Korea trip, 30Dec

We got up early so Noreen could check out on leave on the on-line system. Noreen was (and still is) having problems with her ID card signing on and sending email (her military ID is a "smart card" that's used to sign on to government computers). It took Noreen 90 min working with the IT help desk getting on and checking out on leave. We had breakfast and then took a taxi to the train station. Took the local train to Dong-Daegu. On the way we passed lots of VERY heavy industry and factories. At Dong-Daegu, we changed to the KTX (Korea's bullet train that runs at 300kph) to Seoul. We had first class tickets, which was nice, giving us bigger seats, TVs in the ceiling of the car showing news or whatever and free wifi! Got into Seoul and my first impression was that Seoul was crazy (and cold!) The train station was a zoo and there were lots of military in uniform (Korean military wear their uniforms out in town), I suspect that they were coming home for New Years or whatever. We grabbed a cab to our hotel (Hamilton Hotel) in Itaewon and we passed a few forts (military bases with 10-12ft high walls). Itaewon is the party district of Seoul; lots of bars, night clubs, restaurants, etc. It used to be overrun with lots of hostess bars, nudie bars, etc. but has gentrified quite a bit. US Forces Korea (USFK) has a map of places that are off limits and it was theoretically updated in Sept, but about 90% of the places listed are gone! Itaewon is aimed at foreigners and the bars & shops are aimed at foreigners, but there are Koreans having a good time there, too.

We had dinner at an Italian place "behind" the hotel and it was sublime, probably the best Italian I've ever had - even the espresso at the end kicked ass. The service was great, and they even had blankets to put over your legs if you were getting cold (despite the heat being on, every time the door opened, the arctic came in!). We walked around Itaewon and froze, it was -10C (barely 15F) at night, so we bought Noreen a scarf and sweater. Had a stogie at a bar and then Noreen had ice cream at Baskin Robbins (which are everywhere in Korea) and back to the hotel.