Sprinting to Catch Up

Wow, it seems like weeks since I've posted. Or, rather, I have gone through so much in the last few days, and I'm not sure how to convey it in a blog post. First of all, I'd just like to respond to a couple of the posts from last entry. Yes, Buddy, nuclear radiation is a money saver; mom, don't stress, I have no problem with you reading anything I write and knowing that will not cause me to censor myself; Sarah, be prepared for many more entries detailing my singing of Dancing Queen in every country I visit. That having been said, I also want to assure my loyal readers that I will try to keep the entries shorter and less tedious. You don't want to know my every bathroom break, and frankly, if I detail my every day on this blog, I won't be able to talk anyone's ear off when I get home. Or I will, and you'll all resent me for it because you've heard it all already. Anyway, to continue from last time:

A River Runs Next To It

Essentially, we hit up the DMZ and then left. It took the whole day, but was worth it. Back in Seoul the four of us (remember, it was Jon and I with the Brits: Matt and Sharon) grabbed some dinner. Everytime I spoke in Korean to the hostess, she spasmed into a little giggle fit. What I bitch. I'm new here. In keeping with the food focus of the blog, I'll relay that I ordered from the menu by pointing to a picture. This was mostly because that's how we all ordered, but I was also getting really sick of her high-pitched twitter. She didn't bring what I ordered, not even close. It's one thing to laugh at my Korean (which every other Korean person has understood perfectly well), but don't begin to tell me my pointing is off. I'm a good pointer. My index finger is perfectly linear. Plus, I ended up being served Chicken Katsu. That wasn't even pictured in the menu, Giggle Girl, so how could I have pointed at it? The chicken was good. We never went back. I did walk by it dozens more times because it was located on a street I dubbed "The Downpipe." The nickname comes from the overabundance of Bangs (pronounced 'bongs') which riddle the street with neon signage. A Bang is simply a meeting place with a specialized interest. I'm in a PC Bang right now. 4 dozen people are behind me right now playing World of Warcraft (stop drooling Ashleigh). There are DVD Bangs, Beer Bangs, Karaoke Bangs (have I already done this in a previous entry?). Regardless, a lot of Bangs, therefore "The Downpipe".

At the Western Bar

One trip down the downpipe came shortly after that giggle-infested meal experience, when Jon and I first discovered Dongdaemun. I was informed, during much of my pre-trip research, that there was a market in Seoul named Dongdaemun which specialized in selling clothing. Jon and I walked forever. To the point where I questioned whether or not Dongdaemun really existed. Turns out we were just a little underinformed. The market was a lot further than we were told, so we were going in the right direction. Dongdaemun is also fucking huge. It isn't a market. Calling Dongdaemun a market is like calling leperosy a blemish. It's crazier than taking your car's brakes to anywhere but Midas. (Yes, Buddy, that's a Clone High reference). So Dongdaemun is big. We arrived at a building which is an entire city block. The building was three stories tall. The inside of the building is packed with 10 foot by 10 foot stalls, each one selling a certain segment of wearable merchandise. Thousands to tens of thousands of stalls in the building. Now for the perspective: There were at least 9 of these buildings, each one a full city block, varying between three and six stories. Plus, the streets and alleys between the buildings are packed with tents and tables. I went from doubting its existence to fearing its raw power faster than that stupid hostess could giggle and hand me unwanted Katsu.

Coffee and Tea District

Jon had been pleading for days that we go to Dongdaemun. He flew here with his only clothes on his back. He expected to show up and buy clothes the first day. No dice. But it wasn't over. Well... it was over for that night, because we were so overwhelmed (and tired from the whole DMZ excursion) that Jon gave up. We hiked back with him three-days stinking, knowing it would be at least the next night before he'd have a change of clothes. The next morning, I climbed into some fresh duds and got some breakfast. Jon came too. Not so fresh. We went back to the first sandwich place which, as I now know, is called Bon Bon Sandwich. Then we went to a PC Bang, which is when I posted the last time. I do want to thank you all for the posts, pokes, comments, and e-mails. I tend to dream about home and all of you, so waking up can leave me a little homesick. When I can log on and hear from you, it erases any doubt of the duration of this trip. After that blogging time, I accompanied Jon on what we have come to refer to as The Great Watch Hunt. (This was far less epic, but more fruitful than the infamous Great Porn Hunt of '02). Besides arriving without clothing, Jon also came without a timepiece, and he'd grown tired of asking me. With absolutly know clue of where to look, we headed off.

Daytime Dongdaemun River

Seoul has a distinct manner of organizing itself. If you come across a hardware store, you will find 50 more right next to it. Same thing for lighting stores, coffee shops, convenience stores.

Digression: How is it convenient when all the convenience stores are right next to each other in one area, and utterly missing in others? I guess 'convenience' doesn't translate.

Based on this understanding of homogeneous consumer centers, we kept a look out for the watch district. In a surprisingly quick bout of dumb luck, we stumbled into the jewelry area which was right next to the electronics markets. Jon found a nice bit of wrist candy for less than five bucks. Not a bad deal. Of course, he was still wearing those same clothes, so the smell of victory still needed a helping hand. We returned to the hostel to prepare for our second attack on the beastly Dongdaemun. That preparation turned into 4 or 5 bottles of soju and three added recruits. Matt and Sharon were happy to join as well as a newbie named Jessica who we discovered on returning from the watch hunt. Jessica comes from the magical land of Canada. She's just spent two months in Thailand and decided to stop off in Korea for a couple days on her way home. She'd already tackled Dongdaemun earlier that day, so she offered to come along. The five of us, feeling soju-tastic, trekked to the endless market. Jon was much more successful the second time. He found two pairs of pants, a pair of gold (and I mean gold) running shorts, and a plain white t-shirt. At that point I was getting a bit hungry (it seems to happen often) and sought out meat on a stick. As we all know, stick meat is the best meat. There will never be any bones or gristle to pick out. If the stick is through it, you can eat it. Plus stick meat in Korea is exceptionally cheap. On that particular night, I found some beef and onions with a tangy glaze for 1000 wan. Jon and Matt found more soju at the same stand. There was a miscommunication about price. They thought the woman who worked the stand wanted 3000 wan for three bottles. She meant 3000 per bottle. (At least she didn't giggle at them). For some reason they still bought two. Of course, I had to help. Bad, bad idea. Never shop while on soju. I ended up buying a t-shirt and jacket. Granted I love both and will get a lot of use out of them... wait. Go shopping after soju! Apparently it makes you a smart shopper. After all, I was able to haggle over the jacket. The guy dropped from 40,000 to 28,000 wan. That's some soju skill.

Jon Loves Korean Sculpture

Returning from Dongdaemun took us through the downpipe, where my South Korea experience was completed. Each country I plan to visit on this trip has at least one food I know I have to try. For Korea it's kimchee and samgyopsal (one of the many types of Korean BBQ). However, another dish eclipses those two, and that's eating live octopus. I'm not sure of the Korean word for it. There was too much soju blocking my ears. I should explain that it isn't the whole octopus, just the live, wriggling, still suctioning to your mouth tentacles. The chef takes out an intact octopus and chops the tentacles into bitesized chunks which squirm and stick as you eat them with some spicy sauce. It feels amazing and tastes quite good. I'll tell you, every meal since has paled a little because the food hasn't struggled to survive as I chewed it. Those severed suction cups did everything they could short of choking me. And that's too bad for the tentacles because that might have worked. Anyway, enough detail. With the tentacles, we were given more soju. Upon returning to the hostel, we were taken out to a western bar. Two pitchers of beer into that, I decided to pack it in.

Jon's Gold Shorts

The next day was official Hangover Day. It's the same in Korea as in the States. However, it was worse for everyone else. Apparently they went to a Russian dance club after the western bar and didn't get back 'til 6am. Hangover day started with yet another Bon Bon Sandwich breakfast. Then a nap. Then some steamed dumplings. The best were the kimchee mandu. Ten of them for 1000 wan. Then some reclined reading. Dinner was late, but it resurrected us like nothing else could. Cheong Ho and Yukari took us to a spot right next to the hostel. Jess the Canuck came too. A large burner at the center of the table sauteed some meat, onions, peppers, and mushrooms. To understand the rest of this meal, I'll have to give a few generalizations about Korean dining. First, Korea is the land of sidedishes. Most meals will have a minimum of a half dozen side dishes. Guaranteed amog them are kimchee and some kind of pickled something that comes as a yellow disk. We're pretty sure it's a radish. Second, no one has a plate. Most meals involve using lettuce leaves to wrap up various combinations of dishes on the table. On this particular night, we used the lettuce to contain our meat, onions, mushrooms, etc. in addition to kimchee, sprouts... I can't remember what else. A lot of stuff. When we'd gotten about halfway through the main dish, the waitress returned with multiple bowls of rice and a fat load of seaweed. She dumped it all in with the remaining meat and boom, we have an entire full meal again. We stuff the rice et al into more and more lettuce until we're all bulging. At the end, the meal for all five of us was less than 15 dollars. I've rarely eaten so well ever, let alone at such a low price.

Makin' it Bite Size

I'll leave it at that for now. This entry has extended far longer than I intended. More later on, as well as some pictures for this one. I can't upload them now being that I'm working on a Korean laptop running Windows 98. Cheers and good night.

Not Pretty, I Know

Ready for Her Close Up

Ride 'em Cowboy

Sarah Had a Sweater That Looked Like These Lights

Sneak Peak at the Next Morning

Some Building Near Dongdaemun

Sporting Goods

Tentacle Time

The Downpipe

The Great Watch Hunt

With the Sauce