Korea - Day 2

Well, on this long weekend I finally feel a little productive. So let's continue with the Korea posts! DAY 2!

When I last left you I had just gone to bed after a long first day. It was November and wasn't as cold as I thought it would be. I slept in my giraffe onesie that I brought with me. It was super warm. I was sweating in my sleep.

The friend that I was staying with had class that day and I was headed to Daegu with another friend. So we were up pretty early in the morning. Early being relative because generally if I don't have uni or work I sleep until it's embarrassingly late.





It was a very lovely autumn morning and we were off to have breakfast at a place my friend recommended.




We had breakfast at this place.



Obviously you get side dishes at a Korean restaurant.




So this was breakfast. A soup, rice dish. It was very good on a cold autumn morning. The name escapes me! And it was very healthy. I felt really good about myself after that breakfast.

Then my friend and I departed Seoul for Daegu. This involved taking the train to the bus terminal at Gangnam. The bus terminal is pretty massive and was a little confusing for a first-timer like me. You buy your tickets from a ticket window. There are different types of buses and there are lots of bus gates. We got on a pretty nice bus. Nice seats. Then we were on our way to Daegu. It's about maybe 2 hours by bus.



Trees from the bus. I also, in the search for more photos of the bus ride, realised that I didn't take many photos of the bus. I mostly slept.



A photo from the rest stop that we took about halfway through the bus ride.




Once we got to the bus terminal we still had to catch a train to my friend's apartment. Then we were headed to Downtown Daegu for some Saturday night fun!

So Daegu, according to Wiki, is the 4th largest city in South Korea and is about 198 kilometres from Seoul. It's much closer to Busan, which is on the other side side of the country.



So this is where we going to meet up with some other friends.




Look at all those shops!



And this photo only exists because I was told this place was awesome but I never got to eat there.



So we had dinner here which was a buffet that also had a sushi train. Which is awesome. Unlimited sushi for a set price. The best.



Also, for a little bit of extra won (the currency in Korea not the English word won) you can have unlimited Cass beer on tap. Self-serve. That would not work in Australia. There would be so much mess.




Then we went to an Irish bar for more drinks. There was a live band playing and lots of what I'm going assume are also English teachers.






I got to try a long island iced tea in a bag. I was told that Korea doesn't have something like an RSA (Responsible Service of Alcohol) so generally cocktails are stronger than they would be here in Australia. This was my ruin.



The above is a self-serve bar. You go to the fridge, pick your beer, drink your beer then pay later. I do not recall the paying of my beer. I don't recall a lot.



A map of the world, and beers?



We then left the self-serve place to go home. Self-serve place right is next to the cocktail in a bag place. I vaguely remember up to this point. I got to meet some of my friend's friends who are also teaching English in Korea. Apparently, I don't recall, that I kept telling one of them that koalas have chlamydia. I further don't recall that we caught a taxi back to my friend's apartment. Or getting into the apartment and I vaguely remember changing into my PJs. Yep. Good times.

To  Be Continued!

Getting there

I think I may have tweeted or mentioned in a past post that I was going to Korea and Japan for a short trip. And I did! Back in November 2013. And now in the early hours of Sunday morning I decided to blog about it.

My flight was an AirAsia flight at 9:00pm, from memory. I bought one way to Korea on AirAsia because there was a sale and it was so cheap. $386 with check in luggage and with 2 meals. I had work that day so I had packed properly the night before and shoved everything in the back of my dad's car. The plan was to go to work, catch the train back to my normal station and then have my dad pick me up and then drive me to the airport from there. Which is the super long way for me since I would be in the city for work anyway.

We arrived at the airport and parked first instead of just doing the drop off because I worry that my dad will wander off or something because he's almost 70 and it's much better if I know where he is. I got changed from work clothes to my plane clothes in the car park toilets. This was November so it was pretty warm in Sydney already and it was cold in Korea. I was worried that I under dressed. I wore boyfriend jeans, singlet, t-shirt, jumper, socks, flats, and was holding my blue coat. I was sweating.


Having a pre-flight beer by my lonesome.
After getting through immigration and security I had so much time to kill. Or so I thought. I promised to buy a friend cigarettes from duty free. Like a certain brand and type. So I was messaging him and waiting for him to get back to me. I went to the cigarette counter and the guy there was so nice. I showed him the photo that my friend showed me of the cigarettes he wanted and he had cigarettes that were similar but I had to double check and then they were pretty expensive. My friend wasn't counting on that. He had previously bought the same cigarettes in Hong Kong and they were not as expensive as they were here. Then as my friend was messaging me back saying to get whatever brand the guy at the counter recommended over the P.A. came the final boarding call for my flight. I didn't even hear the first boarding call and I thought there was still enough time. So I ran to the gate (and I didn't even know how far it was), which I probably didn't need to do because turns out I wasn't like the last last person, and I was sweating. Sweating in line and sweating as I got into my window seat.


On ze plane.
By the time I settled into my seat before take off I was like, OMG I am actually on a plane going overseas on my own. It seemed surreal to me because I had wanted to go anywhere overseas, to travel, for a really long time and it was finally here. Somehow I felt accomplished. This is the first time really that I've gone on holiday with my money. Money I earned so, yeah, accomplished, somehow.


Night view from the plane.

Travelling on AirAsia was pretty good. Their in-flight staff was young and gorgeous. Some really nice good looking guys. Like so cute. I was trying to figure out if I could take a photo of one from my seat but I chickened out. Really good service and just generally approachable and warm. Much better than I expected. Also, how are those female flight attendants still looking so good so early in the morning?

The meals came out pretty quickly. I got the Pak Nasser's Nasi Lemak. I couldn't open that little plastic packet. I tried and tried and got frustrated and just gave up, which the guy sitting next to me saw and then opened them for me. Which was nice. The Nasi Lemak was okay. I didn't finish it all. I think probably because I was full from the Oporto, which I also didn't finish.




I had brought all these books to read on the plane but I did nothing that I brought with me. I listened to my iPod and slept almost all the way to Kuala Lumpur, where I had to transfer planes. I arrived at Kuala Lumpur's Low Cost Carrier Terminal around 3 or 4 in the morning. It's one of those airports where you walk from the plane onto the tarmac to the terminal. LCCT is small but it's clean and it has WiFi. I've heard stories about people struggling to find seating in LCCT but that was not the case with me. Lots of seats, I guess because it was pretty early in the morning. I was there for about 2 hours and I just checked Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and time passed. I think I was just super tired still even though basically all I had done at that point was sleep.







Back on the plane and still a long way from Korea. I took so many photos of clouds because they're so amazing and beautiful.



Slept on the plane and had kimchi chicken for lunch.



And then I landed in Seoul at around 3:30pm!





To Be Continued!

Guess what this kitty is saving for?

I've resolved to save money to go to Japan some time this year for about 10 days (uni schedule and money is limiting the amount of time I can go overseas). I plan to go alone if no one wants to go with me. I don't know how my dad will feel about that. I want to go after Easter because I have a week off uni then plus it's around my birthday and I thought "Frak this. I'm going to be 24 and I'm a little bit in limbo at the moment might as well not think about it for a week or so." XD That is my logic. I don't really deserve one. I think it feels better to go on holiday after accomplishing something. When I went to Japan in 2009 it was because I finished my undergraduate degree. When I went to the Philippines last year it was because I finished up my 1st semester of law school relatively unscathed plus I wanted to see my Lolo (grandfather) after a prolonged period of not seeing him. So, to me, it feels a little pointless if I go on holiday (holiday from what?) without accomplishing anything. Some people can just go on holiday because it's a holiday. I feel somewhat guilty. Probably because the money I'm spending is not my own.

So, as I sit in front of the computer procrastinating (I have a commercial law exam soon-ish. I should be stuyding) I decided that I should make start in trying to save up.

I given myself 2 time periods to save up for:

28 April - 8 May or 19 July to 31 July. Flying Jetstar from Sydney return, currently, will cost $1021.97. That number is my goal.

Obviously this doesn't factor in accomodation, JR Rail Pass, food, expenses. But little steps first.

That Hello Kitty money box now has a lock and I WILL NOT REMOVE any money from it. It has around 4 bucks inside it at the moment. Let's hope I don't have a moment of weakness and crack it open to buy booze. XD