Robbie

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....