South Korea part 3

Seoul felt like a mixture of all my big city Asian experiences so far. The malls are not as plush as Singapore, but they are modelled in that way. The outer areas of the city, the subway, reminded me of Tokyo, the markets and the men delivering goods on their backs, motorbikes just driving down a pavement reminded me of Shanghai. In some areas Seoul felt raw, not as clean as Singapore, not as sanitised. More Asian, if that makes any sense. Art is a big thing; sculptures and statues outside city hall, lights and wall carvings along the amazing Cheonggyecheon river - this we highly recommend. I was completely unfazed when I saw it first. Ok, so there is a stream that runs through Seoul, and the city has turned it into a walkway, below ground level but open to the sky, with a few lights and rocks and pretty things thrown in. But by the last night as we walked back to the hotel I was smitten; you are in Seoul, but it feels a world away. The noise of the shops and city are in the background but all you hear are the patter of feet of those walking with you, the water trickling or gushing on the rocks. You could be anywhere except in the middle of a busy city. And of course, no traffic, no cars and sidestreets or having to give way to mad motorbike drivers. I can totally understand why the locals love it. Think..... think Oxford towpath, but take away all the cyclists, the goose shit, the drunks, the dog walkers, make the path wider, better, looked after.....forget it. Look it up on google!

The Seoul Design Museum outside our hotel was also amazing, aerodynamically sleek with its curved silver shell, with sculptures and statues dotted around it, and inside so much cool stuff! Gadgets you just don't need and would probably never use, but they look good. I almost bought a suitcase. Didn't have much space inside, was on the heavy side empty, kind of impractical as an item to assist in travel. But it looked so good!
And temples...we saw lots of temples...elegant and colourful, I couldn't stop taking photos of the curve of the roof, the eaves. Changgyeonggung, Changdeokgung, the secret garden, so much charm and culture, solitude and peace, inevitably spoilt by screaming teens, tourists taking selfies, or posing in standard "Asian V" formation  .✌.
No trip to Korea is complete without visit to the demilitarised zone, DMZ. It left us with a sense of sadness; families from the south split from relations in the north. The tour guide talked about reunification, when it happens. But I think we all understand that China and Russia and the US won't let that happen without certainty that it will benefit them. As we stood looking out to North Korea, and the "fake villages" I couldn't help but wonder who was looking back at us. Should the north and the south ever be unified, I will definitely be up for a train ride to Paris via China, Siberia, Russia. Dorasan station is ready - but currently stands as another symbol of the separation.

On the lighter side of our trip, we visited Gangnam! Yes, it's a real place! Nothing particularly exciting about the area....shopping mall, nice locale, it's not far from the Infineum office in Seoul. But it has a statue of some hands, in a particular pose. A statue that plays a certain song when you get close to it, and gets tourists and locals dancing a particular dance. It's as cheesy as you can get, and utterly worth it for the ridiculousness and laughter it induces. Go there!! And feel the K-pop....

So that was Korea. Completely worth it, even so short a trip. Will definitely go back as when we were leaving I discovered something I just must see. More on that next year I hope.

Before signing off this entry, I only added lesson #1 previously I think.....

Lesson #2 - do not trust your Apple iPhone maps app
Lesson #3 - if lost in Dongdaemun market, as the only 2 non-Asians, with a suitcase, maps and travel book open, no-one will offer help. And if they do, they won't know where the hotel you want is. You need to find another way, but do also see lesson #2
Lesson #4 - beware when trying to order food, or understand what food is being offered, by using animal noises. Apparently "miaow" (like a cat) can mean "baaaaaa", as in sheep. We almost walked out of a restaurant as there was only miaow on the menu. I was almost too intrigued to stay anyway....maybe in another few months? Who can tell.......

South Korea part 2

Korea....

Busan was a contradiction. A busy port in the middle, container mountains visible, lorries crowding the road; a luxury beach hotel to the side - beautiful white sand (being replaced after the typhoon) with hipsters and teens hanging out in the evenings, listening to buskers and setting off fireworks, families taking "la passeggiata" after dinner; a slum to the north, since remodelled as a cultural village with art at every corner, on every wall; high end shopping (Shinsegae where r. bought her almost-free sunglasses); the amazing fish market, where we decided that all fish should be consumed having died of old age.....and taking confidence from our successful arrival, an hour on the subway followed by an hour on a local bus to the north, was another bus, that in 45 minutes took us to the temple of Bulguksa.

Lesson #1 - should you find yourself at Bulguksa, and like us, consider walking to the grotto at Seokguram, forgoing the local shuttle bus, on the basis that it's only 2.1km and the lady in the visitors  advise hut says "it's not that steep", don't. It is only 2.1km, it is often walked, but in the opposite direction. And it is fucking steep!!!! 2.1km, about 45 minutes, of working out your quads / glutes / hamstrings. We only saw 2 people walking the way we went. To their credit as they overtook us they didn't really stare. The lady did give us a half-sympathetic smile when she later passed us on her way down. All the other walkers, coming down the hill, would look away as we approached, I like to think to not let us see them laughing. But getting to the grotto was beautiful, in both sense of accomplishment and scenery. Top 10 thing to see in Korea - tick! Workout for week - tick!!
That day was perhaps the only day other than when we first arrived that the weather was cloudy. An autumn day, made sentimental by eating roast chestnuts as we waited for the bus back down. If it wasn't for the massive Korean temple in the background, and that we bought the chestnuts from an old Korean lady cooking them on the side of the road, and we paid in Korean won, we could have been in London. Perfect weather for mulled wine. How we miss having seasons.......

We departed Busan feeling like there was more to see, more to do. Maybe we will come back. Expert travellers by now, the KTX back to Seoul was easy.

South Korea - part 1

I'm not a comfortable traveller. Or rather, I like to travel but only if in total comfort. Anything less than being met by a man with a board with my name on it at airport arrivals results in anything between cold sweats and abject terror. You wouldn't necessarily be able to tell looking at me. You might see a slightly moist individual looking around with aloofness, refusing to make eye contact with anyone for fear that they may ask something and so my total lack of capability be exposed. I still recall doing that for almost 90 minutes at Domodedovo airport, while my man with his board, with my name on it, staggered towards me through the Moscow evening rush hour traffic. But I digress.....

That's why arriving at Incheon international airport in Seoul, finding my way to the airport express, getting my tickets (thanks JK!!) and the AREX to Seoul train station, and then the KTX rapid express to Busan, successfully meeting the wife halfway down there (thanks again JK, thanks Jay Han!!) ranks as.....a miracle. I mean, it all went so well! I'm amazed....as we pulled into Daejeon station I couldn't shake the thought that Roberta would be on another platform, or at another train station, but nope, she was in the right place at the right time. And I was in the right train too. Is this how travel is supposed to be? Smooth and seamless? I could get used to it.

Other than overcoming my fear that somehow the trip would be totally fucked up by me / fate / me + fate, what struck me most on that first arrival into South Korea was Seoul train station. For I was alone. For the 45 minutes or so as I wandered around, seeking a decent coffee (and finding it, plus amazing olive bread - Paris Croissant I salute you) I didn't see another western face. There had been a few on the plane, fewer on the AREX train, and definitely one or two with me on the escalator, but none thereafter. You don't really appreciate being the odd one out until you really are. It's not like anyone stared, quite the opposite; maybe they too are poor travelers seeking to avoid eye contact, as no one looked at me, no one seemed to notice me. I was merely another body in the crowd, someone to walk past, around, bump into (no one says sorry, apparently this is typical). But as the only non-Asian in Seoul train station for 45 minutes I have to say I absolutely loved it; like I was the first western traveller to this part of the world...(this would all evaporate when we visit the temples later in the week).

Having successfully met up with r. we arrived in Busan as stars. As we got off the train we were met by hundreds of flashes, as a mass of photographers took our photos. My sense of trailblazing across Asia had abated somewhat by now, so I was simply startled. Turns out we were in the same train as some tv or film star coming to Busan for the international film festival. We don't know who he was, or even what he looked like, but only that we were in the way, as his female fans pushed past us to get close to him.

No one said sorry.

Last year today

Parvis

5 mesi di vita asiatica e finalmente abbiamo una TV! Evviva!

Grazie ad alcuni amici molto generosi che ce l’hanno regalata, altrimenti saremmo stati ancora lì a sceglierne una…

La nostra casina sta prendendo forma, e anche se ancora abbiamo 6 forchette di numero, viverci è un piacere J

Abbiamo passato tutta la giornata di sabato nella piscina del condominio, sembrava di essere in un resort… siamo riusciti a rilassarci quasi come in vacanza.

Benedetto sia Parvis!

Anche se poi il lunedì arriva e quella camminata fino alla fermata dell’autobus è un pensiero fisso e non molto eccitante. Ultimamente io e M guardiamo le macchine come un bambino che mangia una mela guarda il pane e nutella. Vogliamo resistere e immergerci in questo nuovo stile di vita, ma a volte è dura (ecco perché poi abbiamo bisogno dei sabati a bordo piscina!).

E’ dura quando fare la spesa vuol dire portarsi le buste pesanti su per la salita verso casa, che la distanza è troppo breve per un taxi o quando ti senti figo, fai la spesa online e la metà delle cose che hai ordinato non sono in stock… e l’omino alla porta ti lascia solo il latte e la carta igienica.

E’ dura quando ti prepari fresco e bello per una giornata di lavoro e poi ci arrivi sudato, stanco e coi capelli che gravitano come un’aura intorno alla tua testa.

E’ dura quando fai fatica a capire e farti capire, e dopo 9 anni in terra inglese quello che non parla bene la lingua sei tu (perché qui sono tutti ‘madrelingua’)… ah ma con me sta cosa non attacca proprio!!

Però per quanto siano dure certe cose, altre sono facilissime.

Non devi fare il test allergico per farti la tinta ai capelli (evvai!!), non devi fare mille prove più una per comprare le lenti a contatto.

Il medico lo vedi quando vuoi senza doverci parlare prima per telefono e poi come se ciò non fosse abbastanza ti da’ le medicine di cui hai bisogno senza dover andare in farmacia.

La non-birra Tiger Radler e’ buonina parecchio, così come il cibo Thai e quello Giapponese.

Il Durian non mi piace. Affatto. E neanche quel brodino che ti danno con tutti i piatti cinesi.

Il bimby mi manca sempre.

Awesome Australia

One of the first things I noticed in Melbourne was people walking in the street without staring at their phones..

Eclectic city, quirky shops and coffee bars, diverse people and dress codes, it was a breath of fresh air. It felt like Hackney with US dimensions and a certain European charm.

Didn’t expect much and have been totally surprised.

The vicinity of Great Ocean Road meant I could do a day trip to the 12 Apostles. The weather and the view were dramatic.

Work, work, work and then finally a few days off in my beloved Sydney.

Went back to revisit all the places I have been to 15 years ago. It was really emotional seeing the house in Epping, the telephone box near Boronia Park and the Zappi’s Pizzeria across the train station.

Suddenly I was there. Breathed deeply the dear and familiar scents, I felt dizzy.

Spent a few days going around the city looking for an Aboriginal piece of art to bring home, but I succeeded, and not only I found something special, but managed to bring home lots of new memories, beautiful moments with dear friends and the confirmation that the sand on Bondi beach it really is like flour and butter and it was not my memory making it sweeter!

Love you Australia and I am not done with you.

Life in Singapore

After Bintan and all the itchy bites we went back to our ‘normal’ life in Singapore; it’s made of work (loads), trips to work (which involves lots of taxis) and shopping.

And here I must admit my disappointment. There are hundreds of shops and shopping centres EVERYWHERE. There are more clothes and shoe shops than coffee shops. But I struggle. There is too much choice. Everything is crazy expensive and I work in Jurong East, which means zero motivation in dressing up.

Many of you know my biggest weakness, shoes. After a few weeks of walking around, running for the bus and swollen feet, I needed to replenish my collection.

All my purchases seem to be wrong, not only are functional more than pretty, but are uncomfortable too! A DISASTER!

Not to talk about tights!

I need tights as tomorrow night I am travelling to Melbourne (massive grin!) where it’s barely spring, couldn’t find anything decent. Shops, shops and more shops with very little interesting in. Cannot say I miss Cornmarket street (that is simply not possible), but I miss knowing where to buy stuff (God bless Westfield, and Liu Jo in Italy, and Nero Giardini and Intimissimi and Calzedonia).

Anyway, shopping aside, we do try and enjoy Singapore and we do what Singaporeans do, for example cycle on the East Coast.

On Thursday last week we went with work people to the famous East Coast, and armed with helmets and water bottles we started cycling towards Marina Bay Sands.

Gorgeous sunny afternoon just before the haze started, pedalling with the breeze of sea (well, port) was truly refreshing and especially enjoyable because it was a school day!

I got very excited and pedalled all the way to Marina Bay Sands shopping centre and was so focused that did not pay attention to the tumbling sound behind me… stayed positive and pushed on.

Went back 1.5h later very proud of myself (20 km done!) and before crushing onto the floor trying not to pass out I had to comfort a scratched husband that faithful to his uncoordinated nature was responsible for the tumbling noise I ignored, in my positive thinking that surely that wasn’t Marco!

So we continued our evening (like adults do) having dinner at the East Coast Fish Hawker Centre having DELICIOUS prawns, stingray and satay.

The injured husband held together with dignity, only to moan once in the familiar Parvis flat.

Days have passed, the injured husband is still very tender and sore. I feel no longer guilty for having neglected the nasty feeling that suggested Marco could have gone off the bike and for having cycled faster than him and in so doing, having offended his male ego.

No ribs are broken. Now we know for sure.

So we are off to opposite sides of the planet for the next 2 weeks.