Ed's Trip to Korea

Entry for April 30th

2006-05-31T21:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was quite a day. I felt like I was in an episode of "The Great Race." Let's just say that I was exhausted and I slept really well. My uncle lives in a rual area, the Korean equivalent of a small town. It's actually where my mom's entire family was born and raised. My mother's surname is Park or Pak, depending on the pronouncation system you use. The Park surname is very old, one of the oldest in Korea. According to myth, my mother's clan got started back in 57 B.C. when Pak Hyeokgeose started a small kingdom on the southeast corner of Korea called Silla. My mother's clan is one of only 2 that claim decent from Pak Hyeokgeose. My mother's geneology books supposedly go back 1,200 years. On my father's side the geneology goes 1,100 years.

Anyways, after sleeping like a log in a borrowed room, I had a traditional Korean breakfast, which pretty much looks like a traditional Korean lunch or dinner. It's rice with small side dishes and maybe a main dish of a type of tofu soup or meat or fish. The bulk of a Korean meal consists of something called banchan. Most times banchan is something pickled. I think this goes back to the time when there were no refrigerators and pickling was the only way to preserve food. I hear that Scandinavians also have a lot of pickled food. Another thing I learned about Korean food is that Koreans sure love mayonaise. More on this later.

My uncle wanted to show me the city of Puyo, the capital of another ancient Korean kingdom called Paekje (pronounced "Pehk-Jeh") that lasted from 18B.C to 661 AD. It's a two hour drive so before we go I took pictures with my grandfather before we left.

My grandfather was the reason why I came to Korea. He is 88 years old and not in great health. He can't walk without help, he needs a catheter attached to him at all times, can't see very well, can't hear very well, but overall, he's in good health for his age. He can still eat solid food and can still communicate on his own. He is my last living grandparent on both sides of my family. He seems like a very kind old man and I really wish I could spend more time with him. I think he was happy that I was there.

The city of Puyo isn't really a city, but more of a small town. It is in a flat plain surrounded by hills. There is nothing that remains of the ancient city of Puyo and the town has a very small and 70's or 80's feel to it. In other words, it's very underdeveloped compared to the rest of Korea. More on why this is so later.

The town of Puyo is home to two nice things to see. First is the Puyo National Museum, which houses artifacts from the kingdom of Paekje, and the hill adjacent to the town, which supposedly houses the royal palace.

The museum was small and reminded me of the museum at the La Brea Tar Pits in LA. Starts out strong but ends in an anti-climaxic manner. Pretty much all the stuff I saw there was also in the National Museum in Seoul. However, I'm not sure which one has the originals and which has the replicas.

Now it's on to Puyo Hill. I've provided a map below.

Do you see the wall and gate at the bottom center? That's were we are gonna start. The destination? You see the pavillion in the upper left corner? Yep. it's about a 2 miles away UPHILL. I know it's not not a big distance for many people, but for a spoiled Southern Californian use to freeways, not country trails, it's a lot. Below is a close up of the pavillion.

Ah, so why are we going here? Well, 1,500 years ago, the hill was home to the royal palace complex of the Paekje kingdom. This royal palace complex was put on a hill because this kingdom was constantly at war and it's capital was constainly attacked. Anyways, the pavillion marks a place where 3,000 court ladies fell to their deaths when the kingdom was overrunned and destroyed by invading Chinese troops.

Thus the place is now called "Rock of the Falling flowers." The trail is quite nice, but going uphill, it is admittedly a pain.

Imagine about 45 minutes of this......

Finally got there, and it looks like we are several hundered feet from the base of the hill.

Ah, a pretty shot of the Baengmagang River from the pavillion. It's actually really nice here. Kind of rocky almost to a point where I asked myself, how does 3,000 ladies in long dresses even make their way over here? Well, I guess that's why they call it a legend, huh?

Going downhill is a lot more fun then going up, that's for sure. Took a picture of the cutest little girl who wore these huge bell bottoms as she clapped with her arms extended wide out. Unfortunately, I took the shot while the little girl had her hands together. I wanted to take the shot while her hands were extended, but then I'd have to chase her down and I don't think her parents would like that!

On the drive back home I notice just the interesting geography of Korea. It sure is full of lots and lots of hills. Small flat areas are farmland. Large flat areas are cities. There is no wasted land. How can there be? You have 48 million people crammed into an area the size of Ohio. We get back to my uncle's house at about 2pm and had to get to the train station by 3 and my mother and I get back to Seoul by 7pm where my mother's sister (my aunt) and her husband pick us up at the train station. The late morning of the next day we were suppose to go to the airport for our flight to Jeju island so my uncle (aunt's husband) wanted to take me drinking. This would be another night of mass consumption of soju and beer. Good lord... I feel like the people of Korea think I'm a fish!

As I said before, you can get soju everywhere. You don't need a license to sell soju. Another thing about soju is that its a neutral spirit. In other words, like vodka, it has no taste. Due to it's lower alchohol content and the spicy and salty nature of Korean food, it goes well with Korean dishes. Soju houses compete not by the innovation of the drinks themselves, but with the quality and unique attributes of the dishes that go with the soju. In Korean, these dishes are called anju.

Anyways, so we go to a soju house and this one had a grill in the table. For Korean bbq you ask? Oh, no. That would be too ordinary and something that I can get anywhere back home. No. This grill was for a wide variety of shellfish. Mmmm... it was really good. You know, when you grill live shell fish, it pops open.

Below is a shot of me, my mom, my aunt (mother's sister) and my uncle (aunt's husband).

Next we go to an ubiquitous Hof, this one more outdoors. My aunt takes a picture of myself and my mom.

After half a dozen bottles of soju and about 2 liters of beer, time to get some sleep. I got yet another busy day planned.

Entry for April 29th

2006-05-19T22:41:00.000-07:00

Another hectic day. I have to wake up by 9:30 and get to my uncle's house by 11am, so about 5 hours of sleep. 11am, get to my uncle's house and eat lunch, then get to a wedding at 2pm. After the wedding, I had to get on a train that left at 4:30pm I think it's my cousin's wedding. Then after the wedding I have to catch a 5pm train which will go to KyungSung province. That train ride would last 4 hours and I'll be at another relative's house at 9pm.

I'm going to spend a little time talking about weddings in Korea. My background on weddings is that back in college, I use to photograph them. I've been to Catholic weddings, Greek Orthodox weddings, Jewish weddings, evangelical weddings, weddings in Renaissance attire, weddings outdoors, in backyards, I've even been to Korean-American weddings. However, nothing really prepared me for weddings in Korea. In Japan and Korea (China and Taiwan I'm not so sure about) there are these things called wedding halls and they are basically businesses and facilities dedicated purely for weddings. Now stateside, as far as I know, there are no buildings where weddings are its sole function. Usually weddings are done in churches and hotel lobbies. Receptions are usually held elsewhere.

In Korea, weddings are done in churches and hotels too, however, there are too many weddings for the available places so there is a whole industry of specialized wedding facilities known as wedding halls. As a side note, wedding halls are a favorite of non-religious or non-Christian religion people. Anyways, I've seen wedding halls with church-like themes, office building theme and even an Arabian theme. The feeling is very Las Vegas like. As if they were having a wedding in a Dave & Busters. To me, this was very new and the biggest bit of culture shock I had experienced in this trip thus far. The wedding hall I was in was two stories. The first floor had a wedding hall and a waiting room. In the wedding hall was a wedding that was taking place. In the waiting room was the NEXT wedding waiting for the wedding that was taking place. In the second floor is a banquet hall, where the wedding BEFORE was having their reception. Once the wedding is over, the next wedding waits for the hall to be cleaned up and the next wedding begins in 20 minutes. There are these female attendents dressed in a cross between a bell hops uniform and the uniform used by cashiers at "Hotdog on a Stick."

These attendents cross sabres for the bride and groom to walk under and fire confetti with an instrument that looked like a trumpet, across the walk way as the bride and groom leave. While they were playing wedding music, there was a bubble machine spewing bubbles and spewing out dry ice fog.

Again, very surrealistic and strange, especially to someone who has seen so many different types of weddings stateside. One more thing. Korean receptions have got to be the MOST boring receptions ever. There is no dancing, no DJ, no chicken dance, no Macarena, no YMCA, no tossing of flowers or fling of the garter belt, nada. There is just eating, the bride and groom and affiliated families bowing and shaking hands, white envelopes full of money exchanged and that's it. For most people, it's not even that. It's just eat and go!

It was my cousin's wedding. Someone I haven't seen since I was 4 years old. Also, most of the relatives there haven't seen me since I was 4 years old so no one recognized me. I felt rather ackward by the whole experience, sort of like a zoo animal being gawked at by onlookers. Hey, look here, it's the long lost relative from America!

Anyways, the whole ordeal is over by 3:30 so we take a cab to the train station. Then we run into the legendary Seoul traffic... on a Saturday afternoon??? The cab driver says at this rate, we won't make it to the train station on time. He suggests that we take the subway and drops us off by a subway station.

Time is not on our side, so my mother, myself and my uncle (my mother's oldest brother) rush to buy a $1.45 subway ticket and waited for the train.

I've ridden the subway in New York on a Saturday afternoon as was expecting the same, however, I was in for a suprise. Our train was PACKED. Shoulder to shoulder I was surrounded by people. My mom told me that it's even worse on weekdays. It was our great race. So we get to the central train station and it was... full of people. Was there some sort of holiday? No, it's just always like this on weekends. My goodness... Korea sure is crowded!

Fortunately, the train was not crowded and I took a nap in my seat.

Entry for April 28th, Part II

2006-05-15T21:31:00.000-07:00

I had a busy Friday, so I've decided to split it into two parts. After the trip to the War Museum, I decided to have lunch in Itaewon. This town is close to the original U.S. Army base and has a very colorful history. In daytime, it looks pretty tame.

Below is the ubiquitous KIA Bongo truck. In Korea this car is EVERYWHERE. It's a pickup truck, a tow truck, a moving truck. It appears to be a general purpose chasis for any medium duty vehicle in Korea.

Speaking of vehicles, in Korea, Korean make cars are everywhere. There are no American cars in Korea to speak of. There are some German (BMWs and Mercedes) and Japanese cars, but this place of a sea of Hyundais, KIAs and Daewoos. This parking lot illistrates the point.

This late model Hyundai Sonata has "interesting" shaped headlights. Humm... what does this remind you of?

Alas, I found a place to eat, a small place that serves basic Korean food, which is fine as I'm not big on elaborate lunches. Food is not as cheap as I thought it would be. A bowl of bibimbap (rice with mixed vegatables and meat) is about $5.10, about a dollar or so less then it would be here.

The lady who owns the restaurant tried to prostelitize me and gave me church literature. For those of you who don't know, Korea is the largest Christian nation in East Asia and the second largest in Asia. Only the Philippines is larger.

After lunch it was on to the National Museum of Korea. To me, the building of the National Museum is quite impressive. It's clearly of modern design, not like the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. I'd say it's about one forth its size. Unfortunately, it doesn't have as many artifacts as it could have. Many artifacts were taken by the Japanese during the occupation and many more, including the most earliest relics, are still in North Korea.

Check this out. A stone pagoda 10 stories high. I was told it was one of the tallest pagodas in Asia. I'm not going to post some of the other pictures of artifacts I found in the museum as I'm not sure it it will mean much to most readers. But if anyone is curious as to what else was in here, leave a comment.

As I've said before, internet connection is everywhere in Korea. Looks like they start them young too. These kids are surfing the web inside the many internet terminals in the museum.

Off to my hotel room in a taxi. On the way I see one of MANY apartment complexes in Seoul. Since land is scare, people don't usually live in nice two story homes or townhouses. Most people live in condos or apartments such as these that can be arranged like dominoes.

A shot of my hotel room. Not bad, huh? The TV is small, like a 19 inch.

After a quick nap, I was ready to hang out with my friend Kyung Hyun. He owns a restaurant in Kang Nam. I heard it's Italian themed as he's studied in Italy. We can't meet till after 10pm since that's when his restaurant closes. I took the cab to Hotel Riviera and we meet up there. He's brought his friend Kyung Pil along and he's got what a lot of people in Seoul don't have- a car. After taking the cab for a few days, it's weird to be driven in an actual car. The number of people on the streets, the traffic and the concentration of civilization reminds me more of New York than Los Angeles. They say you don't need a care to survive in Seoul. Personally, I think that's how it should be. I have to admit that LA is sort of a metropolitan anomaly in the sense that you NEED a car and that in most places, public transportation is downright primitive. We stop at a sam gyop sal resturant. Sam Gyop Sal is like Korea bacon without all the nitrates. It's pretty good. We drank A LOT of soju, which is a Korean type vodka that is made out of rice or sweet potatoes. Unlike vodka, it is more like 60 proof rather then 80 proof. However, the effects of soju are rather unpredictable and it can feel like you are pounding shots of water one minute and then it can hit you all at once and make you damn drunk the next minute, completely bypassing the "buzzed" phase. Experience soju drinkers pace themselves wisely... =) The dirty little secret stateside is that Soju has all the bite of hard liquor, but you can sell it with just a regular beer and wine license.

We all became borderline drink and called a driver to come and drive Kyung Pil's car. Korea is interesting in the sense that there is insane drinking, but people are actually MORE responsible about driving drunk. Why? Because there is a checkpoint on almost every other major intersection. I didn't believe them when they told me this until we ran into a check point three blocks later and our hired driver dutifully blew into the hand-held breath tester that the policeman was holding. In Korea, they don't take you to jail if you are over the limit, they just fine you $1,000 on the spot. It's interesting to note that in Korea, the penalty for drunk driving is much less then in the states, however the likelyhood of getting caught is much greater, thus people in Korea take drinking and driving much more seriously. Plus, the country gives you meaningful options from drunk driving such as a competant (and safe) public transportation system and affordable drivers for hire.

We are out on the street soaking up nightlife.

Now here is an example of what they call "Engrish," something that is written in English by a non-English speaking people and ends up sounding rather strange or funny. The Japanese are the most famous for Engrish. Here is a pretty good website about Engrish: www.engrish.com.

Later we went to a Chicken restaurant and Hof. Why I don't know, but Korea calls their drinking places not pubs, bars or cafes (as they are known in Koreatown), but they are called a German name- a Hof. We ordered a pitcher of what had to be at least 4 liters of beer.

The guys from left to right is Kyung Pil and Kyung Hyun. I couldn't resist and had to drink straight from the pitcher.... =)

Wow, gone already? Time to call AA.... =)

They also had a tastey variation on fried chicken by adding tons of garlic. Mmmmm... good stuff.

We part at about 4am and I fall exhasted on my hotel bed.

Entry for April 28th, Part I

2006-05-10T21:51:00.000-07:00

Another trouble free night of sleep. This jet lag thing is way overrated! I have a full day planned for today and I'll be meeting with my friends Kang Hyun and Kang Pil later in the evening.

The first thing I wanted to do was explore the Lotte department store, which as attached to the hotel. The store is not really just a store per say. It's really a mall. It looks just as nice as any mall in America and just as clean, but the main difference I noticed was that the ceilings were lower and it wasn't as "airly." Again, this is Seoul and this is Korea and thus space is a premium, not a luxury as it is in the states.

Obviously more crowed then malls in the states.

Inside the mall was a TGIF restaurant. Looks like much of the same stuff, but more fried rice instead of veggies and smaller portions. You know what? Smaller portions might not be a bad idea!

Outside the mall was an interesting coffee vending machine. Who has ever seen a phone in a vending machine? This has got to be the strangest thing I've seen so far in Korea. You have to be a kid in order to be at the level of the phone! My head probably comes to the "Telephone" part of the machine.

I took the taxis to two museums. Taxis in Korea are all pretty much Hyundai Sonatas and Kia Optimas, thus they are smaller then taxis in the states, which are usually Buck Crown Victoria type larger sedans. Taxis are relatively cheap in Korea, starting out at $2. A 45 minute drive in relatively traffic free environment is about $25. It would be $50 in the states.

The entrance to the War Memorial Museum. A strangely, dare I say phallic, symbol at the entrance? Or maybe a giant bullet?

These two tanks flank the entrance to the memorial. One is a Sherman tank, American, and the other is a T-34, Russian.

Let me tell you, this museum is HUGE. A lot of World War II equipment was used during the Korean War so you have booth jet planes and World War II vintage tanks. The brochure of the museum says it's the largest war museum in the world. It's got six floors and the square footage of a Home Depot. It's certainly big. The biggest the the world, I don't know, but it's gotta be up there.

I went to the top floor and took some shot of exhibits what life was like for civilians during and immediately after the Korean war. It's a life that our grandparents and many of our parents remember.

A soup kitchen line. To the right is the depiction of a U.S. solider handing out candy and food to children. During and soon after the Korean War, the country was devastated, food was scare. It was poorer then the civil war racked African countries of today. The picture below could of been any one of our fathers or uncles, asking an American solider for a handout.

The largest exhibit is on the bottom floor and it's of the kobokson, or the turtle ship. This was the ship that Admiral Yi used to fight off the Japanese invasion of the late 16th century.

Entry for April 27th

2006-05-08T21:40:00.000-07:00

First night's sleep in Korea was pretty normal. Oddly, I was not jet lagged at all and slept like a baby, waking up at around 8am. After I dragged my myself to the bathroom sink and washed-up, I took a seat in the adjacent porcelain throne and was greeted by a surprising warmth. Looking down, lo and behold, it was one of those buttock cleaning gadgets that originated in the Land of the Rising Sun. Those Japanese won't be remembered for their originality or innovation, but what they did contribute to mankind amounted to a quantum leap in toilet technology.

The model I was sitting on was clearly not the first generation of this technology. It had options to not only spray water, but to spray in preprogramed patterns, massage and heat and dry. I think my model was the Toto 2600 and from the sparce funcions and buttons on the device, it didn't seem like it was a top of the line. I've heard of more complex and expensive ones out there. I heard from friends that these things typically run you $300 for a run of the mill, midgrade models to as much as $800 for deluxe ones. Naturally, I couldn't help but try the sucker out. How was it? Well, from me at least- mixed reviews. First of all, it's going to take some getting use to in order to feel comfortable when you have slightly pressurized water sprayed up your ass. I'll stick to more traditional and tried and true toliet sanitary techniques for the time being thank you very much!

Today was sightseeing day. The first place on the list is Gyeongbokgung Palace, home of Korea's last ruling family, the Joseon Dynasty. It was first built in 1395 and was almost totally destroyed during the Japanese invasion of 1592. In 1868 it was almost completely rebuilt, but then two thirds of it was destoryed again during the Japanese occupation of 1905-1945. From 1990 on, the South Korean government set about on another restoration program and almost the whole of the palace has been reconstructed. They plan to get the full restoration done by 2009.

I took the following pictures:

This is a pond and garden behind the palace. Notice the mountain in the background. The palace was built behind a scenic mountain in accordance with the principles of fung shui, which stated that the positive energy of the mountain would provide the seat of government, and hence the nation, strength.

Along the way, I saw lots of groups of elementry school kids all dressed in matching clothes and backpacks it was absolutely adorable.

However, it seemed like there were thousands of them. These "addorable" kids were everwhere. Kinda like ants at a picnic!

Some army soliders from the 2nd infantry divison. Despite the threat from North Korea, I gotta bet that these guys are a lot happier to be in South Korea rather then Iraq.

The changing of the guard at the entrance of Gyeongbokgung Palace. This was pretty neat, but would have been better if you were there in person.

Immediately out of the palace was a street that had the Admiral Yi Soon Shin statue. Yi Soon Shin is a recurring figure for anyone who looks at Korean history. He defeated the Japanese fleet in the late 16th century always outnumbered. I had to kinda sneak my way past traffic to get these shots.

Tired. I must have walked five miles. The palace complex and surrounding museums must have been the size of Disneyland. I was going to go out tonight, but I think I'll pospone till tomorrow and get some rest. The cable here is pretty good. The hotel has basic cable but there are a lot of American movies being played (with Korean subtitles). Korean cable has a fair share of American, Korean, Japanese and Chinese programing. I guess you can say in Southern California, there is a lot of Spanish language broadcasting. Most TV series can be seen on Armed Forces Network.

Entry for April 26th

2006-05-07T22:55:00.000-07:00

Finally touched down in Incheon International Airport. Nice to be back on terra firma! Incheon has one nice looking airport. I think it was built less than 5 years ago primarily to wow visitors to the 2002 World Cup. It's very clean and ultra modern with many automated walk ways, bioinformatic security sensors, 45 inch plasma TVs at every gate and free wireless internet. Incheon clearly blows away and outclasses decaying old airports like LAX.

My aunt (my mother's sister) and uncle picked us up from the airport and drove us to their home on the outskirts of Seoul. My first impression of Korea was just how similar it was to America. Cars in Korea, like cars in the US, have the steering wheel on the left side and all the highways and roads have a similar layout to ones stateside.

However, that is where similarities end. First I noticed it with the billboard signs. There was clearly a lack of, how shall I say, "diversity" number of companies sponsoring the signs. Korea, like many other countries in East Asia, is dominated by conglomerates. The most well known conglomerates are Hyundai, Samsung and LG and are well know stateside for their cars and consumer electronic products. In Korea these companies own anything from credit companies to shipyards. Imagine a nation not with specific companies offering specific products and services, a la Microsoft or Hilton Hotel, and instead has a lot of General Electrics, which has a finger in practically every industry.

Sideways traffic lights or is it that our lights are the ones that are a little skewed?

My aunt's home was built in the 1930's and survived the Korean War. It is in a traditional Korean house with no central cooling and heating. The rooms are arranged in a corridor manner which surround a court yard. I'll explain the rationle for this later.

My aunt loves flowers and I took a picture of the pride of the garden:

After breakfast and lunch at my aunt's house my uncle took me to my hotel, The Lotte World Hotel in Chamshil-Dong. I don't know much about hotels, but the Lotte looked five star to me, reminiscent of the Bonaventure Hotel in Downtown LA when it was first built.

After checking in I took a cab ride to visit my friend Jimmy who was also from Southern California and a fellow USC alumni. He was also in LA to visit relatives and for business purposes. Since we would both be in Korea for two week, Jimmy the last two weeks of the month of April and myself the last week of April and the first week of May, our schedules crossed paths, we had planned to meet at the overlapping week (the last week of April) and explore some of the much fabled nightlife of Seoul as two young, single and swinging Korean American men.

Jimmy was staying at a hotel that is even more swankier then Lotte and is certainly 5 star: the Grand Intercontinental Hotel in Kangnam, the commerical and financial center of Seoul.

Unfortunately, our meeting confirmed some issues Jimmy was hinting on a week a few days before my flight. Apparently, Jimmy's aunt had an accident and was injured. He had come along with his dad and it would insensitive to the family if he went out late at nights. We decided to just hang out that night and half a few drinks. I just got to Seoul early that morning and I was in no shape for a full and active night out. Fortunately, Jimmy had given me sufficent warning before my flight where I was able to made arrangements with some other friends in Seoul... =)

Entry for April 25th

2006-05-07T21:39:00.000-07:00

I pretty much lost this day due to the flight and time difference. One thing I wanted to comment on are the Korean Air stewardesses, or is the new term flight attendant? Anyways, I'm only used to domestic flights so there is a clear difference. First of all, the Korean Air Flight Attendants (FAs) were, uh, how shall I say? Clearly not "career" FAs that work at most U.S. carriers and don't have post-menopause influenced personalities. European carriers, I understand, are no better and are in some cases worse. I hear that Lufthansa FAs are particularly hideous. The Korean Air FAs were in their early to mid 20's, tall, thin and pretty attractive. They spoke decent English too. They wore skirts that, from a distance, looked like they were made of leather, but were clearly of a nylon fabric and short enough to see a good amount of leg. Not "hot" like you would meet them in some club, but attractive and somewhat professional looking.

I hear that FAs from Cathay Pacific and Singapore Airlines are also in this mold. I wonder what it tells you about respective Eastern and Western societies? Maybe nothing? Anyways, I'll just sit back and enjoy the scenery.... =)

Service and food wise, Korean Air was great. The stewardesses were nice, cordial and professional. Food was excellent considering that it's airline food. You get your choice of Western or Korean fare and the food seemed like it was cooked not too long before the flight.

Here are some pictures:

Obviously rice with bulgogi. Not bad. The "Jeju" container is mineral water so no worries about icky airline drinking water.

Korean Bibimbap above. Western food choices was steak (a small one of course), omelet and meatloaf (I think). Btw... I flew economy class.

Entry for April 24th

2006-05-07T20:53:00.000-07:00

Finally taking my first significant vacation in my professional career. After 6 and a half years at Harvey & Company, the firm that I started working at right after graduating from USC in 1999, it was finally time for me to use all the vacation hours I had accumulated. I think I had the second most accumulated vacation time in the entire firm!

I chose Korea because it was finally time to visit my mother's side of the family. My father's side of the family was essentially in the states so I've already seen them several times. Plus, my grandfather on my mother's side was 88 and not in the best of health. All my other grandparents from both sides had already passed away and I wanted to see my maternal grandfather before he would finally pass away. Furthermore, I wanted to explore Korea, the nation of my birth, sightsee and absorb culture. Lastly, exploring its much touted nightlife wouldn't be a bad thing either... =)

I'll be taking two digital cameras along with me to take photos of my journey. The simple to use and small Nikon Coolpix S1 for casual shots.

...and my 10.2 megapixel professional grade Nikon D200.

The time difference between Los Angeles and Seoul is 16 hours. Thus, I left LA at 11:45 pm on Monday and got to Incheon International Airport at 5:00 am Wednesday. I boarded Korean Airlines flight 012 from LAX to Incheon International Airport. It was a 12 hour flight but thank goodness I slept through 8 hours of it. In my opinion, red eyes totally make sense for transoceanic flights. By the time I woke up, only four hours remained so in a sense, it felt like a regular domestic flight to New York or something!