I'm spending my monday afternoon lazing about my apartment and feeling quite content with the past 72 hours. This weekend was another glorious three day weekend and I had a wonderful time.
Friday was Tyler's birthday so as I eagerly watched the clock tick until I got off work and I was pleasantly surprised by a last minute cancelation that freed me an hour and a half earlier than usual. We started the night at a nearby bar called Spicybees that has a decently priced house beer (4,000 won for a large skooner). Tyler and two of our coworkers went there as we waited for everyone else to get off at their usual time. Daeji bulgogi was the dinner plan for the night and we squeezed a good ten people at the restaurant. Another korean restaurant where you get to cook the food at the table, yummy.
After the food, a couple of us headed back to Sinchon to surprise surprise... beer o clock, where a few more people bought tyler birthday shots and then Sean, our designated walker, walked young Tyler home.
At Tyler's b-day lunch, Tyler and one of the Matt's (I now hangout with three Matts here, most popular boy's name of 1985) and I got to watch the live olympic figure skating of Yuna Kim. It was pretty amazing. I remember watching the figure skating when I was really young and loving it. Tyler and Matt oogled the skaters and I laughed at the outfits. Yuna Kim was so talented and it was quite the experience to watch her because the restauarant fell silent as soon as she started. The servers stopped working and all noise ceased as we all watched in awe as she performed perfectly. I was a little nervous for her as I watched because there was so much pressure on her to do well, some of my students have said things that implied that she wouldn't be welcome back without a gold medal. But she was great, and did significantly better than the silver medalist from Japan.
On saturday I met some people from the site meetup.com to go to a microbrewery called Castle Praha in Hongdae. I was a little nervous before I went, it seems like there is an endless supply of crazy people on the internet, but I hoped for the best. They were awesome. We walked around slightly lost for about 45 minutes trying to find castle praha, which looks like a castle but it didn't matter because we all got along. I had a really nice time talking with the three of them and I was really glad I went. Castle Praha was 100 times better than Platinum Brewery beer-wise. The place is a converted church with a castle theme (knights in the hallway) and the inside is quite cave like (I'm noticing the cave thing is quite popular over here). They had three beers on tap, the pilsner, an amber and a dunkle. My favorite was the dunkle, but the pilsner was probably the best pilsner I've ever had (I'm not a pilsner fan and this didn't really taste like a pilsner, which is probably why i liked it). the deal was 10 beers for 35,000 won so I was WASTED when we left! No, just kidding, I split it with two of the guys. And they even had an old fashioned popcorn machine, which reminded me of the Albatross (nostalgic sigh).
On Saturday night I got a call from a friend of mine from high school who is also living in Seoul, which was a pleasant surprise because I didn't think she was back yet. My coworkers and I met up with her and her friends at a cool bar called OI Club in Hongdae. At the door you take off your shoes and receive a feather headband (which I wore!) and then you walk along a narrow corridor that looks like a cave. The bar itself was so cool, the interior looked like an ice cave with small enclaves to sit with your friends, and a dance floor that was covered in balloons and a dj, and the drinks weren't too pricey, I can see myself going back there in the future. We all chatted and laughed and a good time was had by all.
On Sunday a couple of friends and I went to the N. Seoul Tower on Namsan Mt. Tyler, Matt and I were running a little late to meet everyone so we were disappointed to find a mile long line to take to cable car up the moutain... since they are strapping Canadian boys who probably hiked ten miles to school everyday and wrestled moose for fun, they thought we could just power walk up the mountain and get there faster... I could do that too! Right...?
Team Canada set an alarmingly impressive pace up the steep steps as Queen Amerifat huffed and puffed quite a few paces behind. I got to the point where I couldn;t even talk because I was so tired and out of breath. and get this, those unchivalrous hosers wouldn't even carry me! Can you believe that? After about twenty minutes of me seeing my life flash before my eyes and a strange stabbing sensation in my lungs we finally made it to the top of the steps.
We met our friends and went up to the tower. The tower is circular and you can get a 360 view of the city. Unfortunately it was a tad overcast that day so the view wasn't as grand as usual. tha bathrooms have floor to ceiling windows so you can enjoy the view even as you pee! And, like everything else in Seoul, the tower caters to couples. Couple go there will locks that they write notes on and lock them to the railing. I took pictures and will post them.
In the evening we went to a Sinchon guy's bachelor party (coed) and enjoyed drinks in Gangnam. All in all it was a grrrreat weekend.
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