I've shopped here, but not as crazy as when I was in Korea..hahaa...and yay! I stuck to all my budgets too!
Questioned by Cops?!!?
After a long cab ride, which included the wonderful night scenery of Tokyo and the infamous Tokyo Tower we entered Ropponggi. Walking to club we saw many cultures. Des has informed us that many of the black guys here pretend to be American when they are really Nigerian, or at least African. They trick lots of Japanese women into thinking that too. Wahhh we saw lots of them..trying to speak Japanese and trying to get girls into their clubs or pick up.
Oh yes...back to the email. Mellers went to ask the police if they knew where Gaspanic was b/c she hadn't been there before. One officer talked to her and then another one came and he was kind of eyeing her. After we walked away, we told Mel that he was interested and suddenly I look over and they are running towards us. They started talking to Mel and she was talking some fast Japanese. I really couldn't translate much except that she kept saying she didn't know. She started translating while she was talking to them.
They were asking for our I.D. Des didn't have her passport and I showed them my health card. They kept insisting for our passports and Mel's too. She told them we left them at her place and if they wanted to see them, they'd have to drive us back to get them. It was so weird! Des and I are convinced they just wanted to find out our info, especially Mel's since she looked like J.Lo with her outfit. They let us leave but told us that in Tokyo, you always have to have your passport...
Gaspanic - We OWN that CLUB!!
Finally got to Gaspanic. We went upstairs to get drinks..I don't exactly remember what they had, they ordered me a tequila shot. After that we headed to the dance area. They were playing hiphop and R&B. Des was not feeling it b/c she likes other music, so we left her in a corner with her drink. Mellers and I were dancing and many ppl were staring. We looked up at the bar and there were around 5 girls on top of the bar dancing. But they sucked...really...they were barely moving their hips... So sad, so sad...! There was this bar on the ceiling that they were holding on to... Is that supposed to make them look more attractive? Mellers is a really good dancer. I'm very impressed! Seriously, none of the girls there knew how to move their hips, except for a few.
As the night went on, they finally played some house and Des was happy. She danced with us. We were getting quite a lot of attention, b/c we danced differently than the other girls. The girls started competing with us too. It's strange how things happen like that. Fear not, we behaved. We declined a lot of guys... The funniest thing...well it's kind of bad...but there were these two girls on the bar and when the music got really loud they started dancing and fell off the bar. No one rushed to catch them so they just hit the floor. Yikes @_@ They were ok though... There was also this Japanese girl who really needed a toilet. We brought her upstairs to show her the other washrooms and she was so happy she kissed all three of us and the cheek. So random! We made some friends there too and after the club closed, we went to another one with them...yup we left the first one at 5am and left the second one at around 6am. We got home around..oh geez I don't remember..maybe 8am? Didn't sleep till 10am and woke up again at 3pm..hahaha. Mellers and I really suffered too. Our legs are killing us...ahha please no more stairs!! Going down the stairs is the worst...boooo
HARAJUKU - Land of Cosplayers and Teenagers
When we finally left we ate lunch and headed to Harajuku. We saw some funky styles and ppl dressed up as anime/manga characters. I didn't have the guts to take pics of any of them..b/c most of them were just walking around. It was raining but not real rain. It wasn't even spitting or drizzling... Can someone please tell me, why then, did ppl have umbrellas? They had them open and there was barely any rain hitting their heads. Could it have been the bright lights they were trying to shield themselves from? Why they walking around like it was about to thunderstorm? ahhaa... it was kind of funny! Later on, it wasn't raining at all and some still had their umbrellas open. Japanese people are really interesting! ^^
We had infamous Harajuku crepes. Really yummy and we ate dinner there too. After that we took sticker pictures which were really fun to take and decorate. I love Mellers! She rocks. She took us to some really great places to see and good eats. I will never forget the fun we had in Tokyo. I'm gonna miss her lots. Just like I miss the SG gals (thanks for the laughs and just spending time with us) and all the friends I made in Korea. THANK YOU MELLERS FOR EVERYTHING! I definitely would like to visit all these places again.
Singapore was the awesome shopping, good food and lots of awesome friends... Our first culture shock with timed telephone calls, no eating in subways, squatting toilets, standing on the left side on escalators, no tipping, etc. And the heat!!...we must have lost weight from all that sweating!
Seoul was crazy awesome shopping, good food, superfriendly people and networking... Our second culture shock with the no real shower, more squatting toilets AND the evil toilet that sprayed me, trying to figure out menus and signs that weren't in English, stairs oh the stairs and hills and mountains...We met so many great and supercool ppl there. We definitely lost weight from all that walking!
Tokyo was the superexciting memorable time with Mellers. Our third culture shock, yet more squatting toilets as well as nice ones, learning how to say basic things, trying hard not to speak in Korean...ahhaa, etc. Figured out that the women here really do speak with high voices. Every single one...wahhh. It's automatic...even my voice sounded higher when I said thank you. The weight we lost was at the club..hahaa. Don't expect us to look like we obviously lost weight though.
This trip was unforgettable. I really learned a lot and feel that I am a stronger person. Everyday was carefree and relaxing. Go Cathay Pacific for allowing me to visit three awesome places. I would really love to go again next year.
Thanks everyone for going through this long emails, especially to those who responded. Sorry I didn't always reply, but yeah busy as heck here! It is 3:15am here. Des is packing after her nap and I am sending this off. We have an 11am flight to HK, then a 2:45pm flight to Toronto. We'll be home soon!
-Sam
p.s. If this makes no sense, please forgive me..haha it's so early in the morning. Also, I finally asked Des if I spoke to her when she left for Osaka. Apparently we had a whole conversation..why don't I remember?!?!? So yes, please overlook whatever errors are in here <3
originally written: Apr 23, 2006
Showing posts with label 2006. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 2006. Show all posts
Sunday, March 30, 2008
15th Installment: Crazy in Tokyo!
Today was full of excitement with Mellers. We slept in, so we ate lunch in Ikebukuro...really yummy food!! Then we noticed an arcade game full of those crane/claw games.
WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!!
I decided that Asia would not defeat me. I rock at crane/claw games at C.N.E. and other places. Why should Asia defeat me? (I was still a little scarred from Lotte World) So we started playing the games and I just wasn't winning. I refused to give up and FINALLY I won a Kon (from the manga Bleach) a really cute bear!! Then Des and Mellers got really excited too and we just took over the arcade. I won three other toys: two raccoons and one green thing...Des won four stuffed animals and Meller's won three boxes with a bear inside. wahahaha we were so LOUD! We ruled those games!!
SHOP TILL YOU DROP
We went shopping for clothes and stuff and we found a couple of places that had these surprise bags that were filled with clothes. Yup we spent quality money and went to hello kitty store and other places. We did a lot of crowd watching there and also in the subways. How on earth are ppl pulling off these weird fashions?!?!? They just keep layering stuff that totally clashes. Some of them pull it off well though, while some are just...well Mellers says she wants to slap them...Des wants to slap their stylists...I just want to smack them in general. Those crazy ppl!
PACHINKO?!?!
We thought that if we did not try pachinko, we would not have experienced the real Tokyo. Well after spending around $10 and not understanding what the heck we're supposed to do, we watched these tiny silver balls flying all over the place. What the heck?!?!? I really don't understand the excitement! I ended up with some left and cashed it in for shortbread? Even stranger! I guess the good stuff comes after you have won more of those things, b/c ppl had baskets full of them. The slot machines were downstairs so we tried those. It was fun...didn't win anything. Des left with some, so she cashed hers in...for more shortbread and chocolate. hahahah I'll never understand! We had a great time though.
Asakusa Temple
Mellers took us to a temple!!! Yay! On our way there, we found a small shop that was selling yukatas (spring kimonos) for a good price. All three of us bought one for ourselves. We finally made it to the temple. This temple is where Yunho from DBSK filmed his Banjun drama {mel edit - Tokyo Holiday. the one where he went with the girl and wrote messages on the wooden block and hang it up). It was a very pretty night view!! We took lots of pictures. We made an offering and made some wishes. We also did the sticks and received our fortunes. Des and I had bad ones and Mellers got a good one. So Des and I tied our fortunes up with the rest of the bad fortunes, in hopes that the gods would help us. It's not so bad, because we make our own destinies, so I will change my bad fortune to a good one.
All-You-Can-Eat
Mellers took us to an All-You-Can Eat BBQ place. The food was so good! We ate a lot of food and Des and Mellers gave me a lesson in smuggling food out. It would have all gone to waste otherwise. MEAT MEAT MEAT! and lots of other yumminess. We had so many plates of food it was crazy. I did my small freak out over the flame and Des did a lot of the cooking b/c SOMEONE IS A PYROPHOBIC...is that even a word? I thought I was gonna die from overeating. Mellers even made cotton candy too! We took it with us.
Home To Change And Clubbing
Did I mention that we are secretly staying here? We are living dangerously..ahha not really. But Mellers' landlord isn't the friendliest so we sneak in and out. It's like we are spies or something. Makes life interesting! So we went home to get ready for the club. Mellers insisted on putting make-up on me. She did the whole mascara, eyeliner, curler thing. She also put some sparkles on my lashes and also on Des. I think we all looked really nice. We planned to go find a cab, but one drove right by us, so we took it. The club was in Ropponggi. Club story comes in the next installment....STAY TUNED!
-Sam
originally written: Apr 23, 2006
WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!!
I decided that Asia would not defeat me. I rock at crane/claw games at C.N.E. and other places. Why should Asia defeat me? (I was still a little scarred from Lotte World) So we started playing the games and I just wasn't winning. I refused to give up and FINALLY I won a Kon (from the manga Bleach) a really cute bear!! Then Des and Mellers got really excited too and we just took over the arcade. I won three other toys: two raccoons and one green thing...Des won four stuffed animals and Meller's won three boxes with a bear inside. wahahaha we were so LOUD! We ruled those games!!
SHOP TILL YOU DROP
We went shopping for clothes and stuff and we found a couple of places that had these surprise bags that were filled with clothes. Yup we spent quality money and went to hello kitty store and other places. We did a lot of crowd watching there and also in the subways. How on earth are ppl pulling off these weird fashions?!?!? They just keep layering stuff that totally clashes. Some of them pull it off well though, while some are just...well Mellers says she wants to slap them...Des wants to slap their stylists...I just want to smack them in general. Those crazy ppl!
PACHINKO?!?!
We thought that if we did not try pachinko, we would not have experienced the real Tokyo. Well after spending around $10 and not understanding what the heck we're supposed to do, we watched these tiny silver balls flying all over the place. What the heck?!?!? I really don't understand the excitement! I ended up with some left and cashed it in for shortbread? Even stranger! I guess the good stuff comes after you have won more of those things, b/c ppl had baskets full of them. The slot machines were downstairs so we tried those. It was fun...didn't win anything. Des left with some, so she cashed hers in...for more shortbread and chocolate. hahahah I'll never understand! We had a great time though.
Asakusa Temple
Mellers took us to a temple!!! Yay! On our way there, we found a small shop that was selling yukatas (spring kimonos) for a good price. All three of us bought one for ourselves. We finally made it to the temple. This temple is where Yunho from DBSK filmed his Banjun drama {mel edit - Tokyo Holiday. the one where he went with the girl and wrote messages on the wooden block and hang it up). It was a very pretty night view!! We took lots of pictures. We made an offering and made some wishes. We also did the sticks and received our fortunes. Des and I had bad ones and Mellers got a good one. So Des and I tied our fortunes up with the rest of the bad fortunes, in hopes that the gods would help us. It's not so bad, because we make our own destinies, so I will change my bad fortune to a good one.
All-You-Can-Eat
Mellers took us to an All-You-Can Eat BBQ place. The food was so good! We ate a lot of food and Des and Mellers gave me a lesson in smuggling food out. It would have all gone to waste otherwise. MEAT MEAT MEAT! and lots of other yumminess. We had so many plates of food it was crazy. I did my small freak out over the flame and Des did a lot of the cooking b/c SOMEONE IS A PYROPHOBIC...is that even a word? I thought I was gonna die from overeating. Mellers even made cotton candy too! We took it with us.
Home To Change And Clubbing
Did I mention that we are secretly staying here? We are living dangerously..ahha not really. But Mellers' landlord isn't the friendliest so we sneak in and out. It's like we are spies or something. Makes life interesting! So we went home to get ready for the club. Mellers insisted on putting make-up on me. She did the whole mascara, eyeliner, curler thing. She also put some sparkles on my lashes and also on Des. I think we all looked really nice. We planned to go find a cab, but one drove right by us, so we took it. The club was in Ropponggi. Club story comes in the next installment....STAY TUNED!
-Sam
originally written: Apr 23, 2006
14th Installment... Des is M.I.A.!!
So we woke up in the morning and no call from Des. Mellers had to go to school, so I waited here with her phone for Des to call. I was up till 8:30am...some of you probably know about this cuz I was freaking out on msn. Finally around 3 something in the morning she called. Holy crap...I almost cried with relief. I will let her tell you her story of entering Tokyo and spending almost 12 hours on her own. Mellers came after school and I was waiting at the station and then Des finally arrived. We yelled her name out waving our arms like a bunch of psychos. We helped her with her bags and got home. She got to take her shower and we heated up some food for her.
After resting a bit, we went out for dinner. Mellers had reserved a table at her work place and we ate some really good food!! It was so awesome. Nothing like what I had in Toronto. I don't remember all the names of the food but there was chicken and other stuff. So yummy..I took pics. The best thing I think was the dessert. It was soba powder (kind of like a mashed potato texture) with red beans on top. So amazingly good. I took lots of pics of food. hahaa...tomorrow we will go shopping and clubbing. Our clubbing experience in Seoul will be nothing compared to this, b/c apparently we are going to two clubs and clubs close at 11am here.
Well I am off..pretty short installment...but consider Des' part as the other half. When she has time she will send it!
-Sam
originally written: Apr 22, 2006
After resting a bit, we went out for dinner. Mellers had reserved a table at her work place and we ate some really good food!! It was so awesome. Nothing like what I had in Toronto. I don't remember all the names of the food but there was chicken and other stuff. So yummy..I took pics. The best thing I think was the dessert. It was soba powder (kind of like a mashed potato texture) with red beans on top. So amazingly good. I took lots of pics of food. hahaa...tomorrow we will go shopping and clubbing. Our clubbing experience in Seoul will be nothing compared to this, b/c apparently we are going to two clubs and clubs close at 11am here.
Well I am off..pretty short installment...but consider Des' part as the other half. When she has time she will send it!
-Sam
originally written: Apr 22, 2006
13th Installment: Sam vs. Airport
Samsun unnie and Soo Ryeon unnie somehow talked the male receptionist into waking up at 5am to help me drag my luggage to the airport limobus. ^^ I felt so bad for him! I've talked to him several times and he's very nice, but 5am? He finished working in the office at 1am and then the poor guy had to wake up to help me. I was so nervous about not waking up, especially with all that sweatju in me...so he gave me another alarm clock and told me to get some rest. If I didn't wake up he'd knock on my door to wake me up. What a nice guy! Thank goodness for my internal alarm clock...it would wake me up periodically. I woke up by myself around 4:15am. The alarm had been set to 4:30am...when 4:30am passed, the alarm didn't go off. T_T Good thing I woke up!
So at 4:45am I called home and left a msg whispering, since everyone else was sleeping and I waited for him in front of the office for 5am. I tried not to think of the what ifs...like what if he doesn't wake up? He actually lives upstairs...but I don't know which room. Sure enough he came 5 mins early and into the cold dark morning we went. It started to rain a bit too, so we ended up standing in the telephone booths, along with the luggage - him in one booth with my big luggage and me in another with the smaller one. I fully expected and suggested he drop me off and go home and sleep. He insisted on waiting with me for the airport limobus. So we talked. He apparently spent a year in England learning English. When the bus came, he waved it down and waited for me to board. He waved goodbye and then left. Beewon Guesthouse has seriously good customer service. I recommend them! Also Namsan was good too. They are very accomodating!! ^^ Free pick-up service for various locations in Seoul.
The bus came at around 5:15am and we arrived at Incheon around 6:15am. The Cathay Pacific counters weren't even open till 6:30am so I lined up (first person too!!). I'm so proud of myself for not getting so lost!! I went through immigration and here I sit in front of this computer emailing you. I will wait to see what the rest of today brings before I send this email. I have the flight to HK and the flight to Narita. I expect to be such a pro at flying that I will try to get my own pilot license...umm not really...narcolepsy sucks!
I got to Narita airport and the customs lady searched one of my luggages and then I was free to go. Mellers came soon after, even though she was worried she was late. I almost didn't recognize her if it wasn't for her dimples and her rocking roxy skirt. She was wearing really high heels too. She is my angel for picking me up. I looked really bad..ahhaa cuz HK airport was hot all I did was sweat. I had my glasses on too. >_< I hope I didn't make a bad physical impression. We took the train and now we are in Meller's room. I have showed her my tower of cds/dvds and all the gifts. So fear not, I am in good hands. I took a nice shower too. Woohoo!
That's it for this entry. We're gonna watch some Shinhwa dvds!
-Sam
originally written: Apr 20, 2006
So at 4:45am I called home and left a msg whispering, since everyone else was sleeping and I waited for him in front of the office for 5am. I tried not to think of the what ifs...like what if he doesn't wake up? He actually lives upstairs...but I don't know which room. Sure enough he came 5 mins early and into the cold dark morning we went. It started to rain a bit too, so we ended up standing in the telephone booths, along with the luggage - him in one booth with my big luggage and me in another with the smaller one. I fully expected and suggested he drop me off and go home and sleep. He insisted on waiting with me for the airport limobus. So we talked. He apparently spent a year in England learning English. When the bus came, he waved it down and waited for me to board. He waved goodbye and then left. Beewon Guesthouse has seriously good customer service. I recommend them! Also Namsan was good too. They are very accomodating!! ^^ Free pick-up service for various locations in Seoul.
The bus came at around 5:15am and we arrived at Incheon around 6:15am. The Cathay Pacific counters weren't even open till 6:30am so I lined up (first person too!!). I'm so proud of myself for not getting so lost!! I went through immigration and here I sit in front of this computer emailing you. I will wait to see what the rest of today brings before I send this email. I have the flight to HK and the flight to Narita. I expect to be such a pro at flying that I will try to get my own pilot license...umm not really...narcolepsy sucks!
I got to Narita airport and the customs lady searched one of my luggages and then I was free to go. Mellers came soon after, even though she was worried she was late. I almost didn't recognize her if it wasn't for her dimples and her rocking roxy skirt. She was wearing really high heels too. She is my angel for picking me up. I looked really bad..ahhaa cuz HK airport was hot all I did was sweat. I had my glasses on too. >_< I hope I didn't make a bad physical impression. We took the train and now we are in Meller's room. I have showed her my tower of cds/dvds and all the gifts. So fear not, I am in good hands. I took a nice shower too. Woohoo!
That's it for this entry. We're gonna watch some Shinhwa dvds!
-Sam
originally written: Apr 20, 2006
12th installment: Fare thee well Korea!
Today is my last day in Korea...I leave in bright and early tomorrow
morning...5amish. Connie and Esther timed the limobus and it took less than
an hour
Last night there was a thunderstorm. I hate those! I ended up sleeping with
the light and tv on. I had asked for a wake-up call at 10am and they set up
an alarm clock for me...when I woke up it was 1:30pm?!?! I was really
disappointed because I had planned to see the palace and missed the last
English tour. T___T I worked on packing for a while and then I went
downstairs to tell them. I looked up to see that according to their clock
it was 10am...and I looked at my watch and it was 2:30pm...what the heck? My
watch is messed up..not to mention the backing is missing...yipes! I will be
seeing Samsun today. She is KMP's friend. I'm really excited. I think I
will bring my luggage down the steps tonight so I don't wake everyone up and
I will pull an allnighter so I don't miss the limobus.
Boo it's been raining all morning. There goes my plans to visit the palace.
Arghhhh how can not see it and it's right beside me. Tour is no fun in the
rain. I think I will try to order some delivery food. Let's see how that
goes...
Food was good. Met Wyona (another staff member) who is very nice. She
ordered for me and the food was good. Took pictures.
Samsun
I met Samsun and Soo Ryeon Choi. They are awesome!! They took me to
one of the palaces and we took lots of pictures. My battery was low so
I didn't take so many. They are really nice and cute too. I even took
a traditional picture..hahaha..that's all I'm going to tell you...
After that we went to a Korean BBQ restaurant. We had Sam Gyup Sal
(sp?) [bbq bacon] and lots of other stuff I haven't tried. I took pics
too. I really love them..they are so nice. They treat me like a
younger sister. We had soju too. Two bottles. Samsun unnie calls them
sweatju (sp?) b/c it is straight soju and stronger. I think I am a
little bit tipsy, but it's ok, b/c I am staying up all night. I don't
want to miss my flight!! I'm really nervous about being at the airport
alone. We'll see how this goes. NO sleeping tonight. Maybe I'll call
home and force them to stay up late with me.
Samsun and Soo Ryeon are really nice. They took me to the palace
and shared their umbrellas with me. They took time out of their busy
schedules to take me out. Samsun unnie is an archaeologist. Ryeon Choi unnie is studying childcare. We had a really good time, but I think I brought the bad weather. Just like I brought the storm to Singapore and the typhoon to Philippines two years ago. ahhaha...
Not much shopping today. I'm being good. lmao...i really have to
organize my luggage better. I'm still getting used to my haircut. It
looks very different. Samsun unnie and Soo Ryeon unnie said it looks
good. I'm off to Tokyo from the 20th to the 24th with Mellers and my
partner in crime, Des...Look out Tokyo! I've already asked Mellers to
help me ship some stuff..but I've also decided to leave some stuff behind here. I can
live without a couple of my Canadian clothing...
I wish I could stay longer...but I also miss home. 4 days in Tokyo and
I'm back in Toronto. Do you miss me?
-Sam
p.s. Do you still want to hear the adventures in Tokyo, or are you sick of
these emails?
originally written: Apr 19, 2006
morning...5amish. Connie and Esther timed the limobus and it took less than
an hour
Last night there was a thunderstorm. I hate those! I ended up sleeping with
the light and tv on. I had asked for a wake-up call at 10am and they set up
an alarm clock for me...when I woke up it was 1:30pm?!?! I was really
disappointed because I had planned to see the palace and missed the last
English tour. T___T I worked on packing for a while and then I went
downstairs to tell them. I looked up to see that according to their clock
it was 10am...and I looked at my watch and it was 2:30pm...what the heck? My
watch is messed up..not to mention the backing is missing...yipes! I will be
seeing Samsun today. She is KMP's friend. I'm really excited. I think I
will bring my luggage down the steps tonight so I don't wake everyone up and
I will pull an allnighter so I don't miss the limobus.
Boo it's been raining all morning. There goes my plans to visit the palace.
Arghhhh how can not see it and it's right beside me. Tour is no fun in the
rain. I think I will try to order some delivery food. Let's see how that
goes...
Food was good. Met Wyona (another staff member) who is very nice. She
ordered for me and the food was good. Took pictures.
Samsun
I met Samsun and Soo Ryeon Choi. They are awesome!! They took me to
one of the palaces and we took lots of pictures. My battery was low so
I didn't take so many. They are really nice and cute too. I even took
a traditional picture..hahaha..that's all I'm going to tell you...
After that we went to a Korean BBQ restaurant. We had Sam Gyup Sal
(sp?) [bbq bacon] and lots of other stuff I haven't tried. I took pics
too. I really love them..they are so nice. They treat me like a
younger sister. We had soju too. Two bottles. Samsun unnie calls them
sweatju (sp?) b/c it is straight soju and stronger. I think I am a
little bit tipsy, but it's ok, b/c I am staying up all night. I don't
want to miss my flight!! I'm really nervous about being at the airport
alone. We'll see how this goes. NO sleeping tonight. Maybe I'll call
home and force them to stay up late with me.
Samsun and Soo Ryeon are really nice. They took me to the palace
and shared their umbrellas with me. They took time out of their busy
schedules to take me out. Samsun unnie is an archaeologist. Ryeon Choi unnie is studying childcare. We had a really good time, but I think I brought the bad weather. Just like I brought the storm to Singapore and the typhoon to Philippines two years ago. ahhaha...
Not much shopping today. I'm being good. lmao...i really have to
organize my luggage better. I'm still getting used to my haircut. It
looks very different. Samsun unnie and Soo Ryeon unnie said it looks
good. I'm off to Tokyo from the 20th to the 24th with Mellers and my
partner in crime, Des...Look out Tokyo! I've already asked Mellers to
help me ship some stuff..but I've also decided to leave some stuff behind here. I can
live without a couple of my Canadian clothing...
I wish I could stay longer...but I also miss home. 4 days in Tokyo and
I'm back in Toronto. Do you miss me?
-Sam
p.s. Do you still want to hear the adventures in Tokyo, or are you sick of
these emails?
originally written: Apr 19, 2006
11th Installment: The Human Pillow...are you tired of me yet?
Brekkie & Guesthouse mates oh boy
Guess who actually woke up in time for brekkie? Yup I dragged myself out of my room. I met three German guys. The two younger ones had been soldiers and were taking time off before school. They were living in Australia for 5 months and then decided to travel around Asia. The older man was just travelling in general. I didn't stay too long but I did have a good chat with them.
THE HUMAN PILLOW
I wasn't so lonely because I met up with Connie and Esther, my other Singapore friends from Namsan Guesthouse. Yay! We decided to go to Coex Mall, which is an underground mall and I promised myself not to buy anymore heavy things!
I was supposed to meet them at 12:30pm, but I was slightly late b/c I confused the exit and the transfer point. Oops. Oh well they found me anyway. So we were riding on the subway and we actually got seats. The guy beside me was asleep (looked like a student) and he kept inadvertently leaning on me. Yup, even his head ended up on my shoulder. I kept thinking maybe I should move his head and Connie was even gonna push him with her pointer finger. Well, I decided to be nice and let him have my shoulder..heaven knows I've done my fair share of sleeping on the transit...i'm waiting for good karma...hahaa... He woke up just before our stop and didn't even realize what he had been doing. lmao...oh well..
COEX MALL....will my wish come true?
We went straight to the food court and there were some little pools there where ppl could throw coins into the jar and our wishes would come true. We ate our food and then decided to throw our coins. The pool we went to, had a statue kid holding the jar. So I decided since I am ambedextrous, I'm going to throw two coins. I decided left first...so I aimed for the jar and threw. LMAO...it landed just under the jar and hit the kid where the sun don't shine! How did I not notice the statue was nude and how did I not notice it was male...omg...we laughed so hard. So embarassing. The throw with my right hand wasn't even close..hahaha
Kimchi Museum
Decided to check out the kimchi museum. Very interesting...but seeing as I was so full, just watching the kimchi made me feel even more full. I was also getting pretty tired. I took pictures of jars and stuff like that and then we left.
What's Sweeter Than Frozen Yogourt?
We were feeling pretty sluggish. We tried to go to the aquarium, but it was kind of pricey and we didn't really need to see fish. We went to this frozen yogourt dessert place. OMG it was so good. It was frozen yogourt with pieces of watermelon, pineapple, tangerines and kiwi on the sides. There were peanuts and chocolate sauce drizzled over it too. So yummy and really refreshing. We felt better after that. While we were eating, there was this supercute 3-4 year-oldkid. She was adorable! She kept coming up to us and saying "an nyoung haseyo" (hello) and winking at us! What a cutie ^^
A New Look
I decided to get a haircut. Esther and Constance had gotten some really nice ones, so I asked them if I could go to the place where they got there's. After looking around Myeong-dong we found it. The people there are so nice. Pretty and cute stylists. They were really excited to practice their English with me and we even took pictures. How does my hair look? You'll have to wait and see. I look different ^^
A Dinner to Remember
Esther and Constance took me to a restaurant in Insadong someone had taken them to. We ate at a low table with our legs crossed. The food was so good and the side dishes were excellent. The two things that really made it unique were a kimchi wish serated leaves and chilli sauce and crab legs in sweet pepper sauce. The food was awesome! The cod was really good too. After that they walked me back to my place. We discussed how I would be able to get to the airport, seeing as my flight is at 8:50am!! I think I will take the limobus but I might be cutting it a little short, since the bus doesn't start till 5:45am and it takes about an hour to get to the airport. Esther and Constance offered for me to stay in their room with them and then they would help me with my luggage..I don't know. I'll have to think about it. I have all tomorrow and then I must leave the next morning.
Fare thee well chingu!! Until the next essay...
-Sam
originally written: Apr 18, 2006
Guess who actually woke up in time for brekkie? Yup I dragged myself out of my room. I met three German guys. The two younger ones had been soldiers and were taking time off before school. They were living in Australia for 5 months and then decided to travel around Asia. The older man was just travelling in general. I didn't stay too long but I did have a good chat with them.
THE HUMAN PILLOW
I wasn't so lonely because I met up with Connie and Esther, my other Singapore friends from Namsan Guesthouse. Yay! We decided to go to Coex Mall, which is an underground mall and I promised myself not to buy anymore heavy things!
I was supposed to meet them at 12:30pm, but I was slightly late b/c I confused the exit and the transfer point. Oops. Oh well they found me anyway. So we were riding on the subway and we actually got seats. The guy beside me was asleep (looked like a student) and he kept inadvertently leaning on me. Yup, even his head ended up on my shoulder. I kept thinking maybe I should move his head and Connie was even gonna push him with her pointer finger. Well, I decided to be nice and let him have my shoulder..heaven knows I've done my fair share of sleeping on the transit...i'm waiting for good karma...hahaa... He woke up just before our stop and didn't even realize what he had been doing. lmao...oh well..
COEX MALL....will my wish come true?
We went straight to the food court and there were some little pools there where ppl could throw coins into the jar and our wishes would come true. We ate our food and then decided to throw our coins. The pool we went to, had a statue kid holding the jar. So I decided since I am ambedextrous, I'm going to throw two coins. I decided left first...so I aimed for the jar and threw. LMAO...it landed just under the jar and hit the kid where the sun don't shine! How did I not notice the statue was nude and how did I not notice it was male...omg...we laughed so hard. So embarassing. The throw with my right hand wasn't even close..hahaha
Kimchi Museum
Decided to check out the kimchi museum. Very interesting...but seeing as I was so full, just watching the kimchi made me feel even more full. I was also getting pretty tired. I took pictures of jars and stuff like that and then we left.
What's Sweeter Than Frozen Yogourt?
We were feeling pretty sluggish. We tried to go to the aquarium, but it was kind of pricey and we didn't really need to see fish. We went to this frozen yogourt dessert place. OMG it was so good. It was frozen yogourt with pieces of watermelon, pineapple, tangerines and kiwi on the sides. There were peanuts and chocolate sauce drizzled over it too. So yummy and really refreshing. We felt better after that. While we were eating, there was this supercute 3-4 year-oldkid. She was adorable! She kept coming up to us and saying "an nyoung haseyo" (hello) and winking at us! What a cutie ^^
A New Look
I decided to get a haircut. Esther and Constance had gotten some really nice ones, so I asked them if I could go to the place where they got there's. After looking around Myeong-dong we found it. The people there are so nice. Pretty and cute stylists. They were really excited to practice their English with me and we even took pictures. How does my hair look? You'll have to wait and see. I look different ^^
A Dinner to Remember
Esther and Constance took me to a restaurant in Insadong someone had taken them to. We ate at a low table with our legs crossed. The food was so good and the side dishes were excellent. The two things that really made it unique were a kimchi wish serated leaves and chilli sauce and crab legs in sweet pepper sauce. The food was awesome! The cod was really good too. After that they walked me back to my place. We discussed how I would be able to get to the airport, seeing as my flight is at 8:50am!! I think I will take the limobus but I might be cutting it a little short, since the bus doesn't start till 5:45am and it takes about an hour to get to the airport. Esther and Constance offered for me to stay in their room with them and then they would help me with my luggage..I don't know. I'll have to think about it. I have all tomorrow and then I must leave the next morning.
Fare thee well chingu!! Until the next essay...
-Sam
originally written: Apr 18, 2006
10th installment: My adventures...all by myself...
I'm still alive and kicking..well not kicking exactly... Des has arrived safely in Osaka. Thank goodness! I miss her already. She also told me that the Japanese custom ppl don't seem to like ppl who travel often. They will probably ask me why I keep flying to Hong Kong. She also advised me to hide my cds/dvds inside clothing. Grrr...now I have to re-pack again. That sucks!
Ehwa Women's University
Since it's Monday and the palace is closed (I never made it there yesterday), I decided to check out some other things. Please forgive me in advance if I spell places wrong because I don't have my guide book with me. I heard Ehwa Women's University is one of the great places to shop, but I've told myself not to buy so many things because my luggage is very heavy. I have no idea how I'm going to drag those all over the airport. @_@ I rode the subway alone and luckily made it to the transfer stations without getting too lost. Anyway, I got there around 3pmish b/c I left the guesthouse late. It was very busy and all I bought was a new shoulder bag to carry my stuff in and a shirt. I ate lunch there and also had some yummy fruit slushy drink.
Bell Pavilion
I went to the Bell Pavilion (sorry I don't remember the full name) and it was very nice looking. Opposite was a huge tower that's famous...Jongno Tower. Very tall and nicely built. I snapped some shots and sat down with the map, trying to figure out was else I could do. Since I've never been a person who navigates well, I decided to change that. Instead of taking the subway to Anguk I made up my mind to go see Insadong and make my way to Anguk by foot. What do you think happened?
Insadong
Insadong was full of beautiful, historical pottery and much more. I looked around a lot here and even shopped a bit more. There were a lot of people there and I saw more tourists there than I have my whole trip here in Korea. I only bought small things that weren't heavy and didn't take up space. I'm considering throwsing some of my old Canadian clothes away too...just to lighten the darn thing. Aigoooo....
Where Did I End Up?
Guess...take a wild guess. I got back safe. ahhaa...I didn't get lost! When I walked around yesterday, I made sure to remember some places so when I got to that area, I'd know my way back. Yay for me! One step closer to being a good navigator. Since I ate lunch really late, I just got some food to go for later. Oh well if it's cold. I got home before dark just like I promised. It's a good thing though because the place I'm staying is kind of tucked in, so yeah...I don't think it's a good idea to be walking around alone.
Ok...off to watch k-tv and pack again for the billionth time.
Until the next read,
Sam
originally written: Apr 17, 2006
Ehwa Women's University
Since it's Monday and the palace is closed (I never made it there yesterday), I decided to check out some other things. Please forgive me in advance if I spell places wrong because I don't have my guide book with me. I heard Ehwa Women's University is one of the great places to shop, but I've told myself not to buy so many things because my luggage is very heavy. I have no idea how I'm going to drag those all over the airport. @_@ I rode the subway alone and luckily made it to the transfer stations without getting too lost. Anyway, I got there around 3pmish b/c I left the guesthouse late. It was very busy and all I bought was a new shoulder bag to carry my stuff in and a shirt. I ate lunch there and also had some yummy fruit slushy drink.
Bell Pavilion
I went to the Bell Pavilion (sorry I don't remember the full name) and it was very nice looking. Opposite was a huge tower that's famous...Jongno Tower. Very tall and nicely built. I snapped some shots and sat down with the map, trying to figure out was else I could do. Since I've never been a person who navigates well, I decided to change that. Instead of taking the subway to Anguk I made up my mind to go see Insadong and make my way to Anguk by foot. What do you think happened?
Insadong
Insadong was full of beautiful, historical pottery and much more. I looked around a lot here and even shopped a bit more. There were a lot of people there and I saw more tourists there than I have my whole trip here in Korea. I only bought small things that weren't heavy and didn't take up space. I'm considering throwsing some of my old Canadian clothes away too...just to lighten the darn thing. Aigoooo....
Where Did I End Up?
Guess...take a wild guess. I got back safe. ahhaa...I didn't get lost! When I walked around yesterday, I made sure to remember some places so when I got to that area, I'd know my way back. Yay for me! One step closer to being a good navigator. Since I ate lunch really late, I just got some food to go for later. Oh well if it's cold. I got home before dark just like I promised. It's a good thing though because the place I'm staying is kind of tucked in, so yeah...I don't think it's a good idea to be walking around alone.
Ok...off to watch k-tv and pack again for the billionth time.
Until the next read,
Sam
originally written: Apr 17, 2006
9th installment: safe and sound...
Hello Friends,
I am now at Beewon Guesthouse. Robin from Namsan was nice enough to drive me here and help me bring my luggage! What a nice guy =) The receptionist here is very nice. Her name is Kim Ji Hye. My luggage is so darn heavy, she helped me carry it up the stairs. Originally I was supposed to be on the third floor, but she changed my room so I wouldn't have to struggle with the stairs. Yay they have a computer! But it can only be used for email..so yes, you still get to read these.
Escaping Gramps
Did I mention this old Korean man who's been hitting on me at Namsan? At first it was just friendly conversation, but it's more than that. He always pats my shoulder and tells people how he likes me and that I'm cute. Yesterday, a bunch of us were by the internet cafe and he said this to me, "Come visit Florida and I'll visit Toronto."
me: "Haha only if you pay for my ticket!" (I was joking)
gramps: "Sure, ok come to Florida. You can stay at my place."
me: "I don't think your wife will like that."
gramps: "I have another house. You can stay there."
Ummm excuse me...no wayyyy! So bold. Sheeshymos! It didn't end there.
gramps: "So where is your boyfriend?"
me: "He's in Toronto."
gramps: "Oh I thought he was with you. So, you're a free girl?"
me: "No I'm not".
Jebus...so persistent. This morning before I left, he said to me. "When you leave, this place won't be good anymore." Then he attempted to kiss my hand and I moved my hand. He ended up kissing my thumbnail...ewww still so gross. I washed my hands several times.
Soooo...glad I'm away from him. He tried to find out where I was going, but all I said was, "somewhere else."
I am near three palaces I think. So, after I call home I'm going to explore. I won't stay out late especially now that Des is not with me. Fear not, I will be protected by my signature bag filled with too many things, that still smells like cigarettes from the club.
A Little Later...
I watched some Korean television and there was a big concert near the place where Des and I were staying before, but I think it happened just before we got there. I also watched a Korean concert that was held in Japan by mnet. I wonder if Mellers went... I fell asleep. I was so tired and couldn't fight it.
When I finally woke up, I decided to get some food before it got dark. I ended up eating some vendor food 20-30 minutes away. It was so good. Fried mandoo (dumplings) and gimbap wrapped in egg. Yummy ^^ After that I just explored for a bit. Lots of things to see. I will check out the palace tomorrow and explore more. There's a cinema too. I kind of want to go, but I don't know how I'll get tickets and figure out stuff. Maybe next year then...
the end of this installment has come... Did you think the rest of them would be short like the last one?
-Sam
originally written: Apr 16, 2006
I am now at Beewon Guesthouse. Robin from Namsan was nice enough to drive me here and help me bring my luggage! What a nice guy =) The receptionist here is very nice. Her name is Kim Ji Hye. My luggage is so darn heavy, she helped me carry it up the stairs. Originally I was supposed to be on the third floor, but she changed my room so I wouldn't have to struggle with the stairs. Yay they have a computer! But it can only be used for email..so yes, you still get to read these.
Escaping Gramps
Did I mention this old Korean man who's been hitting on me at Namsan? At first it was just friendly conversation, but it's more than that. He always pats my shoulder and tells people how he likes me and that I'm cute. Yesterday, a bunch of us were by the internet cafe and he said this to me, "Come visit Florida and I'll visit Toronto."
me: "Haha only if you pay for my ticket!" (I was joking)
gramps: "Sure, ok come to Florida. You can stay at my place."
me: "I don't think your wife will like that."
gramps: "I have another house. You can stay there."
Ummm excuse me...no wayyyy! So bold. Sheeshymos! It didn't end there.
gramps: "So where is your boyfriend?"
me: "He's in Toronto."
gramps: "Oh I thought he was with you. So, you're a free girl?"
me: "No I'm not".
Jebus...so persistent. This morning before I left, he said to me. "When you leave, this place won't be good anymore." Then he attempted to kiss my hand and I moved my hand. He ended up kissing my thumbnail...ewww still so gross. I washed my hands several times.
Soooo...glad I'm away from him. He tried to find out where I was going, but all I said was, "somewhere else."
I am near three palaces I think. So, after I call home I'm going to explore. I won't stay out late especially now that Des is not with me. Fear not, I will be protected by my signature bag filled with too many things, that still smells like cigarettes from the club.
A Little Later...
I watched some Korean television and there was a big concert near the place where Des and I were staying before, but I think it happened just before we got there. I also watched a Korean concert that was held in Japan by mnet. I wonder if Mellers went... I fell asleep. I was so tired and couldn't fight it.
When I finally woke up, I decided to get some food before it got dark. I ended up eating some vendor food 20-30 minutes away. It was so good. Fried mandoo (dumplings) and gimbap wrapped in egg. Yummy ^^ After that I just explored for a bit. Lots of things to see. I will check out the palace tomorrow and explore more. There's a cinema too. I kind of want to go, but I don't know how I'll get tickets and figure out stuff. Maybe next year then...
the end of this installment has come... Did you think the rest of them would be short like the last one?
-Sam
originally written: Apr 16, 2006
8th Installment: All is quiet...dumpling overload
ahha we were supposed to watch a traditional wedding ceremony at 3pm... we didn't wake up till 1:30pm... didn't leave the room until 3pm... didn't finish eating until 4pm.... didn't finish laundry until 7pm. We found out a copule of days earlier, that they only have washers and we have to hang dry our stuff. That presented a problem...since we had lots of laundry and not much to hang clothes on. Yesterday, we finally asked if we could use their clothesline. That's when we finally left...
We decided we needed some fresh air. We ate at a mandoo (dumpling) restaurant...omg the food was so good. So many dumplings..at the end I thought I became one. We felt bad that we couldn't finish everything. We went shopping around Myeong-dong again. Got home and packed.
Des and I wanted to stay up all night and then I was going to go with her to the bus stop. We were so tired, we slept anyway. When I woke up it was 7am and Des had already left. I suck T___T I really wanted to say goodbye. I don't even remember what happened...now I am alone...missing Des..missing everyone. I hope to become more independent. We'll see how that goes...
Wish me luck. My gift to you..a short installment. I hope I can find the net at the other place I'm going to. :D See you!!
-Sam
originally written: Apr 15, 2006
We decided we needed some fresh air. We ate at a mandoo (dumpling) restaurant...omg the food was so good. So many dumplings..at the end I thought I became one. We felt bad that we couldn't finish everything. We went shopping around Myeong-dong again. Got home and packed.
Des and I wanted to stay up all night and then I was going to go with her to the bus stop. We were so tired, we slept anyway. When I woke up it was 7am and Des had already left. I suck T___T I really wanted to say goodbye. I don't even remember what happened...now I am alone...missing Des..missing everyone. I hope to become more independent. We'll see how that goes...
Wish me luck. My gift to you..a short installment. I hope I can find the net at the other place I'm going to. :D See you!!
-Sam
originally written: Apr 15, 2006
7th Installment: Wild Night in Seoul!!
Ok, today we decided it was Lotte World Day. We kidnapped Louise, who is from Sweden and took her with us. Later on, we kidnapped a Japanese guy too..
DES WORKS IT!!
We went to Jamsil station and in front of the Lotte Department Store was the set-up of a mini concert. We still weren't sure where Lotte World was, so I went to ask a man. He had no idea what I was saying, but there was an army guy near by. He asked if we needed help. He was very polite and quite good looking. We told him where we wanted to go and he offered to take us to the entrance through the department store. His name is Im DoHyun and a corporal. Des was chatting him up!! And her hips were swaying *BIG WINK* Louise and I trailed behind laughing and teasing them. The two were oblivious. GO DES!!! We got his contact info too and took pics with him. Also a solo shot. Yay for Des.
LOTTE WORLD
Lotte world reminded me so much of the k-drama Stairway to Heaven with the carousel and the ice rink downstairs the mall. It was very cute and I ended up buying the necklace, just because..haha...It was not that crowded. Apparently b/c someone fell off a ride and died recently. We didn't mind that it wasn't crowded b/c we were able to just walk around and enjoy. We bought these really cute headbands with ears. Louise got a monkey one and I asked the lady to choose one for me. She chose bunny ears (one of them bent) and guess which colour she chose. I'm sure you can guess what colour by now. Yes, pink...guess this is a pink trip for me. I can't escape it! She chose angel wings for Des. We all took pics and then kept walking.
There was a Studio Ghibli store with huge Totoro's and we all squealed...goodness, we were definitely sucked in. I bought a Totoro pouch to put Josie's camera in, since I lost the case somewhere in Seoul. We saw the Magical Island and the infamous Magic Castle. We walked around the whole island, seeing many kids in uniform. We went by this stage for performances and there was a bunch of students there. We went by them, saying "an nyoung haseyo" and they yelled to us "YOU'RE SO SEXY!!" The three of us burst out in laughter.
Louise and I had the toasted corn which was really good and Des tried the slush. I wanted to go on the monorail so we could see everything. We had only bought general admission passes, so we had to pay extra for the monorail. I couldn't understand the ticket machine and stopped someone to ask for help. The very nice lady did the whole transaction for us. She was so kind. Taking the monorail just showed us that we covered pretty much everything. Good on us. After that we rode the carousel =) We also went to see the skating rink, where many young children were practising speed skating and figure skating. They were so cute. ^^ I also tried the crane game. I almost won the piggie from Kim Sam Soon...but alas, it was not meant to be. T__T
Mini Concert
The concert was featuring DJ DOC and SeeYa, with other artists performing. I really don't remember all their names too well. We missed SeeYa, but remembered that WenLy had convinced me to buy their cd. Too bad about that... LPG, a female group, also performed and I took some pictures for some of my friends. You know who you are! The music was good. People of all ages were there. Some granny elbowed me to get in front, which just made me laugh. Some guys moved in front of me too and tried to not-so-obviously videotape the girls on stage. It was a lot of fun. After it finished, we were starting to get tired and hungry.
SOJU PARTY
We decided today we would go to the soju tent. We headed back home, only to find the soju tent had moved. BOOOOO! So we ate a restaurant that had really good food and then we went to the store to buy soju to drink at Namsan. It was decided that we'd buy a number of different bottles to try them out. We got back up the mountain and Esther and Constance, also from Singapore, were there with a new guest, Takesh from Japan. Esther and Constance weren't up for drinking alcohol so they stuck to juice. The rest of us had mix drinks. The owner came out and said we couldn't drink unless he drank with us. lol. So he drank with us and even sent someone out to get snacks! Dried cuttlefish and assorted chips, as well as juice and other things. It was a party!
What did I drink? Aloe soju, Bloody Mary with soju and plum soju...all mixed by Des and Louise. Then the owner mentioned the bomb drink. That's when you have a shot of soju inside beer. Goodness we did a "bottoms up"...and wham...I felt that pretty fast. hahaha. My face was pink. The owner left soon after, but told us after 10pm we could still drink but keep it down b/c of other guests. We finished drinking and decided to go shopping. lol. Apparently there was a place near some universities that you could shop all night.
WILD NIGHT
Des came out wearing her clubbing gear. Louise made me wear gloss and had me change into my clubbing attire as well. She changed and we dragged Taki-kun with us, who is 17 by the way, but looks older. hahaha. I wasn't sure if we were shopping or clubbing. We took a cab to one of the universities, but we were all tipsy and the guy totally ripped us off. He didn't even take us to the right place! It was so dead...nothing was open... We took another cab to Hongdai (sp?) University and finally found the party town of Seoul. We ran into some British guy who told us to go to a club called M2. We decided to go, but asked for directions a lot b/c we couldn't seem to find the place.
After a long time, we found it. Louise bought sunglasses and Taki-kun bought a cap before we went in. $15 cover...the guy had told us it was only $5. He either lied or we were getting the "foreigner price" and a drink ticket. By then we didn't really care. The gals went to the washroom...holy SMOKE! Smoker's paradise. This place was crazy!!! The music was awesome and it was full. We danced the night away! At some point these topless guys with these batons were on stage and lights were coming out of the batons. It was crazy! I think they were called Adonis boys or something. We OBVIOUSLY danced differently than all the other girls! I think they started to compete with us too. I had a blast - all of us did. We got home at 6am. The club didn't close till 7am.
What a wild night!
-Sam
originally written: Apr 15, 2006
DES WORKS IT!!
We went to Jamsil station and in front of the Lotte Department Store was the set-up of a mini concert. We still weren't sure where Lotte World was, so I went to ask a man. He had no idea what I was saying, but there was an army guy near by. He asked if we needed help. He was very polite and quite good looking. We told him where we wanted to go and he offered to take us to the entrance through the department store. His name is Im DoHyun and a corporal. Des was chatting him up!! And her hips were swaying *BIG WINK* Louise and I trailed behind laughing and teasing them. The two were oblivious. GO DES!!! We got his contact info too and took pics with him. Also a solo shot. Yay for Des.
LOTTE WORLD
Lotte world reminded me so much of the k-drama Stairway to Heaven with the carousel and the ice rink downstairs the mall. It was very cute and I ended up buying the necklace, just because..haha...It was not that crowded. Apparently b/c someone fell off a ride and died recently. We didn't mind that it wasn't crowded b/c we were able to just walk around and enjoy. We bought these really cute headbands with ears. Louise got a monkey one and I asked the lady to choose one for me. She chose bunny ears (one of them bent) and guess which colour she chose. I'm sure you can guess what colour by now. Yes, pink...guess this is a pink trip for me. I can't escape it! She chose angel wings for Des. We all took pics and then kept walking.
There was a Studio Ghibli store with huge Totoro's and we all squealed...goodness, we were definitely sucked in. I bought a Totoro pouch to put Josie's camera in, since I lost the case somewhere in Seoul. We saw the Magical Island and the infamous Magic Castle. We walked around the whole island, seeing many kids in uniform. We went by this stage for performances and there was a bunch of students there. We went by them, saying "an nyoung haseyo" and they yelled to us "YOU'RE SO SEXY!!" The three of us burst out in laughter.
Louise and I had the toasted corn which was really good and Des tried the slush. I wanted to go on the monorail so we could see everything. We had only bought general admission passes, so we had to pay extra for the monorail. I couldn't understand the ticket machine and stopped someone to ask for help. The very nice lady did the whole transaction for us. She was so kind. Taking the monorail just showed us that we covered pretty much everything. Good on us. After that we rode the carousel =) We also went to see the skating rink, where many young children were practising speed skating and figure skating. They were so cute. ^^ I also tried the crane game. I almost won the piggie from Kim Sam Soon...but alas, it was not meant to be. T__T
Mini Concert
The concert was featuring DJ DOC and SeeYa, with other artists performing. I really don't remember all their names too well. We missed SeeYa, but remembered that WenLy had convinced me to buy their cd. Too bad about that... LPG, a female group, also performed and I took some pictures for some of my friends. You know who you are! The music was good. People of all ages were there. Some granny elbowed me to get in front, which just made me laugh. Some guys moved in front of me too and tried to not-so-obviously videotape the girls on stage. It was a lot of fun. After it finished, we were starting to get tired and hungry.
SOJU PARTY
We decided today we would go to the soju tent. We headed back home, only to find the soju tent had moved. BOOOOO! So we ate a restaurant that had really good food and then we went to the store to buy soju to drink at Namsan. It was decided that we'd buy a number of different bottles to try them out. We got back up the mountain and Esther and Constance, also from Singapore, were there with a new guest, Takesh from Japan. Esther and Constance weren't up for drinking alcohol so they stuck to juice. The rest of us had mix drinks. The owner came out and said we couldn't drink unless he drank with us. lol. So he drank with us and even sent someone out to get snacks! Dried cuttlefish and assorted chips, as well as juice and other things. It was a party!
What did I drink? Aloe soju, Bloody Mary with soju and plum soju...all mixed by Des and Louise. Then the owner mentioned the bomb drink. That's when you have a shot of soju inside beer. Goodness we did a "bottoms up"...and wham...I felt that pretty fast. hahaha. My face was pink. The owner left soon after, but told us after 10pm we could still drink but keep it down b/c of other guests. We finished drinking and decided to go shopping. lol. Apparently there was a place near some universities that you could shop all night.
WILD NIGHT
Des came out wearing her clubbing gear. Louise made me wear gloss and had me change into my clubbing attire as well. She changed and we dragged Taki-kun with us, who is 17 by the way, but looks older. hahaha. I wasn't sure if we were shopping or clubbing. We took a cab to one of the universities, but we were all tipsy and the guy totally ripped us off. He didn't even take us to the right place! It was so dead...nothing was open... We took another cab to Hongdai (sp?) University and finally found the party town of Seoul. We ran into some British guy who told us to go to a club called M2. We decided to go, but asked for directions a lot b/c we couldn't seem to find the place.
After a long time, we found it. Louise bought sunglasses and Taki-kun bought a cap before we went in. $15 cover...the guy had told us it was only $5. He either lied or we were getting the "foreigner price" and a drink ticket. By then we didn't really care. The gals went to the washroom...holy SMOKE! Smoker's paradise. This place was crazy!!! The music was awesome and it was full. We danced the night away! At some point these topless guys with these batons were on stage and lights were coming out of the batons. It was crazy! I think they were called Adonis boys or something. We OBVIOUSLY danced differently than all the other girls! I think they started to compete with us too. I had a blast - all of us did. We got home at 6am. The club didn't close till 7am.
What a wild night!
-Sam
originally written: Apr 15, 2006
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
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
5th Installment: Cherry Blossom Festival & Men in Uniform!!
Before you read on...thanks for replying to all these long emails.^^ They brighten my day. Also, when I move on the 16th, I can't guarantee I will have access to internet, so you might not hear from me for a while...booo...but we'll deal with that when the time comes.
Cherry Blossom Festival =) and Hangang Riverside Park (Yeouido)
Even though Des and I already saw a street of cherry blossoms, we wanted to go to the Cherry Blossom Festival at Yunjungno Street. There are 1,400 cherry blossom trees there, so we walked A WHOLE LOT! Beside us was the Hangang Riverside Park (Yeouido) and the Han River. We bought some gimbap and ate it while we walked. We passed by this place that was giving out free bottles of water. Des asked me to pass her one so I did and then I looked at the guy and indicated I would like 1 more bottle and he gave me two. hahaha... Des just laughed at me and I gave her the extra bottle. It was nice just walking at our own pace...
National Assembly Memorial Hall
We weren't exactly sure what this place was at first b/c there was no English sign and a guard at the open gate. Everyone else was going in and out, so we went in too. There was lots of information and video of protests and other stuff. We didn't stay too long though, b/c we couldn't read the info. We also walked by the National Assembly itself. Huge!!
MEN IN UNIFORM!!
The whole time we've been here, I keep bugging Des about how I want to take a picture with men in uniform. I thought it would be fun. While we were doing the cherry blossom walk, we saw a whole bunch of them. I started to chicken out, so we walked in between them and then stopped by the curb to look up "Can we take a picture with you" or something to that extent in our phrase books. Suddenly a couple of them came up to us. One of them, who was quite good looking, asked me if I speak Korean. I told him only a little bit in English and I made the hand sign for little bit. His friend asked in English if they could take a picture with us. I told him of course. Des was smiling and laughing. So 2-4 guys huddled around us and next thing we knew, all of them came. There were about 21 of them! ahhahaah....so they surrounded us and took the picture. They were really energetic and happy.^^ I got them to take a picture with my camera too. lol..They kept thanking us and the one who talked to us shook both of our hands. Des said to me later that when he asked if we spoke Korean, she thought, "For you baby, I will speak Korean"...ahahahhaa...lmao. That was the highlight of the day. Des and I will be hanging in an army room somewhere in Korea. Those guys were insane. They'd walk in formation and then break off really quickly for photo ops with trees, mascots, etc. Des also took a picture of me with two guards...ahhaha we tried to read "take a picture" from our books but I think they understood our English.
The Elderly, the Cutest Kids Ever, and Dogs with DYED tails?!
We people watched for a while, sitting on the curb. We would say "an nyoung haseyo" to the elderly and bow our heads. Most of them would acknowledge and smile or wave. Some would give us weird looks, but most of them were very nice and polite. They are really nice people. The kids were hilarious...they would walk by and we'd say hello in Korean and they would wave and smile or say it back to us. A couple of kids would make these confused faces hahahaa. One kid, i think was still learning how to walk...we said hello and he looked at us and then fell down. OOPS! Another one was crying in the stroller, heard us, stopped crying and just stared at us. The cutest one heard us...ran away...came back to us and then ran away again. The next thing confused us a lot...we saw a dog fully dressed with a green dyed tail...what was that all about? I took a picture of that, but not that well. Another one had a pink dyed tail...what the heck? That dog even had some fancy booties for it's paws...almost looked like stilettos? (sp?) Isn't that animal cruelty?
SEARCH FOR TV STATIONS
In this area was also SBS, KBS and MBC. We went looking for them. Des is really good at reading maps. I couldn't figure out if one the stations was there or not. Des told me it was the one under construction, but I asked someone anyway to verify. Des was right of course...she's rarely wrong with a map in her hand. Aigoo...bad Sam. SBS had moved to Mokdong... We went to KBS, which was high security too..no one was getting in there without a pass. It was then I realized I had dropped the camera case somewhere! TT____TT We retraced our steps, but couldn't find it. >_< I owe Josie a new camera case. We went through Yeouido Park which was very nice and full of green and scenery. We walked/ran across a lot of streets. Finally made it to MBC and took the pics. We ate some mandoo from a vendor. They were sooooo good. Took a picture of 63 building. I can visit it next year...yes, I am DEFINITELY COMING BACK NEXT YEAR! Other than that we pretty much visited the whole island we were on. Good on us. Took the subway back to Myeong-dong without being accosted..ahahaha
Home again, home again
Got some take-out of ramen, gimbap and duk bokki...I love that stuff and headed back. We were both really tired. Up the hill we went. Des was wearing sneakers, so not in pain like yesterday. She thinks she can live here, I agree. We are both amazed at how ppl pull off some of these outfits. They mix some unique clothes together and boldly walk outdoors without a second thought. There are things they wear here that would grant them strange looks in Toronto.
We got back and talked to Robin, who works here. I overheard him say the other day that he drank 10 bottles of soju. What the heck? That's a lot of alcohol. I told him I like the bomb drink (when they take a shooter of soju and drop it into a glass of beer) He says he can drink 9 before he gets drunk and can't remember anything. Des and I have a date with the soju tent her last night in Korea. But that hill...uhhh dunno how we're going to climb that drunk. Maybe we'll drink some in the tent and buy more to drink in the guesthouse. There's a soju tent right at the bottom of the hill next to the subway station. Robin says he can recommend some good places to us. Don't worry everyone, we'll be responsible.
For those of you who are wondering...we have not soju-ed up, b/c we've been too darn busy. Everyday we are out there late adventuring around Seoul. We've had our share of beer, but soju awaits. The best things are worth waiting for right?
There are so many ppl coming and going here it's hard to keep track. We just met a Korean girl who is Swedish. She was adopted and just met her dad. Her name is Louise. At first when we heard her talk (we didn't see her) we thought she was caucasian. She talked us up and we listened to her. She staying here for a month. I met some other Singapore girls too. This morning I met girls from HK. Man...I can't keep track of all of these names? Can everyone get a number for a name?
It's 8:00pm right now...morning for the north americans..man, I get so confused with the days and times here. There are many things to see and do here. I don't think I'll get everything done, so next year it is! I think I'm due for a nap soon. I'm currently fighting some insect. Yesterday I fought with a small fly and I swear it scratched my nose. I have a small scratch..booo...it wasn't me...I cut my nails...that darned fly is vengeful. Ok, now I'm just wasting space....I'm off to relax and listen to some music, maybe watch some k-tv.
Until the next read,
Sam
originally written: Apr 12, 2006
Cherry Blossom Festival =) and Hangang Riverside Park (Yeouido)
Even though Des and I already saw a street of cherry blossoms, we wanted to go to the Cherry Blossom Festival at Yunjungno Street. There are 1,400 cherry blossom trees there, so we walked A WHOLE LOT! Beside us was the Hangang Riverside Park (Yeouido) and the Han River. We bought some gimbap and ate it while we walked. We passed by this place that was giving out free bottles of water. Des asked me to pass her one so I did and then I looked at the guy and indicated I would like 1 more bottle and he gave me two. hahaha... Des just laughed at me and I gave her the extra bottle. It was nice just walking at our own pace...
National Assembly Memorial Hall
We weren't exactly sure what this place was at first b/c there was no English sign and a guard at the open gate. Everyone else was going in and out, so we went in too. There was lots of information and video of protests and other stuff. We didn't stay too long though, b/c we couldn't read the info. We also walked by the National Assembly itself. Huge!!
MEN IN UNIFORM!!
The whole time we've been here, I keep bugging Des about how I want to take a picture with men in uniform. I thought it would be fun. While we were doing the cherry blossom walk, we saw a whole bunch of them. I started to chicken out, so we walked in between them and then stopped by the curb to look up "Can we take a picture with you" or something to that extent in our phrase books. Suddenly a couple of them came up to us. One of them, who was quite good looking, asked me if I speak Korean. I told him only a little bit in English and I made the hand sign for little bit. His friend asked in English if they could take a picture with us. I told him of course. Des was smiling and laughing. So 2-4 guys huddled around us and next thing we knew, all of them came. There were about 21 of them! ahhahaah....so they surrounded us and took the picture. They were really energetic and happy.^^ I got them to take a picture with my camera too. lol..They kept thanking us and the one who talked to us shook both of our hands. Des said to me later that when he asked if we spoke Korean, she thought, "For you baby, I will speak Korean"...ahahahhaa...lmao. That was the highlight of the day. Des and I will be hanging in an army room somewhere in Korea. Those guys were insane. They'd walk in formation and then break off really quickly for photo ops with trees, mascots, etc. Des also took a picture of me with two guards...ahhaha we tried to read "take a picture" from our books but I think they understood our English.
The Elderly, the Cutest Kids Ever, and Dogs with DYED tails?!
We people watched for a while, sitting on the curb. We would say "an nyoung haseyo" to the elderly and bow our heads. Most of them would acknowledge and smile or wave. Some would give us weird looks, but most of them were very nice and polite. They are really nice people. The kids were hilarious...they would walk by and we'd say hello in Korean and they would wave and smile or say it back to us. A couple of kids would make these confused faces hahahaa. One kid, i think was still learning how to walk...we said hello and he looked at us and then fell down. OOPS! Another one was crying in the stroller, heard us, stopped crying and just stared at us. The cutest one heard us...ran away...came back to us and then ran away again. The next thing confused us a lot...we saw a dog fully dressed with a green dyed tail...what was that all about? I took a picture of that, but not that well. Another one had a pink dyed tail...what the heck? That dog even had some fancy booties for it's paws...almost looked like stilettos? (sp?) Isn't that animal cruelty?
SEARCH FOR TV STATIONS
In this area was also SBS, KBS and MBC. We went looking for them. Des is really good at reading maps. I couldn't figure out if one the stations was there or not. Des told me it was the one under construction, but I asked someone anyway to verify. Des was right of course...she's rarely wrong with a map in her hand. Aigoo...bad Sam. SBS had moved to Mokdong... We went to KBS, which was high security too..no one was getting in there without a pass. It was then I realized I had dropped the camera case somewhere! TT____TT We retraced our steps, but couldn't find it. >_< I owe Josie a new camera case. We went through Yeouido Park which was very nice and full of green and scenery. We walked/ran across a lot of streets. Finally made it to MBC and took the pics. We ate some mandoo from a vendor. They were sooooo good. Took a picture of 63 building. I can visit it next year...yes, I am DEFINITELY COMING BACK NEXT YEAR! Other than that we pretty much visited the whole island we were on. Good on us. Took the subway back to Myeong-dong without being accosted..ahahaha
Home again, home again
Got some take-out of ramen, gimbap and duk bokki...I love that stuff and headed back. We were both really tired. Up the hill we went. Des was wearing sneakers, so not in pain like yesterday. She thinks she can live here, I agree. We are both amazed at how ppl pull off some of these outfits. They mix some unique clothes together and boldly walk outdoors without a second thought. There are things they wear here that would grant them strange looks in Toronto.
We got back and talked to Robin, who works here. I overheard him say the other day that he drank 10 bottles of soju. What the heck? That's a lot of alcohol. I told him I like the bomb drink (when they take a shooter of soju and drop it into a glass of beer) He says he can drink 9 before he gets drunk and can't remember anything. Des and I have a date with the soju tent her last night in Korea. But that hill...uhhh dunno how we're going to climb that drunk. Maybe we'll drink some in the tent and buy more to drink in the guesthouse. There's a soju tent right at the bottom of the hill next to the subway station. Robin says he can recommend some good places to us. Don't worry everyone, we'll be responsible.
For those of you who are wondering...we have not soju-ed up, b/c we've been too darn busy. Everyday we are out there late adventuring around Seoul. We've had our share of beer, but soju awaits. The best things are worth waiting for right?
There are so many ppl coming and going here it's hard to keep track. We just met a Korean girl who is Swedish. She was adopted and just met her dad. Her name is Louise. At first when we heard her talk (we didn't see her) we thought she was caucasian. She talked us up and we listened to her. She staying here for a month. I met some other Singapore girls too. This morning I met girls from HK. Man...I can't keep track of all of these names? Can everyone get a number for a name?
It's 8:00pm right now...morning for the north americans..man, I get so confused with the days and times here. There are many things to see and do here. I don't think I'll get everything done, so next year it is! I think I'm due for a nap soon. I'm currently fighting some insect. Yesterday I fought with a small fly and I swear it scratched my nose. I have a small scratch..booo...it wasn't me...I cut my nails...that darned fly is vengeful. Ok, now I'm just wasting space....I'm off to relax and listen to some music, maybe watch some k-tv.
Until the next read,
Sam
originally written: Apr 12, 2006
4th installment: Who's pregnant? What's on fire?
I talked to Dad last night. I always seem to miss him. Talking to him made me miss all of you more. Sure I have lots of fun here, but when I buy something or see certain things, it reminds me of home. Bo go ship po T___T, but I will see you all soon. Thanks to those who read through these long things. Maybe I can publish this as a travel journal something...I probably have to fix the English though right?
Very late last night I overheard some girls talking about how they were from Singapore, so I started talking to them. One of them is from a forum I'm on, so I think we will try to hang out a bit! Also, we made friends with Ben and Ai from Thailand and we made plans to meet up and go shopping.
This morning we changed rooms, b/c we had originally reserved a twin bed room, but they only had a double available for our first two days. Des and I usually wake up b/w 10am and 12pm, so this morning I woke up early b/c I was meeting Ben and Ai for 9:30am. I checked downstairs and they needed us to clear the room before 12pm, so I woke Des up. I give her props...b/c she wasn't even gonna come out with us, but we packed crazy fast and moved into the new room. Des took a shower and changed superfast so she could come with us. We rode the subway and made two transfers. We've noticed ppl stare at us more when we are on the escalators...
WHO'S PREGNANT?
When the subway came, Des and I noticed some empty seats so we sat down. Ben gave me a funny look so I looked at the window behind me. The sign read "SEATS RESERVED FOR THE ELDERLY, DISABLED OR PREGNANT WOMEN." I was so embarassed...I quickly pointed it out to Des and we started laughing. She rubbed her leg..(it was really hurting) and I pretended to injure her. haha...in the end we both left that area and a man made room for us on one of the long seats. He started talking to us and he was very nice.
APGUJEONG & SM ENTERTAINMENT
Today we went to Apgujeong to see the shopping and look for SM Entertainment building. We finally got there and it was nothing I expected! It was a yellow building covered in grafitti! Yikes @_@ We took pictures anyway and there was a lady outside with a stack of BoA cds and I was going to ask her if we could have a tour around or just take a picture in the lobby, but that place is high security! There were cameras everywhere and the lady had to punch in some numbers and get her fingerprint read. I was so tempted to just run in, but I don't think getting arrested would be a good thing. Forgot to mention that Des' heel got stuck in the sidewalk and her bare foot actually hit the pavement..hahahaa...it actually happened more than once.
MCDEATH OR ADVENTURE?
Des and Ben wanted McDeath..(McDonald's) but Ai and I said no way..so we went to a small restaurant that had no pictures of the food and no romanized english letters..ahahha...I got to use a lot of korean there..especially trying to tell them that Ai doesn't eat meat. hahaha...I think I looked up "meat" and then said "no"...ahahah. She ended up with gimbap (like sushi). Des and I were flipping through those phrase books real fast!! We ended up ordering gimbap, bi bim bap, bulgogi and chicken soup. At the end of the meal I got the waiter's attention using what Justin and Jimmy taught us and also asked for the bill. YAY! Ben paid for all the food.
SAM'S MONEY ALLERGY & KYOBO BOOKSTORE
We found another cd store with more good prices...ppl...I swear that extra luggage is strictly cds/dvds and mellers' stuff. I bought a lot of stuff from there and the lady gave me 5 shinhwa posters, a BoA poster and also a DBSK one. How nice! I have also discovered that I've bought a whole new wardrobe...what the heck?!?!? Josie I think I can give you a run for your money in shopping now! Everything I bought actually fit me cuz I tried them on today. AND I'M STILL ON BUDGET! Shweeeet! Anyway back to the story...we looked around and then went back to the subway to hit the big bookstore. I think it's name is Kyobo. I found that Super Junior magazine and some other mags...and some of them came with posters. =D This guy kept openly staring at Des and me. He stood there until we acknowledged him and then he smile and left...weird... By now poor Des was ready to limp with her pretty heeled sandals.
BEING ACCOSTED
On our way back, some older man just came up and started talking to us. He was asking us where we were from and he kept on looking at me with this big smile. Then he kept on squeezing the back of my arm and saying how beautiful I was in Korean. He said my face looked Chinese and so pretty... Jebus...I moved away from him fast and smiled politely but he just kept coming closer. So I tried not to be rude and kept asking the others which station we had to get to. I kind of bowed my head and we walked off. YIPES T____T Des has mentioned that I have a pan-asian look...must be true...b/c ppl talk to me in Korean thinking I'm Korean, some of the Japanese guests here talked to me in Japanese and Ben thought I was Japanese too. In Singapore, ppl thought I was a local too. Has my face changed?!?!?!? =P
FREE ORANGES
Ai wanted to get some strawberries. She wants to take them back to Thailand, but I don't think they'll let her. While she was buying the owner gave each of us a free orange and encouraged us to eat them. OMG...they are so good and sweet!! We told them they were so good and he gave us each another one. Well that man has good customer service, so I bought a whole bag from him for 3,000 won.
AI UNNIE
We climbed back up that darn hill to home and Ai and I went on a quick shopping trip for her stuff. She is so nice and she and Ben offered to take us around in Thailand if we visit. I had bought both of them a magazine at the bookstore, so when we got back to Namsan, she pulled out all these accessories from Thailand. She said she wanted to give me presents so she gave me a bracelet and necklace and her two rings. She said she was happy to be my unnie. <-(older sister). She really didn't want to leave, but she had to. I hope to stay in touch with her. ^^
WHAT'S ON FIRE?
So after Des took a nap and I worked on this long email, we went for food. We decided to go to one of the vendor/restaurant places near where we're staying. We had rice cake, chicken skewers, fried dumpling, other rice cake thingies and soup. FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS SACRED!!! We thought the chicken had a sweet glaze on it...no it was this brown glaze with chilli peppers underneath it. Both of us were "Mool ju se yo-ing" (water please). Our eyes were watering and our lips were burning. I had some at each end of my mouth I thought I had burned dimples into the side of my mouth. We asked them for radish. BLESS THE PERSON WHO MADE PICKLED RADISH! Des, who was cold earlier, by then, was ready to strip. IT'S GETTING HOT IN HERE, SO TAKE OFF ALL YOUR CLOTHES...literally. It was such good food, but my tongue was going to fall off~
We are now doing laundry, so I have time to finish this email. The guy at the GS25 (convenience store) knows us by face now. We got more drinks. I swear I better have really nice, sexy legs after all the uphills we've been doing and all the subway steps...plus the sweating we did in Singapore.
Miss you muchly,
-Sam
p.s. I forgot to mention the pic I took of those guys yesterday is not that clear..sorry! I also took a pic of these baseball players who were training by running down the stairs of the mountain
originally written: Apr 11, 2006
Very late last night I overheard some girls talking about how they were from Singapore, so I started talking to them. One of them is from a forum I'm on, so I think we will try to hang out a bit! Also, we made friends with Ben and Ai from Thailand and we made plans to meet up and go shopping.
This morning we changed rooms, b/c we had originally reserved a twin bed room, but they only had a double available for our first two days. Des and I usually wake up b/w 10am and 12pm, so this morning I woke up early b/c I was meeting Ben and Ai for 9:30am. I checked downstairs and they needed us to clear the room before 12pm, so I woke Des up. I give her props...b/c she wasn't even gonna come out with us, but we packed crazy fast and moved into the new room. Des took a shower and changed superfast so she could come with us. We rode the subway and made two transfers. We've noticed ppl stare at us more when we are on the escalators...
WHO'S PREGNANT?
When the subway came, Des and I noticed some empty seats so we sat down. Ben gave me a funny look so I looked at the window behind me. The sign read "SEATS RESERVED FOR THE ELDERLY, DISABLED OR PREGNANT WOMEN." I was so embarassed...I quickly pointed it out to Des and we started laughing. She rubbed her leg..(it was really hurting) and I pretended to injure her. haha...in the end we both left that area and a man made room for us on one of the long seats. He started talking to us and he was very nice.
APGUJEONG & SM ENTERTAINMENT
Today we went to Apgujeong to see the shopping and look for SM Entertainment building. We finally got there and it was nothing I expected! It was a yellow building covered in grafitti! Yikes @_@ We took pictures anyway and there was a lady outside with a stack of BoA cds and I was going to ask her if we could have a tour around or just take a picture in the lobby, but that place is high security! There were cameras everywhere and the lady had to punch in some numbers and get her fingerprint read. I was so tempted to just run in, but I don't think getting arrested would be a good thing. Forgot to mention that Des' heel got stuck in the sidewalk and her bare foot actually hit the pavement..hahahaa...it actually happened more than once.
MCDEATH OR ADVENTURE?
Des and Ben wanted McDeath..(McDonald's) but Ai and I said no way..so we went to a small restaurant that had no pictures of the food and no romanized english letters..ahahha...I got to use a lot of korean there..especially trying to tell them that Ai doesn't eat meat. hahaha...I think I looked up "meat" and then said "no"...ahahah. She ended up with gimbap (like sushi). Des and I were flipping through those phrase books real fast!! We ended up ordering gimbap, bi bim bap, bulgogi and chicken soup. At the end of the meal I got the waiter's attention using what Justin and Jimmy taught us and also asked for the bill. YAY! Ben paid for all the food.
SAM'S MONEY ALLERGY & KYOBO BOOKSTORE
We found another cd store with more good prices...ppl...I swear that extra luggage is strictly cds/dvds and mellers' stuff. I bought a lot of stuff from there and the lady gave me 5 shinhwa posters, a BoA poster and also a DBSK one. How nice! I have also discovered that I've bought a whole new wardrobe...what the heck?!?!? Josie I think I can give you a run for your money in shopping now! Everything I bought actually fit me cuz I tried them on today. AND I'M STILL ON BUDGET! Shweeeet! Anyway back to the story...we looked around and then went back to the subway to hit the big bookstore. I think it's name is Kyobo. I found that Super Junior magazine and some other mags...and some of them came with posters. =D This guy kept openly staring at Des and me. He stood there until we acknowledged him and then he smile and left...weird... By now poor Des was ready to limp with her pretty heeled sandals.
BEING ACCOSTED
On our way back, some older man just came up and started talking to us. He was asking us where we were from and he kept on looking at me with this big smile. Then he kept on squeezing the back of my arm and saying how beautiful I was in Korean. He said my face looked Chinese and so pretty... Jebus...I moved away from him fast and smiled politely but he just kept coming closer. So I tried not to be rude and kept asking the others which station we had to get to. I kind of bowed my head and we walked off. YIPES T____T Des has mentioned that I have a pan-asian look...must be true...b/c ppl talk to me in Korean thinking I'm Korean, some of the Japanese guests here talked to me in Japanese and Ben thought I was Japanese too. In Singapore, ppl thought I was a local too. Has my face changed?!?!?!? =P
FREE ORANGES
Ai wanted to get some strawberries. She wants to take them back to Thailand, but I don't think they'll let her. While she was buying the owner gave each of us a free orange and encouraged us to eat them. OMG...they are so good and sweet!! We told them they were so good and he gave us each another one. Well that man has good customer service, so I bought a whole bag from him for 3,000 won.
AI UNNIE
We climbed back up that darn hill to home and Ai and I went on a quick shopping trip for her stuff. She is so nice and she and Ben offered to take us around in Thailand if we visit. I had bought both of them a magazine at the bookstore, so when we got back to Namsan, she pulled out all these accessories from Thailand. She said she wanted to give me presents so she gave me a bracelet and necklace and her two rings. She said she was happy to be my unnie. <-(older sister). She really didn't want to leave, but she had to. I hope to stay in touch with her. ^^
WHAT'S ON FIRE?
So after Des took a nap and I worked on this long email, we went for food. We decided to go to one of the vendor/restaurant places near where we're staying. We had rice cake, chicken skewers, fried dumpling, other rice cake thingies and soup. FOR THE LOVE OF ALL THAT IS SACRED!!! We thought the chicken had a sweet glaze on it...no it was this brown glaze with chilli peppers underneath it. Both of us were "Mool ju se yo-ing" (water please). Our eyes were watering and our lips were burning. I had some at each end of my mouth I thought I had burned dimples into the side of my mouth. We asked them for radish. BLESS THE PERSON WHO MADE PICKLED RADISH! Des, who was cold earlier, by then, was ready to strip. IT'S GETTING HOT IN HERE, SO TAKE OFF ALL YOUR CLOTHES...literally. It was such good food, but my tongue was going to fall off~
We are now doing laundry, so I have time to finish this email. The guy at the GS25 (convenience store) knows us by face now. We got more drinks. I swear I better have really nice, sexy legs after all the uphills we've been doing and all the subway steps...plus the sweating we did in Singapore.
Miss you muchly,
-Sam
p.s. I forgot to mention the pic I took of those guys yesterday is not that clear..sorry! I also took a pic of these baseball players who were training by running down the stairs of the mountain
originally written: Apr 11, 2006
3rd installment...yes third..b/c the last one was a mini...
It is now the end of April 10th and Des and I decided to go to Seoul Tower. We walked uphill even more to get to the cable car and we were also hungry b/c we woke up late again. hahaha... So we went into a restaurant, using our limited Korean to order and we did pretty well. We ate fish cutlet and then we went to the cable cars. Some cameramen from MBC News were there buying tickets too. We saw a man in a snazzy pink shirt with a red/pink striped suit. We got onto the cable car with a lot of other ppl. It was really exciting and the view was great. We saw a group of good looking guys near Seoul Tower. I took a pic for my single sweeties ^^ It's kind of not clear though...didn't want to seem too much of a stalker. I did the whole..I'm really taking a picture of something else, but really taking your picture...hahaha...
Lots of beautiful scenery shots!! And cute kids...so cute...they kept saying hi to us and smiling. After that, we decided to be adventurous again and climb down the Mt. Namsan! We felt so pathetic seeing these really old men and women climbing up while we had just taken a cable car...they are really fit! So we went downwards and both of our legs were shaking a bit. We finally got down a bit, for a washroom break and I sat outside waiting for Des. I sat on a lover's bench hahahahaa.... and an old lady came by and I moved over so she could sit down. She started talking to me in Korean and I tried talking to her and her friend. They didn't understand any English whatsoever, so I told them my name and when Des came we were trying to tell them we were on vacation. They asked where we were staying and we showed them the card. We can't find Filipino in our dictionaries...so all I could tell them was that we were Canadian and that my mom was Chinese. hahaha.. They smiled at my Korean and finally went on their way.
We saw beautiful cherry blossoms! A whole street of them and passed by a mini zoo. We found the Namsan Public Library and another small library. We walked around with a map and finally ended up at Namdaemun Market. We were doing ok not spending much. We ate rice cake, bi bim bap and fried rice with two huge bottles of Hite. hahah...Des got to use another old style toilet ahahaha and she kept saying how guys look at me like they are starving. I don't see any of this...but then I don't really look up much. Bought lots of stuff and ppl were happy to practise their English as well as hear my Korean. People are really nice here. We went into a small department store and I saw a lot of things Josie would love to wear. I found some nice stuff for myself as well.
I have now converted into a girly girl. A lady sold me a very nice pink blazer. She said I looked beautiful in it. I suppose all ppl say that when they are selling stuff but she looked like she meant it. Des liked it and so did I...so now I have pink clothes... I spent a lot of money again...yipes...don't worry I have a food budget...but any donations to my account are welcome ahahha...cuz there are so many things here I can't find in Toronto. We took the subway YAY! I took a picture of one of Dongwan's healthy drink ads!!! Bought some more stuff...and we climbed back home. That's the end of today! I think it was a great day!
-Sam
p.s. I don't have the usb connector, so I can't post pics...but there is one of me and Des on the namsan web site.
www.namsanguesthouse.com
look on the home page, click on English. While you are on the homepage, look for the photo gallery. Look for "2006 Apr 09 BBQ Party". There is one picture of us on the third link.
originally written: Apr 10, 2006
Lots of beautiful scenery shots!! And cute kids...so cute...they kept saying hi to us and smiling. After that, we decided to be adventurous again and climb down the Mt. Namsan! We felt so pathetic seeing these really old men and women climbing up while we had just taken a cable car...they are really fit! So we went downwards and both of our legs were shaking a bit. We finally got down a bit, for a washroom break and I sat outside waiting for Des. I sat on a lover's bench hahahahaa.... and an old lady came by and I moved over so she could sit down. She started talking to me in Korean and I tried talking to her and her friend. They didn't understand any English whatsoever, so I told them my name and when Des came we were trying to tell them we were on vacation. They asked where we were staying and we showed them the card. We can't find Filipino in our dictionaries...so all I could tell them was that we were Canadian and that my mom was Chinese. hahaha.. They smiled at my Korean and finally went on their way.
We saw beautiful cherry blossoms! A whole street of them and passed by a mini zoo. We found the Namsan Public Library and another small library. We walked around with a map and finally ended up at Namdaemun Market. We were doing ok not spending much. We ate rice cake, bi bim bap and fried rice with two huge bottles of Hite. hahah...Des got to use another old style toilet ahahaha and she kept saying how guys look at me like they are starving. I don't see any of this...but then I don't really look up much. Bought lots of stuff and ppl were happy to practise their English as well as hear my Korean. People are really nice here. We went into a small department store and I saw a lot of things Josie would love to wear. I found some nice stuff for myself as well.
I have now converted into a girly girl. A lady sold me a very nice pink blazer. She said I looked beautiful in it. I suppose all ppl say that when they are selling stuff but she looked like she meant it. Des liked it and so did I...so now I have pink clothes... I spent a lot of money again...yipes...don't worry I have a food budget...but any donations to my account are welcome ahahha...cuz there are so many things here I can't find in Toronto. We took the subway YAY! I took a picture of one of Dongwan's healthy drink ads!!! Bought some more stuff...and we climbed back home. That's the end of today! I think it was a great day!
-Sam
p.s. I don't have the usb connector, so I can't post pics...but there is one of me and Des on the namsan web site.
www.namsanguesthouse.com
look on the home page, click on English. While you are on the homepage, look for the photo gallery. Look for "2006 Apr 09 BBQ Party". There is one picture of us on the third link.
originally written: Apr 10, 2006
Guess who spent lots of money?!?!? Well it wasn't Des...
For the first time in history, Sam has outspent Des....yup...that's what happens when we go into a music store and the prices are cheap. We had to buy a new luggage...how the heck am I going to travel around Seoul to the other place with the monster and the newbie luggage? *hails down a cab* hahah yeah right.
We ate more vendor food. It is so good! Yup I bought lots of music lots of new albums...yeehaw! There was a celebration of the grand opening of some mall near where we are staying. We saw ppl performing some cheers and a dancing soju bottle. What else? I used my limited Korean hahaha. Met a really nice girl named Chumi and Des bought some diary thing from her. She was so excited to practice her English and we talked about Korean celebrities. Then she gave us free stuff...packets of six pictures of specific celebrities. She gave me three packs and I didn't even buy anything! ^^
We went to Myeong-Dong (sp?) which is kind of like Yonge Street and Queen St. combined. We could spend a whole day there...the malls are at the front and then the rest of it is behind. Holy geez lots of shopping and eating there. I love how they call one of their stores "Athlete's Foot"...huuhuu... I was a good girl and window shopped for a while. On our way back, we bought another luggage (the one i talked about in the beginning of this email..not a new one!)..haha...I'm really gonna need help. The next place I stay at, better not be a mountain. We also stopped by our fave convenience store and the other guy working there carried my luggage outside. Des keeps saying how they don't do that for her and I'm being treated well.
By the time we get to Namsan, the bbq has already started. We saw all 25 German university students. Sean, I can't answer your question, b/c I didn't see or ask...but I kept looking and wondering..hahah... I didn't get any pics of them though...sorry! I talked at length to one also named Samantha. Some of the other guests were there - two ppl from Thailand. They also enjoy Korean music. I spoke to one of the owners, Ping. She is really nice and originally from Thailand. She speaks both languages and so does her husband. Their daughter, Tweety, is so cute. We were playing rock, paper, scissors and I made her origami things. I practised my Korean with some of the Korean ppl there. So much alcohol too...my cup was never empty...and "bottoms up" means chug...@_@. Des and I were good. Somewhere in the middle we escaped to go on the internet. I managed to call home, but no one answered. I called Jimmy and some guy who is a junior to the owner was hovering behind me. He told me to tell Jimmy that I have a new boyfriend in Korea, but I just laughed. Later he walked by and Des asked him his name..I think he said Jim. He told Des that he is my friend. @_@ Des thinks I'm being hit on...I'm not really sure. We saw him again when we were shopping around. Des said his face lit up...what the heck. Also, the phone cards here don't even warn you if your time is up..it just says enter new card number, no time left. Joy...my phone call was cut short.
We left again to adventure and buy stuff. The shopping ends around 10:30pm! Can't believe it! And another shocker... I saw a psquared (dsquared wannabe?) hat and it said SAM on it. We agreed that we should buy it and the guy selling it asked us which color...my choices were black, beige or pink. Before I say anything he plops the pink one on my head and says it looks really nice. Des just laughs at me. The dude already put it on my head, don't I have to buy it now? So I finally agree and put it on pushing my bangs aside and then he takes it off to remove the tag, pushes my bangs back down and says it looks good. Heaven forbid...another pink item has been added to my wardrobe.
It's close to 2:30am here...I should go to bed. Tomorrow I think we will try to visit Seoul Tower and who knows what else. If we visit Seoul Tower we get to ride cable cars...yay...I'm charging the camera battery!
Until next installment...
-Sam
p.s. I swear I will start compacting these. Are you tired of reading so much? Those who aren't please raise your hands and I owe you a squish (and before you think bad thoughts...squish = hug...shame on you if you thought otherwise..*ahem*)
originally written: April 9, 2006
We ate more vendor food. It is so good! Yup I bought lots of music lots of new albums...yeehaw! There was a celebration of the grand opening of some mall near where we are staying. We saw ppl performing some cheers and a dancing soju bottle. What else? I used my limited Korean hahaha. Met a really nice girl named Chumi and Des bought some diary thing from her. She was so excited to practice her English and we talked about Korean celebrities. Then she gave us free stuff...packets of six pictures of specific celebrities. She gave me three packs and I didn't even buy anything! ^^
We went to Myeong-Dong (sp?) which is kind of like Yonge Street and Queen St. combined. We could spend a whole day there...the malls are at the front and then the rest of it is behind. Holy geez lots of shopping and eating there. I love how they call one of their stores "Athlete's Foot"...huuhuu... I was a good girl and window shopped for a while. On our way back, we bought another luggage (the one i talked about in the beginning of this email..not a new one!)..haha...I'm really gonna need help. The next place I stay at, better not be a mountain. We also stopped by our fave convenience store and the other guy working there carried my luggage outside. Des keeps saying how they don't do that for her and I'm being treated well.
By the time we get to Namsan, the bbq has already started. We saw all 25 German university students. Sean, I can't answer your question, b/c I didn't see or ask...but I kept looking and wondering..hahah... I didn't get any pics of them though...sorry! I talked at length to one also named Samantha. Some of the other guests were there - two ppl from Thailand. They also enjoy Korean music. I spoke to one of the owners, Ping. She is really nice and originally from Thailand. She speaks both languages and so does her husband. Their daughter, Tweety, is so cute. We were playing rock, paper, scissors and I made her origami things. I practised my Korean with some of the Korean ppl there. So much alcohol too...my cup was never empty...and "bottoms up" means chug...@_@. Des and I were good. Somewhere in the middle we escaped to go on the internet. I managed to call home, but no one answered. I called Jimmy and some guy who is a junior to the owner was hovering behind me. He told me to tell Jimmy that I have a new boyfriend in Korea, but I just laughed. Later he walked by and Des asked him his name..I think he said Jim. He told Des that he is my friend. @_@ Des thinks I'm being hit on...I'm not really sure. We saw him again when we were shopping around. Des said his face lit up...what the heck. Also, the phone cards here don't even warn you if your time is up..it just says enter new card number, no time left. Joy...my phone call was cut short.
We left again to adventure and buy stuff. The shopping ends around 10:30pm! Can't believe it! And another shocker... I saw a psquared (dsquared wannabe?) hat and it said SAM on it. We agreed that we should buy it and the guy selling it asked us which color...my choices were black, beige or pink. Before I say anything he plops the pink one on my head and says it looks really nice. Des just laughs at me. The dude already put it on my head, don't I have to buy it now? So I finally agree and put it on pushing my bangs aside and then he takes it off to remove the tag, pushes my bangs back down and says it looks good. Heaven forbid...another pink item has been added to my wardrobe.
It's close to 2:30am here...I should go to bed. Tomorrow I think we will try to visit Seoul Tower and who knows what else. If we visit Seoul Tower we get to ride cable cars...yay...I'm charging the camera battery!
Until next installment...
-Sam
p.s. I swear I will start compacting these. Are you tired of reading so much? Those who aren't please raise your hands and I owe you a squish (and before you think bad thoughts...squish = hug...shame on you if you thought otherwise..*ahem*)
originally written: April 9, 2006
2nd installment: the VERY LONG end of SG and Lost in Korea...
Hello Kiddies,
Des and I are still alive! After spending 30 mins in front of this computer, trying to write in English not Korean characters...here is the 2nd installment. On April 7th, we met up with my friends. We got really spoiled! We ate lots of food, shopped in markets, went sightseeing and ate really late. Guess what I ate? STING RAY!!! Yep...and chilli crab, fried carrot cake, oyster omelette and hokkien (sp?) noodles? Yeah...we ate so much and my friends never let me pay for anything...they're really sweet. What else? Des and I took the very last train...we ran for the escalator because we didn't want to climb the stairs with all those bags if the escalators stopped working. Lots of bags from shopping, gifts and stuff for Mellers who I am staying with in Japan.
Ok...so Nancy drove us to the airport and my suitcase is already wayyy heavy. I asked at the airport and we can have 32kg/luggage and you can have two pieces of luggage (to be checked in). I'm under 32kg for that big one so I guess I might need another luggage...but carrying that thing is insane...you'll find out why...Where was I? Oh yes, the HK airport...free internet. We were trying to rush and send emails b/c I haven't called or emailed in a while. I look at the computer time and it says 10:28am, but Des asks me to check my watch. Good thing cuz it was 10:43 and suddenly we hear "LAST CALL FOR FLIGHT CX416"...holy crap that's our flight...so we go running to the gate!!! My bag decides to open, so in the middle of running, Des is running behind me zipping my bag up and making sure nothing falls out. Before you decide to scold me, we weren't the last ones in line...lots of ppl were also behind us. hahahah... Also I have been stopped at security a number of times...for a watch, for coins and for my air freshner. We got out of there safe, even though we broke so many rules..but I'll have to tell you in person...hahaha
We finally get to Korea! YAY!! Except guess who doesn't have the phone number or address for Namsan Guesthouse? I have the directions and prices, but no address....what a dorko! So we look around for internet and find none. We went to get a phonecard to call or a service desk and suddenly I hear this voice. "May I help you"? I see a Korean woman with a cell phone and she definitely doesn't work there. She was so sweet! She called information to find out the address for us and we kept thanking her. She said she thought I was Korean. Anyway, she tells us to take a limo bus and guides us outside...next thing we know, we are handing our luggage off to someone and given a ticket. We're asked to pay 8,000 won and we're off to the nearest way to get to Namsan Guesthouse. I checked the internet directions I had printed out and the bus was on there too. She got us on the right bus and saved us lots of money b/c we were close to taking a taxi. Before we could thank the lady, she was gone. I didn't even get her name. She is my Korean Angel #1. <--#1 means there were more...haha
Korean Angel #2
We get off the bus and are trying to follow the directions. It says go into the subway station and get out at exit #3. So we are carrying all our luggage and I'm carrying that huge monster luggage too...down the four/five flights of steps. I swear I thought the thing would fall but thank you dragon boating I was able to take it down. Well we get there and we don't see a sign that remotely looks like a three. So I go to ask the man behind the glass, who doesn't look like he understands me. So I try my limited Korean asking where Namsan is..and then Pacific Hotel, b/c Namsan is near there. He gives directions in his best English. What a nice guy, but not Angel #2. Angel #2 is the guy who was wearing a medical mask who took pity on me lugging that dumb luggage UP the stairs. He helped me carry it. =)
Namsan
So we find the exit by walking several blocks outside. We are both sweating like crazy by now and trying not to panic and some guy says to us "Namsan Guesthouse?" He points upward 200m walk. Bloody hell (excuse my language) remember how in some Korean shows there are these upward streets? Well yeah...this one was an UPHILL MOUNTAIN with that 26.7kg luggage, my knapsack and "purse"...ahahha...I thought it would never end. Des was in better shape than me, did I forget to tell her my cardio sucks? After a bazillion years I finally get there totally wiped out and Des, who got there first, says I have to confirm. So I tell him my name and he has the room ready. I'm still panting and asking him if I need to pay right away or when we leave, he just looks at my sorry state and says, "you can pay tomorrow". Thank goodness. He helped me carry "monster luggage" up the stairs to the room. The room is a little small but is good for us. We have our own washroom and there's no tub. There's a shower head and a drain.
We decide to adventure out a bit...Des mentioned something about lactic acid and being sore in the morning. We found a store and by now it was 11:45pm. We shop around and see the lovely $1.20 soju and the cheap gimbap and ramen. Of course I don't have my phrasebook so I'm trying to remember what to say. Thank you Jimmy, I asked how much it is correctly. ^^ Des was really happy b/c with these prices, she can definitely eat and stick to the budget. We ask them what time they close and lucky us, they never do. MUAHAHAH...We both bought gimbap and aloe juice. Des got her bottle of soju and onigiri too. I got ramen as well. The very nice young man there directed us to the hot water. I asked him if I could use it for my ramen too and then he made my dinner. How kind! I think that deserves title of Korean Angel #3.
There is a group of German university students here. They're having a bbq tomorrow and invited us. We met them just when we got in.
OMG this is a novel! I just wanted to update you, but here it is. Maybe I should print it and glue it into my journal. Who do I owe hugs for reading until the end?
-Sam
*originally written: April 8th, 2006
Des and I are still alive! After spending 30 mins in front of this computer, trying to write in English not Korean characters...here is the 2nd installment. On April 7th, we met up with my friends. We got really spoiled! We ate lots of food, shopped in markets, went sightseeing and ate really late. Guess what I ate? STING RAY!!! Yep...and chilli crab, fried carrot cake, oyster omelette and hokkien (sp?) noodles? Yeah...we ate so much and my friends never let me pay for anything...they're really sweet. What else? Des and I took the very last train...we ran for the escalator because we didn't want to climb the stairs with all those bags if the escalators stopped working. Lots of bags from shopping, gifts and stuff for Mellers who I am staying with in Japan.
Ok...so Nancy drove us to the airport and my suitcase is already wayyy heavy. I asked at the airport and we can have 32kg/luggage and you can have two pieces of luggage (to be checked in). I'm under 32kg for that big one so I guess I might need another luggage...but carrying that thing is insane...you'll find out why...Where was I? Oh yes, the HK airport...free internet. We were trying to rush and send emails b/c I haven't called or emailed in a while. I look at the computer time and it says 10:28am, but Des asks me to check my watch. Good thing cuz it was 10:43 and suddenly we hear "LAST CALL FOR FLIGHT CX416"...holy crap that's our flight...so we go running to the gate!!! My bag decides to open, so in the middle of running, Des is running behind me zipping my bag up and making sure nothing falls out. Before you decide to scold me, we weren't the last ones in line...lots of ppl were also behind us. hahahah... Also I have been stopped at security a number of times...for a watch, for coins and for my air freshner. We got out of there safe, even though we broke so many rules..but I'll have to tell you in person...hahaha
We finally get to Korea! YAY!! Except guess who doesn't have the phone number or address for Namsan Guesthouse? I have the directions and prices, but no address....what a dorko! So we look around for internet and find none. We went to get a phonecard to call or a service desk and suddenly I hear this voice. "May I help you"? I see a Korean woman with a cell phone and she definitely doesn't work there. She was so sweet! She called information to find out the address for us and we kept thanking her. She said she thought I was Korean. Anyway, she tells us to take a limo bus and guides us outside...next thing we know, we are handing our luggage off to someone and given a ticket. We're asked to pay 8,000 won and we're off to the nearest way to get to Namsan Guesthouse. I checked the internet directions I had printed out and the bus was on there too. She got us on the right bus and saved us lots of money b/c we were close to taking a taxi. Before we could thank the lady, she was gone. I didn't even get her name. She is my Korean Angel #1. <--#1 means there were more...haha
Korean Angel #2
We get off the bus and are trying to follow the directions. It says go into the subway station and get out at exit #3. So we are carrying all our luggage and I'm carrying that huge monster luggage too...down the four/five flights of steps. I swear I thought the thing would fall but thank you dragon boating I was able to take it down. Well we get there and we don't see a sign that remotely looks like a three. So I go to ask the man behind the glass, who doesn't look like he understands me. So I try my limited Korean asking where Namsan is..and then Pacific Hotel, b/c Namsan is near there. He gives directions in his best English. What a nice guy, but not Angel #2. Angel #2 is the guy who was wearing a medical mask who took pity on me lugging that dumb luggage UP the stairs. He helped me carry it. =)
Namsan
So we find the exit by walking several blocks outside. We are both sweating like crazy by now and trying not to panic and some guy says to us "Namsan Guesthouse?" He points upward 200m walk. Bloody hell (excuse my language) remember how in some Korean shows there are these upward streets? Well yeah...this one was an UPHILL MOUNTAIN with that 26.7kg luggage, my knapsack and "purse"...ahahha...I thought it would never end. Des was in better shape than me, did I forget to tell her my cardio sucks? After a bazillion years I finally get there totally wiped out and Des, who got there first, says I have to confirm. So I tell him my name and he has the room ready. I'm still panting and asking him if I need to pay right away or when we leave, he just looks at my sorry state and says, "you can pay tomorrow". Thank goodness. He helped me carry "monster luggage" up the stairs to the room. The room is a little small but is good for us. We have our own washroom and there's no tub. There's a shower head and a drain.
We decide to adventure out a bit...Des mentioned something about lactic acid and being sore in the morning. We found a store and by now it was 11:45pm. We shop around and see the lovely $1.20 soju and the cheap gimbap and ramen. Of course I don't have my phrasebook so I'm trying to remember what to say. Thank you Jimmy, I asked how much it is correctly. ^^ Des was really happy b/c with these prices, she can definitely eat and stick to the budget. We ask them what time they close and lucky us, they never do. MUAHAHAH...We both bought gimbap and aloe juice. Des got her bottle of soju and onigiri too. I got ramen as well. The very nice young man there directed us to the hot water. I asked him if I could use it for my ramen too and then he made my dinner. How kind! I think that deserves title of Korean Angel #3.
There is a group of German university students here. They're having a bbq tomorrow and invited us. We met them just when we got in.
OMG this is a novel! I just wanted to update you, but here it is. Maybe I should print it and glue it into my journal. Who do I owe hugs for reading until the end?
-Sam
*originally written: April 8th, 2006
Sam and Des' Asian Adventure - 1st installment
Hello Sweeties...
Do you miss me, cuz I miss you...B/C i'm a lazy, i mean..too smart to waste energy..I'm just gonna type out things I wrote in my journal...and random thoughts...
-Cathay Pacific ROCKS! All they do is feed us, so Des and I talk, eat and sleep...
-Landed in Alaska, but we couldn't leave the plane...booo....
-Poor Aerosol dude...he stood there with plastic gloves and would spray/marinate the washroom like crazy everytime someone left for 30 min. intervals...this is what it says in my journal...
"LMAO...why is it always the poor crew guy aerosoling the washroom? >_<>
*originally written: April 5th, 2006
-I only gagged once when I went to the washroom...
-Used up a lot of tissue, since I'm still slightly sick, Des got a whole box for me...she even found the Korean radio station so I could listen
-Haven't seen sunlight in almost two days...
-Got stopped by security for metal item in my bag. For the life of me, couldn't figure out what it was. They were very nice about it though. Turned out to be my air freshner...
-FOUND MY TIRAMISU COVERED ALMONDS!!! I dreamed about them for 2 years.
SINGAPORE SO FAR
-Being here has made Des and I realize how much we take for granted in Toronto
- Almost NO INTERNET CAFES...we're dying here...I need internet...thank goodness Des saw this place..
- A cool breeze...there aren't any here...so I am obsessed with air conditioned malls/stores
- You can't easily make collect phone calls and have to buy a phone card
- You have to wait in line for a cab...but ppl will still hail and steal the cab from ppl in line..WE REALLY DON'T GET IT
- Yesterday Des *blinked* three times at the table...we had to get her food take-out, b/c she was really gonna sleep...I was no better...In the taxi line I blinked and took a step. Luckily, taking that step woke me up and I didn't hit the pavement. Needless to say we had a good rest when we got home.
- Orchard Road is like Westernized NAME BRAND shopping! We see all the things we have in Toronto, so we didn't buy too much...although there was a mall with Queen St. like clothing.
- MALLS LIKE CRAZY...and they are all pretty much connected...
- Food is plentiful! Not 10 steps away, there is always food!...Yummy food!
- Ate vendor food...it was yummy..but kinda greasy..but good...needed water or arteries would clog..
- We're trying not to buy things we know we can get in Toronto, or Korea or Japan
- Subway is clean...you will be fined for...eating/drinking in the subway, bringing Durian in, littering and something else...
- Today we will go to Suntec City and check out the World's Largest Fountain...we want to check out a reserve tomorrow and maybe the zoo?
ok...that's all for now folks. Did you make it to the end? If you did, I owe you a hug!
Until we meet again...fare thee well...
Lots of love,
-Sam
p.s. if there are spelling mistakes, etc...too bad..hahahaa...i'm in a rush...huuhuuu. I know you still love me anyway!
*originally written: April 5th, 2006
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