Soulful trip ..to Seoul

This was one of those business (read all_expense_paid) trips. Before setting out on the journey ..I'd had tons of advise about -how to cope up with food problems and communication problems -beside the hectic work schedule. As for food, most of the advisors were strict veggies so I mostly redirected those to /dev/null [in our typical unix jargon] ---communication -ah well i assumed i could still ignore --silently thanking the Google translator. Hectic work schedule? hmm ...this was a difficult one ..but then 'there is no such thing as a free lunch' i reckoned!

Off on a Korean air flight from Mumbai scheduled sometime very early in the morning..reached Incheon airport of this once-Olympic-host city. Availed a taxi service from Airport to Renaissance hotel. Renaissance-EY? inquired the taxi wala (who could understand a bit of English) - was prompt in helping me with the luggage ..and as i sat comfortably ...how much? i inquired --142000 won was the answer... did some rough calculation in mind to divide that by 20 [1 INR=~20.5 wons] and was shocked..redid the mental math and was still blown off as this was around 7k Indian rupees for a distance i'd googly known to be not more than 30 kms. For a moment felt cheated but the next moment felt okay as i wasn’t briefed on the taxi-types in Seoul. Lesson learnt: Black taxis in Seoul are mostly for the elite ..the grey taxis are for the rest!
Anyway ..made it a point to get off somewhat away from the hotel reception ..or else the staff might expect a tip -proportional to the elite taxi! :)
The receptionist clad in Korean local Hanbok briefed me about the services i could avail-- including a complimentary bar n snacks service everyday ..whoa! The room was a suite - a maiden experience for me.

View of the city from hotel

Gangnam -gu. A Gu is equivalent of a district. Further Gus are divided into neighborhoods called dong. So its common to find place names ending with a gu or dong. Gangnam,where the hotel was located is the posh commercial hub of Seoul -with lots of hotels, corporate offices, night clubs and well maintained parks. Considered to be the most affluent district in all of south korea. Off course also Psy's inspiration for the 'gangnam style'

what do they offer? ..Google translator was no use in this case:(
I thoughtfully pointed some stuff and asked them ..chicken? the person gladly nodded in affirmative..just to double-check i pointed to the same thing and asked again ..beef? the person gladly nodded in affirmative yet again. In the typical Lola Kutty accent I said to myself: Hodi Couu! :p and disappeared!
Not that i abstain from beef ..wanted to be sure whats coming!

One of the best cosmopolitan areas in Seoul is the Itaewon area ..numerous English/American pubs, Indian and Pakistani restaurants around

South Korea still houses a US Military base (since the war in 1954) and this souvenir shop in Itaewon has mostly South Korean, Russian and US antiques from the war

                      Lots of interesting-looking doggies around the street!

This one was kind of irritted with camera ..was barking endlessly as  i was taking a picture

                                               pssst ..wake up ..goldilocks?

when u're in Itaewon ..the outsiders could often be the majority. As I enjoyed my Nth beer with fish n chips some street side saxophone music made it for the just a perfect ..um beer_brunch

Eeuureekkaaa! Sighted a Pakistani restaurant called Hoor. Hoor? doesnt that translate to..eh 'beautiful maidens'/angels i thought?Anyway ..it was more of a gleeful respite to find home fare after a tiring time ordering anything from Australian lamb chops to Korean cold noodles with ginseng to a whole_chicken_including_skin (and expected to consume all of it using a pair of pencil-like chop sticks!)

The owner ..not quite surprisingly asked me from which part of Pakistan i was coming from and where i was staying. I gladly told him the part of 'India' i was coming from..and about my roots (in Pakistan) ...and about how glad I was to have discovered this restaurant. I ordered some keema-mutter and roti --gladly ate with hands! Was in for a severe eating dilimma: two hands and just one mouth! :p

It would have been blissful to get a regular home delivery (hotel delivery) of food from here ...but as the hotel was somewhat far off from this place -they had no delivery there. Nevermind -with a deep freezer, cooking gas and lots of utensils i got the biggest takeway parcel of my life  ..and as i was done ordering the rather lengthy list of items to stock ..was expecting the waiter to be really showcasing his jaws taking this exhaustive order --on the contrary his looks were extremely sympathetic ...as if to convey -- "..pity ..so you just couldn’t do without desi food?"

Although I could not make it to this place very often .. made it a point to pay  weekend-ly visits here. Guess i've tried and enjoyed everything on the menu.

Don’t know what could be the significance of this higher_than_usual pig.
To me it just reminds of Pink Floyd..besides perhaps pork dry fry ;)

rain times!

cathedral:  by and large the people here are either Buddhists or atheists

Cheong-gye-cheon: After the Korean War (1950–1953), more people migrated into Seoul to make their living and settled down along the stream in shabby makeshift houses. The accompanying trash, sand, and waste, and deteriorating conditions resulted in an eyesore in the city. The stream was covered up with concrete over a 20 year period starting in 1958, and a 5.6 km-long, 16 m-wide elevated highway was completed in 1976. The area became an example of successful industrialization and modernization of South Korea.

It is refreshing to see a lively creek in the middle of the hustle n bustle where you can come dip your feet and relax.

wonder what this shop would've been all about?!

Itaewon has no dearth of of Pakistani and Indian restaurants - did try the buffet at Usmania -there was a wedding reception going on here & all the staff were real busy - a Pakistani groom and a European bride. Thought i could get off easily pretending as a wedding guest but then .. all those Nat Geo episodes of jailed abroad came flashing in :p

A local 'grey' taxi. No wonder korea is the largest produced of LCD and LED displays in the world. [ & part of my job assignment was to ensure they keep doing so uninterrupted ;) ]

Visit to the war memorial. Following the surrender of the Empire of Japan in September 1945, American administrators divided the peninsula along the 38th parallel, with U.S. military forces occupying the southern half and Soviet military forces occupying the northern half.
The failure to hold free elections throughout the Korean Peninsula in 1948 deepened the division between the two sides; the North established a communist government, while the South established a right-wing government. The 38th parallel increasingly became a political border between the two Korean states. Although reunification negotiations continued in the months preceding the war, tension intensified. Cross-border skirmishes and raids at the 38th Parallel persisted. The situation escalated into open warfare when North Korean forces invaded South Korea on 25 June 1950. The war went on for four long years!

2.5 times the one tonner in India!

A typical roof architecture for huts

United States Forces Korea Headquarters, US Forces Korea (USFK) was established in 1957. USFK is the joint headquarters through which US combat forces would be sent to the Republic of Korea/US (ROK/US) Combined Forces Command’s (CFC) fighting components – the combined ground, air, naval, marine and special operations forces component commands. Eversince, a large section of US troops are based here.

Suggested cocktail: Local Arak + Drought beer ;)

Dessert? Peaches n a tomato

Korean Barbeque: This is one place I'd want to go more often!

Unlike our barbeque nation where the meat is already cooked -you warm it for 5mins and be subtly hinted to vacate in 2 hours [to make way for people waiting outside in queues] --this one was a whole lot different. Korea does not have much of a population so no queues outside! The meat is all raw and it could take upto to an hour before it would cook in from of you. In the mean time -chat n enjoy the drinks & of course the aromas ..rather leisurely. And yes, this is an *only_pork* barbeque place. Each table also had a smoke exhaust hanging in the middle.

Thats the local way to eat -- a piece of meat, some ginger and garlic and green chilly on leaf that tasted much like mustard. All wrapped up like a pan. whow!

saké (/ˈsɑːkeɪ/): the alcoholic beverage from Japan - made from fermented
rice. Sake is sometimes called "rice wine" but the brewing process is more as rice beer, converting starch to sugar for the fermentation process.

Hopped into a Japanese restaurant after the barbeque

Salmon: it was being eaten raw by others much like id have cucumber - but perhaps my taste buds did'nt evolve sea-side so not my kind!

Had the very last weekend left before my return -among a LOT of choices on tourist attractions -narrowed down on either going for a Nanta or a trip to De-militarized Zone (DMZ). Nanta is an internationally acclaimed theatre that raises cooking to an art form ..(of course cooking is forever an art) ..but Nanta is said to be an art form that combines music and cooking. An elaborate drumming performance with chopping boards, maybe a wild chase to catch a fly,intense rythmic clapping,dance with bottles -all with a western performance style. In short, Nanta is a huge Kitchen where kitchen items are turned into percussion instruments.While on the other hand DMZ was just a border between the two Koreas  -much like Wagah. However, I chose the later -perhaps because e v e r y person who knew I was Indian talked at lengths about Gandhi and why India will forever be respected across the planet because of Him ..and about what they lost in this four year war ..and about their diminishing hopes of unification ..and perhaps because this would involve a bit of travel into the Korean countryside.

Neatly dressed Korean Apso -on the way to DMZ

The South side of DMZ is a tricky affair -you are escorted by Korean troops who would advise tourists where not to roam as there is an extensive network of land mines. It is said that many North Korean try to flee the country in darkness.. trying to swim across the river that separates them.

A north Koran military post

On the North Korean side: this rail bridge was functional before the war but now the link is broken

Guess all those messages would translate into t h i s!

Bulleted and bombarded steam locomotive: A world heritage site

some history..

Across barbed wired: A north Korean post

yeah photography was not allowed but..nobody objected

South Korea's vision of trans-european rail network

The actual DMZ site ..there are lots of tunnels that were dug by North and discovered by South -eventually blocked. Made a visit to one of the tunnels -you’re required to wear a helmet ..deposit your cameras and walk miles inside the tunnel. It was quite tiring to walk about 10kms to and fro with bended knees!

ray of hope?

A view point to see through the North Korean side

Army vigilantly Patrols the area

South Korean troops in the tourist bus

Ssangyong motors ..collaborated now to have the Rexton

Bought some souvenir: beer mugs from HRC Seoul.

overall i just could not keep pace with the working hours of the Koreans. Neither would Shahrukh Khan :). These guys work a LOT and anything more than 4 hours of sleep is luxury. Trying to keep pace with work on weekdays --i'd often  not get the time even to shave. (until one of the taxi drivers asked me: Bangladesh? as i hopped into his taxi.)

-had the realization that we might not have hosted an Olympics [yet] but as far as the minimum human sleep is concerned, Indians lead a luxurious life ..no matter what .. & i still feel thankful about that e v e r y  other day.