Gangnam-daero Avenue

I stepped out of the courtyard of Gyeongbok Palace just before the sun set in the west of city. In the late afternoon, I stepped more casually towards Gyeongbokgung Station which was only 300 meters from the palace. “After all, my exploration is over,” I thought to calm myself in the midst of air temperature which starting to drop colder.

Inside the station, I was constantly confused between going straight to the inn or going to a destination once more. “This is my last night, should I spend time in the inn?”, I thought to myself, defending myself.

I, who was impatiently waiting for the arrival of Seoul Metro Line 3 in the side of platform, now I prefered to sit down and opened the city map in search of an additional destination to spend the night.

The whoosh of train sounded loud in front bend. I smilingly prepared myself at the queue line to entering carriage. “Yes, I know where to go”, my decision appeared.

—-****—-

Oh, yeah….You know Park Jae-sang, right?

That’s it… a songwriter from South Korea who is better known by his stage name PSY. The main character in the music video for “Gangnam Style” which went worldwide in 2012.

Yes, that time I wanted to visit his birthplace, which was Gangnam District. Gangnam District is a luxurious district in South Korea, home to top millionaires, politicians and artists.

—-****—-

I understood that it was already dark outside, even though the bright light was shrouding Seoul Metro carriages creeping down Seoul underground lines. The Gangnam district was still ten kilometers away when I a moment ago sat at the end of carriage.

One by one stations were combed quickly and led me to get off at Seoul National University of Education Station. From that station I changed to Seoul Metro Line 2 to Gangnam Station.

In this Seoul Metro Line 2 carriage, I met five tourists from California who had just landed from Tokyo that afternoon. Even that five tourists had already explored Taipei before reaching Tokyo.

Their story, which was almost similar to my journey before reaching Seoul, also through Kaohsiung (Taiwan), Tokyo and Osaka (Japan) and Busan (South Korea) made our introductions and conversations were very familiar.

I only remember a name among them so far which was Brendan. Brendan does tend to be more outgoing and appeares to be the spokesperson for their travel group. What was clear that Brendan was a person who didn’t like alcohol, I could tell from his words that he didn’t want to touch Soju when his other friends actually enjoyed it since arriving in Seoul.

I arrived at Gangnam Station within 10 minutes of changing to other Seoul Metro line. Tracing the long corridor within Gangnam Station, led me to exit to the ground level right at the edge of Gangnam-daero Avenue which was decorated with a large name box “Gangnam Square” and the stage “Gangnam Style Horse Dance” which was very crowded with tourists.

From that big intersection I began to enter alley after alley in Gangnam to explore the district’s nightlife. The bustle of alleys in Gangnam District made me feel safe even though in front of my steps there were two men and a woman walking arm-in-arm because they were heavily drunk while raving uncontrollably. The show only made the streets busier with laughter because the trio’s behavior was very funny.

Spent dinner with a piece of Kimbap and an energy drink.

While on the left and right of alley, local residents mingled with the newcomers to enjoy the atmosphere of bars with faint smell of alcohol wafting from sidewalk. Apart from that, some of them prefered to make atmosphere more relaxed by enjoying restaurant dishes while conversing to spend the atmosphere of night starting to get icy cold.

My last night in Seoul was satisfied when I crossed alleys of Gangnam from end to end. But it was time that finally limited my visit, it was almost eleven o’clock at night. I decided to immediately return to Gangnam Station and return to Kimchee Guesthouse Sinchon.

I have to prepare myself to return to my homeland tomorrow morning.

Next Story—->

<—-Kisah Sebelumnya

Aku melangkah meninggalkan pelataran Istana Gyeongbok beberapa saat menjelang sang surya tenggelam di barat kota. Sore menjelang malam itu, aku melangkah lebih santai menuju Stasiun Gyeongbokgung yang hanya berjarak 300 meter dari istana. “Toh, eksplorasiku sudah usai”, batinku menenangkan diri di tengah suhu udara yang mulai menurun lebih dingin.

Di dalam stasiun, aku terus terusik dalam kegalauan antara langsung menuju penginapan atau sekali lagi mendatangi sebuah destinasi. “Ini malam terakhirku, masa iya harus kuhabiskan waktu di dalam kamar penginapan?”, batinku terus membela diri.

Aku yang tadinya tak sabar menunggu kedatangan Seoul Metro Line 3 di sisi platform, kini lebih memilih terduduk khusyu’ membuka lembaran peta kota demi mencari sebuah destinasi tambahan untuk menghabiskan malam.

Desingan ular besi itu terdengar nyaring di kelokan depan. Aku dengan penuh senyum bersiap diri di jalur antrian untuk memasuki gerbong. “Ya, aku tahu harus menuju kemana”, keputusan itu muncul jua.

—-****—-

Oh, ya….Kamu kenal Park Jae-sang kan?

Itu loh…penulis lagu asal Korea Selatan yang lebih dikenal dengan nama panggunnya PSY. Tokoh utama dalam video musik “Gangnam Style” yang mendunia pada tahun 2012.

Ya, kali ini aku ingin mengunjungi tempat kelahirannya, yaitu Distrik Gangnam. Distrik Gangnam adalah distrik mewah di Korea Selatan, tempat tinggal para jutawan, politikus dan artis papan atas.

—-****—-

Aku faham bahwa di luar sana suasana sudah berganti dengan gelap walaupun cahaya terang menaungi gerbong Seoul Metro yang merayap menyusuri jalur bawah tanah Seoul. Distrik Gangnam masih berjarak sepuluh kilometer ketika aku beberapa saat lalu terduduk di ujung gerbong.

Satu demi satu stasiun tersisir dengan cepat dan menuntunkun untuk turun di Stasiun Seoul National University of Education. Dari stasiun tersebut aku berpindah ke Seoul Metro Line 2 menuju ke Stasiun Gangnam.

Di dalam gerbong Seoul Metro Line 2 inilah aku bertemu dengan lima sekawan asal California yang baru saja mendarat dari Tokyo siang tadi. Bahkan kelima sekawan itu sudah menjelajah Taipe sebelum mencapai Tokyo.

Kisah mereka yang hamir mirip dengan perjalananku yang sebelum sampai Seoul juga menembus Kaohsiung (Taiwan), Tokyo dan Osaka (Jepang) serta Busan (Korea Selatan) membuat perkenalan dan perbincangan kami menjadi akrab.

Aku hanya mengingat satu nama diantara mereka hingga saat ini yaitu Brendan. Brendan memang lebih cenderung supel dan tampak menjadi juru bicara dari kelompok perjalanan mereka. Yang jelas Brendan adalah orang yang tidak suka dengan alkohol, aku tahu dari perkataannya yang tak mau menyentuh Soju ketika temannya yang lain justru menikmatinya semenjak tiba di Seoul.

Aku tiba di Stasiun Gangnam dalam 10 menit semenjak perpindahan jalur Seoul Metro. Menelusuri koridor panjang dalam Stasiun Gangnam, mengarahkanku untuk keluar ke permukaan tanah tepat di tepian Gangnam-daero Avenue yang berhiaskan name box besar “Gangnam Square”dan panggung “Gangnam Style Horse Dance” yang sangat ramai dikunjungi turis.

Dari perempatan besar itu aku mulai memasuki gang demi gang di Gangnam untuk mengupas kehidupan malam di distrik itu. Keramaian gang-gang di Distrik Gangnam membuatku merasa aman-aman saja walaupun di depan langkahku sana tampak dua orang lelaki dan seorang perempuan yang berjalan berangkulan karena mabuk berat sambil meracau tak keruan. Pertunjukan itu hanya membuat jalanan semakin riuh dengan ketawaan karena tingkah ketiganya yang sangat lucu.

Menyempatkan makan malam dengan sepotong Kimbap dan minuman berenergi.

Sementara di kiri-kanan gang, warga lokal berbaur dengan para pendatang untuk menikmati suasana bar dengan aroma wangi alkohol yang samar tercium dari trotoar. Selain itu sebagian lainnya lebih memilih membuat suasana lebih santai dengan menikmati hidangan restoran sembari bercakap-cakap menghabiskan suasana malam yang mulai dingin mencekat.

Malam terakhirku di Seoul memang terpuaskan ketika melintasi gang-gang di Gangnam dari ujung ke ujung. Tetapi waktulah yang akhirnya membatasi kunjunganku, sudah hampir jam sebelas malam. Aku memutuskan untuk segera kembalui ke Stasiun Gangnam dan kembali ke Kimchee Guesthouse Sinchon.

Aku harus bersiap diri untuk kembali ke tanah air besok pagi.

Kisah Selanjutnya—->

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