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Olympic Stadium in Seoul |
Soon we reached the Olympic Stadium . The cold didn't really hit us until we
entered the Stadium . Then it came in a swift wave and many of us left the place
in search of a warmer refuge . However Shirley and me persevered and walked
down to the tracks while shivering away . After a while , we couldn't stand it any
longer and thus joined up with Joanne and sought shelter in the museum nearby .
Our next stop was Toksugung Palace which is within downtown . There are some
furniture preserved within the buildings for display but we are not allowed
to enter the individual buildings and could only admire from outside . After a
while , after walking through the palace grounds , Joanne , Shirley and me left
and headed towards the subway . There we had a very interesting encounter with
a guy who thought that we took his picture . Due to the language barrier , this
misunderstanding was never resolved so we ended up standing there , smiling while
he launched a barrage of words which meant nothing to us upon us . Thankfully
he walked away soon probably after realizing that we didn't understand him anyway.
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Statue in Toksugung Palace |
After a delicious lunch of glutinous rice within chicken in ginseng soup , we went to Shilla Duty Free Centre which is just an ordinary shopping centre and isn't really worth the time spent there in my opinion.
Next up is the famous Itaewon shopping strip . When i heard of it , i thought it was just a shopping centre but it turned out to be a street . Here , one can purchase almost anything one could want . I bought a Korean drum which i ended up dropping on the floor twice because of the cold . In the end a part chipped off but luckily it wasn't so bad and i got it fixed when i returned home . As it was quite windy , we all felt the effects of the cold , especially Shirley who wore only a sweater . In the end , we ended up entering shops just to enjoy their heaters . The most funny part was when Shirley ended up squatting on the floor trying to escape the cold . Bargaining is a must in Itaewon as the prices initially offered were exorbitant . Even after bargaining , the prices were sometimes much higher than i was willing to pay .
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View outside Olympic Hotel |
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Namdaemun Market |
When we went to the airport, I saw heavily armed policemen patrolling the airport with dogs . Makes us feel a little uneasy . And when i was
checking in , the customs had a problem with the amount of batteries i was carrying but
fortunately i was allowed through .I guess all this is due to the forthcoming elections as well as the distrust of North Korea . Also i noticed that the people i passed by on the streets have a tendency to push around. Nonetheless, my trip in
Seoul has been fun because of the various new experiences it offered me though my stay
here has been brief .
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Itaewon |
