We were eager to check out Seoul - one of the biggest cities in the world - and experience its rich culture so naturally our first stop was the Itawon district, the reverse Korea town of Seoul. Itawon is home to many restaurants and shops that cater to foreigners. It had its own version of little Italy, a middle eastern area and even a Canadian pub that served poutine! I've never liked poutine that much, but I still liked the idea that it was available. We met with Ali's friend Marijike, who is teaching in Incheon, and two of her friends she's made up here. We explored Itawon for awhile and could have forgotten we were in Korea; there were just as many foreigners as Koreans it seemed. Deciding to get food we can't back in Uijeongbu, we stopped at a cafe for lunch where we had some Western staples like hamburgers and french toast.
We were eager to see some sort of tourist attraction, but with none of us being erudite historians, we were unsure of where to go. We picked a palace on a map of Seoul and headed there. It was called Unhyeongung palace and for only thirty cents each, we got to explore the grounds and take lots of pictures. It was pretty interesting and definitely worth the money.
Not ready to call an end to our sightseeing, we made our way to the Myeong-dong subway stop to see North Seoul Tower, which is Korea's CN tower, so to speak. We walked uphill along roads for quite awhile before we noticed elevated trams (is that what they're called?) going up to the tower. We found the place and took the tram to the top. It turned out that this is White Day weekend. Koreans celebrate Valentine's day on February 14th, but unlike for North America, this is a day that women get gifts for the men and share their affection for them. One month later on March 14th, men return the favour on what the Koreans call White Day. It turns out that seeing North Seoul tower is a romantic occasion as the place was packed with couples.
North Seoul tower is not as tall as CN tower, but its location at top of a mountain provided a great view. Walking around the base of the tower was pretty cool because you already get a great sight on the surroundings. We paid to go up to the observatory which provided a nice 360 degree view of Seoul. There was also this ingenious idea where each window panel had the names of a few cities on them, indicating the direction and exact distance to the city. We looked directly at Toronto only 10 607.77km away! Practically there by all accounts.
After North Seoul tower, it was about eight pm so we made our way to the Hongkik University area. We were told it was a good location for going out and we had a nice pub dinner and went to a few places. Our first trip into Seoul was a success and with Ali being the inveterate explores she is, I'm sure we will go back soon to do some more sight seeing. It was also nice for Ali to see her friend Marijke again and her two friends Odi and James seemed really nice. It's really great to make other friends in Korea.
Today we just took it easy. It's seems like Ali is getting pretty sick with a cold and sore throat and has to start teaching tomorrow so we just lazed around and watched movies.
We'll update again at the end of the week.
- Jesse
Ali looking toward Toronto from North Seoul Tower. Can almost touch it!
A view of Seoul at night.
Ali and I at the base of Seoul tower.
The group trying to figure out where to go next and looking like huge tourists.
The palace in Seoul.
