I sincerely apologize for the delay in writing this post (and the next posts for the last few days of the trip). By this point, my exhaustion was catching up with me, and I was also trying to make sure my group’s presentation got done on time, as well as trying to make the most of my last few days in Korea. I would have written these last posts on the plane or in the airport, but with my state of sleep deprivation, these posts would not have been well written. Yesterday (Saturday, May 16) was also rough; my parents can confirm that I was quite delirious.
Now, let’s wrap up talking about this trip. I’ll resume with Day 10 (Wednesday. May 13).
Hyundai
After checking out of our hotel in Pohang in the morning, we took a coach bus to Ulsan (another town). I don’t remember what I did on this ride, if I tried working on the presentation or just slept. But once we got to our destination, the Hyundai Museum, we ate some lunch. We had ordered ahead for takeout from some restaurant. The food was alright. The rice and spicy beef were good, but the soup did not taste good. I think it was some kind of seaweed soup, but I personally did not like the taste. I did end up getting some taro boba from the cafe, and that was really good.
After lunch, we got to tour the Hyundai Museum. It was interesting to see the evolution of Hyundai cars and the history of the company. I unfortunately did not take many pictures here (I apparently only took 2). After walking around the museum, we got to go to the production plant. We weren’t able to take pictures there. I thought it was cool to see the assembly lines and how they operated. I found it interesting how each line did not have a single car model, and instead had many different models in a row. Each car had an information sheet that included all details necessary for the employees to put the car together. Each car also went along the conveyor belt with a cart that had necessary parts and tools for that model. Seeing how this factory operated made me more interested in learning about manufacturing and systems engineering, because the factory was very efficient, being able to produce a car every 9.6 seconds. I wouldn’t expect that such an efficient factory wouldn’t be hyper-organized, so I was surprised to see how each line wasn’t dedicated to one model of car. Despite this, the factory is very fast and efficient, so this taught me that organization and the logical option is not always going to be the most efficient option.
KTX Train & Seoul
After leaving Hyundai, we headed to Ulsan Station to catch the KTX train again. We finally made it back to Seoul, and headed back to the same hotel we were in before, this time with different rooms.
After getting settled back in, I went to Myeong-dong with Sophie. We stopped at a Michelin-Star restaurant called Myeongdong Kyoja. We were trying to find somewhere to eat, and I remembered that a family friend recommended that restaurant. Thankfully, we found it just in time because they were closing 30 minutes after we got there. We got dumplings and noodles, which were 2 of the 4 total dishes they served. The food was very good.
After we ate, we did some shopping around Myeong-dong. We went to a bunch of different stores, but my most notable shopping spree was at Olive Young. I bought so much stuff there, I’m surprised I managed to fit it all in my suitcase. Some of it was for myself, the rest was for my mom. Sophie and I had also discovered a press-on nail store, so we stopped by and each bought a set of nails. All of the nails were super pretty, but a lot of them were very long, and I’m not fond of long nails. I did find a set that I really liked, and even though they’re longer than I’d prefer, I’m powering through because they’re pretty.
After putting my nails on, I tried working on the presentation and blogs, but was very tired, so I was unsuccessful. Anyway, given that I am now writing this late at night again, I will write my last couple posts tomorrow.