Our Seoul

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It was as sweltering as ever when I caught the train from Suwon back to Seoul early Thursday afternoon. Then it was the tortuous process of getting to my hotel. The Seoul metro has much to recommend, but where it falls short compared to the London Tube is the vast distances between interchange stations. Often you feel like you are not so much changing lines at the same station, more walking all the way to the next one, especially when towing heavy luggage. Finally I get to Hotel Creto Myeongdong (all-white modern furnished rooms, but with squeaky air-conditioning) situated behind the Sejong where I stayed previously in Seoul.

In the evening, I’m in Hwa-dong, an area of cobbled pedestrian streets full of artisan eateries. Here I finally meet up with Hye-Sung at Kiwa Taproom for craft beers and Korean currywurst (better than it sounds). She is busy but well and planning a trip to South America in the autumn. Amazing to think that Hye-Sung was literally the first person I met upon arriving in Korea for the World Cup in 2002 and have remained in touch 16 years later

K-pop, with its ultra-polished all-singing all-dancing boy-bands and girl-groups is at the forefront of Hallyu, the cultural wave of Korean music, movies and TV shows that have conquered Asia and spread around the world. The careers of k-pop acts are run not by record companies, but by management agencies, and not only are SM Entertainment the biggest, they have established their own tourist attraction at the COEX Centre south of the Han River. And so Friday morning I pop along to the SM Town Museum. Four floors of shops, cafes, libraries, artefacts, exhibits and a virtual reality concert theatre devoted to acts under the SM umbrella. It made for a stimulating and endlessly fascinating visit, but lordy SM Entertainment are astonishingly Stalinist in their rewriting of history. Theirs is a one-sided story, all is sweetness and light. Any mention of band members who have left in acrimonious circumstances – Jessica from Girls’ Generation, to give but one example – is air-brushed from the group’s existence. And I was pretty much the oldest person there, but far from being the only foreigner. A fair number of Europeans were looking around too.

The rest of the day I went searching through record shops. No mean feat given they have practically died out in Korea. Downloading and streaming of music is so dominant here that music stores have to all intents and purposes disappeared. But what still remains I went looking around, ending up back in Myeongdong, where I finish the day with another chimaek dinner. Forget bibimbap or kimchi, chimaek (fried chicken and beer) is the true national dish of Korea. With the crispy batter and variety of spices that make KFC (that’s Korean fried chicken) a world away the oily slop sold on UK high streets. I’ve been having it every other day in Korea and would probably live off this if I was resident here, especially given the country’s food delivery services are so efficient that no fixed address is required. I saw a fried chicken order being delivered on Haeundae Beach when in Busan.

Saturday morning I’m back in south east Seoul at the Lotte World Tower. At 555m it is the tallest building in Korea and the fifth highest in the world. The Seoul Sky observatory on the 123rd floor is via an express lift that bullets along at 10m a second. The views from here are as panoramic and spectacular as you would expect. But it doesn’t feel that high until you step onto the glass floor section of the observatory deck and look down. This is the sort of place that really should introduce a selfie stick ban, what with the jostling and elbowing to get a picture going on here.

I ventured into Itaewon on a humid Saturday evening. Previously it was regarded as Seoul’s foreigner district, full of tacky souvenir shops and counterfeit goods. But over the last decade it has become less of a no go area for Seoulites, with many hip bars and restaurants opening up in the neighbourhood. For dinner I pigged out at Vatos, serving a particularly Korean twist on Tex-Mex food. The place was predictably packed out on a Saturday night, but you could get seated right away if you sat at the bar. I had the kimchi carnitas fries (skinny fries smothered in vegetables and spices, named “Best Dish in Korea” by 10 magazine) and galbi short rib tacos, both were magnificent and immensely filling. Finding somewhere afterwards to watch Premier League football in Itaewon turned out to be more problematic than expected. But eventually I stumbled upon a sports bar on the main drag and watched the goal-less bore fest that was Newcastle vs. Cardiff in the company of some ex-pat Mancs and Eastenders. Even got some free ice cream cake from a party celebrating a birthday there.

Sunday morning I go again to Gwanghwamun Square to the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History. It chronicles the nation’s recent past from its beginning as a republic in the early 20^th century to the present day. If anything, the museum isn’t contemporary enough, their section on the Korean presidency stops at Lee Myung-Bak two Presidents ago. There is zero mention of his successor Park Geun-Hye (possibly understandable given she is currently in prison) or current incumbent Moon-Jae-In. Indeed, I was struck by how so many presidents of the fifth Korean Republic were mired in controversy; all but two have either been jailed, assassinated, or committed suicide. The entry to the museum was free, as was the audio guide (which simply repeated what was written on the exhibit’s captions) but you had to hand over a photo ID to get one. The only such thing I had on me was my Ireland Supporters’ Club membership card, which remarkably they accepted…

After an afternoon of searching for recommended restaurants that are no longer around and some last minute gift shopping. I am at the Sangam Stadium on a muggy Sunday evening. Built for the 2002 World Cup with a capacity of 67,000, it remains the biggest football-specific stadium in all of Asia. I am here for the K-League match between FC Seoul and Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. As mentioned before, K-League games are weighted as family days out, with paddling pools and fairground rides by the main entrance. In Suwon, I got a bandana and banana with my match ticket, here I was given… a red bin liner?!? Tickets were general admission and you could sit anywhere, so I plonked myself down on the halfway line, in front of a stage where there were mascots, cheerleaders and a drummer. And not just a drummer, but a girl drummer. And not just a girl drummer banging a drum, but a girl drummer playing a full drum kit.

It was a dire game. But a bit of mini history for me in that this was the first VAR goal I’ve seen in person. Choi Bo-Hyung’s header from a corner was initially ruled offside, but the decision was overturned upon the referee watching the video replay to put Jeonbuk 1-0 up. A lead they doubled with a Son Joon-Ho strike into the top corner midway through the second half to seal a 2-0 win for the league leaders. FC Seoul were woeful, but I was more fascinated by the cheerleaders and enthusiastic fans, waving those inflated bin-liners above their heads and a screeching frontman holding up placards to indicate which name to chant. Such organised spontaneity will never catch on. Myeongdong was still crowded when I got back there after the match before 10pm. And so I went for one final round of chimaek, called and said my goodbyes on the Korean sim card before it expired at midnight and with that, my Korean journey came to an end.

So there you have it. My original plans didn’t go as hoped and much of this trip was spur of the moment. Nonetheless I had an unforgettable time and would definitely do it again, only maybe under less inhospitable weather. Temperatures were the highest ever recorded in Korea prior to my arrival and it scarcely cooled any during my stay. I should return (and do Vladivostok next time) when it is not so scorching, but with global warming I fear these unbearable conditions are here to stay. Oh, and I won’t be eating fried chicken again for a long time…

Annyong



Cathal

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