Just a tad messy

In a mega city of 28 million people, you have to appreciate when you run into someone you know, especially as a foreigner. 

No sooner had we destroyed a platter of chicken and a jug of beer that we see Younis stroll past the restaurant. We met Younis at the hostel last year, and he happened to be visiting someone nearby when we spotted him. 

Despite his protests, we drag him in for a beer and get to catching up and reminiscing about the escapades of yesteryear. We plan to meet up again later that night and part ways. I pick up some soju on the way back to the hostel and we get started on socialising with the other guests. 

I didn't know whether to be shocked at the potential trouble we might have been in, or impressed that we have a reputation, when a guy called Nathan walked in and asked if we were the kiwis.  As always, we through caution to the wind and got him drinking with us. Nathan is from Switzerland and works with Greenpeace, so our conversations inevitably took a turn towards the political spectrum of matters. I hate that I do it, but I do so love having an opinion on everything. He's interested in going to the DMZ this week, do we may well end up joining him. 

Turns out that a couple other guests and hostel employees let him know we were coming, as there seemed to be a lack of enthusiasm for going out among the other guests that night. It was a Sunday after all, but not as far as John and I were concerned. 

We taxi up to the university and wander around looking for somewhere lively. We started drinking again in the park (not as bad as it sounds) until Younis arrived and ended up in a cozy restaurant with copious amounts beer. I was happily hammering it down and didn't actually notice the shot glasses at the bottom of my drinks for some time. Enter biligerant and loud Shayne. We were already in a bit of a state, so we had gotten the table next to us to order our food and drinks, which included a shot of soju in our beers. 

We wrapped things up at about 3am, and this morning we've downed our poweraides over some sandwiches. We'll go for a wander up towards the university and do a bit of shopping. We've really got no plans for the day, so who knows where we'll end up. 

It's gonna be hot

We've made it to the hostel without trouble, and are getting ourselves ready for some chicken and beer. Being a Saturday night, I'll be disappointed if things don't escalate to the next level.

Weather wise, it's about as horrible as you can expect. We'll need to keep ourselves properly "hydrated" for the foreseeable future, but that was on the cards already. 

Starting simple

Well, here we go again.

As I wrap up my last day at work, I still feel like I've not made enough plans for this, my 3rd year in a row heading to South Korea, and my fourth trip overall. I suppose half the fun is rocking up there and just seeing where the drink takes us. Hongdae, the area my mate John and I will be staying in, is a university district, and it's been difficult to get ourselves into any real trouble (so far) there amongst the sea of equally stumbling locals.

I'm taking Friday the 29th off from work to get some last things organized and to say adios to this bloody cold country for a while. Meat packs and beer boxes are on the menu that afternoon, as John and I have a few people around for a farewell party, something we've done the last couple years for no reason other than it's a good excuse to catch up with a lot of people at once.

At the risk of lowering my colleagues opinion of me, I've linked this blog on my work intranet profile so everyone can have a laugh at my escapades and misfortunes. I think the best part about keeping a blog like this during what's sure to be an alcohol fueled trip is that the stories are there to be remembered further down the line after the Soju (and bank account) has faded. I'm always surprised at how much I remember the next day after an eventful night, given as I'm half hangover and tapping these blog posts out on a phone, but that's the effect of noodles and Poweraide I suppose.

The last two years I've gone to Korea, there's been some massive trouble. First was a fiasco in even getting to Korea and then having no real money until we got to Japan 3 weeks later. The second was nearly getting kicked out of the flat because someone wasn't paying the rent while I was away. It's a little sobering getting a notice of ending tenancy when you're 10000km away, after which I promptly got into a fresh bottle to rectify. I'm feeling good this year though. Nothing can possibly go wrong.

Nothing.