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cable car ride

lunch

Korea 2024 - Day 5: Gyeongbokgung Palace

Korea 2024 - Day 4: Seokchon Lake area and Lotte World

Sorry, this one is a little late, and it's going to be a little big on photos, light on text because I'm getting a late start today (the morning after, which is when I end up doing these posts) as I actually got a full 8 hours of sleep for a change.  Yay me!

Yesterday, I decided to venture to the other side of the Hangang River and see if there were any blossoms left on the trail around Seokchon Lake, one of the places known for spring blossoms.  I got back on the subway and ended up in Lotte Land.  Lotte is big business here in Korea, they own stores, real estate, and Lotte World Adventure, a Korean Disney clone.  Lotte World Adventure Seoul is on an island in the middle of Seokchon Lake. So, I just followed the signs...

To Lotte World Adventure.  This is the Korean substitute for Mickey.  Don't know his name yet...I suspect I'll find out if/when I decide to go to the park.  When I was getting close to the entrance to the walkway around the lake, I started to see azaleas.  

It seems that I may have missed cherry/plum blossom season, but this is the best time for azaleas.

I found a stairway down to lake level and found the Disney clone hiding amongst skyscrapers.

I decided to walk around the lake to enjoy the azaleas.  Unfortunately, the rains we had experienced a few days ago washed away the last of the cherry blossoms.  I could see the petals all over the ground, but nothing on the trees.  However, the azaleas were a welcome substitute.

Here you can see them encirclinng the lake along the walking path.  The path itself is quite nice as it is a rubber matting and kind on the feet and knees.  Lots of senior citizens were out getting their daily walk on.

Here is the entrance to Lotte World Adventure.  From what I could see, it's your common amusement park.  I'm still undecided if I will be going.  I hear the one in Busan is bigger, but I only have a few days there with lots to see.

As I was walking the path, I heard drums and saw a set of stairs going up to what appeared to be some sort of outdoor performance area.  Curious, I climbed up and was happy to see that I had stumbled upon a very cool experience.

I tried to do some research, but all I could find was that this is some sort of drum dancing performance.  I did find references to specific drum dances, but most of them were about dances with 3 drums.  This was not that.  Still I hung out to watch a bit.  It is obviously a rehearsal, as none of the women are in costume.  However, it seems that they are very near a performance, as there was very little stopping...it appeared to be a complete run-through.

I did manage to capture a portion on a Video of the dance

After I finished the circut of that side of the lake (there are two sides divided by a bridge) I decided to head in the direction of what appeared to be a mall.  It is attached to

Lotte World Tower, which I believe is the tallest building in Korea.  I was too late to take the tour of the top of it...maybe another day.

Heading toward the mall entrance, I found some of my favorite flowers in bloom...lilacs.  They smelled lovely.  I headed into the mall and decided to find something to eat.  I ended up in the food court of Lotte Mart, a grocery store.  

I settled on a lunchbox with Korean fried chicken and seafood kimbap.  It was yummy!

The mall was just a mall.  Mostly high-end and not much for me.  They did have an art gallery cafe that looked kinda cool and the signs to an aquarium actually led to an aquarium cafe that was closed by the time I got there.  Still, there were cool fish.

Not much went on after that.  I headed back at the end of rush hour and got to experience that on a subway.  Not Tokyo level insanity, but pretty close...

Got a few things at the grocery store and headed back to the room to get my 8 hours!

I think we'll go to a palace today....

Korea 2024 - Day 3: Getting my bearings...kinda.

So far, every day in Seoul starts with me waking up before dawn and watching TV until the rest of the city wakes up.  It's a time difference thing, I suppose...but it's already getting a bit old. I've decided that I really like my hotel, despite the not being able to flush toilet paper thing.  This was the way it was in China too, so it's not so unusual in this part of the world.  

I decided to explore my neighborhood a bit, which is the area around Ewha Womens University.  Apparently, the shopping is good around here due to the fact that there is a high concentration of young women in the area. There is a nice, tree-lined street with a little park, that has a lot of womens clothing and skincare shops, as well as tons of coffee shops. I, of course, popped into a couple of the skincare shops.  I've spent way too much on skincare already.

There are always interesting things to see here on the streets in Seoul. One cool thing I've discovered is that there are a few places where you'll find repurposed shipping containers used as retail spaces.  One of them was here in my neighborhood.

There is a food court type of area in the middle with outdoor seating, a second floor with more sit-down kind of places and small shops around the outside.  It was kind of cool. 

 I decided then to hop on the subway and head to the Hondae shopping district.  This is the area around another University here in Seoul, Hongik University.  This has been designated a tourist district and I mostly explored the pedestrian-friendly Red Road area.  Lots of vintage shops, clothing stores with Korean streetwear, makeup and skinkcare as well as a few familiar Western shops thrown in for good measure (I saw a Lush and a Doc Martens).  Also, tons of bars...

like this one with it's selfie-friendly gorilla. It was not an exclusively pedestrian street as you did find the odd work truck, motorcycle, or luxury car slowly making it's way down the red road trying to avoid the tourists as they crawled along.  It was busy, but not packed.  This is the edge season for tourism here and right after all of peak spring blossoms  So, while there are tourists, it's not overrun.

I popped in a few shops on the way up, but mostly watched for ones that looked interesting so that I would have a mental list on my way back.  I did happen upon a billboard that made me smile.  Those of you who know that my current thing is Thai TV, will know.

BL is alive and kicking here in Korea, although Thai series are still the ones that rule the school....

After I detoured into a convenience store to grab a snack and a drink, I found a bench near this cool looking house.  I just had to take a photo. 

The Red Road pretty juch ends at this clock and a convenience store, of course.  I made my way back and visited the stores I bookmarked in my brain on the way up.  Another Olive Young.  This one had more of the stuff I was looking for.  Got a couple of my favorite eye creams and a few more sunblocks.  Yes, I'm an addict. 

I bought a few pair of cute, teeny earrings at another shop that was kind of the Korean version of Claire's (but without the lead laced kids makeup).  I found a stand-alone store for my favorite skincare brand Missha.  You know that super crazy pricey SK II toner that costs hundreds of dollars?  Missha makes something comparable for less than half the price.  I found that they were having a BOGO sale and they had the sheet masks for my favorite line at buy 5, get 5 free.  Woo-hoo!  The place was a bit busy, so I stood aside for a bit.  Finally, it was just me and two elderly ladies from the Phillipines.  Unfortunately, they were trying to pay cash, but didn't have a good handle on the coinage.  I thought the poor clerk was extremely  patient with them.  The ladies also found a buy one, get one anti-aging hand cream that looked promising.  So I added that to my haul too.

This was a lot of walking, and my backpack was kind of full, so I decided I needed a treat.  Matcha ice cream in a tall cup to the rescue.

The rest of the day was pretty uneventful.  I did a bit of shopping in the subway as there are lots of shops in many of the stations.  Cool thing about having a Samsung phone in Korea is that you see more accessories here for them than for iPhones.  I got another case for mine, but will look for more as there is such a variety available here!

So, I did get a bit lost on the way back to the hotel from the subway.  While I do get free data overseas with my mobile provider, it seems that coverage here in Korea can be spotty.  I decided that I need a Korean SIM.  Luckily, it's easy to get an eSIM and you don't have to change out your card if your phone is unlocked (mine is as I bought it directly and not through a phone provider).  So far, the tests I've done with it are really good, so I shouldn't get lost again. 

Went to bed early again.  Next up, I think I'll try to see if I can find some straggling spring blossoms.  Cross your fingers!

Korea 2024 - Day 2: A Whole Lotta Nuthin'

No photos today, because I didn't do anything particularly exciting.  The forecast called for rain all day, and yes,, there was rain.  I slept a solid  10 hours and watched a K drama on Netflix, which is the only way I get English subtitles.  I puttered around waiting for the rain to let up.  

I took a shower and headed out in the afternoon, when the rain had slowed to a fine mist.  I took myself to EMart, a grocery superstore to find some pour-over coffee and snacks for the room.  On the way, I went past a mid-sized Olive Young, which is kind of a Korean Sephora.  Poked around there for a bit and got some face wash, moisturizer, and a couple of different sunscreens to try out.  I'm going to find a better place for makeup and haircare.

EMart was an experience,  floors of insanity.  I did find that they have an in-store bargain brand called "No Name" that offered up some good options, including some cup noodles.  I also got some lovely looking strawberries and tomatoes.  Oh right, and a $4 umbrella.  Packed up my groceries in my backpack and duffel bag to make my way back to the hotel.  The rain had started back up, so was happy for my unbrella.

I got back to my room, puttered around a bit more...then had tomatoes and instant "soy paste soup with seasoned thistle" for dinner.  Soup not bad for instant soup.  Watched more of my K drama and ate more snacks.  Went to bed at eight.  

That is all.  Exciting start to the trip, right?  I think it got me over my jet-lag pretty quickly.  I'm going to try to see what remains of the cherry and plum blossoms today.  I'm always just a little bit late for those....

Korea 2024 - I've arrived!

This begins my 2024 59th birthday adventures.  I am 2 weeks in Korea...mostly in Seoul, but with a few day break in Busan.  Yes, I'm taking a train to Busan...no, I haven't seen the movie and I don't plan to until I've returned.  LOL

My adventure started with an overnight stay in an airport hotel in Austin as my flight left at 6:30AM.  I hate morning flights, but there was no way around it.  Either leave at the crack of dawn, or arrive 2 days later.   2 hours to Minneapolis, 2 hour layover, FOURTEEN hour flight to Seoul. It wasn't horrendous.  Delta premium comfort is pretty nice, my seatmates were fun, and the food was pretty good. 

And I got a Korean Canada Dry ginger ale on the flight.  I am easily amused by the can.

Arrived, line for entry was short and uneventful, got my bags, and spent some time looking for a bag delivery service.  They have them here, but they're not as easy as the ones in Tokyo.  I ended up with my bags on the train/subway.  The high speed train from the airport was nice and not crowded at all.   Part of it was in tunnels, but there was plenty of nice scenery, although the mountain view was on the other side of the train.

Still, I got to see some of the spring blossoms and my first glimpses of Korea.

I didn't get lost on the subways and it was a pretty quick trip to where my hotel is.  My room is small, but has everything I need.  Like China, you don't flush toilet tissue, which takes some remembering.  The shower is in a separate area with the sink, and the shower runs from the same tap.  Kind of interesting, but it works well.  The water is hot and plenty of pressure.  

There is a convenience store connected to the hotel, which is nice.   I got a WowPass, which is a combination debit card and subway pass.  The chain of convenience store downstairs has cash back on the WowPass, which is super convenient.  I got dinner and some essentials and made some money back. 

Ate some cheese instant ramen, took a shower, and went to bed at 6:30.  Got up at 5.  So much sleep and I slept HARD.  It's raining today and I forgot an umbrella (it's always something).  Hopefully, there will be a break in the rain so I can get to the subway and head out to do some shopping.