Koalas and Turtles: June 2007

Kim returns to Japan via Korea August　23rd to 29th, 2006

In order to save some money on my airfare to Oz from Japan I flew Korea airlines. Since I have been in Japan, which is going on 3yrs now, I haven't done any travelling. So considering my old Nova buddy Jon was living and working in Korea at the time, I took advantage of paying 100 Aussie dollars extra to stay in Korea for a week on my way back from Oz. I was pretty nervous about travelling on my own ,but decided hey if I was gonna be making the plunge into marriage ,then going to Korea on me own shd be a piece of cake.

It was great.. Although it wasn't until I was on the plane from Brissie that I realised I didn't have a hotel booked for my first night, no guide book and didn't know a word of Korean. The woman sitting next to me, through broken English, suggested I catch a bus from Incheon airport to Itaewon, where I would be able to find a cheap hotel for the night and then could catch a bus easily the next day to meet Jon who lived in Jinju.

I managed to book a motel through airport info, and when I finally arrived at the motel, I think they were really surprised to see that I was an Aussie Kim and not a Korean Kim. My room was tiny and stinking hot, so I decided to go in search of food while the air con cooled down the room.

Itaewon is like the Roppongi of Japan with a bit more of a stench. Man this place was filthy and it stank. Also maybe it was the jet lag, lack of sleep and food, or maybe it was the fact that I was in a foreign country by myself, but I felt quite vunerable as I walked the main drag in search of food. After 15 minutes of walking past very spicy smelling food joints and the usual fast food chains, the only other places to eat at... looked like bars. Now normally I would have no probs going into a bar by myself. ,especially in Japan. Give me a drink and I can feel at home anywhere, but common sense told me that there were way too many scary drunk westerners for me to handle, in my fragile state, that night.
Without realising it I found myself back in front of my hotel, which just happened to be right above a MacDonald's. Now anyone who knows me well, knows that my 2 years of working at the Golden Arches, while I was a vego, has turned me off Maccas for good...altho I do very occasionally give in to their thick shakes. Well sorry to shock you all... but on my first night in Korea, out of extreme fatigue and hopelessness, I gave in and entered the golden arches of hell. That night I had nightmares...no, seriously, I did.

The next morning when I woke up I decided that as I was in Seoul and my accommodation was pretty cheap, I might as well stay another night so I could spend a full day exploring the city. After calling Jon I ventured out and hopped on the Seoul City Tour Bus. It was great and I paid the 10,000 won or a bit less than 10bucks and could get on and off as I pleased. Plus I got discounted entry into attractions. Also they had headphones with commentary in 5 diff languages. The air conditioned bus was awesome and I was surprised at how nice some parts of the city of Seoul is. Great architecture.

My first stop was Namsangol Traditional Village. Really interesting and very beautiful. I spent quite a bit of time here. I don't know much about Korean history, so it was really interesting to see the traditional architecture. The traditional garden was really beautiful too.

As I was walking around I came across Seoul's Thousand Year Time Capsule which was was established to store 600 relics, which represent the lifestyles of the average person living in Seoul; to commemorate Seoul’s 600Th anniversary. The opening date is November 29, 2394. Pity I wont be around to see it. After checking out the traditional handicrafts I decided it was way to hot and humid, so headed back to the bus stop.

I decided to avoid heat exhaustion and to try and fend off the migraine that was starting to set in, it would be wise just to stay on the bus for a while. We drove past the National Theatre of Korea, went up past Seoul Tower and the Dongdaemun Markets.

I passed a few palaces and finally hopped off at Jongmyo Shrine, which is dedicated to the spirits of Korea's royal ancestors and was registered on UNESCO's World Cultural Heritage List in 1995. It was awesome. I just walked around for ages. they were setting up for some kind of event. The whole works, red carpets, lanterns loads of waiters in tuxedos. I was lucky enough to see some dancers rehearsing traditional Korean dancing.

Finally I headed back towards the bus stop and was contemplating doing the night tour after some dinner. Once I got back to the motel, showered and went in search of food again I was pretty buggered. I figured to avoid spice, I should just stick to Fast food so I hit burger King and ordered a plain whopper. I headed back to the motel got back into air conditioning and settled down for my feed. Oh My God it was the spiciest burger I have ever had. I drank about 3 litres of water in one gulp after the first bite. I was so shitty and felt sick so ended up getting into bed and breaking into the Cheezels and Timtams that I had bought as a present for someone back in Japan. Sorry..... I think eventually the fumes from my burger knocked me out.

The next day luckily I woke up really early, so I decided that my main priority was to find some edible food. Subway saved the day. I bought 2 chicken Teriyaki subs and headed off to find out the bus info for Jinju. The only bus left in the afternoon so after packing I arranged with the motel to keep my stuff and I headed off to the National Museum of Korea.
This museum was huge, and it was such a shame I had such a short time. When it started pouring outside I decided it was time to hit the gift shop, buy an umbrella and head back to the motel.

I managed to make it back, get my bags and hail a cab. The taxi driver was a crazy but very skilled driver. Korean drivers are crazy, especially in peak hour, but my driver managed to avoid getting hit numerous times and I made it to the bus station in one piece. I was just praying that the bus driver was a bit more of a slow paced kinda guy.

This was my 3rd night with no alcohol, not much food and I was exhausted. I was so grateful for the comfy, roomy seats on the bus and I decided to get a bit of shut eye before meeting Jon. Cos when Jon and I get together there sure to be plenty of the amber liquid flowing. Finally I made it to Jinju about 6 hours later. when I got off and asked in sign language where the phones were the bus driver promptly handed me his mobile, he spoke to Jon in Korean put me in a taxi and I was on my way. Very very helpful and friendly.

When I met Jon outside his apartment Seeing a familiar face was a sight for sore eyes. We dropped off my bags and headed into town with Jon's friend Matt for a feed. After a few beers called hite, I was refuelled and good to go. funny that.

The next few days and nites were filled with lots of drinking, meeting many awesome people, Koreans, Canadians, British, and Aussies.

I got to ride on the back of Jon's scooter, went shopping, went to a disco, drank many strange drinks, watched Jon eat many strange foods. It was awesome. I also visited the Jinjuseong Castle, which has spectacular views of the Namgang River. This castle is where some 70,000 army soldiers and civilians died trying to defend the castle from Japanese invaders in one of the three major battles of the Imjinwaeran (Jinjuuseong Castle battle of 1592) The grounds were absolutely beautiful.

Finally my stay came to an end, and I had to head back to Incheon Airport but I had an awesome time in Korea. Thank to all the kind people in Korea who helped me, all of Jon's Friends and especially to you Jon, it was wicked mate.

12　August　－　22　August, 2006 PART 3

Well needless to say everyone was fairly tired and hung over after the Engagement party. Kerrie, John, Dad, Kame and I were the troopers and stayed up till about 2am drinking gin and joking on the deck. There were a few sore heads the next morning, except for Kame who miraculously never gets hangovers. This really impressed Mum and Dad who battle to get any of us up before noon especially to help clear up after parties. I knew I had made the right decision in accepting Kames marriage proposal, when, by the time I dragged myself out of bed, he had not only finished helping clean up everything but also promptly made me a huge cup of coffee. Sooo spoilt.

That night Christian came and picked us up and we went to The Fox hotel for Kerrie's 29th birthday. After that Chris and I took Kame to The Beat, where Chris and I used to hangout at in our youth when we were into techno. Kame got to experience his first gay club and also the ordeal of trying to catch a cab home in Brisbane on a Sat night.

We finally arrived back at Ferny Hills just in time to see Kev and Rachael off as they headed to Cairns. Mum and Dad should have had their own personal express lane to Bris Airport, as the next morning Leanne was off to Europe. Followed by Kame who headed back to Japan on the Tuesday and myself back to Japan via Korea on the Wednesday. Kame spent his last 2 days doing some last minute shopping and seeing the sites of Brisbane. He definitely had a great time and keeps talking about going back to live in Ferny Hills with Mum and Dad someday. Hmmm ...no offence Mum and Dad but I might have to get my own pad a bit closer to the city. I promise you guys and Kame can visit sometimes.