South Korea

 Letter No. 255

Dear all,

CHRISTMAS & NEW YEAR We had a fabulous Christmas Day as usual with Lisa & Andrew, Mum & Dad and Andrew’s extended family. Three days later we set off on our summer holiday; this year a week at Noosa over New Year as we had international trips planned later in the year. We had a lovely two-bedroom apartment on Noosa Sound a short walk from Hastings Street. We had a day on the beach and a family dinner at Ricky’s Bar and Grill on the first night. We spent a couple of evenings teaching Jessica about alcoholic drinks and cocktails. She had been having trouble never knowing what to order at bars as she didn’t know what she liked (or even what drinks were called). We ordered different drinks for her to try and Pina Coladas and Cosmopolitans got the thumbs up. On Sunday we went to Peregian for the markets and beach and then to the Boathouse for dinner. It was a lovely bar and restaurant with fantastic views over the Noosa river to watch the sun go down.

The next day we hired a speed boat and cruised around the river and the canals looking at all the mansions. We walked to Hell’s Gate in the Noosa National Park the next morning which was New Year’s Eve. There were quite a few of our friends up at Noosa and we kept bumping into people we knew. On New Year’s Eve we were invited to Kylie and Alf’s house in Sunshine Beach. We caught an Uber to Sunshine about 5pm and managed to get a lift back at midnight. Matt and Jessie both had plans with friends in Brisbane at New Year, so they drove back that afternoon. Katie and I had a couple of quiet days at the beach before heading home. It was a lovely summer break.

JANUARY On Sunday 5^th January we went with a group of friends to the Magic Millions Polo at the Gold Coast. There was a minibus to take us there and back. We were in a private marquee with lunch and drinks included so it was a merry afternoon. There were three polo games and it was great fun to watch. They were apparently using a “slow” puck and real polo is faster; it was very impressive though.  There were a few celebrities including Zara Phillips (who was playing), Mike Tindall, Rebel Wilson (who is married to a famous polo player), Jet Kenny and Billy Slater. We are not really into celebrity spotting, but Katie is always excited to see a member of the royal family.

MATT’S TRIP On 9^th January we took Matt to the airport and said goodbye as he set off for his exciting six-month trip overseas, with six weeks travelling and then a semester at Shanghai Jiao Tong University studying law and international relations. Matt was so excited about this opportunity to live and study in China after nine years of learning Mandarin Chinese at school and Uni. His first destination was Hong Kong to catch up with our friends Paul Hart & Diane Powers and their kids, Ian & Cathy Muir and kids, followed by a few days in Macau. Matt had an absolute ball in Hong Kong and was very well looked after by everyone. After that he was flying on to Tokyo to meet a group of friends for a week’s skiing in Hakuba and then 10 days touring around Japan, followed by ten days in South Korea with me (I was also bringing his suitcase with all his stuff for his uni semester) before he flew on to China.

Back in Brisbane, Katie and I had two days at the Brisbane International Tennis. The tickets were my Christmas present from Katie. It is only a five-minute drive to the stadium in Tennyson. Jess dropped us off (useful at last) and we Ubered home. There were three games each day in the day-time session. They were all women’s matches and we saw lots of the women’s greats (Madison Keys, Karolina Pliskova, Petra Kvitova, Naomi Osaka, Kiki Bertens). Sadly Ash Barty had crashed out of the tournament fairly early but we had a great two days. We felt inspired so played tennis ourselves on Sunday morning.

On 18^th January Katie and I went to see Elton John at Sirromet Winery. It had been quite wet so the organisers decided to make it a 4WD only event. Luckily we were going with a friend Libby who had a 4WD and was happy to drive. We arrived at 4pm and sat in the car until it stopped raining. We went in with just enough time to eat, have a drink or two and get to our seats before Elton came on at 7pm. He was fabulous and there was hardly any rain at all during the concert so it worked out well. A really great evening.

Matt had a fantastic time skiing and touring in Japan. Meanwhile the world was just beginning to hear rumours about an unknown virus in Wuhan, China which was a bit concerning. Wuhan is 1000km from Shanghai and at this point there was not much known about the virus which sounded a bit like SARS. The next weekend was the Australia Day weekend and we went to a nice barbeque party at our friends Nathan and Sigrid. It was on the day before Australia Day (politically correct so as not to offend Aboriginal people). Nathan had smoked a huge pork leg and we had delicious pulled pork for a late lunch about 5pm before ubering home. I cycled over and picked up my car the next day.

Over the next ten days some big changes happened. Brexit took place in the UK on 31 January, somewhat anti-climactic after four years of waiting. This was overshadowed by the emergence of Coronavirus which was now clearly a major problem in China, although not anywhere else at this point. Matt had an email from Shanghai JT University saying that the semester start date would be delayed. Two days later the Australian Government introduced travel restrictions to China and the next day UQ emailed Matt to say that his study semester in China had actually been cancelled. Matt was devastated. He phoned us from Kyoto to discuss what to do. After a lot of soul-searching and several phone calls, we agreed together that he should continue on through Japan with the boys and then on to South Korea as planned. I would still fly to meet him for our planned ski trip (obviously minus his suitcase ☹). Matt would have to cancel his flight from Seoul to Shanghai and then fly back to Australia after the ski trip with me, avoiding China at all costs. In the end he had to get a flight routed through the Philippines which was the only viable option at the time. He would have to re-enrol into UQ for the coming semester if possible. It was a challenging few days.

FEBRUARY – Trip to SOUTH KOREA  1-12 Feb 2020

Day 1 - BRISBANE TO SEOUL.  It was a nine-hour flight followed by a two-hour train and taxi ride to my hotel. I didn’t arrive till 8:30pm. The room was small but traditional - mattress on the floor, wet bathroom, crappy plumbing and no storage. I went for a walk around. There was a street market all around the hotel. It was mainly selling winter coats. I found a little local restaurant and had dinner before heading back to bed.

Day 2 - SEOUL.  I woke up at 5am and decided to go for a walk. It was pretty cold. About a block from the hotel I found the Dongdaemun History & Cultural Park. It is an amazing freeform building which is also a museum. The building itself was really amazing with curved surfaces, arches and spectacular cantilevers. I also walked along a section of the Seoul city wall, portions of which were built in the 14th century. I decided I wasn’t dressed warmly enough and went back to get more clothes.

After breakfast I caught the subway to the Korean War Memorial. The building was surrounded by a huge collection of boats, planes, helicopters, tanks, missiles and other military hardware from the Korean War. There were also some spectacular statues and memorials so it took me over an hour to look around the outside. The memorial is also a very good and well-organised military museum. There is a marked route around the building tracing every war the Korean people have been in since 3000BC. They seem to have been in a constant state of war for 5000 years! The Korean and Vietnamese Wars were the most interesting. I was there for over four hours.

After a coffee I caught a cab to Namsan Seoul Tower. There is a cable car to the top of Mt Namsan in the middle of the city but I caught the bus up. The tower is 240m tall and has unrivalled views across Seoul. It was a little foggy but still worth the visit. After a late lunch and wander around the peak I decided to walk down. I asked the tourist desk. The lady was convinced I was mad and said I had to catch the bus. She told me it would take more than 30 minutes and was too far! I set off without directions and managed to find civilisation after an easy 3km downhill walk.

That evening I went to the apartment of Beth Cave & Rob McBride who are friends from our Hong Kong days who have recently relocated to Seoul. I admired the views over the Korean Palaces before we went out for dinner in a nearby nightlife district. It was a cool area with funky restaurants in old buildings in twisty narrow lanes. After dinner we went to a wine bar for a nightcap before cabbing home. It was so great to catch up with Beth and Rob.

Day 3 - SEOUL.  Beth took me on a walking tour of Seoul today. We walked 21km setting off around 9am and wandered around the business district and looked at the embassies, Town Hall, Rob’s office building, around the outside of the historic Palaces, the President’s house (Blue House) before getting to the Bukchon Hanoi Village. This is an area of hundreds of traditional Korean houses (Hanok) many of which have been transformed into cultural centres, coffee shops and shopping districts in quirky, winding, hilly streets. We stopped twice, once in a cafe and the second time in a tea house at the top of a hill with fantastic views over the tiled roofs back to the city.

We kept walking up the mountain until we made it to the Seoul Fortress Wall. The inner wall is mostly complete and 28km long. It has castellations along the full length and follows the ridges of the hills. It has very good views over the city all the way. We got back to the city by 2:30pm and has a quick lunch from some street stalls before walking back to our respective apartments. It was a long day but very interesting and I got to see parts of Seoul the typical tourist wouldn’t. Thanks tour guide Beth.

Matt arrived from Japan in the afternoon, having travelled from Hiroshima that morning and we met in the lobby of our hotel. That night we went on for a traditional Korean BBQ Food Tour which Matt had bought for me for my birthday. We met the tour guide and one other person at a nearby subway and after a short walk were in the restaurant. The host was very amusing and gave us lots of information about Korea and BBQ etiquette. The meal was BBQ pork cooked on a tray with heat supplied by a pot of red-hot steel bolts. Surrounding the tray was a groove in which there was a mixture of garlic, onions, eggs, kimchi and other vegetables. We also had traditional Korean milk beer which looked like fizzy milk but tasted like beer. The food was delicious! After an hour or so we were surprised to find out we were going to another restaurant. It was a short walk away and from a street stall we selected a huge variety of seafood and other Korean foods such as pancakes. These were given to the staff and we then went through a “secret” door and upstairs to a pub. This time we had two types of Korean Sake – this is nothing like the Japanese type and nowhere as near alcoholic. We were quite full but the food showed up about 15 minutes later and was delicious with a few more rounds of Sake.

Day 4 - SEOUL.  We caught the metro to go to visit some Korean Palaces that the Royal Family lived in from 1600s until 1910. We were visiting the “second” Palace of Seoul as it has a fabulous “Secret Garden” behind the palace. When we got out of the subway, Matthew noticed a sign for the Constitutional Law Court of Korea. We had to take a diversion to see it and get a selfie. Matthew proceeded to tell me about the impeachment of two previous Korean Presidents that had happened in that court. He knew a ridiculous amount about it!

After this slight detour we got to the Secret Garden tour and had an hour and a half wandering around the gardens and looking at the beautiful wooden buildings hidden in the trees. It was really great, even though winter is the worst season to visit as many trees have lost all their leaves. All the ponds were frozen with the poor fish swimming around under the ice. After the tour we spent another hour wandering around the huge palace buildings before a coffee to warm up! I was a little surprised when Matthew said he wanted to visit the “First” Palace as well as I was feeling quite palaced out.  It was only a short walk but unfortunately for Matt it was closed on Tuesdays.

We wandered on a bit further and found a traditional Korean restaurant for lunch. We had an unintended but great vegetarian meal of rice, vegetables and a kimchi pancake.  We wandered on into the city, past city hall and accidentally found a huge underground museum which told the story of the Korean King who invented the Korean alphabet. There are a ridiculous number of museums in Seoul and all the ones I have been to were brilliant. We went home for showers and a rest before catching a taxi out to meet Beth and Rob for dinner at an excellent and very quirky pizza and beer restaurant. Beth and Rob hadn’t seen Matthew since he was about eight! We had a really nice evening chatting about everything with lots of discussion about Coronavirus!

Day 5 – Demilitarised Zone (DMZ). Today we had to get up early for our full day tour to the Korean Demilitarised Zone. It was minus 12 degrees! We were on a tour with one other couple. After picking them up it was a 50-minute drive to the DMZ and we were not allowed to cross into it. Sometimes you can go further into the DMZ but this changes on a day-by-day basis depending on political tensions. We stopped at The Bridge of Freedom and the Peace Bell on Donkgae Bridge first. There were interesting displays about the DMZ and a half-completed bridge the South Koreans had built waiting for the day the DMZ can be demolished. There was a barbed wire fence with manned watch towers every 500m for 248km and lots of heavily armed South Korean soldiers everywhere.

Next we went on to North Korean Life Observatory. This is basically a huge four-storey building built with banks of binoculars to look over the DMZ into a North Korean village to watch the peasants going about their daily activities. The North Koreans have built a huge monument to Kim Jong-un in the village facing South Korea. There are also heavily fortified and manned watch towers on the North Korean side. Behind the fence the peasants go about their daily lives farming the land watched by tourists. It was fascinating and also quite disturbing. We watched for ages.

Back to Seoul we went to the Korean War Memorial. I had been a few days earlier and thought I had seen everything however the guide took us to a new portion I had not seen which was even better than the bits I had seen. We went into a movie theatre where the seats shook and moved and it took you through the American invasion of Incheon during the War. It seemed very realistic! We only had an hour at the Memorial and I didn’t see anything twice.

We had a late lunch of Korean Chicken BBQ which was by far the best chicken I have had in a restaurant before wandering around the city centre for a while. Matthew decided to get a Korean haircut so went off to do that while I wandered around the streets looking at all the interesting shops. That evening we went to Myeong-dong Street markets. It was only a short subway ride and we had dinner from the street stalls. I had lobster thermidor and garlic prawns - yum. Unfortunately you had to eat on the street and take your gloves off to eat and it was still minus 12 degrees! You couldn’t leave your gloves off for long! We had a nice wander around the markets but it was too cold to linger so we went home to bed.

Days 6-10 – SKIING in PYEONGCHANG. It was an hour and a half train ride to the PyeongChang Ski resort where the 2018 Winter Olympics were held. We arrived at the Intercontinental Hotel in Alpensia about 1pm. Alpensia is about a five-minute cab ride from the main ski resort in PyeongChang. We had tried to stay in PyeongChang but couldn’t get accommodation there. The Intercontinental was quite luxurious though and our room was huge. We spent the afternoon organising ski gear and having a look around the resort. It was very easy to get a cab in the morning and were on the ski slope by 9am. The first day skiing was a Friday and very quiet so there were no queues for the ski lifts. There were three main mountains to ski from and we had four full days of skiing. By the last day we were managing to ski every run in the one day. It wasn’t a huge ski resort but fine for the amount of time we were there.

The restaurants in PyeongChang were better than Alpensia so two evenings we took a change of clothes and went straight out at 5pm after skiing. One night we did ten pin bowling which was great fun and another night we had Korean BBQ again. You can never have too many Korean BBQ dinners in Korea.

Day 11 – PyeongChang to Seoul to Brisbane

On our last morning we caught a taxi over to look at the ski-jump stadium and the cross-country ski course. Sadly it was closed on Mondays so we couldn’t go to the top of the ski-jump. It didn’t really matter as we could walk around and see everything anyway. We walked up to the top of the ski jump hill to see the view before walking through the snow back to our hotel. We took a train back to Seoul at noon and I went straight to the airport, leaving Matt in Seoul for a couple more days. I flew overnight and arrived back in Brisbane at 6am on Wednesday 12^th February and went straight to work.

Matt’s flight home was routed via Manila in the Philippines. He decided to stay a few days in Manila and was even considering going to a beach resort in Palawan for a while. In the end he decided not to as he didn’t really have the right clothes for a beach holiday and also had to get back to sort out his next semester. He arrived home on Tuesday 18^th February.  Luckily we both left South Korea about one week before the heavy restrictions on travel from Korea were introduced. Interesting times.

Cheers

Derek, Katie, Matthew, Jessica and Molly.