I don’t think I’ve ever seen this much rain. I mean I know it’s monsoon season and all, but this is getting ridiculous. Saw on the news that it is the rainiest its been since 1973. We had to get DPW to come out and put sandbags around the doors of our building because the water started coming in the door.
Into each life some rain must fall I suppose, but what a royal pain in the ass.
And that’s all I have to say about that. Or anything else right now.
Wow. My first post in July. I really had no intention to take such a long hiatis. And I’ve been feeling plenty guilty about it by the way. No excuses, just have not been really motivated to write much lately, but I’m here now and hopefully I will do a better job with this blog commitment. We shall see.
Anyway, let’s play catch up. When we last “spoke” I was holed up in Columbus, Ohio doing my duty to learn all the latest bells and whistles in performance management. Let’s just say “mission accomplished” and move on, shall we?
Upon arrival in DC I was met at the airport by my lovely yobo Carol. We then drove up to Gaithersburg, Maryland to have a couple of drinks with some old postal buddies. Then we made the long drive south to the homestead in Stafford, Virginia. It did feel good to be home. I even mowed the lawn, which is a treat I don’t get to experience in Seoul. Ok, it was still a chore, but once a summer I can handle.
We saw Superman Returns, but I found it rather disappointing. Saturday we had a cookout. London broil and all the fixin’s. Had banana pudding and buttermilk pie for dessert, two of my favorite summertime treats. Best of all was seeing my good friend Dennis again. We sat around the deck drinking telling war stories till late into the night. It was the kind of time I miss most being so far from home.
Over the weekend I got some phone calls from other friends and got caught up on all the latest happenings. Daughter Hillary came home on Sunday and we did another cookout. Had to get as many of those in as possible. Even though I cook out on my patio a couple of times a week, it just ain’t the same when you’re not breaking bread with family and friends.
Monday morning we headed down to South Carolina to see my parents, children and that sweet granddaughter Gracyn. It was good to be on a road trip again with my faithful navigator Carol. Even if it was I-95. Leaving Monday worked great because we missed almost all of the holiday weekend traffic.
My parents have really got their new house looking good. Mom seems real happy there. And when momma’s happy life is much easier for Dad. Renee brought Gracyn by while she did some work and it was so much fun babysitting. I hadn’t seen Gracyn since she was a newborn, and what a difference a year makes. She is so funny. Quite the ham, and a bundle of energy. And a smile that almost never quits. Here’s some pictures:
It took her awhile to figure out who this new guy was, but by the end of the day we were playing peek-a-boo and laughing like crazy people…
Great Grandpa built this nice sandbox in the backyard so Gracie could practice her engineering skills….
Gracie loves the water, and what kid can resist a hose on a hot summer’s day?
Here she is with her mother and father. I am so proud of what a great mother Renee is. And Gracie just adores her daddy…
Here she is with her favorite Uncle and Aunt, Kevin and Lynn. They are all so good together. I also got to see Kevin’s house all finished up. Lynn is quite the decorator and the place just looked so nice and comfortable. They are celebrating their first anniversary this week with a romantic cruise. Way to go you guys!
Mark and Renee hosted the Independence Day celebration at their house. Another wonderful night of cooking out and catching up. We also went out to a local pub to satisfy my urge to practice darts. Kevin used to kick my butt in golf regularly and I was looking forward to some sweet revenge. Things started out well with me dominating the cricket game, but the boy took me in 501, won the diddle, then beat me again in 501. Looking forward to that rematch Kevin!
All too quickly it was time to head back north to Virginia. We stopped at a Stuckey’s in North Carolina so I could purchase some Southern treats for the folks in Korea. Grabbed some pecan rolls, boiled peanuts, salt water taffy and the like. The pecan rolls got mixed reviews from the Koreans who work with me…half thought them too sweet. No one had ever even heard of a boiled peanut before, but they went quick. Too bad they were from a can, because they taste best hot out of the pot.
My week at home went by way too fast, but it was all good. Except the saying goodbye part. So after 17 hours in the air plus a layover in San Francisco, I was back in the Land of the Morning Calm. I did run into a dart league buddy in San Francisco which was kinda cool. He was flying back after taking his young Korean girlfriend home to meet the folks. He’s about six inches taller than me (and I’m 6’1″), so everytime I started feeling miserable in my cramped coach seat, I walked back to have a look at him being even more miserable in his. Hey, its all about perspective, right?
Anyway, I am back in my normal routine. Working and playing darts for the most part. The darts had been going well. I was undefeated through the first four weeks of the season and was ranked number one in B division. I say was because I got my clocked cleaned in singles Monday night. Ah well, I didn’t like the pressure of being first anyway. Not that I didn’t want to stay there. It’s a long season (22 weeks) and my personal goal is a top ten finish with a 75% win rate. Our team has not lost a match as yet and we intend to hold on to the top spot in the standings. “Bring it on!” as a wise man once said….
Jim from Dolce Vita built a couple of dart board cabinets so we can practice at home. All I paid for was the lumber. A generous gesture indeed. So Saturday I drove over to Dolce to transport our cabinets home. Except my car didn’t want to start. Battery would barely crank but I finally got it going. Knew better than to turn it off though. After finally making it up the narrow alley, I parked in a wide spot (relatively speaking) and we loaded up. By the time I got to Jim’s place, I was having to do the one foot on the brake one on the gas thing to keep my hoop dee running. As I headed to my house I knew there was no way I was going to make it home and you do not want to break down on Itaewon Blvd on Saturday afternoon (hell, I had no business driving there on Saturday afternoon, it is pure gridlock). So, I headed for the closest place to the USA I could find, Yongsan Garrison. There’s a garage on post I use and we speak the same language (mostly). Well, I made it on base, but the car was fading fast. The garage is up a hill and that’s where my old piece of shit car gave up the ghost. Half way up that is. So I let it roll on down and parked it as best I could. Put a note on the windshield and walked back into town. (The garage was closed due to a power outage).
Played in the Blue Frog tournament and despite how I must have smelled after being soaked in sweat (or maybe because of it) took two first places. This of course called for a celebration so it was back to Dolce Vita for some shots (Duke took a first and second, Jim had a second and third, so we were all pretty happy). After we closed Dolce at 2:30 that morning Duke and his girlfriend Ji Yong invited me to join them for some Korean food. As we walking to the restuarant we encountered a confrontation on the street (hey, that’s not that unusual that time of night in Itaewon). What was unusual was that Jim and YJ were in the middle of it. As was JJ, a perpetually drunk Korean who on occasion patronizes Dolce Vita. Don’t know what started it, but about 6 drunk Korean women were going after JJ. Jim and YJ were trying to keep them all apart, and somehow Jim wound up on the ground. Duke and I restrained JJ (with more than a little difficulty) and then I started using my “big voice” and waving my arms telling everyone to just calm down. I think I must have scared them, because things broke up pretty quickly after that. Well, no one was hurt or arrested, so all’s well that end’s well I suppose.
I had my car towed to the garage on Monday, but the garage was closed on Monday’s and Tuesday’s (I probably should remember that by now). So, I was cabbing it this week (I did walk once). Didn’t realize how bad my pronuciation was as I had the hardest time making the drivers understand where I wanted to go. But hand gestures got me there. And yeah, I should have much better Korean speaking skills by now. So sue me.
Picked up the car today. Another $160.00 invested in a piece of junk, but it is MY piece of junk and I’m going to keep it. For now.
Hey, check out my dart setup:
Pretty cool, eh?
And the long view:
Thanks again, Jim.
All right, I am almost finished. Andy, one of the bloggers at The Marmot’s Hole invited me to join his fantasy football league. WooHoo! I’m looking forward to renewing an old hobby. Plus I can bore you with something besides dart league stories. Betcha can’t wait for that, eh?
Also, I was surprised to discover that the expat blogger I admire the most actually linked me on his blog. Thanks, Kevin. Or should I say “dad”. Of course, I’ve been feeling guilty about not posting anything new for a month, but now that I’ve got all this drivel out of my system maybe I can come up with a worthy post.
If anyone made it to this, the actual end of the longest and most boring post in the sordid history of LTG, you have my thanks and my sympathy. Leave a comment so I can identify the masochists among us.
Whew. So that’s what carpal tunnel syndrome feels like!
Oh yeah, ONE more thing: Nolan, come for a visit! We’ll have a blast. And I’ll show what real darts is all about. Then you can beat me at pool. Deal?
I’m in one of those vicious cycles. Still having a hard time falling asleep in what my body thinks is the middle of the afternoon. Then about 1500 local time (that’s 4 a.m. in Korea) I really start fading fast. Get back to my room and take a nap, then I’m up half the night and the process repeats. I figure I’ll be adjusted about the time I get back to Korea, then I can reverse the process.
On a more positive note, the training is good so far. And of course, I’ll be back in Virginia on Thursday night. It’s been a year since I’ve seen the green, green grass of home. Although it was never really that green. Lawn maintenance is not my strong suit, but Carol recently re-seeded so maybe it will be green…
Also I found so great North Carolina style barbeque last night. Yum!
And that’s my report.
I have arrived in Ohio. All told, 24 hours from my house to hotel. And I am whipped. I was lucky in that I had some extra room on the plane, but I still only managed an occasional cat nap. At least I have tomorrow to recover, training starts Tuesday morning.
It seems strange to be back in the states, almost foreign. How weird is that?
Get ready to unplug the laptop and pack it up for my trip to the USA. But I’ll be back.
I just learned that my National Security Personnel System training has been approved. Which means that providing HQ gets my travel orders to me on time, I will depart this Sunday for Columbus, Ohio. On Friday I will leave Columbus and go home to Virginia then on to South Carolina to spend some time with family. Its been almost a year since I was home, so its about time. Definitely looking forward to it.
In other news, we had the dart league banquet last Saturday. It was a semi-fiasco. It was held on the rooftop of Hollywood Grill in Itaewon. And that’s what it was a rooftop. No tables, no chairs, and no shade. It was definitely a warm day up top too. The food was good, but you know, the logistics of eating it was sorta overwhelming. Some people just left, but since our team took first place I wanted to stay for the awards. Here’s some photos:
Ok, the only thing good about the rooftop was the view. This is looking out towards the Mosque. I live behind the Mosque. You know, I never liked that “up on the roof” song anyway. Now I can attest that it is pure BS. At least in the summertime.
As I mentioned, finding a comfortable position for eating was difficult. Ji Yong and Gina from the Bless U pub were doing alright, but Koreans are a lot better at sitting on the hard ground than I am…
Duke and Johnny didn’t seem to mind standing out in the direct sunlight. To hell with that….
The chow line was also in the sun. Trust me, I avoided the deviled eggs and potato salad….
Chris was occupying about the only shade to be found….
The highlight of the afternoon (such as it was) was the presentation of awards. Here Jim and I accept the first place plaque for Dolce Vita. Damn, am I really as fat as this picture makes me appear? Naw, couldn’t be, must be some optical illusion created by the intense sunlight. Yeah, that’s it…. Anyway, I also got a nice plaque for taking second in the league tournament and each member of Dolce Vita got a cool mug with our name engraved. Very nice….
After the awards ceremony was dispensed with, we all moved over to the Blue Frog for the banquet dart tourney. Here we are warming up (I didn’t have the guts to take a flash picture during actual play).
Tae Shin gives Tom some Korean first aid. No clue what that was about. Partners for the tourney were selected by blind draw. As fate would have it, I drew Tae Shin for a partner. I played with her and against her on a couple of occasions, and generally have better luck when she is on my side…
The tourney bracket board. Not sure if you can make it out or not, but Tae Shin (who goes by TS) and I started out fine (we are in the number 7 slot if that helps), then got knocked into the losers bracket by Sean and Max. We then proceeded to play our butts off up the losers bracket until we encountered Sean and Max again on their way down. We played a hard fought 3 leg match which came down to the last dart in 01, but we just couldn’t hit our out. Alas. Tae Shin is Sean’s fiancee and I asked him later if he had her throw the game. He denied it. Still, there were a lot of good players throwing, and we took 4th overall. I was not unhappy with that result and we played a lot of games and drank some beer in the shade.
The Dolce Vita players present all finished in the money. Here’s Jim with his partner Adam accepting the 8th place payout Adams T shirt was pretty cool, it says: “Keep staring, I might do a trick”, which many Westerners in Korea can relate too….
Tae Shin and me proudly accepting our 4th place reward…we each got 40,000 Won in those envelopes. Woo Hoo! Oh yeah, in the door prize drawing I also won a dart board. My lucky day…
Duke and his partner CH took second place. As you can see, CH is not happy about that. They went all the way through the winners bracket only to be defeated twice in a row. That stings, but still, second place was worth 100,000 each…..
Sunny (on the right) was our gracious hostess. She’s a real sweetheart. Note the green frog on the bar. The frog on the sign out front is green as well. Why is the place called the Blue Frog? Beats the hell outta me….
After the tourney it was on to Dolce Vita for some celebration (and beer drinking). This is a picture of Erica, the newest barkeep. She’s sorta of crazy, but fun.
Anyway, it was a good weekend and actually carried over to Monday night I was fortunate enough to take a first place at the Bless U tourney. Mr. Kim and I defeated CH and Rick, so CH was forced to settle for another 2nd place. Ah, too bad.
Ain’t my life just full of excitement?
Well once again I am overdue for a post. Not much to update, but I’m doing fine. Had my followup appointment with the doc and she seemed quite surprised at the results of my blood work. I’m surprisingly healthy. I’m sure she expected some negatives given my lifestyle choices, but so far I’m doing alright. Which is not to say that I don’t need to make some changes. Gonna start walking to work 3 days a week (weather permitting) as a start.
More tests to come. Doing the stress test thing Monday. Need to schedule a CT scan because the chest x-rays were unclear (something about my fat getting in the way). I’m also supposed to do a pulminary test and I still have to do the colonoscopy. Eh, getting older is not all its cracked up to be, but then again, it beats the alternative.
I’m waiting to hear about a trip to the States later this month. It all comes down to funding. Seems the Army is out of money, but if it works out I will do a week of training in Columbus and then take a week of vacation and go home to Virginia and South Carolina for the 4th of July. I’m really wanting to go, it’s been a year since I was home and I’m missing my family, especially that sweet granddaughter.
Dart league starts up in a couple of weeks. I’ve been playing in some tourneys, but not playing well enough to have anything to brag about. We have our banquet Saturday and I’m looking forward to that.
And that’s about it for me.
Though Adam was a friend of mine, I did not know him well
He was alone into his distance
He was deep into his well
I could guess what he was laughing at, but I couldnt really tell
Now the story’s told that Adam jumped, but I’ve been thinking that he fell
Together we went traveling, as we received the call
His destination India, and I had none at all
Well, I still remember laughing with our backs against the wall
So free of fear, we never thought that one of us might fall
I sit before my only candle, but its so little light to find my way
Now this story unfolds before my candle
Which is shorter every hour as it reaches for the day
But I feel just like a candle in the way
I guess I’ll get there, but I wouldn’t say for sure
When we parted we were laughing still, as our goodbyes were said
And I never heard from him again as each our lives we led
Except for once in someone elses letter that I read
Until I heard the sudden word that a friend of mine was dead
I sit before my only candle, like a pilgrim sits beside the way
Now this journey appears before my candle
As a song that’s growing fainter the harder that I play
But I fear before I end I’ll fade away
But I guess I’ll get there, though I wouldn’t say for sure
Though Adam was a friend of mine, I did not know him long
And when I stood myself beside him, I never though I was as strong
Still it seems he stopped his singing in the middle of his song
Well I’m not the one to say I know, but I’m hoping he was wrong
I’m holding out my only candle, though its so little light to find my way
Now this story’s been laid beneath my candle
And its shorter every hour as it reaches for the day
Yes, I feel just like a candle in the way
I hope I’ll get there, but I never pray
–Jackson Browne
Today the expat community is abuzz with shock and sadness upon learning of the death of Shawn Matthews, author of the Korea Life Blog and more recently the China Life Blog.
I only knew Shawn from his writing, but he was the type of person I enjoyed sharing adventure with, albeit vicariously. Even as a stranger, I somehow feel diminshed by his loss. I’m not sure how to explain that, but I know on my dark days far from family and friends, I have often been comforted by the words and kind thoughts of my fellow bloggers. Shawn was surrounded by people who loved him, and yet he was still beyond their reach.
As others have said, suicide is incredibly selfish. Whatever pain Shawn was expericing was not escaped, merely transferred to friends and family. But I’m not going to judge, only regret that Shawn chose to stop singing in the middle of his song. And his voice will always be missed by those he left behind.
We did it! Beat Scrooge Pub tonight in a real dogfight dart match. It came down to the last leg of the Cricket doubles, but we pulled it out. I did my part so I feel good about pulling my weight. Anyway, victory is sweet. Go Dolce Vita!
We beat the Hyatt team from Bless U Pub last night! They had finished 3 games ahead of us to take second place during the regular season, and they had beat us twice previously. So this was a big win for us. We play in the championship round Monday night against Eberhardt of Scrooge Pub. Eberhardt finished first in league play, but we beat them once 10-9 and lost once 10-9. So we are going into the finals feeling confident. We just need to bring our best game.
I didn’t play particularly well last night losing my singles 0-3, but I somewhat redeemed myself in the doubles 701 match, which we took 3-0. Anyway, we celebrated heartily last night. I had the good sense to take today off though, so no hay problema.
Today I attended the Memorial Day Honor Guard ceremony on post. Quite moving really, and I really enjoy that unique military pomp and circumstance stuff. My cell phone died last week, so I picked up another used today. Bought gas and did my grocery shopping. And that is the up to the minute report and my amazing life in Korea.
I’m hoping to be able to report some BIG news (the good kind) in the next couple of weeks. Send me some positive vibes that this dream becomes a reality.
Went to see the doc on post yesterday. She took some history and vitals and ordered a bunch of tests and also referred me to see the internal medicine doc. So, my blood pressure it a tad high (146/80), I have 4 of the 5 risk factors for heart disease, and she speculates that those ugly nodules on my eyelids are cholestorol related. I also had a chest x-ray and an EKG (which was normal).
Tomorrow I go to the lab and get my blood work done, hence I can’t eat or drink for the next 12 hours. Then I go back for a follow-up on 9 June where she will reveal the state of my health. So we shall see. I don’t expect anything is terribly wrong, but I guess at my age I have to face up to the fact that I’m mortal and taking some precautions is in order. I imagine I will make some lifestyle changes too. I’m just too close to retirement not to be able to enjoy it.
So that’s the plan.
Oh, we kicked ass in darts last night, so it is on to round two of the playoffs Thursday against our arch rivals from the Bless U Pub. They beat us twice during the season, but we go in quite confident of victory.
Ain’t life grand?
I’ve been reminded that it is past time for an update. And this is it.
Last night we had the league doubles tournament for darts. The “A” division players were paired with us “B” division types, so it made for some good competition. I was fortunate enough to draw Petro as my partner, he’s the top rated “A” player.
We did great, when he was a little off, I filled in the gaps. But he is a tremendous player and we sailed through the winners bracket. And then things fell apart. Petro lost his cool over a bullshit call, and I started throwing like shit, and we wound up with second place. I’m not complaining, it was great fun and I had a lot of the “A” guys complimenting my game.
Tomorrow night we have the first round of league playoffs. We are playing the Alley Ratz from 3 Alley Pub. We beat them both times in league, but they have some good players and we can’t take them lightly. Looking forward to a good match.
So, does it sound like my life revolves around darts these days? That’s only because it’s true. Hey, there are a lot worse ways to spend your time in Itaewon.
I am finally going to break down and see a doctor next week. I’ve had some numbness in my left arm these past few days, and coupled with the blackout incident I’m guessing it may be a good idea to find out what’s up inside this rapidly aging body. I’ve just about let the ignorance is bliss attitude run its course I guess. I’m confident nothing is seriously wrong, but just in case I’ll get the physical. Worse case scenario I can stop worrying about the future!
Anyway, all is well. Still fat and relatively happy these days.
Another indication of low morale? You be the judge….
Via GIKorea.
Today is Children’s Day in Korea and my granddaughter Gracyn’s first birthday in America. I like that symetry.
Indulge me while I brag about the sweetest little girl with a big smile who loves the adventure of discovering the wonders that surround her. Don’t believe me? I have proof:
Happy Birthday, Gracyn!
But it is hard to eat for someone as klutzy as I am with chopsticks. Still, as this video clip indicates all you need is a little technique…..
Yes, this is a real commercial….
Everything is fine. Nothing happening here of late that is worthy of note. I’m having a good time and I’m generally happy. Just so you know.
The Marmot posted this video clip of an accident involving a motor scooter. What was most interesting to me is this is the gate I use to access and leave the base everyday.
Now, I don’t drive much, but when I do I am in an extreme defensive driving mode. But as you can see, in this case there wan’t much the driver could do to avoid the red light running scooter. This particular intersection is notorious for red light runners. Sometimes half the signal cycle is gone before the cross traffic actually stops.
Anyway, if I’m gonna get hit I expect it will be from my alley onto the main drag. I usually wait for the pedestrian light to change, which at least slows traffic. But if no one is crossing they are just as likely to blow through. I’m not ragging totally on Korean drivers here, I note a lot of the cars running the light have SOFA tags.
Still, these scooter drivers are insane. Especially on the sidewalk. Give me DC traffic anyday….
Novelist Dan Simmons recounts a rather chilling vision of the future as related to him by a time traveler he encountered on New Year’s Eve. Fascinating stuff. Go have a read, I promise you won’t be disappointed.
From a band called The Right Brothers. It rocks! Have a listen.
Well, another weekend is almost gone, but except for the rainy weather this has been a pretty good one. Yesterday I went to Namdaemun market with my coworker Corine. I picked up my new glasses and she ordered a pair. We took the subway over which was very convienent. I need to do that more often, I tend to rely on taxis to get me around. After leaving the eyeglass store, we walked around a bit, Corine bought a tea cup with a built in strainer she was looking for and she also purchased some chop sticks. I bought new batteries for my camera (only 1000W), a handmade greeting card (I have an anniversary this month), and some candy (like peanut M&Ms, only these have a sunflower seed inside). Yeah, I’m not much of a shopper I admit. We had a little lunch and headed home.
My friend Duke came over in the afternoon to use my oven. He baked a birthday cake for his girlfriend Min Jung (who tends bar at Dolce Vita). I also made some brownies. We had a nice afternoon talking, listening to music, and watching an episode of Coupling. Then we headed out to Dolce Vita for some darts. Later in the evening we had a little birthday party for Min Jung. She’s a very sweet young woman and really appreciated the gesture. She gave me a hug for the brownies and when she thought Duke might be jealous, she gave me another. I like her style! Anyway, it was a great day.
I took my camera to Namdaemun and got a couple of pics. It was dark and rainy so they aren’t that good. On the plus side, the rain kept the crowds down a little bit, so it was much easier to move around. I also discovered that it had been quite some time since I’ve uploaded any pictures from my camera (or posted any here). So here you go: the past few months of my life as captured on…well, whatever the digital equivalent of film is….
This is Namdaemun Gate, the historic entrance to the South Market.
Street scene in Namdaemun.
Another street. Lots of nooks and crannies, alleys and pathways to explore here. It seems like mass confusion to me, but it was kinda cool anyway…
A typical shop. The photography sucks, but those are big ginseng roots in jars. You see them all over and they are quite interesting visually.
My new glasses..
Time for lunchee. We walked down an alley full of small restuarants and were somewhat agressively invited to dine as we passed by. We chose a place pretty much at random, it looked clean and we were assured they had English menus. Corine had the “beef rip soup” [correction: it was BEEP rip soup. Thanks, Jenn] which presumably was beef rib soup since that’s what it contained. I had the barbequed beef. I was not brave enough to go for the “ass orted mixtur”…no clue what that might be.
The requisite kimchee and appetizers. This kimchee was a tad spicier than I’m used too, but went down fine with a cold OB lager.
Nothing like a bowl of steamy “beef rip soup” on a rainy day…
As you can see, BBQ in Korea is not quite what we would call BBQ in the USA. It was pretty good though and as an added benefit it was pretty easy to eat with chopsticks. Yeah, I still struggle sometimes with certain things, but I do make the effort. I have stains on many shirts to prove it!
Unlike DC, the subway stations do have restrooms. I was fortunate enough to use the best one in Seoul yesterday. Now, I am no expert in these matters, but I would judge it to be of only average quality. It was a clean, well-lighted place though. I wonder if they have a historical marker for the worst restroom in Seoul?
OK, that’s all the pics from yesterday. Here’s a sampling of photos I also had on my memory card:
The entrance to my home away from home. The Dolce Vita Pub. For those whose Italian is no better than mine, I am told Dolce Vita means “sweet life”.
And when Eun Jung (aka Jenny) pours a cold OB Lager draft, it is a sweet life indeed…
My dart buddies, Duke and Jim….
The other bartenders, Min Jung and Hae Lee were camera shy. Not Jenny though.
Speaking of Dolce Vita, that was the scene of my accident. This is a self portrait I took the morning after. I’m looking a tad rough, don’t you think? Well, it sure wasn’t the sweet life that night….
On occasion I do patronize other bars. This is the way in at Bless U. Right up the street from Dolce Vita. They also sponsored the darts tournaments of recent weeks where I pocketed a little extra spending money.
This is Gina, owner of Bless U, in the process of kicking my ass at pool. Which is still a regular occurence in bars all over Itaewon….
This is the crew from another bar I sometimes visit called Debut. It is halfway up “hooker hill” and when I walk that way I sometimes need to stop at Debut for some liquid refreshment. No pool or darts, just friendly people who provide an nice oasis in a sea of prostitution bars. I guess that’s a mixed metaphor, but you get my point I hope.
Alright, that’s enough of the bar scene, don’t you think? Here’s some photos from my Labor Day weekend trip to Busan (I told you it had been awhile since I unloaded my camera!):
This was taken from the train station in downtown Busan.
Hyundae Beach from my hotel window…
Another view from the window.
The view at night.
It was cloudy most of the weekend as you can see….
The ocean looked dark and forboding….oh wait that’s the opening line to the novel I’m writing. It’s also the only line. And I just wrote it this minute. And now I’ve already lost interest. You are probably thinking the same thing.
“And the tide rushes in, and washes my sorrows away….” I didn’t make that up, its from a Moody Blues song.
Doesn’t every ocean front city have at least one mermaid statue? What’s up with that?
The Westin Chosun is where I stayed. I highly recommend it. If you are USFK related, they even give a discount. I understand President Bush stayed there during the APEC conference…
And now for another change of pace, a couple of photos from my DMZ tour….
Beyond that door lies the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. But I wouldn’t try getting past the ROK soldier. Those guys were quite impressive and certainly gave the appearance of someone not to be trifiled with. Actually, the border between North and South bissects the armistice building we were standing in. I briefly stood on the North Korea side of the room.
Looking into the face of evil. And it was looking back. We could see the Norks in the windows of that building checking us out through binoculars…it was all very surreal. If you haven’t done the tour you definitely need to.
A pretty crappy photo of “Propaganda Village”, a faux city of shell buildings that is uninhabited but built by the Norks to show how prosperous they are.
Ok, had enough? Me too! Hope you enjoyed the show!