17 October 2008

Day off

After a morning therapy, I am taking the rest of the day off. No sightseeing for today. The continued foggy weather is ensuring that I won't make it out to Incheon anytime soon; because I want to stand next to the statue of General Douglas MacArthur and take a look at the harbor (where he commanded an amphibious landing in 1950, the most important move of the Korean War) and the airport, I need to go on a clear day.

My ride home from the therapy was on a Line 4 subway train, which was unusual in that it was covered with decals for a major credit card issuer - the first time I saw such a subway train here in Seoul. I expected the interior of the train to also be covered with more ads from the same company, but that wasn't to be the case, as interior ads were from a standard assortment of other companies.

However, it was still a reminder of my first visit to London in 1996, when I took a ride on the Tube on a similarly decorated train. That train, serving the Piccadilly Line which goes to Heathrow Airport, was painted in the colors of United Airlines, and unlike the train today, its interior ads were all United as well - specifically photos of Chicago, to announce the airline's new route between Heathrow and O'Hare. Even the cloth on the seats had been re-done to sport United logos. It must've cost a lot for United Airlines to buy that entire train, but the impact was certainly made; it was, still is, and most likely will remain the most memorable subway train of my lifetime.