Karaoke in Korea

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Had a two night stay in Incheon, which is about an hour from Seoul on the train. Haven't been for few months so quite glad to come again. Still really cold here but Iv experienced it much worse last February when it was -16degrees!!! Not fun! Arrived in the morning and had a little sleep, then I forced myself awake in the early afternoon otherwise I wouldn't sleep at night. Not that it ended up mattering on this trip.... It's one of the worst feelings in the world getting yourself up, so tired. So got up and headed down to the swimming pool at hotel. You need to wear a swimming cap in the pool here which I quite liked to control my hair. I haven't actually been swimming since I was about 12! And man did I feel it, so unfit. Did about 2 lengths and honestly thought I wasn't going to make it on the last few strokes. And to make it even better the people working out at the gym look onto the swimming pool through a glass panel. I probably looked hilarious, and quite worrying to them. Powered on and managed about twenty lengths then had to give up. Glad I went, but so exhausted afterwards. Treated my self to little spa session in the sauna. It's a spa regulation here that you need to be naked. A Korean lady told me not to be too shocked to see anyone naked when I went in. There was no one there, thank goodness! Chilled for couple hours then met some of the crew for dinner. A few people had never been here before so we took them to a traditional Korean BBQ. Love these. You can order a platter to share between 4 people and you get beef, prawns, garlic, veg and lettuce leaves as well sauces etc. Then you get to cook your food yourself on a BBQ that is fitted into the middle of the table. It's good fun, and feels really healthy as your just eating the meat wrapped in a lettuce leaf. I was drinking a traditional plum wine with it which you get to drink with a shot glass. Just means you end up drinking it quicker, dangerous game. After here we headed to a local bar. You get supplied with unlimited salted popcorn at the table, which is addictive and obviously the salt makes you more thirsty.... very clever! Got approached by a Korean man for a picture so thought why not and had one taken. After which he gave me little gift bag with sweets and a teddybear. So random! Did not have a clue what he was saying but I apparently made him 'very happy' and he gave me his business card. Result! Stayed here for few hours and ended up meeting crew from FinAir. They were so nice, and we joined tables with them. One of our guys had been mentioning all night about going to karaoke - it's a big hit out here with Korean people. We keep declining this offer to go but somehow eventually we all, including FinAir, ended up at karaoke. Was absolutely hilarious, we were only meant to be there for an hour but ended up there for about 2 and a half. A few Abba hits were belted out, as well many other classics such as Eye of the Tiger, some Madonna songs, Titanic; to name a few. Eventually left and headed back to hotel in time for sunrise. Such a hilarious, random night! Next day just stayed locally. Always feel bad if I don't go exploring but I have already been to the North Korean border on a DMZ (demilitarised zone) tour, and have been into Seoul a couple times. So just had a chill day. Went to the supermarket to stock up on one of my favourite snacks - seaweed. Got some dumplings too, which are just like gyoza from Japan. Back at the hotel I popped down to the swimming pool again for round 2 of pushing my fitness limits! One of my colleagues gave me her goggles to borrow which made such a huge difference. Was gliding through that pool, no stopping me! Then got ready for leaving again next morning. Saw FinAir at check out and the captain ran up to me and gave me a huge hug to say goodbye. Such an unexpectedly really fun trip!

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