| This metropolis did not feel as much as the capital of S.Korea as it did a second-rate Tokyo. Whether you're out on the neon-lit streets, riding the Seoul Metro, inside Lotte, or using a Korean bidet, there's an element of Japan in everything S.Korean. The thing is, I wasn't looking for a sub-standard Japanese experience. I was looking for Seoul. Sorely disappointed, I had prepped myself for an uneventful S.Korean trip. But stand corrected, I'm glad I was. Maybe it was the times we braved the rain and ran from Yonsei to our favourite Korean chicken ginseng joint, all drenched in laughter, barely making it back in time for the next lecture. Perhaps it was the times Dae Hwang--big brother, translator and human street directory all-in-one--helped me wrap my Bulgogi, albeit refusing to give me seconds. (No, he'd say teasingly, you need to lose weight; to which I would retort with a punch in his stomach.) Or it could have been the daily conversations with the cute checkout boy at Tous les Jours and how we would laugh about the time i brought a mountain of bread to his counter but alas, had so-intelligently left my wallet in the apartment. Oh how i miss Korean mornings. Seoul has gifted me only the fondest memories. I had found Seoul among everything Japanese, among all the tourists. And along with it, regained a huge part of my non-judgemental self. 
With Dae Hwang, July 2009.
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