Part 2
Sorry for being so late to publish. I was travelling.
Day 5:
…Here we go again.
The leg KUL-SEL passed very quickly and I woke up 45 min before landing giving me just enough time to grab a continental breakfast garnished with a sweet omelet filled with mushroom (I politely decline the Korean option that appeared even less tempting).
I was very excited with this day in Korean as I am an Asian fan and especially Japan (I know this is different). This day was supposed to give me the taste to come back for a longer period in Korea.
We landed in ICN around 7 AM on a runway as foggy as my brain that morning.
We have been welcome with an Army of Nurse and doctors for scanning, screening our health condition because of the Swine Flu. I passed the exam and was shortly in the arrival terminal just after the customs.
International Arrival Lounge in Incheon
I knew, I had 2 options to fill up my 11hrs lay over. Either I was going to the city by myself or opting for any of the tour available from the tour desk in the terminal.
Actually, I had something in my mind for few days. I knew a tour of the DMZ was available and I could not resist threatening myself in tunnels, mined areas and nuclear shelters. For those who think I am a crazy person putting myself in danger with this, I would say there is no danger of any kind there (or there is no more danger here than in Seoul if anything happens).
Sadly, this tour is only available on advance booking. Thus I ended up with a 5 hours tour of the city starting at 10 AM.
I the meantime I went for a shower in a shower lounge located on the basement. This was clean, cheap (around 15€) and very convenient. It offers a broad range of service from massage to Jacuzzi and shoe/bag repairs.
I wasted 1 hours sleeping here, waiting for my tour to start and just before catch up with a croissant and an expresso at the “Paris Baguette” coffee shop.
Photo Paris Baguette
We started then for the tour with a minibus and around 15 of fellows. Surprisingly the tour was fully booked with different kind of people arriving mainly from other places in Asia.
It took us around 45 min to reach the city hall where we started officially our tour of the city.
A gloomy day leaving the airport island
We visited the temple of the eternal virtue and assisted to the renewal of the guards. This was not bad although having went to the Forbidden City already there is nothing comparable.
Seoul City Hall
Main Gate of the Temple of the Eternal Virtue
We went then to the city center and then came back through a Bazar’s street I can’t remember the name. This was supposed to be fully of antics but I have not been able to find something suitable to my taste and budget. I had a kind of feeling it was overpriced (surprised ?).
However, the time passed very fast and around 1PM we were back to the bus and ready for lunch.
View of the Korean restaurant we ended up for lunch
We went then to a traditional Korean restaurant with “Bibimbap” and Chicken soup. The food was ok but certainly not an honor to the Korean culture. By 3h30PM we were back to ICN and I had still 4 hours before my flight.
I cleared security and customs and made a tour of the main terminal and I have to admit ICN is a big airport. There are a lot of things to see and do and after a review of Korean porcelain’s I booked a 1 hour treatment for later at the spa located close to the KE lounge on the upper floor.
So I went to the lounge and caught up with my emails, phone calls and good book. The lounge is huge but the overall level of food and beverage (provided by Hyatt it seems) was not at the level you can expect.
KE Lounge in ICN main wing
Coming back on my massage, it was good though even if the style was different from the Balinese I had in KL with a lot of pressure and stretching. After one hour I fell like tartar steak freshly grinded.
Back in the lounge, I just had time then for a shower (the last one before the next 2 days but I did not know this at the time). The lounge has 3 or 4 showers available for guests. It was clean and all the amenities and towels were provided.
Boarding to HNL was announced and I went to gate where I had to wait for 10 mins has I always board (or try to) with the last passengers.
It was a 744 KE metal and I was seated on the roof top.
Our 747-400 at the gate
After already 2 red eye flights almost entirely empty on the first part of my trip (DXB-KUL and KUL-ICN), I was wondered about the number of passenger in a 744 going to HNL this night.
… And it was even below my thoughts with a total number of 12 passengers for both J cabins (upper and main deck).
We were 6 passengers sharing the upper deck.
Busy night for KE on the upper deck
This night I have to say I had one of the best flights of the trip (and the longest with 8h15). Ok, this has nothing to do with this over aged 744 in an older config but with the kindness and professionalism of cabin staff made my trip excellent.
I had a wonderful time^. An excellent diner with amazing beef tenderloin (rare can you believe it?), great cheeses and an outstanding selection of wines to go with.
For those to expect food pictures, I want sincerely to apologize
. I swear next time, you gonna get them.
No AVOD again tonight. Anyway, I fell asleep quickly after a dinner and the flight passed like in a minute as I woke up for a quick breakfast 40 min before landing for a whole day in Hawai…
I will try to post the remaining part as soon as I can. Thank you for your patience.
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