I woke up in New York around 7am or so, wanting to give myself plenty of time to make sure everything has been prepared for my departure that afternoon. I had been debating on whether to take a taxi / airport shuttle or "rough it" with all my luggage and do the trains to JFK. Being that my hotel was only 2 blocks from Penn Station, I could take the Long Island Railroad (LIRR) from there to Jamaica Station, transfer to the AirTrain and be at the terminal check-in within an hours transit time and for about $40 less than a taxi (maybe more), and NO traffic. Traffic was insane coming into the city when I arrived last week, as it took me nearly an hour - so either way, the same transit time, but less money...
Lucky for me, my 1 piece of luggage turns into a backpack that I can swing around my shoulders. Actually it was more complicated than that - mostly because the backpack was so heavy. But I was up for a challenge! I had the heavy backpack on my back, my carry-on backpack (with laptop, etc.) on my front, and the yoga mat carrying bag wrapped around my shoulders. If anyone were to touch my shoulder and throw off my balance, down I would fall! LOL...
So I walked over to Penn Station, got my ticket for LIRR, and lucky for me the train was just about to depart when I raced on. Then it took about 20 minutes transit time to Jamaica Station, where I got off and bought the Airtrain ticket to JFK terminals. I got off Terminal 1 stop and headed for Korean Air check-in...
After checking in, going through security, I am excited to see the Korean Air Airbus A380, the largets passenger jet in the world, that will be my home for the next 12-13 hours. Other airlines have their own configuration of this plane (Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, Emirates, Air France to name a few), but Korean's posts the least amount of seats in their configuration. Here are some pics of the plane outside (what I could get of it, it's so freggin BIG), my seat, and a view of the economy cabin:
They really gear it to higher paying fares of course - business class in particular, as the entire upper deck is all business. They have bars and lounges on board for the business class / first class, they even have a store in the back of the plane for their duty free items (i.e. perfumes, cosmetics, etc.) I didn't partake but did see it setup in all its glory - was pretty interesting...
The flight overall was good - shorter than what I did from Atlanta-Seoul a few years back (when I ultimately went to Malaysia). The AVOD (Audio Video On Demand, for those not in travel lingo) was awesome, as always. The Korean Air service was immpecable, as always - always gracious, courteous and smiling. Everything was clean, organized, efficient. I think they are my new favorite airline - I am their spokesperson for the Orlando market :-) hehehe...
We landed in Incheon airport around 4;15pm (give or take), but by the time I got through security it was already 6:30! Security was moving really slow for some reason - strange because everything in Korea seems to move like clockwork - lots of LCD monitors, fancy upscale and high tech environment. The immigration & customs process scans your fingerprints and takes your picture, just like in the U.S., but it just seems more efficient here. LOL...
So I get my bags, go outside to baggage claim and look for the KAL Limosine service (not really a limo but a coach bus with reclining seats). This service will take you directly from the airport and stop at a number of hotels, including the one I was staying, and only costs 15,000 Korean Won (KRW). So you know, I estimate $1 USD == approximately 1.18 KRW, at the time of this writing. So for all intents and purposes, consider it close to $15 for the one way journey that lasts an hour (so much traffic!). Here's a pic of the baggage claim area waiting for the bus:
So it doesn't take me long to realize something, once I actually get outside the airport controlled environment - holy MOLY CRAPOLY it is down right C-O-L-D!!!! I mean New York was pretty cold, but it is FREEZING here!! Snow that probably feel weeks ago is still on the ground and probably will be for some time. I hurry to get on the bus, and off we go for the hours transit. I can't really see anything because it's dark, and it's just a highway so there's not much to see. But you do see the LED roadsigns written in Korean, so that tells you you're not in Kansas anymore for sure...
We pull up to the hotel, and I get out and check-in. This is a full service hotel (22 floors, many rooms), so the bellhop comes and takes my luggage while I go check-in. Turns out they upgraded me to an Executive room because of my status - that means a very high floor, a good view, and lots of amenities like free Wifi (yes, I know some find that strange (as do I) but many upscale hotels charge you for wifi and it's not cheap, on the order of $20/day). Not only that, I get access to the executive lounge for free breakfast and cocktails in the evening, should I chose to partake (I didn't). Here are some pictures of downtown Seoul as seen from my hotel window the night I arrived:
And I decided to order room service :-) They had vegetarian Bi-Bimbap! SCORE!
Yeah I was dead tired last night - in fact I'm STILL jet lagged, as I slept until about 3:30am and woke up with trouble going back to sleep. So I just texted some friends back home, messed around on the computer, took a shower, basically was very lazy for most of the morning. I did manage to go eat my free breakfast which, I have to say, was just alright - not amazing, but alright. The typical American fare, eggs, toast, cereal, fruit, etc. I was hoping for more, but oh well what can you do. The lounge (well there are 2) was on the 22nd floor, so I did get an amazing view of the city once more...
After breakfast, I headed back to my room for my coat / scarf / cap, and went outside to see if I could withdraw some more money from the ATM. As soon as I stepped outside, the cold air hit me like a ton of bricks - it is so DAMNED COLD here I can't get over it! Maybe other Northeners are used to winters and cold weather like this, but this Florida boy - he is having an adjustment, I will tell you that. I am wearing my scarf to cover my face, so combine that with my ski cap, the only exposed part of my body are my eyes while I walk outside!
I make my way to the nearest subway station (Seoul Station) and then realize that Seoul terrain is very steep - it isn't flat like the majority of New York (and Florida for that matter) - the hills are really a hike sometimes, makes you think you're in San Francisco! So combine the uphill walks with the extreme cold - walking outside is NOT fun! Anyway, I get to Seoul Station and I'm looking for a way to get the Tourist City pass so I can easy hop on/off the subway instead of having to pay each time for the fare based on distance traveled. However, as big as Seoul station is for a Metro station, no information attendants were to be found to answer that question. The automated kiosks didn't sell them either. So I went back to the hotel concierge to ask him what I should do. He eventually found that I should go to the nearby market, where there is a free standing tourist office that will have them for sale...
I come back to my room, chill out for a minute or 2 to catch my breath and warm my hands, then I head outside looking for that market. I eventually find it, and sure enough they have the pass that I'm looking for. Cool, I'll definitely use this later on. While I'm at the market, I walk around and I'm reminded of India - a bunch of little shops all huddled together, people yelling at you to come look at their shop (well it was in Korean but I still know what they were saying by context!). I do find some stuff for friends and family though, but I won't write about it here - they'll have to wait until I return :-)
Another thing I asked the concierge about was the nearest Post Office or FedEx / UPS / DHL drop-off point. Being that I'm going to Bali the end of this week, I'll have little need for the extensive winter clothing and I want to ship it back home so I don't have to carry so much around. The concierge gave me a map and showed me where it was, but I still wasn't 100% sure I knew where I was going. Oh well, I'll keep walking and see what I find...
Oh look, this is an indoor shopping mall - a great place to warm up. What's the name? ShinSegae ( http://english.shinsegae.com/english/dept/dept_main.asp ), which is apparently Korea's first department store. It is huge - like 14 floors, reminds me of Macy's in New York, only a LOT more upscale. Very posh and swank, so maybe closer to Harrod's in London, because they also have an entire Food emporium on the lower level. This includes a full fleged supermarket, bakeries, restaurants, food court, etc. And all the big name brands of course. I didn't do much of that kind of shopping because I can just go to the Millenia Mall in Orlando and get the same thing (probably cheaper compared to this place)...
I do decide to head up to the 11th floor where there is again more food, but more like a cafeteria here - you order a specific kind of dish, they give you a pager, you go sit down until they page you to come get it. That is, if you can find a seat, because it's REALLY, REALLY busy here today! Thankfully I caught someone at a smaller table just as they were leaving, so I claimed it. The food I had wasn't great but it was alright - just fried rice type of thing, along with a salad and what appeared to be miso soup...
Then, I walk to "customer service" the next floor up to ask the exact direction of the post office from the mall, since it was supposed to be right across the street (but my orientation is a little messed up today so I wanted to make sure I had it right). When I asked the girl, she looked at me blankly - just like all the other people have been doing when I try to ask a question. They weren't really able to help me, so I decided to say thank you and just leave and figure it out myself...
Edit -- a quick note about Korean's (at least in Seoul) and their ability to speak English. I had read that Seoul is very metropolitain (it is) and most Korean children are required to learn English in their school. However, almost no one speaks it - I would have assumed that to be the case for the older folks, but NONE of the younger folks I interacted with know anything - maybe they know 2 phrases, but that's about it. The exception is the hotels of course, they all are required to speak it, but I think for most of the younger generation (man I'm old, I just said "younger generation"), it was similar to my experience in Malaysia - they might learn academically but they never practice or use it. Darroll was the saving grace in translation for me...
Don't get me wrong, I don't expect anything from them - I am, after all, in THEIR country, where Korean is the language of choice. I don't get frustrated with it either, I just laugh it off and move on, but I guess I just expected more, especially since Seoul is so international...
Anyway, I figure out the correct entrance I'm to walk out of the mall based on my photographic memory of the map I studied earlier, and sure enough, the Korean Post was right there in front of me. I really should trust my instincts more often - I'm learning that more and more each day, and I guess that's part of what traveling has taught me. It was re-iterated and deepened during my experiences in India, but occurs here as well...
So I get inside, figure out where the area is to buy boxes, try to point to the example box that I want (since they didn't speak English), and eventually we figure things out, and I pay. I walk outside and to the metro for my first ride - I LOVE The Seoul Metro! So amazing, so huge, so modern.... It just ROCKS...
And here I am back at the hotel, I'm going to take it easy tonight, I want to get some rest, so I don't think I'll be venturing out anywhere. Maybe yoga tomorrow if I can wake up early enough, or perhaps the afternoon Mysore class. Will be good to get back in a studio again - maybe that's why I've been feeling off lately...
Here are some more pictures of the view from my hotel. I can't really take pictures outside while I walk because my hands will fall off (seriously), so I'm going to have to figure out how to work around that tomorrow, as it's supposed to be even COLDER!!!! Really? Like Absolute Zero??? LOL :-)
Anyway, Namaste & Love from a Cold, COLD Seoul! :-)
If their english is as bad as the french I took in High School that makes total sense. Wish there were a few words I could give you to help but all I know so far is my name is and coffee please. Hope things start looking up and it gets warmer.
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