Upon exiting the bus a few others get off also, including a young lady lawyer from Toronto and her Korean friend. Tricia arrived in Seoul about 2 weeks ago and is thinking of living here for a couple years. We trade lawyer stories and complaints as we walk thru the ZZZ Palace. We find the ticket window and buy our tickets for the English language tour that will start in 5 minutes. Our tour guide is Hong-Suk. She does a good job of giving us info and keeping the group moving. There are about 25 people in the group, including several children with their parents. At least I think they were parents, but a couple times the kids seemed to just be running loose and wild. I think they were from Germany. At least they were not speaking American English! After the tour we thank Hong-Suk for her efforts and get back on the bus.
We ride to Insadon, a craft and arts shopping area that is near my hotel. Tricia, her friend, and I walk down the narrow street. There are very charming and interesting shops on both sides, and the food vendors are also starting-up. We stop into the Tourist Info Center where Tricia uses the ATM (which is connected to the USA ATM networks), and I quickly check my email on the internet computer that they have available for use. What a great place! Unfortunately while I am on the web I find out that the Cubs lost the NLCS series to the Marlins. I am happy for the Marlins, but I was rooting for the Cubs much more. Oh well, wait til next year!
Anyway, getting back to the tourist center, the clerks speak reasonably good english, much better than the clerks at the other tourist info centers that I have been to here so far. We continue walking down the street and we try some street food. We pass one booth where the man has just made what look like little cupcakes, but they smell more like pancakes. They are little cakes with red bean paste inside. They are hot and sweet. Very good, especially at 8 for 1000w. Tricia then gets something that looks like peanuts on a stick. In fact the nuts are coated around a white "candy" stick that is a little chewy. Also 1000w. Tricia and her friend have to catch the next tour bus, so we part company and I walk back towards the hotel.
Soon after I am confronted by 4 or 5 high school age girls, who ask me in a serious tone if they can talk to me. I say yes. One of them explains that they are working on a school assignment to interview a foreigner. I reply that I qualify, and so she proceeds to interview me while another of the group records our conversation on a video-camera. She asks me where I am from, what do I like about Korea, etc. It is a very nice interview, and they are a bit surprised when I tell them about my long trip. After we part I wish that I had gotten a photo of them.
I get back to the hotel and relax for a short while. Soon I receive a call from V, an internet friend here in Seoul. V is a director at a modeling agency, and she has been interviewing models to work for Samsung at a trade show. Earlier in the day she did not think that she would be able to see me, but as it turns out she is able to meet me for dinner after all. We meet downstairs a few minutes later. She takes me to a Korean BBQ place about a block away. The place is almost crazy busy and noisy, very bright. Each table has what looks like a large frying pan recessed into the table top. You self-serve the kimchi, but a waiter comes with your food and puts it into the pan and cooks it for you. It is a combination of chicken, vegetables, and a kind of rice that looks like very fat noodles. It is also quiet spicy hot, especially for an American. And, after eating the main course they come and dump-in some rice and spices, and you then enjoy spicy fried rice. Clearly not a meal I am likely to get back home! It was fun and interesting.
We then go down the street and have a coffee. I am very surprised to find so many coffee bars in Seoul and throughout Asia. It is getting late and V has to get up at 5:30 AM to make some phone calls, and so we say goodbye. I go to the internet café and check my email, and then come back to the room.
As my day draws to a close I realize that this first segment of my long trip will soon be over. I will be happy to get back to HK, but also a little sad to see the end of this part of my adventure. I think that tomorrow I will go to the Han River and try to find a boat ride.
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