You would think that after travelling 15 hours on a plane to a country on the other side of the world that I would be jet lagged. Aside from waking up at 6:30AM, I don’t feel much jet lag. Besides, I usually wake up at 7:30AM or 8:00AM on a normal basis for school so I guess I’m on my way to quickly adjusting time zones.

However, the 15 hour plane ride, the level of humidity that southern California cannot compare to, and just overall environment has contributed to what I call “environment lag”.

I’m glad that I had a connecting flight in Japan. It not only gave me a quick and small opportunity to see Japan but also a breather from the cramped up space in the plane. Even though I was sitting in the aisle seat, my legs kept on getting numb multiple times throughout the plane ride. On the 12 hours from LA to Tokyo, I slept for only about five to six hours. The numbness was irritating me. The rest of the time consisted of me watching three movies – Detective Dee, Jump, and Love in Disguise – all of which are Chinese movies. I also played Sudoku for about 20 minutes but that got boring really fast.

We were served two meals on the flight from LA to Tokyo – dinner (sliced beef with black bean sauce and rice) and breakfast (cheese, egg, & bell pepper sandwich). I ate everything, despite having had dinner only five hours prior to being served dinner in flight. The breakfast was refreshing though since it was a while since they had served dinner. But I guess the lack of movement from my limbs rendered me not as hungry as I would have been.

The brief one hour I had in Tokyo was an eye opener. The weather was pretty cool and foggy but HOLY the humidity hit me right when we got off the plane. I felt like I was back in Nashville or Orlando. On the way from the terminal that we arrived at to the international transfer terminal, my friend (Alina) and I saw so many cute things! We saw this dog character that was so adorable! And it was walking along too kekeke. We also saw vending machines but didn’t stop at one because our connecting flight was about to board. What really struck me as different from what I usually see was the restrooms! There are so many different buttons and functions… and you can shower?!?!

cute dog character at the airport in Japan (HND)

restroom the airport in Japan (HND)

So after exploring the airport, we boarded our flight to Incheon. The flight from Tokyo to Japan took a little over 2 hours. Breakfast was served really fast – probably within the first 30 minutes of flight! We were served marinated beef with rice (marinated with what? I do not know). The beef was so soft! A poke from my spoon made the beef fall apart… o.o With the beef and rice, we were also given Japanese blueberry yogurt, a pastry, and a sealed cup of water from Jeju Island! It was a filling breakfast but then again, I had two breakfasts – one from Delta Air Lines and the other from Korean Air.

breakfast (beef with rice) in Korean Air during our flight to Incheon

Japanese blueberry yogurt & sealed cup of water from Jeju Island in Korean Air during our flight to Incheon

We landed in Incheon around 8:30AM. We got our luggage really quickly and went through immigration in less than five minutes. I got my first stamp in the visa section after renewing my passport in 2007! We then proceeded to customs declaration which took like 30 seconds – we just had to show them a piece of paper that we had filled out during the flight. We then proceeded to the currency exchange booth where we exchanged USD to KRW. After gathering our money, we continued on out to look for the bus that we were supposed to take to get to our hostel (JK Guest House) in Sinchon (Shinchon/신촌). After getting directions and our bus ticket we waited for a few minutes outside the airport for the bus. We took this limousine bus that had awesome AC that saved us from the heat and humidity of the outside. The bus number is 6002!

limousine bus #6002 – Incheon to Sinchon

We left the airport around 9:30AM and the bus ride from Incheon to Sinchon took about an hour. We were dropped off at the Sinchon/subway line 2 station and walked to JK Guest House. We were a little lost at first but we managed to find our hostel. However, we were met with immediate dismay as we had to carry our luggage up to the fifth floor via stairs – there was no elevator! The journey from Incheon to Sinchon was relatively boring, with crops and land to both sides. It wasn’t until we hit Seoul that we saw buildings, (more) signs, etc.

some street signs in Seoul

crab!

FedEx & Kinko’s in Seoul

Hyundai Department Store in Sinchon (near JK Guest House)

more street signs!

With our fail map and sense of direction, Alina and I attempted to go to the east side of Yonsei to find the phone rental place for Alina. After more than 30 minutes of getting lost and walking in circles, we finally made it to Yonsei’s medical center/school. After another 30 minutes, we made it to the east side of campus where New Millennium Hall and the dorms are at. The phone rental place is located with some restaurants/cafes inside SK Global’s building (one of the two dorms on the east side). We walked in, and lo-and-behold! The phone rental place was closed. With no signs indicating its hours of operation, we stared at the dark store in despair as our hour of exercise was put to waste. We went to the convenience store nearby and bought ourselves the T-money (card) and loaded it up with 5,000 KRW. And then our journey back began. This time, knowing relatively where we’re supposed to head, we got back to JK Guest House in 25 minutes – a lot better than the hour it took us to get to the phone rental place!

We took a 30 minute break to eat lunch and then I walked Alina to the bus stop (she was meeting with a friend for a concert). Luckily, the bus stop is where we got off to get to the hostel and is right in front of the Hyundai Department Store.

me and Alina waiting at the bus stop! red bus where are you?!

waiting for the red bus, we saw IU on the bus (ad)! 😉

Kim Tak Goo, are you there?!~ [across the street from the Hyundai Department Store]

After Alina got on the bus, I walked back to the hostel and chatted on Skype for a bit. Suddenly I felt really tired but not the jet lag kind of tired. My body was just really sore (from the plane and all the walking) and the bipolar weather of heat/humidity outside versus the cold wind coming from the AC. So I decided to take a nap. I napped for four hours until 11:30PM and woke up to shower. The shower was the best I was feeling the whole day! It was so refreshing~

After just sitting around and staring at my computer (watched Khuntoria!), I went to sleep at 2:00AM. I thought I would have slept more but I woke up at 6:30AM… I’m totally not sleepy or tired at all!

Well today, I’m off to Arirang TV to visit Isak unnie and I’m going to meet up with my friend Sammy who’s been studying at Yonsei for like a year now! Well off I go! Adieu!~

P.S. It still hasn’t HIT me that I’m in Korea… yet… maybe it’ll hit me today after I go explore some more =D

Picture Credit: Alina (first 4 images)