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Farewell to Seoul
Sep. 21st, 2026 05:03 pmWoke up Monday morning for my last day in Seoul. And, it was a pretty typical day.
- A morning walk along the greenway by our Air B&B. This time I took it all the way to the eastern end (discovering that the rest was all nicely forested like the final bit we'd explored previously). There was a bit of a discontinuity then, where you're knocked out into nasty-busy city streets, and then you enter Hyochang Park, which would be a continuation of the greenway if not for all the 50-story buildings in the way in-between, and eventually the underground station there. It was about 3 miles, after which I took the train back (all as planned). Good to have a final little adventure!
- An early lunch at Monil2_House
- A trip to the Daiso store to collect more stuff for Kimberly's stay (a dish drainer this time)
Other than that, Kimberly and I hung out a bit, read aloud a few more chapters of _Whispers Underground_ (which we didn't _quite_ finish, but should be able to in some video calls), played one last game of _Cascadia: Alpine Lakes_ (for now), and generally chilled. I also got my suitcase packed back up, of course, collecting stuff from pretty much every room in the Air B&B. And eventually I slipped on my worn, comfy shoes (as opposed to the slip-ons from Oahu that I wore for most of our walks & bike rides) and with my suitcase dragging behind me headed off to the Hongdae Station one last time.
--
The ride back to the airport seemed much shorter than the ride out to Seoul, which is how such things go. I'd seriously doubted it was the hour quoted when we arrived, but yeah, that was the time on the way out.
The most surprising thing was that after we passed through Incheon and became heading toward the island that the airport is actually on, we were running on the water! I think I'd assumed it was all underground on the way in, but no you get some great views of the various island. And that was a last sight of Seoul, at least from the ground.
--
Delta said to arrive three hours early for an international flight, while many travelers said you couldn't arrive earlier than three hours or your luggage wouldn't be accepted yet. So I got as close to three hours on the dot as I could. (I think it was maybe three hours and ten minutes when I arrived in the airport's basement.)
The signage was pretty decent to find the departure desks, though I was surprised to discover they were all on the third floor, four or five above where the train arrived. I hovered outside the line for my carrier for a few minutes, because I was still early, and one the staff standing there asked if they could help. When I told them I was worried I was too early for my baggage to be accepted (as it was still 3 or 4 minutes before the three-hour mark), they checked what my flight was, then told me to go ahead.
The trick was actually finding the gates afterward, because as far as I could tell there were no signs _anywhere_ that listed gates. No, you had to know to go to the back of the departures hall and walk around staring at the floor until you find arrows there marked "departures queue" and only then where you on the way. I wandered quite a bit before I did that, but I was extremely early and I probably needed the exercise before getting on an 11.5 hour plane ride.
After that, Korea's version of TSA was quick. No taking off of shoes, but they did have a collection of liquids that people had tried to smuggle aboard. Passport Control was equally fast thanks to an automated system that required passport and fingerprint to allow you out of the country.
--
The gates inside were really a surprise. There were shops everywhere, separating the gates, but they were all garbage shops that I never would have gone into. It reminded me of Ala Moana Mall in Honolulu for its high-browedness: clothes shops, perfume shops, "food & drink" shops that were all booze, etc. I roamed looking for a bottle of water and could never find one.
After a bit of wandering, I eventually settled at my gate. It was a large area that never filled, despite it servicing a 3-3-3-across airplane that was pretty full. Clearly, it was built to accommodate the potential number of passengers, unlike every American gate I've ever been at.
It also didn't have the constant cross-flurry of announcements from a half-dozen different gates, combined with warning about "increased security" that are 25 years old. Instead we just got the occasional announcements for our own gate. It would have been a quiet and pleasant place to wait out the 2+ hours if not for the fact that Greensleeves was constantly tinnily playing.
This was courtesy of the little carts that Incheon Airport staff drive people around in. Whenever they are going, they play Greensleeves to warn people they are coming. And one was constantly audible for the next two hours. It's enough to make one want to behead the inspiration for the song.
--
The seat I upgraded to last night when I was able to blessedly check-in was an exit row.
Sort of.
It turns out (and this was alluded to in discussions I read online, but not 100% clear) that it opens onto the whole middle-crew section of the plane (including a big exit). That made it much more difficult to have my bag down than I liked (because it wasn't allowed), but it also met the description I'd seen which was: "literally infinite legroom." At the least, there was enough legroom that I could have laid down with my head by my seat and my feet wouldn't have touched the opposite wall.
(But the flight attendants would have made me get up, I suspect, even if I claimed "I'm just laying down in my row".)
The downside is that it's by the restrooms, and so people congregate. But they never got close to our seats, so it was fine. Although I thought a couple of older Korean women were overdoing it by doing their entire 30-minute exercise routine in the space.
--
The seatbelt sign stayed illuminated for the first two hours or so of the flight. That was because of Typhoon Dujuan now striking Japan.
I'd wondered if it'd cause us worse problems, since the headlines say that more than 2 million have been urged to evacuate. But, no just slight rockiness (I've had much worse on Hawaii trips) and apparently tailwinds that sped up our trip by half-an-hour.
From Hurricane to Typhoon. What a year.
--
Miracle of miracles, I slept on the flight. I rarely manage more than a cat nap on a plane, but I managed to sleep pretty consistently from what would have been 2am in Seoul to 5am or so. I actually transitioned from lights-down when I decided I couldn't work any more to lights-up when I reluctantly decided to open my eyes. That never happens for me on a plane!
I crossed my fingers that that'd be enough to get me through the foreshortened/lengthened day but would still allow me to sleep at a decent time when I landed in the Bay Area.
We'll see. This is a Bay Area to Europe level time difference.
--
The most frustrating thing about international flights is (when you're making a connecting flight) having to pick up your luggage at your connecting airport and then recheck it with the airline after you make it through customs. Have you always had to do that? Maybe I just had direct flights home the few times I was out of the country before 9/11. I don't remember. But I'd never done that weird dance before I renewed my passport to start doing business trips in the '10.
It's frustrating, of course, because you're standing around waiting for luggage when you want to be getting to your next gate to make your transfer. So that's what I was doing in Salt Lake City, which is my transfer on the way to San Jose to see my mom and step-dad. (And yeah, that added probably 4 flight hours, but it's what Korea Air had available when I made my reservations with them.)
In any case, we were made of time because of those tail winds. I suspect I had my luggage before our original arrival time.
--
I'd been a bit concerned about CBP because Trump has been hiring sociopath for all his border-control organizations.
But, I also picked up Global Entry when I was making those business trips in the late '10s. So I just showed my face, walked up to the customs officer, declared my food because they bizarrely require it (half-a-can of chips, half-a-gluten-free croissant, half-a-gluten-free cookie, two bags of gummies), and then redeposited my bag.
--
Walked about 2/3 of a mile from gate to gate.
Still haven't convinced my Fitbit watch it's still the 21st.
--
When we flew in to Salt Lake City, I saw some beautiful mountains and weird stepped hills and a body of water that I assume is the arm of the Salt Lake.
I was shocked by how very arid it all looked. Dry, dry, dry.
Then when I was walking to my gate, I listened to an announcement about their "shaded urban walking paths". Just as I was finding that odd from my limited view of the city, the dad in a family next to me said, "Shaded walking paths! They got that wrong!"
Yeah, that's what I thought.
--
The incoming plane that should take me to San Jose is two hours late. But the claim is they're going to immediately turn it around and we should only be 11 minutes late leaving, and on time arriving.
Fingers crossed, I'm pretty over travel at this point.
- A morning walk along the greenway by our Air B&B. This time I took it all the way to the eastern end (discovering that the rest was all nicely forested like the final bit we'd explored previously). There was a bit of a discontinuity then, where you're knocked out into nasty-busy city streets, and then you enter Hyochang Park, which would be a continuation of the greenway if not for all the 50-story buildings in the way in-between, and eventually the underground station there. It was about 3 miles, after which I took the train back (all as planned). Good to have a final little adventure!
- An early lunch at Monil2_House
- A trip to the Daiso store to collect more stuff for Kimberly's stay (a dish drainer this time)
Other than that, Kimberly and I hung out a bit, read aloud a few more chapters of _Whispers Underground_ (which we didn't _quite_ finish, but should be able to in some video calls), played one last game of _Cascadia: Alpine Lakes_ (for now), and generally chilled. I also got my suitcase packed back up, of course, collecting stuff from pretty much every room in the Air B&B. And eventually I slipped on my worn, comfy shoes (as opposed to the slip-ons from Oahu that I wore for most of our walks & bike rides) and with my suitcase dragging behind me headed off to the Hongdae Station one last time.
--
The ride back to the airport seemed much shorter than the ride out to Seoul, which is how such things go. I'd seriously doubted it was the hour quoted when we arrived, but yeah, that was the time on the way out.
The most surprising thing was that after we passed through Incheon and became heading toward the island that the airport is actually on, we were running on the water! I think I'd assumed it was all underground on the way in, but no you get some great views of the various island. And that was a last sight of Seoul, at least from the ground.
--
Delta said to arrive three hours early for an international flight, while many travelers said you couldn't arrive earlier than three hours or your luggage wouldn't be accepted yet. So I got as close to three hours on the dot as I could. (I think it was maybe three hours and ten minutes when I arrived in the airport's basement.)
The signage was pretty decent to find the departure desks, though I was surprised to discover they were all on the third floor, four or five above where the train arrived. I hovered outside the line for my carrier for a few minutes, because I was still early, and one the staff standing there asked if they could help. When I told them I was worried I was too early for my baggage to be accepted (as it was still 3 or 4 minutes before the three-hour mark), they checked what my flight was, then told me to go ahead.
The trick was actually finding the gates afterward, because as far as I could tell there were no signs _anywhere_ that listed gates. No, you had to know to go to the back of the departures hall and walk around staring at the floor until you find arrows there marked "departures queue" and only then where you on the way. I wandered quite a bit before I did that, but I was extremely early and I probably needed the exercise before getting on an 11.5 hour plane ride.
After that, Korea's version of TSA was quick. No taking off of shoes, but they did have a collection of liquids that people had tried to smuggle aboard. Passport Control was equally fast thanks to an automated system that required passport and fingerprint to allow you out of the country.
--
The gates inside were really a surprise. There were shops everywhere, separating the gates, but they were all garbage shops that I never would have gone into. It reminded me of Ala Moana Mall in Honolulu for its high-browedness: clothes shops, perfume shops, "food & drink" shops that were all booze, etc. I roamed looking for a bottle of water and could never find one.
After a bit of wandering, I eventually settled at my gate. It was a large area that never filled, despite it servicing a 3-3-3-across airplane that was pretty full. Clearly, it was built to accommodate the potential number of passengers, unlike every American gate I've ever been at.
It also didn't have the constant cross-flurry of announcements from a half-dozen different gates, combined with warning about "increased security" that are 25 years old. Instead we just got the occasional announcements for our own gate. It would have been a quiet and pleasant place to wait out the 2+ hours if not for the fact that Greensleeves was constantly tinnily playing.
This was courtesy of the little carts that Incheon Airport staff drive people around in. Whenever they are going, they play Greensleeves to warn people they are coming. And one was constantly audible for the next two hours. It's enough to make one want to behead the inspiration for the song.
--
The seat I upgraded to last night when I was able to blessedly check-in was an exit row.
Sort of.
It turns out (and this was alluded to in discussions I read online, but not 100% clear) that it opens onto the whole middle-crew section of the plane (including a big exit). That made it much more difficult to have my bag down than I liked (because it wasn't allowed), but it also met the description I'd seen which was: "literally infinite legroom." At the least, there was enough legroom that I could have laid down with my head by my seat and my feet wouldn't have touched the opposite wall.
(But the flight attendants would have made me get up, I suspect, even if I claimed "I'm just laying down in my row".)
The downside is that it's by the restrooms, and so people congregate. But they never got close to our seats, so it was fine. Although I thought a couple of older Korean women were overdoing it by doing their entire 30-minute exercise routine in the space.
--
The seatbelt sign stayed illuminated for the first two hours or so of the flight. That was because of Typhoon Dujuan now striking Japan.
I'd wondered if it'd cause us worse problems, since the headlines say that more than 2 million have been urged to evacuate. But, no just slight rockiness (I've had much worse on Hawaii trips) and apparently tailwinds that sped up our trip by half-an-hour.
From Hurricane to Typhoon. What a year.
--
Miracle of miracles, I slept on the flight. I rarely manage more than a cat nap on a plane, but I managed to sleep pretty consistently from what would have been 2am in Seoul to 5am or so. I actually transitioned from lights-down when I decided I couldn't work any more to lights-up when I reluctantly decided to open my eyes. That never happens for me on a plane!
I crossed my fingers that that'd be enough to get me through the foreshortened/lengthened day but would still allow me to sleep at a decent time when I landed in the Bay Area.
We'll see. This is a Bay Area to Europe level time difference.
--
The most frustrating thing about international flights is (when you're making a connecting flight) having to pick up your luggage at your connecting airport and then recheck it with the airline after you make it through customs. Have you always had to do that? Maybe I just had direct flights home the few times I was out of the country before 9/11. I don't remember. But I'd never done that weird dance before I renewed my passport to start doing business trips in the '10.
It's frustrating, of course, because you're standing around waiting for luggage when you want to be getting to your next gate to make your transfer. So that's what I was doing in Salt Lake City, which is my transfer on the way to San Jose to see my mom and step-dad. (And yeah, that added probably 4 flight hours, but it's what Korea Air had available when I made my reservations with them.)
In any case, we were made of time because of those tail winds. I suspect I had my luggage before our original arrival time.
--
I'd been a bit concerned about CBP because Trump has been hiring sociopath for all his border-control organizations.
But, I also picked up Global Entry when I was making those business trips in the late '10s. So I just showed my face, walked up to the customs officer, declared my food because they bizarrely require it (half-a-can of chips, half-a-gluten-free croissant, half-a-gluten-free cookie, two bags of gummies), and then redeposited my bag.
--
Walked about 2/3 of a mile from gate to gate.
Still haven't convinced my Fitbit watch it's still the 21st.
--
When we flew in to Salt Lake City, I saw some beautiful mountains and weird stepped hills and a body of water that I assume is the arm of the Salt Lake.
I was shocked by how very arid it all looked. Dry, dry, dry.
Then when I was walking to my gate, I listened to an announcement about their "shaded urban walking paths". Just as I was finding that odd from my limited view of the city, the dad in a family next to me said, "Shaded walking paths! They got that wrong!"
Yeah, that's what I thought.
--
The incoming plane that should take me to San Jose is two hours late. But the claim is they're going to immediately turn it around and we should only be 11 minutes late leaving, and on time arriving.
Fingers crossed, I'm pretty over travel at this point.