6th installment: Shinhwa Adventure & Tastes Like Toilet?!?!?

oday was Official Shinhwa Day for me...well I'll start from the beginning... Shinhwa is the Korean group I'm in love with ^^

KOREAN BBQ
I woke up around 8:30am and then forced myself to sleep a little more. Woke up again at 9:00am and worked on more origami cranes. Don't know what the point is, since I don't have enough to make 1,000. Guess who forgot 500 at home somewhere? TT___TT We ate breakfast and then I went on the internet and had a bazillion convos going on. hahahaa...it was fun, but sligthy crazy! Since Des and I were supposed to meet WenLy to go to Shinhwa's Kyochon Chicken Store at 3:30pm, we ended up going to eat at 2pm. We went for Korean BBQ at a closeby restaurant. As soon as we went in we had our books out. The menu was all in hanggul and no English or pictures in sight. Lucky the man working was very kind, he came by to help us out and Des just opened the book and he pointed at the food they had.

We ended up with Kalbi (Korean style ribs)! So good! We had the spring onion salad, some soup and side dishes. We missed the departure of some of the Singapore girls.
=( WenLy is the only one left now.

WORKING THE CHARM!
I kept thinking about how I'm going to get to the other place with all that luggage on the 16th. I had already booked it before I left Toronto, so I couldn't cancel. Subway is not an option...I thought I could take the airport limo bus to Incheon and then take another one to the place or...take a cab. Two of the women staying here reminded me that they have free pick-up and delivery service here to certain places. I am lucky b/c the place I need to get to is right by one of the palaces. SCORE! They can drop me off around there, but how am I supposed to explain the luggage? I told them I am staying with a friend in that area and I asked the guys if they can drive me. I added a smile and a "please" in korean...folding my hands (like when you ask someone for help) HAHAHA...guess who now has a ride to the station?!?! Then I'll just phone the other guesthouse and ask them to pick me up. SUCCESS! and yes, this time I have the number...

YOU SHOULD LIVE IN KOREA
While we waited for WenLy I was talking to Robin and An. They were watching X-Man gameshow and I was naming the ppl on the show. They were shocked at how many ppl I knew. They said "Wahh you should live in Korea. You are like a Korean!" I even named ppl that they didn't know. hahahaa.... Also, earlier that day, the older Korean man staying here came by the internet cafe and those of us that were there, greeted him in Korean. He has been talking to me a lot and is very friendly. He said this to the other girls about me. "I like this girl. She is young and very cute!" As Rob would say...uh huh! He told me that he is selling his house in Florida and his two houses here in Korea, that's why he's staying here. I made sure he didn't know which room we are staying in just to be on the safe side... He seems friendly, but...yeah...uh huh!

Minwoo & Hyesung's Board Game Cafe, "Cafe Mall"!
Des decided to stay at Namsan because she wanted to sleep and wasn't up for it. WenLy and I took a cab to Apgujeong, b/c the streets aren't really labeled and it was better to just show the cab driver the map. There was a lot of traffic. We got to Minwoo and Hyesung's Cafe Mall (Board Game Cafe). It is not very obvious...unless you know what to look for you may just miss it! As an afterthought, I should've taken a picture of the not-so-obvious sign...ooops! Anyway we took the elevator to level three. The cafe is really nice and it was empty. The only person there was the guy running it.

Behind the counter were a lot of board games and Minwoo and Hyesung's solo promotion posters. Beside the elevator was a corkboard full of notes and pics from fans, a summer story poster and beside that Brand New poster signed. There were two computers and above, individual Shinhwa member photos with messages beside. The tables were unexpectedly covered in some type of leather?! not really sure what it was. There was a long banquette (like a bench in a booth) and tables aligned. There were also individual tables with chairs..above them were celebrity photos of those who visited. There was also a V.I.P. room I think for poker players..we asked if we could go in and we took pics.

I ordered an iced tea (which came in a big, tall glass) and WenLy ordered green tea which came in a very fancy looking pot and matching cup. The bill in the end was 10,050 won.

Before we left, we wrote out messages to Shinhwa. I wrote my own message on a paper...can't even remember all the things I wrote. I also wrote one from our forum, hope no one minds. "LOOKING FORWARD TO THE 8TH ALBUM! HWAITING! WE LOVE YOU! SARANG HAE - www.shinhwachangjo.net & Toronto Changjo"

TASTES LIKE TOILET?!?!?
I had to go to the washroom, so I left WenLy at the table. The washroom was just outside the cafe, by a staircase and it was co-ed. I was happy that no one was there. Two urinals stood beside the sink and there were two stalls - one for men and one for women. I went into the women's stall and the toilet looked nice, but complex?!?! It looked like there was a remote control beside it with all these buttons. The toilet cover was so huge too. There was a button on the side, which I thought was the flusher. Nope, that did not work...so I decided to press some of those buttons. I pressed one button and some fan started in the toilet. Then I saw another one that had some water symbol...I figured that meant flush. I pressed the button...

What's my name again? Sam... That's why things like this happen. Out comes something that looks like a straw and water starts squirting out of it!!!!...and not just a little squirt...it was like the firefighters were putting out the flame. I squealed and moved out of the way, watching in horror as the water was hosing down the washroom stall!! Not to mention that the right side of me was soaked! I frantically started pressing some buttons and THANK GOD THE UNIVERSAL COLOUR FOR STOP IS RED. Finally the darn thing turned off. I looked down and saw a mini lake on the floor. It's a good thing that water was clean!!

I tried not to freak out as I cleaned the floor. I rushed back to the cafe and waved at WenLy through the glass door. Thank goodness I had also been wearing a zip sweatshirt and a jacket, which I had left on my chair. If I didn't, I'd be walking outside soaked on one side. I asked her to bring it out for me and explained what happened. Then I went back inside and took a picture of that blasted thing. Hahah...it was my own fault though I suppose. Now I will never forget the place and never make the mistake of pressing strange buttons. Guess where the flusher was... the most obvious place...behind the huge toilet seat. I'm such a....SAM!

MUSIC LIBRARY
Went to a store called Music Library and yes...I bought a couple more cds...I'm so bad. I got to use my Korean again! "S.E.S. odie ey yo?" (I know i spelt that wrong) Sadly, no S.E.S. there, so I bought some other cds. SG Wannabe's 2nd cd, Seeya and Noblesse.

SHINHWA'S KYOCHON CHICKEN STORE
We walked to the Shinhwa's Kyochon Chicken Store. It was bright orange =) I went flash happy taking pics of every Shinhwa thing there. The big picture near the entrance, the big framed photos, the tables with Shinhwa memorablia inside, the pics near the salad bar, the mini tvs and the three gold hand prints (three were no longer up...only Hyesung, Eric and Andy's remained). WenLy ordered a small original combo (original recipe drumsticks and wings) and hot combo. They gave us caramelish type popcorn and pickled radish too. IT WAS SO GOOD! If they start a business in Canada, they will give KFC a run for their money, I think. Really tasty. I ordered take out for Des and WenLy paid for everything. Wahhh friends are sooo generous! I tried to pay, but she told me not to worry about it. Taking pics was fun, trying to avoid ppl who were trying to enjoy their meals. Someone had a birthday party too. I had a lot of fun and the take out came with the Shinhwa paper bag and a magnet. SCORE!

TAXI HOME..literally LOST IN TRANSLATION
We took a cab back b/c it was cold and we also didn't feel like climbing the mountain again...ahahha... It was interesting trying to navigate up that hill with the driver in Korean. We don't know the words for left and right, so we ended up pointing and saying "here" in Korean. haha...the poor guy. I think he was confused as to whether we wanted the subway station Myeong-dong or the Namsan Guesthouse...Finally we got home and Des was able to eat Kyochon chicken and pickled radish.

A day well spent with a new buddy and surrounded by reminders of Shinhwa!! I guess even the toilet incident was memorable..but I wouldn't want it to happen again. Now I know for Japan...sheeshymos!

No longer soaked,

Sam

originally written: Apr 13, 2006