Lost in Trans...portation

I don't know which one got lost today. Me or my bus.


There were signs that this was going to happen. The change of buses and route, that is.  I meant real signs, not 'omen' signs. Signs were posted on the bus stop and on the bus door. And today was it!


So this morning on my way to work, I went down to the bus stop excited to catch the new bus. Problem was I didn't know the new number! And is it the same green color?  The bus numbers and routes on the bus stop were not yet updated!


And then it came rolling down the hilly Hannam-dong, a green bus with a different four-digit number. It's the new bus, but I wouldn't know if this one would take me to Yongsan Station. It's coming nearer...and nearer, and I hardly had the time to think if to take it or skip it. It stopped before me and the driver welcomed me, not with open arms, but with an open door. I decided to get on!


Stepping into the new bus armed with my bus card and instincts, I wished myself a lot of freakin' luck. Ha-ha-ha! 


The new bus is almost empty. I could relax, not many passengers! But when I looked around and saw the other passengers' faces, I started to panic. "Oh-oh", I hushed myself. They all looked like they weren't sure if they were on the right bus either! Ha-ha-ha!


I suddenly rose from my comfortable seat and tried to study the bus route pasted by the window. Instead of looking like a simple list of bus stops, it looked to me like the periodic table of chemical elements! All symbols and numbers! Ha-ha-ha! Luckily, with my basic hangeul, I was able to read it, but unluckily, I realized I was indeed on the wrong bus! Ha-ha-ha!


If I could only scream in Tagalog, "Ma-mâ, para!" (Driver, stop!), I would have. But....


Think! Quick! 


I decided to get off on the next stop. And it turned out, all the other passengers also got off on the next stop!  I counted: six passengers, one mistake. Ha-ha-ha!


So, there I was. Standing at an unfamiliar bus stop, somewhere between home and office. Cold and lost....and late for work! Ha-ha-ha!


I checked the bus stop pole for list of buses, and voila! A familiar color...blue! A familiar number...149! This one stops near my office!


And just after a minute, the bus with that color and number swung around the corner. I wanted to wish the other lost passengers some luck before I left them, but I realized I myself had no luck to share that morning. Ha-ha-ha!  No luck even for an empty cab.


This bus had a different route which would meander through the whole Ichon-dong, but ends up at Yongsan area just the same. 


And so I just let history repeat itself:  got on an almost empty bus, found a comfortable seat, but this time a different ending:  got off at the right bus stop!

The Sleepy Bus Ride

Vacation's over!  


After nine days of no work courtesy of the Seollal holidays in Korea, it's back to the office!


I tried to wake up early, but my sleepy eyes couldn't get themselves to open because for the last nine days they open up to the world at 10 AM, sometimes 11, sometimes....Well, sometimes. Ha-ha-ha!


But today, Monday, the first day of trying to earn a living again, I had to drag my heavy ass (heavier to non-stop eating during the holidays) out of the bed, into the cold shower, and then to finally put on the thick and heavy winter clothes.


Out of the apartment, I crossed the main street and waited at the bus stop, in the cold holding a bag containing some snacks to bring to the office:  Eng Bee Tin's ube hopia (from the freezer), pecorino cheese (from Rome) and green tea (from my friend Cora who left Seoul a week ago).


And when the bus finally arrived, I hopped on and got a seat at the back and by the window so I could entertain myself with any traffic scenery and shake off this vacation hangover, little by little, kilometer by kilometer.


I then realized how few the passengers were that morning. Perhaps they were still asleep, comfortably on their warm beds while, I, among the brave few, struggled with the cold and the sleepiness...on the bus!


As the idiom goes, the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. In my case,  flesh is sleepy and the spirit sleepier.


Perhaps tons of work will spring me out of this, or perhaps a cup of cafe mocha with two shots of espresso. But I think I know exactly what I need:  another vacation...


Zzzzzzzz.......

Seollal: Worth The Trip!

Early this week, millions were on the road, on the train tracks, on the ferries and on planes (and may be on foot, too?) to be with families and relatives during the Seollal holidays.

Some of my Korean friends whose parents live within Seoul are very lucky, but for those who had to travel to the provinces, the highways were jammed with about 400,000 cars, according to estimates. 

And today, the end of the holidays, all those vehicles are coming back home, filling up the highways again with tired vacationers, who must have gained weight from all the Seollal food and drinks, and with luggage filled with happy memories.  Driving back home would be long and slow, but getting stuck in the traffic is definitely worth the trip!

Takoyaki!

When I was still in Manila, I had to go to a mall just so I could enjoy this delicacy of Japanese origin.

But lucky me, there's one kiosk nearby, down the street in Seoul where I work that sells....takoyaki!

What is takoyaki?  Well, in Japanese, tako means octopus, and yaki means cooked or grilled.  And if further translated it means cheap and yummy if bathed in sauce and covered with katsuobushi (tuna shavings)!

These round balls are cooked in takoyaki pans, where the batter of the recipe is molded and turned into a savory dish good enough for a snack or lunch!

And whenever I'm in downtown Seoul, I swing by the takoyaki shop at Lotte's food court (where I'm already a suki), and I always ask them to put more sauce and tuna shavings!

So, from Japan, to Seoul...and finally, to my tummy! Takoyaki!

My New (Lunar) Year Resolution: Writing The Honest Complaint Blogs!

I finally found a new year's resolution.


I have decided to write about things (or people) that irritate me, annoy me and that waste my money. This could be a cafe, a restaurant, a public servant, a trip, an airline....or a neighbor! Ha-ha-ha! 


I started this blog in 2009 for a tourism competition in Korea (which got me an MP3 player as a prize), and to share with everyone my trips and experience around Seoul and everywhere else.


But today, I have decided to make time for complaints for bad service and experience. 


And to borrow Sir Isaac Newton's third law of motion, "for every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction".  I will be reacting to a bad menu, bad service, bad experience and bad people.


I will try to make it as constructive as possible, knowing that any bad service has nowhere to go but better, or perhaps, up. And these people can always learn a thing or two to make their product, food, service and the way they deal with people (like me) better. 


I have already written blogs praising good service and good food. But I don't remember writing one to complain.


I have enjoyed writing about good experiences, but I have a feeling I would even enjoy writing about the bad ones.


Now, let me see who deserves the honor of the first complaint...

The Han: Seoul's Frozen River

This has been the coldest winter I have experienced in Korea. I have been used to not wearing a scarf during the past winters, but this time, I had to and I hated it. I felt like I would get strangled by my scarf if it gets stuck between subway doors. Ha-ha-ha! Not a glamorous way to die. I could already see the headline: 
"Clumsy subway passenger strangled by own scarf... between Samgakji and Hanggangjin Stations". Ha-ha-ha! (Knock on wood!)


Going back to the cold winter.


As my bus navigates every morning through the expressway near the Han River, I, along with the other passengers, would look out the window and gaze to our left to observe the frozen river, all white and covered with blocks of ice slowly floating near its banks. This gave me an idea. What about taking a photo of the frozen river...from a higher altitude?


And which building near the Han River has the highest floor accessible to everyone? The 63 Korea Life Insurance Building!

The 63 KLI Building has a view deck on its 60th floor, and an aquarium on its basement. And for a fee, you can enjoy the view from up there. But thanks to my friend Andrew, I didn't have to pay for it. He gave me a free ticket!

So, on a holiday, I visited the building and took the elevator up to its 60th floor, the Sky Art floor, and from there, the view of a frozen city! 

I could see the snowed Nam-san, my very cold neighborhood in Yongsan-gu and of course, the frozen Han River.


Enjoy the cold photos...

                                                      

Seollal in Seoul: The Lunar New Year

Seollal. The lunar new year. Another year has passed. But what a year that was. Some tragedies, some good stories.

In March last year, the whole of South Korea mourned the death of the 46 sailors who lost their lives when their ship was torpedoed, and in November, everything went from tensioned to scary when the Yeongpyeong Island came under artillery fire from North Korea.

But there were good stories, too. Kim Yu-na won South Korea’s first Olympic gold in figure skating at the Vancouver Winter Olympics, and Seoul successfully hosted its first G20 summit in November.

And in June, I joined the thousands of football fans at the Sangam World Cup Stadium to watch South Korea play against Argentina, and my first essay in Pilipino won the 2^nd prize at the Jose Rizal essay writing contest.  In March, my humble winter photo was aired by CNN, no less!

But perhaps, two of the most memorable highlights of my year were participating in the Philippine national elections by casting my vote in Korea through the overseas absentee voting in April, which saw the election of a new Philippine president, Noynoy Aquino, replacing Gloria’s rotten presidency.  Gosh, that woman mismanaged the country!

The other memorable highlight?  Seeing Angelina Jolie in person in July!  I was speechless when I saw her first at her press conference, but then I had fun when I saw her again at the premiere of her movie, SALT. She was just stunning and gorgeous, and I could watch that film over and over and over….again. Ha-ha-ha!

Well, life has been good during the past year, and I am thankful for that.  We all have our ups and downs, and we should be thankful for both, too. We learn from the challenges and trials, and we must appreciate and be grateful for the blessings and good times.

I don’t know what’s in store for me in the next months. I don’t want any tragedies and sad stories. But if they come, I will accept them as they are, and still consider myself lucky.  I will not be counting the months though; I will just take it one day at a time.

So, as I watch that last sunset of the passing lunar year (yes, I took that photo above from my window), I wish everyone a better, happier and richer lunar new year!

May this year be fun, fruitful and good for all of us!