Cultural Korea - LG Trip - Day Two

Breakfast is always a watershed moment on a trip like this one. It shows how much people 'had' the night before. And, we had some good fun last night, some more than others.

Until this morning, for instance, I had never heard of the game 'Beer Pong'. It is a drinking game which the locals take so seriously that there is a league for it, officiators and special tables. Wikipedia even has an explanation. It turns out that it originated at the Royal Naval College in Dartmouth, apparently. The influence of British culture is everywhere.

A few sore heads marked the end of our first night in Korea, and the start of half a day as tourists in Seoul. Our 'Korean Mother', Mika, met us in the large hotel lobby and herded us onto a luxurious coach to take us to see one of the palaces in the city.

Our coach in Seoul

It  had been rebuilt after the Japanese destroyed it when they occupied the country in the early 20th century. We arrived just in time to see the Korean version of the 'Changing of the Guard'. After that spectacle, our guide, Sophie, took us on a tour of the palace.

One of our group, Allan White, injured himself playing football before coming out here. His injury is bad enough that he cannot walk. The team from LG has been highly attentive towards Allan, providing him with a wheelchair, which is dutifully pushed by Terry, a Korean student doing a summer job for LG. Terry, or 'Tel' as he has been nicknamed by the team happens to be studying engineering.

L to R: Terry, Allan and Sophie

Our 'palace tour' came before a quick journey to a steak restaurant. Most of the team took the time to get 20 minutes of sleep in before eating a delicious steak served on a hot stone in the restaurant.

Steak in Seoul

Mika, once again, prodded us into action to get back on the bus to take us to Gimpo airport, which caters for domestic flights in Korea. LG is everywhere in Korea. Once aboard the Korean Air flight, the one-hour flight gave us the opportunity to catch up on some sleep as we headed south to Busan.

Busan is South Korea's second city with a population of around 3 million. One prominent aspect of this country is its mountainous geography which forces them to build many high rise buildings. Before landing, we circled for a while and you could see block of flats and offices for miles, which is less common in the UK.

Another coach, which sported LG Electronics livery, took us for the 40-minute to our hotel, the Paradise, on Haeundae Beach in the city. We passed a spectacular high rise development, the Whisen Tower, which is part of our tour on Monday.

Mika, as efficient as ever, handed us our room keys in the swish hotel, and instructed us to meet back in the lobby at 1920 hours for dinner, which was to be a 'Korean BBQ'. That gave us a few hours to enjoy the hotel's spa and relax.

I had a good chat with Steve Yeung, LG's product manager in the UK, to understand more about the UK market, and how it differs from the Korean market for air conditioning and heat pumps. He explained how the country's entrepreneurial spirit which was borne out of its struggles after occupation and war. South Korea's economy was smashed after the war in the 50s, and the generation then had to work long hours and get educated to build the economy. That drive has brought the country to where it is now.

A short walk from the hotel, Mika led us to the BBQ restaurant. A Korean BBQ is a pot of meat (beef in this case) and vegetables which you cook in the centre of your table. Once cooked, you help yourself and add it to the other spicy vegetable dishes on your table. It was delicious, although some were less keen.

Korean BBQ

Steve Yeung, made some special cocktails up for us which were a mix of local lager, coke and 'soju', which is a sweet, clear liquor. Not bad.

Mika, Sophie and Terry left us to fend for ourselves as we set off for a walk around nearby Busan. It was Sunday night, so pretty quiet. Nonetheless, we found some interesting sites, including an road packed with 'street food' stalls. One of them specialised in eels, which they skinned alive before chopping them up and grilling for customers.

Watching eels being skinned alive in Busan

 We finally stopped in a bar called 'Fuzzy Navel' for a few beers. It was good to chat with some of the group about what they were hoping to see and learn on this trip. All of them wanted to ask the LG team some specific questions about either the air conditioning or heat pump systems. Our first day in the factory should provide some answers.

Sam, Jody and Martin at the Fuzzy Navel