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I'm now sitting in an internet cafe at Incheon airport, about to head off to London (has it been a week already?). I spent most of the night trying to figure out how to pack my accumulated luggage into two small suitcases - and managed to succeed (just). Hopefully the domestic flight to Yorkshire will be ok with some excess baggage!
Korea, like always, has been exciting, fun and tasty. The other day I met up with my Primary ed friends Susan and Zaye for a day of shopping, eating and movies (though the movie bit got cut out because the cinema was packed, being the weekend). I also got to meet some of Susan's friends, Elisha (who is teaching English in Korea like Zaye) and Jenny. Our first stop was the famous COEX mall, which has everything from a cinema megaplex, animation character store, couples' lingerie boutique to a Kimchi museum. We had pizza at Pizza Hut, though this place was nothing like the Pizza Hut in Australia. We ordered pasta and 'Seafood Fantasy' pizza - which arrived with mini bread rolls fanned at the crust and filled with cheese and sweet potato. Deeelish.
Later we browsed through a few clothing and stationary stores, then headed to Apujong (a popular hang-out for young people). After a brief walk though the Galleria mall (which is very, very pricey) we headed to a little Korean eatery for a pitstop of traditional Korean bulgogi (bbq beef) and nengmyun (cold buckwheat noodles). Although stuffed, we girls still new that every female has a separate dessert digestive system, and so we headed to a little pancake and waffle place down the road. The picture on this blog entry shows Susan, Zaye and I just before we dug into our waffle sundae.
At this point we were in dire need of a good walk, and so we headed to "Gosok terminal", which is a famous underground marketplace at Gosuk subway station. We managed to walk (and walk and walk...) though what seemed like miles of stalls, which sold shoes, clothes, hats, and the odd plastic fan. I was quite surprised when I looked at my watch as the shops were closing, at which point I realised I had been out for 12 hours! I ended up buying a pair of overpriced flip-flops because my feet hurt so much (I think the salesman knew, because he refused to haggle with me!) I can safely say that that was an eventful day.
Thankfully, this day was soon followed by a trip to the Korean baths, where I was looking forward to relaxing a bit. The overall experience was quite relaxing, though I still don't understand why people pay for so-called 'massages' where you get kneaded like a lump of dough and beaten like a chicken schnitzel, all in the name of 'releasing tension'.
My final days in Korea have been spent with family and family friends - one night I had dinner with Jiyong onni and Sunghee onni (who I consider my sisters). I also had yumcha with my other aunty, as well as a buffet dinner with my uncle and Imo (aunty). There was also a delightful little afternoon when my Imo, my grandma, my grandma's carer and I all decided to cover our faces with cucumber slices (my aunty's dogs thought it was all quite amusing - they liked eating the leftover cucumber slices, too).
I'm a bit sad to leave Korea so soon, but looking forward to going back to England. Hope the flight will be ok!
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