Getting there was a bit of an ordeal. I boarded my plane and was all ready to go, when the captain announced there was a mechanical problem and we had to wait for an engineer to fix it. Waiting, waiting...then the new announcement was that we had to de-plane and quickly head down the terminal to use another plane. Thennn we had the wait at the new gate for another hour...two hours...first because they were prepping the plane, then because they needed to find a new crew due to labor union laws of work hours...they gave us meal vouchers for lunch...and after I had lunch, I saw everyone standing in a longggg line...to rebook! *exasperated sigh* SO I stood in line for another hour or two, and luckily I was able to take the evening flight through Korean Air instead, but I had to wait a few more hours than that. I'm not kidding when I say I spent over 12 hours at LAX, ugh! I got another meal voucher, had cake and coffee for dinner, haha, and because of the delay, I missed my first night in Korea (waste of hotel fare, *sigh*).
Nevertheless I was quite happy to land in Incheon the next morning and headed to my hotel in Yeoksam-dong 역삼동, which is one train stop or a short walk to Gangnam 강남. After showering and resting, I met up with a high school friend who lives in Korea. We walked around Gangnam a bit and then had kbbq in Sinsa-dong 신사동. Of course, Korean barbeque in Korea is a must!
This was my first time having yeoltan bulgogi 열탄블고기, which is charcoal grilled marinated pork. It's sliced thinner and is a bit more crispy than pork bulgogi 돼지 블고기 that I usually eat. Very tasty!
We also had 7 Minute Pork Kimchi Jjigae 7분 돼지 김치찌개. You add the kimchi stew and toasted seaweed and mix it with your rice. I love kimchi jjigae, it's one of my Korean comfort foods, keke.
Let me backtrack a bit and show you my hotel room. I had to read tons of reviews beforehand and ended up choosing this affordable business class hotel room since the location was very convenient, near both Gangnam station and also the airport bus stop.
The entrance. I didn't know at first that I had to leave my hotel key in the slot for the lights to stay on, haha. Oh the joys of traveling to a foreign country and staying at hotel that doesn't have signs on everything.
View from the entrance.You can see my luggage, hehe.
I love having a matching pink set because I can see my luggage from a mile away, it makes it so easy to find my luggage when picking up from the checked baggage area. And yes, one was empty, haha! I'd actually put the medium luggage inside the large luggage, and when I came back home, of course, all of my luggage was full.
The room was rather large and...roomy. It was also Korean style in that it had heated wooden floors, which sometimes made my feet hot, haha, so wearing house slippers was kind of a must.
On the downside, there was no closet or dresser for my clothes, so I kept my clothes in my luggage at first and then eventually just utilized the sofa. Also, the lighting was really dim. It was a bit difficult for me to apply makeup the first few days, until I got used to it and just stood in front of the window. On the plus side, I could open the window and stick my hand out to see what the weather was like, hehe.
The bathroom was also very spacious and Korean style with an open shower and a drain in the floor, and the entire washroom is set lower than the main room to avoid flooding. There was a large jacuzzi tub but the jets didn't work.
(The potty area was next to the door and shower, and had its own glass door.)
The hotel provided large bottles of Happy Bath Natural body wash and Mise en Scène shampoo and conditioner.
The Happy Bath body wash smelled nice but unfortunately was a bit drying on my skin. (That tends to be the case for me with Asian brands.)
Mise en Scène Pearl Shining line. Not bad but not spectacular either.
And lastly...money, honey! Korean won. I'd exchanged my currency back home before leaving since I'd heard I'd get better rate (but I still lost quite a bit, boooo). I'd asked for mixed bills but why the bank gave me so many 5,000 and 1,000 bills is beyond me. That's the equivalent of carrying hundreds of dollars in $5 and $1 bills, haha.
My stacks depleted a bit after hauling skin care and cosmetics. Yikes!
I shall continue with my Korea trip posts next time (and the next time, and the time after the next time, and the next, next, next time...). I hope you're all enjoying your weekend!
