Gangnam it!

I've been to Korea!

I meant to write more and sooner about that, but I've been a busy sumbitch, what with the end-of-term test and all.

I dealt with said examination yesterday, so now I'm officially set to giveth-not-a-fuck mode.

But first things first.

On Friday morning, me and the 'rents boarded an early flight for Seoul's Incheon airport, arriving in a slightly warmer climate than Tokyo's.

One thing that struck me immediately about Seoul was how spacious it is, considering the size of the city. Whereas Tokyo is a dense carpet of houses and skyskrapers, Seoul offers more in way of… you know, plants and stuff. It reminded me of Los Angeles, but without all the crap.

Anyway, the bus ride from the airport to the hotel was very smooth, an introduction of sorts to an exceptionally comfortable weekend in South Korea.

We stayed at the Imperial Palace hotel. They're not kidding with that name. The place reeks with british imperial splendour, with every surface in gold and dark wood, and every member of staff dressed in sterile suits calling you "sir" if you pass them by.

Our room on the 16th floor had a western view of the sprawling mass of concrete and neon that is Seoul, and carried on the style of the hotel. Fancy, but in a charming way.

After settling in, we decided to scout the nearby area for food and sights. This turned out to be quite the task. What seemed like a walk around the block was in fact a few subway stops away. Alas, we walked on, impervious to fatigue.

After a really Korean lunch of juk – vegetable gruel, similar to risotto – and kimchi (naturally) we found the Coex mall and adjacent Kimchi Museum. Now, the Kimchi Museum might very well be the single best museum on earth. 

Kimchi is pickled vegetables, usually cabbage. And there's a museum about it. Fantastic.

We actually had dinner at the hotel, which I would normally think to be a bit simplistic and uninspiring. Except, the hotel had a buffet of some of the best food I've had. It was ridiculous. Dozens of hot and cold dishes, raw vegetables, soup, desserts. Very nice indeed. 

We went there for breakfast twice, and it was much the same. Any tasty, hearty breakfast ingredient one can think of, and more.

Day number two began on the subway, as we had now accepted the distance between the various sights we wanted to see. These included several fine temples, the Seoul Museum of History and Seoul Tower. All of these were nice to see, and the bus that traveled conveniently between most of them allowed us further viewing. 

Dinner was had at a place called Mad for Garlic which, as the name insinuates, is not a sushi restaurant. We had garlic bread, garlic fondue (!) and more garlic bread, followed by three different garlic-heavy pizzas. Pretty strange, but none the less good food.

My final day of Korean adventures took me to the electronics market of Yongsan where everything was suspiciously cheap and there were hardly any people. And to more temples, in the beautiful Changgyeonggung palace. I also made use of the hotel's swimming facilities, which were unsurprisingly fancy.

After three days in Seoul, I could make certain observations:

• Koreans eat Kimchi in, on, and with everything. It's not a way to prepare food, it's a religion. I also suspect that it's a ritual form of embalming corpses, to cover them in Kimchi.
• Korea is cheap! Compared to Tokyo it's vastly different, but even by proper standards, Seoul is a great place to shop.
• Korea is slightly more American than Japan (I feel the need to compare the two countries) with Wal-Mart, Dunkin' Donuts and the like. But it's actually not that big a difference.