In Soul (no one has thought of that before)
Forgot my coat. Let’s start there. Hungover flying = forgets coat. It’s 0 degrees maximum in Seoul. So great. Absolute genius play.
Anyway –arrived at 4.30pm Monday.
V friendly all — getting a sense of Nunchi already.
No coat though. Shivers
Hotel is swishly sleek = stunning sportswear store, sweeping wood adorned entrance lobby, thoughtful (cloth origami wrapped toiletries) oh, and an enema toilet. With hard and soft lubricant options…thoughtful
Pop to the restaurant for a light salad. Select innocuous sounding crab-cakes and cucumber. It was a dry tsumani of slashing heat pain.
I was warned, I pretended it was fine, sweatily thanked the host profusely as her grin — womanfully — tried not to flicker and took self to bed at 8pm.
Slept tormented by heat tsunami dreams.
Up and at ’em at 5am. No coat. The wait to obtain a coat begins.
So, it’s now 9am. Just went for an icy, confident stroll to extract cash from mystifying ATM. It involves a few random touch-screen take-a-guess ‘choices’ before one lands on option for English.
I mean fair. I’m in Korea soooooo (I’m just cold…)
Wandered about a bit, whereupon stumbled upon Forever 21. They open at 10. I’ll be in there literally to GET MY COAT and thence to commence adventuring.
Think I’ll try the subway. Reporting back later.
Coat donned and much is now right with the world. Swaggered around a bit feeling all local and aware of Winter time (skills, I’m SO skilled now).
Wandered the back streets with the intent of getting lost. Happened instantaneously which was expected and OK-ish (VERY lost though, mini panic etc.)
Made way to correct subway, navigated ticket machine with surprisingly large dose of panache and then spent minutes holding card over not the reader. Panache now somewhat dissipated, moved on through station and made it — right track, right direction — first time. Panache sky-rockets to all time high…
What followed then was a wander around Myeongdong — kinda cosmetics and skincare central in K-Beauty world and was rather a marvel. Not least because I was showered with (well received 2) completely fabulous full size freebies.
So many themes rippling through Korean skincare, from cuteness to clinical, from primacy of the single ingredient to confounding complexity, from the surreal (horse fat masks) to the sublime (100% honey and all things delish).
Was however offered A LOT of anti-aging products … still one swishes on, COAT and all…
After delicious semi-identifiable foods, having already been up and roaming for 8 hours — decided to head home…
Only small error was attempting to exit through what became obviously wrong gate. Literally committed mini-crime of force-shimmying through barrier. Everyone presumably too embarrassed/horrified to apprehend me so I skedaddled off, guilty but exhilarated. I made it! Some panache intact.
Quick pit-stop in hotel café yielded an egg sandwich of milky, yolky pleasure and now to decamp to room to Chill the eff out. Feet have asked for it. They shall receive.
Ventured back out to immerse in K-toys — of the fluffy cute kind — (still not what you think). Confused some people with British apologizing and bought items from guilt. Back to hotel.
