One day in Korea down

Does that title make it sound like this trip is a chore?

I was pretty excited to be taking this trip. There are several theme parks on my itinerary, which I usually look forward to. I'm in a country with a baseball league, so I could collect some new memorabilia. And there's all that great Korean food to try!

Let's see.

Today was supposed to be spent at Lotte World. It's Korea's answer to Disneyland. I think every single Korean middle school and high school student was there today. I got there when I thought the park was opening (9:30) but it seems to have opened at nine. Lines were outrageous for the indoor rides, and only one ride on the outdoor side of the park (an underground roller coaster) was open as far as I could tell.

Everything else was closed. The indoor coaster had a posted wait time of over an hour already. The park was a zoo. Thankfully, I was able to get a refund. But I won't be getting on any Lotte World rides on this vacation.

Having most of the day left for whatever I wanted, I strolled around the next-door mall for a short while before heading to the baseball stadium. It isn't baseball season but I was hoping to but some merchandise anyway. Yeah, not happening. Korean baseball doesn't exist if it's not baseball season.

I managed to go to three sites today: Seodaemun Prison, the National Assembly, and the Folk Flea Market. The prison was supposed to be a highlight of this trip, and it was better than expected - almost everything I could have hoped it would be.

The Assembly was okay, mainly because I didn't expect much. I was lookin for some baseball stuff at the flea market, and I didn't come out empty handed. But I overpaid for the one small thing I bought and didn't get another because the sales lady was crazy about her pricing.

As for Korean food, I haven't really tried any. I didn't eat lunch today. Last night I had Taco Bell for dinner and tonight I had KFC. I'm staying in Itaewon, which is full of foreigners. That means I am able to eat a lot of things I haven't had access to in Japan. Don't worry, I'll get my fill of Korean flavors soon enough.

I tried something from a street vendor today - some kind of bean paste with batter around it similar to the momiji manju I had in Hiroshima. These were fresh and warm and even better. Plus I had an egg one too, which was a whole cooked egg wrapped in the batter. I'll be having more of both as I continue my vacation.

Tomorrow, I'm planning to go to Seoul's other major amusement park, Everland. It's supposed to be really busy too and I'm not really looking forward to fighting crowds all day. I also need to find time to get over to a historic palace in the afternoon, which leaves even less time at the park.

No pictures today. The wifi at my hostel sucks, big time. Plus I didn't have a way of charging my phone so I didn't use it to take pictures today, so I couldn't add them if I wanted to. But whatever. I'm in a rotten mood and its really late anyway. I just hope this trip doesn't turn out as bad as my Taiwan trip started.