A night of fun - Erin

So after chilling at our place for a couple hours and relaxing, we decided it was time to eat. Rob wanted to take Kristen for Korean Barbecue one more time, so thought we would take to them to CowPig, our local restaurant. Now we know that this is not the real name of the place, but it is more fun for us to make names for the places we frequent. It makes them more like "ours" in our minds I suppose. Anyhow, we know where it is and that they have good food and treat us well so off we went.

We walked Kristen and Rob by Central Park to see the coloured fountains, and secretly so I could see them. I love fountains. I was not so aware of this until we got here. But everywhere we go that there is a fountain I am drawn to it. I will tell Jeffry very excitedly that I see a fountain and he will say that all fountains are pretty much the same and then we will look at the fountain for longer than anything else we see. I can't help it. I love them. By the time we leave Asia I am sure we will have seen and taken pictures of a million fountains. It also helps that I can count 20 within a couple blocks of my place, so that is a good thing, for me anyhow.

On to dinner. We went to CowPig and ordered Kalmegisal. I am a fan of Samgyeopsal. I mean I understand that it is pork belly, which is essentially uncured bacon, but the fat hates me and I hate it. We had a nice meal. We had rice (bap) and the soup all these restaurants serve. It is one of the only Korean foods names that has stuck with me. It is said like "Dwenjanjigae". It is a delicious miso soup with tofu and a few veggies in it. It is hearty and a nice refreshing soup. I am not a soup fan, so this is a compliment to the jigae. Oh, and after 2 hours and more food that anyone could imagine eating including beers, it cost 66000 won for four people. That is like just over $16 per person for a sit down meal and drinks. Crazy. Friends, family you need to come visit. The food alone is worth it!

Anyhow, so we left CowPig and headed to the subway. Our plan was to head to Hongdae and Club FF for some live Rock music. I had read on Korea Gig Guide that there was a 10000 won cover that included 2 shots of Jagermeister and entry to two clubs. That seemed like a good deal to us. I mean where else can you pay a $10 cover and get 2 drinks included!! Awesome.

Anyhow, so we made it to Hongdae. I think my favourite thing about Hongdae is you know when you get there. You head to the exit and there is wall to wall people. Like crowds of young people. I love it. I am not a big partier, or nightlife person, but I love this place. It is so alive and vibrant and you just know you are where something is happening. And in a way, where anything can happen.

So we winded our way through the streets and found a mapboard. I was pretty sure I knew where we were headed, but we wanted to be sure since Hongdae is larger than it looks. There was a street on the map called "Try to Walk" street or something to that effect. I will assume this is a street with many bars. I am not sure how it can have many more than any other street her, but whatever. Oh and I am pretty sure there are 5 or 6 HO bars. They are numbered, and I have zero interest in ever going into one!

Back to the point, our game plan was to go to GS, Family Mart or one of their ilk and buy us some drinks and head to the park. I mean why pay 3000+ won at the club when you can buy 1.5L bottle of beer for 5000 and drink in the park. So we bought 3 giant bottle of Cass/Hite (Jeffry likes Hite, I like Cass) and went to the park. This park is tiny, but amazing. It was full of people and even more full of life. In fact there was a boxing match going on. Helmets, gloves and all. I am not sure why, maybe performance art. It is an arty place. Kristen even saw them with an inflatable dolphin at one point. We have video as well. I will try and include it.

We hung in the park for quite some time actually. By the time we ran out of drinks and made it to Club FF there was no cover anymore and the bands were done. We went in anyhow and decided that we were not sure if we wanted to hang out there. So we left and Rob bought some cigar things at Sev and we went back to FF and hung out outside. There we met some German men, and there was one friend with them from Saudi Arabia. Weird.

We visited for awhile with them and Rob shared his cigars with them. One thing I love about Hongdae is you meet so many random people and they become your friends for the night. Then you both go on your way. That would never happen at home. At home everyone sticks to the ones who brought them. So after much deliberations we decided that in fact the last time we were there the DJ at Club FF (Funky Funky) was pretty good and we actually enjoyed it. We headed in.

Once we were in there I remembered why I loved it so much. We put our things in a locker and headed to the dancefloor. They play all kinds of music here. We heard Nirvana, Rage, The Darkness, The Proclaimers, Sublime, etc. etc. We danced with many people we did not know and even on the stage. In the end it was okay we missed the bands because we had fun in the club anyhow. I think Kristen, Rob's sister, who is underage (18) in Saskatchewan had an amazing time and did not want to leave Korea. I can see why. It would have been an amazing thing to experience when I was that age!

We stayed at Club FF until 4:30AM and then decided to hit up Sev for some water and then go cool off in the park. A couple things to note about clubbing in Korea: 1) There appear to be no fire codes or capacity regulations. You get as many people as can physically fit in your club. 2) They do not appear to close. Since the latest I have been out there is 5AM I will assume they close when the people leave. I know some are open til 8AM, so you get the idea. You have no idea it is 4:30AM unless you look at your watch. Back home you;d have been kicked out, but not here. So back to the park. I figured it would be empty, nope. Just as busy as before we went to the club. And there were bellydancers.

I said anything can happen, and I meant it. I went to go to the public bathrooms (clean) in the park and walked by a giant crowd. I worked my way into it to see a group of belly dancers performing. Who knows why they were there at 5AM but they were.

After a few minutes in the park we decided to see what time the subway got running again. We headed there and discovered that the first train was at 5:30AM. Since it was only 20 minutes or so away, we figured saving 25000 won was worth the wait. We hung out in the station for a bit with Rob and Kristen then we said our goodbyes and headed to our trains. It was quite the ride home. We were tired and totally ready for bed, but had a good hour on the train ahead of us, including 2 transfers. The mis on the train was amusing as well. There were drunk and sleeping club leftovers, Ajumas out to go hiking in full Korean Hiking Regalia, and people on their way to work.

We were happy to make it home without falling asleep at hit the hay at 7AM. I am not sure the last time I stayed out that late. I think it was New Years of 2006 when Jeffry and I slept at Dave's on Wellington and had a crazy good time. I have to say, despite the need for a full day to recover and sleep in, Hongdae is seriously the best time you can have in this country. It was amazing and legendary and just plain worth the missed day of sleep.

In the end we also discovered that in Korea we can go spend an entire day and night with friends and spend less than $70 for all meals and drinks and a full night if clubbing and transport back home. We now know that our budget will no longer hinder us. I mean we cannot do this every weekend, but I am not sure that we would want to. I also discovered that these nights are great when conveniently placed at the beginning of a long vacation!

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