Indeed a Small World
July 25th, 2006.
Previously…
Before I hit road, an old friend of mine sent a bulletin up on MySpace saying that she’d be out on this side of the world, in Seoul no less, visiting her cousin, another old friend of mine. Small world, really. Kim and Mario…I haven’t seen them in forever, not since Kim left for Los Angeles and Mario was up in Minnesota, last I heard 3 years ago. Yes, it was a small world indeed.
And now…
I called up Mario, and we had a really interesting talk, catching up on old times and the like. Seemed that he had been in Seoul for a few years working as an English teacher. We agreed to meet up for lunch sometime in the afternoon. Kim and Gina were visiting him to help him out with moving. I guess I caught them at the right time.
Keary and I also had plans to hang out with Paris, so we met up with her in Itaewon and had lunch at a rather nice Italian restaurant. We met up with Mario, Gina, and their friend Daniel at some pita place. Nice place, might have to do that again. We arranged to meet up later on, when Kim was around, and to cause a little trouble on Thursday night…Ladies’ Night in these parts.
Keary, Paris, and I headed out to Apujong, and wandered around a whole lot. Paris hadn’t seen much of Seoul during her time here, mostly because she didn’t know much about traveling around in the metro, and most of her fellow English teachers weren’t up on getting to know the area, much less get immersed in the culture. After getting a little lost looking for city hall, we found an immense mall.
The Latte Department Store. Keary explained to me that the South Koreans don’t have malls. Well, they sort of do, but they’re called department stores, a slight misnomer if taken from an American perspective. It was in a massive 12-story edifice, complete with everything. And when I say everything, it really was the store of everything. Any kind of brand, nearly any kind of product. Think of Super Walmart with designer departments (such as Hugo Boss, Levi’s, Yves St. Laurent, Gucci, Armani, Coach, Chanel, et cetera-the whole enchilada) and restaurants that served every type of international cuisine that you could imagine, complete with random coffee shops. They even had a movie theater, hotel, and a grocery store that would make any other in the U.S. seem miniscule. If you had a limitless bankroll, you could literally live here and never have to leave. They even had a bank. So yes, it was the department store of everything. Paris Hilton or some other random wealthy bored heiress would love it.
We must have wandered around in there for hours, checking out every little thing Latte had to offer. Since it was a lot of walking, I had to sit periodically, since I’d been having problems with my right knee, which had recently been aching for no apparent reason. Paris joked that I was getting old, and that all the years of running around had caught up with me. I mean, I did like long walks, but no I was beginning to cherish the quiet moments of sitting down, especially in the movie theater’s lobby, with their lush leather seats. The movie theater was actually a cool place, and even had reserved seating. It made me wish we had something like that in the States. Though I didn’t know about their rules on cell phones. Everyone here had one, even the poorer sorts.
Up on the top floor, we finally found the men’s department. The women’s department took up at least 5 or so floors, and the men’s department only consisted of 2. Keary explained that the rich lot here sent their bored wives out to max out their credit cards and whatnot. Yes, just like Beverly Hills or Fifth Avenue or South Beach. He bought a pair of jeans that he fancied, and we had still more room to go up, past the duty free shops, up to the furniture section, and finally to the electronics department, where I marveled at the big screen HDTV’s. Wow. I was in heaven.
Keary and Paris joked that I was stalling at the electronics section only because I was tired of walking. The only elevator was on the hotel side of the structure (2 building linked by near open air walkways on various floors, a nice sight). The Koreans were shrewd, making everyone take the escalators to see all of the merchandise. I would’ve settled for a glass elevator, but that’s just me.
We headed out for the open air markets out in Apujong, closer to the metro, and had a traditional local dinner at one of local restaurants. Good food, but I wasn’t a fan of the beer. Hite, I think it was called. The closest parallel to it would be Budweiser. And I never like that too much anyway. After that, and Keary purchasing another pair of jeans, we found the metro, and parted ways with Paris, who lived in another part of town. A good day for all, save my knee. It’d get better, I hoped.
I loved all of the street hiking, the exploring. Every time I thought something was familiar, a closer observation would show that it was indeed far different than what I imagined. The ride on the metro was quick, and the pain in my knee subsided slightly. I thought to myself, I’d definitely have to check out Latte again.
Next: Keary, Mario, Kim, and company head out on a crazy journey through the wild and unpredictable nightlife of Itaewon! Plus, Paris and Maggie are along for the ride, as we take a stroll up the infamous Hooker Hill! Yes, it gets even crazier…but I wouldn’t want it any other way.