Well I've put off this post for quite some time, mostly because I am lazy. But I'm glad I finally decided to get down to it because it would mean I've successfully finish writing about one trip! That's quite an achievement for me!
So let's get down to it. Our last day in Korea is a pretty low key affair, par one or two minor incidents.
We slept in and checked out late because there wasn't much on the agenda today. That's mainly due to the fact that our flight back to Singapore is around 6.30PM (local time) ,which means we have to be at the airport around 4PM.
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Our first destination was, in our guide's words "the widest road in Seoul."
I quoted him because I can't remember what is the name of the road.
In the middle of the road was a monument dedicated to one for the legendary generals in Korean history. Again, I can't remember what his name was. (In my defense, this was an unplanned pit stop and I was sleeping on the coach prior to this pit stop.)
If you noticed, the general is holding his sword on his left-hand. This despite the fact that his right hand was his master arm. The reason for this is because he always appear in public with the sword on his left-hand to symbolise peace. At the same time, if Korea's enemies try to be funny with him, he'll hack their heads off!
There's not much to do around this area, shopping or otherwise. So...
Expecting something else?
Near the monument, there's an exhibition about the Korean war in the 1950-1953.
It reads: "The most countries to support an ally in war is 67 and was achieved by nations supporting the Republic of Korea during the Korean War of 1950-1953."
Guinness Books of Records leh. Don't play play. It is a war, that technically, has not ended, and led to the division of the country and the establishment of the Demilitarized Zone.
The flags of all the 67 nations were flown in the exhibition.
There was quite a heavy police presence around the exhibition and I was told this was due to the fact that a protest took place around the area a few days ago. Not quite sure what the protest was about though.
Near the exhibition was a river, again I can't remember what the name of the river is.
This river used to be really dirty and clogged (sounds like our very own Singapore River), but the government ordered an extensive clean up operation (again, like Singapore River) to bring it to the way it is now.
Very clean, as you can see.
It's summer and also the school holidays, so there're kids playing by the river banks.
Not to worries though, the river is only slightly deeper than ankle-deep.
We spent only about 40 minutes around this area before heading out to our next destination, a major shopping area.
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It was around the Sinchon Train Station.
Sinchon Station. It's damn freaking big.
This shopping district is well know also because one of the country's best university is located. More on that later.
This was where we parted ways with the Thong family (with the adorable Chloe and Russell) and the grad-trippers Yi Hui, Peck and Audry.
Not before we took a group photo with the two Mr. Kims!
Yi Hui and I also took a photo with Stitch :)
Yes, yes. Cue the scandalous rumors (-.-)'''
Apart from myself, I think she has the most photos of Stitch in her camera among the grad-trippers!
We then parted ways and went on with our shopping, etc.
The streets are very much like Bugis Street, nothing out of the ordinary. So I decided to visit the well-known Ewha Woman's University. Around the university are shops selling anything but textbooks! Sounds like our very own Singapore Management University (SMU), located in the heart of our city.
It is widely regarded as the top women's university in S. Korea, and the largest women's university in the world. It is one of a number of women universities in S. Korea, what I heard is that these universities are set up exclusively for women because the founders (obviously women) wanted every women in the society to be well-respected.
The University's main entrance.
Like our universities, they also have an open campus so members of the public can walk in and out freely. With nothing to shop for, I decided to take a walk around the campus.
Country to the popular belief, and as the name of the university, suggests, it is not exclusively for the ladies only. This policy is only true for the locals. There are male students around, though its only 1%-2% of those I saw.
These male students are foreign exchange students. How do I know this? That's because Ewha Woman's University is a partner university for NTU's exchange programme. And we were told that guys can apply for exchange spots there too.
The university's infrastructure really puts NTU's green campus to shame.
I can't speak for NUS and SMU, but having been to both campus, I can safely say that Ewha's campus is a whole lot larger than all our three local universities.
Their buildings have a rather Victorian design, yet, the facilities are certainly very new and well-kept.
We spent about 1 hour half in this area and prepared to set off to the airport. We made a quick uneventful pit stop at one of the wholeseller for folks to do some last minute shopping for snacks and gifts. Uneventful, so no photos.
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We reached the airport around 4PM local time.
While our Singaporean guide, Sally checked in for us, we were busy taking photos with our local guides.
Me with Mr. Kim I
Me with Mr. Kim II aka Superman
After checking-in our luggage and saying our goodbyes, we entered the customs and grabbed a quick meal before boarding our flight.
It was quite a walk from the gate to the plane! At least a good 2-3 minutes walk!
Got escalator some more!
Bye bye, S. Korea :(
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Epilogue
Roughly two weeks after our return, I met up with the grad-trippers and the Thong family for dinner. It was a Friday and we met after work. I came from town too because I went for a pre-employment medical check-up that afternoon.
Dinner at Swensens, J8.
I used this as an opportunity to pass them my photos but I forgot to bring the CD for Russell and Chloe! I haven't gotten around to posting the CD to them, I'd better get it done before I start my career >.<
We also updated each other what happened after we parted ways that day. Mainly, it was me hearing about what they did for the three extended days. The ladies told us about their trip to the DMZ while the Thongs told us about their dining experience in a local restaurant (no unlimited refills like we had with the tour. Haha.)
But what touched us grad-trippers the most is that the two lovable kids made cards for us!
Damn cute right!
Thanks Chloe & Russell! Jie-jies and Kor-kor are very touched! :))
When we're not talking to the kids, we chatted about our careers and Mr. Thong was sharing his experience working in the banking/finance sector, something that some of us will find familiar.
We dined at Swensens (Thanks for treating us, Mr. & Mrs Thong!) and had Yogurt and Coffee Bean after, before parting ways close to 11PM.
Made a lot of good friends on this trip that I'll treasure loads!
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Sneak preview of my next post!
The Adelphi Theatre, London
Love Never Dies! The sequel to one of the longest running musicals of all time, The Phantom of the Opera.
I know that I'm extremely backlogged, with my Europe Summer '10 Escape, 3 Hong Kong, 1 Taiwan and the recent Melbourne trips not done. But I just came back from Melbourne a few days ago, and caught the Melbourne production of Love Never Dies and it was simply amazing I can't wait to share with y'all about it!
Having caught the original London production and the new, re-written version in Melbourne. I shall merge both experiences into one post!
Will try to get this post out by the end of the week, so stay tuned!
Thanks for reading! <3
