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Hi everybody!
I am back in London after a very long and tiring journey.
On Saturday morning I got at 6am and went straight to the US army base where our tour departed from to the DMZ (Demilitarizied zone).
The bus was full of Americans so it was quite scary to begin with
The DMZ or JSA (Joint Security Area) is running across the Korean Peninsula between North and South. It is the most heavily armed border in the world and I can telly you that tension is defintely in the air...
Check out the picture of me and a ROK soldier. They wear shades and stand in a taekwondo position to intimidate North Koreans.
I got the chance to go inside the building in Panmunjom where North and South signed the cease fire agreement 50 years ago. It was scary to step into North Korean territory but I managed to do it while I was in the building. See the third picture, it was taken from inside the building, on the left is North on the right is South.
The Bridge of No Return can be seen on the fourth picture. It was used for prisoner exchanges at the end of the Korean War in 1953. The name originates from the fact that prisoners were given the choice to remain in the country of their captivity or cross over to the other country. But if they chose to cross the bridge, they would never be allowed to return.

Young and his girlfriend took me to the airport and then my 22 hour flight with a 6 hour stop over at Dubai airport began.... speechless...
And here I am, back in the comfort of London... looking back, I can't believe how quick the two weeks went but also how much new experience I have had!
Korea is a great place, definitely worth a visit!

Annyeong Seoul!

Today after I came back from the markets, I went to the cinema to see Number 23 which was surprisingly pretty decent. Then I had a lovely pizza and had my last walk in dowtown Seoul, let me share you a few pictures with you. Good-bye Seoul!

Also just a quick note - There won't be any updates in the next two days as am travelling to the border and then catching up with Young and going to the airport...
I am pretty proud of what I accomplished in the past 2 weeks. I have managed to see a country in many ways - stayed with friends, in love motels and youth hostels, seen the poor and rich, the old and new side of Seoul.
I want to say a big thank you to Young and his family who kindly accomodated me and drove me to various sites outside Seoul, so I got a chance to see the country side and other cities.
Also big thanks to Min for his calmness and being so informative - was really good to meet you!
And I would not have survived without my faithful friend - The Lonely Planet Seoul Tourist Guide Book!
I am going to return to London with lots of new and very nice experiences, this trip has been wonderful and am really pleased I have done it!
The only thing that did not happen is getting to like kimchi. KIMCHI SIRO - this is one of my most useful expressions in Korean.
I think it is time to say farewell but as I said, make sure you come back for a final update (probably on Monday)
And also thank you for all the people who have been reading and commenting on my blog!

Love
Robbie x

Today is my second last day but please make sure you come back and check for updates in the next few days cause there is still lots more to come (JSA - tour to the Joint Security Area)
I am staying in a youth hostel today because Young had to go to the army for a day to refresh his knowledge on using guns - God save us!!!
Now as I am typing, next to me there is a 60 year old Japanese woman looking at the computer screen and talking to herself quite loud and sometimes she just goes "oooohhhhh!!!!!" A bit distracting but nevermind...

Seoul is the place where motorcyclists get really upset and give you dirty looks just because you dare to walk on the pavement. It wouldn't make sense to them to use the roads instead of the pedestrian paths, no... and I tell you what they are really dangerous and scary, I stopped listening to my iPod lately because I am afraid that I'll be run over by one of them...

Seoul is also famous for:

traffic jams:

big markets - they are huge and never ending. Surely they believe quantity is more important than quality... and of course they sell everything and even more! Men are clapping and shouting non-stop just to draw some attention to their goods but obviously because we are in 21st century Korea, why shout when you can talk to a microphone and can be heard louder...
Fancy any of the food?!

At lunch time women deliever a lot of food trays on their head. I have no idea how they do it in a busy market with millions of people and trillions of motorcyclists around. All my respect for the dinner ladies!

Hey I'm back to write some more.... On Tuesday night we went out with Young and had some shabu shabu, really nice and I love that we can cook our own food. Think the picture tells the rest of the story.

Then we met up with Young's class mates and after drinking soju (vodka style Korean drink) for long long hours, we all got quite tipsy... ok DRUNK and went to sing our little hearts out in a karaoke place.
Me on the picture busy singing Like a Virgin and yes you guessed it right - I totally lost it and in the middle of the song I was rolling on the floor, had a brilliant time and was really popular with the girls! I was like a cuddly little teddy bear, hugged everybody all the time and they loved it We got home at 4.30 - knackered.

Today - Wednesday. Took it easy, didnt get out of bed until 2pm. Later on Young's sister and brother-in-law took us out for dinner and then the next stop was Seoul Tower. It is very nicely lit and one of the tallest towers in the world, lovely view of the city and as you can see the toilets are not too shabby either

But of course our night hasn't ended there. Young and me have been planning to see '300' and tonight we finally got good tickets. Such an impressive film, I recommend it to everybody! Probably it is the best war picture I have ever seen.
We finished the night playing snooker and now it is almost 3am but still wide awake...

Ok just a quick picture update...
First picture was taken in the park in Goyang, the rest are from the love motel...

Ok finally here is the update.
So on Sunday morning I met Min and first we went to a prison museum that once again showed how the Japanese tortured poor Koreans for 35 years. On the prison walls and doors there are lots of graffitis from visitors saying: "Japanese must die" and probably that is being the nicest comment...

Then we got on a bus and took the direction to northwest to Goyang. Sushi was on the menu for lunch, it was so yummy I said that for the rest of my stay I think I will refuse to eat anything but sushi.
There is also a nice park with a lake so we hopped on the bicycles and had a nice little ride in the sunshine. Unfortunately it was Sunday therefore the park was really overcrowded and the people didn't give a damn that they were walking and stopping in the bicycle lane so sometimes it was a pain in the bum but hey, I had a brilliant time! And the day wasn't just over yet.

Min's boyfriend took us to the Unification Observatory and for the first time I got a glimpse of North Korea and also there is a small museum inside which shows how they live up in the North... I tell you life is there is pretty grim. While people in the South are having one of the strongest economy in the world, up in the North people are starving and dying thanks to the dictator Kim Jong-il. By the way, every household must have a picture of him on the wall above their bed and when they lie in bed their feet must not face his head.
On the pictures below you can see South Korea on the left and North Korea on the right and on the second one a typical North Korean teaching room with the picture of the dictator above my head.

I told Min that I want to have a break from rice for a day so had Spaghetti Bolognese for dinner and then I took the train back to Seoul (another 75 minute journey but I can take it cause I'm tough . It was a long but very good day!

I am sorry for the lack of updates in the past few days. I have been to a few good places and I promise the pictures are worth the wait...
Check back soon for more.... x

Today we made a little trip to the heart of Korea in Chungcheongnam Province to see the Independence Hall of Korea which exhibits historic artifacts and materials related to the Korean resistance to aggression and the fight for independence against the Japanese rule.
This place is huge, there are 815 Korean flags flying just by the entrance of the museum and it is surrounded by hills and mountains. It was a refreshing experience after spending a few days in smoggy Seoul.

Later on we took a train and came back to Seoul and now staying at Young’s sister’s. Days are going really quick, can’t believe I’ve already been here for a week and there is still so much to do. I have booked myself in for the JSA tour (that is probably going to be the most interesting out of all, going to the border of North and South Korea – the atmosphere there must be extremely tense….. and that is on my last day, just in time for me to rush back to Seoul and catch a bus to Incheon….), visiting Seoul Tower and probably going to a big amusement park called Everland.

Today is Saturday – 2.22pm, just had a shower and soon we are going out to meet Young’s girlfriend in a big shopping mall, COEX, and going to watch ‘300’ – I have heard it is a brilliant movie – will let you know what I thought of it! xxx

On Wednesday, after Young's successful exam, we moved to his parents' place, just outside Seoul in Cheonan. They have been very nice and kind with me and offering food and drinks every five minutes.... and keep telling him to do everything for him and even more. It's lovely, isn't it?
Later on Young drove me to another city and picked up his girl friend and the three of us had dinner in a nice cosy restaurant.

Today finally I slept enough until 2pm. In the evening we went to the town centre. I really wanted to go to a DVD Bang and eventually convinced Young to come with me. DVD Bangs are like small private cinemas with very big and comfortable leather sofas and a huge screen. The reason Young didn't want to come in with me because most people have sex in there (it seems people have sex here all the time - good for them!) and two guys never really go in together.... It was a cool experience, watch a Korean movie (obviously!) - The Host which has just come out on DVD in England. Very good, I recommend it, it's taking the mickey out of both Americans and Koreans. After the movie, we went to have dinner, met another two friends of Young, played snooker and had some Korean beer. It was another good day and now I am ready to go to bed (in fact I am lying in bed while typing this... 3.12am here... good morning Korea, good evening England

After having breakfast in a sandwich shop near my place, I went to Insa-Dong, which is one of the few parts of Seoul to retain an atmosphere of the past. The narrow alleys are packed with art galleries, traditional restaurants, teashops and craft shops.

Nearby there is the largest Buddhist shrine in Seoul – it is called Jogyesa. There is a 500 year old tree in front and I also lit an incense stick and made a wish…

Later on I walked in the Tapgol Park which was Seoul’s first Western-style park and is a symbol of Korean resistance to Japanese rule. There is a 12 meter high stone pagoda in the park which was constructed in 1471. At this point I really felt that I am abroad so far away from the comfort of London. I was the only white guy there among thousands of Koreans which was such a strange feeling – I felt like I was being looked at but I obviously didn’t mind, knowing I am such an attention seeker. If you are white they automatically think you are from America. An old man came up to me, he used to be an English teacher and showed me a book he was reading and asked me a few questions about the grammar.

One more thing – an underground journey is always full of surprises! There are quite a few beggars on the trains – mainly blind but then there was a wheel chair user man who randomly started talking and educating people. On my way back suddenly a disabled guy came up to everybody and give them a piece of paper about the Korean sign language. I thought it was a souvenir but obviously he expected money for it cause when I wanted to take it with me he took it back. Finally here is a picture of a busy street with cinemas….

Koreans are mad about gadgets. Internet connection is the fastest here in the world. The new mania is that you can watch TV on your mobile in super quality, so everybody is just staring at their little screen...

I also met a friend (Min) who I’ve been chatting with on MSN for quite a few weeks. We had dinner and then he showed me around in the commercial city centre but unfortunately my pics didn’t turn out to be too good so I won’t upload them now cause they don’t do justice on the things I'd seen.

Yay it is my birthday. I am officially 23 now... To be honest I didn't mind that I would spend my birthday alone (Young still at school - yeah he is damn lazy but in the past few weeks he's been working really hard).
I slept alright, woke up at 4am, went back to sleep at 8 til 11... I met Young for lunch and had bulgogi with bibimbap (barbecued beef slices with rice topped with egg, meat vegetables and sauce). Then we took the underground - which is really fast and never has delays like the London Tube. The trains are really wide and the seats are heated in winter and have air conditioning in summer...

I went to the city centre to see see Seoul's grandest palace: Gyeongbokgung.

As you can see the old (more than 600 years old!!) and the new mix everywhere in Seoul
It also has two museums inside, The National Folk Museum is really good – a member of staff came up to me, they are nice with foreigners and she showed me around for over an hour!

So after an extra long flight (another 9 hours in the air) I eventually landed at Incheon International Airport, which has apperantly won the Best Airport in the world award. It is brand new, they opened it 5 years ago and built it on a man-made island. I haven't seen much of it and couldn't be really bothered cause I was quite tired.
As Young was busy with his studies, he couldn't come and pick me up so I took a bus, which was very easy. Of course that was another 60 minute trip but finally I got to see parts of Seoul.
The outskirts are so ugly! All these tall block of flats everywhere, and the River Han is so wide, I guess at least three or four times wider than the River Thames. It was a bit of a let down cause the river bank is the ugliest ever I have seen in a city. There is nothing there, just motorways and the bridges are fugly too...

I got to a bus terminal and gave Young a call but I had a feeling that he had no idea where I was waiting so I went to the Information desk and asked the lady to give him a ring and tell him where I am. I offered her some money but she refused it – she was lovely and of course very polite. So I sat down and watched other people bowing non stop… 
Finally Young came, it was good to see him again! He told me I looked better than before but he was in a rush as he had to go back to his school so we decided that I go to a hotel for the next few days until he finished with his portfolio and exam.
The hotel –well they call it a motel- is very nice! Jacuzzi in the bathroom, very clean, brand new, huge (I mean HUGE) flat screen TV, DVD player, amazing sound system, king size bed etc. I had such a laugh when I found out what they use these places for!!! As most young people still live with their parents, they come here for a few hours to have sex and nobody actually stays here like me. When I got my keys (well actually it is a card) I got a little washbag with it (toothbrush, tootpast, shampoo and ‘Ladies Set’ which contains a few condoms……..)
Young left me but I was so excited that couldn’t sleep so went out for a quick walk and was starving but wasn’t brave enough to go to a Korean restaurant on my own, as I was afraid that they won’t have an English menu and they might feed me with dog meat… So I went to a pizza place – and it was really tasty! Apparently Koreans love Italian food and there are lots of pizza and pasta places everywhere.
So that was my first night in Seoul….

Hello everybody

I decided to set up this blog so I can keep you informed about my recent trip to Seoul, South Korea.
It is 6am here (we are 9 hours ahead of London!) and I can't sleep... it seems I still haven't gotten over the jetlag, however I usually don't feel tired during the day, probably cause I am excited to be here.
I am going to post pics as well but I was quite angry last night cause I realised once again that my camera sucks big time and the pictures don't do justice.... May be I should get a new one here or start using Young's....