NUS MBA Business Study Trip To Korea - Sunday Part 3

After lunch we were ready for some serious sightseeing...

The first place we stopped by was this stream which flows through much of central Seoul... It's only quite recently that they made the embankments this way though... I think...




The decorated horse carriages parked nearby made for a pretty sight as well...




From there, we walked to a place called City Hall which consisted of a wide boulevard which contained two statues...



One, of the admiral Yi Sun Shin who helped fight of Japanese attacks in the 1500s....



And the other, of Confucious, whose teachings have had a major influence of Korean thinking and culture...



It was only later that I learnt exactly what this place was called and its significance, which I will leave you to read (partially) for yourself if you wish....



Gwanghwamun Square, as befitting an archetypical city centre, is flanked by cultural buildings such as the opera house (or was it theatre)....



And contains on the pavement at the side a timeline, coated with water, listing the important developments of the Korean peninsula over the years...



But this is really what we were headed for - King Sejong's Palace...




It was he who came up with hangukmal, the standard Korean text used nowadays. It seems he was pretty good at picking a scenic site for his palace as well. Notice the mountains in the background...

And I'm afraid I have to run again, for until the exams are over, I've set myself half-an-hour for blogging each day...

NUS MBA Business Study Trip To Korea - Sunday Part 2

We were met at the hotel by Jong Hee, our delightful MBA classmate and she took it upon herself to show us around during our first hours in Korea.

Of course, big group that we were and no longer possessed of the coach, the subway was the only to go...








Some stretches of the journey sees the train traverse the Han River, giving us some pretty and therapeutic sights...



A word for would be travellers though. If you want to take the subway, you can always buy single trip tickets from the ticket machine shown in the group of photos and below on the left kind of machine...



But very much like in Singapore, if you want to avoid the hassle of doing that for every trip you make, the simple way is to buy a stored value ticket from the machine on the right, of which a closer view is shown below. It is not found at every single station though....




This is what the machine dispenses. Looks very much like a pack of condoms, if you ask me...



Before we left the station, some of the more 'jumpy' members wanted to use the washroom. This is the soap found at the sink for public use. I hope it was of the anti-septic variety...



Once out of the subway system, we were able to take in our first sights of the streets of Seoul....







Lunch was at a rustic looking place... That's an enthusiastic (and probably hungry) member of the group signalling....



I didn't know then... But Kimchi and other side dishes are ubiquitous at all decent restaurants no matter what meal you order and most often free flow...



The highlight of the meal though, was sliced beef which had been simmered in this pot here so that the flavour of the onion and winter melon could permeate it....




One is supposed to wrap it in the salad leaves which are provided, mix it with Kimchi and some of the other vegetables provided...





But I am carnivore personified, so I ate it alone...



As well as with some noodles that were provided (so we didn't lack in carbohydrate)...

Lunch finished, we were ready to do some sightseeing... Which I will have to describe in more detail at a later time because once again, I have to study for my Econs mid-term...

NUS MBA Business Study Trip To Korea - Sunday Part 1

Hi everybody, I was recently in Korea on an MBA business study trip. I arrived there on Sunday 18 September and hoped to give daily updates but am only able to write about my trip now because my hotel room was not possessed of free broadband or wifi...

Anyhow, our plane took off from Singapore Changi Airport at 2350 on Saturday night and we arrived early in the morning at Incheon Airport...






We were met at the airport by a chartered bus. This is our I/C from the MBA office. His name is Aaron and he is really, really cool... I would be having serious palpitations if I were female and he was unattached. However, neither proposition is true so I'm fine.



It was my first time to Korea so I was keen to take pictures of the roads and scenery leading up to Seoul...




Apparently, there is a high speed train from the airport. I say high speed because this thing was clearly travelling faster than our bus, which was not super fast, but not a slouch either...



One thing I noticed early was that the highways are often dotted with pretty, brightly coloured bridges...





After around 45 minutes, we were in Seoul. And this was the National Assembly, which was very nearby our hotel...




And this was where we would stay for the next 6 days....



Checking in with a group of 20 people was always going to be a hassle. Given that I had hardly slept in the airport and that it was too early for us to go to our rooms, I was rather irritable and thus did not take any pictures.

I was not the only one and, sensing our disquiet, it was suggested that we do some sightseeing first....

Have to run now so more of that later....