Jogyesa Temple.

Jogyesa Temple.

My second sightseeing destination of the day was Jogyesa Temple which turned out to be just about a 20 minute walk from my apartment. I had put together map of some of the places I wanted to see in Seoul and had offlined the map so I could use it on my phone.  With phone and map in hand, I set out for Jogyesa.

Colorful Changing of the Royal Guard Ceremony.

I  don't think my nap yesterday afternoon helped my jet lag recovery efforts any. I got to sleep sometime past midnight and woke up sometime past 4a. I tossed and turned but never fell back asleep until around 6:30 and then I was out for only about an hour. I decided trying to sleep was really an exercise in futility so I just resigned myself to the fact that I will be dragging all day today. Since I didn't have dinner last night, I was actually hungry when I woke up. I broke into the ramen bowl that I had bought yesterday - that really came in handy. Then I hit the shower and got ready for the day.

Seoul With Laura.

Laura in Myeongdong.

Back in the apartment, I discovered that Laura had left me a voice message. This time, it was with a local phone number. I called the number and she answered the phone! We were on for getting together and she would call me when she arrived at the apartment. I waited until I got her call to tell me she was downstairs. I quickly got my stuff together and headed down. I walked out of the building and did not see her. I walked up the block a bit and did not see her. I walked down the block and then around the corner and spotted her. She was standing in front of the building that Google Maps had incorrectly associated with the street address. I had suspected that might be the case which is why I walked down the block and around the corner! Anyway, we were both relieved to finally see each other - after all the difficulties we had had communicating.  We greeted each other with big smiles on our faces and then we hugged each other.

My First Morning in Seoul.

The store front of a small cafe in the Bukchon neighborhood.

I woke up at 6:15a this morning, tired as hell. I did not sleep well at all last night. I tossed and turned until I finally fell asleep around 2a and then I pretty much woke up every hour after that. Considering I had not sleep much on the flight over, not sleeping well last night only compounded my exhaustion.

After I realized I wasn't going to fall back asleep, I got up, made myself a cup of tea, checked my emails, read some Facebook postings and watched some Korean TV. It's pretty boring TV here - a LOT of infomercials, soap operas and talk shows. So far, I've not found an English Channel :-(