A generally positive review about the ‘twon in an online mag called Busan Haps.  Now, Busan is about as far away from Itaewon as you can get in Korea without crossing water, but the linked article is from the “travel” section.  So, I guess that makes it ok.

Anyway, I might have a small quibble or two with some of the bar descriptions, especially as it relates to the purported clientele of these establishments, but it wasn’t full of the hate and scorn many folks have for my adopted hometown.  I did have to smile at the description of my favorite hangout, Dolce Vita:

For all you pool wizards and dart heads out there, the best two joints to venture into would have to be Bless U Bar and Dolce Vita.  There’s no point in even writing your name on the board if you’re not amazing at pool at Bless U Bar, and usually Dolce Vita as well.  Dolce Vita has 3 or 4 dart boards, so if you’re looking to start or get into a league, this is the place to be. It’s quite a trip when you first enter and see all these darts whiz by over your left shoulder; it almost feels like a bunch of archers practicing in front of a king from the middle ages.

Heh.

Another Friday, another yoja.  This week–Lee Yeon Hee.

And if you think she looks great in the traditional hanbok, you should see her out of it:

Told ya…

who me?

give us a  little smile Yeon Hee

You might also enjoy watching her in action here….

The war of words continues apace here on the Korean peninsula.  The ROKs are busy constructing loudspeakers along the border so they can tell the NORK people their leaders are the world’s biggest jerks.  Said jerks have responded that this means war!  And this time we really, really mean it.

An oh yeah, Seoul will become a sea of flame and all that.

As far as Saturday nights go, last night was a pretty good one.  It commenced with a fine farewell party/dart tournament for Dan Orrico and Rod Rodriguez at, wait for it, Dolce Vita Pub.  The evening (for me at least) ending with a Korea victory over Greece in the opening round of the World Cup.
Some of us brought along some vittles to supplement the Dolce menu.  My contribution was pulled pork barbecue, slow roasted in the ol’ crock pot.  It seemed to go over well enough as indicated by a lack of leftovers.  Then again, there was a huge crowd.  28 teams in the doubles tournament which may be a record for Dolce.  Even though my mediocre darts resulted in a two and out for me and my partner, it took a couple of hours to be eliminated.  The tourney was still going strong when I departed the bar.

In addition to the large dart crowd, there was a small but vocal contingent of Koreans watching the football (soccer) game.  I’m no fan of the sport, but there was some strong energy pulsating in Seoul for the Red Devils last night and I couldn’t help but catch the buzz.  Long after I had retired to bed and well into the wee morning hours I could hear drunk Koreans celebrating (screaming loudly) as they meandered home through the streets of my normally quiet neighborhood.

Today Tom and Yuli Randolph are hosting a barbecue get together in honor of Rod and Dano.  We’ll be bringing some Galbi for the grill, watermelon and the pineapple upside down cake I’m fixin’ to bake.  Unlike last night, I intend to remember my camera so I can capture the highlights for posterity.

Well, I’ve finally got around to watching the television series “Lost”.  I’m up to episode 20 of Season 1 thus far.  I’m going to reserve judgment till the story develops a little more (assuming it will).  Suffice to say up to this point, Ms. Kim Yun-jin is the best thing about the show…

Anyway, thus far it’s been fun to see some of the stereotypes of Koreans portrayed on American television.  I’ve heard the two Korean characters will develop into more than caricatures as the series progresses. 

Another aspect I’ve enjoyed is that Lost was filmed in Hawaii and I’ve been spotting some of the places I visited during my vacation there this year.