Seoul's Western Food

Besides shopping, the variety of non-Korean food is one of the best reasons to go up to Seoul for the weekend. Stephanie and I went up this past weekend, and our whole weekend essentially revolved around Forever 21 in Myeongdong and eating as much non-Korean food as possible.

We first began with a Kebab from Mr. Kebab in Hongdae, for which I now have a punch card. Sorry, no picture of this as we were both too hungry to wait to snap a picture!

Saturday, we picked up a coffee from Dunkin Doughnuts in Hongdae, and by the time we were finished, Dos Tacos had opened up. We each ordered a burrito, mine was rice and bean with beef and avocado. It was simply fantastic, even though I couldn't eat it all. It was completely worth the 9,900 won!



After having perhaps too much success at Forever 21, we refueled with a giant, 1,500 won ice cream cone. It was fantastic because it was cool in the hot, afternoon sun, but it wasn't so filling that we were stuffed after.



Before we had dinner, we went to Happy Hour in Hongdae. The group next to us had a pitcher of what appeared to be fruit soju with real fruit. We ordered the same thing, but had to add the soju ourselves. It had a yogurty base, and was pretty unique.



The next place our group went to was a hopping Hof in Hongdae. Despite Hongdae being one of the main tourist areas, we were one of two tables of foreigners. Every other table was full, and it did take a while to get served. We ordered two types of chicken- a cheesy, boneless bbq style, and a spicy garlic chicken. The garlic chicken came in a shovel! I'd never seen that before.



Sunday, we began with breakfast at Rocky Mountain Tavern in Itaewon. This is probably the best Western-style breakfast for less than 10,000 in town. And the IPA we each ordered with it may not have been the healthiest decision for 11 am, but, oh, it tasted so good!



Finally, something I'd been literally dreaming about! Subway! I missed my chance when my parents were here when I stumbled upon a Subway in Gangnam, but forgot to go back to order! I was so happy to see one in Hongdae, where I generally stay. I chose the Subway Club, and it was just like back home. It was by far the best sandwich I've ever had in Korea!



When we weren't eating, we were either shopping, relaxing, or people watching around town. Even though we didn't do too much, we were both exhausted by the time we came back Sunday evening!

Seoul Getaway

A few weekends ago, Kenny and I went up to Seoul for our 6th month anniversary. I hadn't really been out of Gwangju since I'd come back in August, so I really felt the need to get out!

We just went up for Saturday night, but we seemed to do so much in the short amount of time that it felt longer than it actually was. We did lots of fun things, but I think our favorite was going out to dinner at "Between" in Itaewon, and going to "All That Jazz," also in Itaewon.

"Between" is a relatively new restaurant on the main drag in Itaewon. They're known for their wide variety of Tapas and bar selections. We had no problem getting a seat in the non-smoking section, even though it was busy. It was much bigger on the inside than it looked on the outside!

We poured over the extensive tapas menu for a while before we decided. We chose the set menu, assuming it was a "couples set." Unfortunately it wasn't (but for the price, it should have been! 55,000 won!). However, we looovveed every dish they brought us!

We had a total of 6 courses, and started with the appetizer- raw beef, lettuce, fresh Parmesan, olive oil, and some nuts:



Our second course, the tapas, we selected seared scallops wrapped in bacon. They were my favorite!



Third course was a spicy seafood pasta:



Fourth course was our meat dish- so good! Roasted duck with a orange glaze, garlic mashed potatoes, and cooked apples.



Fifth and sixth courses was desert (creme brule) and tea (mango). All this food was washed down with a nice Canadian IPA, Alley Cat. Even though the food was delish, we weren't completely full, but that made getting the late night Kebab from the street vendors all the better!

Here are some more shots of the restaurant:

Girls Weekend in Seoul (and Incheon)

After our two day EPIK retreat to Boseong, Alli, Em, and I headed up to Incheon as soon as we could Friday night. We met the boys, Patrick and Joe, and went right to Art Center, seeing as how we were right there. Luckily, I packed lightly, but Em wasn't excited about carrying her 4 pairs of shoes around.

At the Art Center, there is a courtyard surrounded by really tall buildings covered with neon lights advertising noraebangs, hofs, and cafe's. Alli and I spun a wheel set up by a male booking club. On Alli's spin, she won a discount coupon of some sort, and when I spun, it landed on free food! Awesome! Then, the man in charge spun it a little more to be on the "free hug" part. I had to choose from 8 different "cutie" boys who I wanted to hug. I just choose the closest one, but it felt all wrong because he looked so young!

The boys and I watched the Brazil/Portugal game at one of the hofs. We played some drinking games, and learned a few new ones. It was a pretty exciting night! Carmen also came out to join us. Here's a picture of one of the new games- Icing. You have to sneakily give someone a Smirnoff Ice, and they have to drop down on one knee and chug it all. Alli and Em did this to the boys, they were so suprised!



We somehow managed to fit 4 people into Patrick's queen-sized bed Friday night. Needless to say, we woke up early because we were squished like sardines in there!

Saturday we went shopping at Dongdaemun and Myeongdong. For most of the day, we were feeling out of it. Staying up late three nights in a row was taking a toll on us! We each choose some things at Forever 21, the best place to shop in Myeongdong. Since we planned to watch the game, we went back to the hostel (which we'd somehow managed to book for the wrong day and the wrong amount of people but still got a room!) to relax.

We had an amazing dinner in Hongdae at Dos Taco's. We each ordered burritos, and they were easily the best burrito I'd had in 10 months! Our big plan was to watch the Korea/Argentina game in Hongdae, but couldn't find a place because it soon started to downpour and every place was full! I got pretty frustrated, and I think the other two did also.

Emily called our Korean friend Alex, who was on his way to Incheon. Turns out, he didn't really want to go there to begin with, and came back. He called his friend, who owns a bar in Sincheon, and was able to reserve a table for the 4 of us. It was great, and our other friend Kyu was there also. The three of us were so relieved to have a place to watch the game! I didn't take many pictures, but here we are trying to get our Korea tatoo's to stick.



It was a tiring 4 days in a row, but I'm glad we went up to Seoul/Incheon for the weekend. It was great being in that crazy large crowd getting ready to watch the game. Thank God we found a place to watch it!

Suwan Spring 2010 Field Trip

Last week Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, I took a three day field trip with my school. It seems like we covered almost all of Korea, and spent so much time in the bus!

Our first stop was at the DMZ on the East Sea. This is the gym teacher and me... he's got a pretty good sense of humor!



Later that day, we went do a different beach where there was a pretty temple:



After a sleepless night in a resort up somewhere in Gangwon provience (the kids didn't have a bedtime), we went to Seoraksan National Park. The weather was very hot and humid, that's why it appears so cloudy in these pictures. It made for some uncomfortable hiking on a very long trail to the famous "Rocking Rock."





Later, we went to Everland. Everland is just like Disneyworld, but smaller. It was the perfect day to go because it was a Thursday, and Korea played Argentina. Hardly anyone was in the park! The most popular ride, the roller coaster T-Express, only took us 10 minutes in line, and usually the wait is three hours!



Here's the kids we went on T-Express with.



We also went on a safari and saw a sea lion show, which was pretty cute. Later, we watched the soccer game in the rose gardens of Everland but had problems finding a seat. It was too bad that we lost the game.

The last day, we went to the Independence Memorial. I was impressed by their museums. A lot was in English, so that was nice. It wasn't really as cloudy as it looks!



By the time we got home Friday night, I was exhaused. On Monday, they gave me a thank you present for going on the field trip- 5 dried squid. I'm so lucky.

World DJ Fest- Part 2

Here's a picture from Alli from this weekend. From left to right, Emily, Abe, Margaret, Michael, Mike, Alli, Alex, Miguel, and Brian down in front. I still can't believe how much fun we all had!

4th World DJ Fest

This past Saturday, I went up to Seoul with Michael and Miguel to see the 4th World DJ Festival. We got on the bus around 11:20, and made it there by 4. After getting off the subway at the World Cup Staduim, we kind of got lost on the walk to the park along the Han river, but made it eventually just by following a mass of people!

I was glad we had purchased our tickets in advance. There were so many people in line waiting to get in! Our friend, Leah, was already inside and she told us that we weren't allowed to bring in any outside containers, so while we were waiting in line to get in, we were also drinking some Hite and whiskey. Here's Michael, Miguel, and I waiting to get in:



I was so glad we had gotten there early. It was great to be at the concert while it was still light out. I almost immediately lost Michael and Miguel, but that was okay :) I walked around drinking with Leah. We explored a lot of the vendor's stalls, took some silly pictures, played some bongo drums, and drank some more. Here we are at the Jagermeister stage, prior to getting face paint:



Here's what the venue looked like when it was still light out:



We had a lot of fun once the sun went down also. This was the main stage again. I'm not sure who was playing at the time, but everyone on the main stage was very talented!



Here's another of the stage. There must have easily been 10,000 people in the park. Good thing there were 5 stages!



The rest of our ticket group, Alli, Alex, Brian, and Emily, came later on in the evening. They also rode up with some friends from Gwangju, Mike and Abe. We looked for our Incheon friends, Evan, Carmen, and Joe, and eventually found them. It was a great time once we were all together. Things got pretty crazy pretty quickly. I stopped drinking around 11, I wouldn't have made it all night had I kept on drinking with the rest of them! That ended up being just fine though. By the time we left at 4:30 am, I was feeling good, just tired, while the rest of them were pretty hungover and tired I think!

Before we got back on the subway at the World Cup, we stopped at the Home Plus. I almost had a breakdown when deciding what early-morning snack to get. There were so many food choices that I hadn't seen in about 9 months, and I didn't know what to choose! In the end, I got something that I could have easily gotten in Gwangju- I didn't want to make the wrong decision! And, 5 am was just too early to be thinking straight!

It was a really long night, but it was so much fun. Everyone had a blast! I'm not sure if I'll go again next year, it may just have to be a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

World DJ Fest- Less than 1 week away!

Saturday is World DJ Fest in Seoul. It's gonna be a great weekend. My friends and I got tickets in advance. We'll be going up Saturday, staying at the concert (right on the Han) and staying up all night; the concert ends at 6:30 am Sunday morning. We'll take an early bus back to Gwangju then on Sunday. Here are some pictures of the concert in years past:

This years line up:

Spring Fashion

This weekend the girls and I are going to Seoul again. One of the hardest parts of moving abroad is packing- there's always so much you want to take, but it's just not possible. We've got a general outline already of where we want to go. The list includes places like Itaewon for Emily's broken Mac, Dongdaemun, and our priority, Myeongdong. Myeongdong's got everything, last time I went to the Forever 21.

This time, we'll be also checking out the recently opened H&M, the first in Korea. I loved this store when traveling abroad in Europe, I'm excited to see how it compares here. According to the articles I've read, it is 2,600 sq meters, spread out over an "astounding" 4 floors! I've got a feeling I'll be spending some money this weekend...

We also figure that when we start dressing alike WITHOUT planning it, it's time for some new clothes.




Another store recently opened in Gwangju over the weekend, WhoAU. It is a South Korean clothing store that is modeled after "California" fashion. Think American Eagle, Hollister, and Abercrombie. They did have some cute clothes, and it's always nice to have options when shopping. I think that will replace UniQlo as my favorite women's clothing store in Gwangju.

4 out of the last 5...

weekends, I have been in Seoul/Incheon. I realized this when I was halfway to Incheon on Thursday to visit Joe. Most of my friends in Gwangju are out of the country, specifically to SE Asia. So I didn't have any plans, and decided to go up and see what was happening in Incheon.

Everyone and more was in town for the weekend, so we had a blast. Thursday we went to Trivia night at a small bar named G7 in Bupyeong. It was lots of fun. I got to see Patrick, Evan, Sophia, Carmen, and Ryan. There were also lots of other Incheon people from orietation there, like Drew and Kevin. The Incheon crowd has made friends with some Koreans, and I got to meet some of them. It was a good crew, and one of our two groups came in first place. Here they are with their winnings:



On Friday, I went into school with Joe. He was doing an English camp this past week, and after we went out with two of his teachers to get coffee and ice cream. The cafe near Juan station was adorable, and the bathrooms were western! There was a real toilet, toilet paper, liquid soap, and paper towels! That's not something you come across very often!

Later, we took the subway into Seoul to get a very late dinner in Insadong. Insadong is close to the main palace, so it tends to be a little touristy. Since we were there later, we didn't get to see much of the shops. They sell a lot of antiques and traditional Korean handicrafts. I would like to go back again someday to do some more shopping in the small stores. There are also a lot of tea houses in the area, and we got tea at 10 pm after dinner. I had ginsing and ginger, it was pretty tasty!

Saturday, Joe and I went back to Seoul after watching a few episodes of Jersey Shore. We went to Myeongdong, which is a very popular shopping district. I really wanted to see the Forever 21 and get some clothes. That place was amazing, and I could have spent all day (and all my paycheck!) in there! The three stories were filled with women of all different races, it was strange hearing that much English! I didn't come out empty handed, but I'll refrain from telling you everything I got. Here's the outside.



Joe's friend Alex lives in Seoul, and does the SMOE program. We met him and two of his friends, Diane and Julia, at 6 in Sinchang. It is a university area, and one of my new favorite places. There, there's a place called HANA and every week there are language exchanges between English speakers and Koreans. This weekend was a special "party" weekend and it was packed! We figured there were a little less than 300 people there. It kind of felt like speed dating! You get unlimited beer and snacks, and get to mingle and small talk. I meet a few girls who I exchanged numbers with, and I'd like to get together with them when I'm in Seoul next. Before the party wound down, there was a dance contest and dating auction. It was pretty entertaining! Our group decided to skip the official round two, and instead went with our new friends to Hongdae for a good time at a few places. Sophia, Evan, Ryan, and Carmen came in from Incheon and met us there. Here we are at a Soju Room.


From left: Badi, Qu, Sophia, Unknown, Ryan, Me

From left:Unknown, Evan, unknown, Alex, unknown, Carmen, Joe, Diane.

It was a great night and I wish that Gwangju had something like that. I'd definitely do it again!

North Korea/DMZ/JSA

Our main purpose for going to Seoul when Tom and Mike came was to have a tour of the DMZ (De-Militarized Zone) and JSA (Joint Security Area). I found the tour online through tourdmz.com It was the only company I could find that offered a tour of both areas on a Saturday at a price I was willing to pay.

Pickup was at 8:30 at the Lotte Hotel. Lotte is one of the largest brands, and had a gorgeous hotel in downtown Seoul. The tour was about half English speakers and half Japanese speakers. There weren't any Koreans on the tour because as a Korean you are not allowed to have a tour of the DMZ.

Our first stop was Dorasan Station. It is the northern-most train station and very, very close to NK. They have the line set to go to NK, but due to the current political situation, the project is still in the works. Once the project is complete, the line will run from Busan all the way through Russia and over to Europe, making it the longest train line. The station was also brand new and completely empty. Guess it doesn't get much use! Here are the boys in front on the empty platform:



Our next stop was the Dora Observatory. From this point, you usually have a good view into the DMZ and North Korea. However, our weather was cloudy and with the snow it was really hard to tell what we were looking at. I imagine on a nice summer day you'd have a pretty good view.

Close by is the third tunnel. It was one of 4 (known) tunnels dug from the north to invade the south. Luckily, they discovered it in time! You aren't allowed to take pictures in the tunnel for security purposes. We were able to go quite far into the tunnel after taking the monorail down into it (it was just like a rollercoaster!) and they provided us with hard hats because the ceiling was low. Mike and Tom kept hitting their heads on the rock but I managed to only hit mine a few times. In the tunnel, we were able to go pretty close to the Military Demarcation Line, so that was exciting. It was suprisingly warm 73 meters under the surface, I was getting pretty cold from being outside! Outside the tunnel we went into some visitors sections and took this picture:



Then we went to Imjingak freedom village. There is a long bridge that goes into the DMZ where the POW's were exhanged after the war. We looked at some monuments and got to walk on the bridge a little. It was covered with ribbons everywhere you looked, I'm assuming to honor those families that were/still are separated. There was also a train here that had been derailed by bombs at some point during the war. There were over 1,020 bullet holes in it and according to the sign, it "shows the cruel situation at the time."

This is Tom with the ribbons on the bridge:


Another thing that was interesting was the two layer wire fence. It looked like one giant booby trap. There were rocks stacked in the wire and each type of rock had a different name (Auditory stone, Hearing stone, Patrol tag, and Trace stone). They are supposed to alert the guards that patrol the barrier if there was an intruder because of the way they are stacked. I couldn't believe the amount of barbed wired on the fence!

We switched busses at this point to take the second half of our tour, the JSA portion. This might be a little hard to describe how everything felt and what it looked like, so forgive me if it is a little confusing.

In our new bus we drove to Camp Bonifas which is just on the southern border of the DMZ. Our tour guide was telling us about the "lucky" young men that get to do their now 18-month mandatory military service there. It is very prestigious. They have to meet a height limit, be physically and mentally tough, speak 4 languages (though I'm not sure how well), and be at least a black belt in Taekwondo. Now, I'm not sure if that is correct because during the tour, Tom, Mike, and I all thought we heard different things about the requirements.

Camp Bonifas looked like what I assume any other military base does. We weren't allowed to take pictures here. The area did have a lot of security though, as you can imagine! Upon arrival at the Camp, we had a briefing on the history of the DMZ and had to sign a disclaimer. I have mine taped up to my wall now, normally you aren't allowed to take it with you, I'll explain more about that later. The first lines of the disclaimer say:

"1. The visit to the Joint Security Area at Panmunjon will entail entry into a hostile area and possiility of injury or death as a direct result of enemy action. The JSA is a neutral but divided area guarded by United Nations Command military personnel on one side (South) and Korean People's Army personnel on the other (North). Guests of the United Nations Command are not permitted to cross the Military Demarcation Line into the portion of the Joint Security Area under control of the Korean People's Army. Although incidents are not anticipated, the United Nations Command, the United States of America, and the Republic of Korea cannot guarantee the saftey of visitors and may not be held accountable in the event of a hostile enemy act."

This is to date the scariest disclaimer I've ever signed, and probably ever will!

After the briefing, we had to leave ALL of our things on the bus other than our camera. You couldn't even take your camera case! Their reasoning was they didn't want the North to use anything against us propoganda wise. We boarded a Camp Bonifas bus, and drove past the security right into the 4km wide DMZ with our ROK tour guide/military man with us.

This area to me didn't look much different than any other snowy landscape in Korea, but Mike was incredibly excited and kept saying how much his dad would like to be here. Apparently, he was able to see old trenches and such dug into the ground. Again, picture are not allowed. We went right to the JSA, which is divided by the Military Demarkation Line. I was kind of nervous when we got there, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one!

Off the bus, we were forced to stand in two lines next to each other. It reminded me of being in Kindergarten again! We went into the main ROK building and marched straight outside to the blue conference buildings. We were really, really lucky to have been allowed this opportunity. Even the day before the tour, it was not allowed to see the conference buildings, so I was very excited. As we walked anywhere outside, we needed to keep our hands in our pockets, not make any hand guestures, and not smile at the guards (both the ROK and KPA).

The conference building wasn't too big, and our group of 40 and about 10 ROK soilders filled it up. After a brief explanation, we were allowed to take pictures. The Military Demacation Line runs right through this room, so I tried to take lots of pictures of the North. But it doesn't look much different than any other conference room. I did get a picture of the acutal line outside from the north. Now, I can officially say I've been to North Korea!

Here, Mike's in South Korea, while Tom's in North Korea.



We left the conference room after about 15 minutes of rapid-fire picture taking and went to a lookout point outside. During our march there, our ROK soilder/tour guide yelled at some people for falling out of line and not keeping up with the group! From the lookout point, we could see the North's main JSA building as well as a skeptic KPA guard looking at us through binoculars. I took a few pictures of him looking at us. We could also somewhat see the North's propoganda village in the distance, but it was still cloudy and snowy so those pictures aren't the greatest. We were allowed to stay on the lookout for about 15 minutes, then we marched back to the bus.

These are the conference buildings, we went in the center one:



This is North Korea, do you see the soilder?




That was pretty much it for the JSA tour, and we then drove back though the DMZ and through Camp Bonifas on the way back to Seoul. I was impressed at the amount of barbed wire fences on the way out, even after we'd left the DMZ area. Oh, I forgot we did stop at the Camp's souvenier shop and switched back to our bus where we'd left our things. Also, as I mentioned earlier, we were able to keep our disclaimer we signed upon arrival. I think it was partly because someone in our group asked to and partly because we were the only visitors there. I'd say we were lucky that we chose to go on that day of all days!

It was a full day tour, we got back to the Lotte Hotel around 5:30 just as the sun was starting to go down and the Christmas lights were coming on. It was a great tour, and I'd definitely recommend the company. Just make sure you get to do both tours (DMZ and JSA), if I'd only done one part, I wouldn't have been completely satisified with my tour. And, I was also relieved that we didn't encounter any "hostile enemy action!"

More pictures:
http://www.facebook.com/#/album.php?aid=2220653&id=59501140&ref=mf

Korea's got Seoul

This weekend I decided to go up to Seoul to see the sights. It had been a while since I'd last been, and there is so much to see there! Originally I wanted to go to the DMZ, but then I started researching Seoul and decided there wouldn't be enough time to make it.

I got the bus Friday at 6 with Brian, Emily, Ricky (their friend from back home), Alli, and Alex. The bus was pretty nice, so I didn't mind riding it for 4 hours. We took the subway to our hostel, which was in Hongdae. By the time we unloaded our things there, it was around 12 pm. Luckily, Hongdae is where the college students and young adults hang out on the weekends, and we were close. Our friends from Incheon (Evan, Patrick, and Sophia) were in the area. Patrick had friends visiting, and Sophia was on a date, so we only got to see Evan Friday night. We met in the downtown area and hit up Ho Bar VII. We grabbed 1 beer there, and realized how hungry we all were. Across the street was a 님밥 restaurant and decided that would be fine.



At the restaurant, we ordered some dumplings. We got 6 orders, and we were all stuffed. It was delicious. After that, we were exhausted and went back to the hostel and were asleep by 2 am.

Saturday morning, I woke up early, and got ready. Our first stop was Paris Baguette for breakfast, then we went to the Yongsan. This area is the biggest electronic markets. There are over 20 buildings containing 5000 stores. Emily and I wandered around while Alli shopped for a Canon SLR camera. Em and I found a booth that burned DVD's, and I walked away with about 18 DVD's for about $25. I got The Ugly Truth, The Hangover, and seasons 1-7 of Sex and the City. You can guess what I'll be doing the next few weeks!



Alli got her camera and she tried it out when the two of us went to Gyeongbuk-gung (경북궁) which is Seoul's largest and most beautiful palace from the Joseon Dynasty. We were there about 2 hours, and took a ton of pictures. Unfortunately, I did not charge my camera much before I left, and it died shortly thereafter.

Here is a picture with some Korean students who wanted a picture with us. I love how awkard looking it is!


A pretty view of the temple


We met up with Emily for a late lunch (4 pm) in an area of town called Dongdaemun (동대문) where you can shop to your hearts content. Wikitravel says "Dongdaemun market has large department store-like buildings such as Doota, Migliore, and APM that have trendy shops and stalls grouped togehter so customers can shop efficiently and save time." The three of us gave ourselves 2 hours to shop. We flew through it so fast and walked out with some really good finds. We each got shoes, dresses, pants, sweaters, and some jewerly. Alli and I each bought the same sweater and pants because it was so cute. By the time we were done, we couldn't remember what we had found!

We went back to the hostel to get ready to go out. The boys had gone ATVing outside of Seoul, and we beat them back. The three of us put on our clubbing gear and met Patrick for dinner at Omatu Tomato, a great fusion restaurant in Hongdae. The boys eventually made it, and we spent the rest of the night bar and club hopping with Joe, Evan, Patrick, Ryan, Alex, and a few of their friends. It was a great night, except I could have done without the large storm that rolled in around 2 am. We all got drenched!

Sunday, we went home shortly after we woke up because we were all dragging from Saturday night. It took us about 1 hour on the subway to get to the bus terminal, then another 4 hours home. I didn't really say goodbye to our Incheon friends, but Patrick called later on to say goodbye to me. They'll be down in 2 weeks to visit us, and I don't think that it will be nearly as crazy of a weekend as this one was!

The A-Team does Incheon/Seoul

I may not have mentioned this before, but I'm happy to say I belong to the EPIK A-Team. Our team consists of Joe, Evan, Patrick, Carmine, Gabe, Sophia, and myself. The group is changing often, with other members being Tony, Robin, and Ryan.



Well, Gabe and I headed up to Incheon Friday night to meet up with the A-Team again. Unfortunately, it's just Gabe and I down in Gwangju, but we like to say we have our own Gwangju A-Team (Emily, Brian, Allie, Alex, Gabe, and I). We took the bus for just under 4 hours for 17,000 won. Pretty good deal, and comfortable bus. We did stop for a break halfway through.

We arrived at Incheon's main bus/subway terminal just before 11, and Evan, Patrick, Joe, and Sophia met us. We headed straight downtown with our luggage because it was late. We stopped by Chicken and Beer to see everyone. (Chris, Steph, Tony, and others) We had some chicken and drank some beer for a bit.

Someone had an idea to go on the virtual rollercoaster ride on the main plaza. Normally, I'm not big on virtual rides, but this was pretty sweet. And cheap! We got to choose from over 16 different coasters, and my friends do it so often, they knew the best one. I really thought I was going to get sick because it was SO REAL feeling! But it was a ton of fun.

Next, we walked a few doors down to Club Vanilla. We had to pay a cover, but it wasn't much. We didn't drink much, but danced like crazy!



The next day, we met at 5pm to go to Seoul. Our group was Sophia, Gabe, Patrick, myself, Joe, Evan, Tony, and Ryan. We met on the train platforms, and the ride only took about a half hour. Pretty efficient. We went right to the 63 tower. After we got our tickets, we went to the top and enjoyed the view:



The sun was just setting, as you can see. It was so pretty. And huge! We had a lot of fun, and even had dip-n-dots at the top.



After, we went to the city hall area of town. That was fun. We happened to catch a live big-band concert. They played some Beatles tunes, and the theme song to James Bond. I even took a video for my brother, and will attempt to post that. The guys really liked it and played with their guns for a bit.



We were all starving by this point, so we started to walk. I found a Korean BBQ place, and had a delicious meal:

I'm sad to say we spent the next two and a half hours on the subway. Our group wanted to make it to Club Eden to celebrate Alice's birthday, but we couldn't get there in time to not pay the 30,000 won entrance fee. So we skipped that. We happened to meet up with a ton of EPIK-Incheon people along the way, and our group grew to about 30 in the subway. People couldn't agreee on where to go/what to do/how to get there, so by the time we got anywhere, it was nearly 12 pm. Gabe and I just went with the flow since we'd never been to Seoul. I just Wikipediaed Seoul, and it is had 24 million people in the metropolitan area, making it the world's second largest.



We finally cut our group size down, and made it to where the bars were (name unknown). It was strange because we didn't stick out at all, there were plenty of expats. We first went to Freebird, where there was loud live music and plenty of tequilla shots. Our A-team wasn't enjoying it that much, so we walked around and went into Ho bar. Evan came later, and appologized, but he brought the crowd that we'd "forgotten" at Freebird. But we ended up having a great time and sang loudly to "I'm on a boat."



Much later, we went to Club Cocoon. I'd never really been to a club before, but this was how I always imagined it! Loud music, lots of dancing. Drinks were pricy, so I only had my 1 free beer. When I looked at my watch, it was 3:15. We ended the night by taking a taxi for 6 people to Incheon.



Sunday, Patrick and I met Gabe and Sophia at the bus terminal. We got a bus ticket quickly, and the ride was only 3 hours back. But boy were we tired after only sleeping 8 hours in 2 days! Hoping to go back to Seoul soon!