[PYONGYANG] Budget and Itinerary

THURSDAY: 4 April 2013

Qing Ming Mini Tour (Koryo Tours) - 790.00

Visa Fee (Koryo Tours) - 50.00

Medical Insurance (Koryo Tours) - 30.00

EUR870.00

[PYONGYANG] Arirang, Duck Barbecue, and Westlife

We asked Miss Jong to sing a song for us. If those waitresses in pink managed to belt out a chilling rendition of Arirang during dinner, we were pretty sure that Miss Jong could, too. What we did not expect, though, was her preference for Irish boy bands: “An empty street, an empty house, a hole inside my heart.” And I was, like, “Westlife! That is Westlife!” as the rest of the guys only responded with a confused look, as if asking, “What the hell is Westlife?” More than the discovery that Miss Jong and I kind of grooved to the same beat, what made me more curious was how she actually gained access to Western pop culture. Or, perhaps, it comes as a perk for being a tourist guide in Pyongyang? I could only guess. In any case, her English pronunciation sort of caught her off-guard, resulting in something that Simon Cowell would not be very happy about. That is so not the end of the story, though, because Miss Jong proved to everyone on that bus that every North Korean girl could sing Arirang in a way that would give you goose bumps, as she redeemed herself with a performance that could have given her a wild card for another round of North Korean Idol.

[PYONGYANG] Seven Before Noon

I wouldn't know if Mister Lim was just joking around but he kept on telling us that we broke the record for most attractions seen before noon. Seven before lunch. That never happened before according to him, and then he'd crack a joke that seemed to be lifted directly from an Erap joke book, except that the former president was replaced by an American or a South Korean.

[PYONGYANG] Yanggakdo International Hotel

You do not really have a choice when it comes to accommodation in North Korea because the tour organizer decides where the group would be lodged. Come to think of it, how inconvenient would it be if different members of the group were to stay in different hotels? Yanggakdo is one of only four deluxe hotels in Pyongyang, as your guide would tell you. Situated on an island in the middle of the Taedong river, the 40+ story hotel gives you a good vantage point to view the city, depending on which floor you end up on.

[PYONGYANG] Touchdown North Korea

In some interesting twist which further proves that you could find a Filipino in any part of the world, I was not the only one to land in Pyongyang that day. I already suspected that the two of them were Filipino based on their looks, except that basing it on looks alone does not really prove anything given how generic and ambiguous we Southeast Asians look like. My suspicion intensified when my 20-20 ninja (or stalker) vision found out that one of them was named Miguel Garcia through his boarding pass. My doubts were laid to rest when I finally got to talk to them after crossing North Korean immigration.

[PYONGYANG] All Aboard Air Koryo

Two ladies robed in bright red greeted me as I got onboard. The scarlet hue they were sporting matched the color of the cushion of the plane's seats, which were further complemented by outlines of dull gray. The first six rows of the aircraft were reserved for business class, while our part of the cabin resembled any other Cebu Pacific airplane I have ever been on. The plane's speakers were blaring with music that you would normally hear at a national parade or an election campaign sortie. As more people holding blue passports that said Democratic People's Republic of Korea came in, my initial assumption that we were going to be the only ones on the flight proved to be wrong.

[PYONGYANG] Pre Flight Jitters

With my bag all packed and ready to go, I logged onto Facebook one last time telling my mother and brother that I'd be going to Inner Mongolia for two days and that it would be unlikely for me to get some decent internet connection. Buying my white lie, she told me to take care, to which I replied, "Do not miss me too much, I will be back in Beijing by Saturday".