***SIDE NOTE: Darren is Canadian and married to a Korean (my friend Misoog)and they coincidently live in the Lotte Castle apts ( the ones where I live), about 1 minute walking away from me, and I see them occasionally. But before that… I had been getting emails from a guy named Cameron and was going to meet him and his friend Kris on a Friday evening. On the Thursday previous I had been walking home from Yoga when a foreigner comes up to me and asks if my name is Cecilia and if I live in Lotte Castle. I was shocked and said yes. He then explained to me that his friend Cameron had told him about me. So he was on his way to the bakery and I walked with him. He then invited me to his house where I met his wife, who I think is quite pretty might I add here, and she can paint wooo well, she does watercolors, and he told me that he was actually having Cameron and Kris over for a few drinks and snacks and that I was invited. So I went home and got showered and changed, and was supposed to show up at the house as a surprise. But somehow I happened to arrive at the same time as Cameron, Kris, and their Korean friend (who, had originally wanted Cecilia as her English name, but a friend of hers took it before she did). Anyways, we chatted and drank and ate.
Back to the call from Darren. He said it was Kris’ birthday. So I told Min that I wanted to see them for a bit since it was a birthday and such, so when I was walking down to meet Min I ran into Kris and Cameron going the opposite way, I was supposed to meet them at Cameron’s house but they were going to Darren’… So Min and I went to the E-Mart (which is kind of like superstore, department style, or like a 2 floor walmart or something, kind of like that but it has an entire grocery store in it, along with all the clothes, office supplies, refrigerators, electronics, sports and toys), and then took a taxi back up the hill (it’s a big hill and it was soo soo soo hot and humid, and taxi’s are really cheap… a 10 minute ride is about $2) to Darren’s. Min had brought cake, I made chocolates (oooh really good ones with caramel in them). And we ate and chatted, and drank a little. Then we went to a few foreign bars (I hate foreign bars) for a little more drinking (Koreans love to drink and the foreigners here love that)…
The next day, obviously after me sleeping in late :D, Min and I went to a jjimjjilbang {찜찔방} in Haeundae. It was a VERY hot day. Ok.
***SIDE NOTE again : A jjimjjillbang {찜찔방} (have I explained this before? Oh well here we go again) can vary but basically its like a spa, without the services. Makes no sense? Well… the better ones have a floor for a swimming pool, a floor for a gym and weight room, a public bath (everyone naked together- well, girls/guys separated- and there are various temperatures of pools), some sort of food service, and my favorite part the hot rooms. Hot rooms are small rooms that are made of different materials which keeps each room a different temperature. The materials include adobe, charcoal, amethyst, salt, stone, ice, etc. Another part of a jjimjjilbang {찜찔방} is that they have sleeping rooms, where you can just go to rest, sleep, read, watch tv. Some jjimjjilbangs {찜찔방} also have spa services such as massage, nails, various oriental treatments, and facials. They can also have an indoor golf range, kids playrooms, PC and video games rooms, areas for reading with a large assortment (small library size) of comic books and graphic novels. They are open every day, all hours of the day. Many people go and spend the night there.
Hot day. So many people were at the beach in Haeundae.
***SIDE NOTE: Beaches in Korea are done kind of differently than in North America. There are tons of these beach umbrellas that cover a large portion of the beach, but they do not belong to the people going to the beach. During the summer season the government designates a certain area and umbrella sellers use that area to rent out umbrella space as well as chairs. These umbrella sellers then pay the government for using the space on the beach.
So I don’t think this beach business is that fun. But thats ok, I found a great alternative. As I was beginning to say I went with Min to this jjimjjilbang {찜찔방} in Haeundae. Before we went to the jjimjjilbang {찜찔방} we walked to the beach to see the water. It was crazy, sooo many people! Anyways, just as we get to the beach the lifeguards announce that everyone has to get out of the water. The waves were getting quite harsh and at a certain point they kick the people out of the ocean. Haha. So we left and went to the jjimjjilbang. This is a special one. Its called Vesta Spa. It has two pools on the roof as well as plenty of space to tan. The pools are small, one is cool, just exactly the right temperature for a hot day, and the other is warm like bath water, but not too hot. The pools overlook Haeundae beach. So while Im up on the roof with VERY few people there, I can look down at all the silly people at the beach getting all sandy and uncomfortable, and being all squished with sooo many people. It was great. It was so perfect, almost like being in the Dominican… Just lovely. So finally we leave and stop off at a chicken place called Mexican Chicken – wait, no its not Mexican, it tastes nothing like Mexican anything, for some reason they just call it Mexican Chicken. Anyways, I like the chicken {닭 dak}there. Boneless and with a spicy sweet sauce. We take the chicken outside under some trees and watch people.
~me reading in the cool pool on top of the jjimjjilbang~
Then we get end up on a free shuttle to a stadium for horse {말} races. Min said they had a small festival going on. As soon as we got there tho, everyone was leaving the race track. They cancelled the last races because one of the jockeys had fallen off of his horse and was trampled to death. It turns out that this did not happen at the stadium we were at, but at one of the other ones in Korea. The little festival still went on. It wasn’t a very exciting festival, but there were some stations for kids to make things, but being me, I had to make something. So we went and I made a tea light jelly candle!!! It smells like super sweet candy tho :p but it was fun to make. So we walked around, then sat down and finished eating the rest of the chicken {닭}from earlier.
~a lighted archway at the stadium, at the far end is where the race tracks are~
We left after this and went to wait for Min’s friend Red (see Aug 4 entry about Red). Red’s family owns a motel {모텔 motel}(motels are totally different than in North America, they are more like hotels, very nice and neat and clean, usually quite nice looking, often better than a Holiday Inn, and are very cheap) and Red works there as well. So he had to do some room cleaning before we could go for late dinner. Waited hours. I was very hungry, and if you know me, you prolly know that I get bitchy if I don’t eat regularly and sometimes I get sick. Well we waited forever… I still don’t understand why we didn’t just go to the place and then Red could show up when he was done. Anyways… When he finally came down we went to the restaurant. I brought my book with me, I was very pissy. Anyways, I was planning not to drink, I just didn’t feel like it. But there were these older ladies (ajumma {아줌마}in Korean) and in typical Korean (and Min) fashion, Min starts sharing our galbi {갈비}with them (galbi {갈비}is a kind of beef that is sort of bbq’d, sort of… I will try to get a picture). So Min is talking to the women and Red and I are eating and talking. The women kept offering soju {소주} to us, and were somewhat excited about a foreigner, telling me about how they have a daughter who is away to Austrailia. So we eat and drink and chat with them.
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