Korea: Lotte World lines and fusion food

Briefly on this blog in the past have I discussed my time working at Lotte World, in South Korea's bustling capital city of Seoul. It was, for better or worse, the furthest location from my living arrangements and required the longest commute to get to and from, clocking in at roughly three hours of transit time a day and four separate train rides. Heaven forbid I oversleep, or time out my transfers wrong- though, to be fair, the morning commute is pretty well covered by the city's subway system with frequent running trains helping ferry people to their various jobs in all the different corners of the city on time. The transportation system of, say, the city of Las Vegas, could certainly take a few pointers from how well organized and run the system in this massive catacomb of subterranean tunnels is. While I doubt any country could effectively try to compete with how unbelievably well-choreographed the Japanese train system is, Seoul's is pretty damn fantastic. Only a handful of times in six months was I ever late, and that was due mostly to user error on my part like not understanding the menus which, presumably, would warn against the trains that were stopping and going offline at the next station, or missing my train outright. Like I said, these things were squarely my fault for failing to properly utilize the system or grasping the language, so I can't fault the city or the system there. 

Once I finally did make my way to Lotte world, there was no assurance of escape from the crowds clustered together in the trains- if anything, there was a pretty solid chance it'd be even more crowded! Lotte World is a popular theme park, after all, and towards the end of my time working inside of the facility there were some new and exciting attractions introduced, which led to a huge upswing in traffic. As someone who's decidedly not super-keen on big crowds, this wasn't hugely favorable, though in reality it mainly translated to a very long line of people actively ignoring me. Fun stuff. Since I wasn't being paid hourly, and I wasn't making a huge amount of money with most of the visitors more interested in checking out the new attractions, I ended up going downstairs and grabbing a meal at a Korean-Mexican fusion restaurant inside the Jamsil station complex. It wasn't bad! 

More photos below~

Korea - Lotte world lights

Many months in a row, I found myself making the long commute to Lotte World. From Hwajeong to Jamsil station it would take roughly an hour and 20 minutes, sometimes longer if the weather was bad, trains were being decommissioned (as I often found to be the case as I was running late to work already) or other issues arose. Often times the train would be packed, a steamy airtight tube full of grouchy people rubbing elbows, day or night. The commute was, perhaps understandably enough, not my favorite aspect to working at the Lotte World location- getting to and from work took up a significant portion of my day, and often hampered me from wanting to go out and explore because of the amount of time it would still take for me to get home afterward. This, of course, was a shame because there is so much good food and so many beautiful places to find throughout the city of Seoul! Take these beautiful illuminations, for example.   

Lotte World is incorporated into Jamsil station and a shopping mall, often mingling beyond their own divided borders throughout the space. It was exceptionally confusing on my first day, and my coworker provided a very detailed photographic guide for me to find him that first run, and even so, it was fraught with issues. For one thing, telling me to meet him at Lotte Burger sounded good in theory, until I found a secondary location hidden in a corridor where my coworker had little reason to explore (and therefore no prior knowledge of). You can grab a quick bite at any number of restaurants, from the multiplicity of Lotte Burgers to sit-down cold noodles and sushi, bibimbap or kimbap a-plenty (from small stalls or major fast food chains). There are SO many different places selling clothes- from the mall proper at one end of the complex, to the underground market on the other end full of affordable tweenage styles and fast fashion, so you can get your newest styles after a day of fun at Lotte World- and if that's not enough you could even grab your groceries in the large subterranean market! The main point I'm getting at, albeit slowly and a bit convolutedly, is that you could get most of your needs taken care of or tended to while safely inside in the confines of the Jamsil station/Lotte World shopping mega-complex. There's little to no need for any visitor to step outdoors... unless, of course, you really wanted to explore the area and maybe take in the Olympic Park after a scenic walk. I would step out to vape when I could find a quiet, isolated area, or I'd enjoy my lunch out in the grassy area near a micro-convenience store hidden inside the building's outer periphery. It was on one of these outings that I discovered these illuminations, seeking a brief solace from the crowds inside before braving the long (and often crowded) commute back home. 

Certainly not the worst of surprises, huh? 

So let this be a reminder to you to stop and enjoy the little things, deviate from the norm, at least every once in awhile.