My Trip to Korea: An Answered Prayer... (Part 1)

Day 1: October 28, 2008
Talk about photo-finish, I finally got my visa from the Korean Embassy, the afternoon of October 27, barely 10 hours before my flight to Seoul. I was in the airport by 11 that evening, and by 1 AM of the following day, aboard Philippine Airlines, I was on my way to Seoul.
We landed at the Incheon International Airport at 5 AM. I barely slept the entire flight and I still had cough and colds, but still I was as excited as a kid on Christmas Day, thinking, "I AM ACTUALLY IN KOREA!!!" (And boy, was it cold!)
I met my first friends in Korea at the immigration line, 1 Filipino lady and 2 gentlemen (one of whom is actually the mayor of La Union). We took the airport bus together to Seoul Station. I took a cab from there going to the hotel I booked online, the PJ Hotel.

I scourged around the area for breakfast and ended up at Dunkin Donuts. After that, I spent the rest of the morning exploring the nearby streets of my hotel in Jung-gu. I chanced upon a street that could have been the ultimate paradise for my biker brother, where Harley Davidsons, BMWs and Ducatis were just lined up along the street, displayed the way they would sell fishes in wet markets in the Philippines.
I went back to the hotel by lunch time, spent an hour in the hotel's business center, emailing family and friends that I'm safely in Seoul. The rest of the afternoon, I forced myself to rest and get some needed sleep.
That evening, I took off on my own, a map in tow, and headed for downtown Seoul by subway. (Korea's subway lines are really not as complicated as it looks on the map.) I had planned beforehand to take the Seoul City Tour Bus.

http://www.seoulcitybus.com/eng/subB_B02.htm

For KRW10,000, the Seoul City Night Tour Bus takes you to an hour-long guided tour (though only by recorded voice on individual headphones - your choice of language) of the city, along the Hangang River and the numerous bridges that run accross it. I have to say, Han River is so dramatic at night. Too bad we're on a moving bus and I couldn't take good pictures of the tour.

Day 2: October 29, 2008
The following morning, a new Korean friend, Kang donsaeng (younger brother), picked me up from the hotel to take me around Seoul. I met his boss, Han oppa (older brother), a few months back in the Philippines and took him and his son around Manila. (Han oppa is a business supplier of our company and has become a good friend of our Buyer, Tita Nonie. Oh, he also is our "supplier" of Rain items from Korea.)
We went accross the Han River to Yeouido Area were the National Assembly Building, as well as the three major Korean broadcasting stations: MBC, KBS, and SBS, are located. But our main destination was the 63 Building, another must-see for me because the building is central in the 4th (of only 4, actually) Korean drama series I've seen, "My Girl".
With 3 underground and 60 aboveground floors, this building houses several offices, a shopping mall, a food court, a fitness center, an IMAX theater, and the Aquarium 63 Sea World which displays 20,000 marine creatures of 400 different species.
The building also boasts a spectacular 360 degrees view of Seoul from its rooftop observatory. Oh, and not to mention an art exhibit center... That time, of cute Hello Kitty...
After that, we went for an hour-long ferry cruise of the Hangang River... It was so cold! The temperature that afternoon by the river must have dropped below 10 degrees...
Kang donsaeng returned me to my hotel around 3PM for rest. That evening, both him and Han oppa picked me up again and treated me to dinner at Bennigan's in Myeong-dong. I had a really wonderful time with these guys. I am grateful that both can speak English well because I enjoyed talking with them. They're nice, intelligent, and easy to get along with. Ah, too bad they're both married... Hahaha...

Before we parted, they gave me presents, a pair of Hello Kity stuffed dolls in Korean hanbok... How cute is that?