoul is incredibly tourist-friendly. There's a government-run tourist help line that you can call free of charge to ask them virtually anything you want from directions to restaurant recommendations to movie show times. All major signage has English on it and the maps on the train are very clearly marked.

After eating, James went back home to take a nap. I stayed in the food court a little longer to give him some peace and to churn some out postcards. At about postcard #15, a familiar face plopped himself down in front of me. John from Delaware. We chatted for a bit, but before he left, he told me that I should go check out Olympic Park (which was good, because despite all the wonderful suggestions in my Lonely Planet Guide, I was just going to wander about aimlessly).

Yet more subterranean terror

Turn the clock back to 1995, Tokyo - a horrible sarin gas attack in the subway brought terrorism to the forefront of the average person's mind in urban centers in Asia. Though the death toll was only 12, thousands were affected and as a result, most (if not all) trash cans and recycling bins have been removed from the Tokyo train/subway stations and platforms. I don't know if this is the reason for the following in Seoul, but it seems a likely candidate.

The second day, I saw full on gas masks and kits. This time, it was considerably less impressive (I'm talking about the last two photos). You'll forgive me for the poor continuity of the sectioned-photo.

Olympic Park

I never really was a fan of the Olympics, so I don't remember seeing any of this stuff on television. My camera was running out of batteries at this point and my spare was sitting safely in my luggage, back at James' place. Brilliant.

It was a nice space, but nothing to do there, really. I walked around for a bit and found that there was a park behind the monument. I sat down at the top of a Roman-style stone auditorium and watched a man perform some Tai Chi sets in the middle of the ring, about 15 metres or so away from me.

I write this each time I leave a place, but I can't believe that my time here is up. I mean really, it seems both long and short at the same time. I arrived three days ago, but I have had more experiences in that time than I do in a month, back home. If you can stomach the pace, you won't die bored, I can tell you that much.

Which one of you keeners (WITHOUT Wikipedia or Google) can tell me what significant piece of Olympic history is recorded on this slab of rock? I'll give you a hint: Probably the best light-heavyweight boxer of all time.

For those of you who didn't get it, tsk tsk - watch the clip below and learn something worthwhile.

Ok, it's getting dark and the mosquitoes are coming out now. Time to head back.

The Last Supper

My last evening here in Seoul (for this trip anyway) - I got together with James, Chris and John. I don't even know where we went (actually, I did at the time, but being that I didn't bother to write it down and it's now 10 months after the fact, I can't remember). Seeing James and Chris again was really like taking a mini-vacation from my real vacation. It felt like home.

Despite the fine Korean fare, I had a bit of a hard time getting it down, I was sad to leave and that low-down, damp feeling in my stomach took away my appetite. Plus my legs were going numb again...why can't this frikkin' country get some damn chairs already?