Seoul

Tag Archive: Seoul

Travel Arrangements In Mangalore

Filed Under: Trip

Jul.15, 2008

This is the story of how I ended up booking a hotel in Mangalore when we all went to attend Naveen’s wedding.

So, as you all know (again, to my invisible readers), we all packed our bags and stuff and landed up in Mangalore some time back for Naveen’s wedding. But what nobody really knows is how I managed to arrange for the stay – that is, book rooms in Mangalore.

Actually, Jackie’s folks had arranged for some place in Mangalore for everybody to stay, relatives, friends etc. I heard that the place was pretty good. However, I knew the crowd I was going with (including yours truly). I knew them well enough that I should book in a decent hotel so that we can all get some privacy AND have lots of fun. Hehehe! And the fun part was big, really really big for everyone.

So I googled for Mangalore hotels and I decided to stay at Poonja International. The other options were from this site http://mangalore-hotels.hotelskarnataka.com/index.htm. The biggest problem was I didn’t have anyone in Mangalore to actually assist me with the best option.

And at the last minute, one of Nafisa’s friends had a cousin in Mangalore who actually was willing to help. God knows for what. (If you read this, thanks a lot dude. You were awesome and very much appreciated). I mean, there are extremely few people who can actually help without expecting anything in return. Awesome.

Anyways, he booked us at Suniel Shetty’s hotel (damn forgot the name now) and even called me back to inform that we should call him before settling the bills so he can get us a discount. So this is how we got to Mangalore and stayed without trouble. We even had a terrace party that night, thanks to Duncan (Jackie’s uncle) and Naveen. Nice!

Now this might look like an isolated incident. But this was the case again when I was traveling to Seoul and Bangkok. We ended up staying at The Ambassador in Bangkok and Seoul hotel was booked by client. But the point is that I am kicking myself for not finding a site like Hotels Combined. The reason being it would have saved my day any time. I mean I could have searched for the right hotels within my budgets and requirements right from one site instead of googling and looking at a hundred other sites. Anyways, no crying over spilt milk.

Definitely next time though. The search engine to find hotels anywhere in the world is just brilliant.

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Tags: Bangkok, hotels, mangalore, search engine, Seoul, travels

Soul Of Seoul – Antics On The Plane

Filed Under: Friends, Pics, Trip

Dec.11, 2007

Read Soul of Seoul Part 1.

This is part 2 of my experiences in Korea and Thailand.

So we are on the way to Bangkok from Seoul now by Thai Airways. We are sitting in a 3 seater (middle) with me on one side and Senthil on the other with Anoop sandwiched between us. All through the flight we get something to drink now and then and of course lots of food. Thai airways even though known to be real cheap we had no issues. The food was good and waitresses were okay. Not exactly very polite, but okay.

Senthil at Dongdaemun shopping centre, Seoul, Korea

So there was this guy sitting on the right two seater alone and next to Senthil. He turned out to be an American of Indian (when I mean Indian, from India and not a Red-Indian, hehehehe). This guy got into a conversation with Senthil. Senthil, as usual, very trusting and open to conversation with anyone, jumped into the fray. We kept giving warning looks for Senthil which quite naturally went above board, you know, like a zinger. (But I did get free butter from that guy. I loved the butter they served in all the flights. Yummy!). This guy was a little bit insecure or he was just plain nasty I don’t know. But he started asking about how many countries we had visited and things like that. So Senthil tells him that this is his first time but we (Anoop and I) have visited MANY countries (no count).

And then this guy goes into an account of his travels and everything and he was quite frankly too pompous for our liking. So when he asked what our salaries were (to Senthil) we started hinting outrageous amounts like 25 lakhs, 40 lakhs, 50 lakhs etc per year. So Senthil gave some outrageous amount as an answer. We had quite a laugh on that. Actually we were struggling not to laugh.

After so many such eavesdropped conversations later at one point we were actually laughing uncontrollably.

So this guy turns to Senthil and asks, ‘what are they laughing about?”

Senthil – “I don’t know. I think they are just laughing about some joke”

Guy, getting miffed – “Are they laughing at me?”

Senthil – “No. They are laughing at me”

We were almost on the floor after this incident. The guy was pretty sure we were making fun of him on the sly and laughing about him. Senthil, of course, understood that.

To top it off, Senthil and this guy exchanged addresses to meet up some time in Bangkok. Oh man, we had to pull Senthil off or else…

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Tags: Bangkok, flight, Korea, Seoul, Thailand

Soul Of Seoul 1

Filed Under: Trip

Nov.15, 2007

This is a short story of our trip to Korea. This is but part 1.

So we were at Incheon airport, South Korea. Everybody else is out through immigration. Now its time for yours truly to get visa stamped. So I go to the counter and give my passport and boarding ticket to the lady. She looks at me up and down. And i am looking practically devilish with a four day’s growth of stubble (it was almost a beard) on my face. She sees the passport. Back to my face. And this being my very first trip abroad. What a dumb thing to do, huh? So she asks me a couple of questions of why, what, when and where. And then, horror of all horrors, I am sent to this ’special room’ without my visa getting stamped.

I go there and see a lot of people sitting around. And there one more lady asks for the invitation letter. Of course, I don’t have it. But luckily I have my laptop with me which has a copy of the invitation sent to me. So I open the laptop and show the letter to the lady there (immigration officer?). And then pro actively I give the name of our Business partner’s name and number to her and explain how important it is for me to be in Seoul for the next few days.

I was told to sit in one of the numerous chairs there. She keeps speaking Korean to this guy and that guy here and there. I don’t understand anything. As I was sitting there I saw so many people being brought here for the same reason as I was. That was funny. Hehehehe. All I knew was that they cannot reject my visa on my birthday. I know how illogical that sounds. But that was what running through my mind anyway. I casually walk towards the door and see both Senthil and Anoop looking at me from afar with serious eyes. I wave and smile with what I assumed was a confident smile (I hope).

And then this female is speaking to someone on the phone. I heard one word that was meaningful to me and that was the name of the company we were visiting. So I assumed she was speaking to someone to verify the company. Anyway, after half an hour or so she stamped something and asked me to come with her. I open the passport and find that YES, I am finally in Seoul.

So we take all our bags and go out where I find Mr. Kim running towards me and shouting my name. That was just wonderful. Only then we come to know that it was he who the lady was speaking to on the phone.

That was a one hell of an entry into a foreign land on my very first abroad trip. Unforgettable!!!

Next – Antics in the plane

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Tags: airport, Korea, Seoul, visa

Korea – Day 2

Filed Under: Holidays, Trip

Oct.29, 2007

Nice weather here and feels a little bit like Ooty or other hill station. The place is great and the food awesome. Very nice people. Only problem is the language, with very few people speaking decent English. But that’s the way I like it. My very first abroad trip.

Now back to work.

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