Gangnam

So here's the lowdown on the day out at Gangnam that happened quite some time ago now. The idea of me going there was to get my hair cut, which Jin had kindly booked for me.
Funnily enough the night before this day, was a Friday night, a regular one so me and Tyler headed over to Metro for drinks and pool, now it wasn't turning out to be that big of a night ...... UNTIL... Tyler's friend (Sam) arrived with another friend in tow (Hoony..... yes.... Hoony), then everything went pear-shaped...... more drinking.... then we stumbled out, went to a club for a short while thence to another bar...... MORE drinking. Now in all honesty despite my previous jaunts to the Metro every friday and despite the fact that i stumble a bit on the way home anywhere between 330 and 540 it DOESN'T mean that i drink a lot, but THAT night i did drink quite a lot.
Now of course these kinds of things happen, people meet up with other people and things pretty much get out of hand, to be fair to me tho i still didn't drink that much, but what I did drink hit me pretty hard.

So anyway, the night finishes and i'm pretty much on the verge of collapse by the time it's done so i figure we'll just head back to Tyler's place and i'll just collapse there and sort the next morning out when it happens. Unfortunately things didn't work out that way, because we got to T's place and he found out that........


He had lost his house keys......


So we spent some time pounding on the door and because of our drunken state we also considering climbing along the outside of the 3 storey building and gaining access via an unlocked window...... I being FAR smarter in this state, decided that we should just go back to my place and sleep there.
So we get back to mine and Hoony is dragging along a bag..... which i found out to contain 3 big bottles of beer..... (:S) but i would have none of it, so i let them in , gave them a chair to use as a table, went into my room and just collapsed.....

i woke up feeling pretty shit of course..... but after my hangover cure of fried goods (bacon eggs and later, some spam) and some hot black pu erh tea, we were all feeling much much better.
So Sam drivess me over to the station (in return for my.... amazing culinary prowess) and i meet up with Jin.

So she takes me over to her stylist... salon thingy whatever you call it. and it's an impressive site: and large amount of floor space almost completely dominated in the main by upy downy chairs, large mirrors, and clear but soft white light, making this place seem something that should be up in the clouds bathed by the light of an omniscient power saving light bulb. So in my short couple of minute wait for the stylist to finish with the current person, his assistant comes over and offers me a menu..... for a drink.. .totally free and part of the service at this place and while the drink is being prepared she takes me over and washes my hair (amazingly strong fingers she has :P) before the stylist has a critical look at my hair. He asked who cut my hair and i told him mum did :P and when for when she reads this i'll add that "mum she thought that you did a good job, he compliments you on your steady hands and your obvious skill" so yeah he was... impressed i guess for lack of better words :P

Here's a pic of the drink....


and here's me being pampered (and i use this word correctly here) by the stylist and the strong fingered assistant


after the hair cut (which ended up as me saying to do whatever he thought was good as opposed to what i wanted which was to cut lots of hair off so i wouldn't have to cut again for several weeks.. maybe months...) being super hungry Jin suggested (after some badgering) that we try this Viet Pho place nearby (this was after we went shopping for a new phone for me....) the noodles were a lot thinner than i was used to and i have to say i much much MUCH prefer the Hor Fun that's typical of pho in aussie....



after more walking it was over to a cool lil coffee shop where good expensive coffee could be had, in super nice crockery too i must admit... pics here....

So this is my caramel latte


and this was her .... americano ... i think... can't remember now... but it was something fancy sounding *shrugs*


This is the new york cheesecake :).... SUPER SUPER good

and this is the Chocolate Lava.... which didn't have any 'lava' flowing out of it..... so i must admit not a huge fan of this one...


but anyhoo after... i think... 3-4 cups of coffee my stomach was doing flips and my brain was bouncing off the walls :| seriously amped after that stuff but it was pretty funny in a way :P




so anyway. that was my day out at Gangnam :) will most likely go back to that stylist i think :P


Peace out pplz :)

So she's finally here =)

Well after much anticipation, heartache and just.... well shitty bits me dearest better looking half is here to keep me company. She landed safely and traveled well (if in some discomfort).
Here are some pics of the aforementioned :)


and here's a pic to prove it :)




Poor thing came of the basically 16 hr ordeal that is the flight here into a booked car and straight to my workplace.... where she was greeted by an office full of people who knew who she was.... and she didn't know anybody (so i have a big mouth :P so what? you guys all love me still so don't pretend like you don't :P) so anyway, she's shown to my desk and has to sit the for the next 3hrs or so while i finished off work then it was into a taxi and the 5 -10 minute trip home :)

well either way you'll be all happy to know that I am super happy that she is here :) and to those on her side i'll take care of her k? ;)
y'know.. in fact i even made Hot and Sour soup for the first time....( i didn't realise she wasn't a huge fan of it :S *whoops*) but yeah it turned out pretty damn good for a first time effort :)



;) it was good :P


anyway from us 2 here in Seoul :)

lots of love and peace to everyone :)

Bai :)

Next post: a day in Gangnam (belated as it happened on the 15 June :P but still worth putting up)

Thank You

So after some time here and esp after having 3 great ppl super looking after me and everything.
I thought i'd take it upon myself to do something as a lil thank you to the three of them.
So i invited them all over and cooked them dinner. (You could argue at this point that that really isn't much of a thank you as it was a torturous ordeal

Be that as it may i took it upon myself to churn out a meal for my generous colleagues. I am a man of simple tastes so i decided to make the following

Hainan Chicken w/ ginger and shallot oil (i'd premade the oil)
My favourite Tofu Gung soup.
Fried egg with onion.
and some lightly pan-fried scallions in soy sauce....

i went to the supermarket after work to especially buy the soy sauce.... Kikkoman of course :P omy.. SO good tasting that soy sauce for the first time in ... 8 weeks? soy sauce tastes diff here.... sweeter i guess you could say and in a way more fragrant.

ANYhoo i got started with the dinner... took me a while in the end
everything is so simple to make and easy to look up and easier to make... and i don't wanna try and look prop and shit by telling ppl how i make stuff so i'll just let pictures speak

and i'l say right now that the chicken IS in fact cooked :P

This is the Hainan chicken.... and i gotta say.. it was pretty damn good... very soft... and easy to cut....... and yes i know it looks as if i half cooked it but i assure you all that it was in the hot boiling/near boiling water for... 20-25 minutes..... i SWEAR!!

i could've chopped it more presentably...... but after deboning it and only cutting half the chicken first (the other half i wanted to deep fry the skin to crisp it up but i gave up and after we went through half of the chicken quickly.... i figured just go for cold chicken instead... it'd be a waste to fry it...


This is my super favourite tofu gung soup...... LOVe the way dad makes it. i never think i do it justice.. but considering i only had frozen prawns, mussels to go with the nice tofu and dried mushies..... but it turned out alright even if i did sneak a big spoon of powdered beef stock into it :P kekekekeke.... in my defence i only did it cos the base tasted a lil too watery..... but all was well in the end.



So this is what the dinner table looked like all set up and everything complete with the scallions and the egg..... Jin brought some of her homemade kimchi which was pretty awesome too... one her mum made and the other she made herself :P
rockin'.
The fried egg and the scallion are SO simple.. (literally just into the pan and fry) DEF no need to explain.



and now for the people


Nicole and Tyler....
Nicole has been helpfully trying to get me out of my shell and to actually see stuff , but of course i'm waiting for somebody else to come see everything with me...
Tyler is THE dude i've been hanging out with...(him and Evan... who's currently left but will be back in August hopefully) so every Friday we're out to play pool and hit up the drinks.
He totally flogged me the first day i got here... but looking back i'm gonna go ahead and blame it on the jet lag :P hahahahaha i give and get nowadays :P which is exactly as it should be.
this coming Friday will be our last hoorah before he leaves, and Shir comes.... so if i'm not too destroyed i'll grab pics of me and him hitting up the tables and the bars :P
muahahaha



This girl here really isn't the booze-hound she appears to be, in fact quite the opposite.
Jin's ben helping me with everything from phones, to camera's, mp3 players to airline tickets to hotel bookings :P
if she did anything more for me i'd have to put her on retainer as my secretary kekekeke
*please don't hit me*



Anyway so after a thank you dinner what better to do than to have a thank you post :P


THANKS GUYS

Tyler's leaving in 2 weeks, Nicole in 2 months and Jin is stuck with me for the next 11 months :P
sucks to be her right? :P



Peace all....... missing you guys heaps.....

i wonder...

I wonder how many people in the world are doing something they love ...... but don't make money from
I wonder how many people in the world are doing something they're very good at ..... but don't like very much but like the money
I wonder how many people in the world are doing something they're very good, love AND make money from....... i could make a guess: not many.

so for everyone of those luck few how many don't get to have anything close... they do stuf they don't like for bad money simply cos they can't do any better (or think they can't)

and i wonder.... and pity however many people there are in the world who don't even know what they're good at and don't know what they love to do ........ and they're stuck wondering........ forever

More pics update

WEll i bought a camera today.... but haven't taken it anywhere so no pictures from that yet.. tho i'im assured by the salesperson that this Fuji camera is WAAAY better than that Canon 960 is that i was about to waste my money on... he also asked if i'd teach him english :P hahahaha and hey i figure money's money so i said yeah... wrote my details down and so we'll see how that goes.
anyhoo i'll just post up random pictures of stuff including pics near my area that i forgot to add before as well pics of my students.... and i dunno what else..
i'm sure i'll get around to an "only in korea" post at some point... maybe tomorrow if i'm feeling ... bored :P


so here they are ... PICS!!!

The arrow pointing right is where i live :)
Geumnam Market or when i tell the taxi to take me home it's "keumnam si jiang " ;)

here's a pic of what the boys in blue look like over 'ere...... took the picture to remind myself who to run to...or from depending on what i've been doing.....



and a small market that's held at the carpark of the apartment buildings near our school... every tuesday.. fresh produce.... just in cash you couldn't find fresh produce like... at EVERY OTHER SHOP


The fishies here i took a pic of..... bink knows why


Here's the first meal that i ordered out...... with a simple yet effective point at the menu and saying "igo juseyo" :P



How our company keeps tabs on us at work, ye olde time clock method




And here...... is a bucket full of eels........... pretty disturbing to watch actually :S



My Canadian workmate took me to Hannam to eat "Galbi" which is just like flavoured pork and here's a picture of your steaming side dish ..... it's like steamed egg but i took a pic cos it was shooting out steam :P which is pretty cool :P



and here's osme pics of the main street in Hannam.... horrid quality i know... but i was walking across the 8 lane street so didn't really have time to dally :P


One thing i really like about Korea is that a LOT of lil food places do takeaway doesn't matter what it is.... Ryu ordered me this and it arrived at the office about 20mins later, other things like Beef soup actually come in a stonework bowl or plates to a split bowl (for my Tang pok bap aka sweet and sour pork with rice) all the stuff is taken via big metal crates on a scooter to the delivery location.. and it all happens FAST! generally cheap too generally around 5-7$ mark (5-7000... which in reality would be closer to $5.50 and $7.70 for aussies)



The school near us has been reduced to rubble and they're rebuilding it from the foundations up so the kids have to live with large shipping containers as classrooms naturally it's only temporary...



Here's where i go everyday...... this is the office....... a total of 8 people sit in the area you see right now



and that table in the corner next to the wall is my desk :)



THIS is basically what i had for breakfast (2 of them actually) for pretty much 2 weeks... along with a 'mochaccino milk'
this is a "sam gok kim bap" literally meaning "3 cornered seaweed rice"
aka 'onigiri' in Jap






And NOW the moment you've ALL been waiting for........



My kids


This is my Genki 2 Class
Judy, Amy, Talli and Julia.



This is my Conversation class
Christina, Justin, Jack and Jin

Jack was the original culprit of the attempted "sack whacking" but thankfully has since decided that it's far more fun to just poke me with the marker pen *sigh*

you'll all be happy to know that Justin was poking me in the butt again ... and even went so far as crack me in the nuts........ this lil devil (cute tho) trundled up to me and stuck his hand out.. and being the good fella i am immediately shook his hand..... to which he responded with a swift and thankfully slightly pulled "tiger strike" to my crotch area..... he got me pretty good actually.....
then of course he runs off laughing -.-"



Here's my good Safari 2 class... these kids are cute... hard working and generally good fun to be with. The boy of the left is Tom.........or maybe it's David....... his twin.... thing is i can tell them apart with this amazingly simple detail....... David always sits in front of Tom.... and seeing as they always tend to wear the same thing (or if not the same then the complementary colours) it makes it quite hard..... the do act a lot different tho... David comes over with his book and gets into my lap while i'm marking his work..... Hella cute right? and if not he'll walk over after he's finished and take a look at what i'm writing then leans on my shoulder and gives me a hug... what a great kid :P

Next guy is Jack, he's pretty cool too, tho nothing really worth commenting about, there's another kid behind Jack and his name's Paul. Paul is a super bright kid... understands a fair bit of English considering the level these kids are at. Then the girl is Slen, she's damn cute as well... doesn't say much... doesn't do that much work either comparable :p
but she's cute.. :P




and here's my NOT so good Safari 2 class. This is the class that jumps all over me when i'm around.. though i've since controlled this activity.
so it's Julia (my 'enforcer' and bully, if the other kids are doing something she knows i don't like... she'll step in and 'fix' the offender :P),
Daniel (this kid is smart, cute, hyperactive.... insane.... and just good fun),
then June... tho he prefers Jin nowadays (this kid... is cute too... and also sulky and a lil too liberal about where he puts his fingers........in the ass....... MY ass :S *sighs again*
then Sally (pretty surly most of the time, and she's currently in Vietnam),
then Big ...... yes.... Big (this guy is a whiney lil... bi- boy.... :P always bit- eerr complaining about SOMETHING, one time he was grabbing something that i didn't want him to grab.. so i smacked his fingers :P...... then made him cry... which i just shrugged at and ignored ... mainly cos he deserved it :P)
then there's Nate.... annoying that he's affectionate and has the death grip..... he grips his own hands then won't let go... he thinks it'shilarious that he's strangling me -.- i'm gonna give it to this kid at some point too.... give him a swat.
All of these kids have THE highest pitch voices........ usually set my ears ringing by the end of class they almost get to the "i want to commit suicidal" frequency



My Safari 4 class....also a nightmare class cept for... Sopia (this is the class that had me thinking about leaping out of the building the other day for those in the know
Will (good kid, quiet and studious... slowly starting to appreciate him) originally thought he was being whipped by ....
Sunny this girl is pretty dense i have to say..... only good at parroting, has the initiative of a rock and hsa the same English skills *shakes head*
Jung Jae.... this kid is seriously a misfit.... i've finally gotten him to do work in class tho generally he'll just go insane.... paradoxically he likes me :S i don't get why... in the first 2 -3 weeks i threw him out of the class the majority of the time nowadays he doesn't pick on me just the other kids in the class, what's even more insane is the fact that his English is actually pretty good :S
Gyung Don.....i don't like this kid.... happy to give it ... but can't take it.... and his English sucks cept when he's trying to dob somebody in.
Peter is just annoying and has a high pitched voice good for shattering 24y.o ear drums.
Sopia... this girl is the saving grace of this class. She's cute and smart and her English is pretty damn good... what's better is that i use her to translate my instructions to the class for the more dimwitted of those among them
Richard.. this kid gets offended that when i say his name it sounds like "Rich`ed" he likes it more articulated.... screw him :P i pity him more nowadays cos he's usually the target of Jung Jaes antics.
Kevin...... possibly one of the aforementioned dimwits... either that or he's been harrassed and he's totally retreated on himself
ah well



and VERY lastly for your viewing pleasure is a vid of me flipping a seafood pancake.... why?
cos i could.

From tearful farewells to disbelieving residents concerned about trash

Alrighty well i figured i should finally post up some pictures.... if for no other reason that it'll be quite a while before more come considering the state of my camera at this stage in time.
I didn't think it'd be that bad to leave...... actually that's a lie.... i knew it'd be horrible... i was leaving the only place i ever called home.. and the one place i knew would never be beaten by any other...
and i was leaving it... for a year.... not to mention the people there....
I'd already farewelled my sister 4 days previous and my brother 2 days before also..... so the only ppl left to send me off were my parents.... even granny came....


and some of my dear friends.






so there were these kind kind people



and one special person i was leaving behind as well........



So i got on the plane with my face decidedly wet, not surprising considering it's me we're talking about here....

Took us about 9 hrs to reach HKIA which was a lot changed from when i last went there..... like ... 10 yrs ago? lol




and of course being my first time in South Korea.... my first meal HAD to be....



FISH AND CHIPS!!! :) pretty good really :)

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Moving on... here are photos of "The T "



So this is my huge front door.... "bulkhead scrap" i said i believe, then also the kitchen at the crossbar of the
" T "


this is the right side of the T and the room under right side under the bar


This is the left end of the crossbar , my bathroom /toilet and my huge washing machine :p


And this is my room,



Though of course it's much cleaner now cos i've cleaned it twice since then :)


here's some pictures of my nearby area.




And the main street near my place.... this length of the street is all small market stalls... pretty cool eh?






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Wed Night:

So we all went out for a staff party to an all you can stomach Korean bbq, the night started innocently enough started eating... started with some shots of Korean spirits (drinks are always in shots here) ......

then some more...

more...

then more.....







then a couple more....


the more after that.


Until!




THe boss..... proposed to one of the workers...... a male.


who unfortunately was taken away by one of our female workers....

so then.....


he asked another male worker to be his fiancee :P

oh btw... this is Ryu of "F.S.D" fame

i'm just going to leave it at "it was a fun night"


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TODAY :

So i'm at home cleaning today, my door open cos it's pretty much the norm here when it's warm. So i'm thumping music out pretty loud so when a lady walks down the stairs (which pass in front of my place) and starts talking to me quite happily about something (i figured it out later by remembering the word she used and looking it up in the dictionary) but the funny part was when i told her i don't speak Korean..... she repeated "don't speak korean? " and she had this very disbelieving expression on her face :P which okay fine.. isn't THAT funny but funny enough :P

SHUDDUP you GOT your damn pics.... just be content GEEZ