Heart and Seoul

I extended my trip another day, and I had an ingenious plan: I would check out of the hotel in the morning, leave my luggage there, and head out on the town until the wee hours of Sunday morning. Then I could come back for my luggage, freshen up, and head to the airport by shuttle, thereby saving myself the hotel cost for a night (where I would only have been there for a few hours and might run the risk of missing my flight again).

So I hit up Dongdaemun again to finish off my shopping and buy some new clothes (since I'd originally only packed for two days, and two days of business wear at that). 11am to 4pm is a long time of shopping ... in return for a new pair of jeans and a T shirt. (Total damage: $60 USD.)

Then I wandered through the northern Bukchon area with two coworkers (who are from the Korean offices) -- Finnish dude JH and Korean girl JY. She found us a quaint old-fashioned restaurant that served semi-Korean / semi-Japanese fare and we chatted the afternoon away on the contrasts of Korean dating/marriage/work culture against our own, over Cass beer.

Walked to the National Folk Museum just in time to see them closing, but JY's charm softened the security guards enough to score us a few pictures of the outside of the museum, which is adjacent to Kyeongbuk Palace.

Then off to Topaz Bar to watch JH's Canadian friend's band do a gig. We were joined by two more colleagues, and then joined further by more beers and laughs.

'Round 10:30pm, we cabbed it to Abgujeong and piled into An, a popular underground joint that serves specialized fruit sujo. Like sujo infused into a carved-out pineapple with its juices, or apples dug out into cups and then refilled with apple juice sujo concoction. Presentation was thrilling, and conversation flowed smoothly (though a little more slurred).

Wee hours saw us lining into NoReBang, a karaoke space, for an hour to wail out pop hits way off key. Get this: they give you tamborines and marracas along with the mics so the non-singers can play along too!

A couple of coffees and iced teas caffeinated us for the next stop: BeerGirls, another basement bar that looks more like a cafe. (Note: there are no beer girls at BeerGirls. You can be sure I will be writing to the Korean Better Business Bureau.) At 3:30am, another pitcher of Cass is not really the first thing on your mind, though it did manage to make its way to our table with a half loaf of bread smothered in cream and honey.

Ignoring my assurance that I was totally sober and awake, and my pleas that everyone not worry about me and just head home for some rest, my new-found Korean friends insisted on staying up with me until the shuttle busses started running at 5am.

A taxi ride to the hotel, some heartfelt goodbyes and sincere words of gratitude, and I was off to the airport (fell asleep the whole way there). Freshened up in the airport bathroom -- shaved, washed my face, brushed my teeth alongside the security guards -- and fell asleep in the seating area until I could check-in for my early afternoon flight.

I'm back in Taipei now, after such a taxing "ingenious plan". And I feel like a part of my Seoul was left there. Will have to visit again soon, or figure out how to move there.