“I’ve got Seoul, but I’m not a soldier…”
29 May
My first experience in the “big city” was a total adventure, to say the least. Amy, Amy, and I… the three musketeers… set off at 6:25am Saturday morning for a weekend of shopping, eating, drinking, and dancing our asses off.
We arrived early in the morning. We didn’t know where to go or what to do. Amy needed new Clinique makeup, so we headed to the subway to find the store. Some of the subways have ‘jumper proof’ doors that only allow you to have access to the tracks when the train is already there. WEIRDD.
The train was crowded, and we found the only seats available. It seemed we sat in the ‘pregnant/old/disabled’ section. An older Korean explained this to us gently as he whipped out his subway pass that sure enough labels him ‘pregnant/old/disabled.’ Amy told him she actually was PG (jokes) and he believed her. it was good for a laugh.
Then we checked out this awesome temple place. Here is the sign in the subway for it:
And here is what it really looked like:
We got there just in time for the ‘changing of the guard.’ It was nothing compared to the real deal in England, but nonetheless, I was still impressed. (Notice the stick-on beards.)
We stopped at a multi-directional sign on our way to a Mexican restaurant for a photo op. Amy is silly.
A man standing there loved the pose and our silliness. He asked us to wait for his photographer to get there, so we could be photographed for the cover of Seoul Magazine! Of course, we agreed. In the meantime, there was a traditional tea ceremony going on downstairs in the second-hand book shop. SCORE! Free tea, used books, AND modeling for SEOUL MAGAZINE! Excitement.
As it turns out, the tea ceremony was honoring a new book that had just been published by this man. He spoke like Kermit with a british accent. He would have made me sleepy with his syncopated voice, but my tummy kept growling incessantly, interupting his speech and my comfort level.
We took the pictures and headed back to the temples for a few more photo ops. We’re photo enthusiasts, as you can tell:
We started walking in the direction, finally, of the supposed “Mexican Restaurant.” It actually was the wrong way (surprise, I’m the one with the map.) So instead, we found the ‘blue house’ which is the Korean ‘white house.’ There were guards everywhere. Kinda cool.
I asked one guard for directions. He was very helpful. Told us we were walking in circles. AWESOME. Note the cuffs..
We trek. We walk. For hoursandhoursandhours. We’re tired, starving, and all the hype for Mexican food has built to an enormous crescendo… we start to get really silly.
Needless to say, there is NO MEXICAN RESTAURANT. Amys ate some american grill and I sulked over some Odang/soju and watched a punkrock band clean up after their quick set at the park.
We figured we might as well check out Itaewon, the place where all the white/army/hooker people are. We subway’d there. We were getting amped for fun.
We started up ‘hooker hill’…
…to a bar where a dude jumped around in a cowboy hat.
Then to a dancin bar with ‘soju kettles’ which means they mix exorbitant amounts of soju with fruity soda. We danced a lot. A black dude told me I was the best dancer he ever met. Hah.
At this point we had ingested a good amount of alcohol. We met up with Amy’s friend Chris Mott…
… and Amy decided to pee in a pot, instead of a squatter.
We met some guys from a band that played that night in that town. Amy likes to stalk me in the Familymart.
We ate some delicious waffle streetfood, coated in frosting and honey. I was really stoked. Its a terrible picture, but I loved it.
Onward to our next stop, M2, a dance club that costs 20,000 won (20$) at the door. I kissed the beatles for luck, and because they make me think of Nick.
As I said, this place was HIGH CLASS. Red carpet city. Watch out Hollywood.
Once inside, you could say we ‘rocked the Casbah.’ It took me a little time to get acclimated.
Everybody was having a great time.
The crowd was rediculous.
As the night wore on, we lost all track of time and spacial relations…
.. we exited the club and somehow it was ‘morning’ and the ‘sun was up.’ I could not seem to comprehend this.
We made some funny friends…
… ate a Korean breakfast, and cabbed/passed out/and went back to Chris Mott’s house. Since I slept the entire ride, you can imagine my state upon being thrust out of the smushy leather seat. Chris, like a true gentleman, offered to carry me home.
You can imagine my state after that.
As I said, we passed out on Chris’s wooden loft floors.
I’m later told I farted on Amy in my sleep, pounded on the floor screaming for her to abide by “RULE NUMBER ONE” which, I devised in my sleep-devoid state. I do seem to recall her talking a lot, but I was hardly alive at this point.
AHHH, after a few hours of rest and another waffle delight…
.. and some skating youths…
… we embarked on our adventure to the ‘Lantern Festival’ honoring Buddha’s birthday, the huge holiday celebrated the following Thursday! The festival was a bunch of booths educating you about Buddhisms from around Asia, and helping you make lotus crafts. It was fantastic, the photos speak for themselves.
The day wound down with the biggest parade I’ve ever seen. There were floats, lanterns, and tons of people dressed in traditional exquisite hamboks.
We ate some pizza, and hurried back to catch our 3 hour busride back to Gangneung. In closing, I got Seoul, but I’m not a soldier…. I’ll be back soon enough!
MRumianowski
excellent band clip.
looks like you are having fun!!
he does sound like kermit!
miss you!
Melissa,
Beautifully written. Sounds like much fun. I remember when you were ‘straight edge’!
The photo of the big pot of water with the reflection of the colorful lanterns in it is one of the best I have seen. I’m talkin’ National Geographic quality.
Keep up the fun, girl!
Cool pics, makes me wanna go Korea Now!
haha hello.
I am just looking for some information about Seoul for my Canadian boyfriend. Your pictures look like you had a great time right here. ^^ Anyway I am a Korean woman.
you guys pictures made me write some comments. haha you seemed to have fun in Seoul. That is nice. ^^ Why don’t u come here again? 🙂
hi! i was doing a search for clinique in Seoul and your blog was the first post in Google!
Did you ever find the make-up. I’m moving to South Korea next month and use clinique as well. If you did can you email where you found it?
Thanks,
Sheila