The Best Is Yet To Come

The girl was awake before 3.am. Worse than that, she actually expected me to be awake too. When I finally got up, she was ready to get this shown on the road for our first full day in Seoul.

We took off in search of breakfast and found a Starbucks among the hustle and bustle of the morning commute, which, with the benefit of hindsight wasn’t the best entry into Korean interaction. With much anxiety, we made it through and Nia actually ended up with the drink she wanted.

Even at 9am you can feel the heat creeping up and it leads you to wonder why so many people wear black clothes here. We found our way to the Co-ex mall with a stop at McDonald’s on the way. A friend had told Nia that if she were to see one in Korea, she was to take a photo of the menu! We went in and immediately realized our first roadblock was that there was no English in the menu. Yes, I realize we’re in a foreign country but …McDonald’s! Papago for the win though— the language app I had downloaded for the trip came through for us and the counter assistant responded to “I’m sorry, I don’t speak Korean!” with, “okay?”

The Co-ex mall was a grand place filled with fancy stores and refreshing cool air. We wandered to the Starfield Library, a central spot with shelves a story high filled with books, books and more books! It’s a beautiful place to sit, to read, or to simply people watch — and of course, the obligatory photo op!

After a quick walk over to Samseong station we bought T-cards. Or at least attempted to, but it took a helpful stranger who instinctively came to our aid as we fumbled with the machine. Minutes later we were on our first immaculate and very quiet subway ride. We reached Jamsil station and, by trial and error the Lotte Tower where we were to meet Nia’s friend from school who lives close by. When Stephanie arrived with her father, they were excited to have us experience the best Korean beef and took us to a wonderful restaurant inside the tower.

The food was quick to arrive. At the head of the table, the beef was cooked in front of us on what looked like an installed hot plate and the side dishes took the rest of the table space. There’s Kimchi in front of me! We found it already!!! The server brought a huge bowl of Cold Noodles and gestures to cut them with the scissors she’d also brought. I smiled at her but she was having none of that and continued to instruct, pointing to the vinegar. I was about to pour it all into my small bowl of noodles when she yelped and stopped me — then took my noodles and vinegar and dumped it back into the large bowl, stirring everything before serving me a small bowl again. I guess I got that wrong, and when I looked up, I saw she’d gotten a giggle out of it so the laugh was on me and all was well.

After lunch, we conquered the Lotte Sky Tower, traveling by elevator at what seemed like the speed of light, to the top. The highest building in Seoul at 1,821 feet and with 23 floors it has a spectacular view of the entire city and surrounds. The glass floor is not for the faint hearted, for sure and you can guarantee Nia went out of her way to make a TikTok at the highest point.

By the time we needed to leave, we were ready — the day had been long. And hot. And busy. We crashed pretty much as soon as we got back and at about 11.30pm, I was awake again (thanks Jet-lag) to the sounds of BTS on tv singing “The Best is Yet to Come.” I don’t know if it was a sign or not because today was really pretty great.Читать далее