(no subject)
Before we start, thiiiiis is actually from E3, and is me creeping on Jun Senoue before I was sure it was him, and before I worked up the courage to say hi.
K NOW WE'RE STARTING
So on the way to Korea, the bit where we had to fly over the ocean, we flew business class. We also flew business class on the way back over, which was convenient for when I got incredibly sick.
I've never flown business class before, so check out this foot room. Also, Asiana Airlines gives its passengers slippers. Their stewardesses are also all hired for their looks, because they were all tall, beautiful and my god they were the most polite stewardesses I've ever met on any flight ever. Also worked like slaves.
THIS IS THE FUCKING AMAZING FOOD WE HAD, HOLY SHIT. It's this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bibimbap and the soup was a very basic fish broth with bonito flakes.
THEN THEY GAVE US MORE FOOD. That's my mimosa in the upper right.
Landed in Incheon Airport, which is apparently the top international airport in the world. I believe it, holy crap. I never had time to walk around and explore, but the place is HUGE, and filled with art exhibitions, and ... performance stages and Really Expensive Places to Shop. It is also intimidatingly clean.
And yet the first thing -I- thought to take a picture of was this toilet. If you hold your arm in front of that little dark panel, it will rotate out new protective plastic sheeting for you. I WAS ASTOUNDED.
And then I took a picture of the bathroom itself because I've never been in such a ... bright, clean airport bathroom.
We were picked up by the relatives, consisting of my uncle, my cousin, her fiance, and my grandmother, and we took a looooong car ride from Incheon Airport to Seoul. I learned very quickly that I shouldn't sit in the backseat when my uncle's driving if I don't want to be astonishingly carsick. UNFORTUNATELY I WOULD BE IN THE BACKSEAT A LOT OVER THE COURSE OF THOSE TEN DAYS.
When you leave the airport, you see uhhh, this sculpture, and I don't really have anything to say about it.
I know I kept talking about it, but seriously guys, Seoul's subway is insane. LOOK AT THIS SUBWAY MAP. I think I could fit DC's system in a QUARTER of that!
The subway was also insanely clean and fresh smelling, which is just something I'm not used to from... any subway, really. Instead of a bored uh, train driver coming onto the speakers and telling you the current stop, prerecorded messages of ladies with INCREDIBLY ADORABLE inflections to their voices come on, and bright happy monitors play the name of the stop for the deaf. It was all very... efficient, and also really FAST. I'm used to waiting up to ten minutes for a train on the subway sometimes, but even during rush hour, trains just kept coming all the time in Seoul.
Sorry guys, but I took a lot of pictures of the cakes. The bakeries were unbelievable. It was like coming back from France all over again, and being unable to find even one fucking good croissant.
My crazy, obnoxious, scary aunt. I haven't seen her in ten years or so, and she came to meet us in a fur coat, bright neon purple eyeshadow, fake brand name purse (more on this later), black nail polish, and gigantic rings that would be outlawed in a cage fight. I never thought my family had One of Those, but I guess I DO.
The exterior of a restaurant where we stopped to eat. Merry Christmas...? This seems to happen a lot in Asia (China just leaves Christmas trees up year round), but honestly I see it here too. I wonder if we're just too lazy to take our decorations down. A quick look at the mantel in my own house suggests the answer is Yes.
The super fucking adorable interior of said restaurant.
I love Korean meals because the side dishes always come out before the entrees. At home, we just put everything out at once, but at restaurants, it means you get nibbles to tide you over before the real thing comes out.
Also pictured, my uncle. He was not sure how to feel about us, being the first time he's ever met his sister's kids and the first time meeting his sister in 40 years, but we turned out to be on good terms in the end. He's very cool.
There was a lot of talk about how I'm supposed to address him, due to several factors, but in the end he's my weh (mother's side) samchun (unmarried uncle).
I know nothing about the proper method of romanizing Korean, guys.
ANYWAY FOOD. I can't tell you how glorious the food was. Oh my god.
Also, something I don't see often even in Korean restaurants here but was almost everywhere in Korea, take your shoes off before you go in to eat. Sitting at very low tables, mind. I wouldn't want my shoes that close to my food either. Also, floors are heated. Unnfffffff I got SO used to that.
... Poop bread. No, I didn't get any. It looked pretty damn good, but honestly we were completely stuffed after that meal.
Shot of Seoul, specifically here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myeongdong
KRISPY KREME. Apparently these are really popular in Asia. I don't care if they are, I just care that they had the most amazing strawberry donuts (for spring) I've ever had in my entire life, and now I'm going to cry because I can't get more.
Part of the subway. Not actual rock, they just made it look that way because... it looks cool?
The next day, my cousin took us to... a theme park. We didn't actually know we were going to a theme park, otherwise I think we would've declined. I don't really travel to visit other countries' theme parks.
The gates to Hell.
I need you guys to understand that the most awful, saccharine music imaginable, complete with the pre-recorded laughter of children, was being broadcast ALL OVER this park. My brother and I bet that the suicide rate among employees must be pretty high.
There's no actual theme to this park as far as I can tell, except making my soul shrivel up.
GIGANTIC PLASTIC TULIPS. ... Those are also not all real buildings in the far background there, just a painting.
... Hah.
I was in the backseat, mashed with my mother, my sister in law, and my cousin, with my brother up front and my uncle driving. It was a very long car trip. Lots of winding roads. My stomach was not happy, and yet my cousin kept insisting I go on the Viking ship with her. It was covered in the randomest 80's fashion model art, and my stomach was incredibly unhappy with me afterwards, but really this face should have warned me.
The next ride was something like Really Violent Teacups, styled after an American rodeo. I was pretty amused. Another shot.
My stomach was not in a state to try one, but if I'd been feeling more settled, REST ASSURED, I would've been all over that like a fly on rice. ... wait. Like a fly on shit. Or white on rice. Yeah.
MERRY CHRISTMAS AGAIN this was the "alpine" part of the park, and I guess... it's cold up there, and... Christmas is a winter thing, and... Yeah?
Ah, graffiti. Never change.
Gahh, the T Express. The steepest wooden roller coasters in the world, with one of the steepest drops among wooden coasters in general (that big one on the far right) and also one of the fastest. The drop WAS steep, but personally my favorite part of it was how it would add extra boost as the car crested hills, so that there were many many many points where my butt was not touching the seat.
We didn't have time to stop, but there was also a mini zoo, with bats and this extremely sleepy owl. I would've given up the rest of the suicide-inducing park to go through the zoo. There were OTTERS.
We also visited the Coex Mall, which... oh, thank you, Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COEX_Mall I didn't realize it was Asia's biggest underground mall, but I believe it x__x We spent two days there and STILL didn't see everything.
We made a brief stop on the lowest level of the Hyundai department store, which has this unbelievable supermarket and eating area. I just think the way they package melons is... well, kinda unnecessary, but cute.
Night view, outside. I just really liked that thing.
Interior of the Coex... Intercontinental hotel, I believe. We came here because you can go up to the lounge on like the 30th floor, which we did, so my brother could take night pictures of the city. It was also THE MOST EXPENSIVE PLACE EVER. Orange juice, 12 bucks a glass! Peach juice, 15 bucks! Mint mojito, 25 bucks!! The total bill was a hundredsome dollars!!!! FOR JUICE AND TWO COCKTAILS!!!!!
I have to admit though, it's pretty booze.
Oooooh.
Next day, Gyeongbokgung although this specifically is http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gwanghwamun
Just another shot. Palace guards are adorable in any culture.
The bottom half of this picture is actually just another gate to pass through.
The actual uh, main... heart, I guess, of the palace is here (you like my totally fake panorama?) behind a fairly large court yard where officials would stand.
Once you fight your way through the crowds, the throne room looks like this. I could stand to have a chair like that.
Another view of the same.
Stone sculptures of the zodiac animals also surrounded the outer platform, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Symbols_(Chinese_constellation) for the interior. I promptly went off looking for the rat, and apparently caused something of a stir because I didn't stay with the family the whole time. HEY JACK I COULDN'T FIND A WORTHY TURTLE, SO I GOT YOU THE BLACK TORTOISE, THAT COUNTS, RIGHT??
Kings would entertain their many fineass ladies here, or... entertain themselves with fineass ladies, or... whatever. And musicians, obviously. Can't entertain yourself with fineass ladies without background music.
We happened to be leaving just as they started up a "Royal Gate Ceremony", the context of which was totally lost on me, but from what my mother said, it was basically changing the palace guard.
I just wanted to believe they were after this one guy.
Aaaah oh god why
Kitty cat. Chewing on some leftover bits of this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ox_tail
OH GOD TURTLES FOR FOOD I wanted to buy them and release them ;___;
Sea cucumber. Still alive, too, if you poked the bag. If you're curious, they don't taste like much, mostly whatever sauce they were cooked in, and are kinda jellylike.
oh god outdoor markets FOOD GLORIOUS FOOD. Oh god. AMAZING FOOD.
... And now for a sobering moment. This place's bathrooms had no running tap water and certainly no soap, but I gotta say the facilities were pretty clean otherwise. o_O Don't ask me why, please don't, but for some reason Koreans don't seem to like flushing their toilet paper, or... having toilet paper at all. Most if not all the bathrooms I saw had a trash can next to the toilet where you dumped your used (!!!!!) toilet paper, instead of flushing it. There will actually be signs posted asking you to toss your used toilet paper instead of flushing it, on account of the paper clogging the pipes. I have no idea if this is true or not, but it was everywhere, including my grandma's apartment. The more likely a foreigner was to see a toilet, the less this happened in favor of just flushing the stuff. So yes, you'd often see... trash cans, full of. ... Anyway. If you ever go, carry packs of tissues and hand sanitizer, just in case.
BTW, horrifying as it is for a Westerner to think about, tons of people ate at that market every day, raw or cooked food, and as far as I know, crippling food poisoning was not an issue.
I didn't know mallards live in Asia!
Cleanest and brightest parking garage I've ever seen. o_O
This, if I understood my cousin correctly, is another market. To me it just looks like a geth dropship. The top also opens on sunny days......????
NCSoft!
Browsed around in Coex Mall some more. This card had the most heart warming message I've ever heard.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v481/Zaphy/korea/?action=view¤t=MVI_0675.mp4 Random hot drumming girls and aerobic guys! ... Sure!
Also, I gotta apologize for that vid's quality, and the same for every one to follow X[ I'm not sure why every movie I took turned out to be itty bitty, but they did, and Photobucket enlarges them to fit their size, which makes them kind of blurry and poopy.
CAKE. CAKE CAKE CAKE.
Okay now... this, blew my mind. Coex Mall, which again, is mostly underground, has... an aquarium. I saw a whale shark on the website, but I was just not ready to believe that a mall aquarium had a whale shark. Underground. We had to see about this.
But not before we found Waldo. Er, Wally. Anyone know why Waldo is called Wally in other countries? BTW YES HE IS VISIBLE IN THAT IMAGE AND I DON'T MEAN THE LARGE DRAWING.
Jackie Chan has a favorite restaurant here...? We didn't go, but I was still just, what. That logo in the upper left there, that's his Twitter account avatar. In retrospect, I really wanted to eat there, but there were far too many other places.
Instead we chose to eat at Kraze Burger, which... we apparently have in the States, but I've never seen one WHAT THERE'S ONE IN MARYLAND???? http://www.kraze.us/ Anyway, I just wondered what the mostly English-speaking Korean population would think of these: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v481/Zaphy/korea/IMG_0689.jpg
There's a little area where you can try out surprisingly effective 3D TVs, and, y'know, this being Korea, you can try them out while playing Starcraft.
And Vegeta's there too, for some reason.
ANYWAY, UNDERGROUND MALL AQUARIUM.
Oh hey, that stuff.
At first you're mostly greeted with exhibits that talk about Korea's native fish population, but as you go on, they get progressively ... weirder, like... this orrr this, which yes, have fish in them and seem kind of ... like a horrible way to display them, but also score points for ... oddness.
Not pictured, I got to be nibbled on by doctor fish. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_fish It wasn't painful, just tickly, and more than anything, highly enjoyable.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v481/Zaphy/korea/?action=view¤t=MVI_0694.mp4 Ahem excuse me, I was a little... uh, overexcited that day.
Baaaaats.
Rather hilarious warning signs.
There were also otters, but they refused to stand still long enough to be anything more than blurs. Still, if you're interested in them at all... Wait. No. That wasn't the otter, that was the BEAVER. Scuse me. It's a blurry beaver. Yes, do snicker.
... I don't know why I think they're so cute. Look at you, you big predatory blorp.
LEAFY SEA DRAGONS??
I JUST. I. I've never seen seahorses in an aquarium before.
MORE SEAHORSES.
I DIDN'T KNOW THEY COULD DO THAT.
... I really hope these guys are just really tired or don't have a perch and that they're not, y'know, dying. ;_;
I gotta say, again, this is in a fucking underground mall.
MORAY EELS I LOVE MORAY EELS
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v481/Zaphy/korea/?action=view¤t=MVI_0714.mp4 MANATEES WTF MANATEES UNDERGROUND IN A MALL
One of those undersea walkway tunnel kinda deals.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v481/Zaphy/korea/?action=view¤t=MVI_0717.mp4 Same, with shark.
Same, with sea turtle.
JELLYFISH. JELLYFISH JELLYFISH JELLIIIESSS guys I really love jellyfish not gonna lie
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v481/Zaphy/korea/?action=view¤t=MVI_0726.mp4 Jelly.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v481/Zaphy/korea/?action=view¤t=MVI_0727.mp4 Jelly.
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v481/Zaphy/korea/?action=view¤t=MVI_0732.mp4 ... sad jellies.
I couldn't get a clear shot of it, but this place also housed the biggest octopus I have ever seen. I guess it was this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enteroctopus_dofleini and it was stuck to a wall, but the mass of it was so... humongous, I would bet the arm span was easily at least ten feet.
Anyway. There was no whale shark, so we had to make do. ;_;
Information's a little fuzzy, but apparently this lady is my one and only non-step cousin. I say fuzzy because we know she's a famous singer and TV talent, but we're not entirely sure if that's her in that picture, only that she looks like her?
Sorry guys, more food. And more.
And... some of the nuttiest shoes I've ever seen. It's like someone took a beadazzler and went to town, then decided to stick feathers everywhere and THEN used glitterplastic, and...
This sort of sign was all over the city.
Something they did for the G20 summit that was held there in 2011. Each pillar represents a country that attended, and the ground around that globe is actually a 2D map of the world. The pillars are placed accordingly.
Plastic surgery ad. I still have mixed feelings about this, because I don't think it's a bad thing to do in and of itself, it's just that... so many of the Korean girls I saw looked very same-y (jokes about how all asians look the same, go to the side plz) and... I dunno. I think my problem with it is that it's so pervasive and very nearly EXPECTED of you to get work done.
It's absolutely EVERYWHERE. I saw three clinics for cosmetic surgery in one building, and the subway was full of ads for it. Blepharoplasty is by far the most common, and nosejobs probably following that. My cousin had a bit of work done, and I've had it drilled into my head all my life that someday, I'd want to go under the knife for a double eyelid too.
HAVEN'T YET. Moving on.
Starbucks doesn't do that well in Korea, and that's probably because Starbucks coffee is terrible and overpriced, and because the chain called A Twosome Place DOES AMAZING COFFEE. And cakes. I've never eaten so many cakes in one week before. I would commit murder for a slice of their tiramisu.
... I forgot why I took this picture.
There was an awful lot of... prep. Emergency flash lights, gas masks, etc. Not just in the subways, but in the mall too. Safe thinking. I've never seen that in the US.
Back to Coex Mall again THE BOOKSTORE IS HUUUUGE. Yes, enjoy my fake panorama that doesn't even show the other half of the store, holy shit.
I never understood why, but it's pretty common for asians to take a book and split it up into volumes. These are all classical works, so if I wanted to read Dracula, I would've needed to buyyyy... I think six, of these slim ones to read the whole thing.
Oh yes, finally. This is a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PC_bang (pronounced with a short "a") that we found on the lower level of the mall's theater. We went in expecting sweaty palmed, overweight nerds with snack dust on their fingers, clicking furiously in the somewhat dank dark, smelling of unwashed bodies and greasy food.
(btw, no obese people in Seoul. At all. Couple of people I'd call chubby, but no one truly overweight.)
Anyway. What we got was... actually quite pleasant? League of Legends, Starcraft, World of Warcraft were all visible, along with a couple I didn't recognize. The food options available were yes, snackish, but also kind of... surprisingly healthy.
And then this happened in the Twosome Place next door.
Have I mentioned that security was very tight? Obama WAS coming for a visit, after all, but I was just surprised to see openly armed guards in the mall and subway.
Yes, in the mall. That Nintendo store clearly needed to be secured. Check out that guuuuun, jeez. WII FIT IS SERIOUS BUSINESS.
The mall is attached to the Coex convention center, which is where the summit took place, I think. If you wanted to get in, you had to pass this security checkpoint.
Spotted this in one of the stores. You guys remember that site? With the psychologically abused stuffed animals?
Interior shot of the theater. I like lit stairs.
NNNUUUUAAAAARRGGHHHHHNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.
Oh hey that G20 thing lights up the night.
One of my uncles fought in Vietnam. I'm not sure how he got them, but he handed us a pack of MREs one morning.
And my wrist is starting to hurt, so in an effort to do less typing, have some bareassed, non a href'd links.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v481/Zaphy/korea/IMG_0774.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v481/Zaphy/korea/IMG_0775.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v481/Zaphy/korea/IMG_0779.jpg My favorite part of this is "or something".
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v481/Zaphy/korea/IMG_0780.jpg It was odd seeing the homeless population in Seoul. Here, the government tears down temporary shelters, but they're pretty in the open over in Korea. This lady keeps goats, so she's comparatively well off for food. O_o
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v481/Zaphy/korea/IMG_0782.jpg Houses were kind of odd to see. There's mostly buttons of apartment complexes, all of them very tall and very close together.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v481/Zaphy/korea/IMG_0785.jpg Thiiiis is... a little fish farm. Salmon, apparently. We uh, went here for lunch. o_o
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v481/Zaphy/korea/IMG_0787.jpg First, we met lunch.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v481/Zaphy/korea/IMG_0789.jpg Side dishes first, as I mentioned. Those are quail eggs, and they basically just taste like chicken eggs.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v481/Zaphy/korea/IMG_0790.jpg HELLO FISHY, YOU WERE SWIMMING A FEW MINUTES AGO.
Verdict? ... Interesting, but not the best sushi I've ever had.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v481/Zaphy/korea/IMG_0799.jpg My uncle and his taste in clothing.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v481/Zaphy/korea/IMG_0800.jpg The last dinner we had. But first, the seafood market!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v481/Zaphy/korea/IMG_0802.jpg OH MY GOD THAT LOBSTER
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v481/Zaphy/korea/IMG_0803.jpg Yeah, he basically is just squatting on the tanks to pull that guy out. It was amazing.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v481/Zaphy/korea/IMG_0804.jpg THAT CRAB
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v481/Zaphy/korea/IMG_0805.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v481/Zaphy/korea/IMG_0807.jpg I wish I'd had the sense to ask someone to stretch their arms out beside these squid tentacles so you guys could get a sense of scale. These were easily five feet long.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v481/Zaphy/korea/IMG_0806.jpg As I was saying. DINNER.
Oh, squirm all you like. That was easily the best, most amazing octopus I've ever had. If you're curious, the texture of octopus isn't rubbery (if it's fresh). These were exceedingly tender, and most of the time in the States, the octopus I get has a little more resistance. The flavor's very mild, not fishy at all.
This is the first time I've ever eaten an octopus head, though. You know, the bulbous end. Whole. It was interesting, but I wouldn't eat it again. The interior's texture is kinda squishy and the flavor's a bit like crab mustard.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v481/Zaphy/korea/IMG_0813.jpg My uncle stopped by Dunkin Donuts and got me this. WHAT THE HELL, AMERICAN DUNKIN DONUTS. I DON'T SEE ANYTHING THIS PRETTY IN YOUR STORES.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v481/Zaphy/korea/IMG_0814.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v481/Zaphy/korea/IMG_0815.jpg BAAAAKERRYYYY
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v481/Zaphy/korea/IMG_0816.jpg ... ffffffffffucking adorable mochi wrappings.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v481/Zaphy/korea/IMG_0817.jpg Maryland has amazing seafood, but it's sadly lacking in nice cafes like this.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v481/Zaphy/korea/IMG_0819.jpg OBLIGATORY ENGRISH
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v481/Zaphy/korea/IMG_0820.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v481/Zaphy/korea/IMG_0821.jpg CAAAAAAAKE
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v481/Zaphy/korea/IMG_0824.jpg SECURITY whoa security o___o http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v481/Zaphy/korea/IMG_0825.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v481/Zaphy/korea/IMG_0826.jpg I love this idea. Instead of buying premade sushi sets, you can pick which individual pieces you want. They're two bucks apiece, which is about what you pay for two pieces of nigiri from a sushi restaurant.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v481/Zaphy/korea/IMG_0829.jpg ADORABLE TURTLE BREAD
Whew, that's it. Time for wrist rests now.
Edit: Whoa guys, sorry, I forgot to add the Knockoff Purse story.
My uncle is like, friends with a dude selling purse knockoffs from Japan. My mom needed a smaller bag, so he took us to this shop with REALLY OBVIOUS KNOCKOFFS in the front. Like... a bag with the interlocked Chanel C's, but more like O's, with little lines drawn in the O's to look like C's if... that makes any sense. Y'know. Stuff like that.
But WE went into this... back room, and we looked at catalogs of bags, right?
Chanel, Hermes, Gucci, whatever.
My mom picked one and the shop owners made a call, and a few minutes later, this... runner came to the store with an opaque black plastic bag with her selection inside, because the REALLY GOOD FAKES are hidden elsewhere.
WTF
SO SKETCH
seriously the sketchiest operation!
I was like omg you guys US customs you guys come on
OH and my cousin offered to watch a movie with us. I said OK, and he told me to pick something out, so I go in his room expecting a shelf of DVDs, but instead he just went to a TORRENT SITE, downloaded something on the mad download speed (the internet speed is easily three times our upload speed and at least 10 mb more for download speed), brought his PC tower out to the TV, hooked it up, and we watched a TORRENT OF A MOVIE THAT IS STILL IN AMERICAN THEATERS. Act of Valor, if you were curious. It made my Vietnam vet uncle mad with glee.
Between this story and the knockoff purses, I don't want to give the impression that everything there was a bootleg. There were serious shopping opportunities in the city and even in the AIRPORT, to the point that one of the airport GATES had a Louis Vuitton stamp on it. Granted, it was right next to a duty free LV stamp on it, but still.
Personally I don't pirate anymore, and I don't understand why you would buy a knockoff of a brand name if you KNOW it's a knockoff. Brand names were just so much more prevalent over there, as just... a thing. I do see names flaunted over here, obviously, but with nowhere near the frequency. In Seoul, everyone's got a Prada, a Dolce & Gabbana, a Christian Dior, Chanel, etc. It was unusual to me, but also odd knowing that much of it was probably fake.
TL;DR I had a fantastic time over there, would do again. Seoul is the most incredible city I've ever been in, and I'm surprised that I miss it.