Welcome back to Asia! This week was the commencement of my retirement in yet another sport. We had our last basketball game for NUS and the pressure was on: if we won by 18 we got 2nd place in Singapore, if we won by 11 we got 3rd place in Singapore, and 10 or less and we got 4th.

While we couldn’t get first place, it was important because only the top 3 teams in the league qualify for next semester’s league. So we could have won by 10, and it would have been a flop.

However, we decided not to make things interesting and won by 50 instead. I was genuinely surprised because we were playing a pretty respectable team, but our whole team balled out, and they didn’t know how to respond. It was a nice send-off for me.

We had a long weekend because of an Indian holiday called Diwali, so I took advantage to hop on a 6 hour flight from Singapore to Seoul via the esteemed Asian airline, T’Way Air. It’s funny because 6 hours is the difference between New York and London, and we were taking this flight for the grand total of 5 days.

But it proved to be more than worth it.

I’ve come to the conclusion that South Korea is my favorite country in Asia, and Seoul is my favorite city in Asia. It’s not even close honestly: this place was so sick. Somehow the city felt so bustling, yet so calm at the same time and the combination made you feel right at some.

It was super developed the way any big US city would be, and super clean the way any big US city wouldn’t be. The best comparison I could give is that it felt like Singapore if Singapore decided to allow a little fun.

I’m the world’s least knowledgable fashionista, but even I could tell that everyone here knew how to dress, and I literally mean every single person on the street. My friends and I started trying to count the number of sweatpants we could spot, and the answer was 2.

I’ve been to some of the French and Italian “Fashion capitals of the world,” but I’m sorry, Seoul makes those cities look like me dressed up for an 8AM lecture. Furthermore, the amount of fancy cars I saw driving around exceeded anything I’ve ever seen before. I saw more Lamborghinis, Ferraris, Rolls Royces, and McLaren’s than I’ve seen in the rest of my life.

The downside to Seoul was that literally no one spoke English, which made doing anything more burdensome than normal. But we still had some pretty awesome highlights in South Korea.

Friday, my friends and I took a trip to the DMZ, which is the border between North and South Korea. This was one of the things I had most been looking forward to in all of Asia, and it did not disappoint.

We got to enter a tunnel that North Korea dug to invade South Korea in the 1970s (after the DMZ and armistice was established). The tunnel brought me within 170 meters of North Korea, which was the closest I got.

We also got to see North Korea’s Propaganda Village, which you can see right over their border, sporting a massive North Korean flag. That was so cool. Although sadly, there was no sign of Kim Jong-Un.

Also mildly coincidental, yesterday North and South Korean military ships exchanged gunfire with each other. Kind of crazy that that occurred while I was in Korea. The feud between the two countries has really intensified in the last few weeks, and I encourage you to look up some of the reasons why. (Hint: the US is involved).

Speaking of the US, on Saturday, we came across two demonstrations happening in Seoul, one that appeared to be pro-American, while one was vehemently anti-US. I never actually gathered what they were about because no one could speak English enough to explain it to me, but it was very fascinating to see the passion, both for and against my country, in full force abroad.

On Sunday, we explored Gangam, and before you ask, yes that is the neighborhood that the song Gangam Style is baesd off. It’s so cool to think about how there is a lot of Korean pop culture influence in the US, not only Gangam Style, but also Squid Games and BTS as of late.

Being on the ground there and seeing what Psy was rapping about while considering that song literally captured the entire world for months was freaking sick.

Despite all of the highlights, Monday might have topped all of that. We did this hike in Bukhansan which took us to the top of this rocky mountain on the outskirts of Seoul and gave you the most insane view of the city.

The hike was quite dangerous. At times we were climbing almost vertically with just a handrail, but the view at the top was so worth it. In terms of city views, that was up there with an Athens hike I did, and the top of the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore, but this one was pure bliss. It just made me love the city even more.

I could talk for ages about the food, shopping, and nightlife, but it would make this entry so incredibly long, so just message me about it if you want to know more!

Seoul was definitely the coolest city I’ve been to in Asia. I loved the whole feel of it, and if life ever lead me back there I would welcome that with open arms.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a super deep lesson learned this week. But three things I did learn this week were the most important phrases that a foreigner can learn coming to Korea so I thought I’d share them here instead:

• Anonyeongseyo: Hello
• Gamsamnida: Thank you
• Neonun yeppuda: You are pretty

See you next week! The cool cities and countries really spice up from here on out ;)