Korea a draw for TV soap fans and shopaholics
Korea a draw for TV soap fans and shopaholics
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Seoul
If the beautiful scenes of J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord of the Rings
trilogy attract tourists to visit its New Zealand locales, it is
Korean TV heartthrob Won Bin who lured Rini Ichram to the
peninsula country.
"I have collected almost 100 compact discs of Korean TV series
and movies. Don't tell my daughter, I keep the number a secret
because she hates my new hobby. I wish to go to the places I've
seen in the movies, or even bump into one of the actors."
She eventually persuaded her reluctant daughter to come with
her on a five-night-and-six-day Kamshahamnida (thank you in
Korean) holiday trip with Asiana Airlines.
The special fare trip, organized in early May, was in
conjunction with the third anniversary of the privately owned
Korean airline's Jakarta-Seoul route.
Although Rini and similarly devoted fans of actors Bao Young
and Jao Dang Gun only got to see their idols on the TV screens in
their hotel rooms, the visit to Korea in the waning days of
spring proved one of their best trips ever.
Part of a 100-strong party of holidaymakers -- including
couples and groups, as well as the frantic Indonesian and Korean
tour leaders -- we had to make some adjustments to cultural and
other differences even before we set off.
First, I had to pack shampoo from home. Why? "Because Korean
hotels refuse to pollute the earth even by providing sachets of
shampoo. They provide a bottle of shampoo in the hotel room, but
you have to buy it," said one of the tour leaders in Jakarta.
Oh, how thoughtful.
A cool breeze greeted us when we arrived at majestic Incheon
International Airport in Seoul. As soon as we found our buses, we
were immediately taken to Gimpo domestic airport, a 40-minute
drive away, to take a two-hour flight to Ulsan.
From there, we set off to the country town of Kyungju to visit
the world heritage sites of the ancient royal family Baekje
tombs, Chomsungdae observatory deck and Kyungju National Museum.
It quickly became clear on each of our stops that our party
was true to the Indonesian stereotype of the shopaholic traveler,
which led to quite a headache for the tour organizers in trying
to be on time.
Our Korean tour leader Philip Han quickly mastered a
smattering of essential Indonesian, from Pipis! (toilet stop) and
Balik ke bus (Get back on the buses!).
A challenge for us was eating kimchi, the Korean national dish
of salted and fermented vegetables, which many of us found
smelled awful. The well-prepared had brought supplies of abon
(boiled shredded meat) or teri goreng (fried small fish) to
survive mealtimes.
Another minor challenge for us was the availability of only
two bellboys at Kyungju Kolon Hotel where we spent the night.
Still, its excellent service made us wonder how such a small town
could have a four-star hotel.
The next day we headed to Suanbo district, where we visited
the Kosu Cave, the shooting location of Wang Gun drama -- based
on the true story of a man with 27 wives, and took the Chungju
Lake Cruise.
It was while on the cruise we met another ferry, mostly full
of housewives who had taken a day off from household chores to
celebrate springtime. They performed an endless unrhythmic
thumping dance to relieve their stress until the ferry returned
to harbor.
We spent the night at the spring resort Suanbo Chosun Hotel,
again with only two bellboys and a very friendly bartender who
doubled as a waiter.
On day three, we packed early to return to Seoul. On the way,
we made a long stop at the Everland amusement park, Korea's
answer to Disneyland with three amusement parks in one, which was
full of young parents and children celebrating Parents' Day.
When we finally reached Seoul, the city was in a festive mood,
with a carnival and an open-air stage show, while young
executives treated their parents to expensive dinners at the
Grand Hilton Hotel, where we stayed for two nights.
Amid the mostly vegetable fare we feasted on, the must-try was
samgyetang, stewed whole chicken stuffed with rice and ginseng,
accompanied by a small cup of ginseng wine.
Like our Korean tour leader May Chiang said, Korean food may
taste a little odd to foreigners, but its excellent for health.
Even if some of us did not find the food to our liking, a bit
of retail therapy soon cheered us up.
"Enough of museums, let's go shopping!," shouted a woman from
my bus, even though we were still taking turns at a photo session
wearing hanbok (traditional ceremonial clothing) at Kyungbok
Palace.
And so we went shopping. But two days in Seoul was not enough
to do proper price comparisons as we traipsed to Dongdaemun
market, Ginseng Shop, an amethyst factory, Silla duty free and
Itaewon street, the latter just a few hours before heading back
to Incheon airport.
"I've been told that this is the place where we can get A-
grade leather bags," one woman said, referring to high-quality
imitation bags of major brands.
As a calculator moved freely between us and the shop owners,
and we conversed in the language Jane used with Tarzan, we hoped
we had made more bargains.
Weighed down by much more luggage than we arrived with, we
finally got on board our flight.
"No more kimchi!" a homesick teenager exclaimed in relief.
Ah, not so fast: The unforgettable pickles were on our menu as
we headed home.