It’s going to be a fairly lazy day in Seoul, I think. I’m awake at 7:30 am after not enough sleep, and eventually, find my way to a very impressively equipped gym at the Intercontinental COEX. It is evidently a hotel fitness centre that also offers private memberships and boasts a massive cardio section equipped with Technogym and Precor machines, and an extensive weight section. The Precor machines are the same as those at my local Anytime Fitness, which means I can log into them for a record of my workout. It all works seamlessly, which is great.
There’s also a sizeable lap pool, with photos of the ‘freelance swim coaches’ who staff it, a sauna (extra charge for some reason), extensive change rooms, hot and cold baths, salon and café. Apparently there is a golf driving range hiding in here somewhere as well. Hands down the nicest, largest and best equipped hotel gym I’ve seen in a long time.
Time for some breakfast and I wander out of the hotel down the route the bus took last night, in search of brunch. Le Four Doré bakery and café catches my eye and is a good place for a cappuccino or two and a Croque Monsieur. The cappuccinos are huge and frothy and the Croque Monsieur lacking in flavour. Some mustard might have improved it, but it’s still okay for brunch in an attractive café on a Sunday morning. It’s also relatively inexpensive – 2 large cappuccinos, a Croque Monsieur and a croissant total KR20,900 in Seoul, about $AUD26, which is on par with a Melbourne café breakfast.
I find myself walking the massive ‘block’ that houses COEX, which is a convention/exhibition centre on a massive scale with at least 3 hotels, casino and The Hyundai department store, and an extensive, multi-level underground mall housing too many restaurants to count, an upmarket supermarket, food court style eateries, and boutiques. Oh, and an aquarium, a large cinema, and Samseong train station. Outside on the exterior walls are massive, wrap-around Samsung screens advertising the latest and greatest, and further down the street gardeners are hard at work on a Sunday morning, watering and planting new flower beds.
Things you don’t expect to see in Seoul – a convoy of buses with signs protesting against working conditions at Oracle and I think the police are protesting at stagnant wages growth.
Bonguensa Temple
Opposite the Intercontinental COEX is the Bonguensa Buddhist temple, which is where I’ll spend the afternoon. Entry is free, and it’s worth a visit just to see the white paper lanterns that are raised as offerings. The complex is under long-term restoration that includes new roofing and restoration of the painted interiors and exteriors of numerous buildings. It’s a working monastery, so entry to the temples is restricted for prayers. There are enough things of interest outside though with the startling difference between the faded old paintings and decorations on the exteriors and the newly revealed colourful ones. Not to mention the ‘swastika’ on the exterior of one temple, a reminder of the cultural and religious theft practiced by the Nazis.
A semi-circle of statues surrounded the giant statue of Buddha, with the protective deities carved into the plinth on which the statue stands. Interestingly, some of the statutes have coins placed on each foot for luck – sometimes just one on each foot, other times with several coins on each foot.
It’s going to be an early night in preparation for a 3 am start tomorrow morning to head to Seoul’s Incheon airport. It’s now raining in Seoul, a welcome relief from a day that started out windy, turned sunny and sultry in the afternoon, and now is raining briefly in the early evening. Time to search for some dinner, which has me underground again beneath the COEX complex. I really should try some local Korean food, which takes me to a small restaurant with a limited menu called ‘A Simple Table’. No Westerners, but busy with locals. Seems like a reasonable choice. My meal choice of marinated pork and rice turns out to be only the main dish in a banquet that arrives on my table. Soup, marinated and pickled vegetables, savoury pancakes, two enormous green chillies and some washed-out looking pork. Way too much food, but at KW9000 (about $AUD11), can’t complain.
Time to finish organising the warm jacket I’ll need on arrival in Petropavlovsk tomorrow, along with something cooler to wear in the morning and on the plane.
