Somehow, these panic attacks have helped me in good ways. They made me self-doubt many a times and I tend to be more cautious about certain things and events happening around me. Before any trip, I would check and re-check and re-re-check everything to make sure I had everything with me -passport, time of departure, money etc. I had never taken an early morning flight before and thankfully, for my self-doubt, I did not miss my flight to Korea. What happened was I ALMOST mixed up my flight day.
I was supposed to depart on 31 March, Tuesday at 1.10 a.m. My mind was programmed to reach the airport on Tuesday, at 11.10 p.m., 2 hourse before departure. Nothing wrong with that, right? WRONG! SO WRONG! A couple of days before the departure, somehow, something nudged me to re-check my flight and the timing again. Something was amiss. It was then I realised that I got my timing mixed up! The flight was supposed to be early morning on Tuesday which meant I would need to reach the airport on Monday evening, 11.10 p.m. and NOT Tuesday evening! Imagine the consequences of NOT checking! A lesson learnt.
All set and ready to fly. I was thankful that the seat beside me was empty so that I could stretch a little more and sleep more comfortably during the flight. Everything went quite smoothly until the touch down. As I walked towards the arrival hall, I could feel the cold - not from the air-conditioning but the weather. I did not bring any thick clothing with me except for a wind-breaker which obviously was not enough to keep me warm. I did not expect Spring to be this cold and all I had in my luggage were short sleeve shirts and shorts. As always, I got to bear with it somehow.
Coming out from the arrival hall, I made my way to the nearest 7-11 to buy the EG SIM card as well as T-money card. T-money card works the same way as EZ-link card in Singapore. You use it to pay for travelling on the metro and buses. The EG SIM card were sold out so I walked further to look for GS25, another type of convenience store in Korea. The EG SIM card costed W30,000 and the sad news was I ended up not being able to use it. Somehow, it did not work with my handphone or I did not understand how to activate it. Money wasted. The T-money card costed W25 000. There is no stored value in the card. You will need to top up an amount before using it. You can do that upon purchase.
I went to take a walk around the airport, hoping to find a map at the information counter while looking for the counter to purchase my bus ticket. I was thankful that I found this guide book which proved to be really useful later on. It became my survival guide in Korea. I found the counter to purchase my bus ticket finally. The Koreans called these buses 'Airport Limousine'. It should be as comfortable as its name. I showed the staff the apartment address and the bus number which I was told to take. I was issued a ticket and they pointed to the direction where I was supposed to wait for the bus.
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| 5B - bus stand; 6002 - bus number |
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| Tap and pay with T-money card |
It was indeed a very comfortable ride. There were not that many passengers and it was pretty quiet in the bus. It was a long ride from the airport to the city. I believe it took more than an hour. Before reaching each bus-stop, there would be an announcement in a number of languages. Be prepared to press the bell and alight.
I reached my destination and alighted. There were buildings everywhere but with no indications where my apartment was unlike Singapore where block numbers are displayed prominently. The owner told me it was across the street from where I alighted but there were many buildings and I had no idea which one to go to. It was so not me to ask around for help but under such desperate measures, I had to do what I hated to do. I went from one convenience store to another, asking and checking for directions. It began to drizzle and I was carrying my heavy luggage around. It started to wear me out. The staff at each convenience store were really nice enough to use their phones to help me do a Google Map search. They told me that although I was in the right place, the address was incomplete and that they did not have an idea where the building was. I started to panic. Here I was tired and cold, trying to get to the apartment as soon as possible and I could not find it.
I tried to access the wifi available and I saw that the owner sent me an email, asking whether I had arrived. I told him I was lost. I did not wait for his reply as the wifi was quite unstable and went to another convenience store to try asking for directions again. I told the staff the name of the apartment and he tried to google search it on his phone. I knew that it was just a name that the owner came up with and could not be found on any search but I did not know how to convey that to let him know. The search came up with a hotel name and I told him it was not that. He insisted on calling for me. I accepted his offer but as it turned out, it was not what I was looking for. He then asked if I had the telephone number of the owner and chided me when I replied that I did not. I was ready to burst into tears from that and the exhaustion. That was a hard lesson learnt. I tried to tell him it was fine and I was ready to go on my own to search (which I had no idea how) but he insisted on helping me without failing to chide me at the same time. I told him that the owner actually communicated with me through email and he offered to let me tap on his wifi to check if he had responded. The owner did send me another email, indicating the address in Korean this time. He told me to use that and ask around. After reading that email, the staff pointed to a building across the street and told me that it was supposed to be there. I thanked him profusely and went across the street.
Little did I know that there were a couple of entrance to the building and I had no idea which floor or unit I was supposed to go to. I was too embarrassed to turn back for help. Then I met this security guard. I told him I was looking for this apartment and I came from Singapore. "Lee Kuan Yew!" he said. I just did a little nod with a smile. He must have heard what had happened. He looked at my address and brought me to this hostel within the building. I told him it was not the place and he insisted on calling the owner. The owner kept asking if I wanted a room in the hostel and I told him no. After hanging up, he brought me to another hostel and asked the staff to help me. The staff was nice enough to offer me a drink and I told him what had happened. He called up Airbnb, hoping that they would be able to get the owner of the apartment. The staff also allowed me to tap on the wifi from his phone and check for updates from the owner via email. It was then that I thought of getting his phone number and called to check for the exact address with the floor level and unit number. The exhaustion and panic attacks had clouded my mind all these while that I did not handle the problem well at the beginning. It was my partly my fault for not asking in details about things. Finally, I got all the details I needed from the owner. The staff kindly brought me to the lift of the building and told me to take that up to my apartment.
It seemed like I had finally awaken from a terrible nightmare! I finally reached the apartment after about 2h being in the rain and the cold, carrying my luggage and almost died from exhaustion and panic attacks. I was just thankful to have a roof over my head. I was so tired that I did not go out to search for food that evening. It was too cold anyway and I did not have thick clothing to put on. I went to the nearest supermarket and bought some instant stuff to cook and eat for dinner. Welcome to Korea!
Seriously, I could turn this whole episode into a super duper Korean drama of getting lost! This drama started even before I was ready for it but that was not the end. Stay tune and wait for more drama to unfold in part 2. Meanwhile, let's enjoy some Seoul sight-seeing first. A glimpse of how my first apartment in Seoul looked like.
Namsangol Hanok Village
After flipping through the guid, I highlighted a few places that I wanted to go and the first one was the Namsangol Hanok Village. Take the metro to Chungmuro Station (Seoul Subway Line 3 & 4) and come out from either Exit 3 or 4. Walk past Korean House, straight up a steep slope and you will reach the entrance. Look out for directional signs to guide you if you feel lost like I did. Admission is free. They are closed on Tuesdays.
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| Street view coming out from the exit |
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| Directional sign |
From here, I shall let the pictures do the talking.
Click for Google Map direction
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Olympic Park
The Olympic Park was built to commemorate the 1988 Olympics. There are more than 200 sculptures done by Korean and overseas artists being displayed around the park. A nice and cooling place to take a walk and be immersed in the scenery and the artistic display. Take Line 5 to Olympic Park Station and come out from Exit 3.
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