Assorted stories in Korea

Before I start, I have to advice that followings are merely my personal point of view, things and people that I've came across during my latest trip to Seoul and Jeju Island, they might not represent the country or people in general.

We, group of 6 spent 6 days in Seoul and 4 days in Jeju Island. It's a memorable trip, I wish I could record as many details as possible. Will record the daily itinerary in my later posts, this post just to list down few interesting points that I feel.

1. People

I find that the Korean are very friendly and kind, we encountered some problems in the trip and the people there never hesitate to lend us their hands. For example, on the day we arrived, the owner of the guesthouse overslept and locked us out on the street, an uncle wearing flower shirt (also wearing a sunny smile on his face) passed by offered us his cell phone to call the owner and called the police to help. Although at the end non of him and the police officers can help, but I am grateful for his kind gestures. 

Then a staff who is working in another guesthouse (she is actually a Taiwanese working while learning Korean there) helped us to contact all guesthouse nearby just to get us a place to rest, she speaks fluent Korean, watching her kept talking on the phone at 1 in the morning, I was touched, if I were a guy, I'll definitely fall for her.

Then another day when we were suppose to catch a bus to Nami Island but we missed it, a pedestrian saw us searching up and down and so he came to offer us some help to call the travel agency, suggesting us an alternative way to Nami Island, although he speaks neither English nor Mandarin, I know he was trying his very best to help. How could you not touched by all these?

Will you help a tourist when he/ she looked like in need of any form of help? I won't say no, but I will hesitate, why? Worth think about it.

2. Public toilet

I always got surprise to explore the public toilet in Korea. Usually we will only get surprise when thing happen out of norm. I'm too use to visit a public toilet which has no toilet paper inside, shoe prints on the seat, wet floor, bad smell and etc. Public toilets are not the same in Korea. How can they maintain the toilet so well? Is it because of civilized people or hardworking cleaner or good management system?

3. Language

When I was telling others that I'll be going to Korea, the most common comment that I get is, "are you travel on your own or follow a tour? Communication is an issue there." so, we downloaded apps which can help us to do translation, in case. But, throughout the trip, I don't think language is really a big issue, some of them speak simple English, I even met a guy in MRT and he speaks very fluent English, we can chat about country GDP, safety, tourists spots, economy... And most of the shopping mall, they hire staffs who can speak mandarin as well, of course some of them are China Chinese or Taiwanese, but some are local Korean! They have also a very big banner at the airport written in Chinese, welcome the Chinese (China) to visit their country, smart! Of course there are still a lot of ppl speak only Korean, but again, because they are very friendly, they will try their best way to communicate with u.

4. Fashion trend

Hallyu is real hot everywhere, not only in Asia, but all around the world, and not applicable to only K-pop music, but food and fashion too. Besides the Japanese, Hongkies and Taiwanese, Korean is quite trendy too, I think. But the way the Korean follows the trend is slightly different from the other nations that I mentioned. They are trendy, but not a lot of variation, for example, the shoes, Tom's, I think is in trend, so you will find a lot of youngsters wearing the shoes, as if it's uniform. So, it's not hard to find what's in and what's out at the moment, and now, another in trend item is the big black frame spectacles.

5. Plastic surgery
I am not an expert in differentiating people before and after plastic surgery, my friends said most of the Koreans have done that, erm... I have no comment, but generally, I think the lady, sorry to say, most of them are not natural beauty, they wear heavy makeup, nice to see from far but not close up, so, even they have nice skin, I can't tell what's hiding under the makeup.
Korean, no matter guy or gal, they have big frame, not fat, but just bigger in size, so for guys, they have nice body, I think the reasons might be they take good care of their out look (so they go to gym) and they have to serve in the army too, wow, they are real hot (applicable to their bodies only, not the face, lol). However, for the gals, big frame isn't an usual term we use to describe a beautiful lady.  

6. Safety
I think Seoul is a safe city, at least you don't feel threaten when you are walking alone late night. Friends said because we didn't read the newspaper, we only spend few days there, so we can't really judge, yes, we can't judge but I can feel, compare to some of the countries I visited throughout the years, I think Seoul is safe.
Not to mention in Jeju Island, they have these terms Samda: 3 abundancies (rocks, wind and women) and Sammu: 3 lacks (thief, gate and beggar). From the Sammu, you can tell how safe is this wonderful island.

7. Living expenses
The living expenses in Korea is quite high compare to other Asia countries, a bowl of instant noodle by the roadside costed about RM9, well, I think this is expensive. And anything that labelled "Made in Korea" usually charge higher compare to imported stuffs. However in another hand, the duty free stuffs are worth buying, but those stuffs are usually branded items. So, if you are intended to buy branded items (bags, cosmetics, clothes, skin care and etc.), you will be happy to shop till drop!

So, that how I see and feel about Seoul and Jeju Island... will definitely visit these places again, till I save enough "bullets"...