Seoul (1/7 - 1/9): Relaxing Seoul and Flying to HK

To be honest, the last few days in Seoul are kind of a blur. I just remember some of the highlights which I will post up here:

The first was that Jisue went out a few times to meet up with friends and some professors (since she’s leaving on the 16th to move to New York) so while she would go out to do those things I would stay behind and watch DVDs or do some work on the computer. It was actually rather relaxing and a nice way to spend my time. We did go out a few times so I’ll mention those here:

On Saturday night we went out for Korean BBQ to some well-known restaurant in Kang-Nam. It was absolutely delicious — best Korean BBQ I’ve ever had. Definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

BBQ Dinner!

Hot coals in the pit

Jiheun and Oppa

On Sunday night I kind of slept through dinner time with one heck of a power nap, but Monday night we went a block down and got some take out. Spicy Pork and Kim Chee Fried Rice! We also got some Kim Bap, which was also delicous. We ate that while watching “Anchorman” followed by a late night packing session.

To be honest we could have packed everything she would take in just a few hours, but Jisue has such a strong avoidance to packing that it took 3 days just to get her to get her clothes together. Some people just don’t like packing I guess. Myself? I actually look forward to it — but maybe I’m weird.

On Tuesday we spent the afternoon hanging out and ordered a pizza. It was quite yummy (bulgogi flavor) and hit the spot. But pretty soon it was time for me to head out to the airport. She took the cab with me part-way, but she had a dinner appointment with her old co-workers so I went the rest of the way to the airport myself.

Long check-in line for Asiana

Once again I was on Asiana to Hong Kong. The flight left at 8:00 p.m. and arrive in Hong Kong around 10:50 p.m. or so. Coincidentally I was sitting just one seat behind where I sat on the plane from Shanghai to Seoul.

Good view of the galley area

We were a little delayed out of Korea but managed to arrive at Hong Kong International Airport just at 11:00 p.m. I went through customs pretty quickly, got my checked luggage and then hopped on the airport express train to Central. From there I grabbed a cab up to Caine Road and then called Patrick (borrowing a random foreigner’s cell phone) to figure out which place was his. The rest of the night was spent with our duelling laptops on the super huge couch that Stephen and Pat got for their place.

And so begins my new life in Hong Kong. More posts and updates (and pictures) when I get around to it.

Speaking of pictures, I saw the two cameras I’m debating about at the airport in Korea so I played around with them a bit. I still haven’t decided. The casio is super nice and thin and the buttons aren’t as small for my big fingers as I thought they would be. The Canon is also quite nice and has lots of nice features. Fortunately the prices at the airport were outrageous so I didn’t need to make a decision there. Hong Kong is a better place to buy those sorts of things anyway so I’m going to do a bit of shopping on the weekend and see what I come up with.