Ultra high tech Seoul Subway
Seoul is modern. Very modern. From the elderly women on the subway with their smart phones and wrinkly fingers that slide effortless across the touch screens to the young ultra-trendy people representing a personal and supercool style all accessorized with the latest technology. The only downset in Seoul is that talking and reading is very difficult to manage if you don’t know any Korean – but if you’re not shy to use a bit of universal body language and gimmicking it’s not a big problem. ”Kamsa mida” and ”kombe” will get you far! (Thank you and cheers.)
Seoul is a very big contrast to the Phillippines where the 5 most played hits are:
- Celine Dion ”My heart will go on”.
- Roxette ”It must have been love”.
- UB40 ”Red red wine”.
- Bryan Adams ”Heaven”.
- Jon Bon Jovi ”Always”.
And the trendy teen-agers look like they jumped out of Michael Jackson’s video ”Bad” with fake leather and multicoloured patchwork jackets. The Phillippines would seem to be lost somewhere in the late 80’s or at best in the beginning of the 90’s. Seoul on the other hand is super high-tech and way beyond the new millennium. Even Europe appears to belong to a different decade compared to Seoul.
Huge mall at Dongdaemun Shopping Complex
The view from the Seoul Tower of downtown.
Upon our arrival in the international airport of Seoul we had a feeling that this was going to be a little different than the rest of the Asian countries we had visited. There is free wifi in the airport the minute you get off the plane and the toilets are super clean and hygienic with a button for the sound of water flush, and a console with lot of other buttons to clean your behind depending on your needs. The big difference was also the people: noone was staring at us or saying ”hello”. We were just part of the crowd which was a very new feeling.
Sejongro Boulevard central Seoul
Courtyard of the Gyeongbokgung Palace
Changing of the Guard at Gyeongbokgung Palace.
The subway is connected directly to the airport and also super high-tech and effective with a guide in English for the travellers and ex-pats. It is ultra-easy to get around in Seoul.
We stayed in the area around Hongik University which was the happening place, and every night all the youngsters in their ultra-trendy clothes rolled out in the streets and the bars and restaurants filled up. It was a cultural experience just to be part of the street life and walk alongside the crowds. Everyone is skinny and small, and even though the girls are wearing very high heels they don’t get that much closer to heaven.
Shopping at night in Seoul
Trainers Galore, at Dongdaemun Shopping Complex
Korean food is a treat! It is possible to find restaurants with pictures to point to get your meal but we also gambled on some dishes and got amazing meals like traditional potato-beef soups, where a heating plate and all the ingredients were placed on the table for us to cook our own food. And Korean bar-be-que where the grill is in the middle of the table and you cook your own meat and roll it in sesame leaves with spices of your liking and lots of kimchi, the preserved Korean cabbage. And to let your tastebuds sparkle you can get makgeolli, the young rice wine with bubbles or sansachun, a plum wine to accompany the food. The only thing missing in the Korean kitchen is a little sweet dish for dessert.
The history of Korea generally allows for some very interesting cultural experiences in terms of museums and sights. We went to see The Seodaemun Prison and National Folk Museum and they both represented a very high standard for museums, in particular compared to our previous museum experiences in other parts of Asia. We learned a lot about Korea and its brutal history. And the National Museum of Korea in Seoul is an absolute must. It’s the third biggest museum in the world and the museum advertises to be ”the cultural organization that represents Korea”. It is quite spectacular.
Seodaemun Prison Hall. Here during the Colonial period Japanese soldiers tortured then later executed Korean followers of the Independence Movement.
Here several jail cells at Seodaemun Prison Hall.
The entrance to the National Museum of Korea. Apparently is the third biggest in the world. And we can certainly vouch for that!
On the more curious and in this case sad side, we learned that Korea has an extremely high suicide-rate – suicide is the most common cause of death for those under 40 in South Korea!
Korea also has a very high divorce rate. When you’re married, you’re expected to have a lover. You’re considered a loser if you don’t. And even though you have to have a lover or mistress, you also have to be discreet and thus the high number of motels in Seoul are primarily for spouses with their lovers. You rent the rooms on an hourly basis, and most motels also provides services like covering up your car on the street or the like for covering your tracks.
When you’re working in Korea, you’re expected to go out with your colleagues and tell them everything from your private life. Your own family and friends are not prioritised and you are not expected to have a ”private” life.
A final little curiosity is that when you want to do business with a Korean, you start off by getting absolutely hammered together. The idea is that business partners have to have been absolutely out of their senses drunk to prove or show that they can be trusted subsequently. Cheers!
But Seoul is really worth a visit and is probably going to develop even more rapidly in the next couple of years with it’s very own identity.
Hanok Village in Seoul
The pictures have hopefully elaborate on the rest ;-).
travellingthebluemarble 