This weekend.
Soooo, on Saturday I got up and went up to Itaewon (which I plan to do when the sun is shining and not when the moon has risen, henceforth) to meet Leah and Pavi for lunch. Pavi was missing good Italian. Korea has a lot of mediocre Italian, but finding good stuff was proving challenging. Still, the ever-reliable interweb recommended several places in Itaewon. So we tried to go to a place called Sortino's, which I liked cause it's Graham's last name, and because the website had a bunch of happy-looking chefs on it.
But, it wasn't where the website said it would be, so we went to a place called Sorrento's instead. I had something lovely involving linguini (they said it was fettucine, but I know my pastas) and cream sauce and chicken and BASIL. Oh my goodness, I didn't even realize I'd missed basil! And I had cappuccino too. It wasn't as good as most, because Koreans like to top their cappuccinos with cinnamon, and Italians don't. I agree with the Koreans.
We had jokingly discussed climbing a mountain in the afternoon, and actually wound up finding the Namsan Botanical Gardens, which involved a lot of uphill/downhill walking.
We walked through the wildflower gardens (where really young and really old people were sitting around cross-legged playing games I don't know the rules for) and around the lotus pond, and across something called a barefoot walk, which was a stretch a sidewalk covered with smooth stones of varying sizes, which did all this acupressure magic on your feet. Leah and some little kids couldn't quite handle it. I thought it was super.
Then we went to Oktoberfest on the Yongsan Base! Leah and Pavi were staying the weekend at the Dragonhill Lodge, which is basically a hotel resort that is exclusively for military folks.
There was music...
Food (best waffle EVAR)...
Pitchers of beer, and Leah and I did the chicken dance with two middle aged ladies and about fifteen small children. There was also an arm-wrestling competition, a bratwurst eating competition, and a hammering-nails-into-a-board competition.
Yesterday also happened to be the Seoul Fireworks Festival, in Yeouido, which is the island in the Han River. Well, Yongsan Base is not too far from Yeouido, so we managed to see some fireworks...
And then, I had to get home so we could play again in the morning! I was kind of sad because if I'd stayed up I would have been able to talk to Jason...but I knew I had to get up at 7, and it was already after one when I fell asleep.
I went to Myeongdong Cathedral for church, because I'd heard that they had an English Mass at 9 AM! And they totally did. But the church was a bit further from the subway station than I'd expected (and it was all covered in scaffolding so I couldn't even see it until I was up close), so I was pretty late. But it made me feel better. The priest had a lovely Irish brogue, the music was familiar (although at the wrong tempo...) and we all said peace be with you when we bowed to each other. It was a neat mixture of people, foreigners and Koreans and a few blended families. And there's a lady who sells cool rosaries on the side of the road.
And THEN I went off to Jamsil Station, had a cup of coffee and two doughnuts at Krispy Kreme (green tea powder doughnuts are NOT a good idea!) and met Pavi and Leah at the big fountain:
Aaaaaand we went to LotteWorld to ride rollercoasters!! We had "Chinese" food for lunch, ad I got the Halloween special, and I got free devil's horns. Hence the devil's horns in the next picture.
We rode on a lot of different rollercoasters and rides. My favorite was the Comet, which is a roller coaster but your seat spins around, too, and it is all underground, with stars and planets, and for some reason you go through this gigantic mouth and throat at one point.
We went to a lot of scary rides, with many different options of frightening things: a Cyclops eating a human leg, giant spiders, crocodiles, giant snakes, skeletons, trees the try to grab you, cackling disembodied heads...and I discovered that the thing that frightens me the most is giant moaning rocks. Maybe because they are not living and were never living, and therefore I think they have no right to moan?
Later, when we were tired, Leah and Pavi went back to the lodge, I tried to go shopping, but LotteMart was packed with pushy people (Koreans are VERY pushy and don't say excuse me) and Lotte Department Store is too expensive, so I left and tried Gangnam. I tried on some shoes there...but the biggest size, I discovered, is still too small. I thought I could fit into 250 mm shoes. But no. So I guess I will be doing my shoe shopping in Itaewon where the people with big feet shop. Alas.
I went and bought groceries at Orga, the organic food store near Daechi station. I got swiss chard and onions and garlic and tea and brown rice (have I mentioned how GOOD rice is here? Mmm.) and persimmons and chicken and eggs and tofu (ok, Mom?). And I went to the bakery and got rye bread and pumpkin sesame bread and white chestnut bread. And I went to the Family Mart and got milk and peach juice and tiny containers of ice cream.
And now, now I am tired.
But, it wasn't where the website said it would be, so we went to a place called Sorrento's instead. I had something lovely involving linguini (they said it was fettucine, but I know my pastas) and cream sauce and chicken and BASIL. Oh my goodness, I didn't even realize I'd missed basil! And I had cappuccino too. It wasn't as good as most, because Koreans like to top their cappuccinos with cinnamon, and Italians don't. I agree with the Koreans.
We had jokingly discussed climbing a mountain in the afternoon, and actually wound up finding the Namsan Botanical Gardens, which involved a lot of uphill/downhill walking.
We walked through the wildflower gardens (where really young and really old people were sitting around cross-legged playing games I don't know the rules for) and around the lotus pond, and across something called a barefoot walk, which was a stretch a sidewalk covered with smooth stones of varying sizes, which did all this acupressure magic on your feet. Leah and some little kids couldn't quite handle it. I thought it was super.
Then we went to Oktoberfest on the Yongsan Base! Leah and Pavi were staying the weekend at the Dragonhill Lodge, which is basically a hotel resort that is exclusively for military folks.
There was music...
Food (best waffle EVAR)...
Pitchers of beer, and Leah and I did the chicken dance with two middle aged ladies and about fifteen small children. There was also an arm-wrestling competition, a bratwurst eating competition, and a hammering-nails-into-a-board competition.
Yesterday also happened to be the Seoul Fireworks Festival, in Yeouido, which is the island in the Han River. Well, Yongsan Base is not too far from Yeouido, so we managed to see some fireworks...
And then, I had to get home so we could play again in the morning! I was kind of sad because if I'd stayed up I would have been able to talk to Jason...but I knew I had to get up at 7, and it was already after one when I fell asleep.
I went to Myeongdong Cathedral for church, because I'd heard that they had an English Mass at 9 AM! And they totally did. But the church was a bit further from the subway station than I'd expected (and it was all covered in scaffolding so I couldn't even see it until I was up close), so I was pretty late. But it made me feel better. The priest had a lovely Irish brogue, the music was familiar (although at the wrong tempo...) and we all said peace be with you when we bowed to each other. It was a neat mixture of people, foreigners and Koreans and a few blended families. And there's a lady who sells cool rosaries on the side of the road.
And THEN I went off to Jamsil Station, had a cup of coffee and two doughnuts at Krispy Kreme (green tea powder doughnuts are NOT a good idea!) and met Pavi and Leah at the big fountain:
Aaaaaand we went to LotteWorld to ride rollercoasters!! We had "Chinese" food for lunch, ad I got the Halloween special, and I got free devil's horns. Hence the devil's horns in the next picture.
We rode on a lot of different rollercoasters and rides. My favorite was the Comet, which is a roller coaster but your seat spins around, too, and it is all underground, with stars and planets, and for some reason you go through this gigantic mouth and throat at one point.
We went to a lot of scary rides, with many different options of frightening things: a Cyclops eating a human leg, giant spiders, crocodiles, giant snakes, skeletons, trees the try to grab you, cackling disembodied heads...and I discovered that the thing that frightens me the most is giant moaning rocks. Maybe because they are not living and were never living, and therefore I think they have no right to moan?
Later, when we were tired, Leah and Pavi went back to the lodge, I tried to go shopping, but LotteMart was packed with pushy people (Koreans are VERY pushy and don't say excuse me) and Lotte Department Store is too expensive, so I left and tried Gangnam. I tried on some shoes there...but the biggest size, I discovered, is still too small. I thought I could fit into 250 mm shoes. But no. So I guess I will be doing my shoe shopping in Itaewon where the people with big feet shop. Alas.
I went and bought groceries at Orga, the organic food store near Daechi station. I got swiss chard and onions and garlic and tea and brown rice (have I mentioned how GOOD rice is here? Mmm.) and persimmons and chicken and eggs and tofu (ok, Mom?). And I went to the bakery and got rye bread and pumpkin sesame bread and white chestnut bread. And I went to the Family Mart and got milk and peach juice and tiny containers of ice cream.
And now, now I am tired.