Arriving at 6:00am at Inchon International Airport on a Sunday morning, was greeted with an 18 deg C cool Korean temperature. Made my way to the Imperial Palace Hotel but it was too early for check-in. The room was only available after 2:00pm. Dropped the bag for safe-keeping and off to
Myeong-dong for a quick search for all the cosmetics (shopping lists from the office !!) before the Sunday crowd sets in. Within 2 hours, managed to obtain 80% of what was required. Great feat !!!
Met up with Caroline Pak for a Brunch and to catch-up on what has taken place since my last visit to Jeju Island some months earlier. Weather was just perfect to remain outdoor on a Sunday morning for some sandwiches and of c-o-f-f-e-e !!!
The conference itself was like meeting up with old friends from other International Organisation. IMO, UNODC, EUNAVFOR & IMB were among the first few speakers to meet-up for a quick pow-wow, before the crowd sets in, mostly from the Korean Maritime Sector.
Also, managed to catch up with Mr Yong LEE and Mr HONG Jong Hae for a ReCAAP ISC re-union. Had some interesting exchange of stories before the conference began.
At the end of the conference, Mr HONG took me to a typical Korean wet market where fresh raw ginseng were sold. Everyone there was shouting out to their customers. (I guess they were !!! Didn't understand a word). Thanks to Mr HONG, who did the negotiation and off I went with 7 kg of fresh ginseng. How to get the additional weight onboard the aircraft was another story !!!
Met up with Caroline Pak for a Brunch and to catch-up on what has taken place since my last visit to Jeju Island some months earlier. Weather was just perfect to remain outdoor on a Sunday morning for some sandwiches and of c-o-f-f-e-e !!!
The conference itself was like meeting up with old friends from other International Organisation. IMO, UNODC, EUNAVFOR & IMB were among the first few speakers to meet-up for a quick pow-wow, before the crowd sets in, mostly from the Korean Maritime Sector. 
Also, managed to catch up with Mr Yong LEE and Mr HONG Jong Hae for a ReCAAP ISC re-union. Had some interesting exchange of stories before the conference began. 
At the end of the conference, Mr HONG took me to a typical Korean wet market where fresh raw ginseng were sold. Everyone there was shouting out to their customers. (I guess they were !!! Didn't understand a word). Thanks to Mr HONG, who did the negotiation and off I went with 7 kg of fresh ginseng. How to get the additional weight onboard the aircraft was another story !!!
