So I slept even better this night thanks to the AC being turned on, that helped a lot π When I woke up Jonas had already messaged me that he was going to meet the others somewhere at 10:30 so we would be leaving the hotel separately. Packed up the last of my stuff and checked out and used Kakao T to get a cab. Apparently, cabs have a lot of stuff in their trunks so I can only fit one of my, to be fair rather large, bags in there. The other followed me into the back seat. The driver seemed to be a nice guy but we didn’t speak on the whole 35-minute trip. The distance was about 25 kilometers, but the last 7 took 75% of the time. It shows how far out from the center we actually were.
He dropped me off at Seoul station and already at the drop-off point I saw a bunch of scouts. A theme that would follow me throughout the day, scouts everywhere. Mostly Brits and Swedes, but even some other nationalities. I entered the station to find a lockbox but the first batch was full, with a group of Swedes hanging out just beside. They told me that there was some sort of facility down in the subway so I headed there when I suddenly bumped into Jonas who was running late and had used said facility. He guided me there but it was full as well so I went back into the station again. Found two more batches of lockboxes but they were all full. Damn scouts with large backpacks! π
Now Lenke had arrived at the station so while she found me I started to search for luggage storage on Google. Found a service called Radical Storage, which showed me a hotel that could hold my luggage just a block away from the station. So we walked over there. The entrance facing the street was locked, but we found a door round the back, with a small staircase behind and a lovely woman atop that accepted the bags, wrote some note, and asked me to take photos of my bags. By showing the photos when retrieving them I would get my bags. Why use the digital support of QR codes and such you might wonder.
Anyhow, next on my agenda was to take a look at two different Korean BBQ restaurants I found yesterday to see if they were able to host a final dinner party tonight for 12 people. Lenke just had to tag along. It was just a few blocks from the luggage storage so we found it pretty quickly. They had one on staff that spoke really good English and after making certain I weren’t with the same Korean party that booked for 12 people at 18:00 clock tonight, they allowed me to make a reservation in my name.
Since this one felt good I didn’t bother checking the other one but communicated to the different parties about when and where. Let’s see who will show up on time π
Lenke and I continued to walk around and started to look for some lunch, and for a place for her friend Pieter to meet up. Several places were closed because it was a Sunday, but we found Hanival Pizza in the basement of Seoul Square Mall. We share a pizza and it was free refills on the soda, just keep them coming! Pieter showed up and got a pizza for him as well. A bit pricey but rather good. At least the pepperoni one. The cheese bomb was too much cheese for my taste.
When we were done we left for the Namdaemun market. However, a few of the streets were closed, again due to it being a Sunday. We found some sunglasses. Pieter looked for a backpack but hesitated. We got some ice cream and lemonade and just chatted away. Time flies when you are having a good time with friends. At 16:30 we split up, they were heading for a palace and I left to find somewhere to rest a bit before heading to the restaurant. Landed in a small cafe just a block from the BBQ place, writing the first part of this blog post while having strawberry juice (more like a smoothie).
While waiting for the others to show up I called mum to check in and tell her the immediate plans. Dinner tonight, flight tomorrow, Singapore here we come!
At around 18:30 everyone except Freyja had arrived and we started to order food. There was already a bunch of side dishes on the table so we ordered meat, rice, and drinks!
We ate, we drank, we talked a lot about the Jamboree, different taxes-system, how a boarding school is running its staff, whether would we choose subcamp again, sports, and lots and lots more. It was a worthy end to this stay in South Korea and I’m so happy that I have had the chance to meet every one of these people. Jonas, my travel companion who follows me to Singapore. Maja and Freyja who we met at the DMZ trip. Harald and Micaela who I met at the Jamboree through Maja and Freyja. Fredrik whom I bonded with, we being the “older” Swedes. And of course, my British friends being both JPT and IST, Graham, Helen, Jenny, Richard, and Rosie. May our paths cross again sometime soon!
After dinner, we said our goodbyes, and me and Jonas went to our two different luggage storage to grab our bags and then got on the train to Incheon Airport. I managed to see all three goals that Sirius scored in the first half before arriving at the airport. The shuttle bus had stopped going at 22 so we just stepped outside and grabbed ourselves a cab. It was well worth the 6000 KRW.
Now checked in, watching the second half of the game Sirius – Kalmar on the laptop while writing this post. Before going to bed I need to do some repacking. Currently, my check-in luggage weighs about 6 kilos too much, but then my hand luggage is almost empty so I think I’ll do fine. Tomorrow at 9 our flight SQ 607 will take us to Singapore.
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