Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Day 263: Sightseeing In Seoul & More Airport Check-In Drama!

G'day,

Today I had a full-day to go sightseeing in Seoul and hit the markets one last time before catching my 8:00pm flight to Australia.

I went back to the markets at Meyondon to pick up some souveniers for my nephews in Oz and got in another round of kimchi - spicy korean pickles.

Phuket Flashback!

However, my day was not without drama! Anyone who has followed my previous travels to Australia and Phuket know that I have a weird tendency to get my flight times wrong, and consequently make last-minute dashes to the airport.

For example, I literally made my connecting flight from Phuket to Bangkok with 3 minutes to spare back in March of this year. Would you believe I was actually getting fitted for a tailored suit at my hotel...90 minutes before my flight was due to take-off!

My "Master Plan"

Well today was different...kinda. I made sure I was back at the hotel by 4:20pm in time for the 4:40pm bus to Seoul International Airport.

This bus would get me to the airport by 6:00pm, a full two hours before my flight was to leave! My master plan started well, I actually did board the 4:40 bus...but then things started to go wrong as we closed in on the airport.

I Started To Smell Smoke!

Would you believe the bus broke down! Its true, a fair dinkum "limosuine bus" carrying me and another 10 people actually broke down and had to pull over on the highway!

The driver then called in for a backup bus which took 20 minutes to arrive. My master plan was already falling apart!

A Mammoth Check-In Line!

We eventually got to the airport at 6:20pm which was not so bad...until I saw the check-in line. In all my travels I have never seen a line so long! It literally snaked around 7 times.

My master plan was in tatters by this stage as I started to wonder if I'd even make it on the plane in time. Half and hour had soon passed and I figured by the length of the line It'd be another 40 minutes until I could check-in.

My Saviour...

Once again, I was going to cut it very fine...until a "bright spark" from KAL decided to cut the line in half by opening up more check-in counters on the other side.

Hooray! I was then able to check-in within 10 minutes, get through customs and immigration, all with 30 minutes to spare!

This was a personal best for me...that I will try to beat on my return flight back to Osaka!

Peace,
Adam Waters, NESTA-CPT

P.S. Below my Day 263 pics are some photos of my brief time sightseeing in Seoul.


In front of the hotel I stayed at, Best Western Kukdo (pretty decent hotel gym).


Hittin' the markets at Meyondon


In front of the Dongdaemun baseball stadium.


A dance performance by some high energy Korean teenagers on the sidewalk.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

awesome! sounds like you are having a good time.
I've never noticed before but in the pic in front of the stadium your neck looks thicker than in your older posts. Does this mean you are bulking up more?
Send greetings to your family. Relax and have fun!

Otter Christy said...

I love these travel posts and pics. It's fun to see you in clothes and outside instead of in front of a blue curtain and bed. BTW, don't you find Asian mattresses are considerably thinner than American mattresses. They're that thin here in the Philippines, too. I hope you get to sleep on a nice, thick mattress in Australia. If you have time, post pics of you in Australia. That would be WAY COOL. Have a great trip. Sending stress-free travel vibes your way.

Adam Waters said...

Hi Suzette, yeah I'm having a great time. Not really a bulking phase, probably more the effects of "eating on the go" the last few days. I'm back into a better eating pattern now that I have been in Oz for a couple of days.

Cheers,
Adam

Adam Waters said...

Hi Christy, great to hear from you again. The hotel mattress in Seoul was quite comfy, but traditional bedding in Japan definitely is much harder. They sleep on a futon over there which is a thin mattress on the floor!

Cheers,
Adam

Karlos said...

good to see that you're enjoying yourself....... my vacation is over today, to i guess i can start eating normal again starting tomorrow.............

Adam Waters said...

Thanks Karlos, BTW your hoodie profile pic is way cool!

Adam