Que the shirtless guy pounding soju to hand out some buckets and a pot for us to commence the wild Friday night of rhythms in the park. Realize that mixing soju and beer is a dangerously delicious way to enjoy such festivities and provide a late night show to the populace of my new favorite hangout. The backstreets of the Hongik University area are the spot to be if you like a) coffee, b) beautiful people c) amazing food and/or d) a great weekends.
Saturday involved coffee shop cruising with my brother, ultimately leading us to a kicking spot with a nice view and delicious cappuccinos, where we heard screaming as a zombie hoard stumbled by, frightening the local Korean populace. Fearing not for our lives, we managed communication with some of the undead and located their final resting place for the evening, which was pumping nineties dance music out of a big garage in a back alley, just down from my beloved park. This turned out not to be the final resting place of the night however, as our zombie friends took us on a circuitous path to another late night dance club, where we tasted tequila several times and enjoyed the company of our mostly hagwon teacher new friends. The English teaching in Korea is a very tempting possibility, several nights of sleeping on that decision are required.
Climbing Seoraksan has been cut from the plan, and been replaced by the relatively mild Bukhansan. It is on the edge of Seoul, as our legs are a little bit tired from many day-long walks around, combined with our reluctance to leave Seoul. The view of Seoul should be very nice, and another day of hanging in Hongdae is no difficult thing to ask of me.
Last night we took our tired legs to a Jjimjilbang, a 24hr Korean bathhouse/spa complex where you get segregated by gender, hang naked in public baths (of several different temperatures including one of tea), melt in a couple of saunas, then throw on some uniform pajamas to enter the unisex hangout section that includes a restaurant, massage (painful --but very good), an internet cafe, yoga room as well as mats and pillows where you can sleep comfortably on the floor. It was a very nice place to take tired legs.
Monday, 30 September 2013
Thursday, 26 September 2013
Spicy Kimchi Soup and the Battle for Comfort
A baby who cried more than it didn't, the background music for my battle for the 38th parallel-- airplane redux. Squishing into economy class, slurping free beers and trying to maintain a level of comfort meant an ongoing clash of elbows between myself and the middle-aged Korean businessman to my left. It was a high-stakes game of move it and lose it.
So far I've done more sleeping than anything interesting, although the long walk to the Korean War Monument (museum) gave me a good sense of different areas of Seoul, and a reminder what big Asian cities smell like (sulphur?). There were tonnes of tanks, jets (including a massive b-52 bomber), and a re-build of a patrol boat that got shot up by N. Korea in 2002 all sitting outside where you could climb up and even get in some APC's (very small inside).
I had some Kimchi soup from a local Korean joint that didn't score better taste marks than my beloved Sunrise house, but it was still pretty damn good and only $5. Seeing as it's 2:30
AM and I just awoke from a way-to-long nap, I guess I'll go an snap
some nighttime photos of Hongdae.
Tootaloo
So far I've done more sleeping than anything interesting, although the long walk to the Korean War Monument (museum) gave me a good sense of different areas of Seoul, and a reminder what big Asian cities smell like (sulphur?). There were tonnes of tanks, jets (including a massive b-52 bomber), and a re-build of a patrol boat that got shot up by N. Korea in 2002 all sitting outside where you could climb up and even get in some APC's (very small inside).
I had some Kimchi soup from a local Korean joint that didn't score better taste marks than my beloved Sunrise house, but it was still pretty damn good and only $5. Seeing as it's 2:30
AM and I just awoke from a way-to-long nap, I guess I'll go an snap
some nighttime photos of Hongdae.
Tootaloo
Friday, 20 September 2013
Dr. Spruce
Buckle up against the high flying altitude swim because the next adventure will shortly begin. If haven't you heard, I'm off like a bird, whiling away this fine fall. A burst of your camp is one we don't stamp, fiddling with porcelain buttons. Hop in a plane, then speed on a train, to welcoming spirits, and I'm off again.
Travel like a dog on a steak.
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