I thought my Airbnb was in the “suburbs,” but I was wrong. I moved to a guesthouse (also in Incheon) that is practically in the countryside. I mean that quite literally there are fields in between clusters of high rise apartments. I went for a run in the afternoon, but there was no where to go… and it started snowing.
The guesthouse is a converted apartment. It’s quite spacious and the only other guests are a father/daughter pair from Brazil (of Korean descent). Portuguese is a weird language; it often sounds like they are speaking Russian, or French, or something I can’t quite put me finger on.
Nothing exciting to report on the travel front. Spent most of the day working on the website (you may notice that I’ve moved all the Chinese content to a separate subdomain [zh.linguistese.com]).
Good news for the guesthouse is that breakfast (cereal) is included and there is an entire cabinet full of ramen, so I can be extra cheap for a couple of days.
My Airbnb was a small apartment I would describe as off in the suburbs, but I really can’t tell whether Incheon really has a central part. The city is somewhat shaped like a starfish, and if you include the islands, then its a starfish that just lost a fight to a shark. In any case, it was a comfortable little apartment with heat coming through the floor. I kept expecting the host to show up at some point as I was sleeping in the library, but I never met her.
In the morning I set off to explore, taking a long and not very scenic walk towards the Incheon City Hall and the green strip with the Arts and Music Hall. I bumped into a couple of missionaries on the way and saw a demonstration on the steps of the city hall, both sights I’ve long grown accustomed to not seeing.
Why is Chinatown always on a hill?
There wasn’t much to do around the central strip, so I hopped on the subway to head back towards the area around the port and main train station. More of a historic district, there is a well maintained Chinatown, a Japan town, and lots of monuments to various historic firsts, such as the opening of US-Korea relations in December 1882, or the introduction of Christianity to Korea in April 1885 (by Americans, of course). Being Incheon, a statue of General MacArthur was to be expected, but I found him overshadowed by the memorial to the student volunteer army.
My first order of business in Chinatown was lunch, and Korean style Chinese food is both insanely expensive and strange.
Helter Skelter
On the other side of Chinatown was some sort of “fairy tale village,” where several streets fully decorated the buildings, benches, and sidewalks with imagery from fairy tales (i.e. knock off Disney). I imagine it would be quite bustling in the summer, but there was a stinging wind coming in off the water and I’m not big into selfies.
I wondered over by the Sipo Culture street, which mainly seemed to be an area with an above average density of shops, restaurants, and cafes. I imagine Korea has a per capita coffee shop that would make Howard Schultz proud, and I settled on an indie place with a Chilean theme. Since the espressos were so much cheaper than yesterday’s mainstream chain, I got two to justify my long working stint.
In the evening, I headed to to grab some food in the Sipo International Market, but it was bitter cold and already on the wane. I settled for a “loaf of bread” the shape of a basketball that I felt satisfied the need for 特色 (special-ness) because I got to watch the production process through a window. Flat tortillas were inserted into a kiln to cook, and somehow puff up.
Man, I was really hoping spending so little one day would bring down the average more than that. I am starting to worry that my coffee habit is too expensive (never mind the fact that I have 3 bags of coffee with me). Soju may be a more affordable writing juice.
Check-in for the ferry began at 3:30, which didn’t leave me any time to explore Weihai. I took a run in a park and spent the morning on my computer in the hostel common room. After checking out at noon and making sure my electronics were fully charged, I decided to walk over to a well rated Sichuan restaurant in a mall, from where I could easily catch the bus to the International Port. However, I took a wrong turn and found myself in Weihai’s “Happy Korea Village” and I stopped at a vegetarian buffet for lunch. I need to write a post about buffets and this was certainly something unique.
The process of actually picking up my ticket, going through security, going through Immigration and Customs, and boarding the vessel were all straight forward, except the slow pace of it all. Boarding is between 3:30 and 4:30, but the ship did not push off until about 8 pm. The Korean-operated ferry far exceeded my expectations. Even the economy class fare put me in a very comfortable 8-bed dorm, where each bunk had privacy curtains. The ship had a restaurant, karaoke rooms, a duty-free store, a cafe, and a convenience store. I also wasn’t expecting the showers and a (free!) laundry room. The ship was also well-heated.
I stuck to coffee and water, though it seemed like everyone else on the ship (I estimated a 20-80 split of Chinese-to-Korean and an average age in the 60s. I was the only white face on the boat) started breaking out the beer, soju, and baijiu. It turned into quite a party, but I kept my head down. I was so full after lunch, I made do with a bowl of Korean instant ramen from the convenience store.
맛있어요 (Delicious!)
In the morning, it felt like forever before we berthed. The ship had to pass through a lock to get into the inner harbor. I was expecting some questions from Korean immigration (i.e. “What’s your job? When are you leaving?”), but they stamped me through so quickly, they didn’t even mark an exit date in my passport. I assume that means I can stay forever.
