After spending the morning moving new apartments, I was able to finally catch up with Tina, my sister’s very talented friend who is an illustrator in Seoul. I posted about her work before but she goes by OkayTina and has done huge work for Samsung, KakaoTalk, Levi’s and more!

Look here: http://www.okaytina.com/

The nicest girl ever! We spent the day eating food, talking, giggling and exploring Sinsa-dong for a new wallet as i lost mine in London.

We went to ‘School Food’ and sweet baby Jesus, the food was incredible. The kimbap was wrapped in thin egg and it was dokk carbonara with glass noodles…
UGHHHHH SALIVATING! 

Obvious mirror photo.

The cafe was absolutely lovely, called Oui BeneBene around the back of Sinsa.
Gorgeous decor and cute features like this little paper towel vending roll.

After we went our own separate ways, i hopped the train to Cheolsan to meet up with Jerry for drinking games at his fellow teacher’s house with some of the other people who are teaching English in Seoul.

We made the trek up the EPIC hill to her house after a nice Korean shop owner helped us double bag our over flowing grape baggie.

Spent the night hanging out basically with the housemate’s puppy and playing Apples to Apples.

Then we jumped a taxi and headed back to Jerry’s to crash and the taxi driver thought we were intending to visit a motel…

If only he knew the actual truth… 
But Jerry and i thought it was funny…

GOOT MORGEN ITAEWON,

….and good morning to the incredibly loud sound recording of an older Korean woman letting out a blood curdling scream and speaking about something over and over and over and over and over again while i tried to sleep in all morning. 

I finally pulled myself out of my rock hard bed to take on the day. Wait, let me rephrase that, take on the late afternoon. With only a couple more days to go, i thought i should really get up and seize the day.

This the view from my window.

A taco house and nail salon right on my doorstep.. HULL YEAHHHHH!

SQUAT.
A cute flower truck passed me in the street. Boys here are cute when flowers are that cheap!

After wiggling my way out of bed i headed to Myeongdong to pick up a few bits and bobs but left with a whole heap of clothes and knicknacks. 

I am heading out again clubbing with Rachey tonight but this time, without the crippling alcohol intake this time. I decided to pop in and see Sean for dinner before meeting up with Rach. 

The cute little totoro and cat figurines on the counter.

Then while i was waiting for Sean he pulled out all stops and made me the sweet BLT he had mentioned back in the day. SWEET MUMMA IT BLEW MY MINDDDDDDD!
It’s not overly sweet but the right marriage between all the fillings and drizzled with maple syrup. I’m salivating just thinking about it. Go try it for yourself! 

After i downed that with his lovely friend who was covering him for the night we headed back to the local Japanese bar for noodles and baseball.

We ordered and sat back to relax. We were sat at the bar and my eyes locked in on the figurines which were waiting for me to corrupt. The rest is history:

Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh salivatingggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg!

Mini ramen!!

After noticing the time, Sean (Bless him) paid for dinner then walked me to the station and we said our goodbyes. I jumped the train back to Itaewon to meet up with Rachey to get ready for tonight. I met her at the station and we popped into the Family Mart for some cider and soju. Best combination mixer ever! Chilsung cider = sprite!

We glamoured up and headed to the only club we knew about as we didn’t pin point the club we went to the friday before. 

Turns out Octogon was a mad classy bar and not really what we had in mind. We managed to ask a group of chaps if they knew anywhere to go and they insisted we headed back to Itaewon with them. Ah, no. 

We managed to get the name of a club in Sinsa from them and jumped a taxi.
We strolled the streets of Sinsa trying to find people who looked like they were heading out. All we found were drunken men in suits and tired couples strolling the streets for warm refuge.

Rach called her friend who directed us to a club and we honestly walked in circles following younger guys and girls in all directions. Long story short, it was right in front of us the whole time. We giggled to ourselves and approached the front door. We hadn’t brought our ID’s as last time we walked straight into the clubs and wasn’t stopped so we thought we could try our luck. Sadly, we were rejected and began to wonder if we really were going to end up dancing or just singing our blues in a karaoke bar….

We tried our last idea of Hongdae. 
After a short taxi ride we had the driver explain that the place he was dropping us off at was where all the bars and clubs were and we would find somewhere perfect here. 
I was tempted to ask him to join us as it sounded like he knew where the party was at… but then realised he was 68 and would probably break a hip trying to shuffle. 

We took a stroll into one of the alleyways where it seemed to be full of all the right people. We were a bit lost and managed to be approached by these English speaking chaps who found us a bar where we didn’t need ID’s. THANK GOSH!

We headed into a place called GoGo’s and grabbed our free beers. Turns out Rocky was one of the guys names and had his heart set on Rachel. He had studied in America and came home to work. I had a fun dance with his non English speaking friend and attempted to make fun at the drunkies. The chaps left after a while and Rach and i had to avoid some creeps but headed to the bathroom before venturing out.

Oh hai Amelie!! Fancy seeing YOU here!

After surviving the manky bathrooms we went to leave the club but the DJ changed his mood and decided to play great music. We had a good old dance and out of nowhere this creep came up by my ear and asked me my name. I am all for meeting new people but if i can feel your spit speckling my neck as you talk to me…. this ain’t going down well. I managed to murmur my name and he just wouldn’t leave. Then he asked where i was from so i set my sights on the closest guy and said “I’m from Australia and THIS is my boyfriend.” Out of sheer luck the chap i grabbed had lived in Melbourne for a couple years and gracefully came to my rescue! His friend also lived in Queensland for a couple years as well! HOW CAN THE WORLD BE THIS TINY!?

We managed to blow the guy away and get back to dancing.

WHO PLAYS THE GOLF CHANNEL ON A CLUB TV?

After depleating all our energy stocks from dancing, we all hit the streets for some fresh air and a good sit down. We introduced our selves and headed to a chicken & beer bar. Now THIS is what i call partying, with poultry. This chicken was the tits! UGH! SO GOOD! 

Jay & Maxxxxxxxxxxxx

Rachey and their other friend. (man, i feel bad, i cannot remember his name to save my life :(  )

And the chicken. Oh, the chicken.

After downing a few jugs of beer i walked Rachey to meet a friend and i headed back to the restaurant with Jay to keep partying. It was about 6am when we left the restaurant but i had no cash on me as i couldn’t find a Citibank ATM which left the boys being complete gentlemen and paying for everything. Every ATM spat my card back at me.

Not wanting to go home i convinced the boys to hit Karaoke while we were still all boozey. 

HA! Maxie, what a good man. I took my earrings out from the sheer weight of them and Max popped them in for a laugh. 

After we finished up and sang our hearts out (i think i hit puberty half way through Roly Poly) we headed to the main road for taxi’s home. Jay went his way and Maxie joined me to my place to collapse on my floor. Somehow he convinced me to keep drinking beer at 8 am after no sleep and so once we hit Itaewon it was off to the Family Mart for some Hite. I am all about Korean beer. Maybe because it tastes watered down…

I think i had half a cup of it once we got back to my apartment and i just went down faster than a tonne of bricks on that bed. 

After waking up early I showered and cleaned my room. Sat on my luggage to close it and basked in the sun awaiting Sean’s arrival. The owner came to clean the apartment do I headed up the road to find refuge and a good feed (with super fast wifi!)

It turned out i didn’t have to go far! Genie owns a cafe here called New York Style. After wandering past it a few times unable to read the menu she spoke fluent English after living in the states for 8 years. We spoke about her kids after I ate her home made onigiri. 18 different types of rice with sweet anchovies in the centre. Rocked my world and I downed an apple juice! 

Sean managed to find the apartment and we filed my luggage in and set off for our day in Gwacheon. We were bound for the National Museum of Contemporary Art, iced Americano in hand. (http://www.moca.go.kr/)

We passed through the city centers and into the outer suburbs of Seoul. We waved good bye to green houses and farmers lands and found our way near a horse racing ground. Everywhere I looked i saw cherry blossoms dotting the country side.

We found the drive up to the gallery and i was blown away by the road.

It turns out Seoul Land is on the same plot of land up there that the gallery was, along with a zoo! 

We parked and stepped out into the fresh air and strolled up towards the gallery.

Sean having a giggle. Such a happy chappy!

The gallery had rolling hills out the front that are spotted with sculptures and couples lazing about enjoying the sun. Oh, and the vizors were out in large numbers too!

The entrance before the big man decided to take a big step into the frame.

“Located at the center of the museum, the Ramp Core is 13.8m in diameter and spirals upward to a height of 22.8 meters, in a vast space lit by skylights. Visitors are greeted with “The more, the better” by artist Nam June Paik, which was installed at the center of the Ramp Core in 1988. 1,003 TVs, a number that was chosen to represent Korea’s National Foundation Day, October 3, are installed in a round tower 18.5m high and 7.5m in diameter. This vast cone-shaped video tower is the first work of art that visitors see in the main entrance hall, and each monitor can be individually appreciated by walking up and down the slope of the Ramp Core.”

It was incredible being faced with that much TV and stands as a good testament to Samsung’s longevity as the screens are still pumping hard from the 80’s!

Cutest little kiddies on a school trip! Squeeeeeeeee!

We wandered around the permament and temporary exhibitions taking in the sights. There were some really WEIRD images but my boots kept making a racket so we headed straight to the brassiere for a bite to eat.

We finished up after lunch and i bugged Sean for a ride of the chair lifts that take you over the top of the trees so we made our way back down from the gallery to buy tickets.

We grabbed a one way ticket to the dark side (heh!) and was hoisted into the chair and propelled into the air. Albeit a little rocky once we got going it was so special!

We made it to the far side and had a stroll around appreciating the sights. I also found a bunch of blossoms which i quickly popped in my hair and put some individual flowers in Sean’s jumper. ^_^ IN THE SPIRIT! 

THE TRAIN THAT TAKES YOU BACK UP THE MOUNTAIN!!

It seemed like it would look better in my head..

As we still had a bit of time, we decided to hit the theme park. At this point i was too busy screaming my face off and praying to any God’s that i didn’t die i took no photos. BUT there was this big golf ball looking monument. 

We rode some magic carpet ride which almost brought up lunch, we also hit a few rollercoasters which i loved and then the Viking for 3 goes. I think every ounce of life was sucked out of me on the very last ride. It was a claw-esque spinning machine of Hell which almost made me lose the necklace Saori made me for my 21st. Just when we thought it was finishing, it spun us backwards and i felt my life flash before my eyes. Oh Lordy, it was no fun… BUT fun at the same time. 

After feeling really tired and hungry, and being the last few out of the grounds before it closed we decided to head back to the city to eat and get me settled back into my new apartment. 

We wound up at this really amazing ‘American’ restaurant where they made homely meals like chicken pies and spag bol. Sean ordered the giant meat ball spaghetti which was amazing. It was topped with a giant meat ball that was filled with melted cheese. I caved in when i saw the chicken pie and downed it like a pro. Even though stuffed, Sean and i popped into a patisserie and sampled the best of the best. We bought the strawberry rare cheese cake made from marscapone & cream cheese, a triple fudge chocolate tart, pecan pie and blueberry friand. 

The damage.

After stuffing ourselves to the brink of explosion we popped back to the car and headed to my new home.

We arrived in Itaewon but completely spun out of where this apartment was. Thank the good Lord for Sean otherwise i would have been out on the street again with all my heavy luggage. For some odd reason the address that was given to me wasn’t actually leading the car to the apartment. Sean gave the hosts a call and we found the right place, but there was no parking. There was some baben man chatting to these old peeps by their car and i believe mentioned to Sean that they were leaving and we could snag their parking spot. 

We sat there for at least 10 minutes staring at them. Turns out they were just having a good old chat and about to go for drinks. We found a park further up the street and Sean lugged my luggage up to the apartment like it weighed nothing! 

The apartment was HUGE! Much larger than the two other apartments i had been in previously. We hurled my bags in and i went face first into the bed. THE BED WAS LIKE SLEEPING ON CONCRETE. I think maybe from tradition Koreans are used to sleeping on the floor that they’ve carried this love for hard surfaces to the beds. I am used to sleeping on marshmallow-esque beds back home so this is new to me. I managed to start unpacking the nessecities then we headed to the Family Mart a few meters up the road for water and grabbed some strawberries from the main road to finish the desserts with.

We settled back at mine and tried this amazing sparking wine Sean had been raving about. It was amazing, but i couldn’t remember the name of it. We had in mind that we would go out for beers but it turns out strawberries and ocean documentaries are much better for tired souls. 

Sean getting some fresh air, EXTREME fresh air.

After getting through two thirds of the documentary i began slipping away from the adrenaline rushes earlier on i had to send Sean home. As soon as i closed the door behind him i crashed.

Another morning and day spent rolling around in bed.
My bruise is getting worse. Check out this bad boy:

Awwwwww yeah!
Off to join Jerry for Cheonggyecheon stream tonight.
I should get out of this bed and move!!

Oh yeah, i cracked my laptop screen this morning.
I laptop had slipped off my table months ago and warped the ethernet socket and the pressure the warped metal has applied to the screen made the screen separate from the front cover. NOW, i went to pull the screen towards me and i heard an epic crunch. I have busted in the corner. Ugh. Another expense.

———

I rushed down the road to meet Jerry for dinner. I think I burnt off numerous calories hiking the many endless steps at this station. I managed to get to the designated meeting point only to turn around and find the exit closer to the stream. We made our way BACK down the stairway to heaven and to our open street. We stopped by Tom n’ Tom’s for a fix and finally found the stream. It’s lit up and very romantic! Well, as romantic as an all concrete, man-made stream can be.

Me and my freaking Tom N’ Tom cups

This photo is really dark. It was in honor of my Russian escort second identity. I was hiking my skirt up but this failed.

We sat with some couples and shared a laugh then decided to fill my stomach with something other than dairy products.

We heard some muffled rapping as we headed up the stairs from the bank and some sort of peaceful protest was happening with musical support. We got over watching it pretty quickly due to not understanding a word. After turning around, I saw ‘JULIO’ up in lights and turned to Jerry. “MEXICAN IT IS!” I have eaten more Mexican here than I have In my life and less BBQ here than I have in Sydney. What is life??

We made our way up to the restaurant and noticed a ‘couples’ set menu so seeing as everyone ELSE here thinks Jerry and I are a couple.. We ordered a set menu. Boy does Julio do it big! Oh, and we ate to a country music soundtrack…

Tostadas!

Quesadillas & Chimichangas.

Now, I was open to experiencing new Mexican but after eating each dish, nothing compares to Macho. I LOVE YOU MACHO! FRAME A PICTURE OF ME AND YOUR BURRITOS! We finished up and for some reason this time the dairy fairy was about to bring a whole world of pain. “SUP GURL! I’M BACK TO ROCK YOUR WORLD….. And stomach!” 

We paid the lovely people and decided to stroll the streets to walk off dinner and decided to head back and visit the King and palace.

We passed by a bar that was showing the baseball and i stopped in my tracks. I was watching it on the train in the reflection of someone’s phone. I’ve decided to take Jerry VIP to a game on Sunday :) Going to buy a cap and go all out!

IS THAT FREAKING CURLZ MT?!

We arrived at the King and he wasn’t lit up but then we saw the palace in all it’s glory. We headed straight up to it and started snapping! It had a completely difference presence at night and no one was around. It was really magnificent!

Annnnnnnnd then they cut the lights on us, So  Jerry and i took it as our cue to leave and jump a train. Nothing really exciting happened, then i took the stroll home and now finishing writing this. Off to the gallery tomorrow, road tripping with Sean. 

Must sleep, going to crash. All my loveeeeeeee to whoever is taking the effort to read all of this. You get, 92 gold stars for effort.

YAYYYYYYY I’M NOT LEAVING BUT I FEEL SICK!

I think downing drinks and Japanese food at 1 am is not the best way to end a night.
I managed to wake up to my alarm and jumped, rather slowly, onto the internet to find out if i could extend my stay in this apartment so i don’t have to move my stuff. Not possibly it seemed after emailing the people who own the apartment. I could book it til thursday and check out then and they offered me a discounted rate on one of their apartments in Itaewon. I had remembered that there was a guest house that had the most amazing room in Hongdae but everywhere in Hongdae was booked solid.

I sent them an email first thing and awaited their reply. I had sent them an email back in the day trying to plan things but they were pretty expensive, but their response rate was really quick. It wasn’t the case this time. I was on the website and saw a contact number and i decided to make a dash down to the station to call them instead of waiting around. I knew i had to call Cathay Pacific before 1pm (Two hours before my actual flight left) and find accommodation so i knew how long or little i could extend my trip for. I also was running between cafes trying to get Angela to call the people for me but Cafe Bene’s wifi was really weak. I received an email from the guest house a little while later saying that they only had a four bed room apartment available during this time but when i emailed them back they took forever again and Angela couldn’t call at the time so i ran to find internet to book myself into Itaewon and jump the line to CP. This was all happening around the 12:30pm mark…

After becoming incredibly stressed i was waiting it all out in Coco Bruni over a lemonade. Acid on a stressed stomach is not a good combination. After getting confirmation for Itaewon, i powered down to the station and made a call to Cathay.
No matter how long i waited, the line kept cutting out. I finally got through to them but there wasn’t any room on any flight on saturday or sunday so i booked in on Monday and let out a sigh of relief. I’m here for another week!

The walk back to the apartment was full of joy, drowsiness and just overall relief.
I came home and went to sleep.

I managed to stir from my sleep late in the afternoon and figured it would be wise to see how much money i had left on this card. I couldn’t remember my details to save my life and the website kept asking for an email i had never provided. CALL IN MY FAMILY FOR ASSISTANCE. I managed to get a hold of my sister on Skype and asked my mumma to make the call to ANZ to see if they could help out.

After my mother explaining a few times and the lady resetting the system i had some weird need to check my stickies. I had actually saved all the passwords and usernames i had needed on my dashboard when i had registered it. What a tool. 
I wished my pappa a happy birthday and said goodbye as i had to join back up with Jerry in Hongdae for dinner.

This is my pappa, and my mum playing around. I love them too much!
 

I met up with Jerry and we both decided Mexican it was. That poor guy who runs the restaurant must think i’m an addict or something. Jerry and i ordered quesadillas again but turned tables and tried the fajitas this time. Both and all were equally mind blowing. Once again, Macho’s Mexican. Check it out.

Jerry, being held at gun point by a native, is sizing up the plate of food he must eat if he wants to live..

Unimpressed Frida is unimpressed…. at my secret joke.

FAJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJITAZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ!

The chef here is amazing. JERRY, BURRITOS OR CHIMICHANAS NEXT TIME!! 
After giggling and reminiscing we saw it was 11 and made our way to the trains.

After getting a seat and zoning out the world sped by as my eyes closed from being so damn tired. Hearing the voiceovers on the train drift in and out of my hearing i savored the warmth of the people sitting next to me as each door opened and closed at each stop.

I made the trek home after popping into the 711 and buying a 2L water bottle.
I came home, shimmied into my pajamas and conked out. 

TODAY IS THE PERFECT DAY FOR BEING OUT AND ABOUT!

I woke up and managed to make myself look somewhat approachable and set off to meet Jerry at World Cup Stadium for his recruiters luncheon!

When i arrived Jerry and i surveyed the gorgeous flowers that were lining this river and decided as the weather was lovely and warm we would ride the Han River after the BBQ.

We met up with the other and got taxis to the bbq site. It’s a camping site where people have bbq’s and spent the day/night there with family and friends. If you watch Running Man they came here when Yonghwa and Daesung were on it together. I almost lost my mind!

Most of this post will be a sum up as i’m tired and cannot remember much. We were greeted by beers and snacks and a really good spread of treats. They fired up the BBQ and we waited for the amazing meat that was being cut up to be served. Made really good friends with this killer gal called Rachel who was from New Zealand which was great! Everyone else was really lovely. They were from the US, Canada, Ireland then us aussies and a kiwi!

Our park attendant starting a fire, WITH HIS GLARE.

Rachey <3

This meat was so good. The right amount of fat and meat. HOW AM I NOT THE SIZE OF A HOUSE ALREADY?!

Set for life. Beer & meat & rice & pepsi. 

MOREEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

After eating we all decided to play sports. For me, that meant watching the men play baseball a while away from these guys trying to combine soccer and volleyball.

It was really amusing to watch, but i now have a complete appreciation for baseball.
Must hunt down a game before i leave! 

After finished up, well THEY finished up the game, and i felt rude not heading back we snacked on the left over food and all decided to head back to Hongdae and separate from there. Not until after my ‘cool’ ring. It wasn’t very cool.

After all of us piling into the maxi taxis and forcing the rare few into the boot…

Jorge and Jerry getting aquainted.

We ended up at Hongdae and decided we would go for a harmless drink. It turns out in Korea you can’t really go for a harmless drink. I had to dash to find the nearest bathroom and met back up with everyone in a tiny little cubicle where they had ordered these huge jugs and beer, a few dishes and many bottle of soju we decided to play a few games. Then we all gave up moving for people to go the bathroom so people crawled under tables, Jerry and I taught everyone “he’s a pisspot” but died pretty quickly and a few other Korean games which was fun.

Yep. Jerry’s best friend, and open vessel for later but we won’t go into that…

Tipsy squint!

The spread.

Hyori, is that YOU???!

After finding out that the Irish girl Emilee was heading to a club, myself and Rachel decided we wanted to jump that train and head out with her. We brought Christina along too! Turns out Emilee was heading on first and we all wanted to find something to wear out. We hunted the streets and i only found a black dress. We headed back to mine to get ready. It was so cute, i came across these photos of Rachel and C!

We ended up all dressed up and found the club that Emilee went to. The soju and finally hit me while i was trying to make my way through the strobe lighted club and fell over a stupid crate full of soju bottles. There are many babes in the clubs but all the girls just sit in the corners while the guys stand around. Pretty different to the Sydney scene.

And the rest was history by nursing my bruises.

Tomorrow, is recovery day.

After sleeping like a baby last night, i woke up showered.

I raided the local bakery and spend the whole damn day writing this blog. I think my uploads suck so i am going to visit a cafe and abuse their uber fast interenet next time. 

The bakery was so overwhelming. All in Korean and they all looked really similar. I ended up walking around in circles and just grabbed whatever looked appealing. My thought process was ‘Aw yeh (yes i use Australian slang in my head), if i buy a few things i’ll have something to eat with my hay fever pill each day and i won’t almost pass out like last time’ 

I made a dash for home as i was looking a wreck and surveyed my pickings to figure out what to eat for today.

Now… i would be lying if i said i didn’t eat them all in the end, because i did. One after the other SO here is the run down.

The shell looking one was an attempt at a chocolate croissant but was just full of chocolate custard. Rating: 4/10

The top left looking tart was a red bean, stewed apple and i think rhubarb tart. Rating: 6/10

The pizza pocket looking number on the bottom right was interesting. The bread was still warm but was full of cold tuna and mayonnaise. Out of all of them this was probably the best. Rating: 7/10

And the wee one in the paper bag was a blueberry danish. Pretty average and like the ones we have in Sydney. Rating: 4/10

The cats here are mental! They just roam around and are insanely timid. This doesn’t work for me, so i followed them. WHY WON’T YOU LOVEEE MEEEEEEEEEEE?!

After spending a large portion of the day writing this blog and failing i decided to seize the day and head to Gangnam to find me some clothes. It failed, miserably. 
I was trying to hunt down a fitted black dress and it’s harder than i thought. I wandered around the station’s little boutiques and realised it wasn’t going to be a fruitful experience, so I set (disgusting) sail to Hongdae on a sticky hot train for refuge and to kill time before meeting Jerry for dinner.  

So orderly!

I strolled the streets hunting for this dress but in turn found a cute little gallery/artist’s shop that had paintings of cats for sale. Ohhhhh how i wanted them ALLLLLLLL! 

I also wandered the back streets that i hadn’t visited and snagged myself a sea salted caramel icecream which was amazing!

Thank you Molly, for that taste sensation!

I also stumbled across this really cute cafe. Yes, i am drawn to cafes based purely on their design aesthetics and branding. I’m a design snob. Wot’ov it?! 

The address is 334-23 Seoygo-dong, mapo-gu. Cafe the Plain.

I tottering down the stairs and was met by a man with the warmest smile who surprisingly spoke English! He passed me a menu and i popped myself down. This cafe has the perfect mix of eclectic style and charm. He even still has the cutest Christmas decorations still up. I think Korea maybe leaves them up for the coming year?

I ordered a raspberry tea and almost grabbed every single magazine he had to set up camp.

If i could sum up great hospitality and nature in one place it would be his cafe. Not only was he generous enough to bring me free cookies but also the best damn Sangria in all of Seoul. He has all these little Tororo figurines everywhere with little collectables scattered all over the cafe.

This is how small the world is. After sitting down he joined me and pulled up a seat. It was so nice to meet someone from ‘home’. I must remember to get zoe to bring some ginger beer back for him. Low and behold, he lived in Sydney in Wollstonecraft for years! He also studied at William Blue in the same building as Billy Blue. THE WORLD IS TOO FREAKING SMALL!

We chatted about Australia, rental prices, our pets, bbq’s and food, business and many other topics. If you come to Hongdae YOU MUST come visit this cafe and make a new friend! If you are too embarrassed to start the conversation say Maddie sent you! 

After getting a distress call from Jerry i said my goodbyes and he offered to show me around the Cherry Blossoms in Yeouido on his day off. Now THAT is a true gentleman! He even said he’d bring his little Yorkshire Terrier Yuki along!

I met up with Jerry and we began the hunt for food. The great thing about Hongdae is wherever you turn is a different cuisine. We found this killer little Mexican place called Macho’s Mexican. OH MUMMA! Best freaking Mexican i’ve had in my life! And, yes, that is a big statement but sweet everything it was good! The interior was pretty bad ass too!

This is Jerry’s Mexican face. Racist.

Of course! Tomato sauce and burritos makes perfect sense… DON’T BUTCHER A BEAUTIFUL THING!

The food here is so amazing that i am just salivating thinking about it. We ordered quesadillas and soft tacos and if i wasn’t such a messy eater i think i would have gone thirds… but sometimes a lady needs to know when a greasy face should be left for later. 

Ughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh yes!

EVEN MORE SALIVAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

We paid up and hardly spent anything over $10 each!

We wandered the back streets and decided to head back to the cafe for dranks.

Once at the cafe we ordered a jug of Sangria and chatted about Seans awkward discoveries while working in a hotel, Jerry and Sean’s dogs and similar topics to before. After midnight we bid him farewell as we needed to hunt down taxis. He walked us out and we headed to the main road. I have moments here where i need to keep pinching myself when i realise i’m not in Sydney. The taxi was crossing the Han River and it felt like we were moving at the speed of light; the leather seats kept me snug as lights zipped past and dodged giant trucks. I saw a few cars with ridiculous aerials. They looked like giant remote control cars which made me pinch myself that we are all just living in some miniature world… 

I made it home in one piece and jumped into bed ready to sleep. Tomorrow i’ve been invited by Jerry to escort him to his recruiters luncheon so that should be fun. Until then, good night!!

This morning was great!
That bed was uncomfortably comfortable. I had disturbed sleep but i woke up feeling funky fresh. It was wonderful!

I jumped out of bed, well i rolled from the bed to the floor to provoke myself to get up, and trialed the new shower which works amazingly. I don’t need to set up base camp on the ground like the last apartment. I managed to soak the entire bathroom though and i didn’t realise the water power that came from the hose and almost knocked myself out. My bathing routine is a game of life or death game of chance. Also it was really odd, i opened the mini window to get some of the steam out and the most amazing smell of baked bread came wafting through… then it turned nasty, almost like foul bacon… then wafted croissants… something serious was going on outside and i am happy i don’t know what or how was making those two different smells one after each other.

I pulled on any bits and bobs i could find lying around and opened up all the windows to let the sunlight fade in. The rain had all gone and left the most radiant, warm blazing sun to soak myself and my table in light. I caught a man riding a bright pink vespa down the street with what seemed like 20 white balloons in his hand! Sighhhh! The men here are so romantic with gifts, it’s crazy.

I had all the best intentions to finish off writing about yesterday then head out to the gallery but it turns out that isn’t what the man upstairs had planned. I finished writing the post and was uploading one more photo. I had another browser open with Facebook but somehow managed to pull my tumblr screen up and without a care in the world closed the window.

The rage pulsing through my veins almost made me hurl the laptop out the window onto the head of a worker below. I kept my cool and began again. Inject my attempt at wit and charm into the body of copy then, i did it again. It’s almost as if being at design school for three years and having “ALWAYS SAVE YOUR WORK” drilled into me went in one ear and out the other. So, i gritted my teeth and began again. I saved this time and continued on. I think i was almost at the end and Chrome crashed. I had forgotten to save up to the point i was which dragged me back to the beginning again.

You can read my little hussy fit for yesterdays post where i kept having to restart. It’s quite neat! So writing and uploading most of that post took me from 11-3 today which meant i lost a large portion of my day which was upsetting. Determined to actually achieve something today, i slapped my face on and decided to stroll the backstreets.

I checked the weather quickly before i left the apartment and i noticed two finches hopping in and out of the cherry blossoms. My heart melted, and quickly ran downstairs to catch a photo but they had gone :( so i pressed on.

seems legit…

This is a form of parking here in Korea. Your cars get put into a giant wheel and they process your car around when you’re ready to head home!

A quaint little florist

I wound back at Garosugil’s main street overwhelmed with the stylish and dainty twenty-ish year olds strutting up and down, man in tow taking in the sights. Turns out these people aren’t very friendly when it comes to taking up space on the walkways so i was dodging in and around couples who declined the idea of a two way walking path…

I popped into a few stores, had a look at the clothing but nothing incredibly exciting. The most exciting thing for me was buying tissues. Oh heavenly tissues. I still hadn’t found a pharmacy for hayfever tablets so i was a dream sniffling everywhere.

Continued to walk around and then hunger kicked in around 5pm so i popped into Kraze Burger. It was a mega flop. Mega, mega flop. Not a fan BUT the gherkins were killer!

I took a slow walk home after throwing most of the contents of my wallet all over the burger joint. I’m so out of it today!

I passed this bakery that was heaving with people so i went in to have a look at what the fuss was about. I didn’t think much of it but decided to grab a croissant and boy was it amazing! Everything is made fresh right in front of your face! Will be back there again!

I got home and message Jerry to see what he was up to tonight to see if he wanted to head out to an unknown destination in Seoul for dinner. We ended up choosing a station between us and both set off. As usual i was running late completely engrossed in youtube i hadn’t noticed the time and bound down to the station. I don’t know what my luck with smelly homeless men on these trains is but it’s becoming an issue. I hopped on the train and he was just there on his knees and everyone was holding papers. I managed to grab a seat and picked up the paper that was there. I thought they may had been some sort of notice from the station but as a girl came in and sat on them the homeless man came round collecting them and snatching them off old women. I think it may have been a letter asking for something…

Anywho, on my second train after my transfer i realised that Jerry and i hadn’t organised a meeting point. Ugh! This should be fun! Then i noticed the business man who had been staring at my face since i got on… he didn’t stop until i got off. I am so unfazed by it now. I still haven’t worked out if it’s a compliment or not..

I dashed up to exit 2 to find wifi to send him a message but somehow there was no coffee shop to be found at any exit, which is quite uncommon. I popped down to another one and came out the other side of the street and still no wifi. At some point i think Jerry had found some and i had connected onto a brief frequency and we met at exit 1 giggling to ourselves. We took a stroll around the back street on our hunt for some food.

We wandered past a pet shop selling turtles, bunnies, gerbils and fishes.

After stumbling across a market alleyway we strolled down and had a look at what was on display. Fish, vegetables, meat, chickens being carved, odd fruit and even flowers! A plate of weird squidgy treats caught my eye which i bought for later. They looked a bit like mochi..

I pulled Jerry into a two dollar store as i needed to buy some washing machine powder for my clothes and we stumbled across some hilarious items but this being our favorite:

Nothing like a few suction cups for a well being body life.

After getting our miscellaneous bits from the store we passed a man walking two dogs with sunglasses on, i lost my mind. It was amazing!

Pre-dinner snack?

After staring at sign after sign Jerry and i realised we were in over our heads and ate pizza instead.

We didn’t get off that easy though. We ordered half a chicken pizza and whatever they put on it utterly destroyed our taste buds. Singed them off completely! After that burger anyway i was stuffed after two pieces so let Jerry attempt to finish it off but we backed out of finishing the last pieces of the chicken…

After stuffing ourselves senseless we both headed home early to crash out. I boarded the train and had a stare off with a young business man next to me through the mirror. Man, Seoul is the only place i would actually stare back.

I left up the exit i thought i was was meant to get out but then i had to stop. I was using the LED lit up building as a guide but it wasn’t the right direction i needed. I looked across the street and saw the exit number so headed that direction. I popped out that exit but i was right next to the same building. I was tripping balls. Every exit i took looked exactly the same. It was like groundhog day, and all the ads were looking the same. I was frying my brain. I had an outer body/wormhole experience that i couldn’t explain.

Until i realised there are two building with similar LED lights in the same shape. I managed to find my way home, stopped by the fugu restaurant to watch the live fish swim in a florescent blue tank. So hypnotic! I came indoors and settled in for the night. I also remembered i had the treats which i tore open and turns out they aren’t that exciting in the taste department. They are just red bean filled rice balls, BUT BOY ARE THEY FUN TO BLOW UP! The following images are me playing around. Hey, don’t hate, i’m tired and like being a tool. Appreciate me and my odd ways! LOVEEEEEE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

After i managed to withdraw all the bean paste with my tongue and left the outer shell, YOU CAN BLOW THEM UP!

But overall they were really not worth the effort, although fun, pretty tasteless. After this shot i threw the one that fell out out, and ate the flowers off the top and ate the centers. I will avoid them next time, as once you start playing with them they’re like glue!

I’m falling asleep here at the computer. Must crash as i have to be back in Hongdae before 11 to pick up my darn clothes. If Angela is still feeling poorly i’ll go and visit a temple or if she’s feeling better.. LOTTE THEME PARK!

Night my precious blueberries!

Man that is sad to write.

I actually wrote this entire post last night, and another page in Chrome chose to freeze which meant i couldn’t save this post. The one thing that i am kicking myself about was i thought to save it before and didn’t. AND I WAS SO WITTY IN THE LAST ONE! Okay, let’s try again.. It may also be terribly written as the idea of having to write this three times has killed my brain.

——————-

As check out was midday I had all the right intentions of waking up for 930 but it turns out that my body just wasn’t agreeing with this new plan. SO i hit the snooze button, pulled my copious amounts of hair over my face (I use it as an eye mask. It blocks out the sun) and went back to sleep. I somehow by fluke managed to wake up an hour before i was meant to leave and sat right up in my bed completely puzzled about what i had to do this morning. Until it clicked. So i hurled myself from the bed and into the bathroom.

I have a habit of having to clean even if i paid a cleaning fee. I could never leave anyone to clean up my own mess. Maybe it’s my mum who ingrained it into me but i am always that person at the restaurant that will stack all the plates together and wipe the table just so the waiter/ress doesn’t have to dirty their hands. So while in the shower i scrubbed the bathroom, then while changing managed to strip the bed and fold my towels. Multitasking at it’s best! 

Just with half an hour to go before check out i heard a failed attempt at the lock on the door. As i went to hit the button an insanely tall Chinese girl burst through the door. It was this awkward moment of she didn’t expect me to be here and i didn’t expect her to arrive so we both laughed and chatted for a bit then went our separate ways. She was just dropping her luggage off before she ventured on with her day. 

It hit midday and i managed to say goodbye to the apartment, unlike Jerry i didn’t embrace the floor, but just closed the door behind me. Now, i don’t know how but my luggage weighs the same as 7 little chubby kids who are bound for phat camp. I haven’t bought much, although my spending habits doubt that, i think it must be all the makeup and liquids i bought. WATER WEIGHT! Turns out this is not the best combination when i’m in heeled boots and a stylish coat. I managed to hurl it almost down the stairs and out the front door as i made my way to the station. After stopping at the stairs and contemplating the weight of my bag, the idea of ACTUALLY boarding two trains with it with a transfer and no escalators almost made my hair turn white. I flagged down a taxi (with my limp wrist and spirit fingers) and set off for Sinsa. After all the price of a distance like that is insanely cheap here in Seoul. 

We cruised over the Han River as the water almost met the sky. There is a heavy fog all over Seoul which makes the colours so saturated, it’s beautiful. We pass by daily commuters and children all bound for daily routine while the lights flicker from green to red. The constant stopping and driving provides a nice surreal view to the world outside. Being able to just come and go and catch a glimpse into someone’s world is so fascinating to me, knowing that this is last time i will ever see their face in my life.

Sydney is different in that context. You know 6 degrees of separation? For me it’s more like 1 or 2. Back to the story…

As we leave the city center we pass over a bridge where the tree lined sky line looks like watercolours, bleeding back into the earth. The constant sound of pinging comes from the speeding taxi driver trying to make better time to grab another passenger. With no other noise than that, the surroundings feel like a Ghibli film.

We pass over a bridge that shows the housing below almost like slums. Houses weaved and dotted between old hanboks, all vying for the space on the expensive land. Contrasted, there is a set of apartments aesthetically based on Parisian apartments and a ‘Italy House’; a set of apartments where the building is covered in what seems like fake vines and concrete sculptures. 

We pull off the main road and notice the steep incline of the road. I’m talking, like, at least an easy straight drop down and the only thing i could think about was “man, this car smells like leather. A really nice, clean leather… Maybe a pebbled leather?” Wouldn’t that be a sad last thought. Me questioning what type of leather finishing it is. Oroton is even with me in my last thoughts…

Like a pro my taxi driver inches down the drop and managed to navigate through the tight winding streets, Almost scraping around corners to reach my destination. Well, he was until we almost went up the back of a vege truck.

(OH MY GOSH I GOT OUT OF THIS POST AGAIN, AND NOW I HAVE TO RESTART FROM HERE!?! I wrote all the way to the end again…EQLJEJOAJS) 

After my taxi driver having an aggressive chat to himself and my fear for being on the next series of Taxi Drivers Exposed i paid the man and hopped out. He followed with a giant grunt in his efforts to get out of the drivers seat he helped me with my bag, reversed and drove off leaving me in the middle of the street with no idea where my apartment was… oh, and it had started to rain.

Great. So begins Maddie’s walk of shame around the neighborhood in the wet scurring from free wifi hot spot to free wifi hotspot. I pulled a few passerbys into the mix to see if they knew the streets at all and it turns out they didn’t. After walking around in circles and back and forth i tried to imagine what the building looked like from Google Maps.

I found the street just not the apartment. All the front doors looked different but it was the right hill. After virtually giving up on personally finding the apartment, i hiked up the hill dragging my luggage behind to find internet on the plateau to contact the owner. Even he didn’t know where i was but he told me to sit tight and his wife would come and find me. Small flaw in the plan, she hadn’t left their house yet. At this point i looked very much like a homeless yet stylish Russian escapee prostitute. Not the type of image you want to portray in the pricey streets in Gangnam…

The owner sends me back down to a restaurant i had been outside before hand and then directed me from there. Turns out, much to my surprise i was standing outside it all along. It had been about 7 meters away from me. Yep. 

I walked up to it and just laughed like a mad woman. What else can you do in that situation. It’s moments like these when i think to myself “Maddie, you are an epic tool.”
After feeling like a complete idiot i felt like fist pumping but instead i worked the door codes and faced the challenge of lugging my bag up three flights of stairs…

As Jerry would say, ‘Challenge Accepted’.
As i am incredibly lame and weak due to my uber stupid hypermobility, this was an incredibly slow and boring task. Also, because i don’t have a soundtrack to my life it was just my sighing and whining in my head. I burst through the door, hurled my bags down and left. As i had to kill time until the owners wife had come to clean, i popped into the wee family run corner store and charade’d myself into being the owner of a new multi-coloured umbrella. 

As i had now known the streets a little bit from my hunting, i decided to skip from one Cherry Blossom tree to the next amid a bunch of blooming Magnolia! It was perfect!
In my head it was a picture perfect moment, but i’m sure to the old men staring in the park i looked like it was ‘Special’s day out’ and my flailing limbs weren’t quite as picturesque as i had imagined….

I managed to potter around some streets until the rain became unbearable and i began to freeze. I found a nice welcoming cafe and shivered myself inside to where i was met at my table by a waitress with a blanket (awww!) and a menu. I ordered a sandwich as i had no clue what anything else was and an apple juice. The apple juice purchase was purely based on the design of the bottle. I figured i would save it for later when i go sneaky branch snapping… Bring some life and vitality into my tiny apartment for a little bit!



This sandwich was killaaaaaahhhh! Chicken teriyaki and they even had Kewpie and bulldog sauce in there. Salivating…

 

When i saw a break in the weather i made a dash home to get settled in and charge my phone. I decided to rest my head for a bit as this hayfever is doing odd things to my brain. I didn’t wake up for another 5 hours…

After contemplating going back to sleep and being a fool, i got up and made myself presentable to head out for a bite to eat. Due to the fog, this city is stunning. The street lights bleed into the wet road and create a kaleidoscope of colours.

Oh, and they love LED lights here. Like, reaaallly love them!
 

Huuuuuuuuuuuh??

The petrol stations here are so smart. All the petrol pumps are up in the ceiling and the handles are pulled down with a drawstring. They also have pump attendants that come to fill up for you. Very nifty indeed! Also they have tv screens that play ads here instead of print.

FUGU ME!

I think i just missed the filming of either a part of a tv series or commerical.
DAMNNNNNNNN! HENNNNNEEYYYYYYYYY!

Another long name for a store ^
 

I walked down this street in particular and reaslised there was no English, anywhere. Mind you, on most of the streets i walked down there was barely any English then it hit me again. You’re not in Sydney, you’re on a street in Korea where you cannot read a single thing on the menu let alone find anything to eat. After realising that i wasn’t going to find anything to eat at a table for one, i took the sad walk to the closet 711 and purchased some dirty, instant ramen and set off home. After realising the freeze dried meal i had purchased probably had my own weight in MSG added i knew the outcome would be fun… just not the flavour.

The top of my street in the rain!

X-ZIBIT.

The front of my building. 

And i finally made it home, after almost going all D.I.D (damsel in distress) on some hot peice of man that got out of a Bentley right in front of me.

Time to begin brewing this udon dish.

I am sure no one has ever gone to this much effort for instant ramen before, but i aim to try!

Mmmmm. nothing says gourmet like freeze dried seafood stick and misc.

The misc is my favorite part in instant ramen. It’s like a lucky draw!

 

Is it wrong to drink ramen broth through a straw?
Well, I just did. Haters gonna hate. 
It was the most tasteless thing i have ever eaten, i even tried to put salt in it. WHERE IS MY MSGGGGGGGGGGGGG?? I WANT TO BE ABLE TO TASTE MY EYELIDS!

After chasing every last bit of tempura chunks around the tasteless liquid i finished writing this post, then the computer froze, and i lost it all so i went to sleep but couldn’t due to me downing a beverage of caffeine previously and just stared at the roof.

I also realised around 3 am that i left a whole bunch of clothes in the apartment back in Hongdae. I’m such an idiot. I miss Hongdae. 

Also this bed isn’t as bad as the previous apartment. it’s still hard and i can feel every spring in my back but it’s almost as if no one has ever slept on a western bed before.

“STELLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA” 
(If you haven’t seen that Seinfeld episode before, hunt it down now and then i will TRY to see if the friendship is worth saving…)

I think i would have rather gone full blown futon on the floor, at least then i would be by the heat. So i have decided to crash out at 4 am.

THE END.
I MADE IT!
Yesssssssssss!
Thanks to this i am now super late in the day to visit the gallery but let’s see.

Oh, PS. this is my jar <3