We arrived to Seoul South Korea late Sunday night. First thing I noticed upon arrival is the people in Seoul do not say you are in "South" Korea. They just say Korea. I need to do more research to understand the North/South status.
On our drive to the W Hotel, I was amazed by how large the city is. Not much of a difference between Seoul and Toyko in terms of city size, complexity, cleanliness, and general "western" feel. (Side note: yes, I know the differences, especially in size, but it would you can not tell from a short visit).
On Monday we headed to The Gyeonbok Palace, the largest of three Palaces in the city. Gyeonbok is known for "The Ceremony of Gate Guard Change." A long, and ornate process where very ornately dressed soldiers bang gongs, sound alarms, and play other instruments while they switch out the guards of the Palace. If I was to invade this Palace, I would wait until the ceremony. It would provide a good 30 minute window where they are not paying attention. Then they start again 15 minutes later. Entertaining, but not very intertaining.
After the cermeony we walked the rest of the Palace. I large area, with breath taking views.
After the Palace, we had time to do a little shopping (my first of many experiences in Asian shopping), before going to a show, Nanta. Nanta, a Koren show, is a musical/cooking/Blue Man group mixture that is quite entertaining. They even call up audience members (this time, Saylor) to be part of the show. I would highly recommend it, both in Seoul or when touring to the US.
Overall, I was very impressed with South Korea. It is much more advanced, western, and English friendly than I had expected.
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