72 Hours in South Korea.

Namsan Tower by night

Still very much awake after overconsuming sugar (sticking with the sweet shop idiom from the previous post), I decided I should set off to Namsan park and tower via the major bright lights of this part of Seoul, to get a night picture or two. This was a brisk walk and climb, followed by a late supper of spicy beef soup, at a sitting on the floor place, accompanied by an EK colleague who agreed to meet up as she was on her way back from the southern side of Seoul.

EK Tour in Jeongja-dong

This tour provided an opportunity to 'Immerse in the bustling, everyday rhythm of Jeongja-dong and the vibrant Jeongja 'Cafe Street', where the essence of middle-class Korean life unfolds.' We explored and considered such things as: the difference between pure high rise residential blocks, mixed commercial (office and retail) and residential, and office blocks with single studio accommodation for office workers; the meaning of the many boardings on the outsides of buildings; the number of 학완 / academies that exist serving the competitive desire for intense educational attainment, across all ages and subjects; the new Naver (Korean Google equivalent) headquarters building; and a chic outside precinct.

Given this was partially an educational experience, it also involved a challenge - to buy something and send it home via the post office. I chose to find a post card, only to learn they really didn't exist anywhere nearby. Long story short, I bought a greeting card, for the envelope, e-mailed a photo to a copying outlet, and took the results to the Post Office for mailing. After receiving lots of help with registering the item it disappeared into a big machine. When I explained that I wanted to send it later, the same kind person received it from the machine and I settled with buying enough stamps for mailing to UK, and stuck them on the card as a souvenir of the whole task:

We rounded off the day with a convivial evening at a local restaurant.

K-Pop

Saturday was raining steadily and I felt the effects of jet lag had rather caught up. However, after pulling myself together I set off with the intention of checking out left luggage lockers and doing more exploring, weather not permitting. Quite quickly I ended up in a small shopping area, attracted by the aroma of caramel. I discovered a stall preparing Dalgona (달거나), discs of honeycomb with a shape partially cut. This game was introduced to the world via the K Drama 'Squid Game'; the aim is to use a pin to free the shape without breaking it. A small group of highly focused people, young and old, were trying their hands at it. A little further I came across my first K Pop store. This one was tied to a particular agency, with both Black Pink and Baby Monsters in their stable. Obviously closely related to the Korean Wave, a few pictures were necessary:

Lottes and more

After the K-Pop store experience I thought there must be some equivalent K Drama stores, with Myeongdong, a cross between Knightsbridge, Oxford street and Regent street, being an obvious place to look for them. On the way I paused to observe a protest - a phalanx of police with riot shields, followed by trucks with loud speakers leading the chanting, then queues of responsive but very well behaved protesters, all looked down on by a giant TV screen playing animated fluffy characters.

In Myeongdong I explored a massive underground shopping precinct, Lotte Department Store and Lotte Young Mall but after asking in the various K Pop stores concluded that there were no such outlets dealing with K Dramas. This was devastating news which presents a challenge as far as K Drama merch is concerned for the rest of my visit!

I headed back towards Bukchon, capturing a few more wet images - it was lovely to see so many umbrellas in full bloom, including the polite way they passed each other in crowed places.

That evening I felt I needed to experience Beer and Chicken, a Korean staple but one which Manu would not necessarily be enchanted by, so that's what I had. By pure chance the restaurant happened to be a favourite haunt of many K drama stars. Although none happened to be on my favourites list, it nevertheless led to some interesting exchanges with the proprietor, following a delicious meal.