believe it or not, those were the first words my dearest friend Hee Jeong (HJ) from Korea uttered the minute she saw me walking up a flight of stairs from Anguk station in Seoul. and thats how im going to start this entry.
yes, i know its vainglorious. hey, but if a pretty eastern chick tells me i look good, i dont see a reason to conceal the truth ... do you? didn't think so.
anyway, before i proceed to write about the happenings i experienced in Seoul, let me rewind just a bit. about a year back.
when i was last in Korea in September 2009, I promised all my lovely friends that i would come back one day to visit them. as much as i enjoyed my initial visit to the country in September the previous year, it was all done and over with way too quickly. we were, after all, on a strict schedule during that design fair, and i always regretted never having had the chance to travel all around the city, savoring in the sights and sounds of this bustling, shiny metropolis.
the little that i saw hugely impressed me, and so i vowed i will return.
yes, i VOWED.
and i told these wonderful people i would keep in touch with them and eventually come back and soak up the mix of the modern and the traditional that is Seoul. ( by the way, there are days i still miss being there. i do. but i digress. anyway, back to the story. )
well, I did.
for months i had been planning the perfect time to go back, and so many issues needed to be looked into and finalized. you see, i had decided also much earlier on the year that i would go to Shanghai for the World Expo and if i was already in Korea at the time, it would be best to kill two birds with one stone.
Convenience, you see.
I'd go to Seoul, then make my way to Shanghai and then back to Seoul, and eventually home after that. simple plan it seemed, but its execution couldnt have been more complex. i had to make arrangements to go when my darlings in Korea would be free to meet up, then make arrangements to make sure that i'd visit the design fair again when the party was in full swing, and i also had to make sure that when i do get to Shanghai, the people i was supposed to meet there would be good too.
on top of that, there was a major public holiday in Korea at the time called Cheosok,
( Thanksgiving to you and me ) and so i had to make sure that when i was there, my friends would be in town, and not back in their much missed hometowns or villages celebrating with their family.
See? Not as easy at it looks.
But lo and behold, it all worked out. after months of juggling with the schedule, it all fit in perfectly like the pieces of temporal jigsaw puzzle well into place. snuggly well. the schedule was perfect, and balance on a timeline was elegantly achieved. and of course, with the help of gracious leng lui all the way in Seoul, arrangements for accommodation were set. all i needed to do to repay her was to bring her some old town white coffee packets when we would met, and the debt was settled.
and so, after everything was done, after all the headaches were settled in KL, i was ready.
ready to leave all my cares behind, to leave all my troubles in the dust, to leave all my work in the office and leave all my issues in the country.
how calm and tranquil it felt to have lightlessness in the shoulders, unburdened by things beyond my control. it was truly a liberating moment.
and the date that liberated me?
friday evening, september 17,2010.
my flight to the far east was confirmed and i all i had to do was arrive. the moment couldnt have been more perfect. and when i finally boarded the plane that would fly me across eastern seas and eastern skies under eastern stars, i simply felt more and more excited. in eight hours, i would be meeting with angels i hadn't met in 1 year. people i fell in love with, and it was hard to contain my elation.
the feeling was priceless. it was ineffable. it was out of this world.
and so in the halls of the plane, i waited. next stop, Incheon.
Incheon International Airport.
and that's what brings me back to
"you are gorgeous,"
after one long, long year, i finally meet my dear HJ and as mentioned earlier this is what she said the minute she saw me. now the interesting part is this.
when we last met, i was clean shaven. not a whisker on my skin. but now, here i stand, with a long dark mane, tied into a tail and prominent facial hair. i had contemplated to shave the beard before i left, but hearing this flattering compliment made me glad i didnt.
really glad.
i had settled earlier in bee won guesthouse after i arrived from the airport, frantically looking for the place. i was cranky, tired and lethargic, but nothing a good shower wouldnt fix. and as soon as i got there and checked in. once i was ready, i called all my lovelies in the city, one by one, starting with HJ, then Jieun, then YW and Katie C. telling then i was here. we set the times to meet over the coming week, but the first person i'd meet is HJ. my first question of course was , "where would we meet?"
she said "Anguk station," . i said " i cant wait,"
after wandering aimlessly, eventually to asking for directions, to my surprise, it turned out that the station was just a ten minute walk from where i was staying. i realised later on that the accommodation that was arranged couldnt have been in a better spot, and slowly and steadily i began get a grasp as to where i was, and how close everything was. great.
centralised. connected. convenient.
i must remember to profusely thank a certain someone for picking this area. and of course i did. but thats another part of the story.
lets get back to my first rendezvous. dear, dear HJ.
after seeing me for the first time in a year and giving me a light hug, we went for lunch. now, just around the corner, there is a popular stretch of road famous as a marketplace. a sort of "in" venue, known among the locals for souvenirs and trinkets, gifts and cuisine, and this was a place meant only to rake in one primary thing. the almighty tourist dollar.
its called Insadong, and as i walked around i began to feel a sense of familiarity.
the modern and the old cafes and shops, the stone cobbled streets and the numerous narrow alleys all began to ring a bell in my mind, and it suddenly dawned on me that this was the same area that HJ took me last year to have late night supper with a friend.
i was overjoyed. i had always wanted to come back and explore the details of this area renowned for its little pleasures here and there, and now, it seems my wish was granted. i smiled inside as i looked around. but now, something more important lurks in the air.
lunch. Korean style. now where's the kimchi?
that was a decision easily made. we picked a spot and although i was there having lunch with her, i still couldn't believe i was here.
finally! i was here. i really was!
so as we spoke of old times, asked each other of things which have happened since we left and where we are now. and all this while i am reminded on how moments like these are the simple pleasures of life that we speak of but seldom encounter.
its not the big car, its not the big house, its not the big job. its the simple things like sitting with a distant friend whose lovely presence brings an indescribable sense of joy into your being.
it things like this that make you happy. i love you, sweetheart!
and once we finally dined, she set aside a surprise for me. she was going to take me to somewhere. of course i was all excited. but truth be told, i didnt care where we going, just as long as we spent time.
so we sauntered. we walked. we strolled. and finally, we arrived.
and when we did, it was royal. literally.
now, one of the nice things about Seoul is that you must realize is that there are quite a few ancient palaces around. quite a few indeed. the city itself, being ancient, is surrounded by a majestic range of endless mountains beneath vast azure skies, clearly visible from any part of the city, and these magnificent aristocratic dwellings are all relatively near each other. so the first place she took me was ChangDeokGoong Palace and Gardens, and beside the usual pomp and display, it was famous for incorporating an enigmatic slice of landscape into its premises.
( if you're interested, have a look : http://eng.cdg.go.kr/info/info_about.htm )
The Secret Gardens.
so we ran ( yes, ran! - no exaggeration there ) to get to the venue and buy tickets to go for the tour. and this was the first place i visited when i was there. and i so enjoyed it.you'll see why soon.
lets start with the first picture. the dearest one.
this is my delightful friend, HJ, and we're sitting infront of one of the many splendid pavilions you'd find in the gardens ... by the way, isnt she just lovely? and yes, the token "kaawai" hand gesture is a must. oh well, when in rome ... you know the rest.
we walked and arrived at a gateway punctured and wedged in a continuous stone wall, celebrating the marking of an entrance, pulling us in.
and as we walked through i gazed in awe upon a beautiful roofed wooden hall, marked by an entrance and flanked with some smaller additions, placed majestically on an elevated and terraced site, overlooking a small but significant lake
we walked around and saw several wonderfully huge and welcoming royal rest pavilions, sprinkled all over the immediate landscape, with greens draping at the perfect spots.
and i loved how each element in the design sat in perfect balance with each other, from the strong stone base, to the slender red columns to the gracefully curved roof. even the location of the staircases seemed perfectly placed within the scheme of the structure, all complementing the design perfectly.
we continued walking for quite a while beneath vast canopies of verdant greenery, flanked by nature's glory at every turn. abundant and lush were our surroundings with every perceivable shade of deep and light green, the scenery was perfectly complemented with the intricately rich projections of moving shadows that formed naturally as sunlight filters trough the trees onto the stone walls by our sides and stone pathways beneath our feet.
you truly just had to be there, completely immersed in the present, to really feel how wonderful this place was. words simply do not suffice.
and so we continued, with the tour guide in front of us. we, of course, spoke amongst ourselves as we strolled, gazing at each other and the greens occasionally, laughing at a moment or two over the silliest of matters.
it was quite a while before we got to the end of the road at these gardens, but i enjoyed every moment as we proceeded. eventually we did arrive at what seemed like an exit point. as you can see, it led to a richly textured stone walled exterior corridor, open to the skies.
endless it seemed.
but eventually terminating at a point.
(thats our tour guide, by the way, dressed traditionally in the middle of the shot.)
a point of courtyards and halls, of greens and walls.
with interesting little inanimate things, gazing in the distance.
sitting precariously on the edges of roofs.
and as we walked on, another endless pathway.
so it seemed.
leading to an entrance. a gateway. a glorified point of access.
we walked in of course, and a colossal open space greeted us.
and inevitably, leading us to the final shared moment of the day.
my first afternoon with this charming lass was spent well. we were reaching the end of this excursion on royal grounds and soon we would be heading off. i just had to tell her how much i enjoyed her company, and how thankful i was that she took the trouble to take me around.
im sure she appreciated my sentiments.
we went for tea after this, and eventually we parted ways for the time being. we sat in a contemporary teahouse at Insadong again, but this time she invited a friend. again, we spoke. we laughed. and we were tired. i could see fatigue setting in her eyes, however she may vehemently deny, and i said that i would be meeting some friends later, and naybe its best to call it a day.
it was getting dark.
we then proceded to take the subway to a meeting point in the city where i promised i would meet YW and a few more of our friends, specifically this delightfully charming young lady called MJ-Kim. and so we met at this one locale, and as we all gathered, i introduced everyone to each other.
its a matter of simple courtesy.
i had invited HJ to join us, but she politely declined. i guess, she was finally accepting the fact that she was tired, or that she simply did not want to impose, but she took that moment to say goodbye. i told her that i would be calling her soon, but for now, there was much planned for the night.
oh yes. the prospect of a much anticipated night was slowly emerging.
a night of closeness, of catching up, of camaraderie in a cosy setting prepared with delicious local cuisine amongst a delightful mix of us malaysians and koreans right in the heart of Seoul.
lets go, baby, there isnt a moment to waste.
See you soon, dear HJ. We shall meet again soon, but tonight, i party!
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