Now in Korea
Dec. 15th, 2009 08:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
karenedI'm in Seoul now!
Here's an update of my last few days in Tokyo! For the last day on Sunday, I was suddenly tasked, out of the blue, to babysit this person. What does that mean? That means that I wass practically stuck to the game centers with video games and such. No shopping, no muncing, no walking around sightseeing. Not that I was very very keen to do those, but I'd prefer my last day there to be spent in leisure...
Aniwaes, so we went to the game arcade at Shinjuku to play this 3 Kingdom card game that he loves. However, there was a tournament at 2pm so that game machine was only for public use till then. Well, with the great memory I'm so proud of, we decided to make a bet on my memory about having seen a sign indicating that there are such game machines at the 4th floor at Palette Town. So, we headed for there...and found it. XD I'm amazing!! I only saw the sign once, and like many days before, yet I remembered! muahaha...
Aniwaes, we were looking around the area for the machines (hiden at a corner) when the song above came on.
ARASHI's My Girl! i was fumbling for my mp3 player as I recognised the start, so he front part is cut off...and because the speakers were above the bowling lanes, you can here sounds of dropped rolled bowling balls!
And I finally go to know driver-san's name..because gf gave me his namecard in case we needed to call him.
上村 一二三 (Kamimura Kazufumi)
Very interesting name deshou!
I've always thought that 上村 was read Uemura. Asked him about it and he said that it can be read both ways.
And for 一二三, I remember it as Kindaichi's cousin (?)'s name, demo have never found out how to read it. Now I know!
Aniwaes, the day ended with putting together boxes and packing things to be sent back home. I'm quite pleased, and surprised, by how much shopping I managed to cut down to...previously, I needed about 1.5-2 boxes for all my shopping. This time round, just half a box, of which half are worn clothes, a quarter magazines and just a quarter new stuff!
We got onto the 2pm flight on Korea Air towards Seoul the next day. Having flown only SingAir for the past few years, I was not really used to Korean Air (Jst as was the case with Japan Air), but it was a short 2 hours flight so it wasn't that bad.
Yes! Just 2 hours and...18 mins? So convenient ne! I really hope I get to go for the exchange...then Arashiland would be just 3 hours away!
I went to get something books (YB photobook and novel!) as well as dvds (Park Yong Ha's The Slingshot!) at COEX today...and from the day of shopping, below are what I have to say with regards to J v K. You have the right to disagree, but I too have my right to voice what I like or dislike. Since this is a comparison between Japan and Korea, I'm using Japan as the standard and will judge Korea based on that standard.
- Service standards in Japan v Korea
Although I can't say that service everywhere is Japan is perfect, those that I encountered, from my numerous visits there, have continuously surpassed expectations. And it's not just the big labels, but even the small pushcart at the corner.
In contrast, within just a day in Seoul, I've been disappointed numerous times by the service standards. Here are some complaints, amongst others:
- I was at Etude House (Cosmetics and skincare) and two salesgirls were there chatting and chatting, when the shop is really really packed - the contents of their chat would most likely be overheard by a customer or two. I'm not asking them to be attentive to customers just as Japanese salespersons are, but just not to chat before the customers as that makes them seems nonchalent and unprofessional.
- Again at Etude House, when I was paying, the cashier handed me the change without a word or a smile, with one hand. Well, if this was back in Singapore, I wouldn't care a hoot about this. But too bad, I just came from Japan, where I always received my change with both hands and usually with a smile and a thank you.
- Social grace in Japan v Korea
Ok this title is misleading. It's not as serious as it sounds, and I'm sure this single incident is not representative of the whole society and that the part of society I've interacted with in both countries is just a small part. But, I just have to vent it out.
I've never experienced being pushed around in Japan, except when I'm in a train. Sometimes, in a very small shop, when people want to get past me, they will go "Sumimasen, torimasu" or something along those lines. And when they knock into me accidentally, they will apologise again. Everytime.
Today, I was in this extremely packed shop. And people kept pushing behind me to get past me. No sorrys, no excuse mes. Just pushes. I was so bothered about that. But, the next incident happened at a pushcart. I went up to the pushcart to look at the displayed items, and there were two people at the pushcart, on my left. I kept a comfortable distance from them. But, I soon felt someone pushing towards me. =/ They were looking from the left towards the right and so was shifting towards me. Push, push, push. I was so pissed off, I just stayed rooted. Yet, they continued to subtly push towards me. Argh.
Another thing is that they keep shouting! It's not as bad as in kdramas, but it's not difficult to hear someone shouting or talking loudly.
- Fashion in Japan v Korea
This came to mind while I was sitting on a bench, waiting for my gm to finish her round at a shop. I was observing passer-bys...and perhaps it's just my taste, but I feel that the Japanese are better at dressing up and layering than the Koreans. This applies to both guys and girls, young (schooling) and old (non-schooling). It's not just the dressing but also the way they style their hair.
- Shopping in Japan v Korea
When you shop, you need money, right? Well I'm so used to Japan currency that I'm having problems using Korean currency. Korean currency is denominated in really big numbers. ₩1,000 is about SGD1.10, ₩10,000 about SGD11. ￥1,000 is about SGD16, ￥10,000 about SGD160. So, I got a bit confused when I paid for my stuff in won. Especially when there are so many zeros! I had to stop and count the number of zeros to make sure I had enough cash to pay for the stuff. Mind-boogling.
Another thing is the signages. Back in Japan, even if I can't pronounce a particular kanji, I can at least understand the meaning because I know Chinese. However, here in Korea, I realised that I haven't been reading the signbaords at all. In contrast to signboards in Japanese wher I can read the hiragana/katakana very quickly, and understand the kanji within seconds, I have to stop and slowly read the Hangul in Korea. That's tiring and so I've decided not to do that anymore. =S
It may sound like I totally dislike Korea, but well, I am enjoying myself, mainly because I have a tv show to look forward to everyday! Mon-Tues Invicible Lee Pyung Gang, Wed-Thurs Will It Snow At Christmas? Sat-Sun Creating Destiny.
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Comments transfered from vox
Dec 15, 2009
Japan's customer service is AMAZING. most of the people we met were just really gracious and respectful.
Dec 16, 2009
wah youre already there.. *envy envy* XDD anyways i love youre comparison ne! it kind of reminded me of my friend's father.. he went to japan but got kind of lost there so he asked a student for directions.. the student was really kind an even accompanied him to the place.. he went to korea after then the same thing happened since he wasnt familiar with the place, so he decided to ask someone for directions again, but no one stopped to listen to him.. they just ignored him.. :( anyways i hope you enjoy your stay! :D im starting to download the will it snow on christmas too! :D