I was Mystique...

Early yesterday morning, after my blog post, I headed out to the closest police station. I was going to provide information on Jin. All the officers looked shocked that a foreigner had arrived. They struggled to understand me, but finally one sat me down on the couch, called an interpreter and we liaised that way.

He asked for my ID several times, quite roughly too, and I said not at this stage, as I was worried about how it would be used. It eventuated that they could not 'help' me as they did not have jurisdiction over what she did overseas. So I was pointed to the door.

I went to buy some breakfast at a street stall, something like spam and an omelette, which was really yummy, before heading out to the main part of Seoul to try the government. Sitting on the subway, unsure as to where to go exactly, I decided on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). I got off at the station and figured the building would be around here somewhere, as this seemed to be the 'CBD' of Seoul with all the high rise buildings.

I went to an ATM to withdraw some money, and the stupid thing gave me 800,000 Won in 10,000 notes. I had to catch a cab to go to the exact address, as I didn't want to wander around wasting time anymore. However, even the taxi driver didn't know where it was. He had to stop to ask someone, before making me call the place so he could speak to them. As he did this, I saw what looked like a palace in front of some magnificent mountains, and decided I must come back.

He eventually found the place where he dropped me off. Inside the same building, there was a bank, where I went in to exchange my 10,000 notes for 50,000 notes. That took a bit of time as I had to wait at the currency exchange area for some reason, instead of the tellers.

Anyway, after that I went up to the MOFA level. It seemed like just a floor for passport/immigration processing. There were two old men at the front to help people, and one of them tried to help me but their English was non-existent. Eventually he directed me to a girl who spoke English. I told her my purpose, and she went to speak to someone, before coming back to tell me I needed to email them. She was about to write me an email address, and I was about to settle for the same, when I asked if there was anyone I could speak to.

She went away again and then came back with an old man. The old man gestured for me to walk around the counters and invited me through. He led me behind some cubicle walls where we sat down in some privacy. Now I felt like we were onto something. I felt like Mystique in X-Men when she dobbed in Magneto after he dumped her because she was no longer a mutant.

I told him briefly that I had reported this anonymously to the consular in Sydney but nothing appeared to have been done. I gave him Jin's name which he wrote down in his notepad, and he was about to leave to conduct some inquiries. I stopped him and said I'd give him her date of birth as well. He seemed a bit like fish out of water, I guess this doesn't happen everyday.

He came back and told me they had not received any information on this person. He asked me what information I could provide and I told him the story briefly, and he made some brief notes. I gave him Jin's addresses and phone numbers, the names of her parents, and the name of the 127 brothel. He asked me if what I wanted was for the government to help her.

Uhhh...yeah. Guess I can't say revenge.

I said a few times I was just there to provide information as I knew their government was interested in this type of thing, but he kept asking and so finally I just said yeah.

He told me he'd follow it up, and he'd contact the parents as well.

Yes! That's what I wanted to hear!

I could just imagine their call to the mother, asking if she knew anything about Jin being forced to work as a prostitute overseas. Even if they fail to find enough evidence, that should be enough to trigger the reactions in Jin's world.

In hindsight, I probably should've done this before approaching Jin's mother directly. However, if I did this, I still would not have been able to find out the truth, which is the reason I came here. I guess then, that this is a 'retributory' step, one that could only be taken after I found out she lied, for I would not be doing this if her mother really did have cancer. So scrap that hindsight bit.

I was a bit surprised he didn't ask me for any further details. Maybe most of the details I know are about our relationship, rather than facts about her situation. I did think after I left that I forgot to tell him about the other two brothels she has worked at. Also forgot to get his name and contact, although I did (stupidly?) leave my first name and Australian mobile number.

So, now that business had been done, I returned to the palace, where I took some photos. Initially I was audacious enough to try to fit into a tour group so I could get in, but then I realised the initial entrance was free for public entry.

I then lined up for a ticket. Turns out this was for the Gyeongbokgung, Changdeokgung, Changgyeonggung, Deoksugung and Jongmyo palaces, although only the first was opened. I was happy with that, figuring it'd just be a small five to ten minute walk, but turns out this palace by itself was enough. I ended up walking for hours as it was so big. Good thing was I bought a lot of presents from the gift store for the people back home.

I went to KFC for lunch, and found out their Zinger burger wasn't very spicy, and their fries were thin, not thick cut like in Australia. I caught the subway back home where I rested and recharged my phone a bit. I then caught a taxi out to Sinchon. I was too tired to do the subway thing again, which was probably a bad idea as we were stuck in traffic for a long time and the trip cost me $20. But at least the old man driver was jolly.

I was actually looking (again) for one of those kiss bang places, but ended up walking through a shopping mall and eating some street food. Then I caught a taxi to Yongsan to get a phone, but whatever 'electronics market' they had must've been closed, as I couldn't find it. I bought some street food before taking the subway to Gangnum to look for a massage place.

I did find one, but they told me it'd be a two hour wait, so screw that. I went to look for another but couldn't find it. I tried catching a cab home, but the first driver told me it was only a walking distance away, and pointed me in the general direction. So I started walking, and took a short cut which got me lost. I tried to take another cab, but he said he didn't know where the station was.

So I ended up walking, with no idea really as to where I was going. I asked a girl and she pointed me in the general direction. She seemed to get a laugh out of me saying "I don't know" in Korean when she tried to explain the directions in Korean. I jogged a bit before slowing down again. It seemed like I was so far from my hotel, and I started getting angry. I've had plantar fasciitis in my left heel and a pain in my upper left calf for the last two days, and now they were really beginning to annoy me.

I did eventually manage to find it. There were three Korean guys outside my hotel laughing and talking. I wondered if they were people sent by Jin, so I walked past to the back entrance, only to see it was closed. So I went back up to the front and they seemed to pay no attention to me, nor did they seem to be on the lookout.

When I got back to my hotel, I ended up calling for a girl. I then decided to take a shower, and felt my thighs were burning. When I looked in the mirror, I realised there were huge red rashes all over them due to my jeans. The contents of my pocket had been rubbing against my skin all day.

Fuck. Now the girl will think I have some sort of disease or something.

I quickly applied some moisturiser to them which seemed to help a bit. Also helping was the time that it took for the girl to arrive, as the rashes seemed to quickly dissipate. When she arrived, I looked through the door hole this time, instead of just dangerously opening the door like last time.

She wasn't as attractive as the girl last time, but oh well. I started talking and almost forgot about paying her until she asked for it lol. I lied face down on my bed and she started kissing the back of me. Not sure how she was doing it, but her mouth was amazing. I didn't really like the fake moans though. After a bit of that she asked me to turn around where she did the same to the front of my body.

She went down on me, then navigated into a 69 position. I saw she had two bruises on her bum cheeks and really wondered how rough some guys were. Then she got on top of me, then I was on top of her and we finished like that.

Despite paying for the hour, she didn't hang around. She took a shower and got dressed. She actually asked for a tip, and I gave her 10,000 Won. Hmmm. When she saw the money I had in my wallet she said I was loaded. I asked for her name and she said it was "Binu", which meant soap in Korean, and she laughed at that. She gave me a hug and wished me happy new year.

I then went to bed, realising I was all alone again.

I'm calling it now

Saw that Sungyeon had 'read' my messages today, although she didn't reply.

I'm going to call this one out on my rule, which I believe always applies: if you don't contact them long enough, they will eventually contact you. Guaranteed.

As I am leaving on the 2nd, I am calling it out now, that she will contact me before then without me contacting her.

Fun vs unhappiness...

Despite what I blogged about yesterday, I actually had quite a good time earlier in the day. I started out with breakfast at Taco Bell (mmm...delicious!) before going to the Gyeongdong Markets to look for ginseng for my mom.

When I arrived at Jegi-dong station, I immediately bought this cute looking fish type of pancake with red beans inside. I only wanted one but apparently it was 1000 Won for three. So as I ate that, I browsed through some initial stalls. I found a lot of places selling ginseng, but then found this 'wholesale warehouse' below ground floor, which I thought looked like a good bargain.

The entire place was filled with ginseng! I thought the whole thing was one store, so approached the first lady, enquired, and figured I might as well buy it here so told her I'd buy some. Turns out the whole place is made up of many individual and separate stalls, so when I kept browsing afterwards, all the owners approached me wanting me to buy from them.

But even after that, where I bought two cans, I found another place above street level, and after a while managed to buy the 'Heaven' grade of ginseng, which everyone before that had told me wasn't available for sale.

After that I went to the Lotte store nearby and ended up buying G a Psy facial mask, and myself a jumper. I also got my sister some facial masks. I found it fun and enjoyable to start thinking of presents to get for friends. Really started enjoying my holiday at this time.

I even bought this spicy sausage stick where you get a cup of spicy soup to place it in. That was sooooo nice! I actually had another before whilst walking through the markets, where the girl selling it had very good English.

So of course, after that, the whole Jin thing happened, which made me depressed again. Just made me realise that I seem to go on holidays that suck (eg. Vanuatu with Nunjo).

I didn't get a good night's sleep, mainly because I was in fear, keeping an ear and eye out for anyone trying to come into my room, and also because Sungyeon hadn't replied (or read) my messages. I think she has seen them (as they pop up when received) but doesn't want to show she was read them. She did reply earlier in the night, but they were kinda cold/courteous messages.

Oh and yeah, last night I did end up going out. I initially looked for some 'Kiss-bang' shops, where you pay to kiss a girl, so went to Sadang. I think I found the place but the door didn't open. Then I went to Hongdae, where the two places there seemed to have turned into massage shops. I thought about Itaewon, and also thought about how sad and desperate this all seemed to be - here I was alone in a foreign country trying desperately to look to pay for some action.

Ended up going to Itaewon. Walking up the hill, I was expecting many girls to try to procure me in, but the street was pretty empty, and a couple of girls opened their doors to procure me, although when I approached one, the older lady inside seemed to say no.

I ended up going into one where there was a young slim girl sitting there in a red dress checking her phone. There was an older lady in there as well, and I went to the bathroom first. When I came out the younger one asked me what drink I wanted, and I just asked what she liked, and she asked "beer?" so I said yes and ended up getting a Cass. The older lady moved to sit next to me while the young girl was attending the bar. The three of us talked and I wondered how this all worked.

The younger girl asked if I could buy them a drink, so I said yes, and the younger girl poured two glasses of something for themselves. As we talked, this happened four times, and I figured this was how they made money. But I wondered how we could go from here to something more. They did say they can go to hotel rooms but it'd be expensive.

Finally I had enough of all this shit, and on the fourth drink I told them that it'd be their last as I wanted to head off to explore. Despite that, the younger girl pushed for one last one and I said no, and started leaving. They both gave me hugs before I left and caught a taxi back to the hotel. The driver was kinda crazy, always wanting to talk, and seemed to find it funny that 'Australia' sounded like 'Austria'.

In fear

In a burst of anger, I sent her messages on kakaotalk:

I can understand your status update on Kakaotalk...

and to think, I was considering fixing our relationship

no more chances

I want me $25000 back

yes or no?

simple question

These were read soon after and I then noticed she changed her status to:

이미 접수상태..갈때까지 가 보 자..내가 한국사람이다..

Meaning:

Bo already received state .. go till now I have someone that South Korea.

or

Already received the status ...Let's go until you go. ..I have a Korean man. ..

Which has made me afraid now. I checked her phone records and she indeed did make a call to a Korean number shortly after my messages. But when I checked on Kakaotalk and called the number anonymously, it was a girl. However, it doesn't rule out the chance that the girl has contacts with other guys.

So I am in my hotel room now with the lights out. If someone knocks on the door, I can't approach to check because there's a light there that automatically turns on.

I did contact the private investigator again to seek the brother's address in the hope I could rush there to tell the news, but he said it's Sunday so not possible. I know I am panicking and that is probably a bad idea.

While laying in bed, I thought perhaps a better idea would be to dob her into the South Korean government here. If I can do that anonymously, I will.

Sungyeon

So after all that yesterday, I managed to meet up with the girl I had been talking to on Kakaotalk, called Sungyeon. She made me work for it a bit, I must admit, but after some prodding, she agreed.

We met at the subway station near my hotel. I found her inside a building keeping warm. I thought I'd recognise her, but even when I opened the door, I was not sure. But her reaction was assertive, instantly recognising me. What surprised me was her instantly grabbing onto my arm and walking with me. If I didn't know better, I'd take it as interest, but I have found people here in Korea are very ok with close body contact, like on the subway.

We talked and seemed to instantly get along. I found myself acting openly and felt maybe she did too. She took me to an area where she was looking for a restaurant using an app. She asked me about what happened with Jin and I told her. She walked us around for a bit before going into one, only to be told it was full. We ended up going to another one which didn't have anyone inside lol.

Anyway, we sat down and she ordered. I gave her the koala and kangaroo plush toys I bought. I found her to be decently attractive, more slimmer faced than the photo I saw. She had a good personality, and we had a lot of similarities. For instance, she also likes lemonade and mixed it with her soju. But as soon as I saw the similarities, I told myself that two people being too similar could not be a good thing.

We managed to have a nice meal without any real moments of awkward silence. She asked me about Jin some more, and I didn't really know how to answer, but she took my hesitation as me not wanting to talk about it, and tried to change the subject. Maybe I really didn't want to talk about it?

She seemed to have on her mind a guy she met at the volunteer party. She said she clicked with him straight away, and he later texted her inviting her to his hostel for a birthday party. But she said because she didn't feel close enough to him, she didn't want to go to his hostel, so she declined. Then what's bothering her now is that he didn't reply to that, and she seems to be really antsy about it, saying he was the ideal guy.

She also told me she had a blind date the next day (today) set up by her friends. I did try to flirt with her a bit, maybe it was the soju, but I found myself jokingly calling her beautiful and that. After the meal we walked back to the station. It was much colder now and I was shivering noticeably. She said if she was a guy she'd give me her jacket lol.

So we parted at the station and I saw her texting on her phone as she was going down the escalator. When I returned to my hotel I saw she had sent me a goodnight message. I may have taken it a bit too far when I texted back "goodnight sparkly eyes :p".

No reply.

Curiosity got the better of me and I ended up calling an escort to my hotel room for $300. Her name was Ona or something. Quite pretty, but fake breasts. This is weird, but during the act, I found myself thinking about Sungyeon and longing for intimacy (as opposed to sex). I lost my erection. Ona had to use her hand and we mutually masturbated each other for a long time before I came.

With Jin, the messages continued a bit:

Her: She is sick. What about my privacy?

Me: Stop. Just stop. You are a liar. Everything that happened was a lie. Everything you said was a lie. You have taken my money, are you happy? Do you feel good about yourself? Do you like living a lie? Do you like stealing people's money?

"I never lied to you" - bullshit.

"I did love you at one time" - bullshit.

You love money. You are a cold person. If you really loved me, you would not break up over money.

Her: No..you want marry? Marri?

It did make me think. Maybe I'm stupid, but I did consider it. I decided to sleep on it, and this morning I replied "We'll talk when I return".

However, I just checked her kakaotalk and her status update is:

미친놈..울한국집을가? 진짜또라이. 스토커네..가만두지않겠어..기대해라

Translating to:

The crazies ...UL Korea House? A real Goofball. Stalker Yes. ..I'm not let ...Expect

The Truth

This morning I managed to load up my T card (for transport), went to Myeong Dong to exchange my AUD and also bought a prepaid SIM card.

After that I returned to the hotel (got lost a bit)  to change. The mission was on. I put on my suit and grabbed the presents. I initially wanted to take the subway to an area nearby, but got lost and ended up catching a taxi instead. It was only like $20-30.

The driver was nice enough to find the exact address and dropped me off there. It was like a three storey flat somewhat in shambles. I think it is safe to say she did not come from money.

I went inside the building and her door was the first one after a few steps. I could hear tv inside, and knocked. Someone yelled out but I waited until they opened the door. It was an old woman, whose face shape I thought resembled Jin's. I showed her the piece of paper I had with her address and name on it and asked if it was her. She said yes. I asked if she had a daughter called Jin, she said yes.

I told her my name and said I was Jin's boyfriend. She immediately reacted acceptingly. I asked if I could come in and she said yes. She opened the door more and made room for me to sit down on the floor. I took my shoes off and showed her some photos of Jin and I. She nodded.

I gave her the presents - the honey for her, the cowboy hat for her husband, and the key ring for her son. She accepted.

I tried talking to her but her English was absolutely non-existent. I took out my phone and used my translation app. At first she didn't seem to understand and shook her head. I wondered if she meant she could not read. But then I typed into it "Jin told me you were sick?" and she shook her head no. She only pointed to her head. I typed another message, "Jin told me you were in hospital?" and she shook her head no, in a way that it was almost a joke and funny to her.

I didn't know what to do next. She then got her phone and made a call. I asked if she was calling Jin and she said no. Moments later a young girl turned up, a bit puffed out from running. I thought she was here to translate but her English was non-existent too. I saw she was messaging and I asked if it was Jin. I looked and it didn't look like it.

I then used the app to tell her that Jin had told me her mother was sick and asked me for 50,000,000 won to help. I told her I gave Jin 25,000,000 won. She looked shocked. Then she was on the phone, and passed it onto her mother. I could hear a female voice yelling on the other end. Her mother kept saying "I understand" in Korea, and then passed the phone to me. It was Jin. She swore in Korean and said something about calling me later.

Then her mother asked me to leave. At first I thought she meant for all of us to go out, but turned out they just wanted me to leave. So I left. I asked the girl if she could talk with me and she said no. So I caught a taxi back to the hotel, where I am now.

Throughout the whole taxi ride I was in shock. I didn't know if I should cry in front of the taxi driver.

Jin just called me twice. She then sent a text message saying "Why u go to korea and my house?" I just replied "I did not tell them your job. I would not hurt your mother like that. I just wanted to know the truth. You lied the whole time. Never contact me again."

Rejuvenation / truth to be found?

Last night and this morning I have been pondering. I have started mentally picking holes in Jin's case.

1. The most glaring of all is how back when we first broke up, she told me through Julie that she was in debt because she was helping a relative who was sick. However, I reason this away by possibilities such as 1) an error in translation or 2) she for whatever reason did not want to disclose that it was her mother (to either me or Julie).

2. The debt was accrued before she came to Australia, so before June 2012. Does that mean her mother was sick back then? And had multiple treatments up until now?

3. Why did she need an 'extra' $10,000 from me days before her mother's surgery? Surely for surgery you don't pay just before you have it. It must've been paid for before. Maybe there was just something she didn't translate or explain?

This has led me to thinking about my options:

1. I go to the address and it is the wrong house. End of story I suppose.

2. I go to the address, her parents are there, and the mother doesn't have cancer. In this case I expose the truth.

3. I go to the address, and her mother has cancer. In this case I tell the mother about me helping out with the money, and ask for contact details of the brother.

4. If (3), then I could tell the truth to the brother. The whole truth.

Anyway, this morning I woke up just before 5am. It's still dark and the streets are empty and quiet. Putting on my hoodie and trackies, I decided to check out the gym, just to have a look around. In the lift, I looked at myself in the mirror and saw that natural flab older men get on their face. I reminded myself of Dennis Rodman in his 40's trying to make a comeback.

I asked the concierge and went down to B1. The gym was small, with only the basics. I looked for a mat for sit ups, and when I couldn't find one, the lazy me said to just forget about it. But then I thought "no, you have the basics, you can do the sit ups on the bench press".

And with that, I got myself onto the bike and did my mandatory 11 minutes. I then alternated between benchpressing and abs, adding barbell curls to finish it off. In the mirror, I no longer saw a 40's Dennis Rodman trying to make a sad comeback. I saw someone who might have just a little bit more fuel in the tank.

Anyway, my plan today is to get a prepaid SIM card, maybe exchange some currency (it is a Saturday and the banks are closed) and try to locate the family. I figure it's better I get this over with earlier than later.

I'm in Seoul!

On Wednesday it was raining, so missed out on my annual Christmas basketball work out :(

Also because of the rain, Thai re-scheduled our dinner to the next night. Turned out it would only be him, Brain and myself. We went to a Japanese restaurant in Haymarket, we had been there before, the one where you need to go upstairs.

We talked about my trip, reincarnation (again) and I may have said something which made Brain think about his dad (about how Ele said the best thing we could do for our parents is tell them not to fear death).

Afterwards we went for a coffee, courtesy of Thai, which I felt bad about, because I had suggested getting a table first and then he said he'd get my coffee.

So anyway, today (or yesterday) my dad drove me to the airport, and I made my way through check in. I had breakfast at Hungry Jack's, then went through Customs and waited for a while (typed up my last entry). 

On the plane, saw I was next to a young guy and his younger sister. Turns out he was with his whole family, front and back. I managed to watch two movies, 'Getaway' and 'RIPD'. Surprisingly I was much more into RIPD than Getaway, despite RIPD being much more nonsensical.

In between that, I read my reincarnation book and the Lonely Planet Guide. It was only until the end that the guy next to me (James) started talking to me after he saw me watch a bit of a Raptors-Sixers 2001 playoffs game. He was interested in basketball so that got us going till we landed.

When we landed, it was soooo cold! Fuck. It was like minus 5 degrees. I waited a long time for the bus, and the bus ride was much longer than I expected. I didn't even know how much to pay the driver and had to pay him one note at a time, which would've been $15AUD.

When I got off, it took me a long time to find my hotel, mainly because I couldn't read the street names. I had to ask a girl, who shyed away, then a guy who pointed me in the right direction (that was all I needed). But midway through, my hands felt like they were freezing off, and it became a struggle just to make it to the hotel.

Watching all the young girls in the street, it made me think that Jin must've gotten into the wrong crowd to end up where she currently is. Anyway, I found my hotel, and the check in by the girl wasn't too great, just basically gave me my card, no smile, no "how was your trip". I mean, fuck, I just trekked through minus 5 degrees!!!

I then went back out to look for a USB cable and a power adapter, managed to find both. Then stopped at a street stall to eat something. So funny, cause the old lady gave me a plate and I was about to walk away with it lol. Then I bought a deep fried sausage thing that wasn't that good cause she didn't seem to fry it long enough. Hmmm.

Gonna get some rest now and think about the plan here on in.

Yuna / Cherry

Typing this up at the airport...

Tuesday

On Tuesday work was pretty dull. Not much chatting with others either, not sure how it was possible, but I was even more blatant on this day about doing no work than on other days as usual.

I went out during the morning to place an order for sandwiches at Subway after the girl hung up on me, presumably because she had customers (I was right).

At 11:30am, I said goodbye to Ben for the year and promptly left. I went looking for a cash passport, found out it didn’t hold the Korean Won and it would’ve been financially better to withdraw from my bank account overseas. Go figure.

I exchanged AUD$500 for Korean Won and left. I went to The Rocks to look for presents for the Korean girl I had been talking to on Kakaotalk and also for Jin’s parents (if I find them). I bought the girl a plush Kangaroo and Koala toy, and found a honey shop where I bought three jars of honey for Jin’s mother, plus one for my sister. The one for my sister was Manuka which was heaps more expensive.

Turns out the lady at the shop had been to Seoul before and was telling me how much Koreans appreciated honey from Australia, as the ones they have there are watered down. Had a really nice chat with her about Seoul and Asiana Airlines. She gave some really positive reviews for them and said they were the best for value.

After I bought all that I went back home, got ready and went to pick up Malay. We drove to the city to pick up Eva and Thai and the sandwiches, then we went to Brighton le Sands for the afternoon ‘picnic’ I had organised with Ele a few days ago.

It didn’t go as planned, as firstly, it was heaps more windy than expected, second, my car got towed which will be a $180 fine, and third, my group didn’t seem to mingle with Ele’s group at all. I got to talk to Yang as we walked to a less windy area, and then spent some time with the boys (Hung, G, Malay, Thai, Brain), before going over to Yang, Ele, Colin and the baby. The baby I felt was starting to recognise me, and I could make her laugh by blowing out my face lol.

At one time when G was eating Ele’s cake, he picked some off with his fingers, leaned in over the bowl as he put it into his mouth, before some of it dropped from his mouth back onto the cake. Seriously.

Colin was visibly seen wearing make up, presumably to cover up the effects of chemotherapy. Poor guy. I didn’t get that much of a chance to talk to him individually, and I felt kinda bad when I said I had to go at 5:30pm to drive Thai to work, because it ended everything and Colin was like “what, is that it? I thought there’d be some after activity”.

So anyway, I dropped Thai and Eva in the city before going home. I did think about driving Eva all the way home, but kinda wanted to go home and rest.

I called Jin at 7:50pm, figuring that was the best option. I had contemplated messaging her something like “your family is entitled to know the truth”, as some sort of cryptic message as to what I had planned. On the other hand, my logic and reason was telling me not to send any message at all, as it could be interpreted as a threat, and I shouldn’t be tipping her off as to what my plans were. In the end I decided a missed call would be best (I knew she wouldn’t pick up). It showed I wanted to contact, but not the reason why. If she ever blamed me for contacting her family, I could at least say I tried to let her know but she didn’t pick up.

I ended up going to see Yuna. I called to make a booking and greeted her as usual. She led me upstairs to the room. We sat down on the couch and talked for a bit as I tried to tell her I was going to Korea this Friday. This much she understood. But then when I tried to tell her more, she couldn’t understand and I spent the next few minutes trying to install an app onto my phone which would allow her to type Korean into my translator. Couldn’t do it (and still can’t for some reason). She sent me a message on Kakaotalk saying “I miss you”.

We then proceeded through the usual course of showering and massage. This time there was no sex. She used her hand to try to finish me off but for some reason I couldn’t. She seemed to get a bit irritated about that, and I just said not to worry.

I left, and felt like continuing things. So I went to a shop on Cleveland Street, but they were full. I ended up going to the Naby shop, for the first time since they had a name change to Girls Town. There was a guy and girl opening the door. They had one girl who I went with, called Cherry.

We spent like 10 minutes looking for a room in working order. Both rooms we went in had no sheets or pillow. Finally she settled on one of them. When I stripped and went to the shower, I pointed to what looked like a pile of shit in the shower and asked what it was. She quickly told me to change rooms so we got dressed and went to the other room. She kept apologising and I said it wasn’t her fault.

We ended up doing our deed on a bed with some towels beneath us and also acting as a pillow. I went for a while and nearly thought I’d never be able to finish. After that we talked, and I told her I was going to Korea. She seemed quite talkative. I didn’t tell her about Jin, but did tell her to just make her money and go. Also told her not to be too obvious about being a working girl by wearing a $5000 LV bag in the city.

I asked her if she studied in Korea and she said hair styling. I asked if she could do mine and she said I had a good shaped head, whereas she didn’t like the shape of her head.

After that I left and went to pick up my parents from the club. I was looking forward to my annual Christmas Day basketball work out tomorrow.

Brunch with Ele / Sold ipad mini + scooter

Saturday
On Saturday I went to the gym in the Wick. It was like my first gym session in two weeks, which is huge for me. Surprisingly I was able to still do 25 reps of abs, and my chin ups were still there. Also weighed myself, and was the lightest I've ever been for a long time, like 65.6kg. Maybe in some twisted way less exercise made me lose more weight.

After gym I went to pick up Ele for breakfast/brunch. I waited for a while in my car but she eventually showed up. She had with her some books about reincarnation, and I had brought my one along as well. I wanted to wait till we sat down to eat to talk about it, but guess we couldn't help it and started talking about it in the car.

We found a cafe on the main road in Brighton le Sands and ate there. We talked more about reincarnation. She said she got into it because of her grandfather's death, and believed he was still around, perhaps somehow linked to the birth of Athena.

Her books were on a slightly different angle to mine. Mine was from a scientist trying to provide a scientific explanation for reincarnation, whereas her books were about how it actually works and what a person does to deserve whatever they get in their next life.

The meal was pretty full on, and we managed to talk for a long time. It seemed like my trip to Korea was only a side show to the whole reincarnation thing. She said she didn't think it was a coincidence that we got interested in the same topic at the same time. She said the books stated that people reincarnate amongst the same group of people, and that we must've been in the same group in our previous life - for example, I could've been her brother or something.

Hearing that only served me to think about Jin. Were we somehow interconnected in our previous lives? Were we mortal enemies, brought back into this world for a second round dual? Or were we lovers tied together by fate?

After the meal we took a walk along the beach, and then went to a plaza as she said she needed to get a pair of slippers. So we went to Rockdale plaza, and I told her about my 'under shirt' idea which was being manufactured in Vietnam. She said it was a do-able idea, but people needed to get into the habit of wearing it first. Good point.

Afterwards I drove her home, and close to her apartment she suddenly shouted and pointed someone out. It was Yang, and she got out and walked the rest of the way with him.

Sunday
Sunday was a good day. I posted my scooter and ipad mini on Gumtree for sale. The scooter was the one I bought for Jin when she had a broken foot. I managed to sell it to a guy for $10. No haggling. I was just grateful he was normal, unlike the first weirdo I met.

Then I went home and started sorting out all the offers for the ipad mini. Despite offering a reduced price of $350, people were still trying to haggle. I offered $320 to one girl, who wouldn't go above $315. Then I also offered this other lady $330, who had the audacity to come back and say she only had $310 with her.

Eventually I met some guy in the city who bought it for $350. It was a good day!!!

Lunch with Mot

Monday
I was tempted to go to the casino again, and won $300.

Tuesday
The temptation was too much. I started thinking maybe I could win $200 per day. I went to the casino, and lasted a while before started losing it all. On my very last $400 spin, I came back from the brink with a win on 1 which had a few chips on it. I ended up leaving with a $460 gain.

I then contacted one of the escorts on Wechat and ended up seeing a girl from Macau called Emma. The lady I spoke to told me she was 19 or 20, which was total bullshit. When she opened the door, I could see she was someone in her late 20's trying to mask her age and look much younger.

Anyway, I showered and we did our thing. She offered to give me a massage afterwards but I said I just wanted to talk. I asked if she worked in a shop and she said "why do you ask such a thing". Like it was a big deal. She rested her head on my stomach as we just talked, and eventually I drifted off to mid-sleep before she woke me up and said time was up.

Wednesday
Despite my best efforts at trying to leave with a gain, I figured I could do it again. I withdrew $800 from the bank and went to the casino. I lost $800.

At home, I also sent another message to that Korean number who I suspect is Jin's relative:

"My name is James. I am in Korea. I would like to speak to you about [insert her name]. Please email me  [insert email address]."

Thursday
On Thursday Mot emailed me asking for lunch. I had nothing else to do, and it would've been a very good opportunity to pick his brains about the whole bar process, so I said yes.

We met at 1pm in the food court at his building. He looked the same as before, although maybe he got even skinnier, though not sure how that was possible. I admired how at our age, he still had a head full of hair and a very youthful look.

We grabbed something from a Thai take away shop and sat at some stools to eat. I shared my stories and experiences at my current office, and he told me about his study for the bar. He said he went for the February exams but was admitted in September. He said he didn't even know his tutor PL but found him online and thought he'd be interesting as a tutor.

He said he had done trials and even one CCA matter while he was still with the SLA - wow, such experience. I tried to direct the conversation towards the money aspect of it all. I noticed he bypassed my query about how much was needed to start, but he did say his rent was $900 per month, so that gives me a good rough estimate.

I asked him if he thought someone could make a living doing just mentions and he said yeah but it'd be boring lol. We didn't talk that much about our past, other than Nom and Trev's troubles, and how Mis and Fay knew he was at the bar.

After lunch he took me to his chambers to have a look. It was four floors above DC's chambers. The view was absolutely magnificent. His room was shared with another guy, and it was quite small, but that was to be expected. He showed me around the rest of the floor before we parted ways.

All that inspired me to start living a proper life again, to forget about the gambling, to forget about prostitutes. I wanted a proper life. When I returned to my office, I sold a bunch of shares to fund for my plane ticket to Seoul.

But all that inspiration didn't last long. When I found out that my dinner with John and library guy had been cancelled, my mind quickly and automatically turned to gambling - I had the evening free now.

After Rob and I went to the TAA to apply for something, I went to the bank to try to withdraw $2000 for gambling. But the redraw facility wasn't ready yet. I called up the bank and they said it could take up to an hour. It was already 3:30pm. I was so desperate I even went to the bank to wait for it to be ready. At 3:50pm it still wasn't ready, and I walked up, giving up. Oh well, guess I saved myself some money.

But as I crossed the road, I checked my redraw on my phone again and there it was! I spun around and went back to the bank. Just made it, I was the last customer in. I withdrew $2400 and after work I went to the casino.

I was never up. I lasted a long time, but was just never fucking up. Some lady had the balls to play like $500 per spin and won like $1000 most of the times. But my luck just wasn't there. I was on the brink a few times, and could've walked away with $1200 in my pocket, but decided to throw that away as well.

So there, I lost $2400. All because the fucking dinner was cancelled.

What do I really want in life?

Monday
Arrived at the medical centre early again for my second blood test. Really don't know why they couldn't just use my blood from the first test, and really don't know why I didn't ask that question of the doctor.

Anyway, this time was much of the same, although the doctor saw I was waiting too long and did it himself. I feared he wouldn't be as gentle as the other lady, but he was, although he was kinda rough when he pulled it out. It actually doesn't hurt as much as people make it out to be, but the soreness afterwards can be pretty uncomfortable.

Tuesday
An extremely early start to meet Nick at the KGV courts for some bball training. Despite my best efforts, I was still 15 minutes late. Don't know about him, but it was a good workout for me to shake off the rust, despite having played the previous week on Mike's team. I just felt like I needed to start from the beginning for everything.

We started off with some dribbling drills, then worked on our shots. I was really puffed out, not sure if it was due to the shots, or rebounding for Nick. Also, my arms actually felt weak from shooting. Remember what I said ages ago? Your arms can't get tired from shooting. But now, it was happening. What the hell?

I was actually glad when we got to sit down, have a drink and rest. That's how exhausted I was. As we rested afterwards, I told him about my product idea, the one about the under-shirt. He said it's got legs. I just need to think of a way to market it, including a catchy and effective name.

At lunch I met up with Genie. This was on her request over the weekend. I thought I had said something wrong on Friday night, but turns out she wanted to talk about the trustworthiness of Mel C. She seems really naive as to the politics that goes on in and around the office. I feel sorry for her.

During the day, I had decided to go see Honey again. I decided that she was so hot, I just needed to see her naked. So after work, I called up the shop, and they told me the earliest booking was 6:40pm. I said I'd think about it, and then ended up calling them back to take it.

So I had heaps of time. And a tiny bit of 'spare' cash. So what does one do? Go to the casino of course.

I figured I wouldn't have much time by the time I got there, so I also figured there'd be no harm done. Besides, I could 'only' lose a maximum of $100 anyway. So I went in, got four $25 chips and played the outside bets. Down $25 almost immediately. Missed out on a big in when I bet on black, third column and middle dozen and it hit on 15. I did the same thing on next spin and it hit 5 - lost everything. And you know, 5 is right next to 24. FML.

So after that I walked to the massage place. I was shown to the room and waited for a while until Honey came in. I said "long time no see" and she said "nice suit". I said I got a headache from work (true, it was from doing nothing all day) and needed a massage. I started stripping and she did the same. She apologised if she was a bit blunt the day before, and I said it was ok as she was just translating and she said she meant her input. I didn't really care.

Once we got into the shower, I realised she looked totally different to how I had imagined. She didn't look like Christina at all. She didn't even look like the Honey I saw the night before. She was shorter, and her face definitely wasn't as hot. She was average at best. What the fuck?

Probably the major turning point was when I brought up the lotto later that night and we were talking about what we'd do if we won. Then she talked about her goal in working, she said she had to reach a certain amount. It was just a huge turn off to hear something like that.

During the massage we talked a bit, but I mainly just kept quiet. Flipping over, she went down on me, then finished me off with her hand as per usual here. After that she said she noticed some bumps on my member, and suggested I have it checked out. She said she had seen other guys with it too, and it's a disease but taking a pill will make it go away. I was like, what the, but I had only seen Jin before. Hmmm.

Anyway, that rounded off the whole turn off experience with her, and I told myself I'd never see her again. She said at the end "now I'm scared", referring to me seeing her on consecutive days, and I said "fine, I won't see you tomorrow then".

I left looking forward to seeing Yuna again.

Wednesday
At lunch time I went to see Margy. There were lots I wanted to tell her, but she started off with my GP and the referral stuff, asking me what I'd do. I really didn't know. Finally I got a chance to tell her how I felt, like how I felt I didn't have a goal in life, and she quickly chimed in with "your goal is to get rid of your debt". She asked me what I learnt from all this and I said never to give money to anyone. She asked what else and I couldn't think of anything, even though I think she wanted me to say never to see a prostitute again. She later commented that I had to be careful with seeing sex workers.

I actually started crying when I said I needed to be a better son. It was the first time I had ever reached for that box of tissue with her. She didn't really react or say anything. She just said later that I seemed more flat today than usual.

She rounded off the session by saying, the ultimate question I always had to come back to was, what do I really want in life? And then to ask myself whenever I make a decision, is this helping me reach that goal?

I thought that was really helpful. I think somewhere along the line, I lost focus of what I wanted in my life, distracted by all the vices in this world.

She also said, "everything we do has consequences", which made me think as well.

I noticed when we ended the session, that she didn't invite me to call her if I ever needed anything. She just told me how she'd finish off the notes and how long they'd be kept before being archived.

After work I went to see the GP. He said there were only partial blood results. Apparently I don't have iron deficiency, I just have smaller red blood cells, and the final results should show why. He asked me to come back to see him on Monday, and I know Margy told me to stick with it, but I was getting really fucking sick of this. I just feel like he's trying to make me come back as much as possible so he can get more money.

Anyway, shortly after I got home, I received a call on my mobile from a private number. It was the guy who wanted to buy my old Windows 3.0 manual. He asked me where I lived and I lied and said the Wick. He wanted to meet me now to buy it, and I asked him where he was and he said Bankstown. I said that was a bit far for me now, and asked if he could meet Friday. He was very pushy, saying he was very busy and didn't know where he'd be on Friday. I felt like saying "well fine then, fuck you". But I knew a sale might be hard to come by after this.

So I agreed, and he asked what time and I said "7 or 8" and he was like "no, tell me exact, not 7 or 8, let's just say 7:30". Wow, fine ya dickhead.

As I drove out there he called me several times but I couldn't answer. I thought, you better not change your mind. When I got there I had to wait for his call as I didn't have his number. Finally I told him I was outside the library and then a few minutes later he came out.

He was a small Asian man, maybe Vietnamese. Wearing a cap and a school bag. Maybe around 40-50 years of age. Did not look like he was the extremely busy type. Looked kinda like the mature age student type.

In hindsight, his first question should've rang alarm bells for me. He asked, "so this is for Windows 7 right?"

Uhhhh no fuckwit. Look how old the cover is.It's Windows 3.0...like 20 years ago.

I told him it wasn't, and that it was meant to be a classic that might be treasured by someone who was collecting and was a Windows fanatic. He flicked through it and said it was useful. I mentioned I was a lawyer and he asked me where. I just nonchalantly said government and he seemed like he instantly became interested. He asked me if it was AGD's, and I said no. He kept pressing me and I finally lied and said another agency that was similar. He became even more interested and started asking me questions. He took out a pen and paper and asked me to write my name. I was like, no, you already have my first name and phone number. He was like "but you can change your number" and I said I've had this number for like 15 years and all my contacts are on it. He was persistent and I finally had to say I wasn't comfortable giving my last name.

By now I was a bit freaked out. I didn't even want him to buy the book any more, for I feared he'd report me for misleading him or something. So I started saying it was ok if he didn't want to buy it, I understood he thought this was something else, and I didn't mind driving out here. He said he felt guilty that I made my way out here, and then asked to see my other book - the purple MS DOS book. He said that was useful and flicked through it.

I tried to elicit some information from him and asked him where he worked, and he said "just let me look through the book first". He later said this book would be useful for an IT Technician. I asked if he was one and he said no.

He ended up buying that book for $5, and then started asking me questions about 'my' work. He asked if I could help him follow up a complaint if he made one and I said no, that he just had to submit the information and let the agency do their thing. He was like "but don't you need my help?" and I said no. He asked me what methodologies we had for investigating and I said I couldn't tell him. He kept fucking trying to get information out of me and trying to get me to help him. I said that was corruption if I did, because he'd have an advantage that the rest of the public didn't have. That seemed to hit his logic a bit, but he persisted.

I got so fucking annoyed, I finally said "look, I don't want to talk about this any more, I have to go" and started walking away.

Fucking weirdo.

My biggest concern now is what if he fucking contacts that agency and says I told him I worked for them? Then I've committed a fucking fraud! Fucking cunt. For five bucks, that was not worth my career. What were the fucking odds I'd meet a nut job huh? I called Hung as I was driving back to tell him the story.

Earlier in the day at work, an idea struck me from the back of my subconsciousness. Usually these are evil ideas derived to get back at Jin, but this one actually made sense and was designed to help.

What if...I contacted her Aunty to tell her about the situation, not for the purpose of dobbing her in, but to seek help? I mean, what if, and this is a big IF, but what if, I went to Korea to try to find the Aunty? Show up on her door, prove to her I am Jin's boyfriend, tell her the situation, and ask for help? Tell her that she can't tell Jin about it, give me the money to give to her.

Fucking crazy huh? And how the fuck am I supposed to find her with just a number anyway? That is why I need the results from the private detective.

Anyway, as I was about to go to bed, I saw that I had a missed call from Jin.

Hmmmm.

And now she was calling again, but I couldn't answer as my parents had just come back. I was worried. Had she found out that I hacked into her phone account?

I went out to my backyard to call back. She didn't answer the first two calls but picked up on the third. She asked me why I was calling from private.

Oh shit, forgot I was hiding caller ID.

I said something about a friend, and she asked me to call back. So I turned caller ID back on and called her. I asked her how she was and she said she had many drinks. I didn't really know what to say. She asked me what I was doing and I said sleeping. I think that put her off a bit as she told me to go back to sleep. All I could think of was to say I missed her. She said ok and goodbye. I waited for her to hang up but it seemed like she waited an eternity before she hung up.

When I went back to bed, I texted her saying I missed her and "goodnight". No reply. Well, at least now I know she's unblocked me.

Did that drunk call mean anything?

Thursday
Bank credit card
Flight Centre

A Jin revelation...

Just got off the phone to the second private investigator I hired. He said he couldn't find anyone based on the information I provided (ie. date of birth), so expanded the years. He said he located her with a date of birth of 1982.

I asked him if he was sure, and he said he was sure, as it had matched with her immigration records travelling to and from Australia...

Yuna (2)

On Sunday morning, I called up my bank to re-activate the redraw facility on my personal loan, as I figured it would come in handy in the likely event that I proceeded to book my trip to Korea. Despite previously being told it could take from a few days up to two weeks, it was re-activated immediately.

Immediately.

Just like that, I instantly had like $12,000 available to me. Needless to say, thoughts of gambling crept into my mind, and I soon found myself at the casino with $800 worth of chips in front of it. I had a male, red headed dealer, who seemed like the grungy type. I won $280 and decided to go see Yuna.

I drove there, figuring even after I pay $170 for it, I still had $110 left as repayment towards my loan. I had made a booking, and during the call, the receptionist was careful to make sure that this was the "new" Yuna. I said I saw her about one or two weeks ago and she said yes, this was the new one, hoping I wasn't mistaken for the old one.

When I arrived, I went to the bathroom first, and then found Yuna at the stairs waiting for me. She offered her hand and led me up the stairs. I noticed she squeezed my hand as we walked up. I asked her how she was and she gave a soft, short response. We started stripping, and I must admit it felt a bit awkward, maybe because the first time we saw each other nothing like this was involved. I thought she may have felt the same way as well.

We showered together and she was nice, but didn't seem very talkative, most probably because her English was almost non-existent. I told her I might be going to Korea and she seemed surprised.

After the shower, I got onto the massage table. Her massage was alright. I liked the head massage the best. I didn't really like her stepping on my feet and legs, but didn't say anything. Maybe next time I will. It's nothing got to do with her, but for some reason my legs cramp up at the slightest touch. This is despite me running and jumping all over the basketball court.

After I flipped over, there was a bit of massage before she went down on me. Then she pulled my hand, gesturing for me to get up. I wondered if we were going to have sex standing up, and she then laid down on the table face down. She poured some oil down on the back of her thighs and closed them tightly, then gestured for me to get on top.

I figured she wanted me to hump her legs, which I did. But after a while, I found myself moving up, and was thrusting in and out. To be honest, I'm not sure what I was thrusting at, whether it was still the gap between her thighs, or something more carnal. I may have gotten my answer when I finished, and the condom seemed to be stuck on (or in?) her. I asked if she was ok and she said "not ok", which made me feel really bad.

She cleaned up and showered, then asked me to shower. When I finished, she sat down on the couch with her phone. I immediately picked this up as a gesture. I asked to swap Kakaotalk, and then realised I had been too direct. I said I could teach her English if she taught me Korean, and made her promise with a pinky shake, then we agreed to swap Kakaotalk accounts.

The actual process was a bit harder than I thought. Neither of us knew our own IDs, and she didn't seem to have that 'shake' function. Eventually she pulled up her QR code and I scanned it so we added each other like that. That was the first time in my life I had ever used a QR code.

Soon after I left, she sent me a message saying "tuke cure" with three smiley faces with eyes as hearts.

The Honey talk...

On Saturday I borrowed Malay's car in the morning and set out on my surveillance trip. I put some fuel in his car as a contribution, put my wig on, as well as my glasses and cap, and probably looked a bit phoney. But maybe it's just me, as I knew it was fake, maybe strangers would see me differently.

I managed to find the perfect spot right across her building. I sat and waited from about 11am to 3pm. I didn't see her, but looking at the phone records, she may have left shortly after as it seems she called a taxi after I left.

The thing I've learnt from surveillance is, you can't take your eyes off the goal. You'd think maybe you could check your phone, read a book or something, but nope. It doesn't take long for a person to slip out of their building and into a car. Split second really.

At home later at night, I got bored and started feeling lonely. I ended up going out to the city for a punt. I chose one of the girls on Wechat, which was a bit of a mess. I was texting this one Chinese girl, who directed me to one address, and when I got there, she directed me to another. Then she said she'd be there in 10 minutes. I decided not to let her push me around like this, as I was the one paying, so I told her no thanks and maybe next time.

I texted another girl who was Japanese, and called the number on her profile. She asked to meet me where I already was. When we met, she took me up to the apartment, where I figured out that it was pretty much a vacant apartment used primarily for this purpose - whenever a customer wanted a girl, the girl would just bring him into the apartment. These girls didn't necessarily work for a shop, or a boss, but probably paid partial rent or something.

Anyway, after we did our deed, we got talking about our ex's, and I told her my story. She told me she used to work at Erica's brothel for two months before she met her Caucasian boyfriend, who promised to pay her $4000 but never delivered (and that is why they broke up). Hmmm...smart guy I guess.

She asked me a few times for Erica's name but I refused to give it. Think she may start digging around, even though she said she no longer knew anyone from that shop.

Anyway, funny (or maybe not) thing is, afterwards she told me her name was Cherry, whereas the girl I had texted was called Suki. Don't know how it happened, but all this time I thought she was Suki with strongly photoshopped photos. But it wasn't even the same girl! Fuck.

On Sunday I did the surveillance thing again, minus Malay's car and the wig. This time was a bit harder as I got a shitty parking spot. Eventually I managed to follow a car at around 3pm which picked up an Asian girl. I was half right: the car delivered the girl to the brothel, but it wasn't Erica.

Today I had lunch with DC and Rom. We went to yum cha and had a talk about me going to the bar, DC's cases, his family, Kate's family, and other people in general. It's always a laugh with him, and I was glad I went. I may have come off as a bit naive when I asked if baristas go to the Christmas parties of other baristas, and he said that was not good form. I said I thought it was called networking, and he said "well, it's a marketing ploy" meaning it's used to get business from sols, so if you go as a barista, you're basically there to steal work. D'oh!

Work was pretty boring today, just spent the day listening to phone calls.

After work I decided to give the translation thing another shot. This time I called up the regular massage place and asked for a girl who could speak good English. The receptionist said Honey and Natalie spoke good English, and I just randomly picked Honey, even though I thought it was a shit name.

One of the reception girls led me to the room, where it was dark and extremely warm. After a while, Honey came in. Her first words were something like "have we met before?" and I explained that I wasn't after a massage, just a girl with good English so she could help me translate texts. She agreed, and I gave her a bit of a background to the story.

After getting a lighter to have a cigarette, she started translating each text as I scrolled through. She must've done 99% of them, with some texts saying that it didn't make sense. Anyway, this is the summary of it:

- I never lied to you
- you feel it is so grand to have given me the money
- never talk about my mom
- how would your mother feel if she knew you lied about her?
- what does my name matter
- I never even knew your real name
- I am embarrassed to have loved you as you blackmailed me and my friends
- all you gave me was the doll
- send me your address and I will send you the doll
- I have thrown the doll away
- send me your bank account details and I will send you the money a year later as I do not have the money now
- I will calculate the money and contact you, to adjust for the times we had sex and dated, but it will be around $100 (yes, that's right...$100!!!)
- never contact me again, I will not respond anymore (this was said several times, and each time she responded to my texts)
- you have to make a clear decision as to whether you want to help me with $50,000 and an apartment
- do not speak about love
- you are a stalker

Honey did provide some 'feedback' on the situation:
- Erica must be young
- she must still like me at least a little bit, or else she wouldn't bother replying. If it was her (Honey) and she really wasn't interested, she'd just ignore it
- she is not grateful
- chemotherapy and treatment for cancer in Korea would not cost $90,000...maybe $10,000 per month
- she suspects Jin's debt is made up of other things as well
- she seems depressed
- I seem like a nice guy, but was silly to hand over the money
- even if I give her $50,000 and an apartment, she will continue working

After all the translations were done, we had a fairly deep and meaningful chat about Korean girls in this line of work. She said they are no longer forced to work as prostitutes. They might have debts, but they have chosen to work as prostitutes to pay the debts off.

She said full service girls were too accustomed to their lifestyles, hence why they may pay off their debts but never have enough money. The lifestyle includes all the eating, drinking and taxis.

Honey seemed like an intellectual. I picked up on her slight American accent and she said she had been to America and has a degree. I found her extremely attractive and thought she resembled Christina. I almost wished she wasn't that attractive as now I wanted to see her again.

Sometimes while we were talking, she'd find an excuse to touch or hold my hand, like when she gave as an example of me giving her money to stay with me, she grabbed hold of my hand. However, after reading some reports of her on the forums, seems like that's just part of her repertoire.

Do not fall for it. Do not fall for it.

She seemed to know a lot about the Korean working girls industry, but always distinguished it from the massage girls. At the end, she even told me not to go to full service shops, and to visit her massage shop instead. I joked, do you want me to see you or Natalie? She hesitated a bit, seemingly not knowing how to answer, and then gave in to her primal response, one of jealousy, and mentioned something about Natalie not being worth it.

She offered a hug, and I said it was nice to chat with her. It did make me feel better. She told me it was an expensive life lesson and to just take it as that.

I left, telling myself I'd try to see both her and Yuna. But that'd be costly. Hmmm.

Unlikely contract extension / Nunjo's version / Yuna

On Friday afternoon I went with Aaron to the SC for a warrant. As we waited inside chambers, Aaron was talking about some random things, like how he'd always wanted a wall full of books at home. I knew he was a bit tipsy from the IU lunch earlier.

Please God, don't let him say anything stupid.

The judge was GB, and I wondered if he'd even recognise me. When we went in, he didn't look at us at first, and just asked us to sit down. Then he glanced up, and when he saw me he did a double take and gave an extra smile as he said hello.

I was too nervous to say anything other than "good afternoon your Honour", and when he was reading the documents he said "had a change of employment have we?" and all I could manage was a chuckle along with "yes, very recently".

We managed to get that down fairly quickly and without any problems. I was afraid GB would see it was me and make things difficult. When we were sitting inside, I looked around and saw how grand everything was in the life of a judge. It made me want to get away from this whole Erica thing.

So that was a good way to finish the day, and I thought it'd be a good opportunity to ask Mob about my contract extension, on the back of some good news. I packed up my things for the day and went into her room and said I was planning a holiday, and in terms of my budget, I just wondered if there was any news with the extension.

She looked worried immediately and put her head down into her right hand, as if she had just been presented with a complex maths problem. Then she said "well, I suppose there's no harm in telling you" and proceeded to explain the situation.

She told me Taran was from A&P downstairs, acting in his current role like me. The guy he is replacing is coming back in March. But someone (either Wongy or Ben I'm guessing) wants to go on secondment, and before she could approve that, she needed to ensure we had enough lawyers if that person did leave, hence why she asked if I'd be interested in a contract extension. She said if any position became available then it'd go to Taran before me, as he has priority (I agree and understand).

So then, my understanding of it is this: the guy from Melbourne comes back to replace Taran. Either Wongy or Ben go off on secondment, and then Taran takes their role. And if Monika doesn't come back, then I get to stay.

So it seems like I am being second fiddle in a scenario unlikely to eventuate. I'd have to hope for Ben or Wongy to be offered the secondment, and for Monika not to come back. If Ben or Wongy don't go, and Monika comes back, then Taran gets my role.

Talk about fore-planning by Mob.

Anyway, after that I left feeling like everything had to go according to my initial plan again (the bar). I went to the Soda Factory to meet with some old colleagues for a drink. The place was deliberately misleading out front, so if you had never been there before you probably would walk right past it.

When I went in, I saw Genie sitting there. I went over and she told me Moira was ordering at the bar, so I went to her and greeted each other. I bought myself a lemonade and some chilli cheese fries to share.

We caught up a bit before Melissa arrived. Later on Canda arrived, and someone pointed out that Jim and Julia were also around. We tried to get them to join us and it looked like they didn't want to, but finally acquiesced. I spent most of my time talking to Jim and Julie, just about work, and also what we would do if we won the lotto (I brought it up).

We had also noticed a guy near us who kept looking back at us, and we wondered who it was. Mel took a look at him and told us who he was. I recognised him but didn't know where, and when Mel told me, it clicked: he was doing the hearing with Taran! I hope he didn't overhear me say anything inappropriate about my work place (I don't think I did).

Mel's partner Matt, Caroline and Cameron also arrived, but they all formed a separate group to me, Jim and Julia. Finally we decided to go to dinner, but turned out only Canda, Genie and I went.

We went to a Thai place nearby, one that I had walked past on my way to work on the route I previously took. This is when the night got interesting. We had somehow gotten onto the topic of the whole Vanuatu trip with Nunjo, and Canda let it slip that she knew Nunjo's side of the story. After a bit of pressure from Genie and I, she agreed to tell us, but only if I told her my version. So it was full and frank time.

Apparently Nunjo's version was simply that I had a crush on her, and when I couldn't take her rejection, I ignored her. There was no mention of her swearing at me or anything. Wow. If you're going to tell the story, at least give the complete picture!

We also gossiped about Alanna, Bec and others, which was usual. It was starting to get late so I walked them to the train station and then caught a bus home.

I had been toying with the idea of seeing a Korean massage girl to get my texts translated, and thought I'd go out to Romeo's as the 'usual' one would be packed on a Friday night.

I told myself my main priority was to select a girl with good English, but when I was shown the line up of seven or so, all they said was "hello I am [name]" and walked off. So I couldn't really tell, and ended up picking the least unattractive one (I thought they were all pretty bad).

Her name was Yuna, and after using the bathroom, she waited for me at reception before leading me to the room. When I got inside, I told her that I didn't want a massage, and that I needed help with translating some texts. I asked if her English was good and she said yes. So far, so good.

I sat on the sofa and patted the area next to me and she sat down. I showed her the texts, and to my disappointment, it turned out her English was basically non-existent. All she did was type my messages into a search engine, in the hope that some page would show the English equivalent. It worked maybe 10% of the time, and didn't really tell me anything I didn't already know. Basically she just told me that Erica would not be giving my money back, not to call or message her (although where there was one message that asked me to call her) and basically to break up.

She also referred to the message about the stalker, and I explained that I had only seen the letter at her home which showed she had a different name.

She definitely understood all the texts though, as I saw her reaction as she went through them. She expressed disgust as she shook her head, and said this was a bad girl. I asked if she thought Erica lied to me and she said yes, trying to be empathetic about it.

I noticed as we went through the messages, she would lean into me and wrap her arm around mine, and at one stage even held my hand. She'd go between this and sometimes sitting with her legs up on the seat facing me, creating a bit of distance.

Afterwards I was still in a state of depression and disappointment, and she tried to comfort me by putting her hand on my shoulder. Then she started showing me photos of her and her friend on her phone. I said she was beautiful. She opened up Kakaotalk and I told her I had it as well. I thought about asking her for her Kakao ID, but figured maybe this wasn't the right time.

I asked when she came to Australia and she pulled out her phone calendar to point to 27 November 2013.

The buzzer went twice, and it was only on the second go that we made any attempt to leave. As we stood up, she said "bobo?" and we pecked on the lips which was a bit weird. She gave me a hug as well, and I figured this must be her routine when finishing with clients. I told her I'd see her next week and asked if she did a good massage and she said yes.

I then drove off into the night, thinking how it was just my luck to waste $170 and not have my texts translated. Oh well, at least this might be the start of something. Just don't hand over any more money!

The wig

Saturday
Last Saturday I did more surveillance. On my first drive on her street, I think I may have seen her standing outside talking to a guy, but I didn't have my glasses on so could not be sure. When I went back around, she was gone.

I parked on another street then met up with Michael L to pick up some letters for Eva. I returned to my car and went again looking for a parking spot. I managed to find the perfect one, right across her apartment giving me frontal vision of her entrance/exit.

As I sat there, I realised my car was probably too identifiable for her. She would definitely see a green Commodore quite easily. I needed another car.

I never saw her during my two hours or so, but did see Ash and Yuri leaving. I quickly ducked down and don't think they saw me. I've realised from my work that people walking on the street don't pay enough attention to cars.

Wednesday
While at work I felt like I changed my mind a bit. Maybe it was the possibility that my contract would get extended. I thought maybe I should just let the whole thing go, and also to take a holiday, forget about her and everything.

But then later on my mind changed again. I went into the OCD mode of 'must pursue and make her life hell or get my money back'. I felt insulted again.

That night we had a game against Machinas. It would be a grand final re-match, without the same substance. Found out Mike's instructions were to tank the game and lose it. And I only found that out in the middle of the first half, when I suggested Kevin go on for Alex, who then told me Mike said to leave Alex on for the whole game as he was our "star player".

Hmmm.

Despite that, Derek and I had excellent games. I hit my first three shots, and Derek was hitting his shots from everywhere. It actually didn't seem like we were tanking at all. It turned out to be a high scoring game, but in the game, they gave up on defence and allowed the other team to score and win. I was yelling out to draw the game, but they didn't listen. I know I told my Shoyo team to tank it so we could get into the lower division, but for this game I really wanted to win.

When I went home I found Jin had returned to Kakaotalk - on both accounts.

Thursday
I woke up early, and walked to work earlier than usual.

I had to meet Eva for lunch to give her the letters back. When I saw her at Wynyard I almost didn't recognise her, for two reasons: 1) she had changed her hair style, and 2) she wasn't wearing corporate work attire as I expected her to.

We found a food court inside a building nearby, and it occurred to me that, hey, here was a girl who suggested a food court! We got something from an Asian take away store and sat at stools to eat. We started talking about others, like Ele, and how Shuing had left for overseas. She told me about how she was planning to work in the US for a couple of years with her current company, which would affect whether she became a citizen or not.

I also brought up the book I was reading about reincarnation, which she seemed interested in. I find that I am having fun telling people about this book, like Genie.

As I spoke to her, I kept wondering to myself whether I could 'accept' her.

Could I really date a divorced woman?

I think the ultimate answer was no.

After lunch I went to pick up my shirts from the dry cleaners. And after work I went looking for a wig to wear on my next 'surveillance day'. I ended up in this place called House of Priscilla - a drag queen store. I found one I thought was suitable and asked the guy to get it for me as it was too high up. The mannequin head it was on kinda scared me, and I half expected it to lunge out and scream at me.

Funny thing was, I thought he'd just give me the wig to try on. But he walked me to the mirror, put it on my head, and started stroking the hair to make it all fall into place, and it seemed like he was a parent trying to make me feel like a pretty little girl.

Ummm...dude, I just want this for surveillance so I don't get recognised.

I asked how much it was and he said it was $30 for hire for two days. I asked if they sold it and couldn't make out his response, so I hired it. He was flexible enough to allow me to return it on Monday. Surprisingly, and I guess this makes sense, he asked me for ID. I suppose people do buy these things to rob banks etc.

Texts from 17/11/13

Don't know why, but I fear losing these texts somehow, so...

18:38 - she calls, I don't answer
18:38 - she calls again, I don't answer
18:46 - Me: Do not call. Only message. Show me proof.
19:25 - Her: My mom? when you help?
19:25 - Her: U better stop blackmail to my friend.!!
19:25 - Me: Proof!!!
19:25 - Her: I did not ask u to money. U gave me
19:26 - Me: You did not ask?!?!!?
19:26 - Me: You asked me for $90,000!!!
19:26 - Her: with ur own will. u wanna sue
19:27 - Her: me? Go ahead! U sexual assault to me
19:27 - Me: Wow...so you want to make another lie as well??
19:28 - Her: in the motel before!!! Im going to sue u
19:28 - Me: You are so bad liar!!!
19:28 - Me: Why did you lie to get my money?!?!?!?
19:28 - Her: too..I have every evidence with
19:29 - Her: u already. Whatever u think..
19:29 - Her: GO ahead!
19:29 - You lie about your mum..why!?!?!
나는 지금껏 너한테 거짓말한적 없으며
니가 우리엄마 아프다고 돈을 줬냐?
그래서 니가 줬냐고?
괜히 우리엄마까지 끌여드리지마
내가 니엄마 이야기 하면 좋겠냐
별거가지고 이제는 협박이네
인형이나 사가지고 와놓고
무슨 지가 돈을  준것처럼 이야기하네
인형이나 가져가
밖에 던져 놓을 테니까
Jin this was never a fling for me. I seriously liked you the first time we went to dinner at Christmas.
If it was fling, I would not have given you any money. $25000 is not small amount.
I always loved you until you broke up with me when I could not help you with $1500 credit card bill.
Ash said it was my fault that I gave you money. If your story is true, then I helped you, but it is my fault? Really?
He said I could have said no and chosen another girl. But I decided to help you, because I liked you.

Friday shout for everything! / Chaya

On Friday I met up with Troy for lunch. We caught up about the old matter I had, how the trial went, the sentences, and the costs appeal. God, I'm really glad he fixed all that for me. It really does vindicate me within that office.

He also asked about my future suggesting the bar, and I said that I had actually registered for the exams but was still undecided if my current place offered me a 12 month extension. He then gave me some really good tips and stories about going to the bar, with an emphasis on not getting paid. He relayed stories about lawyers and clients who ripped him off, and I was quite astounded that it even happened. Really makes you think twice about going to the bar.

I paid for the lunch which was my intention the whole time, as he always paid for shit when we previously worked together. We had a bit of a chat as we left and then I returned to my office.

I practically spent the whole day doing nothing and waited until 4:30pm when we went for work drinks to celebrate Paul finishing his exams last week. Mob headed over early and I walked with Paul and Wongy. Always feel left out when they start smoking together.

We found the place and I shouted them a drink. I thought, damn, I'm really giving away money today. Later Ben and Gabby arrived, and I stayed until 5:30pm. I talked mainly to Ben. Surprisingly he also is a Playstation guy. He said he had a PS3 but gave it to his brother, and he was thinking about getting a PS4.

After I left I met up with Jim for dinner. We, of course, talked about our grand final victory. I took him to the Japanese restaurant I went to once with HHH, Carry etc. There was a really pretty waitress there who I thought did a double take on the first look at me. Hmmm.

As we were walking back to his car, I asked him whether he would ever feel regret that he didn't have a girlfriend watch him play basketball. I seemed to hit the nail on the head as he said he had also thought about it and felt the same way, but said there was always street ball. I don't know, for me, street ball doesn't really count for much.

He drove me home and I felt a bit sad that we might never play as a team again.

I then headed out to the city. Throughout the day in the office I had been using Wechat to look for 'girls' to see. I found this one Thai girl called Chaya. She probably wasn't the most attractive, but she seemed to have this 'homely', girl next door type of feel to her. Also, I don't think I have been with a Thai girl before.

I was lucky to find a parking spot right near her apartment. I went to the ATM to get some cash out, and then messaged her. When I got there it took a while for her to respond, and I wondered if she had seen me on the camera and had second thoughts. I waited for a long time and was thinking about leaving before she messaged me her apartment number.

I went in and was excited by the new-ness of it all as I approached and knocked on the door. I was expecting an apartment run by a shop, but it wasn't. She opened the door, the lights were out and her tv was on. She invited me in. I used the bathroom first then went to her room where she told me to have a shower. Learning from last time, I had already taken out all identification from my wallet, so at least I did not have to worry in that respect.

After I showered, I went to her room where I sat on the bed. She stood in front of me, turned around and asked me to unzip her dress at the back.

Hmmm...definitely a homely feel.

I did, and she turned out to have an amazing body. I think her breasts were fake, as they were large and very firm. I started by kissing her breasts and then somehow ended up kneeling on her bed as she went down on me.

I asked if she had a boyfriend. She expressed annoyance at the question, asked me why I had to ask, and then said yes. That was a bit of a turn off.

Then we got into missionary, and then she changed to doggy where I finished. I then spent some time sucking on her breasts. I thought she ended it, but then I saw her reach for her phone and start typing, and she kept pressing my head into her breast so as to not allow me to see. Maybe she was texting another client.

We then talked. When I told her I was a lawyer, she then told me about how a Singaporean customer previously saw her, asked her if she had a licence to do this sort of thing, and when she said she didn't, he asked for his money back or else he would dob her in. Wow, that actually made me very angry.

I told her I didn't know a way around it other than recommending she only keep a list of close customers and stick with them. I told her it was obvious she didn't have a licence as she was operating from an apartment.

We actually managed to talk quite a bit, but it was all 'work related', meaning it was about her working without a licence. When time was up I got dressed and left.