Stealing the Seoul of South Korea! Part 7

Day 7

Apparently, unbeknownst to many people, Chinese tourists visiting Seoul really like to take pictures at Ewha Women's University.  It was my first stop of the day.  When I finally got there from Myeong Dong, I wondered what was so interesting about it.  It was a nice university campus, but that was about it. Some of the buildings reminded me of UBC.

After looking around, I ended up stranded at a nearby Dunkin' Donuts because snow was coming down hard.  Luckily, I had some postcards that needed writing in my bag and a wad of cash in my pocket to buy multiple cafe lattes.

By the time I was done writing, the snow did not let up.  I walked back to the nearest subway stop and got myself to Gangnam, a popular but expensive area for the people of Seoul to hang out, learn English, and get a face lift.  Found an Irish pub for my usual Guinness that I drink when traveling, but no one was inside.  Lame...the Guinness would have to wait.  Settled for street food instead.

Getting back into the downtown area, I tried to find city hall, but stumbled over a really quiet palace park called Deoksugung Palace. Normally, I figured if I saw one palace, I've seen 'em all, but the snow made the area really nice. I went in to look around.

It was beginning to get dark, so I went back to my home stay to get ready for my second hapkido lesson. Mama and some other old lady were cooking Korean pancakes and some sort of sweet sauce (I think Mama was trying to tell me it was homemade jam).  They sat me down and fed me well before I took off to Itaewon.

More people were at the school this time.  There was some group activity, but then we paired off for the bulk of the time.  My partner and I practiced various joint-lock take downs. It was a lot of fun and refreshed my skills quite a bit, but Master Kim was all...well...Asian about it...

While trying to execute a take-down from a full nelson, Master Kim comes over and sees me talking my way through the whole affair...


"No! No, not too much thinking. Everything soft...hapkido is about feeling [grabs Paul's arm].  You search for pressure points okay!  [massages Paul's arm]...You feel...[graduates to a vulnerable joint and applies pressure, Paul tries to fight pain] attack...feel [moves up the arm and applies pressure to a pressure point, Paul cringes in pain] attack...feel [moves again and Paul contorts face in even more pain] attack...feel [moves down to Paul's wrist while wrenching at it. Discovers Paul's home stay's bandage while Paul is tapping-out].  Oh! What's that?


After the lesson, I bid Master Kim and the black belts a thank you and farewell.  I also told them I'd be back in summer for another week of lessons. I plan to keep my word on that one.

I got back to my home stay pretty late.  The next day I would leave Mama's home stay for a really nice hotel, so I spent late evening packing up my stuff.

Stealing the Seoul of South Korea! Part 6

I didn't take too many pictures on day six. Mama woke me up again.  After breakfast, I contacted a Hapkido dojang in Itaewon to confirm a lesson that evening.

I decided to go to two places: the business district of Yeouido and Seodaemun Prison just outside of downtown.  I started with the latter.  The place has a pretty violent history.  Patriots of Korean Independence during the Japanese Occupation were tortured and killed here in extremely painful ways (chained up and beaten to death with a lead pipe, anyone?).  Apparently, there are mechanical figure depictions of such brutality inside the prison.  Quite a different way of presenting colonial history than in Japan.  It's more in tune with what you'd see in China, Philippines...other parts of Asia for sure...

Seodaemun Prison entrance

A view of the prison from a distance. Closed on Mondays.

...Alas, I only know of this place through internet searches.  Unfortunately for me, it was a Monday.  As I should have suspected, the prison was closed (where in the Old World are museums an monuments not closed on Mondays?).  I guess I'll have to come back one day. Instead, I just walked around the area to take a look at what Seoul was like outside the city core.  The area around the prison was pretty nice, despite a large viaduct cutting through it.  There were various hills surrounding the neighborhood, and a jjimjibang across the street.  I wanted to go in, but realized that I should have my martial art lesson first.

I headed to Yeouido across the Han River immediately after, which was little more than a business district.  Walked the whole strip of Yeouido Park and got to the National Assembly Building, which, according to Kwangseok, "has better fighting than K1 boxing."  I've seen the news on this. Apparently, flying chairs, shoes, and fire extinguishers were frequent appearances all within the last decade.  Apparently the civilized aren't so much what they proclaim to be...be it Imperial Japanese colonialists, or suits in the modern South Korean Assembly.

Seoul has done pretty well for itself.  From having
patriots imprisoned 70 years ago, a bloody war 60 years ago to
glistening high-rises overlooking a nice park?

The National Assembly...or is it the SK gladiator stadium?

Taking a right turn, I went to the Han River and walked around a really nice riverfront park.  It was deserted.  However, Sue told me that many people pile into that area during summer and have fried chicken and beer delivered to their location in the park. Sounds like a good time to me.  I decided to take a stroll up to a Seoul landmark: The 63 story tower, which, by the way, is a beautiful building.

Practiced some manual exposure shots on this
Seoul landmark.

I went back to get prepared for my hapkido lesson and left for Itaewon early to get some dinner.  And then I saw it...Taco Bell.  Earlier, Sue mentioned that there was Taco Bell in Seoul, but we never bothered going there.

You people back in North America might be saying, "What's so special about Taco Bell?"  Well, if you say that to someone who doesn't have the vast choices of fast food as you do (ie: the bulk of people in Asia), you're rubbing in the fact that you are a spoiled and privileged elite.  Insensitive jerk!  Be more appreciative of what you have!

Anyways, I haven't seen one in years!  I totally ate there and it was delicious.  To most expats and Seoul Koreans, it's probably nothing. But to me, it was a treat equal to having a Tim Hortons coffee outside of Canada (which BTW is extremely difficult to find).

Next up was my hapkido lesson.  Walking in, I met some of the black belts practicing on the mat.  They pointed me to Master Kim - a really serious and well mannered guy.  After a short talk, I think he was a bit disappointed that I could only train for 2 days. He told me to get in a uniform and stretch. 

I had nice conversations with Master Kim's students.  All of them were English speaking expats: Brits, Americans, and an English speaking Thai gentleman.  I chose to come here over a Korean-heavy hapkido school for 3 reasons. First, I wanted to understand the instruction. Okay, Master Kim' English wasn't perfect, but it was understandable.  Second, I wanted to talk and get help from the students and master.  Third, I read online that going to a Korean-heavy martial arts dojang was only beneficial if you stayed in Seoul for a prolonged period of time.

This is because dojang don't initially accept you until you prove your worth and commit to their program.  I would go to such schools in a hurry if I had months of time in Seoul (which I plan to have one day).  But, lots of expats that go to these dojang just stay on the sidelines and mimic Korean students' movements for the first few days, if not weeks.  Wouldn't that be sooooo educational?  Would I have to pay for that fang pi too?

It started off real easy. To be honest, I've forgotten some of the stuff.  But over time, I remembered my basics.  I think after they realized I had some latent skill, the students and even Master Kim went harder on me.  Maybe they wanted to beat me up and get me out of there?  I'd like to think it was their form of accommodating me. 

Master Kim grabbed my hand and wanted resistance.

"Okay Paul. Strength." 

I gave some arm strength.

I remember that my old instructor Dallas told me that he once trained with Grandmaster Ji Han Jae, the founder of Hapkido. Grandmaster Ji threw foreign students around like sticks while assuming no consequence for the result.  He almost broke Dallas' wrist or arm.  He just smiled at Dallas and continued with the lesson. I suppose he assumed those foreigners were well-trained, which is a bit of a leap. Luckily, Dallas was well trained.

I see now that this sort of instruction is a quintessentially Korean thing.  At first I just thought Master Kim was just going to demonstrate to the other students, but then he threw me full speed, without warning, assuming I knew my break falls.  Luckily, my gong fu instructor Carol back in Wuhan made us do some rolling and falling. I rolled out of it without getting hurt. I did, however, receive a minor wrist injury later in the lesson.  Mama slapped a healing poultice on it when I got back to my home stay.

Anyways, I had such a fun and educational experience at the dojang, I decided to pay for a lesson in advance for the next day to force myself back. Unfortunately, that meant I could not visit the Toastmasters club that would take place the next evening.  Whatever. You do what you want to do and enjoy with what time you have on vaycay.

Stealing the Seoul of South Korea! Part 5

School has started.  I'm teaching Math 10, IT 10, and Digital Media 11/12.  I'll keep this short because I don't have much time these days. Luckily for me, day 5 in Seoul was a pretty relaxed one.  It was a shopping day down in COEX Mall and a quiet night back at my home stay.

Started the day really late.  Mama woke me up for breakfast in front of the other home stay guests because of my tardiness.  It was as if she was treating me like her son. Not sure if I was supposed to be flattered or insulted.

After breakfast, I talked to my parents via Skype.  By the time I emerged from my room, everyone in the home stay was gone, so I did my laundry and then headed to a coffee shop to figure out where to go.  Sue told me of various English bookstores, one of which was in COEX Mall a bit past the Gangnam region. I headed there and had lunch in a French patisserie along the way.

Some sort of promotion for the new Playstation Vita at COEX

By the time I got there, I realized two things: the mall had the Kimchi Museum and a casino. Unfortunately, I didn't bring my passport with me, which is needed to get into casinos.  Upon further inquiry on why I needed it, I found out that only foreigners are allowed to gamble.  South Koreans aren't allowed to gamble in their own country!? WTF?  I headed to the Kimchi Museum instead.

This small and somewhat quiet museum was very interesting.  It was quite educational.  I learned a lot about the history, nutritional value and methods of preparation of Korea's mainstay dish.  They even had a variety of samples to try.

Kimchi samples

After the Kimchi Museum, I headed to a bookstore to pick up Lonely Plant: Thailand.  From there, I headed back to Myeong Dong and walked around my neighborhood a bit before heading back to my homestay.  I had the intention of trying the local jjimjibang (spa/sauna) that evening, which was conveniently located 2 floors below my room. However, things took a sharp turn when my homestay family decided to rip out some traditional Korean costumes. A couple from Hong Kong were leaving the next day and everyone was getting dressed up for pictures. I got into the spirit of things...

No, I haven't become fat because of delicious Korean food.
I have 4 layers of clothes on!

Ended the day with a nice long talk with my girlfriend on QQ and surfing Seoul tube.  One channel made me remember that Koreans go absolutely nuts over video games...

Starcraft competitions on Korean television. They show full
games on TV with commentary as if a sport!

Stealing the Seoul of South Korea! Part 4

Alright. I'm back in Wuhan now.  Thailand with Cathy was a blast!  But just like my Japan trip last year, I've neglected my blog during my adventures.  Looks like I'll have update while the new school term begins.  Cathy is working right now and I don't go back until the 20th, so I have some time to write on this thing.  Okay, enough explanation of what's going on in Wuhan.

...Day 4, Seoul, South Korea...

Seoul Station. Sue, Kwangseok and I took public transit to the De-Militarized Zone.  We missed our train and had to sit around for an hour. Totally my bad...

The public transit route to the DMZ  had multiple passport and ticket checks.

Until Korean unification, this is the last stop going north.

A nice reminder to keep to the prescribed tourist areas of the DMZ, unless of course you want your legs to evaporate into red mist.

Kwangseok and I pose at the "camera line" that overlooks North Korea.  You cannot take photographs past the line or your camera gets taken away.

North Korea tried to dig an extensive tunneling system towards Seoul so they could easily invade it.  South Korea, upon uncovering this devious plot, turned the tunnels into a tourist attraction. Sue and I don the hardhats required to enter the tunnels.

A unification statue

Some sort of Kim Chi

We had lunch at a local restaurant in a small town.

Steamed egg

Sue bought some DMZ chocolates for Cathy.

The massive Seoul World Cup Stadium. 

Part of the stadium was converted into a supermarket.  Sue and her Kwangseok suggest to me various Korean foods and drinks to buy.

A wide variety of  makgeolli

The hill that we climbed near the stadium.  

The hill overlooked Seoul and the Han River. The view became very beautiful right at nightfall. 

A very prestigious Korean university that has some pretty good student nightlife surrounding it.  We stopped here to have dinner.

...but before that we got our appetites going. Kwangseok led the batting game while Sue and I tied for second.  It was really fun. A punching strength machine was outside as well. Apparently, some people like practicing their kicks on it.  My left hay-maker got second place.

To prevent your your jacket from getting a stinky and oily stench,  some restaurants provide a big plastic bag to put your jacket in to save it from offending people after your meal. Ingenious!

Luke warm noodle appie.

Animal's innards. I think Kwangseok and Sue were surprised that I liked this stuff.

Fried savory egg pancake?  I don't remember what it's called.

Soju. We had lots of it.

The restaurant had delicious food, but we left and walked around in search for a different taste.

BBQ pork and more soju.

We're in Phuket

Elephant Nature Park on the outskirts of Chiang Mai proved to be a great experience.  The day after, Cathy and I treated ourselves to a really nice spa and went around the area near Chiang Mai University before flying to Phuket.  More on all of this later.  Unfortunately, no ziplining or Muay Thai lesson.  Cathy was too scared to do zip lining (but claimed one day she will try it), and I realized that if I actually do a Muay Thai lesson, it would leave her sitting on a bench doing nothing for about 8 hours.

I figure I'll be down here next year on the way to India.  Hopefully others including Cathy will be traveling with me so I can go off and do my obscure interest of studying martial arts without feeling like I'm stealing other peoples' vacation time.  Also, I resolve to be a lot more physically and skillfully prepared for a formal lesson next time I come down here.

At the airport, I found some good Muay Thai literature.  One is about traditional Muay Thai (which focuses more on the self-defense aspects instead of the ever more popular sport-based boxing elements).  The other one is a "Muay Thai self stadty" book.  On the whole, both are understandable, although it is clear that both have been translated from Thai to English.  The author of the first book is an old master. The second is a guidebook in translation with drawn diagrams. 

Right now we are in Patong, Phuket.  Party town.  We got to the hotel at 1:30AM and there were still small (but extremely loud) groups of foreigners drinking up a storm.  I even saw a guy trying to pee in the Family Mart until his friend stopped him.  Today we are going to hit up the beach and then go to Phuket town.

Thailand thus far...

I'm here in the beautiful Chiang Mai with Cathy. It's our second day in out of four.  So far, we've walked around the night bazaar, went temple hopping, and rented bikes to go around the city perimeter.  We also went to a local Thai massage place twice. By "local," I mean 2 old Thai women working out of their family's garage with the hand strength of Norse giants.  It was painful. It was excellent.

Unfortunately, I won't be posting any pictures of my travels until I get back to my laptop in Wuhan.  This is because I don't have an SD to USB converter.  My time on computers down here is pretty inconsistent as well,  so I really don't know when my next post will be.

Tomorrow Cathy and I go wash some elephants in a river and visit a really nice spa. In the evening, if I have time, I will take some one on one Muay Thai instruction.  The next day, we figure we'll go on either a zipline tour or take a Thai cooking course before heading off to Phuket.

Lots of adventures are to come, and I haven't even finished writing about Seoul yet!!!

Stealing the Seoul of South Korea! Part 3

 I don't f---ing believe it!  The Adventures of Pan Laoshi reached 5000 hits!  How fitting that I'm actually traveling while this happened.  Hen hao!  Shingihada! 

South Korea, Day 3


Day 3 was straight up shopping.  Sue couldn't hang out until the evening.  In the morning, my Korean home stay "Mama" made me some sort of Korean jiaozi soup.  It was pretty good.

Mama woke me up to have breakfast.

After, I went to the Gwangjang Market.  The area was devoid of foreigners and tourists, or at least appeared that way.  I think I saw about 3 or 4 Chinese and a group of Filipinas.  That's it.  Sue sent me to an area not trampled by zombied just-out-of-college expat English "teachers."  Awesome.

I followed a young looking crowd upstairs to an area that was pretty sweet. The area had a whole lot of trendy, fashionable clothes for cheap.  Some were name brands, but most were not.  From what I gathered, it was an area for fakes and cheap custom-made stuff. Looked for a nice casual winter coat, but to no avail.

Cheonggye Stream cuts through downtown

Walking down the Cheonggye Stream for about 2 km, I made a quick stop at a Dunkin' Donuts before going to Lotte Mall.  Lotte was pretty upscale, but what it did have that made me turn my head towards it was 3 floors of discounted duty free.  Initially, I just wanted a coat.  In a moment of weakness, I got myself a watch.  Let's just say it was a present to myself for the rest of the year...I'll leave it at that.

In the evening, I met up with Sue to do what most foreigners come to Seoul for...shopping for cheap and good quality skin care cosmetics.  Feeling guilty over how much I spent for a piece of metal around my wrist, I wanted to get Cathy some nice skin products.  This involved walking into really girly girl stores.  Sue helped me out, having a consumer discount card.  We even ended up phoning Cathy from inside an Etude House to find out what she wanted.  As you can see, I got into the spirit of things...I mean, why fight it?

Paul the cute Asian hearts you.

Sue and I went to pick up her boyfriend from the subway station. His name is Kwangseok.  What a cool guy!  He and Sue brought me to a really great place where they served makgeoli (milky alcoholic cocktail-ish beverage) and dubu kimchi (tofu kimchi).  What an awesome pairing!  I wouldn't try this stuff if it wasn't for them.  The menu was not only written all in Hangul, but I was told going into restaurants alone in Seoul was a faux-pas.

Makgeoli

Dubu kimchi

I had a really great time with them and got to know a bit more about Kwangseok.  A friend of Sue is definitely a friend of mine.  Before we parted ways for the evening, we discussed the plans for the next day...