Monday, November 3, 2014

Annyeonghaseyo Seoul

Going back to my travel to South Korea, Day 2 (October 12, 2014) was spent in a train ride from Daegu to Seoul and exploring Myeongdong area. I'll be discussing again some details. We left at about 9 in the morning, took the cab and got off at Daegu Station. While I was buying the Mugunghwa train tickets at 9:50am, the lady told me the schedule of the train. It will be leaving at 9:53am and the next trip will be at 11:00am. She said you can get the 9:53 schedule (in a calm manner) and I was like, Are you sure? (imagine me in panic mode). It's just a few minutes away and what if we didn't make it on time? But waiting for another hour seemed like a waste of time so my friend and I decided to just go with the 9:53 schedule. With about three minutes left, I was running going to the tracks. I was also running while on the escalator because I already saw the last passenger going into the train. I was running while carrying my luggage and backpack without minding if other people were already looking at me (Apparently, the were.). Actually, all I cared about was making it to the train. Thank you adrenaline rush! And yes, we were able to make on time. I'm not sure if I can do that thing in the Philippines, moving at a very fast pace, but it seems like I'm a different kind of person when I'm in Korea.

There was no assigned seat for us. We were in a standing status. But here's the thing, if there's a vacant seat, you can occupy that as long as the occupant hasn't arrived yet. Good thing, on the four-hour train ride, I was able to get a seat majority of the time. There were only a few occasions I needed to stand. Mugunghwa is the regular train, nothing special, not like the KTX which is a bullet train but the whole trip was such a comfortable one and I absolutely enjoyed the view -  the fields, mountains, and small communities. I did a bit of a video which I'll be sharing soon.

When we arrived in Seoul at past 2 in the afternoon, surprisingly, the weather was warm. Where is autumn? Seoul is northern than Daegu but why is it warmer here? But well, must be climate change. After checking in at Namsan Guesthouse and resting for two hours, we headed to explore the Myeongdong Market, which is just walking distance from our guesthouse.

spending the beautiful afternoon in Myeongdong

Korean souvenirs

lovely Korean dolls
























several shops in Myeongdong

at Nature Republic

while waiting... and no, I don't know who's that guy

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