It was again a terrible, exhausting, and somewhat scary experience trying to get to my new hotel. I got off at the Euljiro-2 drop-off from the resort bus, then needed to somehow hail a taxi to take me to Myeongdong. Euljiro was the closest drop-off to Myeongdong, but I still can't exactly walk there when I can barely move 10 steps with all my luggage without collapsing lol. I hailed three different taxis and showed them the address on my phone, but either because I was a foreigner or they couldn't be bothered to read the damn address on my phone, they waved me off saying they didn't know where it was. I had heard taxis often won't stop for foreigners or refuse to take a passenger if the destination is too close (for some unfathomable reason they would rather drive around passenger-less and fare-less...). They probably only bothered to stop because I'm Asian and they didn't know I was foreign. The entire time it was freezing outside and darkness was falling, so I was getting panicky.
Finally when it was pitch-black outside I called Yeji for help. I didn't want to because I've already imposed on her so much that I felt bad, but I was out of options :/ She is the BEST you guys, on the real. She's always willing to help me however she can, and is so sweet and patient about it. I even interrupted her at the library when I called her tonight and I felt terrible :( THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU YEJI. I don't know what I'd do without you haha. I will spend my last five days in Seoul shopping for a thank you present and I just sent you a text about dinner maybe this week? We brainstormed together and finally landed on her talking to the taxi driver for me again. By some unconcious miracle I had sent her my hotel address earlier before I left the wifi of Kensington Resort to check if the Korean on it was correct. While the taxi drivers couldn't read it still, Yeji was able to tell the driver the address in Korean and he punched it into his GPS. He was such a nice taxi driver putting up with me and all my luggage. He even drove me all the way up a tiny tiny one-way street packed with clothes, shoes, and food vendors (more on this later) and endured the yelling of a security adjusshi who didn't want him to stop and let me out. He let me out anyway and yelled back while I unloaded all my stuff in a hurry haha. Some cabs here are SUPER expensive and the charges go up practically with every breath I take. It's ridiculous. This one however was very slow-charging and he was a good driver (no stop, jerk, accelerate, slam on brakes, jerk, accelerate, slam on brakes, etc. to endure).
The fare was less than $5 by the time I got there which was stupid cheap. I gave him 10,000 won (about $9) for his trouble and patience in 1) agreeing in the first place to take me when everyone else wouldn't, 2) taking me all the way up the cramped street to my hotel front when he could've just dropped me off on the corner, and 3) stopping to let me out in front even when the security adjusshi with a stick up his you know what was yelling at him. They often don't accept tips because they don't know they are tips and try to give you back your change. Therefore, I paid him then hightailed it out of there with a cheerful "Byebye adjusshi!!!".
Two women standing nearby had been present for the whole adjusshi-screaming-contest and asked me concernedly if I was okay and everything. They were so kind :) I hauled everything up to the Hotel Cozy Myeongdong (which looked super cute from the outside, all modern and white), then my heart dropped because I saw...stairs. Dun dun dun duuuuuuun. Remember those stores and restaurants I blogged about back in Gangnam that have a storefront on street level but right when you go in there are stairs going down or up to save space? This was one of those places... Maybe the Korea gods were apologizing for their cranky taxi drivers and my awful travel experience because the kindest women came out of the elevator at the top of the stairs just as I was hauling my first gigantic suitcase up the stairs, one step at a time. She "omo omo-"ed and rushed to help me carry it up. I thanked her and turned to go down to get my second one, but she walked down with me and helped me carry the second one up too!! With lots of "aigoo"s and "omo"s we got it all up the stairs, where the elevator was located. I thanked her profusely, she was so nice!!
Finally when it was pitch-black outside I called Yeji for help. I didn't want to because I've already imposed on her so much that I felt bad, but I was out of options :/ She is the BEST you guys, on the real. She's always willing to help me however she can, and is so sweet and patient about it. I even interrupted her at the library when I called her tonight and I felt terrible :( THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU YEJI. I don't know what I'd do without you haha. I will spend my last five days in Seoul shopping for a thank you present and I just sent you a text about dinner maybe this week? We brainstormed together and finally landed on her talking to the taxi driver for me again. By some unconcious miracle I had sent her my hotel address earlier before I left the wifi of Kensington Resort to check if the Korean on it was correct. While the taxi drivers couldn't read it still, Yeji was able to tell the driver the address in Korean and he punched it into his GPS. He was such a nice taxi driver putting up with me and all my luggage. He even drove me all the way up a tiny tiny one-way street packed with clothes, shoes, and food vendors (more on this later) and endured the yelling of a security adjusshi who didn't want him to stop and let me out. He let me out anyway and yelled back while I unloaded all my stuff in a hurry haha. Some cabs here are SUPER expensive and the charges go up practically with every breath I take. It's ridiculous. This one however was very slow-charging and he was a good driver (no stop, jerk, accelerate, slam on brakes, jerk, accelerate, slam on brakes, etc. to endure).
The fare was less than $5 by the time I got there which was stupid cheap. I gave him 10,000 won (about $9) for his trouble and patience in 1) agreeing in the first place to take me when everyone else wouldn't, 2) taking me all the way up the cramped street to my hotel front when he could've just dropped me off on the corner, and 3) stopping to let me out in front even when the security adjusshi with a stick up his you know what was yelling at him. They often don't accept tips because they don't know they are tips and try to give you back your change. Therefore, I paid him then hightailed it out of there with a cheerful "Byebye adjusshi!!!".
Two women standing nearby had been present for the whole adjusshi-screaming-contest and asked me concernedly if I was okay and everything. They were so kind :) I hauled everything up to the Hotel Cozy Myeongdong (which looked super cute from the outside, all modern and white), then my heart dropped because I saw...stairs. Dun dun dun duuuuuuun. Remember those stores and restaurants I blogged about back in Gangnam that have a storefront on street level but right when you go in there are stairs going down or up to save space? This was one of those places... Maybe the Korea gods were apologizing for their cranky taxi drivers and my awful travel experience because the kindest women came out of the elevator at the top of the stairs just as I was hauling my first gigantic suitcase up the stairs, one step at a time. She "omo omo-"ed and rushed to help me carry it up. I thanked her and turned to go down to get my second one, but she walked down with me and helped me carry the second one up too!! With lots of "aigoo"s and "omo"s we got it all up the stairs, where the elevator was located. I thanked her profusely, she was so nice!!
Hotel Cozy Myeongdong is ADORABLE. If I could, I'd run around the room squealing like a little girl but the room is quite tiny haha. Its the cutest little cupboard I've ever seen though, with such high-tech and pretty appliances all clean, nice and modern. They even include free room slippers, free water bottles- tea- coffee that they replace daily, and a voltage changer (since in Korea the voltage is 220V, much higher than the US). I encountered this problem when I first arrived and had to find a plug adapter to fit the shape. Luckily Apple chargers will adjust and use only what voltage they need, so I don't need a voltage adjuster).
Steven this picture is dedicated to you hahah. The coolest double showerhead shower...thing I've ever seen, with matching coolest sink bowl thing I've ever seen. Also, THE TOILET. It's one of those super high-tech fancy toilets I've only seen on tv!!! I have no idea what all the buttons mean because they're in Korean (nor WHY you would need FIFTEEN different buttons for a TOILET...come on now). However, do you see that red circle on the seat of the toilet? Yea, that's a butt sensor. A BUTT SENSOR. I can't believe I just typed those words haha. But apparently it senses when you are seated on it or not, because it beeped when I sat down and again when I got up. It didn't flush itself however, so I don't know what it's function is as of yet...will post about it once I solve The Mystery of the Uber-Advanced Toilet. I'd like to see Nancy Drew take on THAT one haha (yes, I was a Nancy Drew nerd as a child. In fact, there are few books I WASN'T a nerd about when I was a kid lol).
The people at the front were so nice again. As usual, the man thought I was Korean, then when I spoke English next guessed Japanese and I finally corrected him to American. He said my Korean was good!! You guys don't know how happy that makes me haha, I couldn't understand all of his sentence so he just said "your Korean" then thumbs up-ed me with a smile :) After so many rude taxi drivers and random rude passerby, the friendly desk people were such a sigh of relief for me.
They have laundry here, and give you a bag in the room that says "Bring to front desk". So they do your laundry for you too?!? Where have you been all my stay. I have a newfound love for washing machines (and respect) because I've been having to wash all my clothes in the shower by hand.
They also gave me 2 vouchers for breakfast on Sat and Sun and a free drink voucher! And not one of those lame continental breakfasts, there's an actual nice restaurant attached to my hotel that the vouchers are for :) I LOVE SEOUL.
In front of my hotel there seems to be some sort of street shopping center lol. I don't know if its just on Fridays or what, but the entire street has food vendors, clothes kiosks, shoe displays, etc. Its like the kiosks I'd see on my nightly walks in Gangnam except on a bigger scale. I guess I AM in Myeongdong :) Shopping shopping shopping.
Good night all. As a side note, this is the first bed I've slept in while here in Korea that is soft!! And by soft I mean NOT like a cardboard box. Seriously, the Koreans love their hard beds don't they? It's like sleeping on a rock -.- This one however, I actually SINK like a millimeter into lol. Amazing. It's still hard by American standards, but as I've adjusted to the Flintstones-era bedding here, this will be quite soft tonight :)
In front of my hotel there seems to be some sort of street shopping center lol. I don't know if its just on Fridays or what, but the entire street has food vendors, clothes kiosks, shoe displays, etc. Its like the kiosks I'd see on my nightly walks in Gangnam except on a bigger scale. I guess I AM in Myeongdong :) Shopping shopping shopping.
Good night all. As a side note, this is the first bed I've slept in while here in Korea that is soft!! And by soft I mean NOT like a cardboard box. Seriously, the Koreans love their hard beds don't they? It's like sleeping on a rock -.- This one however, I actually SINK like a millimeter into lol. Amazing. It's still hard by American standards, but as I've adjusted to the Flintstones-era bedding here, this will be quite soft tonight :)