Back from my whirlwind trip up to Seoul. I had feared the holiday traffic would be bad but it turned out to be no worse than usual. Got to the hotel at 3:30 so I decided to take a hike. It was cold and windy so I opted out of my plan to climb Namsan. Given that it was still early, I hoofed it over to the Philippines embassy in the Kyungridan neighborhood. I was greeted with a sign saying “closed on Thursday in observance of the Korean Independence Movement holiday. Oh well.

Had to pee, so I visited the Grand Hyatt hotel. Damn, it’s about the nicest hotel I’ve ever been in. Over the years I’ve dined there a couple of times and visited the nightclub (JJ Mahoney’s). So I walked around inside some, soaking up the ambiance and remembering the people I shared time with there. Started to get sad so I left.

Coming down the mountain from the Hyatt I enjoyed the Seoul skyline once again.

I don’t know what it is about memories that were mostly good at the time that cause me to feel more forlorn than normal. I truly do love Seoul and you’d think those feelings would be all the more enhanced since my exile to Pyeongtaek. Eh, it’s all about perception I guess and I chided myself for allowing the past to depress me. To little avail, but at least I know the problem is me.

And I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was being watched!

I did make it a point to walk the crowded sidewalks so I could be jostled and irritated by rude fellow pedestrians. I’ve kinda missed that on the empty streets of Anjeong-ri. Suffice to say I wasn’t disappointed and I had to smile inwardly despite those feelings of frustration being stuck behind Koreans with no sense of space or situational awareness. Some things never change!

I had to pee again so I popped on down into Itaewon Station. Damn, it has been a long time since I’ve been in there.

Having achieved the barely acceptable step count of 15,000, I headed on down to Shenanigans. My old friend Rick had moved back to the USA a year ago and was back in town to fetch his wife and dog so they could all live happily ever after in Texas. He had one free night and agreed to spend it with me at our old hangout.

That’s Rick to my left. We also ran into Fidel and Mark and several other buddies from days gone by. Now that is something I definitely miss these days. After a few beers and some pub grub (pulled pork quesadilla and chicken wings) my mood was greatly enhanced.

A good time in a crowded bar surrounded by people I know. Does it get any better than that? When it was time to head back to the hotel I took a detour so I could check out the new Dairy Queen in Itaewon. And by check out I mean order a large caramel sundae. Yeah, I cheated on my diet. I have no self-control when I’m drunk. Sue me!

Up bright and early to walk over to the Army hospital. They had called during my drive down to say I needed to redo the blood test (apparently they had tested the wrong things from the sample I provided last week). So, the blood lab opened at 7:30 and I got there before anyone else…including the employees who strolled in about 8 minutes late.

I’m number 1! For once in my life…

After giving my blood sample to a cute Korean technician, it was off to the radiology department for my CT scan. I had to wait about 45 minutes for the blood work to come back, but a young soldier finally called my name. Mispronounced it so badly I didn’t know it was me until his sergeant came out and fetched me. They were doing a contrast image of my kidneys (I’m not sure why, but I reckon Dr. Lee will explain it all) which meant it was necessary to inject me with dye. The young soldier tried to insert the IV in a vein twice and failed. So the sergeant used me as a training opportunity. It took him two painful pokes, but he got it done. The scan was a breeze after that.

I left the hospital and walked over to the Dragon Hill Lodge and had a cup of coffee with my wife. Let her know I had a firm date for leaving the country forever. More sadness for me, but what is done, is done.

Did some banking business then walked back over to the Philippines embassy. It was still closed with yesterday’s signage still in place. I guess they just decided to make it a long weekend. It was a great opportunity for me to practice my Philippines mantra: “Take a deep breath. Relax. And accept the Filipino way”. I expect I’ll be saying that a lot in the weeks and years to come.

Headed back to the hotel to fetch my car for the drive home, and walked through my old neighborhood in Naksapyeong. Had to pee so I popped into the little park on my old street.

The unbearable lightness of being.

Anyway, an uneventful trip home to Pyeongtaek, which is just the way I like it.

70 days left in this life.