I am posting this now so that it shows up under the date it happened. I know it's not proofread... Hell, I know I said I wouldn't proofread, but I will do at least once! I will edit probably on plane to Bali.
The plan was to leave my dad's house at 9 PM for LAX. As such, I was supposed to get there around 6 or 7. Did I though? Nope. 8:45 rolled around and I cam running through the door, demanding if there was room in another suitcase for the bathing suit I had just purchased. In fact, that was one of the reason's I was late (along with my own classic poor time management skills). An hour before that you would have been able to see two short asian girls and I frantically running around Sports Authority looking for a swimsuit. It really was just like me to remember at the very last minute. Such a fail. Luckily, I got to the house 15 minutes before departure time... but wait! I still had to upload music to my dad's phone and change in to a different set of clothes... Let's just say that the former didn't get done and the latter was done with utmost haste (I tried to put my underwear on over my pants at one point.).
Here's where the real fail comes in. After I spend a few minutes running up and down the stairs remembering multiple things I forget (never any of them in the same hectic run), I learned that my father's fiancee still had some work to finish up and that we would therefore be leaving more like 9:15 or 9:30. Serious. Epic. Fail. Honestly, though, I was happy to be able to slow down and yell at my suitcase for not fitting enough clothes in peace.
We did get on the road at a reasonable time and arrived at LAX at around 10:15. This was the first time I had gotten to fly out of Tom Bradley International Terminal in a long time, so it was kind of cool to see. The reason for this long and tragic separation was because I had previously been flying domestic airlines for international use as well as inter-state (United is crap, btw!). For this trip, though, I flew Asiana, which was also a first for me, and I have to say that I was thoroughly impressed. Not only did we have all the standard (at least for good airlines) technology, but the service was also superb. Imagine that! Flight attendants who didn't look like the only reason they were there was to feed their crack addicted 8 children from different fathers who all had various venereal diseases and deal with their live-in mother-in-law who thought Glenn Beck was amazing (Which of these two is worse? I honestly don't know...). Suffice to say, it was a nice change from the typical outdated planes, crappy service, poisoned (literally - I got food poisoning once.) food. The food was also pretty damned good. I slept through dinner, but before arriving in Seoul, was served a fine breakfast of pancakes, fruit, sausage, coffee (or tea), and – Uh... I know there was something else, but I was tired, damn it!.
On the second leg of the trip, from Seoul to Hong Kong, the flight was also with Asiana. Again, I was served good food, this time in the form of fish (though, I asked for Chicken) in some sort of orange sauce, a little salad, a fluffy bun with butter, rice, and a breaded dessert thingy. You might be amused to know that I assumed that the packet under the bun was jam, so I poured it on the bun. It wasn't. It was Italian dressing. Yum. Won't be doing that again too soon. This particular flight was also AWESMOE, because it was only 1/3 or so full; I was also to commandeer my own entire row. Mwahaha. All I had to do to keep people away was look angry/menacing/weird (Actually, I find this tactic helpful whenever I don't want people – especially solicitors) to walk to me.). I had lots of room, which was nice, but the flight was unfortunately kind of bumpy. This was ESPECIALLY unfortunate because I'm not exactly fond of flying, which is highly ironic considering how obsessed I am with traveling. In fact, the way I get through long haul flights like the one from California to Korea is by not sleeping the night before and taking Benedryl and Lorazepam – all things which when combined result in a near comatose me for the majority of the flight. Seriously, though, you all should try the staying up the night before – not just because many find plane rides boring, but also because, when you fly to another continent, you often arrive in the morning, which is unfortunate if you didn't sleep, because then you're not up spending your first day out and about. Also, by being well rested at a morning arrival, you help prevent jet lag. Do you think I'm just naturally superior to all other people in the fact that I don't experience this nasty plague? Actually – you know what – I probably am, but you can still attempt to achieve that level of perfection – the type that allows you to arrive in Seoul at 7 AM fresh and ready to go.
This is going back a bit, but I need to actually talk about the layover in Seoul!!! Why would I want to talk about a mere layover? Well, because it was a 12 hour layover. HOLY CRAP! I know. Apparently, Korean Air and Asiana do a lot of layovers in Seoul in order to get people to other countries and these layovers are very often very long, but fear not – because Incheon International Airpot is well prepared. In fact, it is often rated the best airport in the world, and I have to agree that it was probably the best I've ever been too. Here's why:
- – It's massive with lots of stores and restaurants to occupy yourself with.
- – The security and customs there are fast and efficient.
- – There's a full service spa.
- – Multiple airlines have wonderful lounges with free food. Funny store relating to that, actually. We went in to the Asiana lounge thinking we were all snazzy and shit cause we had business class tickets, only to be kicked out since we were in the First Class lounge (Apparently, Business class just means your an upper level pleb.).
- – There are lots of sneaky hidden areas where you can sit in comfy chairs and relax.
- – A number of the restaurants are on a special part of the 4th floor where you can sit in front of panoramic windows and watch the planes taxi and take off/ land.
- – There is a “transit hotel” when you can pay to sleep if needed.
- – There is a clean, nice place (conveniently next to the spa) where you can shower.
Basically the Incheon International Airport is a REALLY nice one that is completely prepared for people with long layovers.
We, though, weren't initially in to just sitting back and relaxing, so we went to the nearest tourist booth to ask what the hell we should do with less than 12 hours in Seoul, and the nice lady directed us to a number of organized tours. Now, I must say that I am typically against organized tours, because they are for old people and retarded Americans who can't put their shoes on the right feet. This, however was a situation. Sure, we could have gotten on the train then subway then bus and figured out how to get to Seoul, but that could have taken hours (not to mention figuring out how to get around once we got there), and while that is all good and fun when you have a week to explore a city, you really don't want to eat up your short amount of time by figuring out how to get around and what to do. Btw, it you don't know anything about Korea, you might think I'm retarded in thinking it could take hours to get to Seoul from Seoul's international airport. I am not crazy (at least not for this), because Seoul does not have it's own international airport; when you fly in to Seoul on a long-haul international flight, you are probably flying in to Incheon International, which is an hour outside of Seoul if you have a direct method of transport and no traffic.
And that is how Marzo agreed to go on a tour.
You know what, though, it was absolutely perfect for our situation, and – I'll admit it – I enjoyed it immensely. We had a cute little tour guide named Jane who was a hoot and knew how to deal with stupid Americans (You have to tell us where to be multiple times, yet we'll still probably be late and/or get lost) who gave us private tours of the Imperial Palace, Folk Museum, and Insadong. This was concluded with lunch before returning to the airport at 2 PM (We had left at 9 AM.).
When I got off the mini bus (fitting 12 people) I was immediately super excited because... THERE WAS SNOW ON THE GROUND – barely any – BUT SNOW! This was a weird idea for a Southern Californian. Soon enough, though, walking around outside got a little bit old cause it was like 35 degrees out even in my nice coat and super thermal leggings. Despite the cold, the palace was worth it; like all the guide books and websites say, it's one of Seoul's must-sees. Not only does it have great historical significance, but it's also an interesting architecturally. I, at least, who've seen a significant amount of traditional Japanese architecture (in Japan) and a good amount of Chinese (Chinese architecture is portrayed on film far more than Korean.) found it to be quite interesting. I expected more of the same, but, although the architecture of these three cultures' is similar, the Korean palace had MUCH more color than I've eve seen before. The details on the ceilings, moldings, and exteriors were not simply gold finish or plain wood, but beautiful bright colors. I have always been jealous of other countries who have buildings such as these; they're old – over 500 years in the ????'s case – yet they're still around. We don't have much like that in the United States – maybe some Native American burial mounds or and English tavern from 1600, but nothing grand or impressive.
Conveniently, the ????? Folk Museum was right next to the palace. Honestly, I'm really not a big museum fact, I usually hate them – Don't tell my history professors that! - and this one was not exception. There were some neat things artifacts and recreations there, but it was small, and like I said, I don't really like museums, so I'll leave it at that.
Insadong was fun, cause I LOVE shopping, and it's a street of nothing but shops (and the occasional restaurant). It was -
OMG OMG I CAN SEE TAIWAN OUT THE WINDOW! IT'S SO PRETTYY. LOOK AT THE LIGHTS. Sorry.... I am writing this on the plane from Seoul to Hong Kong, and we're apparently flying over Taiwan right now (Yay for those digital maps that follow the plane's progress!) I can see the lights outside the window! Unfortunately, though, there are also bumps. Ugh.
Anyway, what was I saying? Oh yes! Insadong is a street of shops, and it's perfect for buying souvenirs for people (and yourself). In fact, I bought one of these little fabric cases that my friend Megan brought back for people when she went to Korea a couple of years ago (She didn't bring me one, that mean short legged Asian!) and a little lamp that is made of wood and that rice-paper stuff used in Japanese sliding doors. There was a hell of a lot more stuff than this, though – carvings, bags of all types, food, toys, ornaments, scarves, clothing, mirrors, carved boxes, etc... It is definitely your one stop shop for souvenir-y stuff. The tour group was let loose here on their own and commanded to be back at a certain location by noon, but of course, there was the American who held it all up... me. Yeah, I know. Fail. I was buying the lamp, but there was some confusion. I asked the lady how much it was in Korean and so she busted out in Korean, and I was just like, “Um... English?” She also thought I meant to have it gift wrapped, though I only said yes to her asking to wrap it because I thought she meant tissue wrapping to prevent breakage. The point is, I was late, and a bunch of strangers had to wait for me. Yay me!
After shopping we went to some restaurant that I have no idea where it was or what it was called. I was immediately suspicious when we walked in and I saw the cheap plastic cups on the table. Oh great...That's what we get for going on some random tour! Guess what, though! The food was actually really great! Our group members got the option of having either Korean barbeque or a vegetables and rice dish. I chose the latter, which was awesome, and I have it on good authority that the former was also quite delicious. Of course, Kimchi was served with both options.
My only issue with this tour was that it was a little rushed... but that was only because some dumbass couple had to get back to the airport by 2 instead of 2-3 which was the general time that it was supposed to be. WHY DID YOU MORONS GO ON THE TOUR IF YOU KNEW YOU HAD TO BE BACK AT THE AIRPORT?! DUMBASS AMERICANS! Actually... I vaguely remember British accents, but that could be because I was ashamed. I have a deep dark feeling that they were my fellow kinsmen. **** Added later: HAH! I WAS TOLD THEY WERE AUSTRALIANS!
Okay – CRAP – I just looked out the window and thought I saw a sky snake or something attacking the plane. I then realized that it was a painted line on the wing.
Anyway, the tour was a good way to fill the day. It was fun, made it easy to get in to Seoul, and took us to some of the major sites. The best part of it all, though?
IT WAS FREE! Totally free. Apparently, the airpot itself pays for these day tours for people. I am assuming that it's to convince the layover people to come back on vacation. No matter why, though, it's pretty awesome.
OMG. I just looked to the right. This lady has some weird face mask thing on. It is scary as all hell. WHY IS THIS PLANE SO SCARY? On the bright side, like I said before, I have my own row.
After the tour was over, we still had a few hours, so we parked ourselves in the Asiana Business Class Lounge where there was free alcohol and food. Success? I think so.
We boarded the plane at 7:30 and took off on time. I am now 1 hour away from landing in Hong Kong.
- –
- – Spastic Excitement Attack -
I'll write a little bit more once I get to the hotel. Adios.
Later...
I actually ended up writing this part the next day, because I was so completely dead by the time we got to the hotel.
Our plane landed at 10:30, and we found our luggage with no issues.
Then came the issues.
All we had to go on was that the hotel shuttle left from “B12.” Wow. Helpful. So, we followed signs leading to the hotel buses. When we were almost to the door for the outside, through which we could see buses, some guy walks up to us and asks us where we were going. We tell him that we're looking for the shuttle for our hotel, and he starts to lead us back to his kiosk. This is rather suspicious, though, because no one from the hotel told us we needed to buy tickets, and because the guy started to look defeated when we started back peddling, we walked off in a huff since we thought he worked for some limo company that was trying to poach customers from the hotels.
On the walls directly across from Kiosk Man's little booth, we saw numbers ranging from 1-20. That, of course, included 12, so we got excited and thought we were near our destination. There were no A or B's, though. By this time, we were very tired. My dad's fiancee was like blrrrrrr, I wanted to punch someone, and my dad just kept mumbling about “unbridled capitalism.”
But oh! What if the man on the phone who said B12 had a strong accent and actually said Bay 12? That would certainly be convenient because the bus area was filled with spaces marked as bays. Yes!!! We had done it! We had found where out hotel bus was supposed to pick us up! Now all we had to do was wait.
Half hour goes by. No bus. Well... fuck. So, we called the hotel. Guess what they said? “Ooooh! Noooo. There are booths in the arrival hall for all the hotels and car rental agencies. You have to go there first to buy tickets!”
Grrrrr.
So, we walked all the way back to the arrival hall... to B freaking 12... got tickets, and waited for the bus (which we didn't end up getting on until midnight). Luckily, the bus was big and comfortable. Unluckily, THE BUS WAS NOT JUST FOR OUR HOTEL! MULTIPLE HOTELS SPREAD ACROSS THE CITY WERE GETTING PEOPLE FROM OUR BUS DROPPED OFF! AND GUESS WHAT? WE WERE THE SECOND TO LAST HOTEL! A RIDE THAT SHOULD HAVE TAKEN FIFTEEN MINUTES TOOK AN HOUR!
I vaguely remember being amazed that stores will still open at 12:30 at night, and that driving in Hong Kong looked impossible, but I was pretty tired so must of the ride is now a blur. At nearly 1 AM, we tumbled in to a modern looking hotel where get got 2 smallish rooms on the 19th floor.
I somehow managed to unpack all my clothes and organize them in the closet and drawers (Wtf? I don't even do that at home.) - I think I was just on autopilot at that point – and looked out the window.
To. See. Buildings. Just buildings. No water. No view. I PICKED THIS HOTEL FOR THE FACT THAT IT HAD A HARBOR VIEW. WTF DO THEY THINK THEY ARE DOING?
And that is how, in a fit of anger and after 3 days on like 12 hours of sleep, I fell in to a comatose in a very comfortable bed - Or maybe I was just reallly tired?
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