An unexpected trip to Seoul, South Korea, left me with a grin wider than the Cheshire cat.
The DORR McElrea Racing Team, spent 2 extra action nights, what with an added weekend to the Porsche Carrera Cup Asia (PCCA) to the calendar.
It was a mad trail of thought, pondering on how, what , when and where we were going to end up those 2 days.
There were so many recommendations from friends , including the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), which I would have loved to see, but I needed much more time.
“Stretching for 2km on either side of this border is the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). As one of the last relics of the Cold War, the DMZ attracts a great deal of public interest, and is a popular destination for travelers visiting Korea. Despite the fact that this is the most heavily armed border in the world, it is extremely rare that any hostilities take place. These days the DMZ is a safe destination that we would thoroughly recommend to any traveler. The DMZ and its surroundings contain many interesting historical sights and pristine untouched natural surroundings.” (http://visitkorea.or.kr)
I reached The Ritz Carlton , Seoul, in the afternoon and took a cab with the team to the Gangnam area, to browse around with in-house taxi entertainment on the Psy ‘Gangnam Style’ song (of course).
We stopped off for a Korean BBQ lunch, which tested our patience on trying to find the recommended restaurant, and what was amazing was the people we asked off the street for directions.
They took the time to search for it on their GPS, not 1 person, but 3 persons in total!At around midnight, myself, Mitch and Yuey, took the streets armed with our cameras and took in the late night sights and sounds.
It made me realise that it was an educational tour for not just adults but for the kids of Korea. It was most definite that the citizens were proud of their culture, and smoking was not allowed in most places and even those that did, they were so considerate for their country and threw their cigarette butts away.
Next stop was the Leeum Samsung Museum of Art, which was a short trip into the history of Korea , including a lot of contemporary art. Some amazing, but a lot of it rather warped as you can see in my photos.
Our very last stop was the Seoul Tower, which was pretty much like the Macau tower. We took a sardine packed car up to the top of the hill and then took the 30 second elevator ride up to soak up the city as the sun set, and turned into a glittering sky of lights.
To end off the night , our race engineer Minal arrived and we hit the bars for a few drinks and a good night chatting away, amongst the flashing streets of youth, who were on holiday. Good memories of reckless night of drinking came to mind with passed out bodies that we had to step over as we skipped and hopped back to our hotel.
We have an amazing team, and I feel luckier than ever, to be travelling with an amazing group of people who HAPPEN to work in Motorsport.
Next up – making it to the Inje Speedium International Circuit. A ridiculous 5 hour trip to the middle of nowhere, with amazing sights, that made it 134% easier to get over the extra 2 hour delay due to traffic.
Every Korean parent travelled out the city to bring their kids camping, rafting, bungee jumping, fishing and all that wholesome outdoor lifestyle we so sorely miss out in , in Singapore!
Over and out!
CLAIRE JEDREK