Above: Ice-cream is good and cheap in Korea. It’s tempting to have one for dessert after every meal. Fortunately I found dessert-flavoured chewing gum. Eg. tiramisu- or affogato-flavoured.
Spirit of Sir Freddie
I departed at 2325 from Incheon Airport on board AirAsia X’s aircraft named Semangat Sir Freddie (Spirit of Sir Freddie Laker, the pioneer of cheap longhaul travel). Unlike the rest of their sparkling new fleet, this aircraft was a bit worn. It must have been their first aircraft obtained pre-loved, before they got their new ones.
I could tell on take-off that it sounded different from the rest of their fleet … and confirmed upon disembarkation in KL that it had different-shaped engines from its sister-aircraft parked alongside. Wow! I must be an AirAsia frequent flyer, but only if they had a customer loyalty programme!
Incheon Fail!
Incheon airport is hugely impressive and very modern. But I was shocked to see the shops closing up at 21:30 when there were still quite a few flights going till midnight … and about 3 more till 02:00 before a lull till 05:00. The business class and other lounges were closed too. I guess I’m used to many Asian airports having midnight departures but Incheon isn’t one of them.
Also, in my fortnight in Korea, I have been impressed with the lack of premium pricing for food and drinks in captive-audience locations (eg. tourist traps, domestic airports, bus terminals). However, Incheon certainly is the total opposite. All the shops seem to specialise in luxury brands but there were a few everyday brands tucked in at inflated prices. I had about the equivalent of USD5 to burn before I fly … it was a choice of one bar of Godiva chocs or two boxes of ordinary biscuits.
Parting thoughts on Korea
As I leave South Korea, I look back and think about what I love about the country:
- Hostels are very clean, well set-up, and come with free wifi and breakfast.
- It is relatively inexpensive for a developed country. In fact it is cheaper than New Zealand.
- Intercity transport is very good and inexpensive. Buses are frequent, comfortable (lotsa legroom) and nearly empty … don’t know how they keep it up though. The roads are also very good, adding to the comfort factor.
- Ice cream is good and cheap! Perhaps they’re made from cheap melamine-laced milk from China. It doesn’t make sense that ice cream is so expensive in New Zealand despite being sourced from a local ingredient. Eventually the guilt set in and I had to switch to tiramisu- or affogato-flavoured chewing gums (pictured above) to satisfy my dessert cravings.
- Drinks and snacks are priced uniformly without a rip-off margin where there is a captive audience (eg. domestic airport, bus stations and tourist sites).
- Drinking water (chilled and hot) is supplied ubiquitously … in hostels, airports, bus stations … and believe this … at the food court in the malls!
- The mega-spas are amazing and the admission charges are very reasonable. Water and heating must be cheap in Korea! I imagine these are great places to spend half a day in winter.
As for the quirky bits:
- Korean towels are small … they’re like the hand-towel or bath-mat that you get in a good Western hotel. I have had to learn to dry myself bit-by-bit! The English couple that I met had difficulty finding full-sized towels for many months until they found what seems to be a rebranded Tesco.
- Drinking fountains are not equipped with paper/plastic cups but rather, little paper bags! It’s sufficient for a mouthful and the bag gets too soft after several mouthfuls.
- Beds in Korea are made up like this … you have the mattress on which you put a plain or fitted sheet, and then a light two-layer quilted pad (which looks like a mattress underlay or protector in the West). So in other words, you protect the mattress with a normal sheet and sleep on the underlay!
- When Koreans give things to you, they do so with their right hand … but with their left hand in-tow supporting the right elbow. This seems identical to what Malays do in Malaysia!
As for the downside … travelling in Korea is a little lonely. Unlike in say Vietnam or Indonesia, there are very few travellers to chat to. Many people I’ve met at hostels are either locals (speaking little English) or the aloof sort living here teaching English.
My room at the Family Guest House in Seoul.