Spicy Octopus meal

Seoul - This will be my fifity-third trip to Seoul since 1993. The arrival into Seoul was as expected, when the plane landed and was taxing on the runway - many Koreans start to stand and open the overhead compartment. This happens every time I come to Seoul.

Today, I rented a phone from LG Mobile and it is cheap @ KW3,000 (about US$3/day) with all incoming calls free.

The weather is cool and nice at about 22 degrees Celsius. This time around I am staying at a different hotel from my usual , and my first stay at Grand Hilton Seoul @ 201-1 Hongeun-dong, Seodaemun-Ku.

It is about 1hr from the Incheon airport via Limousine bus. I paid KW8,000 for the ride to the hotel - it is different route and located quite a distance away from the Seoul city centre. I had to be vigilant otherwise I will miss my stop - also I let the bus driver know that I am stopping at Grand Hilton Seoul. Fortunately, he understood - when the bus arrived at the destination, I got down and the hotel was just opposite the bus stop on the hill. The bus driver was kind enough to point out to me that there is a limo shuttle provided complimentary by Grand Hilton. This is because it would be quite a up-hill walk of about 10 minutes to the hotel lobby from the bus station.

It was nice that since I am a Hilton Gold member, I was automatically upgraded to the Executive Floor which gives me access to complimentary breakfast and drinks at certain time of the day.


At around evening, Young Jin and I had about 1 1/2 hrs of solid discussion and then adjourned for dinner just across the road. It was a Spicy Octopus restaurant - the spicy Octopus dish is called "Nakji Bokum". The spicy octopus dish comes in a big plate and is the main dish to be shared amongst friends and colleaques. Octopus tentacles are cut into bite-sized pieces. Koreans love this dish but it was too spicy for me. I love Octopus and Squid but it was the chilli and spices that held me back going all out to finish this meal.