The tour today is about going to get a massage, eating Korean BBQ. In the morning, I was on my own. I didn’t know what kind of tour package that I got, but it really wasn’t worth the cash. I slept in till about 9am and left the hotel around 10am. I went to Bomun station and learned how to take the subway. It was very similar to the subway system in Japan, but they have turnstiles in Seoul and not in Japan. They have a T-Money card, which is something similar to the Suica card in Japan. The subway system is much cheaper to use than in Japan too. I think that it is very interesting to see the contrasting cultures. Many people compare those two countries and I could understand why they say that they are similar. I think that they are, but there are differences too.
It was very easy to navigate around the subway system. I took the train to Eijiro 3 sam ga station, which was the location of Lotte hotel. Lotte is fairly big in Japan too for their candies. I found the hotel easily and had a few hours to kill before I needed to meet with the tour guide. I thought that it was interesting that I had to find my own way to the hotel and I wouldn’t get picked up from my hotel. I think that it turned out good because I saw a lot this morning too. I started walking around and found the city hall building. There was a palace next to that too, and they had a changing of the guard ceremony. It was pretty interesting.
I found namdaemum gate, which is pretty significant in the history of Korea. Not sure why, but that’s what I’ve read. I took some pictures there and also witnessed a changing of the guard ceremony. It was really good timing because it seemed very rare to see it happen. I walked around a little more and found one of the two night market areas. I walked around there for a little bit. It reminded me of the Taiwanese night market, except I went during the day. It was pretty interesting and very lively even though it was during the day. I bought something to eat there and the guy spoke English. I was a bit surprised since he was the first person that I’ve met that spoke English. I walked around a little bit more and I found Myeoung-dong, which is like Shibuya, or a young people’s area. It was pretty interesting and I saw many foreign stores and a lot of students. It was pretty interesting, but it reminded me of Omotesando because of the stores. It wasn’t anything really special, but still pretty cool.
I started walking some more and found a very interesting Starbucks store. It was shaped like a traditional building and made into such a big deal. I enjoyed my time just walking around the area. I killed a lot of time and saw a lot of things that I was planning to see tomorrow. So it was good to get it out of the way. From there, I went back to the Lotte Hotel and met with the guide at 2pm. We took a van to Este for a massage. I spent about 2 hours there getting a great massage. It was by far much better than the one I got in Thailand and better than the one I had in Taiwan. But then again, I paid a hell of a lot for it. The tour package for the day cost me about $130 and then they asked for an additional $50 for another sports massage and for a cup massage. It was damn good though. I really liked the oil massage. I think that it makes sense to use that so it wouldn’t burn like it did when I had one in Taiwan. But I think that it was very convenient since I just got in and out of the sauna and hot bath. I mean it was getting a little out of hand. I thought that I would be going around with the other two people that I met at the hotel, but I never saw them again. The $130 included the dinner of Korean BBQ and bibimbap, but to be honest with you. It wasn’t that good. I have had better ones in Japan, so I was a bit disappointed in the food. I had to pay extra for the drink, which was stupid since I paid so much for the tour already. After dinner, I got dropped off at dongdaemong station and I was pretty much on my own again. That place is famous for its shopping centers and night market. I got to check it out at night, so it was pretty interesting. A lot of people are in the area and the shopping buildings were really packed. I think that I could have bought some things, but I decided not to get any clothes. I was looking for postcards and found a nice little souvenir area. So I got a lot of the souvenirs for my co-workers and other friends. It was nice but it started to get expensive. I then went walking around and wanted to see if I could walk all the way home. I was just using the subway line as a way to walk to see if I could do it. I found some other interesting areas too. There was a dongdaemong gate there and I got pictures of that. But it was dark already and they didn’t have any lights shining at it, so I couldn’t get any good pictures. Then there was the famous stream that is man-made. I’m not sure why they decided to build the stream, but I saw it on TV last night about it. It is one of the greatest human marvels because they were able to do it. It was pretty nice looking and it was made all fancy with lights and stuff.
I walked around a little more and decided that after I got to Changsin station, I couldn’t make it to one more stop because it was much longer than I wanted to walk. The course didn’t follow the track, so I had to take the train home. I got home around 9:15pm so I could get a call from my friend. I got there just before he called too. I went to the grocery store and bought some drinks and a couple of snacks. It was about $3 for everything and they charge for bags too. I was watching TV all night again and couldn’t go to sleep. It was pretty cool to be standing there in Korea. I just liked the idea of it too. I saw a special on the Discovery Channel about the Great Wall of China. It was very interesting. I think that things on the discovery channel are very interesting. I got to sleep around 3am.
