29/9/2002 So Seoul only... I did some more touristy things these 2 days & boy, it's a lot a lot of walking...practically hours. Yesterday, I took the subway (basically, i take the subway to EVERYWHERE coz it's sooo cheap! tho' not the easiest to figure out but a hundred times easier than Tokyo's) to Gyeungbokkung Palace & Independence Gate. The palace was not impressive, looked rather fake as it was purposely built as a university project & it's nothing compared to the Vietnamese & Chinese palaces which were really really awesome. I digressed to the Korean Folk Museum...and guess who was up in Korea's history? Yes, the Korean World Cup & the Kor football team! It was quite an awesome sight. A bunch of boys kicking balls in the historical annals of the country. It speaks a lot abt what the country thinks abt sport amongst its priorities. Then I took the subway to the Sodaemun History Prison Hall. I think the Korean War is either not as horrendous as the other wars or that the museum architects are not up to it. aha. It was ok lah, ended up taking photos of myself using the timer. Hope they turn out. Late afternoon, I took the subway to the reputed shopping belt called Itaewon! Well, there're too many tourists there, too many blacks, ang-mohs and ang-moh fast-food. Then there are consistent bunches of Harley-bikes vrrooming up the 'happening' street so often I don't find them unique anymore. My hunger resisted & I ended up at Steff's Hotdog for dinner. And I bought 4 more World Cup t-shirts in addition to the 2 I already bought. Exhausting the 2 streets, I returned back to my motel in the big pouring cold cruel rain!!! The raindrops here seem much bigger than those back home, and at least 10 deg colder! It was Sat night, so there were nice movies to watch on tv. there was this show starring Eddie Murphy, pretty funny...and those asian games highlights here & there often. But in Korea, u juz tend to think Kor is winning in every sport & in every competition coz that's all they show. I've bought the Korea Herald sometimes but still, Kor wins everything. aha. This morning I woke up really excited because I was going to reward myself with a hot Cuppa Cappucino & choc muffin at Coffee Beans. Then I'll head for the biggest church i.e. Yoida Full Gospel Church, in the world, right here in Seoul. It's headed by Rev David Cho Yonggi. Hmmm, it's really big!! Everything but the seats are big. The cross must have been 50 ft high....and I understood only 'Hallelujah' & 'Amen' in the entire worship & sermon. Yup, it was in traditional korean. I spent my time taking photos of the congregation, the church building & occasionlly flipping thru' my Korean Phrasebook. No chance to explore other parts of the building as the human throng is simply too powerful. There were tons of traffic police directing the human & traffic, obviously i forgot to mention the traffic jam as i was reaching there b4 the service. I proceeded with my itinery which was to head for the Han-Gang river cruise which was supposed to take me to this windsurfing area. I had an hr plus to kill b4 the ferry sets off. Ate lunch out of a Snack Car (a mini-bus) and waited...watched the children feed the pigeons & chasing them... The ferry was kinda of a disappointment. There was this rowdy grp of people who were taking photos during the entire trip & i was forced to abdicate my seat to somewhere photo-taking-free. There was no wind...so the windsurfing was quite a sad scene. Then i walked an hour to the Chamsil subway...half an hr later, back in Myongdong. Next 2 days, I planned it to be relaxing...finish last-min shopping, check out the Hwang-hak Flea Market & come back. Tues, I'll just hang out at my shopping area, shop somemore & pack up. Wed early morn, I'll hv to take the 10am domestic flight to meet Yasuko. I really dunno what to eat for dinner...aha. and it's real crowded outside.