Seoul: Where the posh meets the ghetto

Seoul, the capital of South Korea that houses approximately 9.6 million people in just 605.21 km². This small area accounts for only 0.6% of South Korea's total land but holds roughly 20% of its population.

From the moment we approached the Incheon airport in the outskirts of Seoul, we were take aback by the number of high rise buildings in such a densely populated city.  I took the picture above from the North Seoul tower observation deck on the Namsan mountain in central Seoul.  The photo displays a dense urban landscape featuring a mix of modern skyscrapers and older residential neighborhoods.  And this is the epitome of the city; a mixture of old school vs. ultra-modern, where centuries-old palaces and Hanok villages exist side-by-side with dazzling skyscrapers, neon-lit streets, and cutting-edge technology.  Even within the posh areas of the city, there is ghetto tendencies on display, such as the spaghetti of wires in back alleys, HVAC units and the cell towers in full view - the Koreans expend zero effort in hiding these.  The picture to the left is Elin marveling at the beauty of old Seoul in one of the alleys near our Airbnb in CentralViewSuite Residence Myeongdong, we stayed for a few days upon our arrival.

All of these unremarkable aesthetics seem to be in conflict with Korea's cultural obsession with physical beauty as well; South Korea is a country with the highest rate of cosmetic surgeries per capita globally, whereby attractiveness is a form of social capital linked to professional success.  Many job applications  require a photograph.  And for all these reasons, it's quite understandable that I got multiple requests from family and friends in the U.S. to bring back skincare product laced with salmon sperm, developed first in - you guessed it - South Korea.

Transportation:  One of the first things we noticed upon arrival was how cheap transportation was via taxi and Uber.  The cost of rideshare in Korea is easily 1/3rd of that in the U.S., so we decided to take taxis, later switched to Uber for all our transportation needs beyond walking.  Subway was a cheaper option, but not by a lot, plus travel time with subway was longer than by motor vehicle.  Koreans used a popular taxi app called Kakao-T - the foreigner version is k.ride, which failed to function at least half the time we attempted to hail a ride, hence the transition to Uber which worked 100% of the time.  Most taxi/Uber drivers were aggressive drivers, so much so that Elin threw up once after a ride to Seoul station on our last day there.

Currency exchange:  I purchased $600 worth of Korean won at LAX prior to our departure flight, in what turned out to be a colossal mistake.  The exchange rates at LAX blow.  To further make this decision a debacle of sorts, I learned later converting the remaining Korean won when we returned, back to USD would result in further losses since the conversion rates are different from and to USD, i.e. if I convert US dollars to won, and immediately convert back to USD, I lose a chunk of my USD in this transaction.  WTF??!!  Lesson learned is, convert money anywhere but at the airport, and spend all of it during your trip, i.e. don't put yourself in a situation of having to reconvert to your local currency.  Through a Google search after the trip, I learned the best exchange rates are offered in Korean private exchange booths in tourist areas, using crisps $100 bills.