Soju Honcho left a comment asking about the name of the bridge on my masthead and the photographer.  It’s the Dongjak bridge near Ichon-dong.  Dave New is a hobbyist photographer and quite talented.  Back in his Seoul days he also threw a mean game of darts. You might want to enjoy some of his work on his flickr page.  This album is my favorite, featuring a former waitress from Dolce Vita.

Dave’s photo that became my masthead. I wrote about him here.  

In other news, I had re-established contact with my high school girlfriend via Facebook. Enjoyed some nice chats about the glory days.  And just like that she has disappeared again.  Not sure if she has blocked me (don’t know why she would) or if she has quit facebook altogether.  Makes me sad though.  Sing it Bruce:

Now I think I’m going down to the well tonight
and I’m going to drink till I get my fill
And I hope when I get old I don’t sit around thinking about it
but I probably will
Yeah, just sitting back trying to recapture
a little of the glory of, well time slips away
and leaves you with nothing mister but
boring stories of glory days

I coulda been in pictures.  Got a call the other night from one of the owners of Shenanigans.  Seems someone was looking for an “older” foreigner to appear in a movie that’s being filmed in June.  Willy showed him my Kakao profile picture and the guy said “he’s the one!”.  Willy gave him my phone number but so far no call.  Rejection sucks, although I guess I’m getting used to it.

What else?

The voices in my head are bad enough, but now the damn buildings are shouting at me too…

Three hours on and over the mountain today.  18,987 steps all told.  And I think most of them were actual steps…

Those fuckers pretty much kicked my ass. Stopped halfway up and ate an orange for energy…

A new avenue of attack today…

Hazy Seoul skyline…

From another vantage point..

The obligatory unidentified statue photo.

And then there was this:

I must have a helleva huge heart because I sure ain’t getting no head…

Signs, signs, everywhere there’s signs.

That’s pretty much how I roll on my hikes…and my life now that I think about it.

And another weekend is drawing to a close.  Here’s how I spent mine.

An early night on Friday.  Not because I was trying to change my ways.  I just got drunk by nine o’clock.  I do know when to say when.  Well, I know when I’ve had too much of a good thing at least.

Saturday morning I was up by seven.  Did some laundry and made me some breakfast.

I’m getting better at bacon, I’ll grant myself that…

Then it was time to head for the mountain.  Namsan to be precise.

I had planned to start here, which has a gazillion steps leading in the direction of the Grand Hyatt. Right after I took this photo a construction worker waved me off the staircase with the entreaty “Not Safe!” Being in no position to argue I went with plan B…

…so I started my climb here. I stayed on the trails for the most part which I prefer to the roads, although the hiking is steeper and more difficult…

Another crossroads…

…I took this path as it appeared less traveled by…

…it eventually led me to this long ass flight of stairs…

…at the top was this little area in the middle of nowhere featuring a bell, some exercise equipment, and a picnic pavilion…

The Korean equivalent to an azalea bush was in full bloom…

I came across a section of the old city wall I hadn’t seen before…

My standard Saturday afternoon date…

It was a lovely day for a walk. Sure, the Yellow dust was thick but I had the trails almost entirely to myself…

By this point in the walk I was very glad I was walking down these seemingly endless stairs…

The park across from the Grand Hyatt was as beautiful as it was empty.

It was good to be communing with nature on Eartha day…

Do you recall what was revealed the day the music died?

I’m accepting applications but so far no takers…

All told I racked up 3 hours on and around the mountain.  Came home, grilled up some chicken on a stick, then took a satisfying nap.

A friend called and asked to meet up at Shenanigans.  I hadn’t planned on going out so early, but what the hell.  So I showered up and headed out.  Right before I arrived I got a text message from my friend saying she was drunk and leaving.  Ah well.

I had three San Miguel Light beers and two gin and sodas.  Feeling a little stiff from my walk I headed over to the nearby Thai massage joint.  Had a lovely lass rub oil all over my body.  She asked if I wanted to be rubbed “down there” and I told her “no thanks”.  I was just enjoying being relaxed.  When my hour was up I walked up gay hill, through tranny alley, and down hooker hill to Grand Ole Opry.  At the Opry I enjoyed some country music and three gin and sodas.  Then I made my way to the new Debut and had a couple more. Made it home safely by 11:00 or so and not so inebriated as to be floored.

Up at 7:00 again this morning.  Put a pork roast in the crock pot, boiled some eggs to take to work next week, and chopped up some celery (also for workplace snacking).  Then I did the dishes.

I couldn’t seem to induce a bowel movement this morning, but I did my weekly weigh-in anyway.  The scale said 241.7, a 2.1 pound GAIN from last week.  Discouraged but undaunted, I set about on my quest to the Han river.  My plan was to walk across the Army base and pick up the Han in Ichon-dong.  About the time I reached the Dragon Hill Lodge, my bowels kicked in so I used the facilities in the hotel.  Feeling lighter on my feet afterwards I continued my journey.

Now, when I walk I put on my earphones and listen to my YouTube play list.  Near the high school a car pulls up and the driver says you are not allowed to wear headphones while walking on base for “safety and security” reasons.  I thanked him for the information (I honestly did not know) and he told me it was good that the MPs didn’t see me.  He also revealed that he was in charge of the MPs so I was glad that I had been gracious in my response.

I put my headphones in my pocket until I excited the base at Ichon station.  I wasn’t exactly sure where the river access point was but I found it in due course.  Along the way I passed a church and standing out front was my big boss’ Korean wife.  She was surprised to see me and asked if I was a “visitor”.  I laughed and said no, just passing by. She then asked if everything was okay.  I told her it was, I was just doing my Sunday walk.  I guess exercise must seem out of character for me.

This is the furthest down the river I’ve been on foot. Although back in my bicycling days I’ve gone many miles in both directions…

As I approached the Bampo bridge, the fountains went off. Sorry I couldn’t manage a better picture.

Two and a half hours on the road.  I downloaded a new pedometer app which I like a lot better.  It said I did 16,486 steps today.  I was dead tired when I got home though. I gave the scale a chance to redeem itself and it obliged by stating my weight at 238.3.  That’s down 1.3 pounds from last week, so I’ll call that progress.  I think I’m approaching the wall—my body is adapting to the new norm of reduced carbs and routine exercise (in the form of walking).  Well, there’s not much else I can do to step it up, but we’ll see.  I need to lose another 20 pounds.

As I get lighter I like to think I’m looking younger.  So, I changed my profile picture on Facebook.

That’s me circa 1978. 23 years old and reading Lord of the Rings. Man, there is so much I’d like to tell that guy…Like invest in Microsoft…

Anyway, I’ll wrap up the weekend with my singles league dart match and the requisite aiming fluid that is so essential to high level performance in a game that requires precise hand-eye coordination.  Ha!

Tomorrow morning I’ll get up early and get a blood test done before work.  Tuesday morning I have my follow-up appointment with the cardiologist.  There will be somewhat less of me to examine this go round at least.

Cheers!

I hear some people been talking me down  Bring up my name pass it round.  They don’t mention the happy times, they do their thing, I do mine.

Walk on.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jgjK2ITm_eM

On today’s walk I was reminded of that old Steve Miller Band song.  Not sure why.  Well, there was this:

“…you’re the cutest thing that I ever did see, I really love your peaches want to shake your tree….”

I’m the gangster of love, doncha know…

I mentioned the other day that Jin Hee, one of the bar staff at the new Debut, was a familiar face to me.

I did a search in the blog archives and found one mention of her back in August 2005.  It was a longish post mostly concerning my trip back to Korea after attending a conference in New York City.  This is the pertinent part of that entry:

“On the way back home I stopped off at Bar Episode for some darts. Got my clock cleaned by Jin Hee, one of the bar girls I chat with there. So it was midnight, I had been up about 30 hours and I got home and crashed hard”.

Last night I popped back into Debut to renew acquaintances.  She’s hard to read (that hasn’t changed) but she seemed mildly impressed with the above referenced recognition. She claims to have not played darts in years and is sure she is not very good.  I know my game is much better these days, so I’d like to think I would extract my revenge.  My entreaties to meet up some time for a game (Debut does not have a dart board) drew a non-committal response.  I fully understand.  Sunday is her only day off and I expect she has better things to do than spend it in my company.

Both of our memories are pretty hazy given the passage of time.  I recalled she had a boyfriend in China and she corrected me that it was Shanghai.  She said she had waited for him to return for her for 5 years and he never did.  If she’s to be believed, that was her last boyfriend.  I told her I recalled taking her out to dinner for her birthday (December 5 she reminded me) and buying her a cake.  She had a vague recollection of the event.  I didn’t mention this, but I had a pretty serious crush on her at the time.  When she stopped in at my villa in Hannam-dong for cake I thought maybe I’d get lucky.  I didn’t.

Anyway, she eventually left Bar Episode and I moved on to other adventures.  Episode is long gone now, except in the fading memories of old farts like me.  And yet, here we were on a Saturday night over ten years later sitting at the bar sharing drinks.  I guess I was ten years older than her then (which of course I still am).  But the difference between 60 and 50 really isn’t that great.  And she seems every bit as disinterested in me as she ever did. I am definitely stuck in the “customer zone”.  She’ll be nice to me in exchange for drinks on which she earns a commission.  And I’ve learned enough over the years to know when the pursuit is pointless.  Ah, but thanks for the memories!

When I did my weekly weigh-in this morning my scale registered 243.8 (twice).  That’s the same as last week.  I was disappointed but not really surprised.  When I attended Sung-Ha’s birthday party politeness dictated that I partake in the homemade lasagna.  And of course I had a taste of cake and ice cream as well.  I’d also snuck in more than a few beers over the preceding several days.  I consoled myself with the fact that I hadn’t actually gained any weight and resolved to be more disciplined going forward.

With that in mind, I did a 2 1/2 hour walk along the Han river.  My pedometer claims 21,883 steps, but I think it probably runs high.  Still, I was tired and sweaty when I returned home. I think that’s about all I have in me as far as continuous walking goes.

So, I figured what the hell, let me re-weigh after the walk.  This time my scale says I’m at 239.6!  I didn’t believe it, so I weighed again, and it was still 239.6.  How the fuck did I lose over four pounds during the course of 3 hours or so?  Anyway, I’m going with the afternoon reading because it makes me feel better about myself.

During my ramble today I encountered a fellow Rambler:

That’s a 1950s vintage (just like me!) Ambassador if I’m not mistaken…California tags too, just like me (well my birth certificate anyway).

Always something new to see on the mean streets of Seoul…

Regular readers know that I spend the vast majority of my substantial bar time at Shenanigans.  I’m likely the most regular regular there.  Although I actually only visit the bar on days that end in “y”.

Anyway, thinking that regular status makes you something special is a fool’s game.  I got reminded of that fact last night.  Now, I’m not in the bar biz but from my perspective as a customer you should never let someone sit there with an empty glass.  In fact, you should ask “another?” before the glass is empty.  That’s good for the drinker and good for the bar.

Last night I arrived at the bar and ordered up a gin and soda, my preferred drink of choice these days (low in carbs).  One of the owners was tending bar and engaged in conversation with the customers sitting next to me.  And my glass got empty with no offer for more.  So, I sat there patiently (well, patiently for me) and waited.  And waited.  Finally, he noticed my empty glass, picked it up, and emptied it into the sink.  Then continued his conversation.

I was both gobsmacked and a little pissed  Well, I can take a hint, so I paid for my one drink and left.  My regular barkeep noticed I was an unhappy camper and tried to ask what was wrong, but I waved her off and walked out.

Went to Dolce Vita next door, got greeted by name, and promptly served my second gin and soda of the night.  I also got a message from the bar owner and my bartender friend apologizing.  I told them not to worry about it.  Seriously, I could have fucking asked for a drink but I didn’t think I should have to do that.  See?  You start thinking there is some privilege to being a regular and you are going to be disappointed.

I didn’t find the service at Dolce much better (my glass set there empty again and I had even less patience by now).  So, I went to Scrooge and had another drink.  They treated me well and I saw a few people I knew there, but I was admittedly in a foul mood at this point.  So it was one and out.

I next decided to meander over to the new Debut location.  I was in there last Friday night, but when I arrived it was late and I was already wasted. I vaguely recall ringing the bell (drinks for the house) a couple of times.  It’s an expensive way to buy popularity.  But last night I had the place to myself.  Owner Polly was there and there was one other bar staff working, a gal named Jin Hee.

Jin Hee had been there Friday as well, but in my inebriated condition I hadn’t really noticed her.  As soon as I arrived last night I knew she looked familiar.  And for good reason.

Time for work now.  I’ll tell you that story another time

…a pleasant walk.   Of course, I’m not in the same league as the original walking man Kevin Kim.  He did a 3 1/2 hour jaunt this weekend and he has the pictures to prove it!

I’ve actually gotten to enjoy my little walks though.  And it seems like I invariably find answers to some of the questions running through my mind  About 3/4 of the way through my hike today I began to wonder “why am I doing all this walking?”  And then I saw this:

When you are old and fat it’s a good idea to be changing me…

It’s warming up though  I generated a fair amount of sweat today  I fear when summer arrives I’ll be rather unpleasant smelling in the office during the afternoon.  Might have to pack an extra shirt.  We’ll see.

So, my pedometer app claims I made 12000 steps in one hour today  I know that can’t be right.

Kevin posted pictures of statues, here’s mine:

This artist slays me with his work…

Anyway, I did eat after my walk.

This tasty salad with chicken breast pieces and low carb ranch dressing. That’s as sweet as it gets for me these days. Well, except for Sunday nights when I reward myself with a fruit smoothie…

That’s it for now.  Time for dart league!

Made a quick trip down to Songtan yesterday to participate in a dart tournament.  My exit from said tourney was quicker than the bus ride down.

I caught the bus on Yongsan Garrison which dropped me at Osan Air Force base. One hour ten minutes then a 20 minute walk to Songtan proper…

This is where I’ve always stayed on my Songtan trips. 60 bucks a night.

The scene of my dart crimes last night. Me and my partner were out of sync and neither of us could hit an out shot…

I found my favorite Filipino beer in most of the bars I visited last night. I celebrated by drinking LOTS of them.

Songtan has lots Filipinos working in the bars. I didn’t partake of the food or women though…

My pal Vox who owns Xenis bar. A gracious host…

It was interesting exploring the bar scene in Songtan. Not sure what constitutes an “illegal”. I went in and they didn’t throw me out, so I guess I’m good. Enjoyed chatting with unfamiliar bar staff and even played darts with one barkeep late in the night while I was drunk. Still managed to win though. Crawled into bed a little before the 1 a.m. curfew…

Caught the 10 o’clock bus back to Yongsan this morning.  When I was safely home in my cozy villa I did my weekly weigh-in.  I didn’t think it would be a good week (I pretty much stuck to the plan, but I just wasn’t feeling it), so I was pleasantly surprised when my scale registered this:

That’s a 4.1 pound reduction from last week and 25.4 overall. My jeans don’t fit me anymore. In a good way.

Half way to achieving my goal  I’m sure all those San Miguel Lights last night didn’t help though.  Gonna keep on keeping on until I git ‘er done!

Today I didn’t walk over the mountain, I walked around it.  Took two and a half hours but it was an enjoyable change of scenery.

No pedestrians allowed in the tunnel, so I went around…

Not sure who this is, but he wouldn’t quit staring at me…

Turns out this wasn’t the tunnel of love..at least I didn’t find any.

The best thing coming out of Columbia, South Carolina is I-20. And I took it…

Ridden the tram several times, first time I ever walked there though…

Who knew there was an Elvis museum in Seoul?

That’s one big ass hostel…

Blossoms past their peak now, but still a nice canopy…

And that’s that.  Now it’s time to shower up and catch a bus to Songtan.  Need to shop for dart league trophies, play in a dart tourney, and get drunk.  I’ll spend the night there I reckon.

After yesterday’s hike I got an invite to lunch at the neighborhood Vietnamese restaurant. Enjoyed the company even if the food wasn’t to my carb-avoiding liking.  Drank a couple of Saigon beers though as a reward for passing on the noodles.

I thought I had dinner plans with a friend for some Samgyapsal, but I kinda sorted got stood up.  I was pretty disappointed because I’ve had a hankering for some grilled pork belly for quite awhile.  Sadly that is just not something you can do by yourself.  So I wound up drinking my blues away.  Started at Shenanigans, the moved up the Hill for a few more gin and sodas at Grand Ol’ Opry.  There’s a bar upstairs called East and West that features classic rock music, so I gave it a try.  It was pretty nice.

I left East and West and crossed the street to Debut Bar. It was the last night at the Hooker Hill location so I wanted to say farewell to Polly.

Obviously, I wasn’t the only one with that idea. Polly treated us to a round of drinks and we wished her “cheers” in the future…

I was very drunk after Debut and discretion being the better part of valor and all I made my way home.  And spent some time on the floor.  I’ve got to stop doing that!  I’m sure it’s the gin.  I just can’t handle it like I do the beer.  The things I have to tolerate just to lose some weight.

Woke up too early (got to remember to turn the sound off on my phone, although truthfully I was too drunk to even plug in the charger last night). Anyway, I like to make something in the Crock Pot on Sundays, so I set about making a pot roast…

added in some carrots…

…and celery…

…some onion…

…then poured on my “secret” blend of herbs and seasoning…

…then set the timer for 9 hours and prepared for my Han river hike…

It took me an hour to reach this oddly familiar bridge (where have I seen it before?) so I headed back towards home from there…

3/4 of the way back…

…but I took time out to smell the blossoms…

Reached home tired and hungry, so I plopped some chicken on a stick on the grill…

Not pretty, but tasty nonetheless…

Now it’s time to shower up and head out for my Sunday dart league matches.  I’ve got to play two today, so that’s a good three hours work.  Great exercise though.  Ah, the life of an athlete.