This year seems to be a year of flight delays.
NETS FlashPay Card and the case for free top-ups
Since my EZLink card disappeared from my wallet, I weighed the pros and cons of the two CEPAS compliant cards available in Singapore today: The EZLink Card and the NETS FlashPay Card.
From the picture, you can guess which card I went with.
But first, let me complain a bit.
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Old Neighbourhood of Bukchon and Ewha Womans University
Who would’ve thought a big city would fall asleep on 1st January?
Turns out this happens in Seoul. Major department stores are closed. Some small shops open.
And it turns out majority of the galleries and shops in the Bukchon & Samcheongdong area, found between the two famous palaces of Gyeongbok Palace and Changdeok Palace, were closed.
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Garosugil, Insadong, Dongdaemun Markets, Cheonggyecheon at Night
New Year’s Eve and we decided to not set the alarm clock as we had to the day before. But the body clock, all out of whack got us up around 8am.
We got to the trendy gingko tree lined street of Garosugil by 9:30am and discovered half the shops were closed for the new year, and those that were planning on being open only opened their doors around 11am.
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The DMZ
On 30th December, the third day of our visit to Seoul, we headed to the demilitarized zone along the border separating North from South.
After so many expectations, getting a 7-day pre-tour approval to visit it because Singapore is under the UN’s list of restricted countries, making sure we didn’t break any of the dress code, waking up early to get to the tour office by 8am, the tour was a letdown.
Deosukgung Walk, Gyeonghuigung, Revitalised Cheonggyecheon
29th December. I woke up super hungry in Seoul.
Out of the hotel, we turned around the corner and found noodles. We pointed at pictures without any real idea of what we ordered.
While waiting, we had the kimchi. Out of all the restaurants, I enjoyed this version of the kimchi best. The cold soup of raw vegetables reminded me that I’ve had very few greens and fruit on my US trip.
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An introduction to Seoul
Unlike my earlier trip to Hong Kong where I did a little reading on the country, I visited Seoul with zero expectations of it, except for my already-booked tour to the DMZ.
Besides the confusing names, arriving in about an hour late at around 6:45pm, it was dark, and after a flight where I barely got sleep, it felt like it was 11pm.
More eating in the US of A
Okay, so off to Yosemite we head after LA.
At the famous Ahwahnee, with its massive (taller than me) fireplace, large dining hall etc, we were faced with a very limited yawn-inducing lunch menu of mainly sandwiches.
The service was slow. In this grand hall of 50 tables, only 5 were taken at the time we went in and most tables only had two-somes – we still had to wait a good twenty minutes for our sandwiches. Perhaps the assumption is that we’d love the grandeur of the dining hall so much that we would wait.
But hungry people do not have the stomach for good views. We were just waiting and wondering when food would come.
Bits and Bites
So some people have been bugging me about updates about my trip.
Since I’m already back for two days, I guess it’s long overdue. But this will only cover the US portion of the trip. Most food photos were taken with my mobile phone, in available lighting, no flash, so some were really crappy.
Anyway, here goes:
Rain Rain Go Away
The car, caked with mud from Yosemite, is cleaner after many hours of rain driving along the Oregon coast.
My photos are filled with raindrops and condensation. Freezing. Tomorow, have planned many more layers including thermals.
