28th August, 2007
So I arrived in Seoul mid-morning, and after a 10 minute hitch when I thought that I wanted to go to "Haewon" instead of "Itaewon", everything was good. Note to self; must remember to write neatly).
My initial impression of the Seoul airport wasn't particularly good. I would liken it to Port August in SA, sorry guys. It's out on a little island separated from the mainland by a boggy stretch of water, and not much for sightseeing at all.
Once on the mainland things started to pickup... the Han River is impressive, props for the "outdoor gyms" (like playground equipment, but free and for working-out!), and the identically matching apartment clusters are cute.
I don't recommend Itaewon to stay in though, it's the "foreigner town", hence why it was recommended to me... but things aren't any easier to find and frankly the suburb is dodgy as. Next time I would try "Anguk" which is the backpackers district.
I checked into "Seoul Motel" (next to McDonalds) for 45,000won/ night. It was okay in my 2m x 2m little room plus bathroom, and the emergency exit was a rope hanging on the wall. Reassuring indeed.
Next on the list was checking out the convenie, which was similar to Tokyos but not as diverse. Then I galavanted around to City Hall via the subway system.
I saw Namdaemun Gate, then Namdaemun Markets complete with puppies being sold in cardboard boxes. I wanted to get a pic but the mean old lady yelled at me not to, and I chickened out! Perhaps living in Japan has made me soft... hmmm.
