A week in Korea Posted on: 12 April 2019 :: Photo Credits: Huaiwei Mate SE ::
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Preface
This year the 14th ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) was held in Daegu, Korea. I got an opportunity to attend this conference and present the first paper of my Ph.D. journey (though this was just a side project, it still counts!). To make the most of this trip, I stayed in Seoul for an extra four days after the conference.
Day : 1
Location : Seoul-Daegu
After a journey of more than 24hrs, I and one of my lab mates arrived early morning in Seoul Incheon Airport. We exchanged our dollars for Korean Won on the airport and bought a local SIM card (SK Telecom, 10 days unlimited 4G data). Initially we had planned to go to Seoul city by train and then take another train to Daegu. But we found that there was a direct bus from Incheon Airport to Daegu, which took almost the same time as the Incheon-Seoul-Daegu train.
From the Daegu station, we were supposed to take a cab to our hotel. But the cab drivers did not speak English. Thanks to “Google Translate” we managed to convey the name of our hotel and got inside the cab. We were tracking our GPS location in the map and soon realized that he was going in the opposite direction. It turned out that there were two hotels with the same name! Once again “Google Translate” came to our rescue and he turned towards the correct hotel. The conference venue was right across the street from our hotel.
There was an all-you-can-eat Korean Buffet in the conference venue. The food was delicious and cheap ($7!), and they had a lot of options, even for a vegetarian like me. After a brief look at the intimidating presentation hall (600 capacity!), we returned to the hotel and spent the rest of the day preparing for our presentations.
Day : 2,3,4 (Conference Days)
Location : Daegu
These three days were action-packed with presentations and networking in the conference. Every day began with this spectacular view from our hotel room, followed by a sumptuous all-you-can-eat breakfast.
My presentation went well, and since it was on the first day itself, I could enjoy most of the conference with a relaxed mind. The banquet on the first day was a bit underwhelming for a vegetarian. The informal dinner on the second day turned out to be fun as it was accompanied by a plenary talk by Jangwon Lee, a Korean celebrity and member of the “Peppertones” rock band.
As soon as the conference ended on the third day, we boarded a train to Seoul.
We reached Seoul late at night and took the subway to our respective hostels/guesthouses.
I had booked a room in the “Guesthouse Korea” in Jongno-Gu part of the city. But when I reached the location as per “Kakao Maps” (Korean alternative to “Google Maps”), there was no such hotel! It turned out that the hotel’s ownership was transferred, and the new owners had changed the name. Fortunately, they were able to retrieve my booking. The staff was very friendly, and the new management even provided me a complementary upgrade as I was their first guest!
Day : 5
Location : Seoul
As soon as I got out of my bed, I was pleasantly surprized by the heated floor (“Ondol”). This is a unique feature of the traditional Korean architecture and a must have experience in Korea! The locality of this hotel had traditional Korean architecture as it was situated just beside the Changdeokgung Palace, the second “Grand Palace” built by the Joseon Dynasty in 14th century.
I started my day by roaming around a nearby 14th century Korean traditional village called Bukchon Hanok. This preserved village is situated on top of a hill and has lots of Hanoks (traditional Korean houses) and Hanbok rental shops (traditional Korean dress) lined up along alleys.
My next destination was the National Folk Museum of Korea, situated to the North of Gyeongbokgung (main Royal Palace). Many tourists were wearing Hanboks in the streets. Surprisingly, there were also a lot of young Korean women wearing Hanboks (apparently there is a recent trend of posting pictures wearing these dresses on social media in Korea).
The locality around the National Folk Museum had a lot of art galleries, with a mix of modern and traditional art forms.
Near the entrance of the museum, there were full size replicas of the guardian posts and sacred poles from different regions of Korea. The information board read: “Traditional Korean villages had a shrine for the guardian spirit at the back of the village, and guardian posts, sacred poles, stone stacks, and sacred trees at the village entrance. Villagers worshipped these sites, praying for safety and an abundant harvest.”
The museum had different galleries showcasing the Korean Traditional daily life and rituals.
As hunger rolled in, I started searching (online!) for vegetarian food options in the area. Following the advice on this website (https://10mag.com/the-best-vegetarian-and-vegan-restaurants-in-seoul/), I went to the “Osegye Hyang” restaurant in Insadong. One of my friends also joined there. The restaurant had a list of famous vegetarian celebrities put up on a wall near the entrance. The interior was decorated with trees and the dining tables had traditional heated floor (“Ondol”) sitting arrangement. The food was delicious! (they even had vegetarian Korean BBQ!!)
After lunch we went to the majestic Gyeongbokung Palace, the main royal palace of the Joseon Dynasty built in 1395.
Fortunately, we arrived in time to join a free one hour guided tour in English. The enthusiastic tour guide gave us interesting information about the Korean history, specifically the Joseon Dynasty. She also explained some of the nuances of this palace’s architecture, such as the meaning of the figures on the rooftops, floor heating technology, design of the curved roofs etc. (I would highly recommend this tour!)
After finishing the guided tour of Gyeongbokung Palace, we went to the National Museum of Korea. This museum houses some of the most prominent cultural and military artifacts and artworks of Korea, and is one of the largest museums in Asia. The galleries spanned prehistoric and ancient history to medieval and early modern history.
We ended our day by visiting the Itaewon district, a multicultural foreigner friendly neighbourhood known for its vibrant nightlife and international cuisine restaurants.
Day : 6
Location : Seoul
Today was the most awaited day of the trip! I and one of my lab mates had booked a half day tour of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea. The tour began with a 2hr bus ride from Seoul to the DMZ, with an enthusiastic tour guide. The journey passed by quickly due to her engaging narration of the North Korea-South Korea war history. The bus made a quick stop at the Paju outlet near the entrance of DMZ. There were some war memorial plaques near the site, and a railway engine from the war.
A wooden bridge led to a fenced wall with South Korean Flags (not a border with North Korea though).
Our next stop was Dorasan Station, a symbol of the hope for eventual Korean unification.
The restored station had pictures of the meetings between North-South Korean leaders.
Then we drove towards the 3rd infiltration tunnel, one of the four known tunnels under the border between North Korea and South Korea. But there was a long que. So, our tour guide decided to take us to the observation tower which offered views of the North Korean territory. This observation tower was the most awaited location of DMZ tour. Unfortunately, a dense fog had covered the entire area and we could not see anything beyond a few meters.
We ended up watching the recorded footage of the view on a TV screen inside the building and then returned to the 3rd infiltration tunnel.
This tunnel is 250ft below the ground and runs about 1 mile. South Korea has installed 3 thick walls on the border of North-South Korea inside this tunnel to prevent intruders. It took us around an hour to go to and return from the end of the tunnel inside the South Korean territory. Since no electronic devices were permitted inside the tunnel, we couldn’t click any pictures. The next activity was supposed to be a screening of documentary on North-South Korea war. But we decided to skip the documentary and go back to the observation tower. Fortunately, the weather became clearer and we could see the North Korean territory from the tower.
This ended the DMZ tour and we drove back to Seoul. We got down from the bus near Gwanghwamun Plaza. This public open space was bustling with protestors carrying slogans like “No China, No North Korea, No Communism”
The plaza has statues of Admiral Yi Sun-sin (a naval commander famed for his victories against the Japanese navy during Imjin war in the Joseon Dynasty) and King Sejong (4th king of the Joseon dynasty of Korea).
I had planned to do today’s lunch in Seoul’s most famous Vegan Temple food restaurant “Sanchon”. Like “Osegye Hang”, this restaurant’s interior was also decorated with trees and the dining tables had traditional heated floor (“Ondol”) sitting arrangement.
Their full course menu had 16 different dishes which were served in four courses. The appetizers included a porridge, fried kelf of dried laver with grain, jellied food and dhania leaves. This was followed by various kinds of pancakes and Geotjeori (Fresh vegetables salad dressed with soybean paste and red pepper paste).
The main course had seven varieties of wild herbs and vegetables, kimchi, potatoes glazed with soy sauce, seasoned wild deodeok roots, side dishes making seasonal vegetables, chop suey mixed with various vegetables and mushrooms, rice with all kinds of beans and stew with bean paste, tofu, mushrooms, raddish, red pepper. And finally, the dessert included sticky rice pastries.
After this sumptuous meal, it was time for some Kpop experience. I took a bus to the Gangnam District and walked along the Garosu gil Road (aka K-Star road). There were so many Cosmetic and Plastic surgery shops (probably Koreans are obsessed with their skin!)
Finally, I roamed around the Gangnam Square in Gangnam Style! With its skyscrapers and huge screens, this part of the town felt like Manhattan.
The day ended with some Indian food with lab mates at the backdrop of Bollywood songs.
Day : 7
Location : Seoul
Today I had decided to spend most of the day relaxing in a Jjimjilbang (Korean Sauna & Bath House). Siloam Sauna looked like a good choice as it was close to the Seoul station and was reasonably priced.
This five storeyed Sauna had gender separate bathing areas and lockers on the ground floor and common areas on rest of the floors. The bathing area had different types of sauna/baths such as mist sauna, salt sauna, stone sauna, cold bath, salt bath, massage bath etc. After spending a couple of hours in this area, I went upstairs to check out other facilities. The second floor had a restaurant and a meeting place, while the third floor was dedicated to entertainment facilities including a TV room, PC room, singing room, party room, table tennis and fitness room.
On the fourth floor, there were various fomentation rooms (claimed to improve blood circulation, relieve stress and even lose weight!). The fifth floor had men’s and women’s sleeping rooms, and even a Snore Room!
In the evening, I went to the Namsan Tower (N-Seoul Tower) to watch the sunset. Located on the Namsan mountain, this tower offers panoramic views of the city.
The first and second floors of the plaza had a lot of hearts and lovelocks!
As the sunset approached, everyone gathered on the viewing deck. I watched the sunset facing New Delhi!
After spending around an hour on the tower, I took the elevator down to the ground level. The city-lights and a lit-up N Seoul Tower looked stunning from the Namsan Mountain.
By the time I returned to Insadong, it was already past 10PM and all the vegetarian restaurants were closed. Fortunately, I stumbled across a (shady!) Chinese Restaurant that had a tofu dish in their menu (it tasted horrible!). For desserts I got Kkul-tarae, aka Korean court cake.
Day : 8
Location : Seoul
I left my hotel before the dawn and with a final look at the Changdeokgung Palace boarded a bus to the airport. This ended the first conference trip of my PhD (hopefully many more to come!)
