SEOUL

Oct 13^th – In Seoul

At the airport, I thought I’ll be proactive and do the right thing by declaring I had some crysanthemums on me. My mum had packed them (together with all her love and concern) and told me to make sure I finished drinking them by the time I arrived in London. Piece of cake. They didn’t have a clue what it was but yet didn’t seem to be bothered. Customs with a smile…that’s how I like it.

The transit from getting a shuttle bus ticket to the backpackers in the city was also a breeze. The ride on the bus cost 8000 Won. Cheap. Comfortable. Safe. Took only 45 minutes.

All way from the airport, I thought some parts of the city in the night light resembled Taiwan, with the many shops and lights. Also a little like HongKong, with the tall apartment buildings and mountains. And of course the haze reminded me of Beijing. But surprisingly, the Seoul air wasn’t as choking as those in Beijing. Maybe I am just biased.

Bus driver was helpful. Made sure I got off at the right stop. Easy walk to Seoul Backpackers. Follow the road, see SK petrol, turn right, cross road, walk into dark alley… But the weight of my bags were really weighing down on me by that time. The final stretch of road to accomodation was a little dodgy. Dark with men in suits staring at me. Eh, I just realised what I have just said. Did I expect something else other than men walking along those streets? Like ghosts? Duh! But on the bright side of things, I haven't had any hiccups since I left Oz. Goody!

Of course, it's never this good. Something had to sort of go wrong. After I plonked my heavy backpack down and heaved a sigh at Seoul Backpacker’s reception, the people at Seoul backpackers said to me that they thought “Patzy Low” was a male name. Meaning a female dorm room had NOT been reserved for me. Hmmm…I suppose I had made the booking by e-mail. They didn’t ask if I was male or female when I made the booking anyway. But still…Patzy sounds male?? That is a first for me.

First Encounters

So I got put up at the Deluxe section. Short 10sec walk round the corner. Past another motel. The nice receptionist, probably a student, spoke good English and nicely helped me with my backpack. He asked me why I had so much stuff!

The Deluxe Dorm room was excellent. Ensuite and rooms were clean. First impression: good customer service and rooms were good value for money. There was even cable TV and a video player in there! And this is a backpacker's man! The other backpacker's are going to be rated miserably by me after this.

Being nosey, my first instinct was to look around the room. I could only see one other bag in the room. Good, not crowded, I thought. It was a regular sized backpack and some European brand. My mind started to wonder where the person might be from…and whether she would be friendly….and whether we would end up traveling together. Seriously, this was my very first backpacking trip on my own. So I was raring to meet new people on my first trip.

I sat for a while and had a shower. They provided bathroom slippers, bath gel and shampoo! Wow, this is very unexpected. For a backpackers place??!! This is really good!

Got out of the bathroom without my glasses and met my new roommate. She looked a blur until I put on my glasses. She turned out to be Japanese. Not surprising. But the surprising thing is she’s a nurse too. Very friendly and cheerful. She was visiting Korea and her friend. Found out that she had recently been to the UK but couldn’t work as an RN so took up home aide work. Cool.

I then ventured outside to reception to ask if there were shops nearby because I was hungry. Of course I really wanted to get out and see what’s happening in Korea at 2100hrs. I was very keen. And I met a black American chatting to the male receptionist. When he found out I was heading out to look for shops, he offered to show me. I agreed. Come to think of it, being a naïve traveler, I probably shouldn’t have. But I place full trust in everything and anything. So off we went.

I was fine. He showed me the way to the convenience stores and we both bought stuff for supper. I had a red bean bun and a chocolate drink. And guess what? It was called IGA. Only tot that was in Australia. But the best part of that short walk was the number of mildly rowdy men, who were pissed drunk already at that time. Wasn’t even 2200hrs yet! And there seemed to be so many men around. Easily outnumbered the women I see on the streets. So this American tells me that this is common. They drink after work and it is considered rude not to drink with your mates if they are drinking. Meaning it is considered rude too if you dun get drunk with your mate. Anyway, I was a little wary when they wobbled past me. I later found out that they have been known to be quite well-behaved. I relaxed a little then. The American told me Korea was not that cheap. He had spent US$1000 in a week. Let’s see how I go then.