NYE in Seoul
Yesterday I decided I would check out a new ginseng market to get my mom more ginseng as requested, and also to check out the electronics market (hoping it wouldn't be closed this time).
I finally got to try that 'spicy chicken' fish shaped toast thing at a stand I pass a lot. I bought it and ate as I walked transferring from one subway to another. It was ok, but probably a bit too spicy for my liking. The drink I bought was some kind of corn drink, which was a bit ewww.
I got off at Hoehyeon station and went to the Namdaemun market. My first stop was a bakery surrounded by heaps of people. These two ladies were selling what looked like large buns and large dim sim shaped things. I wanted to buy one, but it seemed that people were buying boxes of them, so wasn't sure if they were selling them individually.
I walked on and starting looking for ginseng, checking out various stores. A lot of these stores were run by younger men, unlike the other market where it was mostly old women, which gave the impression that they were some sort of triads. My mom asked for one with 10 big ones inside, and the first one I found was $800, then $2000, and then $800 but the guy said he'd give it to me for $550.
I moved along to check out some others before deciding the last one would suffice. For some reason I got the figure 500 in my head, so when I went back I asked if he would sell it for $500. He said it was $550, then said he'd give it to me for $500 but made an annoyed gesture. Oops lol. Inadvertent bargaining lol. However, he even went to wrap it, gave me a free bag of lollies, and his wife (I think) even gave me a free cup of tea, which was really nice.
After that I walked around some more, ate some food from food stalls, before moving onto Yongsan. I saw a lot of bloody cameras, and very few phones. I stopped to eat at a Lotte fast food store, their shrimp burger was delish :) As I ate, I googled the best place to get a phone and so went off to the Gangbyeon Techno Mart.
I found the shopping centre where there was a floor full of phones. However, most people here seemed not as open to approaching me as in other shops. And when they did, they didn't have the S4 mini which I was looking for. I did find one but it was white, and later found another which was black. Both were quoted as $290. I reckon I could've bargained, but I thought $290 was pretty cheap already, so I got it. However, I wasn't paying attention and saw the lady open the box and the phone. Not sure what she was doing. Hmmm.
I then went to buy a pair of jeans, after what happened with the rashes. I didn't find the style I wanted, but figured the style I wanted (baggy with holes) was probably out of fashion anyway, so just went with a straight one. Can't see myself wearing slims lol.
When I initially got off at the station, I saw a sign for a Kiss Bang, so thought I'd go check it out. I thought it was ironic that I'd find one when I was least looking for it. I made my way up to the 6th floor of the building, and pushes the door open. The man said "no Karam, no" which I took to mean no foreigners. So that was the end of that little experience.
I went back to my hotel and took a bit of a nap, still unsure as to what I'd do for NYE. When I woke up, the thought of staying in my hotel room and 'reflecting' on everything that happened (read: Jin) did flash through my mind, but then I thought "for fuck's sakes, you're in Seoul, you may never come back here ever again, go the fuck out!"
And with that, I made my way out to the Han River for some fireworks. Pretty sure I got off at the wrong station (Ttukseom Resort), or at least the wrong part of the Han River, as the area was pretty much desserted. So I hopped back onto the subway and went to Seoul station, wanting to go to the shopping centre I saw last time.
I must've been mistaken, because this time it looked a whole lot smaller. I went to a frozen yoghurt place, as I hadn't had dessert in Seoul yet, so just for the sake of eating something sweet I went for it. The guy at the counter had to rub it in by asking if I wanted two spoons.
So I sat in there eating and googling where I should go next. That's when I decided I'd check out Times Square. But first I went to the store I saw before to get some presents for people. Ended up buying Mary a box, Geni a business card holder (figure I'll give their original presents to Brain or something), and soap for Alanna and Maria (who wasn't on my initial list).
I then went to Yeong-deungpo where I wandered the streets a bit. I stopped to eat at a food stall the spicy meat and soup thing, then wandered around some more. I eventually found the Times Square building and there seemed to be a bit going on there. I saw some tents set up and people posing in front of a large poster, and figured that people were just gonna hang around there for the fireworks.
But then I went further in and saw people going into the shopping mall. But they had to show wristbands, and I figured they were obtained from the tents. I lined up to buy one before I realised you couldn't buy one. I walked around a bit, and considered going home, but thought I'd hang around to see what would happen.
I saw a male foreigner asking a female foreigner something, and I guessed they had the same inquiries as me. I asked him if we could buy tickets, and the girl said we needed to register, and she had a form in her hand. The guy told me he was trying to buy a ticket as well and so we decided to work together on a plan as to how to get in.
I initially suggested sneaking our way in amongst a big group, as they didn't seem to look too closely for the wristband on people entering. However, by that time the amount of people going in were less, so more attention would be paid to us.
Some guy must've overheard us talking, as he offered us tickets for sale. I thought he was a scalper, but he told us he had a friend who wasn't coming, and only had one to sell. The guy I met (Adnan) said we needed two, and I was like, we better get one first and then work out later how to get another, so he allowed me to buy this one. I said I wouldn't go in without him and we started looking for others who were selling.
I approached one group of foreigners who weren't selling, and then I spotted a male and female couple with a bunch of tickets and suggested Adnan ask them. I was right. The girl had a few to sell but we only needed one. And so, our mission was accomplished.
We went to swap the tickets for wristbands, and then went in. It was like a large disco/club set up on the ground floor of the mall, jam packed with people. We went to the bathroom first, and then coming back out, I wanted to try this spin the wheel thing I spotted earlier. I won a free drink lol.
We found ourselves a nice spot relatively close to the stage and watched some performances and eventually the countdown. It was all pretty exciting. My first moments of 2014 in Seoul. This would be my new year. I had decided to move on from the Jin thing by getting a new number (hence the new phone). I also wanted to bounce back to my old self of just being basketball and work focussed. Throughout the day earlier I had experienced glimpses of motivation rushing through my body.
The other thing I want to do is to live for my parents. I think I've neglected them quite badly, by throwing away so much money. Margy once said to me "everything we do has consequences", which hit home to me. Going whoring and gambling, the underlying assumption was that I lived in a vacuum and this only affected me. But that wasn't true. There would be implications for my family and friends down the road, seen and unseen. So I have started trying to get into the habit of, before I spent money, asking myself, what does this achieve?
It is also another reason I decided not to expose Jin to her mother. I could very well easily leave a letter in her letterbox explaining everything. Yes, that might endanger me and I might be able to live with that threat, but what about my family? Did you ever think about that? What if people went to my house and threatened them?
Anyway, we left the place at about 12:30am. I was ready to call it a night, but he wanted to eat, so we took a taxi to Gangnum and found a Japanese restaurant there. Everything was still buzzing. Found out he was from Sweden, with a Saudi Arabian background and living in Malaysia. He was studying something IT related.
Seemed like a nice enough guy, told me he was 23, but looked my age with the facial hair. His English wasn't perfect, but we understood each other. Unlike me, he hadn't really learnt any Korean words. Guess he hadn't been having sex with Korean girls for years like me.
He did ask me why I chose Seoul. I was happy to tell him the truth, but started with saying it had to do with my ex-girlfriend, and he backed off, not wanting to intrude. So I thought I'd leave it at that.
We actually had some things in common - we had arrived on the same day and we would depart on the same day as well but different times. We were also staying in hotels somewhat close to each other.
We decided to meet up the next day as he wanted to go to some bridge. We both also needed to do some shopping. I went back to my hotel, expecting a barrage of texts about NYE, and probably even one from Jin.
Nope. On Kakao she changed her photo to fireworks at the Opera House, but it can be seen she took it from a tv, which didn't look like one in her house. I assume she was at work.
I finally got to try that 'spicy chicken' fish shaped toast thing at a stand I pass a lot. I bought it and ate as I walked transferring from one subway to another. It was ok, but probably a bit too spicy for my liking. The drink I bought was some kind of corn drink, which was a bit ewww.
I got off at Hoehyeon station and went to the Namdaemun market. My first stop was a bakery surrounded by heaps of people. These two ladies were selling what looked like large buns and large dim sim shaped things. I wanted to buy one, but it seemed that people were buying boxes of them, so wasn't sure if they were selling them individually.
I walked on and starting looking for ginseng, checking out various stores. A lot of these stores were run by younger men, unlike the other market where it was mostly old women, which gave the impression that they were some sort of triads. My mom asked for one with 10 big ones inside, and the first one I found was $800, then $2000, and then $800 but the guy said he'd give it to me for $550.
I moved along to check out some others before deciding the last one would suffice. For some reason I got the figure 500 in my head, so when I went back I asked if he would sell it for $500. He said it was $550, then said he'd give it to me for $500 but made an annoyed gesture. Oops lol. Inadvertent bargaining lol. However, he even went to wrap it, gave me a free bag of lollies, and his wife (I think) even gave me a free cup of tea, which was really nice.
After that I walked around some more, ate some food from food stalls, before moving onto Yongsan. I saw a lot of bloody cameras, and very few phones. I stopped to eat at a Lotte fast food store, their shrimp burger was delish :) As I ate, I googled the best place to get a phone and so went off to the Gangbyeon Techno Mart.
I found the shopping centre where there was a floor full of phones. However, most people here seemed not as open to approaching me as in other shops. And when they did, they didn't have the S4 mini which I was looking for. I did find one but it was white, and later found another which was black. Both were quoted as $290. I reckon I could've bargained, but I thought $290 was pretty cheap already, so I got it. However, I wasn't paying attention and saw the lady open the box and the phone. Not sure what she was doing. Hmmm.
I then went to buy a pair of jeans, after what happened with the rashes. I didn't find the style I wanted, but figured the style I wanted (baggy with holes) was probably out of fashion anyway, so just went with a straight one. Can't see myself wearing slims lol.
When I initially got off at the station, I saw a sign for a Kiss Bang, so thought I'd go check it out. I thought it was ironic that I'd find one when I was least looking for it. I made my way up to the 6th floor of the building, and pushes the door open. The man said "no Karam, no" which I took to mean no foreigners. So that was the end of that little experience.
I went back to my hotel and took a bit of a nap, still unsure as to what I'd do for NYE. When I woke up, the thought of staying in my hotel room and 'reflecting' on everything that happened (read: Jin) did flash through my mind, but then I thought "for fuck's sakes, you're in Seoul, you may never come back here ever again, go the fuck out!"
And with that, I made my way out to the Han River for some fireworks. Pretty sure I got off at the wrong station (Ttukseom Resort), or at least the wrong part of the Han River, as the area was pretty much desserted. So I hopped back onto the subway and went to Seoul station, wanting to go to the shopping centre I saw last time.
I must've been mistaken, because this time it looked a whole lot smaller. I went to a frozen yoghurt place, as I hadn't had dessert in Seoul yet, so just for the sake of eating something sweet I went for it. The guy at the counter had to rub it in by asking if I wanted two spoons.
So I sat in there eating and googling where I should go next. That's when I decided I'd check out Times Square. But first I went to the store I saw before to get some presents for people. Ended up buying Mary a box, Geni a business card holder (figure I'll give their original presents to Brain or something), and soap for Alanna and Maria (who wasn't on my initial list).
I then went to Yeong-deungpo where I wandered the streets a bit. I stopped to eat at a food stall the spicy meat and soup thing, then wandered around some more. I eventually found the Times Square building and there seemed to be a bit going on there. I saw some tents set up and people posing in front of a large poster, and figured that people were just gonna hang around there for the fireworks.
But then I went further in and saw people going into the shopping mall. But they had to show wristbands, and I figured they were obtained from the tents. I lined up to buy one before I realised you couldn't buy one. I walked around a bit, and considered going home, but thought I'd hang around to see what would happen.
I saw a male foreigner asking a female foreigner something, and I guessed they had the same inquiries as me. I asked him if we could buy tickets, and the girl said we needed to register, and she had a form in her hand. The guy told me he was trying to buy a ticket as well and so we decided to work together on a plan as to how to get in.
I initially suggested sneaking our way in amongst a big group, as they didn't seem to look too closely for the wristband on people entering. However, by that time the amount of people going in were less, so more attention would be paid to us.
Some guy must've overheard us talking, as he offered us tickets for sale. I thought he was a scalper, but he told us he had a friend who wasn't coming, and only had one to sell. The guy I met (Adnan) said we needed two, and I was like, we better get one first and then work out later how to get another, so he allowed me to buy this one. I said I wouldn't go in without him and we started looking for others who were selling.
I approached one group of foreigners who weren't selling, and then I spotted a male and female couple with a bunch of tickets and suggested Adnan ask them. I was right. The girl had a few to sell but we only needed one. And so, our mission was accomplished.
We went to swap the tickets for wristbands, and then went in. It was like a large disco/club set up on the ground floor of the mall, jam packed with people. We went to the bathroom first, and then coming back out, I wanted to try this spin the wheel thing I spotted earlier. I won a free drink lol.
We found ourselves a nice spot relatively close to the stage and watched some performances and eventually the countdown. It was all pretty exciting. My first moments of 2014 in Seoul. This would be my new year. I had decided to move on from the Jin thing by getting a new number (hence the new phone). I also wanted to bounce back to my old self of just being basketball and work focussed. Throughout the day earlier I had experienced glimpses of motivation rushing through my body.
The other thing I want to do is to live for my parents. I think I've neglected them quite badly, by throwing away so much money. Margy once said to me "everything we do has consequences", which hit home to me. Going whoring and gambling, the underlying assumption was that I lived in a vacuum and this only affected me. But that wasn't true. There would be implications for my family and friends down the road, seen and unseen. So I have started trying to get into the habit of, before I spent money, asking myself, what does this achieve?
It is also another reason I decided not to expose Jin to her mother. I could very well easily leave a letter in her letterbox explaining everything. Yes, that might endanger me and I might be able to live with that threat, but what about my family? Did you ever think about that? What if people went to my house and threatened them?
Anyway, we left the place at about 12:30am. I was ready to call it a night, but he wanted to eat, so we took a taxi to Gangnum and found a Japanese restaurant there. Everything was still buzzing. Found out he was from Sweden, with a Saudi Arabian background and living in Malaysia. He was studying something IT related.
Seemed like a nice enough guy, told me he was 23, but looked my age with the facial hair. His English wasn't perfect, but we understood each other. Unlike me, he hadn't really learnt any Korean words. Guess he hadn't been having sex with Korean girls for years like me.
He did ask me why I chose Seoul. I was happy to tell him the truth, but started with saying it had to do with my ex-girlfriend, and he backed off, not wanting to intrude. So I thought I'd leave it at that.
We actually had some things in common - we had arrived on the same day and we would depart on the same day as well but different times. We were also staying in hotels somewhat close to each other.
We decided to meet up the next day as he wanted to go to some bridge. We both also needed to do some shopping. I went back to my hotel, expecting a barrage of texts about NYE, and probably even one from Jin.
Nope. On Kakao she changed her photo to fireworks at the Opera House, but it can be seen she took it from a tv, which didn't look like one in her house. I assume she was at work.
posted by toey | 11:53
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