Finally here!

*this time I am travelling with a friend (HP) – so must of my posts will use the pronouns we/our/us… etc.

So after a longer flight than expected (we did some time travel on the Sydney-Hong Kong part of the journey, which added three hours to the flight!), we arrived in Hong Kong airport. After making our way through security, we explored the airport, finding many wonderful stores. There was a DisneyLand store with lots of cut, soft toys; a chain of chocolate/sweets shops; some clothing stores; and multiple food courts. We finally settled on ramen for dinner, and each had a salty pork broth before heading off to find our gate.

On the way, we stopped to charge our phones at a charging station. There was a ipad and a laptop computer for free use at the station, and after unsuccessfully trying to play a few games on the ipad, I found the Paint program on the computer. We proceeded to make some wonderfully horrific pieces of art. I cannot even bare to publish them here. It was lots of fun though, and helped to keep me awake.

Once our gate was announced, we found our find to a completely deserted part of the airport, where we eventually boarded our flight to Seoul. It was a three and a half-hour flight, and I could barely keep my eyes open during the safety briefing and announcements. We did some more time travel, and landed in Seoul at 5:15 in the morning. With manageable exhaustion, we made our way through quarantine and customs and were finally in Seoul!

We had some difficulty organising SIM cards for our phones, but once that we resolved, we sat down for dinner at a little fast-food shop called Lotteria. I had potato chips, and HP had an orange juice. Then we went outside to catch a taxi. HP did some marvellous Korean speaking to convey to the concierge where we wanted to go. The concierge hailed a cab, and we were soon driving through Korea.

While it was super cold and foggy outside, the inside of the cab was really warm and sleepy. I managed to keep awake enough to gaze out of the window, and absorb the view. There are a lot of bridges in Seoul, and most of the landscape is very beautiful. It was interesting to see the way the traffic and buildings become more enclosed as we entered the city. The taxi driver dropped us off right outside ESW where we would be staying for the whole trip. Praise God we had such good flights and made really great time. There were a couple of moments of turbulence, but we always landed safely.

We had about an hour wait until ESW was open for check-in, so we sat in the cafe on the first floor. It’s a super cute little place, with heaps of dried flower decorations, small gifts, and what promises to be delicious food (I even saw waffles!). I bought some little chocolates as a treat to keep me warm, and they are amazing! So rich and chocolate-ly and good! HP kept on checking whether or not they were ready to check us in, and at 10am, we mounted the stairs, hopped in the elevator and were shown to our room.

Our room in ESW is very spacious. We have our own bathroom, beds, and really wide windows which make the whole area feel bigger. There is a TV, a closet, and a set of draws – and, of course, a heater! It’s not too bad inside, even without the heater on, but it will get cooler overnight. There is also a communal kitchen on our floor, and it is very tidy and clean. It’s a really beautiful place to stay.

It is such a relief to be warm and comfortable at last! I am so thankful to God for keeping us safe! It was such a long journey, but we’re finally here!!! Yay!!!