Prepping for my trip to Seoul, South Korea

Next week I fly to the heart of South Korea to attend a business conference/trade fair. When attending one of these hectic events, one must prep well. How? Make sure you have a conveniently located hotel with all of the following items (except for maybe the golf course). Notice I said convenient, not luxurious. If I wanted luxurious I’d just forget the trip and book a villa in Thailand. These business trips are all about convenience. You need to be able to hit up that venue and come back to your room to chill without having to travel for an hour:

The first thing you’ll want to look out for is that big comfy ass bed. You need to take into account that after a long day of walking and talking and more walking, you’ll want to return to your room, shower & sprawl diagonally across a fluffy bed that will carry you to the next morning. So I picked this bed for next week’s trip.

A room without a desk is NO GO! A room without a WiFi connection? Shit, just don’t go at all.

Convenient doesn’t mean be cheap. The bathroom needs to be exquisitely clean. If you feel edgy walking around in it barefoot. Leave!

My Arab blood doesn’t allow me to part-take is this madness so early in the morning, but for some, an early morning workout before breakfast is magical. I prefer to do mine in the evening. If you can find a hotel with a gym. Do it! It makes all the difference in the world to get a work out in.

Now for my favorite part of any hotel stay. The pool! I need to be able to float in order to relax. Imagine after a hard day’s work, you throw yourself into the pool, then the jacuzzi, then the sauna, then back in the pool and then head up to your bed :) PERFECT!

I found this so amusing. Like I really need to get in a game of golf in the middle of downtown Seoul. Haha. This is just an extra (which you should never include on your to-do list. Unless of course you’re trying to capture a client who likes to play golf).

The itinerary:

There is nothing more important than having a plan. A detailed one! You want to know exactly what you’re going to do. Where and what time. So I make sure to type my own version in more detail than the one the company sends me, to ensure I don’t waste a single minute. Here’s what they sent me:

1. Hotel

- Name : Stanford Hotel

- Address : 1587 Sangam-dong, Mapo-Gu, Seoul, Korea 121-835

- Phone : 02) 6016-0001

- Dates : October 16th (check in) ~ October 19th (check out), breakfast included

2. Limousine Shuttle Ticket will be provided on Oct. 16th (Airport to Hotel)

- Limousine shuttle ticket (airport to hotel) will be provided to buyers arriving on October 16th only

- There will be “2012 G-Fair Korea” banners located outside of the exit gate, and you will find G-fair staffs

- G-Fair staff location : Exit gate C & reception counter #7

- If you are arriving on dates other than above, you will be obligated to come to the hotel on Oct. 16th with your own expenses

3. Shuttle Schedule (Hotel to KINTEX Convention Center)

- October 17th : Depart 9:00 AM, Return 5:30 PM

- October 18th : Depart 9:00 AM, Return 5:30 PM

* A translator will be assigned per buyer on October 17th at the hotel lobby. Therefore please be present at the lobby before 8:30 AM.

4. Translator/Interpreter

- Designated translator will be assigned per buyer for both days (Oct 17th & 18th). 

- They will be assisting you with translation as well as guidance throughout the show..

 

5. Terms & Condition

- If below incidents occur during October 17th & 18th, buyers will be responsible for hotel and other extra incentives provided by the organizer.

1) If the buyer does not show up to the show

2) If the buyer is uncooperative with interpreter’s services and guidance

3) If the buyer does not meet with more than 4 exhibitors per day

6. Welcome Luncheon

- Date : October 17th (Wed) 12 PM ~ 2 PM

- Location : 3F Grand Ballroom, KINTEX No. 1 Exhibition Hall

- Each interpreter will guide the buyer to the luncheon. 

- It is not mandatory to attend, however we have organized the event as a welcome & thank you luncheon for our international buyers.

Hope you enjoyed the post! If anyone’s around from the 16th-19th of October. Let me know beforehand and I’d be happy to meetup.

Photos from yesterday at the Ritz Carlton


The Lobby


Sitting down for afternoon tea


The Chinese restaurant


I was at the top of that beast!


The Sushi station up on the 118th floor (Ozone Sky Bar)


The Ozone Bar on the 118th floor. What amazed me even more was the outdoor terrace they had. On the G/F it was hot and sweaty. On the 118th, it was freezing. SubhanAllah.

Hong Kong timelapse: Views from the world’s highest hotelSome great shots have emerged of Hong Kong from 500 meters up, on top of the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong. 

AOL Travel sent senior editor Chris Anderson to the 111th and 118th floors of the world’s highest hotel in the International Commerce Centre in Kowloon, where he took timelapse shots of the cars, boats and daily life of Hong Kong down below. 

“The Ritz provided a fantastic platform to shoot from,” he said in this post from AOL Travel. “In the video you can see Kowloon in the first segment. The second bit shows Kowloon with the main island across Victoria Harbor. The third clip shows ferries zooming around with Sheung Wan in the distance and the fourth is where the main Hong Kong commercial port traffic flows.”

The Ritz-Carlton Hotel opened in March this year, becoming the highest hotel in the world.