So, I woke up the next morning after that ill-fated night at the noraebang in Sinchon. I had only the vaguest recollection of staggering up the steps, hailing a taxi, and riding for what seemed like hours in it, all the way back across town back down to Jamsil and my hotel. Mind you, I didn't have any recollections at all until my head stopped hurting, and at the outset that seemed like a pretty tall order. It was fit to split. I woke up and it was as if somebody had driven a pickaxe through my brain. I lay prostrate on my bed, willing every muscle to go limp, readjusting my position every few minutes (hours?). It did no good. Finally I couldn't stand it any more and lurched into the bathroom for a scalding hot shower. I resolved, as I leaned against the wall of the shower with my eyes closed, relishing the miracle of hot running water, that I would never touch that devilish soju again.
Conditions were much improved after I exited the shower, toweled off, dressed (The Matrix was playing on the TV...thank goodness for English-language movie channels), then headed outside to find something to eat. I managed to locate a Sizzler steakhouse. Yep, they've got those in Korea too. I ate a rather large meal of barbecue pork ribs with a side of potato and veggies, paid up, and headed outside.
My resolve had not weakened. Even in the darkest hours of my Hangover Recovery Time, lying on my hotel bed and clutching it like it was the International Space Station and I an astronaut with no tether, I had promised myself that I would not let this precious final full day in Korea's capital city elapse without making use of it. Indeed, I was now feeling better than ever...it was almost as though I had a normal everyday garden-variety hangover instead of the apocalyptic demon I had woken up with.
I still felt a little fragile, however, so my choice of attractions was simple: the Han River, a mere ten minute's walk from my hotel, in the opposite direction of the COEX Mall (north). I had planned this early on before coming to Seoul. At some point I would journey to the Han River, cross the Yongdong Bridge, descend to the riverbank, and rent a bicycle at a stall shown on the map in my guidebook. I'd then bike along the river for a ways and take photos.
Stages 1-3 of that plan came off like a charm. It was the penultimate one, the renting of a bicycle, that was a bust. The vendor was shut up for the holiday. Darn! Oh well. It was still a beautiful day, if a bit muted. The wind was blowing chill and the sun was obscured by halfhearted clouds, but it peeked through at pivotal moments. I strolled along the footpath, heading east, and managed some good photos of the partially frozen river and Ttukseom Riverside Park:
After a half-hour or so I returned to my room, a little let down but glad I'd still gotten to see what I did. I sat down in my room to take a break and warm up. I switched on another movie and marshaled my faculties. I decided to make another excursion. Lotte World, the Korean Disneyland, was out of the question: a bit of a jaunt even though it was in the same district, and like as not shut up for the holiday as well. That left Olympic Park. It was just a hop, skip and a jump away, a few stops on the pink line from Jamsil proper. That sounded nice and easy: a stroll through a famous park on a winter's evening at sunset. I waited until I saw the sunlight trickling amiably through the curtains at an acute angle, then grabbed my stuff and split. It was a slight hike to the subway station, but one stop later I was at my destination. Whoever designed the station at Jamsil had planned well. From the bottom of the stairs at the Olympic Park exit, the staircase seems to open up into a vast trapezoid of endless blue sky. It is not until your head emerges from the ground and your feet lift you into cold, clear air that Olympic Park takes you full in the face, lit by the glow of the dying sun:
I spent the next hour or two wandering around this place, taking photos like any flathead gumshoe tourist. There's one of the fluttering flags of the dozens of nations that took part in the 1988 Seoul Olympics to which the park is dedicated...
One depicts scores of bundled-up Koreans ice-skating on a rink set up in the center of the park...
Another few take in the Olympic Museum (shut for Seolnar), the lovable statues of tigers dressed in hanbok (Korean ceremonial dress) in front of it; the sunlit skyline of Jamsil; lovers pedaling around on side-by-side two-person bicycles shielded from the wintry air by sheets of plastic; and the eternal flame under the World Peace Gate at the entrance to the park, fluttering in the frigid, friendly breeze.
And that was that. I walked around a bit more, saw a few buildings, grabbed a delicious raisin cookie and a warm bun with chocolate chips embedded in it at a nearby bakery, then munched my way back to the subway station. On the way to my hotel I stopped by a Family Mart and bought up about thirty thousand won's worth of junk food and snacks. Then I toted the lot back to my room, switched on the telly, and had a flippantly lazy, unhealthy feast.
Then I shut out the lights and went to bed. Next up: BONGEUNSA BUDDHIST TEMPLE AND HOMEWARD!
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