How not to hail a cab in Korea.

Well, there I was… at the Samsung Plaza in Bundang at 8 PM. It was about 50F outside. I needed to go south to my cousin’s place where I am staying. I exited Samsung Plaza and went West towards a major road that runs North and South. I saw a whole bunch of cabs drive past me. Most of them were occupied. A couple of them were vacant, but they just drove past me. I’m a California guy and anything below 60F to me is freezing. So, there I was freezing my ass off for 10 minutes trying to hail a cab.

I’m thinking “The economy in Korea is not so good these days like last year. Last year there were empty cabs everywhere. Something is not right.” I’ve had it after 10 minutes of freezing and went back inside Samsung Plaza. After thawing my body for a few minutes, I exited the building to the South.

“What is this?” I thought. There’s a designated taxi waiting area with 5 cabs parked. There’s even a Samsung Plaza employee who opened the cab door for me as I walked to the cab with a dumbfounded look on my face.

I was relieved, but felt utterly stupid. “Oh, well. Live and learn.” I thought. When you are in a high traffic area and you need a cab, look for a designated taxi waiting area. That’s where all the empty cabs go instead of driving around looking for passengers.