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Published: August 13th 2016
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELKE!!!!!!!
Everyone slept in until 9a today.
Plan was to take it easy after 7 days/6 nights of very full days during the bus tour. Halahbujee slept for most of the day.
The rest of us took a walk around the hotel area and had
donkatsu (breaded pork cutlet) and breaded chicken for lunch. It was another hot day. The kind where you sweat just standing. We stopped at a bakery and bought Korean bread, which JoSo found a little sweeter and more flavourful than Canadian bread, and a blueberry and cream filled bun. Both were delicious. The blueberry and cream bun wasn't as sweet as one may be used to in Canada, but it was still sweet enough to satisfy a sweet tooth craving.
We called our aunt and uncle in Pyeongchang and promised to visit them on Saturday so we spent most of the day taking it easy.
Later in the evening, we headed out to
Hongik University area which is just a little west of where we're staying. Halahbujee had heard that this area is hopping at night and he was right. We left the hotel around 6p and took
the subway (Hongik is 4 stops from our hotel). We had so far travelled during non rush hour times so this was an eye opener. We have been on the Toronto subway lines during rush hour and it really doesn't compare to the mass of humanity that runs through the subway system at this time. Many workers coming home but also many many young people who were heading out on a Friday night to party or hang out. Average age must have been around 30. Fortunately Robb and Ann coloured their hair before they left Canada so with the grey hairs well hidden, we all blended in! 😊 Trains were so packed you were literally packed in like sardines. No need to hold onto anything since you're not really moving at all.
Got off at Hongik University stop and according to the subway map and Halahbujee's directions, we walked north. With the sun setting, it was easy to pick out which way was north, but lo and behold, the subway maps do not have north placed at the top of the page, nor does it have an "N" directional indicator. This map had north positioned to the right so
we had walked quite a bit before we realized the roads and restaurants don't match what was on the map. But we had Robb so he was able to quickly get us back onto the main road. We meandered through the crowds of people, the food stalls and the many shops. We did some shopping (thank you Uncle Peter and Aunt Hyeyoung for KRW money - Jon bought a nice jacket and Sophie bought some earrings).
We stopped at
Pizza Hut for dinner to get our cheese fix. The super supreme pizza was very good. It has corn kernels on it - we haven't had Pizza Hut in Canada for several years so not sure if this is the norm or not. Pizza was still good - we had no leftovers.
Around 10p, we decided it was time to head back. As we were walking back, we saw people in groups watching street performer dance and sing. Lots of non-Koreans here as well. Many were students speaking mix of Korean and English.
Seoul definitely comes alive more at night. Halahbujee said that people in Seoul get very little sleep as many get up early to go to
work, work all day, and then either go out with work boss/friends after work, or socialize after school/work. In the summer, evenings are much more appealing times to venture out vs doing so during peak of heat. Only a few days left before we return home so we will have to continue to bear the heat to make sure we make the most of our remaining time here.
Tomorrow Pyeongchang!
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