In the same spirit of traveling, I would like to share one more traveling adventure which was to Korea. It's actually South Korea but the poor Korean people have been trying to unite their country with those God-less, children starving, ego-maniacs from the north. The 38 parallel is today, the most highly militarized and hostile areas in the world. However, the folks in the south have been enjoying a thriving economy and this was our holiday destination.
We took this holiday with all of my wife's family. So there were about 40 of us including children and we were able to form our own tour group. This was important since my family is notoriously known to be late and if we were with other tour groups, they would have given us such intense "stares of hate" that I think it will actually give us radiation poisoning!
The first place we visited was the presidential palace which is the home of South Korea's president. I wasn't sure why we were taken here when we were still dead tired from our plane ride, hungry and really freaking cold! The first thing we did, when landed was all 40 of us rushing to the airport toilets to put on our long johns and layers of sweaters because it was about 3-4 degrees outside in the morning! So we just stood at the gates, looked around and climbed back on to the bus.
That kinda set the tone for the trip. If it wasn't for the company, I would have really disliked Korea. The food was tasteless, served either boiling hot or stone cold as if your taste bud needs to be shocked to life by heat and then frozen to death! It's nothing like the Korean food we have here. Also the people are very rude. They don't make the attempt to serve you or take the trouble to find out what you need. They just let you wander around until you want something. Then they expect you to just buy it with no human interaction. They could have put a watermelon at the counter and it would have been the same!
When we went to Lotte World, which was a giant theme park, we had to wait in line for every freaking ride. Of course it didn't help that we only had about 90 mins there so we were just rushing along hoping to catch one of the shorter lines. People kept bumping into us just because we were in the way. No sorry, no excuse me. They just bump you because they wanted to take a picture and you were in the way! A lot of them will cut your queue if you let them and these are not country bumpkin like those from China but well dressed and seemingly well brought up young people. Near the American base, called Itaewon, you can find peddlers selling trinkets who couldn't be bothered with you, the paying tourist. So if you find anything you like, you pay retail, no bargaining, no discount, no talking!!
However, it was not without its highlights. We went to one of those islands where they filmed some whiny, long winded Korean movie where the girly boy hero confessed his love or some really gorgeous Korean actress died...I can't remember which. There was a museum of Korean culture which helped a bit. Another museum worth going was the War Museum and it shows the sadness of a country divided. You will understand why there is a lot of animosity towards the Chinese who was largely seen as the cause of the divide and a lot of gratitude to the Americans and allies who defended South Korea.
One of the highlights of our trip was the skiing trip to Mount Sorak. It was the cheapest place in Asia for a ski resort. The irony is that Mount Sorak is just miles away from the border and the difference is really world's apart. The scenery was beautiful and the skiing facilities were really enjoyable. Notice I said skiing facility and not the accommodations. Our hotel seemed to be caught in some time warp that got stuck in the 60s. We had a TV which was 14" and uses a knob to change the channels. My kids thought it was a microwave since they only grew up on TVs with remotes. They were so fascinated that spent the whole day watching Korean shows (not knowing what the heck its all about la) when we were indoors.
We also slept on tatami at this hotel which was a kinda of wooden flooring or sometimes given to us like a mat. The floor was also heated so it kept us warm until a few hours later when it was sleeping on a bed of hot coals. Just open the windows and let the freezing air in to balance it. Don't worry too much about burglars coming in through the windows. Sleep well. HA!HA!
We also found out that Korean kids learn how to write in English but their speaking it is poor. That's because there isn't anyone around to practice with. Hardly anyone speaks English including those in the hotels. I actually saw ads of English speaking people offering the services just to converse. So when this Korean kid about 11 heard Mikey speak English, he kept hounding my poor son, trying to talk to him in 90% Korean and 10% English. Which meant it was still unintelligible! We tried politely to understand him but it was too hard so were just smiled and nodded. He was persistent though and helpful by helping us ordering snacks and stuff.
We learnt how to ski at night when the temperature was about -18 Celsius with wind chills. But the moment we started skiing, we started sweating and I would have gladly taken off my tops! Mikey was real weak and when he wasn't wearing much, he got sick and we had to take him to the doctor and he was out for the last day and stayed with his mom in the hotel. Mandy was a real tough gal. She slept most of the first day as we pushed her around but after that, she was the one wearing the least clothes in such chilling weather. I think she will grow up to be a singing and dancing Lara Croft of Kate Beckinsale of "Underworld".
I actually know a few Korean colleagues whom I like very much so I am very sorry to say that I didn't enjoy Seoul at all! The food was bland and the people as cold as its winter which was funny seeing that the proprietors of Korean restaurants in KL are really nice people. One thing we will take back is our skiing lessons which I learnt how to fall without breaking my ankles and good Kimchi! But watch it, I may cut your line!
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