Just living day to day.  Here are some photos of my walking life.  I do some destination walks on the weekend (Namsan and the Han river) but I rather enjoy trekking through the nearby neighborhoods as well.  Always something interesting to see…

Walked by the back entrance to the Philippines embassy yesterday as I was exploring some back alleys.. Reminded me that I had once considered retiring there. I guess that option is back on the table now…May need to make a visit soon and check out the lay of the land.

Also came across this aptly named venue…I might feel at home here…

I don’t know any Hal’s, but I guess he must be on fire!

And the sun set on another lonely day…

At lunchtime today I took a hike that brought me to the other side of the tracks…

And I wound up in Injun country. Apparently.

It warmed up nicely today so I pulled my new grill out to the balcony and fired it up…

And spent some time on the balcony enjoying the view…

I was a little out of practice, but the steaks tasted better than they look…

And I had a rather tasty dinner if I do say so myself..

After eating I traipsed over to Shenanigans and quaffed a few cold Miller Lite beers.  I don’t walk for exercise after all.  I do it to compensate for the golden brews I so dearly love.

And that’s the way it is…

In preparation for my first weekly weigh-in this morning I found the motivation to tackle a mountain yesterday.  Such as it is.

I’ll let the pictures do my talkin’ about my walkin’.

You gotta start somewhere, so I started by walking out my front door…

…and into the street…

…from where you can view my ultimate destination.

This storefront seemed to be offering me encouragement to plod on…

Came to a fork in the road–to the right the road leads up to the Grand Hyatt. To the left–who knows? I went left…

…making progress…

…but first I must manage these many, many steps.

After all those steps I was not in the mood for an exercise break…

So I followed the path that lead steadily upwards…

I was getting hot and sweaty, but not feeling philosophical about it…

Almost there, but had to breach the wall first…

Not a particularly clear day, but Seoul is still awesome…

That’s my hot, tired and sweaty look…

Goal achieved!

A bitter reminder that all the locks in the world won’t chain the heart of a soul who yearns to be free…

So, I screwed up on the way down. I was thinking I was on the path that would lead to the National Theater and figured I might even find a cut-off leading to the Hyatt. By the time I realized my route was taking me to the wrong side of town, I had a pretty good bit of backtracking to do–mostly uphill. So I eventually found a trail with the word “Hannam” in it, and I figured close enough. Especially since it was going downhill…

And I wound up on the opposite end of Itaewon/Hannam from where I live.  I had planned on a two hour walk, why not two and a half?

There’s always something interesting to see on the mean streets of Seoul…

I didn’t walk at a brisk pace…I guess you could say I was dogging it…

But I had a Great Dane anyway. *ahem*

When I finally reached home I was tired and hungry. Baby back ribs were my reward…

So I ate and took a nap.  Then did my usual Saturday night gig at Shenanigans.

Which means keeping my lady friends entertained…

And that brings us to this morning’s weigh-in.  I’ve been doing reasonably well on the diet. I don’t think the walking adds much value other than keeping me motivated to not eat my usual junk thereby negating the time and effort spent on walking.  As I mentioned last week, my goal is to lose 50 pounds.  So if I can average losing one pound a week I’ll get there in less than a year.  Last week I was 269.2 and this week–

Woot! Down 5.8 pounds! More than I dared hope for. Of course, in the early stages of the diet you get bigger drops, and then your body adjusts and it gets tougher. Still, just give me one pound a week and I’ll be happy…

I guess I’ll just have to keep on keeping on.

Week 2 Kickoff breakfast. Eggs , cheese and salsa with leftover ribs..

And an afternoon stroll to the Han River is in my immediate future.

Took an ass whuppin’ in darts last night, so let’s not talk about that.

I managed a 45 minute lunch time stroll yesterday and added another 45 by taking the long way to darts (including a stroll up “gay hill” and down “hooker hill”.  I only got propositioned on one said hill.  I’ll leave it to your imagine which one.  I did not however partake of what was being offered.

After the dart match we are not going to talk about I went straight home.  Which avoided my consuming additional beer carbohydrates (our dart venue was out of Miller Lite, so I had to go with the full bodied Cass, of which I had three).  In bed by 11:00 p.m., woke up and hoofed it into work.  I was very surprised to find it was almost a straight shot from my villa to my office.  I used the walk-in gate near the kimchi pots in Haebongchon and instead of going around the 8th Army HQ building like I have to do in my car, I found a pathway running behind the USFK HQ (aka The White House) and was at my office in 15 minutes!

I rewarded myself with a ham and cheese omelette from the food court, skipped lunch and got a haircut instead, then satiated my hunger with celery and cheese sticks in the afternoon.

My new doo. No need to carry around that extra weight from a full head of hair…

Walked home (15 minutes back as well, go figure).

Did some laundry…

…and hung it up to dry…

Washed up some dishes, the pulled out my new George Foreman grill…

Only big enough for two hamburger patties at a time…

But I was finally able to put some real food in my belly…

Well, as real as it gets around here anyway.

Still got 30 minutes of walking to finish, so I will meander around the neighborhood and perhaps discover a back way to Shenanigans.

And you thought this post would be devoid of adventure!

…so I prepared the traditional holiday lunch.

Homemade* clam chowder with a sweet potato slathered in butter and cinnamon

* By homemade I mean I opened a can of Campbell’s Chunky Soup and heated it up on the stove in my home.  Don’t be a hater!

Well, I survived the physical examination.  It might have been touch and go.  I checked in with my blood pressure at 160/80 which is quite a bit higher than my normal 135.  So they gave me some medicine and made me wait, then checked it again.  Still too high, so they gave me another pill and I waited some more.  Finally they consented to proceed with the various tests (apparently high BP can create problems with the results, who knew?).

So, I got weighted (121kgs yikes!), had my vision and hearing checked, gave a blood, urine and stool sample, chest x-ray, MRI like thing, ultra sound on my vital organs, prostrate exam, and then the colonoscopy and endoscopy.  I was asleep for the last two thankfully.  A cute young woman did my prostrate check but it still was not fun to have a stick stuck up my ass.  Ah, for the good ol’ days when they used a finger.

Before we started they reviewed with me my results from two years ago.  I had a fat liver then, who knows what 40 straight days of drinking has done now.  Well, I will know on the 16th when I see the hilarious Dr. Yu for my results.

I actually wavered on going for the physical because if I’m dying sooner than I’ve planned, I’d rather not know.  On the other hand if they find something that can be fixed and give me those ten years, why not?  We’ll see soon enough.

When it was over I’d been 24 hours without solid food and I was famished.  The hospital gives a coupon for a traditional rice porridge at a nearby Hannam-dong eatery.  It was damn good, but I expect anything would have been at that point.  When I got back to the house I made myself a proper tuna sandwich and took a long nap.

Back in my usual chair at Shenanigans last night so I guess things are returning to normal.

…and it is going to be a shittier night.

No beer tonight. Just a bunch of liquids and water to insure I shit through the night.

Getting my bi-annual physical tomorrow.  So this morning I had the dis-stink honor of scooping my poop into that little black jar.  It was a shitty experience.

So, at 6:30 I drink whatever is in that tube.  Then at 7:00 I drink my first bottle of whatever it is that makes you shit (with a liter of water).  I’ll do that again at 9:00.  That should have me shitting through the night.  But I’ll wake up at 5:00 to drink another bottle.

I’m just hoping there is nothing left to poop when I leave for the hospital.

Oh well.  It’s great to be me!

UPDATE:  Dinner is served!

Piping hot chicken broth… Yum!

I guess the first point I need to make is that I am pathetic.  Acknowledged and understood.

Friday night was pretty much a disaster for me.  It started out well enough I suppose.  I baked up some walnut brownies to share with the staff at Shenanigans and they actually turned out moist and chewy, the way a properly baked brownie should be.  A lady friend (emphasis on the friend part) was at the bar so I had someone to converse with.  And of course I was in my standard pub mode regaling the young bar workers with jokes and stories. They always laugh, but then again, I always bring them sweet treats.  I did have an epiphany that I have become my father, at least as I had observed him in various bars whilst I was growing up.  Hey, there are worse things to be I suppose.

Then suddenly my mood took a turn for the worse.  I’m not comfortable going into details now, but I’ll just say that a person I admire and respect and hadn’t seen for a couple of months came into the bar and ignored me.  Worse than being ignored really, because my attempts to engage were coldly rebuffed.  I had considered this person to be more than an acquaintance and it hurt to discover I was less than nothing to her.  So I had another beer and stewed on that for awhile, then feeling uncomfortable with the whole scene said my goodbyes and fled the bar.

I went to another place I’ve been known to frequent and ordered up a beer.  The bar was not particularly busy but other than completing the transaction the bartender had nothing whatsoever to say to me.  This is someone I’ve known for going on ten years.  I would have been satisfied with a simple “how’s it going John”, but it never came.  So my already black mood continued to darken. I finished my beer and left.

Back on the street I could have turned right and gone home or left and gone back to Shenanigans.  I turned left.  The bar was crowded but I found a small table in the corner and I plopped down and ordered a beer.  From my vantage point I could see just about everyone in the bar.  My “acquaintance” saw me but still had nothing to say.  My lady friend was still there and walked by a couple of times but didn’t notice me, nor did I attempt to greet her.  And as I sat there alone watching all the people around me having fun and sharing laughter I really began to feel as if I were invisible.

So I wallowed in self-pity for awhile then made my way to the bar.  My lady friend had departed and I found an empty seat and proceeded to do something really stupid.  I drunk texted (technically Kakao’d) my lady friend about how it felt to be invisible.  She thought I was talking about her and she was mortified to think she had made me feel that way.  She apologized and I tried to explain it was not about her.  And then I think she realized what a self-absorbed pathetic fuck I am and the conversation ended.  Haven’t heard from her since and I expect I won’t again.  She’s probably better off that way.

Yesterday I woke up feeling like shit.  Then the internet went out.  It’s amazing how isolated that can make you feel.  So, I did a little housekeeping and started to set up my new portable dart board, only to discover I don’t currently possess a single screwdriver.  I briefly considered driving on base to buy some tools, but in the end didn’t want to deal with the hassle.  Instead I took a nap.  Awoke to find the internet was functioning and finally finished my Cambodia trip report.

Which brought me to a little after 7:00 on a Saturday night.  What to do?  I was thinking I might ought to take a break from Shenanigans, but maybe I could throw some darts with Jim at Dolce Vita.  But as I was walking to the bar I encountered Jim on the street (we are practically neighbors) and he was heading home for the night.  Damn.  So, I figured what the hell, new night new attitude and popped into Shenanigans.  The place was jammed, even my little hole in the corner was occupied.  Now, Shenanigans and Dolce are the two bars I know will not object to me enjoying some nicotine laced vapor and I figured I was going to need plenty of beer and nicotine to get me through the night.  Dolce it is!

I was the only person at the bar and I commenced to drinking.  For whatever reason being the only guy at the bar is easier than being the lonely guy at the bar, if you get my meaning.  Which is not to say I wasn’t both but it didn’t bother me so much last night. Partly because I had some friends keeping me company from California and the Philippines via the miracle of internet chat.  Is this a great century or what?

Four beers into my solitary sojourn at DV now  and I had to pee.  From the window in the men’s room you can look straight into Shenanigans.  Which I did and noticed there were some empty seats at the bar.  Beered up and ready for live interaction I paid my tab and hustled over.  I plopped myself down at the bar and almost immediately a woman I know from the dart league approached and asked me why I was drinking alone.  The only answer I had also happened to be the truth–because I didn’t have anyone to drink with.

Soon enough she sat down at the barstool next to mine.  “Don’t you have a girlfriend?” she asked.  Nope.  “Why not?” Just haven’t met anyone I told her.  One of the miracles of OB Lager is that it gives you the courage to say what’s on your mind (which of course can be a good or bad thing).  So I told her I had always enjoyed seeing her at darts, that she was beautiful, and that if I was 20 years younger she would be just the type of woman I would go for.  She laughed and said “how old do you think I am?”  I guessed 35 and she responded that she was 42.  I was amazed because she has the body of a 20 year old. Doing the math in my head, I figured she was right at the edge of being within the “it won’t look ridiculous” age range.  Well, my big ass belly and her slender body would look ridiculous I suppose.  But that’s gonna be true with any woman I meet.

Anyway, we commenced to talking about Korean politics.  Damn, she’s smart and pretty I thought.  And then she told me about an article she wrote that is being published in one of the big Korean newspapers next weekend.  Damn, she’s smart, pretty, and talented I thought.  I ordered us up two more beers.

Then I went to the restroom to make room for more beer.  When I returned a guy was standing next to this amazing woman (between my stool and hers).  I had met him before, he’s a semi-regular but his job keeps him in Singapore most of the time.  He had obviously met (let’s call her Kim) before.  No big deal, the three of us engaged in some pleasant conversation.  The Eugene (of Gino’s pizza fame) showed up and bought us a round of Jameson whiskey shots.  I offered to buy a round but Kim said it’s Dillinger’s Bar 6th anniversary tonight and we should really make an appearance.  So we agreed we’d do the shots there.  And yes, the Singapore guy came along.  Hell, to make it easy let’s call him MFer.

Dillinger’s was busy but we found an open table. Ordered beers, than I bought the promised shots (Fireball Cinnamon Whiskey).  We continued to converse and then MFer bought a round of shots.  Then the owner of Dillinger’s joined us and he bought a round of shots.  MFer had strategically placed himself next to Kim and as she got drunker I noticed she was leaning against him for support.  And then it wasn’t long before she fell face first right into MFer’s mouth.

I made my apologies and headed home.  But I think I forgot to pay my tab.  I’ll take care of that today before darts.

So when I got back home I made a discovery.  It seems that copious amounts of beer coupled with whiskey shots somehow makes you more aware of and sensitive to the Earth’s rotation.  At least when I laid down in bed I could feel the room spinning.  The only way I could get in sync was to lay spread eagle on my back on the hard living room floor.

I call that getting floored.

I’m pathetic.  I know.