Seoul

I'm making a trip to Seoul. I was hoping to catch a flight to Korea on the Boeing Dreamliner but it was grounded after battery issues. United Airlines subbed out the Dreamliner with a 777. I did try to get United to switch my itinerary because of the plane change. I could have gotten into Seoul earlier than 9 pm if I chose to go through SFO rather than Narita. The customer representative couldn't do anything over the phone but suggested I send an email to corporate. I did but the response was no dice. :(

Although no Dreamliner option, I did get an offer to upgrade to First for $399. I'm curious as to how the offer is made when you checkin online. If I was staying longer in Narita, it would have been easier to convince me to upgrade. The United Club lounge is split between regular and 1st class by an elevator. The regular United lounge is usually packed so the 'extra' perk would have been nice. For my meal options, I went with a Japaense set menu since I was on a Japanese bound flight. I'm actually not sure what the items were in the bento box selection but it tasted good. The description on the menu didn't quite match to the visual I was looking at.... :0 On the other hand, I was suprised to see a deconstructed chicken sandwich on my flight from Narita to Incheon. For some reason, I felt that the snack option should have been more asian...

My Japanese entree on the United Airlines flight to Narita

The flights were uneventful and allowed me to catch up on the recent movies I've missed like Alex Cross, Argo, Hotel Transylvania, Resident Evil 4, and Wreck-it Ralph.

I landed into Incheon fairly late in the evening. I have not had an issue with immigration when I enter an Asian country but Incheon was my first experience that paralleled with Tom Bradley at LAX. It was a good hour after landing before I could get through immigration. I'm not sure what the Koreans are doing but they are not the prime examples of efficiency.

Conrad Seoul

Built in TV in the bathroom mirror

Checked into the Conrad Seoul. The city's public transportation system is very strong. There are airport buses that will run to all the major hotels and/or destinations in Seoul. Not bad for about $15 one way. This particular Conrad opened in November 2012 and I looked forward to seeing how this new property has been developed.

The glass partition can be frosted via light for privacy in the bathroom

Breakfast pastries at the Exec Lounge in Conrad Seoul

Of the Conrad's I have been, this is on par with the Tokyo, Chicago, and New York locations. The amount of tech in the room was impressive such as Apple TV, built-in TV in the bathroom mirror and even a remote for the bidet. I will say that the buffet restaurant, Zest, was pretty awesome. I only had the breakfast but I was very impressed.

Entry gate for one of the pagodas in Changdeokgung Palace

After a restful night in this 'smart' luxury hotel, I ventured off to see some of Seoul's historical destinations. Went out to visit the Changdeokgung Palace. The subway system in Seoul reminded me of my siblings. Everyone had their handheld devices out and was watching TV. Interestingly enough, the subway systems appears fitted to receive both TV and wireless access. Luckily, the transit was easy to figure. If you are an infrequent traveler, the system does reuse the fare cards. Deposit of 500 won is required and there are machines next to the transit tickets to refund the deposit.

Interior room

The Palace was reminiscent of the Forbidden City in Beijing except larger including a garden, Secret Garden. I have seen comments that the Korean palace isn't as large as Beijing. Maybe it was the difference in crowds that made it seem bigger; I found it fairly enjoyable to walk through and see the Chinese influence in early Korean history. I had made a reservation online for the english tour of the Secret Garden. I did find the tour guide helpful in understanding some of the history but the guide could have been more thorough.

Royal Palace

Afterwards, wandered through the neighborhoods surrounding the palace and ended up at the Royal Palace down the street. Wandered into the public square but did not opt for admission. After being at one palace that is listed as a UNESCO heritage site, I didn't feel compelled to see another palace. After checking the outside for a little bit, went through the neighborhood around this palace. According to the travel book I had, Bukchon Village was down the street. After wandering around what appeared to be the Beverly Hills of Seoul, I believe the "Bukchon" Village was found. It wasn't worth the extra 30 minutes of hilly climbing to see a residential street. After walking around the city, returned back to the hotel and stayed in for the night.

Evidence of Bukchon's existence

The next day, I was expecting a friend to come in from the southern part of Korea to spend the weekend. I also moved to the Millenium Hilton Seoul since my friend preferred the location of this hotel. I was curious about the Hilton and how it compared to the Conrad. The Conrad is located a little bit further away from the city center and situated in the business district. Since the Hilton is about 30 years old, some of the decor was dated but the hotel was very nice. For this particular stay, I booked a corner suite and was upgraded to an executive suite. The room definitely had an executive in mind as the desk had a laptop, mobile phone, and fax machine. If you were to ask me where to stay, I would still lean on the Conrad.

Living room of suite

Bedroom of suite

The Seoul Tower was right next to the Hilton so I went up the tower to check out the view. I was told that locals are discouraged from entering as the government wants only foreign tourists to spend money. I found the inscriptions on the window interesting. Depending on the direction, the windows has the foreign destinations. I walked the entire circle and reminisced the places I have visited. 

View of Seoul Tower from Millenium Hilton Seoul room

In this direction from Seoul Tower, Spain is in this direction as listed on the top floor  windows

Or one can get a brief description of the neighborhoods in Seoul on the floor below the top of Seoul Tower

After the Tower, went to one of the markets near the Hilton. I didn't find anything I really wanted but I was impressed with the number of people wandering around this street market at 30 degree weather.

Street food vendors

Forget rotating signs or stand alone blow up dolls for advertising, Koreans  will let advertisers touch you

Afterwards, went back to the hotel to rest and bumped into a couple of friends/acquaintances. It was funny that this trip seems to have a theme of meeting people I haven't seen in awhile. Still feeling jet lagged, I called it quits after dinner time while my friends went out to hit the night life.

The next day, went out to do some trendy city shopping. I came across a McDonald's and went inside out of curiosity. Hoping to find something unique, the Korean McDonald's have the 'bulgogi' burger. Surprisingly, there are no pies on the menu. I found the bulgogi burger a little sweet and tried the coffee sundae. Now, the coffee sundae isn't what it may sound like. It is actually a parfait of ice cream and coffee. You'd have to eat quickly because the coffee does melt the ice cream and it ended up tasting like a latte. I also tried bubble tea from the tea house next door. The Koreans do not know how to make bubble tea, I will let the Chinese folks handle it. :) 

The coffee sundae at McDonald

In general, I found that Koreans make some things really well and some not so much. For instance, I've finally came to an asian country that has actually figured out how to make doughnuts well. The baos are pretty tasty too, good dough recipes. The red bean fish was ok as was the bubble teas as mentioned earlier.

Mini red bean fish and boiled eggs in cornbread

My friend had mentioned that the Koreans had 4D theaters and I was curious to see how that worked. Went to watch A Good Day to Die Hard. I found the experience something similar to a theme park ride with the air and water effects with the seat gyrations. After the movies, wandered into a late night Korean bbq restaurant. I wasn't sure what I would get but I didn't feel that it was significantly different than in the States.

People focused on the phones at dinner, it is a global phenomenon!

Time for some BBQ!

On my last day in Seoul, Kyo-chon was down the street from the hotel. I have always liked the chicken wings from this Korean chain. I will say that the quantity of food is significantly more than at other locations!

The chicken wing meal set includes a small can of soda and pickled vegetables from KyoChon.

Full from chicken wings, I hopped back onto the airport bus to get into Seoul. At the Incheon Airport, there are no Star Alliance lounge but Asiana Airlines is the main carrier of Seoul. I was expecting a bit more from the local airline.