Seoul…. Over crowded city of south Korea.

                                             BIG BABY…..PLASTIC SURGERY…..LOVE MOTELS…..MEN LOVE MAKEUP.

 

In 1996  I visited south Korea for the first time and then I had the opportunity to visit this country many times. Almost sun was near to set when our plane landed at Incheon air port which consistently held top position amongst best air ports of the world. It had excellent passenger terminals, very attractive shopping facilities and food options across multiple levels. It took almost one hour to get clearance from immigration desk. . As I had not booked my hotel in advance, so I went straight to tourism counter for assistance to get some good hotel at reasonable charges, where a young pretty Korean women was busy in dealing with other passengers. After waiting for more than half an hour, it was now my turn to reach to this lady who was very polite but very weak in spoken English. Upon asking regarding  availability of  room in any good hotels, she referred two hotels having some rooms available, one is Clover Tourism hotel and the other is Hotel Hawaii, charges of both hotels are the same i.e. $.150/- per night. Upon my request she managed to book a room in Clover tourism hotel, It took 20 minutes to reach there by taxi. After completing reception counter formalities,  attendant  took me to my room which had flooring beds.Main purpose of my this  visit was to participate in International trade fair which was scheduled to open next morning, so after having dinner I went to bed and it took few moments to reach me in deep sleep having  wonderful dreams of lot of visitors at my stall. Although During my participation in this trade fair I met many Korean business men. but names of two persons are worth mentioning, One of them was Mrs. Kim and the other was Mr.Song,Chang Suk. They both became my valued buyer later. On the closing day  of trade fair Mr. Song invited me for a dinner. He, very proudly told me that he was going to arrange a special dish. When I insisted to know the name of that special dish..He said  ” Gaegogi”….. I whispered  Gaegogi ? what is this,I asked. It is most energetic  dish which is made with DOG MEAT. For me it was a shocking information that Korean eat dog meat but later on I came to know that in China’s annual YULIN festival in which thousands of dogs and cats are killed and eaten.Mr.Song told me that there are more than 14000 dog meat farms nation wise and approximately 2 million dogs are butchered every year. I asked for some other Korean dish as I do not and cannot eat dog meat. He told me that I can take ” KIMCHI” . He further told me that Baechu’ Kimchi is the most popular dish which is made of rinse cabbage leaves with ginger, green onion, red pepper and garlic. However I preferred to take Kkakdugi- which is cubed reddish kimchi.

 

During and after the meal Mr. Song told me many things about his country that were really very interesting and fascinating for me. According to him,south Korean are extremely superstitious people. They believe that there are many things in the universe telling us what is correct and what is wrong. Most people clearly live through out their lives believing in these superstitious , For example people believe that number 4 is a symbol of bad luck…..writing any body’s name in red color is meant for death. Korean people generally avoid to sleep with fan on in bed room as they believe this could kill someone ,that is the reason automatic shut off on fan are seen in the market. They also believe  that whistling during night is call for ghosts and spirits. They believe that  gifting shoes to some one might cause them to run away from you .Another astonishing fact……Babies are considered to be one year old at birth.

My next two visits to Korea were just to see the entire country and some business doings. Now Mrs. Kim was with me and was kind enough to take me to several worth seeing spots,like  Changdeokgung palace, Itaewon,Gyeongju,Buckchon Hanok Village and Busan. She provided  lot of information about this wonderful country .We went  to Changdeokgung Royal Palace.Its construction was started in the year 1405 and completed in 1412.During Japanese invasion this palace was burnt and was re-constructed in 1609.

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Than we went to Itaewon, which is known as “WESTERN TOWN”.It is fantastic locale and fascination for travelers and guests. . It is a business area of Seoul situated near Yongsan Garrison of USA forces in Korea.This is outsiders inviting area notable for Restaurants, International cuisine,shops,clubs and bars that intrigue to outsiders. This region is phenomenal for a few and awful for other people. It is an accommodating environment and well worth go to. Seoul is stacked with a few areas and milestones, which incorporate Gyeongbok-guk, Changdeok-gung, Deoksu-gung, Olympic Park, Namsan Park, Yeouido Park, Jongmyo Shrine and Seoul Tower.In Itaewon,there was a Pakistani restaurant named Mughal Pakistani café.

After that we went to BUSAN. Significant ocean port of Korea is Busan which offers a powerful blend of superb mountains, tropical sea shores and old Buddhist sanctuaries, making it one of the greatest enamoring spots to visit in South Korea. What’s extra, the city has a marvelous film celebration notwithstanding delectably crisp fish. To appreciate top notch perspectives on various Korean town, climb your way up to the summit of Jangan Mountain.Following day she took me to ” ISLAND OF GOD” individuals call it right now. This is Jeju island. which is one of the most sentimental spot and best area for Honeymoon. It has lavish green view, magma tubes and awesome sea shores.Love Hotels are famous in South Korea. They include modest, themed rooms with incredible embellishments where a couple can connect for a nigh.

South Korean men love cosmetics, and spend near about 900 million dollars every year for utilization of cosmetic products. Roughly over 20 percent of the male population of Korea use cosmetics for their makeup daily. . BB cream foundation is the product of choice, but facial cleansers, anti-ageing moisturizes, and eye creams are also extremely popular. There are even TV shows dedicated to the subject. It is not so much about fashion as it is business. Korean job market is very competitive & doing makeup is all part of the game. These guys want to make up for giving good impressions in their job interviews by hiding their blemishes and looking like VIPs. It looks like in Korea, makeup really does make the man.

South Korea is the biggest market for plastic medical procedure per capita on the planet. It is assessed between 1/5 and 1/3 of the ladies in Seoul have gone under plastic medical procedure for in any event once in her life. City of Gangnam has more than 525 cosmetic surgery centre alone. Mrs. Kim told me that person who do not marry is called “BIG BABY”.Korean parents  spend in excess of 21 percent of their salary on training and instructive administrations in an offer to support their kids’ learning.

 

Majority of Korean people are in love  with shopping that is the reason  greatest shopping centers are there. A few restaurants, bars and bistros stay open till 11.30 pm. Taking a gander at the tops of houses are bended at the closures giving the presence of a grin. One of the largest departmental store is located in Busan.It is called Shinsegae. This is probably ironic since South Korea has one of the fastest Internet connections in the world, faster than that in the US. Yet, it is the only country that doesn’t provide driving or walking directions on Google Maps. Interestingly, it is also something that North Korea has but South Korea doesn’t. The North Korean leader is not known in good words. In fact, according to the law, it’s illegal to sympathize with North Korean leader and the North Korean regime. Doing so could even land you in jail.

N Seoul Tower. …

Explore the Bukchon Hanok Traditional Village. …

National Museum of Korea. …

Lotte World Tower. …

Visit the DMZ. …

Gyeongbokgung Palace. …

Seoul Museum of Art. …

Blue House.

it was the last day of my trip to KOREA after been to JEJU and Busan, I  had a relaxing final day going to the jagalchi fish market . The underground shopping is good experience as I had bought a lot of chocolate and candy for WARDA & HYRA (my two very sweet daughters)