This weekend produced a rare confluence of events–I had no scheduled dart match on Sunday and a holiday from work today. So, the wife said let’s go to the sea. The East Sea to be precise. And so we loaded up the hooptie and headed down the highway for Gangnuem.
Just like Columbus I managed to get lost a time or two trying to get out of Seoul. Once I got on the proper expressway I inadvertently drove through the “speed pass” gate at the toll booth. I don’t have a Speed Pass but there were no bells, whistles, or sirens so I figured I was home free. Until we reached the toll gate at the other end of the expressway and I didn’t have a ticket to present showing where I’d entered. We got sent to the office where they took my name and license plate number, charged me the W12,000 toll, and said if it happened again the toll would be doubled. Suffice to say I didn’t make that mistake on the return trip.
Jee Yeun scored us an ocean view room for a mere W50,000
Even the shower had a view. I duly noted the view worked both ways…
The sea of Japan East Ocean is pleasant to enough look at…
It’s the off-season but after walking a few blocks we found a deserted samgyapsal joint that welcomed their first and probably only customers of the day. Jee Yeun had a bottle of chunghwa to herself (I had a Cass) and she professed to be feeling na chwi-hae-sseo (drunk). We made it back to the room without incident and she promptly fell asleep. I did a little channel surfing on the TV and was asleep an hour or two later. Yep, us old folks are just chock full of excitement.
Early to bed, early to rise and all that. Which allowed me to enjoy this sunrise…
Shortly thereafter, we headed out to coffee shop a Korean friend had recommended and discovered it was one of the places we had visited on a previous trip…
It’s very small, but the outside seating is quite nice. And it opens early in the morning!
Next trip I’m going to have to try me a buger. I’ve got a nose for good food. That snot a lie…
You don’t live in this country for long before you discover that Koreans are passionate about their coffee…
My car has reached the age of consent in most jurisdictions, but she purred on down the highway like a champ…
Speaking of the highway, I was cruising along at a pretty good clip taking note of when my GPS warned me of the speed cameras. I was halfway home before I figured out that those tricky bastards calculate your average speed between the cameras. I’d never seen that done before. According to my GPS, my average speed was 105 k/ph, and the speed limit was 100. Surely I won’t be ticketed for that, right?
I kept thinking there was something fishy about the drive home. Jee Yeun’s souvenir from our trip.
Anyway, it was good to get out of town and enjoy a change of scenery.