You know how the movie Office Space starts out? Case of the mondays, machine gun sounds...yeah that was me, except the 'cock-gobbler' comments were there too. And who can forget the term that is always rolling off the tongue here NO-TALENT ASSCLOWN.
I am not sure how so many incompetent worthless people ended up in one place without being ELECTED!!! It is just mind boggling. I am so close to just screaming and telling everyone to take it and shove it up their ass sideways and twist it.
AUGH!!! Save me! SAVE ME!!! SAVEME!!! Sigh.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Busan!!! Finally, F@#$!!!
So, have been just trying to get my SH** together and get out, but in the interim, have some last nights of fun. One of those nights was jetting out of work early on a friday (early meaning 4:30!!!) and heading toward Ilsan and seeing a college hockey game. That was fricking awesome, and not just because I love hockey, okay...maybe because I love hockey. Anyway, the fans were rabid (rivalry game Yonsei University vs. Korea University) and totally loud. Just like the baseball game I went to with constant music, cheers, and just awesome. An over-capacity crowd...seats for 5,000 and like 8,000 in the stadium...made for just an awesome time. I loved it, and wished I could see more hockey while here. I have some pics and video, check it out.
On to my trip to Busan, FINALLY DAMMIT!!! I have planned 3 other trips to Busan, and each time failed because some no-talent assclown couldn't figure out how to do their job efficiently enough to plan for what they needed more than a day or two in advance. FUCK! BUSAN. I totally took the KTX (bullet train) and made it all the way up to 299 kph (124 mph). That was fun, really nice clean and easy. $87 roundtrip, and took about 3 hours from Seoul to Busan. The best part is, the train station is one block from my apartment, its where I get my bus to work, and shop for groceries, now that is RAD!!!
So I leave a beautiful and clear day in Seoul, one of the nicest I have ever seen, for the pouring rain of Busan, LAME! Kinda check out the beach in the dark take some photos, wander, and as the evening goes on, it clears and becomes quite nice. Walked all around, taking in a lot of the scene and carefully choose the bar I will go into. Its called Thursday, and actually is 2 bars separated by another store front, but are one in the same. I even order a beer, and the waiter tells me to go to the other one to get it. F that, whatever you have here.
Next day, power on out for a quick breakfast, and grab a slow boat from up north to tour south along all of the beaches, waterfront, and port areas of Busan way cool. Funny, on that part of the East Sea, the swell was like 1m on that day, and people were falling all over the place, pretty funny. Grab the KTX, and home. Not real exciting or eventful, other than watching the "dishwash" at lunch, after having started, garden hose in the alley, just a quick rinse, and plop it down on the table to use again. No wonder I have "issues" with Korean food at times. Check out the pics here!
Just a few more days, 6 days, 10 hours, 27 minutes and 3 seconds to be exact. Catch ya'll soon, and be sure to check out DiSS if you haven't yet.
On to my trip to Busan, FINALLY DAMMIT!!! I have planned 3 other trips to Busan, and each time failed because some no-talent assclown couldn't figure out how to do their job efficiently enough to plan for what they needed more than a day or two in advance. FUCK! BUSAN. I totally took the KTX (bullet train) and made it all the way up to 299 kph (124 mph). That was fun, really nice clean and easy. $87 roundtrip, and took about 3 hours from Seoul to Busan. The best part is, the train station is one block from my apartment, its where I get my bus to work, and shop for groceries, now that is RAD!!!
So I leave a beautiful and clear day in Seoul, one of the nicest I have ever seen, for the pouring rain of Busan, LAME! Kinda check out the beach in the dark take some photos, wander, and as the evening goes on, it clears and becomes quite nice. Walked all around, taking in a lot of the scene and carefully choose the bar I will go into. Its called Thursday, and actually is 2 bars separated by another store front, but are one in the same. I even order a beer, and the waiter tells me to go to the other one to get it. F that, whatever you have here.
Next day, power on out for a quick breakfast, and grab a slow boat from up north to tour south along all of the beaches, waterfront, and port areas of Busan way cool. Funny, on that part of the East Sea, the swell was like 1m on that day, and people were falling all over the place, pretty funny. Grab the KTX, and home. Not real exciting or eventful, other than watching the "dishwash" at lunch, after having started, garden hose in the alley, just a quick rinse, and plop it down on the table to use again. No wonder I have "issues" with Korean food at times. Check out the pics here!
Just a few more days, 6 days, 10 hours, 27 minutes and 3 seconds to be exact. Catch ya'll soon, and be sure to check out DiSS if you haven't yet.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Somebody tell me how it is September!
I may have said this before, but if one contracts/discovers they have a terminal illness…come work for the K-C PMC, it will be the longest days of your life, in effect prolonging your life to the point of wishing for the caressing touch of Death. I have no terminal illness, and would love to live my life elsewhere, regardless of how quick it may seem!
So about this gig. Wow, so I finally have a chance to breathe…meaning there wasn’t enough work for me to do when I got back, nice planning. The one thing on the horizon to keep me busy, my replacement, gets delayed. WTF? So I complain and get her in a week late. What is it she finds? Organized chaos. Some of my doing, I didn’t fully plan everything or document every little thing, because, well, I had no fucking time. Now that I do, documentation is happening, but I think she thinks I’m an idiot. Dammit, I hate this program. I don’t like their poor everything helping to make me look like more of a moron than I actually am. GRRR!!!
Good news though, I should have the option of learning some SDE, and Oracle. I know, nerd, nerd, nerd. Whatever! Bill Gates rules your pitiful world! :-P
Other news? Just biding my time until I leave. The countdown has begun, see you in 20 days.
So about this gig. Wow, so I finally have a chance to breathe…meaning there wasn’t enough work for me to do when I got back, nice planning. The one thing on the horizon to keep me busy, my replacement, gets delayed. WTF? So I complain and get her in a week late. What is it she finds? Organized chaos. Some of my doing, I didn’t fully plan everything or document every little thing, because, well, I had no fucking time. Now that I do, documentation is happening, but I think she thinks I’m an idiot. Dammit, I hate this program. I don’t like their poor everything helping to make me look like more of a moron than I actually am. GRRR!!!
Good news though, I should have the option of learning some SDE, and Oracle. I know, nerd, nerd, nerd. Whatever! Bill Gates rules your pitiful world! :-P
Other news? Just biding my time until I leave. The countdown has begun, see you in 20 days.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
You're not missing anything, believe me. I've looked into it. There's a gas shortage and A Flock of Seagulls.
So yeah. Birthday...weekend....work for two solid weeks...FLY TO HONG KONG!!!
So I totally disappeared Friday at noon for Hong Kong! It is fricking AWESOME! I mean, the airport is pretty damned ghetto for being almost new!!! The train to Hong Kong island, only like 40 minutes, that beats Narita to Tokyo, or Incheon to Seoul, so total bonus there. It is more expensive than I expected, but looking at receipts, not as expensive as I thought. About the same as Seoul and Tokyo. Go straight from terminal to train, train to subway, subway outside....OH SHIT!!! IT IS F-ING HOT, HUMID, AND JUST UGH!!!
One more thing that surprised me...tall and dense like I expected of Tokyo. But better than Tokyo, because the mountains and "outdoors" are literally just a few minutes walk away. The subways were even more crowded than the Seoul #2 line. And yes, after being in certain parts of Tokyo, Seoul is busier, but Hong Kong has them both beat.
So, stayed in Kowloon (Tsim Tsa Shui) and hung out nearby on friday night. Dinner at an awesome Szechuan restaurant that no whiteys were in. Perfect. It was fantabulous! Good Tsing Tao, and hot & sour soup. Well good everything. My stamp of approval.
Saturday, wake up...is that rain? OH YEAH! Not just any rain, but back end of typhoon/monsoonal moisture. Great. Well, nut it up and head out anyway. There is a break in it, and I just kinda wander Kowloon, check the market, take in the vertical. Pretty cool, CRAP, rain again! Screw this, hot, humid, rainy...why not go somewhere where it is better, the bellows of the subway? Crap!!! Well at least the cars are air-conditioned.
Head to Central (big, tall, symbols of Hong Kong). Lots of shopping and tall buildings. I mean they are tall, but man, I thought they'd be taller. Lots of photos, and I need some Dim Sum. So wander to the tram, and see where it takes me. It takes me far. When I stop marveling at the fun double decker trolley, I realize I am WELL off my map. Simple solution, get off and head back. Back on the map, I ask a couple of Police Officers the best Dim Sum around. They write two Chinese characters on my map, and give me directions. I SUCK!!! Walk by it twice, ask directions 3 more times from others...turns out they wrote the characters from left to right...apparently Chinese read from right to left. Does that sound right? I have never heard that before? TYSEN? Anyway, the place is totally packed, and totally won't seat me. So I wander up the street and go in the next promising looking place. Good Dim Sum, Monsoon in Seattle is still the BEST!!! One interesting note, there are two kinds of Guinness in Hong Kong, the kind we all know and love, and the kind I had with Dim Sum. AWFUL!!!
Wow, there is an escalator, cool! Ride it, and ride it, and ride it. Umm...got to the top, come on down...CRAP!!! The rains start, and in EARNEST! Well, luckily I scored a cheap umbrella, but I swear the rain is coming UP!!! So I hide for about 20 minutes under a building. Catch a cab to the Victoria Peak Tram. So caught a bus I thought was the bus to the tram, but instead, back down to the harbor. CRAP!!! So rode it back up to where I caught it, where the tram was. Went up the tram, and DAMN it is steep! Like 50 degrees! Whew. And amazingly, after hanging at the top, the weather cleared up! Awesome pictures!
Head down to the harbor and catch the ferry back to Kowloon, and the light show that is the buildings of Hong Kong. Pretty cool from on the water! Then wander to the ChungKing Mansions, and get harassed by 1000 Indian dudes to eat at their restaurant. Pick one from the book and go in. Awesome food, mostly Indians eating, score! Try some Indian beer, typical Indian food. Was good! RADICAL!
Totally knocked out and just crash, get up late the next day and fly home. I am SO GOING BACK!!! I really liked Hong Kong. Who's coming with me next time?
So I totally disappeared Friday at noon for Hong Kong! It is fricking AWESOME! I mean, the airport is pretty damned ghetto for being almost new!!! The train to Hong Kong island, only like 40 minutes, that beats Narita to Tokyo, or Incheon to Seoul, so total bonus there. It is more expensive than I expected, but looking at receipts, not as expensive as I thought. About the same as Seoul and Tokyo. Go straight from terminal to train, train to subway, subway outside....OH SHIT!!! IT IS F-ING HOT, HUMID, AND JUST UGH!!!
One more thing that surprised me...tall and dense like I expected of Tokyo. But better than Tokyo, because the mountains and "outdoors" are literally just a few minutes walk away. The subways were even more crowded than the Seoul #2 line. And yes, after being in certain parts of Tokyo, Seoul is busier, but Hong Kong has them both beat.
So, stayed in Kowloon (Tsim Tsa Shui) and hung out nearby on friday night. Dinner at an awesome Szechuan restaurant that no whiteys were in. Perfect. It was fantabulous! Good Tsing Tao, and hot & sour soup. Well good everything. My stamp of approval.
Saturday, wake up...is that rain? OH YEAH! Not just any rain, but back end of typhoon/monsoonal moisture. Great. Well, nut it up and head out anyway. There is a break in it, and I just kinda wander Kowloon, check the market, take in the vertical. Pretty cool, CRAP, rain again! Screw this, hot, humid, rainy...why not go somewhere where it is better, the bellows of the subway? Crap!!! Well at least the cars are air-conditioned.
Head to Central (big, tall, symbols of Hong Kong). Lots of shopping and tall buildings. I mean they are tall, but man, I thought they'd be taller. Lots of photos, and I need some Dim Sum. So wander to the tram, and see where it takes me. It takes me far. When I stop marveling at the fun double decker trolley, I realize I am WELL off my map. Simple solution, get off and head back. Back on the map, I ask a couple of Police Officers the best Dim Sum around. They write two Chinese characters on my map, and give me directions. I SUCK!!! Walk by it twice, ask directions 3 more times from others...turns out they wrote the characters from left to right...apparently Chinese read from right to left. Does that sound right? I have never heard that before? TYSEN? Anyway, the place is totally packed, and totally won't seat me. So I wander up the street and go in the next promising looking place. Good Dim Sum, Monsoon in Seattle is still the BEST!!! One interesting note, there are two kinds of Guinness in Hong Kong, the kind we all know and love, and the kind I had with Dim Sum. AWFUL!!!
Wow, there is an escalator, cool! Ride it, and ride it, and ride it. Umm...got to the top, come on down...CRAP!!! The rains start, and in EARNEST! Well, luckily I scored a cheap umbrella, but I swear the rain is coming UP!!! So I hide for about 20 minutes under a building. Catch a cab to the Victoria Peak Tram. So caught a bus I thought was the bus to the tram, but instead, back down to the harbor. CRAP!!! So rode it back up to where I caught it, where the tram was. Went up the tram, and DAMN it is steep! Like 50 degrees! Whew. And amazingly, after hanging at the top, the weather cleared up! Awesome pictures!
Head down to the harbor and catch the ferry back to Kowloon, and the light show that is the buildings of Hong Kong. Pretty cool from on the water! Then wander to the ChungKing Mansions, and get harassed by 1000 Indian dudes to eat at their restaurant. Pick one from the book and go in. Awesome food, mostly Indians eating, score! Try some Indian beer, typical Indian food. Was good! RADICAL!
Totally knocked out and just crash, get up late the next day and fly home. I am SO GOING BACK!!! I really liked Hong Kong. Who's coming with me next time?
Happy Birthday to me!
So, yeah, my birthday, like two weeks ago. Friday the 13th! Party...well, the plan. After a week of solid partying with the Boyds and the "other" Mr. Savage, why not start off by tackling 4000 cc's of beer? PERFECT!!! Why not add in BEER CAN CHICKEN!!!
REMEMBER FOLKS, KOREANS THINK THIS IS CLASSY, NOT TRASHY AND OH SO STEVE!!!
So after gnoshing on interesting food at a brauhaus, and making 8 more liters of beer disappear, take a LONG train ride to party-town! Well, good old Hongdae, waiting and ready for us as usual...unfortunately, the other friends were NOT ready and waiting! Grr! So after laying in the street for about an hour sobering up, we went to a sweet club that lets ex-pats in for free (they know we drink a lot, so they do that, Koreans are rookies when its not Soju). While here, the Boyds and the "other" Mr. Savage, as well as other friends decide that they all will buy me drinks. THANK GOD FOR BUDWEISER. So then the big boss shows up, and the other office birthday celebrant as well. SHE IS TANKED!!! Proceeds to dance, flail, then pass out on the bar. AWESOME!!! Hope to do that next year. Anyway, big boss, buys the Boyds and the "other" Mr. Savage drinks...after about 3 he asks Marty: "Do you work for me?" HA HA HA!!! Awesome, of course not, but cool anyway. He is awesome. Anyway, survive the night of drinking and dancing, and best of all, no illness the next day, hooray for beer.
More to come.
REMEMBER FOLKS, KOREANS THINK THIS IS CLASSY, NOT TRASHY AND OH SO STEVE!!!
So after gnoshing on interesting food at a brauhaus, and making 8 more liters of beer disappear, take a LONG train ride to party-town! Well, good old Hongdae, waiting and ready for us as usual...unfortunately, the other friends were NOT ready and waiting! Grr! So after laying in the street for about an hour sobering up, we went to a sweet club that lets ex-pats in for free (they know we drink a lot, so they do that, Koreans are rookies when its not Soju). While here, the Boyds and the "other" Mr. Savage, as well as other friends decide that they all will buy me drinks. THANK GOD FOR BUDWEISER. So then the big boss shows up, and the other office birthday celebrant as well. SHE IS TANKED!!! Proceeds to dance, flail, then pass out on the bar. AWESOME!!! Hope to do that next year. Anyway, big boss, buys the Boyds and the "other" Mr. Savage drinks...after about 3 he asks Marty: "Do you work for me?" HA HA HA!!! Awesome, of course not, but cool anyway. He is awesome. Anyway, survive the night of drinking and dancing, and best of all, no illness the next day, hooray for beer.
More to come.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
NEVER PLANNING TO GO TO BUSAN AGAIN!!!
SERIOUSLY!!! I have tried about three times to go to Busan, using the KTX (bullet) train. NO!!! I always end up having a shit-ton of work to do those weekends. It's like they know I am going to go somewhere. So instead of going to Busan last weekend....I a going to Hong Kong this weekend. In my opinion a better choice. HOORAY!!!
Work is the same, too much, stupid coworker who makes more work, clients that are unreasonably demanding, THE USUAL. Good news is, there is another Mr. Savage in to rescue me for a month and a half. The unfortunate thing, is he is just as surly as ME!!! Wow!!! It's like we are brothers or something! We clearly do share some Savage lineage somewhere down the line. Anyway, he works for the same company as me, in the group that does GIS, which everyone I have met doesn't suck...well except for whiny Davenhall. So its good to have reinforcements, even if it means they expect more work, because we can go get beers after work.
Have I mentioned that I STILL don't have that tailored suit yet? Man, its like I work, and sleep and work. WAIT! I DO!
Anyway, some fun is in there, Rocky Mountain Tavern, oh and birthday update. Yeah, I know, but I am tired and need that sleep, so out! Later.
Work is the same, too much, stupid coworker who makes more work, clients that are unreasonably demanding, THE USUAL. Good news is, there is another Mr. Savage in to rescue me for a month and a half. The unfortunate thing, is he is just as surly as ME!!! Wow!!! It's like we are brothers or something! We clearly do share some Savage lineage somewhere down the line. Anyway, he works for the same company as me, in the group that does GIS, which everyone I have met doesn't suck...well except for whiny Davenhall. So its good to have reinforcements, even if it means they expect more work, because we can go get beers after work.
Have I mentioned that I STILL don't have that tailored suit yet? Man, its like I work, and sleep and work. WAIT! I DO!
Anyway, some fun is in there, Rocky Mountain Tavern, oh and birthday update. Yeah, I know, but I am tired and need that sleep, so out! Later.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Soju? Again? Have I not learned?
Hello all! Well since I last left you, I got one re-enforcement sent to me from stateside. Mr. Mat Savage. Hmm. No apparent relation, but CLEARLY from the last name there is some shared genetic material, because he reminds me of all my male relatives on the Savage side, amazingly enough. Also, as seen early in the blog, my friends have come over from the US. So after arriving back in Seoul from Tokyo...sleep. Seriously, we are just D.U.N. Done. Tuesday, the Boyds wander the city, doing the tourist thing while I am at work. What better to do than go out in Itaewon after work? I can't think of anything. So dinner out the Outback Steakhouse. Yeah, all these folks coming from thousands of miles to have what they can have at home. Brilliant? Oh, did I mention, all you can drink beer for $5.50. Brilliant. Whoever came up with this promotion....not so brilliant. 7 or 8 beers later, party on. Well, why not go to an overpriced bar in Itaewon to offset any savings of being at the Outback!
I ended up feeling like I was being dared a bit to show everyone a good time. "Don't you know all the fun places to go?" Tuesday, not a huge party night that it is, lets get some Soju. Well the Soju place we went to was just right, soju, cow intestines and stomach (chewy) and we kept it flowing. A woman next to us was on a date, with a guy she didn't like, so she joined in. I was really having a hard time understanding her because she mostly spoke Korean to me. "Slow down" Anyway, that was really amusing, the boys were feeling the effects of soju, for sure. I don't really remember much, but I am told Mat got sent home by cab, and his mind is erased until he woke up at NOON on wednesday, thanks Mat. The Boyds also were a bit hazy, but not as bad as me, I paid and didn't realize it. And wow! did I pay. Anyway, I made my way to work just after 10am, and felt like "I am slowly dying" until about 6pm. That was a rough day of work.
Well, the Boyds just recovered all day wednesday, and we met up again for dinner. This was real Korean BBQ, and then a driving tour courtesy of Ms. Yeon Mo, all of our personal driver, translator, and party liason. In fact, courtesy of the soju, the Savages call her 'el Diablo' and our Korean clients call her the 'Axes of Evil.' Not sure why, she is nice, sweet, and doesn't wanna drink it herself, but she is always there for it.
Then super awesome sushi! Mmmm...and a quick tour of Seoul Tower, and its fantastic bathrooms. Check out the picture link below. Then to scenic and beautiful WA Bar. It's a 'Western Ice Bar.' Still trying to figure out if I have EVER seen something like it in North America, or the parts of Europe I have been....Koreans just made this theme up. Anyway, a table with ice in a tub, and beers in there. Not bad, open them yourself, and tally up when done. Totally awesome. I proceed to turn the big 29 in the bar, that was the start of a nice birthday!
Check out photos of the week here!
I ended up feeling like I was being dared a bit to show everyone a good time. "Don't you know all the fun places to go?" Tuesday, not a huge party night that it is, lets get some Soju. Well the Soju place we went to was just right, soju, cow intestines and stomach (chewy) and we kept it flowing. A woman next to us was on a date, with a guy she didn't like, so she joined in. I was really having a hard time understanding her because she mostly spoke Korean to me. "Slow down" Anyway, that was really amusing, the boys were feeling the effects of soju, for sure. I don't really remember much, but I am told Mat got sent home by cab, and his mind is erased until he woke up at NOON on wednesday, thanks Mat. The Boyds also were a bit hazy, but not as bad as me, I paid and didn't realize it. And wow! did I pay. Anyway, I made my way to work just after 10am, and felt like "I am slowly dying" until about 6pm. That was a rough day of work.
Well, the Boyds just recovered all day wednesday, and we met up again for dinner. This was real Korean BBQ, and then a driving tour courtesy of Ms. Yeon Mo, all of our personal driver, translator, and party liason. In fact, courtesy of the soju, the Savages call her 'el Diablo' and our Korean clients call her the 'Axes of Evil.' Not sure why, she is nice, sweet, and doesn't wanna drink it herself, but she is always there for it.
Then super awesome sushi! Mmmm...and a quick tour of Seoul Tower, and its fantastic bathrooms. Check out the picture link below. Then to scenic and beautiful WA Bar. It's a 'Western Ice Bar.' Still trying to figure out if I have EVER seen something like it in North America, or the parts of Europe I have been....Koreans just made this theme up. Anyway, a table with ice in a tub, and beers in there. Not bad, open them yourself, and tally up when done. Totally awesome. I proceed to turn the big 29 in the bar, that was the start of a nice birthday!
Check out photos of the week here!
Tokyo. Souvenir kudasai.
DAY 3
Ginza - Well, sleep in...grab some coffee, and head to the airport. Get there only 1.5 hours early...WTF!!! The most massive line I have ever seen! My plane? CRAP! Wait, I only have carry on, yeah, right to the front. "Catch the vapors...LOSERS!!!" Watch the funniest thing I have EVER seen in person, and fly home. "What was so funny?" you ask? Well, it was a man clearly walking at another man, boy he looks like me, well, he'll move, he'll totally get out of my way, CRAP, get out of my way! BAM!!! This guy walks full speed into a mirror, breaks his glasses, and bounces about 10 feet from the mirror. I was nearly in tears! Awesome.
Check out the pictures here.
Ginza - Well, sleep in...grab some coffee, and head to the airport. Get there only 1.5 hours early...WTF!!! The most massive line I have ever seen! My plane? CRAP! Wait, I only have carry on, yeah, right to the front. "Catch the vapors...LOSERS!!!" Watch the funniest thing I have EVER seen in person, and fly home. "What was so funny?" you ask? Well, it was a man clearly walking at another man, boy he looks like me, well, he'll move, he'll totally get out of my way, CRAP, get out of my way! BAM!!! This guy walks full speed into a mirror, breaks his glasses, and bounces about 10 feet from the mirror. I was nearly in tears! Awesome.
Check out the pictures here.
Tokyo. Wakarimas ka? Ie.
DAY 2
Asakusa - Boat trip down the river to Odaiba. Just some viewing of rich people along the water, and all kinds of other interesting architecture and engineering. I like the bridges.
Odaiba - Fell into Tokyo Drift racing, cool! Went to a traditional bathhouse, lunch, and nakedness in pools of hot water. Weird, children are quite curious of the gigantic white guys, weird. Just general relaxation and hanging out. It was nice. Much calmer than saturday.
Shibuya - Meiji shrine and the bridge of 'sad' kids who dress up like anime characters and have their picture taken with a bunch of slack-jawed yokel tourists, like yours truly. :-) We then wandered down and checked out the busiest intersection in the world. Wow, lots of people, and it was totally a weekend, awesome! Went up to the top of a sweet building and totally nice restaurant to attempt drinking beer. Sorry folks, short pants not allowed, you need to leave. NOW!!! Let me escort you to the elevator to make sure you get the hell out! HA HA!!! Marty's Japanese friend totally took us one floor down, and we still took pictures of Shibuya. Take that!
Rippongi - Well, sunday night, and mostly dead. Too bad really, because it is supposed to be awesome. Tried going to lots of different places, all closed or empty. Found a nice pub and had fun there, but decided that somewhere else would be better. It wasn't. DAMMIT! Instead, get hassled by guys on the street for strip club/juicy bar/hostess bar/various shadiness. Ugh, never found anything better. Sigh. So Marty wanted unagi, because we hadn't had it yet. Okay, well how about here, I went in, asked if it existed in Japanese, the guy said yeah, and I ordered some. Not too bad for being pretty worthless to that point. It sucked, but it was interesting to try out the alleys and random places. I felt proud because my Japanese worked. Sucks so leave...almost last train. Need to go 10 stops. Go 1, and the train breaks down. DAMMIT!!! Switch trains, we don't wanna pay for the REALLY expensive cabs.
Ginza - We made it! Whew, just barely! Head around to different bars...can we find one open, or one that will serve us? Nope, nope, nope, nope, YUP!!! Score, Sake, pretty good, totally closing for the night. Okay, just one drink....can we take one to go? Okay, but don't say anything. Head out, get snacks and more booze at the AM/PM, and wander the expensive streets of Ginza. "Hey Cat!" "Cat!" "BOO!" Drunkards! Debate loudly the awesomeness of lasers and science, and head to the hotel. Did I mention it was small? Did I also mention that one of us slept on the floor each night? Well, totally drunk, it was comfy, waking up...not so much so. I did thoroughly enjoy placing my glasses safely UNDER my head all night so they wouldn't break. Whoops!
Asakusa - Boat trip down the river to Odaiba. Just some viewing of rich people along the water, and all kinds of other interesting architecture and engineering. I like the bridges.
Odaiba - Fell into Tokyo Drift racing, cool! Went to a traditional bathhouse, lunch, and nakedness in pools of hot water. Weird, children are quite curious of the gigantic white guys, weird. Just general relaxation and hanging out. It was nice. Much calmer than saturday.
Shibuya - Meiji shrine and the bridge of 'sad' kids who dress up like anime characters and have their picture taken with a bunch of slack-jawed yokel tourists, like yours truly. :-) We then wandered down and checked out the busiest intersection in the world. Wow, lots of people, and it was totally a weekend, awesome! Went up to the top of a sweet building and totally nice restaurant to attempt drinking beer. Sorry folks, short pants not allowed, you need to leave. NOW!!! Let me escort you to the elevator to make sure you get the hell out! HA HA!!! Marty's Japanese friend totally took us one floor down, and we still took pictures of Shibuya. Take that!
Rippongi - Well, sunday night, and mostly dead. Too bad really, because it is supposed to be awesome. Tried going to lots of different places, all closed or empty. Found a nice pub and had fun there, but decided that somewhere else would be better. It wasn't. DAMMIT! Instead, get hassled by guys on the street for strip club/juicy bar/hostess bar/various shadiness. Ugh, never found anything better. Sigh. So Marty wanted unagi, because we hadn't had it yet. Okay, well how about here, I went in, asked if it existed in Japanese, the guy said yeah, and I ordered some. Not too bad for being pretty worthless to that point. It sucked, but it was interesting to try out the alleys and random places. I felt proud because my Japanese worked. Sucks so leave...almost last train. Need to go 10 stops. Go 1, and the train breaks down. DAMMIT!!! Switch trains, we don't wanna pay for the REALLY expensive cabs.
Ginza - We made it! Whew, just barely! Head around to different bars...can we find one open, or one that will serve us? Nope, nope, nope, nope, YUP!!! Score, Sake, pretty good, totally closing for the night. Okay, just one drink....can we take one to go? Okay, but don't say anything. Head out, get snacks and more booze at the AM/PM, and wander the expensive streets of Ginza. "Hey Cat!" "Cat!" "BOO!" Drunkards! Debate loudly the awesomeness of lasers and science, and head to the hotel. Did I mention it was small? Did I also mention that one of us slept on the floor each night? Well, totally drunk, it was comfy, waking up...not so much so. I did thoroughly enjoy placing my glasses safely UNDER my head all night so they wouldn't break. Whoops!
Friday, June 13, 2008
Tokyo. Wakarimasen ne.
Tokyo...awesome town. Steve's Japanese...AWFUL!!! So I can hear and understand very little. I can read one alphabet. Problem is, I need to be able to speak as well, oh and maybe read the other two alphabets. Sigh. Marty and Scott were right to hate me! Good news, Tokyo is still a totally awesome city. I am bummed I was only there a few days! Total whirlwind!
DAY 1
Fish Market - Oh my GOD!!! Death imminent at every turn, tons of fish, totally overwhelming, and we got there LATE!!! Saw a dude with a 6 foot 'sword' cutting up some tuna. Couldn't find the sushi place in the market, so totally ate outside the market. The easy part in finding the market...follow the backpacks, 'short pants', white socks, and white tennis shoes.
Hot hot sunny day in Kokyo Park. Beautiful. Is it a Japanese garden by default that it is in Japan?
Sony Store - WAY smaller than expected, and everything expensive as expected. Hit my head a couple times. And of course, Ricky Martin-bot. Check out the photos, the video should be up.
Akihabra - Tons of people by my standard, and honestly more than Seoul. By the way...the subways of Seoul are so much busier on weekends! The electronics market, tons of electronics, and discounted....yeah right. Cheaper almost everywhere I have seen. Not any good deals.
Asakusa - Cool temples and the most BRILLIANT thing I have ever seen! Beer vending machine, and boy was it refreshing on that HOT day. :-)
Ginza - Home, smallest 'large' hotel ever! Totally awesome though, right in the middle of everything. Kinda rich/dead neighborhood. Can't afford Louis V, etc. They had the same Apple store as every other major city. The most AWESOME restaurant ever, totally a tempura joint. Lots of sake, and basically all you can eat fried food, Scott and I dared them to keep bringing food so we could loop through the menu, we never did, totally defeated! Sigh. Awesomely delicious.
Shinjuku - Why not finish off the long day with a visit to the busiest place in the world? It was totally cool, totally busy, and totally full of everything lude. My kinda place. Back to the hotel and beers from the AM/PM. Whew!
DAY 1
Fish Market - Oh my GOD!!! Death imminent at every turn, tons of fish, totally overwhelming, and we got there LATE!!! Saw a dude with a 6 foot 'sword' cutting up some tuna. Couldn't find the sushi place in the market, so totally ate outside the market. The easy part in finding the market...follow the backpacks, 'short pants', white socks, and white tennis shoes.
Hot hot sunny day in Kokyo Park. Beautiful. Is it a Japanese garden by default that it is in Japan?
Sony Store - WAY smaller than expected, and everything expensive as expected. Hit my head a couple times. And of course, Ricky Martin-bot. Check out the photos, the video should be up.
Akihabra - Tons of people by my standard, and honestly more than Seoul. By the way...the subways of Seoul are so much busier on weekends! The electronics market, tons of electronics, and discounted....yeah right. Cheaper almost everywhere I have seen. Not any good deals.
Asakusa - Cool temples and the most BRILLIANT thing I have ever seen! Beer vending machine, and boy was it refreshing on that HOT day. :-)
Ginza - Home, smallest 'large' hotel ever! Totally awesome though, right in the middle of everything. Kinda rich/dead neighborhood. Can't afford Louis V, etc. They had the same Apple store as every other major city. The most AWESOME restaurant ever, totally a tempura joint. Lots of sake, and basically all you can eat fried food, Scott and I dared them to keep bringing food so we could loop through the menu, we never did, totally defeated! Sigh. Awesomely delicious.
Shinjuku - Why not finish off the long day with a visit to the busiest place in the world? It was totally cool, totally busy, and totally full of everything lude. My kinda place. Back to the hotel and beers from the AM/PM. Whew!
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Time off!!!
Guess what? Spare time!!! What shall I do with it? I wanna sleep in late. What else? ....ummm, wander up and down the subway line from the hotel. So out and about by noon. Guess what HOT restaurant my bud and I got to....BENNIGANS! I am sure it is American by looking at it, but what the hell, lunch special was pretty damned good, cheap too. Wander around one mall, ask about KTX tix to P/Busan. Totally cool, bullet train to the other end of the country? That'll take only 3 hours. Driving to the Can is farther!!! Pretty sure just the state of Washington is twice the size of South Korea.
Anyway, wander from there and that subway shop to another, and spend hours haggling for an iPod case (got two for $10) and a tripod for my camera ($12). Felt successful, and decided to take in the amazing scenery that is here in Seoul. WOW! After some more of that, try to do that as much as I can ;-), caught a flick, and headed on the adventure home. Well, with my T-Money card, (YEAH, that's right it's the T-Money card yo!) the adventures have dwindled on the subway and buses. No more sucking at maintaining tickets or cash and getting stuck behind turnstiles.
Other than that...here I am, jamming out a blog! Wow, a couple in one week! Well, while this is fun, they should be short so ya'll will keep reading them. TTFN ;-)
Anyway, wander from there and that subway shop to another, and spend hours haggling for an iPod case (got two for $10) and a tripod for my camera ($12). Felt successful, and decided to take in the amazing scenery that is here in Seoul. WOW! After some more of that, try to do that as much as I can ;-), caught a flick, and headed on the adventure home. Well, with my T-Money card, (YEAH, that's right it's the T-Money card yo!) the adventures have dwindled on the subway and buses. No more sucking at maintaining tickets or cash and getting stuck behind turnstiles.
Other than that...here I am, jamming out a blog! Wow, a couple in one week! Well, while this is fun, they should be short so ya'll will keep reading them. TTFN ;-)
Friday, May 23, 2008
Do what now? AGAIN!?!?
Hey all! So it has been so long since I last posted. I have honestly done some fun stuff in the interim, saw Seoul Tower, ummm....and some other stuff. But, as expected, my slave-drivers have seen fit to not allow me more than 2 days off a month. But fully expect everything. Then make me manage the unmanageable, oh, and the GIS database, too. (You'll get that if you've talked w/ me personally, sorry the rest of you)
So, what is it I am doing these days? Cursing master planners, and pretending to be a PM. If only I had the power of one. Do you know how hard it is to boss people around in a Confucian society that are a decade or more your senior? Sometimes being an expert is a curse. Wish I was a dummy, or pretended to be one sometimes so I just fly under the radar. You know those blades of grass that stand taller usually get cut down...
Well, beyond the complaints, Ron (of PMIS and Denver fame) and I found our favorite burger joint near work, also has a shop ACROSS the street from our apartments! YES!!! Well, that about covers the fun I have had lately. The weather is off and on sunny warm, smoggy humid, and wet cold thunderstorms. Oh, I have finally taken advantage of my CAC card/SOFA status. For the uninitiated...that means I can get onto the US Army Garrison and buy Taco Bell and Popeyes. SCORE!!! I did find that it can be quite annoying to go to one of the Popeyes due to its UNCOMFORTABLY CLOSE distance to the high school. Ugh! Was I that bad then?
Anyway, I promise more! My best friend and his brother are coming in a couple weeks, and we are going to Tokyo, then party here in Seoul, so I have that to look forward to! Oh, and of course I promise more debauchery sometime soon. Later all, don't be strangers!
So, what is it I am doing these days? Cursing master planners, and pretending to be a PM. If only I had the power of one. Do you know how hard it is to boss people around in a Confucian society that are a decade or more your senior? Sometimes being an expert is a curse. Wish I was a dummy, or pretended to be one sometimes so I just fly under the radar. You know those blades of grass that stand taller usually get cut down...
Well, beyond the complaints, Ron (of PMIS and Denver fame) and I found our favorite burger joint near work, also has a shop ACROSS the street from our apartments! YES!!! Well, that about covers the fun I have had lately. The weather is off and on sunny warm, smoggy humid, and wet cold thunderstorms. Oh, I have finally taken advantage of my CAC card/SOFA status. For the uninitiated...that means I can get onto the US Army Garrison and buy Taco Bell and Popeyes. SCORE!!! I did find that it can be quite annoying to go to one of the Popeyes due to its UNCOMFORTABLY CLOSE distance to the high school. Ugh! Was I that bad then?
Anyway, I promise more! My best friend and his brother are coming in a couple weeks, and we are going to Tokyo, then party here in Seoul, so I have that to look forward to! Oh, and of course I promise more debauchery sometime soon. Later all, don't be strangers!
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Where have I been?
Where have I been? Good question. Well, after I last left you...weeks ago! I had another Soju night with some of the same gentleman and saw to it that yet another night erased itself from my memory, or never registered to begin with. Where did we lose those umbrellas? Anyway, work, work, COEX, Hongdae, work, work, work.
So apparently, somewhere along the way I became a novelty to a couple folks here in the office, one Korean, one Australian by way of Denver. They took it upon themselves to get me a haircut, because what I had just was not good enough. I was gonna get it cut...maybe, with the ninja mustache removal that I haven't told anyone about I was toying with the idea of letting the hair go, or just go with the short do. Forcible short do later, I at least get to hang out in Gangnam and Apgujeong. Well, while there, I shock the Korean present that I had wandered through this neighborhood months ago and pointed out fine establishments I had already been in. So, let's go to Apgujeong, oh, been there too. But, we go to a hidden away Sushi restaurant, and MAN it is the greatest sushi on the planet, and that is from the guy who ate lots of sushi in the land of sushi, so I believe him. Oh man SOOOOO GOOOOOOD!!!
Sent a Denver Co-worker out in style by starting at a Bavarian Style joint in another Expat zone known as COEX. Not sure why, it just is, so deal with it. Anyway, 4000cc of beer at a time and a flaming BBQ (charcoal grill for those of you who just can't let it go!) at the table. Delicious meats, seafood, and veggies off the grill...2000cc more, oh can we get 4000cc more? YES!!!
Well, no sendoff is quite right unless you party in Itaewon, Apgujeong, or Hongdae. We choose the latter and dance the night away. How do we get home? Oenchogyo!!!! Yogiyo!!! Kamsamneda. More soon enough!
So apparently, somewhere along the way I became a novelty to a couple folks here in the office, one Korean, one Australian by way of Denver. They took it upon themselves to get me a haircut, because what I had just was not good enough. I was gonna get it cut...maybe, with the ninja mustache removal that I haven't told anyone about I was toying with the idea of letting the hair go, or just go with the short do. Forcible short do later, I at least get to hang out in Gangnam and Apgujeong. Well, while there, I shock the Korean present that I had wandered through this neighborhood months ago and pointed out fine establishments I had already been in. So, let's go to Apgujeong, oh, been there too. But, we go to a hidden away Sushi restaurant, and MAN it is the greatest sushi on the planet, and that is from the guy who ate lots of sushi in the land of sushi, so I believe him. Oh man SOOOOO GOOOOOOD!!!
Sent a Denver Co-worker out in style by starting at a Bavarian Style joint in another Expat zone known as COEX. Not sure why, it just is, so deal with it. Anyway, 4000cc of beer at a time and a flaming BBQ (charcoal grill for those of you who just can't let it go!) at the table. Delicious meats, seafood, and veggies off the grill...2000cc more, oh can we get 4000cc more? YES!!!
Well, no sendoff is quite right unless you party in Itaewon, Apgujeong, or Hongdae. We choose the latter and dance the night away. How do we get home? Oenchogyo!!!! Yogiyo!!! Kamsamneda. More soon enough!
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Soju? Work? Do what now?
So...long time no post. Well, a lot of that is a serious push to get the mess the GIS people made after my exit to when I got back. Ever since, it has been a constant struggle to clean up the mess, patch shaky trust, and move forward with good products. F@#$!!! Seriously! Who knew managing would be so awful! I miss my coworkers stateside who are GREAT to work with. Damn!
Anyway, now on to the Savvy of the night. So after moving into my new home...well still haven't explored the neighborhood, but have been out many times. In fact, I have been out a couple times for a more traditional Soju experience than my previous Polly's/Cancun/King Club nights. This entailed going out with our Korean clients in the military who are overseeing the Korean portion of our work. Apparently, not many other ex-pats are going out to do this...and I am finding that I know zero korean and it hurts. I did learn that being the youngest always makes me everyone's bitch. So that is great. Who'da thunk it? Anyway, these nights are quite amazing. Glad that it was Friday night. We headed out first to a traditional Korean BBQ place. It was delicious! Very good! Anyway, between myself and one RAD ex-pat from our Denver office (Brian), and four Koreans, we plowed through multiple plates of meat, delicious other bits, and OH YEAH, 7 or 8 bottles of Soju.
Well, as if that wasn't good enough, I found that I am shaky pouring Soju, not sure if it was nerves or soberness, because the arm got steadier as the night went on.... :-( Anyway, the night was still young, couldn't a been much past 10 or 10:30, so time to go to a bar. Well, it is nice out here right now (the next day it was in the upper 80's or 20's depending on who you are), so we were outside and pounding beers. Now that we were in my element, I was drinking 2 glasses at a time like a genius, but impressing the "money-men" from our Korean client. I remember that Brian and I learned a lot about Korean social culture/structure as the night went, RIGHT HAND ONLY, DAMMIT!!! So, even though it was nice, we came prepared with umbrellas, our most awesome and fun translator YeonMo brought her brand new umbrellas from her new VW, and well, they left the earthly realm at some point that night. Sad! :-( Oh, yeah, let's not forget that the BIG boss is out with other clients doing the same and we were supposed to meet up with him. Well, drunken phone tag, and an unwillingness on everyone's part to go meet the other led to the inevitable never meeting up...except for one! So he just showed up, and even in all or our inebriated state, we could see he was COMPLETELY GONE. Good for some great laughs.
So, done at that bar right, time to go home? NO!!! Time to go to the apartment, buy some delicious bordeaux, and Snickers, and head upstairs. We get upstairs, and I have a passionate one-sided discussion of GIS and the greatness of it...hmm, weird! Three glasses, four people, bitch-boy Steve, straight from the bottle, classy! Did I mention more food, oh AND Soju show up? DAMN!!! So, that leads to me barely recalling the night, the cab ride home, or anything else really. On to working on Sunday, starting bright and early at 1pm. Needless to say that was a memorable-forgettable experience and needing grease. Oh, by the way, I found that grease! A delicious place that serves GREASY burgers, and three of us swearing off any liquor for at least a week. Mmmm! So I will have to wrap this up...its getting way too long. I will catch you up to at least the last week soon.
Oh, and updated photo album!
PHOTO ALBUM
Anyway, now on to the Savvy of the night. So after moving into my new home...well still haven't explored the neighborhood, but have been out many times. In fact, I have been out a couple times for a more traditional Soju experience than my previous Polly's/Cancun/King Club nights. This entailed going out with our Korean clients in the military who are overseeing the Korean portion of our work. Apparently, not many other ex-pats are going out to do this...and I am finding that I know zero korean and it hurts. I did learn that being the youngest always makes me everyone's bitch. So that is great. Who'da thunk it? Anyway, these nights are quite amazing. Glad that it was Friday night. We headed out first to a traditional Korean BBQ place. It was delicious! Very good! Anyway, between myself and one RAD ex-pat from our Denver office (Brian), and four Koreans, we plowed through multiple plates of meat, delicious other bits, and OH YEAH, 7 or 8 bottles of Soju.
Well, as if that wasn't good enough, I found that I am shaky pouring Soju, not sure if it was nerves or soberness, because the arm got steadier as the night went on.... :-( Anyway, the night was still young, couldn't a been much past 10 or 10:30, so time to go to a bar. Well, it is nice out here right now (the next day it was in the upper 80's or 20's depending on who you are), so we were outside and pounding beers. Now that we were in my element, I was drinking 2 glasses at a time like a genius, but impressing the "money-men" from our Korean client. I remember that Brian and I learned a lot about Korean social culture/structure as the night went, RIGHT HAND ONLY, DAMMIT!!! So, even though it was nice, we came prepared with umbrellas, our most awesome and fun translator YeonMo brought her brand new umbrellas from her new VW, and well, they left the earthly realm at some point that night. Sad! :-( Oh, yeah, let's not forget that the BIG boss is out with other clients doing the same and we were supposed to meet up with him. Well, drunken phone tag, and an unwillingness on everyone's part to go meet the other led to the inevitable never meeting up...except for one! So he just showed up, and even in all or our inebriated state, we could see he was COMPLETELY GONE. Good for some great laughs.
So, done at that bar right, time to go home? NO!!! Time to go to the apartment, buy some delicious bordeaux, and Snickers, and head upstairs. We get upstairs, and I have a passionate one-sided discussion of GIS and the greatness of it...hmm, weird! Three glasses, four people, bitch-boy Steve, straight from the bottle, classy! Did I mention more food, oh AND Soju show up? DAMN!!! So, that leads to me barely recalling the night, the cab ride home, or anything else really. On to working on Sunday, starting bright and early at 1pm. Needless to say that was a memorable-forgettable experience and needing grease. Oh, by the way, I found that grease! A delicious place that serves GREASY burgers, and three of us swearing off any liquor for at least a week. Mmmm! So I will have to wrap this up...its getting way too long. I will catch you up to at least the last week soon.
Oh, and updated photo album!
PHOTO ALBUM
Thursday, April 17, 2008
RADNESS!!!!
So...today I moved into my apartment in Seoul. Ummm....AWESOME!!! It is right downtown, near Seoul station, and just in the middle of it all. I don't know quite what to do with it. It is so awesome! A huge bedroom, two bath, and the 18th floor with a view of the Seoul tower (sit-n-spin restaurant) and all of downtown. It is awesome!!! I have to say it is way better than where I was.
If it weren't for working a ton, and just being just plain tired, I would have more to say. So, maybe this will be more interesting this weekend...and some new photos. Stay salty!
If it weren't for working a ton, and just being just plain tired, I would have more to say. So, maybe this will be more interesting this weekend...and some new photos. Stay salty!
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Korea v 2.0
Well, guess who's back? That's right, I am like Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, or Sylvester Stalone...an action hero who doesn't know when to stop, until WAYYYY TOOOO late!
Yeah, jamming out another tour in country. Plenty of plans this time...that suit, and well, women's universities, and I guess, that's it. Well, I am jet lagged, technically still working from my hotel room, and so ready to hit the eject button for dinner. I don't have much to say other than I brought the Seattle weather with me. Now all of the "nice" weather they were having here. GONE! Now it is cooler and rainy. Sigh, the only thing worse would be if it were 90 degrees. Well, I have that to look forward to later. So with aspirations of making this a different experience than last time, I sign off, but I know you all will be reading, commenting, and e-mailing me ... Right?!?!
Yeah, jamming out another tour in country. Plenty of plans this time...that suit, and well, women's universities, and I guess, that's it. Well, I am jet lagged, technically still working from my hotel room, and so ready to hit the eject button for dinner. I don't have much to say other than I brought the Seattle weather with me. Now all of the "nice" weather they were having here. GONE! Now it is cooler and rainy. Sigh, the only thing worse would be if it were 90 degrees. Well, I have that to look forward to later. So with aspirations of making this a different experience than last time, I sign off, but I know you all will be reading, commenting, and e-mailing me ... Right?!?!
Monday, March 24, 2008
Wrap up!
Well how much can one person work before they crack? Somehow, I think they were looking to find that. Anyway, I really wanted to come home with gifts for friends and family, instead, I barely had time to sleep and eat my last two weeks! I do have to say, that I sent poor Teresa home hungover. I think Stacie was a little hungover, so why not return my favor to them and be hungover myself? I basically went out, and tried to see how many tequila shots and beers I could have in one night. I was successful. I finally did not lose the drinking contest with myself, instead, relatively chill night. I ended up going to a handful of bars/clubs in town that were in a very trendy, classy, and rich neighborhood. Ferraris and Maseratis lined the streets like Toyotas and Hondas do in Seattle. It was interesting. You all know how I dress, so I looked like a total scrub wandering in and out of these different clubs. It was nice.
Did much else really happen? Well, my quest for the perfectly tailored suit came up short. I never made it home with Soju. In fact, work got in the way of all kinds of everything. I didn't make it to the Sit n Spin restaurant, nor the women's university portion of town. I do recall waking up in a panic the morning of my flight about 10 minutes before I was supposed to check out. That poor bag was crammed full, and I still am not sure if I possibly left something behind or not. Then I went and had a delicious McDonalds breakfast, and yes it is EXACTLY the same. Trip to the bus, then off and up out to the airport. Boy Incheon is a million miles from Seoul, and yes I know I said that before. But you know how sometimes when its your first time somewhere it seems longer than it really is? Well, it was still really far!
Anyway, boredom at the airport, hours, then 747 to LAX. Crap, am I gonna be sandwiched? Nope! No one in front of me, behind me, or next to me, AWESOME!!! So amazingly enough I think I scam about 3 hours of sleep. Then, LAX, gosh that airport sucks! Get out of the international terminal and take the tram or trolley to my next terminal...NO, LAX SUCKS!!! No tram? No nothing? What a ghetto fabulous airport, send it south and a little more central and that is what LAX is! To top off my hatred of LA, why not have me sit in LAX for 3.5 hours!!! Oh, phone messages, "you owe us money," "where are you," you know the usual when you un-ass a country overnight. Anyway, how can we top this miserableness, why not cram this freakishly tall body into the smallest plane ever! I was dragging my shoulder down the ceiling. And throw in an entire plane that has to GO, and there being only one bathroom, and why not be next to the bathroom? Awesome.
Well thank goodness, its not late, get to Seattle, bag comes quick, ride comes quick, zero traffic, and time for beers. Ahh, I needed that hot duchess action. A bunch of people showed, even better, hard to say hello and hang with them all, but think I did an alright job. A little weirded out by one, maybe thats just my sis talking, bet she's right. Eh, whatever. Top it all off with sleeping about 15 hours, and you've wrapped up a long and eventful trip. Best part is, its probably happening again soon. Well, more info will be here if it does! TTYL.
SS
Did much else really happen? Well, my quest for the perfectly tailored suit came up short. I never made it home with Soju. In fact, work got in the way of all kinds of everything. I didn't make it to the Sit n Spin restaurant, nor the women's university portion of town. I do recall waking up in a panic the morning of my flight about 10 minutes before I was supposed to check out. That poor bag was crammed full, and I still am not sure if I possibly left something behind or not. Then I went and had a delicious McDonalds breakfast, and yes it is EXACTLY the same. Trip to the bus, then off and up out to the airport. Boy Incheon is a million miles from Seoul, and yes I know I said that before. But you know how sometimes when its your first time somewhere it seems longer than it really is? Well, it was still really far!
Anyway, boredom at the airport, hours, then 747 to LAX. Crap, am I gonna be sandwiched? Nope! No one in front of me, behind me, or next to me, AWESOME!!! So amazingly enough I think I scam about 3 hours of sleep. Then, LAX, gosh that airport sucks! Get out of the international terminal and take the tram or trolley to my next terminal...NO, LAX SUCKS!!! No tram? No nothing? What a ghetto fabulous airport, send it south and a little more central and that is what LAX is! To top off my hatred of LA, why not have me sit in LAX for 3.5 hours!!! Oh, phone messages, "you owe us money," "where are you," you know the usual when you un-ass a country overnight. Anyway, how can we top this miserableness, why not cram this freakishly tall body into the smallest plane ever! I was dragging my shoulder down the ceiling. And throw in an entire plane that has to GO, and there being only one bathroom, and why not be next to the bathroom? Awesome.
Well thank goodness, its not late, get to Seattle, bag comes quick, ride comes quick, zero traffic, and time for beers. Ahh, I needed that hot duchess action. A bunch of people showed, even better, hard to say hello and hang with them all, but think I did an alright job. A little weirded out by one, maybe thats just my sis talking, bet she's right. Eh, whatever. Top it all off with sleeping about 15 hours, and you've wrapped up a long and eventful trip. Best part is, its probably happening again soon. Well, more info will be here if it does! TTYL.
SS
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Death becomes him...
Good Lord!!! I have not been this sick since, well since my wonderful bout of Mono last year! I can still barely speak, but am no longer SOOO sick that I am having hotflashes. Yeah, I thought I was that sick for a while that I was THAT different. As one of the walking zombies, I have been able to still work in a larger than normal workweek. That was attained by working 7 days while sick in one week. Gotta love it. Now I am feeling pretty good, save the lack of functional voice. So I have found that my relief that was coming over from the states, well, they were supposed to have been here already, yet, I still have no itinerary that they are on their way. That could provide a rough spot, since I am leaving friday, and they won't be here until tuesday at the earliest. To top that off, this is going to be my busiest workweek yet, so that makes it more interesting.
Well, after all the unglamour of working, sleeping, and just plain being sick, the weekend. Well saturday, more of the above, sleep. It did me good, felt better saturday and today, sunday, than I have in quite some time. So, guess what, DMZ tour. Yeah, finally. So head up to the DMZ, tiny little bus, on a freeway to the border. Yeah, freeway, easy to send thousands of troops either direction. Oh yeah, there are tank traps designed into the freeway, but they are designed to only save Soeul 30 minutes, which is about 1 hour 30 minutes before the north koreans are here. FUN!!! Anyway, the tour ended up being a bit disappointing, it didn't go to Panmunjeon (treaty table), but did go through all of the new re-unification propoganda and other pats on the back about how integrated north and south are. ARE YOU CRAZY!!! They are still at war! THEY STILL KILL EACH OTHER!!! Last I checked, there still was an absolutely INSANE communist DICTATOR up north. Are we forgetting that? Seriously, no real change will happen until communist dictatorships are removed, look at Cuba, China, and then other communist nations that are no more. No real change until the nut jobs are gone. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of nut jobs in the free world, but there are SOME checks and balances against them if they end up in a powerful position.
ANYWAY, lesson, the South Koreans have this rosy outlook that reunification will happen, will be easy, and will create harmony. In the reality I see, it will cripple the economy of both immediately, let's not forget the business of war is a lucrative one and employs millions. Not just the north, but here too. I just think its a bit childish the propaganda vision stated during the whole tour and I don't buy it. It was not nearly as powerful as I'd hoped for, and not as scary as I had either. A good thing without a doubt. Maybe there is real progress, hooray, but grain of salt is all I'm saying.
On another note, they did talk about rail, and how the japanese wanted to tunnel under the sea to korea, and that inherent fear popped out in their explanation, they might invade with such a tunnel. Comical to hear, but a very real fear, considering Korea has to be the most conquered and "run over" society on earth, no offense to the Jewish population of the world, but seriously, the Japanese have done some atrocious things in their past. Most of it here on the Korean peninsula. World politics and such are fun...enough of that!
The tour guide, HILARIOUS. For some reason, finished every sentence with "boom, boom, boom." It had all of us Americans on the bus near tears by the end of the tour, it was too much. She was very nice, it was just funny to hear, boom, boom, boom.
Well, after all the unglamour of working, sleeping, and just plain being sick, the weekend. Well saturday, more of the above, sleep. It did me good, felt better saturday and today, sunday, than I have in quite some time. So, guess what, DMZ tour. Yeah, finally. So head up to the DMZ, tiny little bus, on a freeway to the border. Yeah, freeway, easy to send thousands of troops either direction. Oh yeah, there are tank traps designed into the freeway, but they are designed to only save Soeul 30 minutes, which is about 1 hour 30 minutes before the north koreans are here. FUN!!! Anyway, the tour ended up being a bit disappointing, it didn't go to Panmunjeon (treaty table), but did go through all of the new re-unification propoganda and other pats on the back about how integrated north and south are. ARE YOU CRAZY!!! They are still at war! THEY STILL KILL EACH OTHER!!! Last I checked, there still was an absolutely INSANE communist DICTATOR up north. Are we forgetting that? Seriously, no real change will happen until communist dictatorships are removed, look at Cuba, China, and then other communist nations that are no more. No real change until the nut jobs are gone. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of nut jobs in the free world, but there are SOME checks and balances against them if they end up in a powerful position.
ANYWAY, lesson, the South Koreans have this rosy outlook that reunification will happen, will be easy, and will create harmony. In the reality I see, it will cripple the economy of both immediately, let's not forget the business of war is a lucrative one and employs millions. Not just the north, but here too. I just think its a bit childish the propaganda vision stated during the whole tour and I don't buy it. It was not nearly as powerful as I'd hoped for, and not as scary as I had either. A good thing without a doubt. Maybe there is real progress, hooray, but grain of salt is all I'm saying.
On another note, they did talk about rail, and how the japanese wanted to tunnel under the sea to korea, and that inherent fear popped out in their explanation, they might invade with such a tunnel. Comical to hear, but a very real fear, considering Korea has to be the most conquered and "run over" society on earth, no offense to the Jewish population of the world, but seriously, the Japanese have done some atrocious things in their past. Most of it here on the Korean peninsula. World politics and such are fun...enough of that!
The tour guide, HILARIOUS. For some reason, finished every sentence with "boom, boom, boom." It had all of us Americans on the bus near tears by the end of the tour, it was too much. She was very nice, it was just funny to hear, boom, boom, boom.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
What a week.
Hey all, been a while, eh? Well, just really been busy at work. What can I say? Just been putting my head down and going away. Went out a few days this week for some beers and not much more. Even a handful of nights where I just worked, went to the hotel and went to bed. Just one of those weeks.
I did end up at the Irish pub a few times. That place has some pretty mean chicken strips and fries, but its no duchess. SIGH!!! They also have pretty dog-gone good bloody marys. Well thats about it for now, feeling a bit sick, and just working in the hotel room. At least terminator 2 is on, so some entertainment, but I am hunkered down, for sure. Hope all is well where you are. Talk to ya'll soon.
I did end up at the Irish pub a few times. That place has some pretty mean chicken strips and fries, but its no duchess. SIGH!!! They also have pretty dog-gone good bloody marys. Well thats about it for now, feeling a bit sick, and just working in the hotel room. At least terminator 2 is on, so some entertainment, but I am hunkered down, for sure. Hope all is well where you are. Talk to ya'll soon.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Saturday night.
Well, I found out the DMZ tour starts at 8am Sunday morning, and, well, I am going out clubbing tonight, so still no DMZ. Maybe next weekend. So poor happy-go-lucky Teresa decides to head out with Stacie and me. Teresa states that she wants nothing to do with a hangover on sunday, see she has a 10 hour flight back to Honolulu. Well, being the enabler that I am, I prompt her to have probably well more than she ever planned for. Still fun, and she did end up with a Jaeger-bomb, too. HA HA!!!!
Start off with the free glass of wine courtesy of the Marriott, the company, or someone, anyway ... FREE! Where to eat? Well, there are tons of alleys to wander in Itaewon, and not overpriced like the Marriott, head there. I hear there are a club or two over there, too!
Anyway, back out in Itaewon, okay but not spectacular dinner at a mexican place, let's just say I was wishing for Azteca, yeah. So I decide, its dinner, and I wanna start up early, so three margaritas later...off and up out to good old Polly's Kettle House. Where we promptly break into Soju Kettles. Man there is something evil in Soju, I love it. Let's see after some of those and some dancing, plus some "Oh honey, no!" moments of a very unfortunate looking girl attracting too much attention (seriously, go back to the dark corner you started in), head down to Helios. Well, Helios is packed, over-priced, and watered down, so break out and head up to our new favorite late evening haunt, Cancun. Well, this is where I start to have the memory erasing affects of the Soju, or maybe tequila, or possibly the vodka, not too sure, but don't remember clearly the beer, shots, and other inebriants of the evening.
Zoom home in the cab, and try to hang out with Teresa, but quickly realize that I am in bad shape, so get back up to my room, and promptly pass out DEAD to the world until 1pm! Wake up for a while...nah, back to bed. Get up at 5:30pm, go to Outback with Stacie, and wonder how poor Teresa was on that plane. Glad its not me, I woulda been CRANKY!!! Feeling tired and basically go back to bed after dinner, worst Sunday ever! Sent poor Teresa an e-mail apologizing, but mostly throwing out feelers to see how the flight was. Let's just say she had a less than awesome trip, and was more than ready to be home to recover. ;-)
More for ya, LONG LONG LONG monday at work, snow, and now, totally beat, going home to sleep, maybe eat, don't really know. More pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Stephen.G.Savage/KoreaFromCabsBusesAndWork
Talk at ya all later.
Start off with the free glass of wine courtesy of the Marriott, the company, or someone, anyway ... FREE! Where to eat? Well, there are tons of alleys to wander in Itaewon, and not overpriced like the Marriott, head there. I hear there are a club or two over there, too!
Anyway, back out in Itaewon, okay but not spectacular dinner at a mexican place, let's just say I was wishing for Azteca, yeah. So I decide, its dinner, and I wanna start up early, so three margaritas later...off and up out to good old Polly's Kettle House. Where we promptly break into Soju Kettles. Man there is something evil in Soju, I love it. Let's see after some of those and some dancing, plus some "Oh honey, no!" moments of a very unfortunate looking girl attracting too much attention (seriously, go back to the dark corner you started in), head down to Helios. Well, Helios is packed, over-priced, and watered down, so break out and head up to our new favorite late evening haunt, Cancun. Well, this is where I start to have the memory erasing affects of the Soju, or maybe tequila, or possibly the vodka, not too sure, but don't remember clearly the beer, shots, and other inebriants of the evening.
Zoom home in the cab, and try to hang out with Teresa, but quickly realize that I am in bad shape, so get back up to my room, and promptly pass out DEAD to the world until 1pm! Wake up for a while...nah, back to bed. Get up at 5:30pm, go to Outback with Stacie, and wonder how poor Teresa was on that plane. Glad its not me, I woulda been CRANKY!!! Feeling tired and basically go back to bed after dinner, worst Sunday ever! Sent poor Teresa an e-mail apologizing, but mostly throwing out feelers to see how the flight was. Let's just say she had a less than awesome trip, and was more than ready to be home to recover. ;-)
More for ya, LONG LONG LONG monday at work, snow, and now, totally beat, going home to sleep, maybe eat, don't really know. More pics:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Stephen.G.Savage/KoreaFromCabsBusesAndWork
Talk at ya all later.
Friday, February 22, 2008
Saturday? Huh? What was in that?
Alright, so it FINALLY happened. I made it into three clubs last night in Itaewon. After an awesome dinner at this great italian place with my new found buddy, cohort, and coworker Stacie, time to hit Hooker Hill. Awesome!
Well, first up, try out King Bar. Heard about it, looked from the outside, okay, lets go. We go in, its after 10, so maybe not really all that happening yet, sit down, look for a good vodka or beer to have. NOPE! Let's get this started right with a Jaeger-bomb. Well, those puppies, a little different, they come pre-mixed already. A shot glass within a shot glass? Whatever. Not bad for house tunes, playing a good mix - when it all stops. And this guy starts playing guitar, and it kinda sucks. WELL...then a woman gets on stage and starts singing a bunch of, what I would consider, less than awesome songs for a BAR on a FRIDAY NIGHT. I seriously thought that they were going to start singing the song from "Love Boat" at any moment. Well that meant we needed to break outta there, and quick!
Onward and upward to Pollys Kettle House. Now rolling in, I immediately note that a bunch of guys with really short haircuts are in there, oh yeah, and clearly not Korean. So on guard, because I heard some stuff about a few places here. Well Stacie, she was bumming a little before we went out because Seoul, other than traffic, is not too terribly like Atlanta. In Pollys though, song, after song, after SONG of only ATL rap! WTF!!! I mean its good mind you, but seriously the music made it all the way to, oh New Orleans, but stayed Dirty South. Lil' Jon - he's still hot here. WHAT!? Well, I feel the need, the need to try exactly what it is this place is named after, the sneak up on you Kettles. So I order a Soju Kettle. And what I thought a kettle would be, not here. It is a 1.5 Liter bottle, with the top cut off with a dull knife, that is mixed with soju, instant lemonade mix, and some sort of fruity soda. Not bad, and so sneaky. Finished the first pretty quick, taking in the scene, starting to loosen up, and order up the second. In the 30 seconds it takes to make the second...whoah, I think I'm feeling it. Um, yeah, YEAH, I am feeling it, whew! Good thing I have another already made. Anyway, survey the scene some more, groove to the music, and we move outta the dirty with the tunage, oh, and those in "the know" well JT, and a bunch of other Timbaland, and stuff he produces starts grooving. Awesome! Well, in the meantime, two GI's decide to try and rumble in the bar. Seriously? I don't need this. All calms down, chilling, then, BAM, in the span of two minutes, place is empty! Apparently there is some kinda curfew or everyone motored on to some other club. So we decide, there is an upstairs, and roll up there. No go! Abort abort, even more dead than downstairs. Alright, roll on out to the next spot.
Cancun! Or at least a bar called the Cancun. Not bad, actually happening. Some good tunes and a packed dancefloor. The story here really isn't the dance floor so much as the bar. Once again, Jaeger-bombs. Mmm, finely tuned for awkward steve moves on the dance floor. ;-) Anyway, I am out shakin it, and Stacie heads up for a drink. She doesn't come back for quite some time, and I hear she saw the customs agent that checked her into the country and shot the breeze with him. While up there, another patron was on a mission to get her faded, and got her like 3 or 4 more Jaeger-bombs. She comes back and we grab our stuff and head up to the bar for more, I get us another round of Jaeger-bombs and kinda chillin, laughing about the night so far and talking with the customs guy, when - BAM! The dude who was trying to get her faded (mission accommplished BTW) PUNCHES her in the back! WTF! So I start leaning in, she is clearly restraining herself, I can tell that if she wants to, she would just end that guy, but doesn't, and after a while we laugh about it, but, seriously, WTF!!! Took all of our might, and begging from others to not end that guy right there. Come on!
So off and up out, we hit a stop and rob and I see the most beautiful can of candy, and HAVE to have it. There are pics on the pic paged linked in earlier blogs. It is a can of how I am feeling "Crunky" HA HA! Crunk! Who'da thunk it, takes me back to Lil' Jon all over again from earlier in the night.
To wrap it all up, cab ride home, 3 am bedtime, 9:30 wake up for "Free" breakfast, and off to blog, I mean work. Oh, and hilarious, went to Chinese (more grease to combat last night) and get a delightful soup for lunch. Well, looks hot and tasty, stir it up and decide to test the waters. But first, let's see whats in there. Well, nearest I can tell, after staring at I don't know what...is it? No. Yeah it is, I was about 2 seconds from having a delicious Eyeball soup. Yeah, wimp, but that's the way it goes. Until next time...
Well, first up, try out King Bar. Heard about it, looked from the outside, okay, lets go. We go in, its after 10, so maybe not really all that happening yet, sit down, look for a good vodka or beer to have. NOPE! Let's get this started right with a Jaeger-bomb. Well, those puppies, a little different, they come pre-mixed already. A shot glass within a shot glass? Whatever. Not bad for house tunes, playing a good mix - when it all stops. And this guy starts playing guitar, and it kinda sucks. WELL...then a woman gets on stage and starts singing a bunch of, what I would consider, less than awesome songs for a BAR on a FRIDAY NIGHT. I seriously thought that they were going to start singing the song from "Love Boat" at any moment. Well that meant we needed to break outta there, and quick!
Onward and upward to Pollys Kettle House. Now rolling in, I immediately note that a bunch of guys with really short haircuts are in there, oh yeah, and clearly not Korean. So on guard, because I heard some stuff about a few places here. Well Stacie, she was bumming a little before we went out because Seoul, other than traffic, is not too terribly like Atlanta. In Pollys though, song, after song, after SONG of only ATL rap! WTF!!! I mean its good mind you, but seriously the music made it all the way to, oh New Orleans, but stayed Dirty South. Lil' Jon - he's still hot here. WHAT!? Well, I feel the need, the need to try exactly what it is this place is named after, the sneak up on you Kettles. So I order a Soju Kettle. And what I thought a kettle would be, not here. It is a 1.5 Liter bottle, with the top cut off with a dull knife, that is mixed with soju, instant lemonade mix, and some sort of fruity soda. Not bad, and so sneaky. Finished the first pretty quick, taking in the scene, starting to loosen up, and order up the second. In the 30 seconds it takes to make the second...whoah, I think I'm feeling it. Um, yeah, YEAH, I am feeling it, whew! Good thing I have another already made. Anyway, survey the scene some more, groove to the music, and we move outta the dirty with the tunage, oh, and those in "the know" well JT, and a bunch of other Timbaland, and stuff he produces starts grooving. Awesome! Well, in the meantime, two GI's decide to try and rumble in the bar. Seriously? I don't need this. All calms down, chilling, then, BAM, in the span of two minutes, place is empty! Apparently there is some kinda curfew or everyone motored on to some other club. So we decide, there is an upstairs, and roll up there. No go! Abort abort, even more dead than downstairs. Alright, roll on out to the next spot.
Cancun! Or at least a bar called the Cancun. Not bad, actually happening. Some good tunes and a packed dancefloor. The story here really isn't the dance floor so much as the bar. Once again, Jaeger-bombs. Mmm, finely tuned for awkward steve moves on the dance floor. ;-) Anyway, I am out shakin it, and Stacie heads up for a drink. She doesn't come back for quite some time, and I hear she saw the customs agent that checked her into the country and shot the breeze with him. While up there, another patron was on a mission to get her faded, and got her like 3 or 4 more Jaeger-bombs. She comes back and we grab our stuff and head up to the bar for more, I get us another round of Jaeger-bombs and kinda chillin, laughing about the night so far and talking with the customs guy, when - BAM! The dude who was trying to get her faded (mission accommplished BTW) PUNCHES her in the back! WTF! So I start leaning in, she is clearly restraining herself, I can tell that if she wants to, she would just end that guy, but doesn't, and after a while we laugh about it, but, seriously, WTF!!! Took all of our might, and begging from others to not end that guy right there. Come on!
So off and up out, we hit a stop and rob and I see the most beautiful can of candy, and HAVE to have it. There are pics on the pic paged linked in earlier blogs. It is a can of how I am feeling "Crunky" HA HA! Crunk! Who'da thunk it, takes me back to Lil' Jon all over again from earlier in the night.
To wrap it all up, cab ride home, 3 am bedtime, 9:30 wake up for "Free" breakfast, and off to blog, I mean work. Oh, and hilarious, went to Chinese (more grease to combat last night) and get a delightful soup for lunch. Well, looks hot and tasty, stir it up and decide to test the waters. But first, let's see whats in there. Well, nearest I can tell, after staring at I don't know what...is it? No. Yeah it is, I was about 2 seconds from having a delicious Eyeball soup. Yeah, wimp, but that's the way it goes. Until next time...
Its Friday!
Well, where did I leave you last? I have spent time working long hours, I know, tell us something new! Well, they tried a new method to kick us all out early last night, they shut off the servers and power at 6pm. Well, like the intrepid laptop using souls we are, we used what was left of our batteries, and the power came back on. They really didn’t do that to make us leave, there was a problem with the transformer, but most left at 6. I had to stay to finish some reports for a big meeting going at 9am the next morning. Hooray, and just when I finished…the power came back on! Well, I jetted anyway. Work stuff isn’t that interesting, even to you fellow GIS’ers, so…
Fun and excitement…try out the French restaurant I heard so much about. I wandered the French quarter in Seouchu-gu, and found this “amazing” French restaurant. “How many sir?” “One” “Oh, we have no room for YOU.” WHAT!!! No room for ONE person! F@#$ THAT PLACE!!! So I end up at this quiet little Italian joint down the alley. Well, it was a little too quiet. Ever been to a restaurant where the staff outnumbers the patron(s) by 6 or 7 to one? It’s a little unnerving for those of us who are used to eating dinner while NOT being stared at by 4 people. It’s just weird! Anyway, in my quest to discover the French district…I think I found those “local” bars I have been craving. In fact, I think in an earlier blog I joked about finding a blues club, I’ve never seen one but always wanted to, BAM there is one over there. In fact, there are a whole slew of bars touting soju and other things and appearances I would have thought “Korean.” So, I think I found a partner in crime and debauchery, and plan on devouring some soju, and seeing just what may happen. I will let you know what the hangover is like.
I also lost nearly an hour “negotiating” with my hotel to move me from one room to another, and maintain the company discount. They couldn’t give me the discount, even though it was set for the previous 14 nights I was there, oh and don’t forget, we need some proof you work for CH2M HILL…try the business card you have STAPLED to the signed paperwork you are showing me!!! DAMN!!!! So after INTENSE negotiations on a totally lost lunch hour, I was able to get the room, and get them to move my stuff, hopefully it still exists, and is in my new room waiting for me like they said it would be.
The weather is getting warm enough that I am regretting taking my scarf, gloves, even jacket in with me to work. Wow! Suddenly not freezing, but kinda nice. Don’t forget it’s been mostly sunny the whole time I’ve been here.
Seriously, I am going to the DMZ, tomorrow, I am booking my trip, Sunday, I will be there. If I can take pictures, I will, it is basically a state of war there, so who knows what they’ll let me do. Hope all is going well in the states, and one of you let me know if I can hitch a ride from the airport, seriously. Blog at ya later…
Fun and excitement…try out the French restaurant I heard so much about. I wandered the French quarter in Seouchu-gu, and found this “amazing” French restaurant. “How many sir?” “One” “Oh, we have no room for YOU.” WHAT!!! No room for ONE person! F@#$ THAT PLACE!!! So I end up at this quiet little Italian joint down the alley. Well, it was a little too quiet. Ever been to a restaurant where the staff outnumbers the patron(s) by 6 or 7 to one? It’s a little unnerving for those of us who are used to eating dinner while NOT being stared at by 4 people. It’s just weird! Anyway, in my quest to discover the French district…I think I found those “local” bars I have been craving. In fact, I think in an earlier blog I joked about finding a blues club, I’ve never seen one but always wanted to, BAM there is one over there. In fact, there are a whole slew of bars touting soju and other things and appearances I would have thought “Korean.” So, I think I found a partner in crime and debauchery, and plan on devouring some soju, and seeing just what may happen. I will let you know what the hangover is like.
I also lost nearly an hour “negotiating” with my hotel to move me from one room to another, and maintain the company discount. They couldn’t give me the discount, even though it was set for the previous 14 nights I was there, oh and don’t forget, we need some proof you work for CH2M HILL…try the business card you have STAPLED to the signed paperwork you are showing me!!! DAMN!!!! So after INTENSE negotiations on a totally lost lunch hour, I was able to get the room, and get them to move my stuff, hopefully it still exists, and is in my new room waiting for me like they said it would be.
The weather is getting warm enough that I am regretting taking my scarf, gloves, even jacket in with me to work. Wow! Suddenly not freezing, but kinda nice. Don’t forget it’s been mostly sunny the whole time I’ve been here.
Seriously, I am going to the DMZ, tomorrow, I am booking my trip, Sunday, I will be there. If I can take pictures, I will, it is basically a state of war there, so who knows what they’ll let me do. Hope all is going well in the states, and one of you let me know if I can hitch a ride from the airport, seriously. Blog at ya later…
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
BUSY!!! It's like they expect me to work, or something!
Been busy of late! Whew! So last I left you, was days ago. I gotta say, its busy, but the good news is that we have from on high been told, no free hours, charge what you work. No problem, never planned on doing anything but. But with that comes the, you’re done for the day at about 7-8pm. Not normally a problem for me by any stretch of the imagination, but I have enough work to do the full 60 hour work weeks, and intended to do that. This week, I might come up short since I did not work all weekend, sigh, but yeah at the same time. I guess I’ll get by.
So, I found a co-worker that is quite fascinating and quite well read. He is awesome to sit and chit chat over dinner and hang out for hours. A while since I have talked with someone who has so much knowledge of science and technology. Its constantly fun, and we even talk about the “beauty” of food. He has had quite the interesting past, and has great life experience to learn from. Quite amazing, because on the outside, he looks just like someone I used to work with that was unbelievably dense and uninteresting to the max. Another of those stereotype/earth shattering realizations – get to know people, and you will find they are all very interesting. Too bad I have not been able to crack into conversation with more Koreans. The only ones who I have chatted with in bars/restaurants are actually originally from the US. I guess I look like a scary American being gigantic with a beard.
The other night I had to laugh at myself, because I got the only cab driver on the planet who not only knew how to drive, but drove in a safe and reasonable manner. Well, because of this, it was going to cost me $1, yes $1 more to get to the hotel. I found myself getting irritated we weren’t going 900 miles an hours, swerving in and out of traffic, running red lights, and generally on the verge of death at every moment. I started to chuckle because that is what I expect and even nearly demand in my cab rides now. Seriously, the difference between $4 and $5 is death-defying stunts, and that is what I want. LOL!!!
Well, still looking to go to the DMZ, war museum, art museum (van gogh, etc. there), and get that tailored suit. Busy weekend without a doubt. And of course make it to the Rocky Mountain Tavern for POUTINE and hockey. The sit and spin restaurant maybe, too. Oh, and what I have heard is a fabulous French restaurant down the street from the hotel. And Hangkok U and Gangnam further exploration. Apparently the younger set here party hard, not sure where those spots are, but I will find them!
The rest? Well, I hope to find some more amazing atmosphere here in Seoul, I may be heading toward the DMZ tomorrow for an interview of some units that are part of the work I am doing here. Did you know there is a UN prescribed “dress-code” at the DMZ. Crazy, but sensible considering what craziness there is near and across the border. If I can, pictures galore. TTYL!
So, I found a co-worker that is quite fascinating and quite well read. He is awesome to sit and chit chat over dinner and hang out for hours. A while since I have talked with someone who has so much knowledge of science and technology. Its constantly fun, and we even talk about the “beauty” of food. He has had quite the interesting past, and has great life experience to learn from. Quite amazing, because on the outside, he looks just like someone I used to work with that was unbelievably dense and uninteresting to the max. Another of those stereotype/earth shattering realizations – get to know people, and you will find they are all very interesting. Too bad I have not been able to crack into conversation with more Koreans. The only ones who I have chatted with in bars/restaurants are actually originally from the US. I guess I look like a scary American being gigantic with a beard.
The other night I had to laugh at myself, because I got the only cab driver on the planet who not only knew how to drive, but drove in a safe and reasonable manner. Well, because of this, it was going to cost me $1, yes $1 more to get to the hotel. I found myself getting irritated we weren’t going 900 miles an hours, swerving in and out of traffic, running red lights, and generally on the verge of death at every moment. I started to chuckle because that is what I expect and even nearly demand in my cab rides now. Seriously, the difference between $4 and $5 is death-defying stunts, and that is what I want. LOL!!!
Well, still looking to go to the DMZ, war museum, art museum (van gogh, etc. there), and get that tailored suit. Busy weekend without a doubt. And of course make it to the Rocky Mountain Tavern for POUTINE and hockey. The sit and spin restaurant maybe, too. Oh, and what I have heard is a fabulous French restaurant down the street from the hotel. And Hangkok U and Gangnam further exploration. Apparently the younger set here party hard, not sure where those spots are, but I will find them!
The rest? Well, I hope to find some more amazing atmosphere here in Seoul, I may be heading toward the DMZ tomorrow for an interview of some units that are part of the work I am doing here. Did you know there is a UN prescribed “dress-code” at the DMZ. Crazy, but sensible considering what craziness there is near and across the border. If I can, pictures galore. TTYL!
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Finally, seeing something other than the office
So here we are, sunday, finally spent the day wandering the downtown on saturday. In my wandering, I have found that I am TERRIBLE at riding the subway here. My first trip culminated with losing my subway ticket, so I couldn't get out. Then on my second, well, that ticket wouldn't LET me out. Ugh! Both times I resolved it, but that is just too much.
Anyway, beyond my subway fun, I wandered out of the subway and immediately into a park/shrine/palace. What amazing luck, I didn't plan it, it just happened to be there! So anyway, the Jongmyo and Changgyeonggung areas were beautiful, and some of the intricate painting of the inside of the palaces/shrines, unbelievable. With my wanderings in the blinding noon-time sunlight, I realize that it is fricking cold. I mean, I am no stranger to the cold by any stretch of the imagination, but for what I was doing, walking all over, in the sun, it is fricking cold. I actually had to stop and warm up, don't remember the last time I did that. On top of some mountain in the snow, but here, wow!
So in my wanderings, I checked out an awesome "engineered" stream right in the heart of downtown, it was awesome for sure. There were some great buildings and architecture downtown. Really, the only ugly buildings were the embassies, and the US one especially, more police and prison buses than I have ever seen in a one block area, where were they in the WTO riots? After that, wandered south and came upon a truly heartbreaking scene. Some of you may know, but the #1 national treasure/landmark was burned by an arsonist here only days ago. What was I am sure an amazing example of Korean craftsmanship and culture, GONE. I feel for them, its very sad, imagine if the Lincoln Memorial was demo'ed by someone who lost there farm to a new freeway? It would cause as much or more outrage, so I feel horrible for their loss, I heard it was renovated in the 1990's so there may be extensive pictures and plans so they be able to restore it. It was mostly walled off so it was not a distraction to the spectacular drivers here, but has a viewing platform that is just packed.
On to lighter notes...Julie, I am especially directing this to you, there are a lot of highly fashionable women here and wear all of the "cute" shoes you would love. There are some extremely high-end boutiques here. Downtown the Lotte had Rolex and everything else well out of my price range so I ran away in the hopes I wouldn't knock over a display and have to pay! There really are a lot of malls, mostly underground, and goodness they have a lot of crap, I don't know how this stuff sells, more flea market than mall I suppose. No good stuff found yet for anyone. Not even shot glasses, WTF, junk everywhere, just not THAT junk. Hmmm?
Well, I have also learned that none of ANYTHING that is cool to eat at, drink at, or see is on the main drag. That is the site of many starbucks, and more outback steakhouses than the ENTIRE US. The alleys, that is where the cool food is, the cool bars are, and in the wrong areas, the ladies of the night. But seriously, pretty fun areas. I found at the pub last night that Koreans, or maybe just that establishment, not fans of rap. Weird? Lots of jazz clubs though. Maybe a blues club exists.
Today consisted of me finding out I cannot move out of my room to a more modest one without losing all my company discounts, so I am stuck for 14 days, then I can move. Seriously! Why would I make that up? So, after lingering at breakfast with some coworkers for most of the morning, I decided to hitch a ride over to near work and do some of this, and get stuff ready for the sprint through the work week. Well...there is a Canadian bar that ex-pats hang at. So why not check that out, I mean its sunday at noon here, that means the 7pm PST Hockey Night in Canada game is starting, right? Well, yes it is, but NO its not here. Why? Well, it turns out the entertainment system is dying a slow death, so they hope to have it fixed monday or tuesday here. DAMMIT!!! I guess I will have to keep watching stupid soccer or golf if I wanna see sports, LAME!!! Although...I might be able to borrow some gear from the gang there and play some puck with them, that sounds AWESOME!
Other than that, I updated the photo album with more pics, sorry, no organization yet, some other time, but there actually are some Seoul sights now. Talk to ya'll later.
Anyway, beyond my subway fun, I wandered out of the subway and immediately into a park/shrine/palace. What amazing luck, I didn't plan it, it just happened to be there! So anyway, the Jongmyo and Changgyeonggung areas were beautiful, and some of the intricate painting of the inside of the palaces/shrines, unbelievable. With my wanderings in the blinding noon-time sunlight, I realize that it is fricking cold. I mean, I am no stranger to the cold by any stretch of the imagination, but for what I was doing, walking all over, in the sun, it is fricking cold. I actually had to stop and warm up, don't remember the last time I did that. On top of some mountain in the snow, but here, wow!
So in my wanderings, I checked out an awesome "engineered" stream right in the heart of downtown, it was awesome for sure. There were some great buildings and architecture downtown. Really, the only ugly buildings were the embassies, and the US one especially, more police and prison buses than I have ever seen in a one block area, where were they in the WTO riots? After that, wandered south and came upon a truly heartbreaking scene. Some of you may know, but the #1 national treasure/landmark was burned by an arsonist here only days ago. What was I am sure an amazing example of Korean craftsmanship and culture, GONE. I feel for them, its very sad, imagine if the Lincoln Memorial was demo'ed by someone who lost there farm to a new freeway? It would cause as much or more outrage, so I feel horrible for their loss, I heard it was renovated in the 1990's so there may be extensive pictures and plans so they be able to restore it. It was mostly walled off so it was not a distraction to the spectacular drivers here, but has a viewing platform that is just packed.
On to lighter notes...Julie, I am especially directing this to you, there are a lot of highly fashionable women here and wear all of the "cute" shoes you would love. There are some extremely high-end boutiques here. Downtown the Lotte had Rolex and everything else well out of my price range so I ran away in the hopes I wouldn't knock over a display and have to pay! There really are a lot of malls, mostly underground, and goodness they have a lot of crap, I don't know how this stuff sells, more flea market than mall I suppose. No good stuff found yet for anyone. Not even shot glasses, WTF, junk everywhere, just not THAT junk. Hmmm?
Well, I have also learned that none of ANYTHING that is cool to eat at, drink at, or see is on the main drag. That is the site of many starbucks, and more outback steakhouses than the ENTIRE US. The alleys, that is where the cool food is, the cool bars are, and in the wrong areas, the ladies of the night. But seriously, pretty fun areas. I found at the pub last night that Koreans, or maybe just that establishment, not fans of rap. Weird? Lots of jazz clubs though. Maybe a blues club exists.
Today consisted of me finding out I cannot move out of my room to a more modest one without losing all my company discounts, so I am stuck for 14 days, then I can move. Seriously! Why would I make that up? So, after lingering at breakfast with some coworkers for most of the morning, I decided to hitch a ride over to near work and do some of this, and get stuff ready for the sprint through the work week. Well...there is a Canadian bar that ex-pats hang at. So why not check that out, I mean its sunday at noon here, that means the 7pm PST Hockey Night in Canada game is starting, right? Well, yes it is, but NO its not here. Why? Well, it turns out the entertainment system is dying a slow death, so they hope to have it fixed monday or tuesday here. DAMMIT!!! I guess I will have to keep watching stupid soccer or golf if I wanna see sports, LAME!!! Although...I might be able to borrow some gear from the gang there and play some puck with them, that sounds AWESOME!
Other than that, I updated the photo album with more pics, sorry, no organization yet, some other time, but there actually are some Seoul sights now. Talk to ya'll later.
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
Alley wandering.
So I have realized while here, and in my reading, that there is no such thing as a general "addressing" system here. So cab drivers, whilst already not really speaking english, and me not speaking korean, well we end up having some confusion. I found that even with a business card showing the "address" of the hotel, doesn't necessarily get you there. I was able to garble together some stuff about Shenseigai, and central bus terminal to get home last night, but it was touch-and-go. But before my adventure home, wandering the alleys!
So, in order to at least better know one of the "gu's" of Seoul, I wandered throughout the Itaewon area of Yongsan-gu. I have been wandering the area in search of the tailor who will make me some nice dress pants and maybe even a nice tailored suit. In my quest of the area to find a tailor, why not find interesting places to shop, dine, and drink. Well of course, you check out the main drag, see McDonalds, KFC, and even Coldstone Creamery (Now I am NOT missing out on the Coldstone on the 6th floor at work!). :-)
Anyway, enough of the main drag and corporate eateries, I have kind of wandered through a few bits and pieces of alleys, and have been given a few places to check out by friends, coworkers, and my lonely planet guide. SOO....Last night, got out of work alone, hungry and a bit adventurous. I saw a couple of places the night before I wanted to eat at and check out, so I headed up the hill. I ended up in a really nice Italian joint, with amazing gorgonzola-arugala rizzotto. Awesome! Julie, that was for you! Anyway, afterward, still early enough to look at what might still be open. Well, its cold, and I know that I would look just dashing in a new scarf, so bam $1o on the street, kinda spendy, but the only one long enough for my fat neck.
After finding a nice scarf, lets hit those alleys! Now I have already wandered part of one, and realized it was an "international" zone, lots of muslim and halal establishments - a place to come back to for sure. So I start wandering up and up, as I wander up the hill there are shady looking bars and "clubs" all over the place. Then it happens! Women start flinging open doors shouting "Hey YOU!" "Come in here!" "Hey YOU!" Well, I get a chuckle out of the near constant stream of shouts and cat-calls, when bam, one has grabbed a hold of me and is trying to pull me in. Well, I am not the least bit frightened, and not as giggly, because I want nothing to do with what they have inside. Press on, and have a good laugh at it all. I believe I heard this area was called "Hooker Hill." No wondering why. Looked at a few spots to come back to, Polly's Kettle House, and the King Club, but otherwise, not going to frequent those alleys at all. ;-)
Hope all is well with you all, and I am adding a few more pics from my adventure last night to the existing photo page. Later.
So, in order to at least better know one of the "gu's" of Seoul, I wandered throughout the Itaewon area of Yongsan-gu. I have been wandering the area in search of the tailor who will make me some nice dress pants and maybe even a nice tailored suit. In my quest of the area to find a tailor, why not find interesting places to shop, dine, and drink. Well of course, you check out the main drag, see McDonalds, KFC, and even Coldstone Creamery (Now I am NOT missing out on the Coldstone on the 6th floor at work!). :-)
Anyway, enough of the main drag and corporate eateries, I have kind of wandered through a few bits and pieces of alleys, and have been given a few places to check out by friends, coworkers, and my lonely planet guide. SOO....Last night, got out of work alone, hungry and a bit adventurous. I saw a couple of places the night before I wanted to eat at and check out, so I headed up the hill. I ended up in a really nice Italian joint, with amazing gorgonzola-arugala rizzotto. Awesome! Julie, that was for you! Anyway, afterward, still early enough to look at what might still be open. Well, its cold, and I know that I would look just dashing in a new scarf, so bam $1o on the street, kinda spendy, but the only one long enough for my fat neck.
After finding a nice scarf, lets hit those alleys! Now I have already wandered part of one, and realized it was an "international" zone, lots of muslim and halal establishments - a place to come back to for sure. So I start wandering up and up, as I wander up the hill there are shady looking bars and "clubs" all over the place. Then it happens! Women start flinging open doors shouting "Hey YOU!" "Come in here!" "Hey YOU!" Well, I get a chuckle out of the near constant stream of shouts and cat-calls, when bam, one has grabbed a hold of me and is trying to pull me in. Well, I am not the least bit frightened, and not as giggly, because I want nothing to do with what they have inside. Press on, and have a good laugh at it all. I believe I heard this area was called "Hooker Hill." No wondering why. Looked at a few spots to come back to, Polly's Kettle House, and the King Club, but otherwise, not going to frequent those alleys at all. ;-)
Hope all is well with you all, and I am adding a few more pics from my adventure last night to the existing photo page. Later.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Photos, not great, but photos
Yeah, busy, but here are some photos.
http://picasaweb.google.com/Stephen.G.Savage/KoreaFromCabsBusesAndWork
http://picasaweb.google.com/Stephen.G.Savage/KoreaFromCabsBusesAndWork
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Drivers Suck Everywhere!
I want to start by saying, if I end up killed in an accident while being anywhere near a car, DON’T be surprised. I say this every time I go to another country, Washington drivers aren’t so bad after all. They stay in their lanes, mostly. They speed within reason, mostly. They don’t crash and burn often, mostly. They don’t curse obscenities after being annoyed by another driver, mostly. They don’t suck, well they still do, but they don’t frighten me as much as they do here! Wow, I have thought once or twice in 4 cab rides, and one bus ride, that I just might be in a horrific crash. I don’t mean fender bender, I mean Hollywood style cars flipping and exploding in midair just before they crash into the river. At least the roads and other public transport options are better.
Getting to the business of…well…business, I am now in the office with the large cohort that was missing all weekend after the new year. It appears that we are in a U.N. compound of sorts. There are a few embassies nearby, and Yongsan Garrison across the street. Best I can tell, we are just south of central Seoul. Not too far to ride the subway or walk, so that is my best bet for this weekend, I think. I have a feeling that in the Itaewon (where I am now) section of Seoul, there will be some good-ol fashioned Tacoma-type army boys ready to fight for no apparent reason, so I may avoid bars around here. Don’t need to have a solo run in with 8 Rangers. So looking for some folks from the office that are at least within a decade of my age to go check out some early evening eateries/bars. We’ll see.
The weather, well Seattle eat your heart out, sunny every day. Oh, did I mention it sometimes gets above freezing. I have a feeling at the end of my month it will have warmed to maybe 40 or 45, or not. I hear Korean winters can be rough, and unpredictable, hooray for painfully close Siberia.
Kinda miss being able to walk to The Duchess. :-( I know its lame to plan a party for one’s self, but, seriously, we should get a crew together when I get back and get silly playing shuffleboard, pool, and walk poor Steve home. “Where do I live? I know its somewhere nearby.”
Until next time.
Oh, snap, I just found out because staff are having a slight mutiny, I am staying at the Marriott until further notice…SCORE!!! :-)
Getting to the business of…well…business, I am now in the office with the large cohort that was missing all weekend after the new year. It appears that we are in a U.N. compound of sorts. There are a few embassies nearby, and Yongsan Garrison across the street. Best I can tell, we are just south of central Seoul. Not too far to ride the subway or walk, so that is my best bet for this weekend, I think. I have a feeling that in the Itaewon (where I am now) section of Seoul, there will be some good-ol fashioned Tacoma-type army boys ready to fight for no apparent reason, so I may avoid bars around here. Don’t need to have a solo run in with 8 Rangers. So looking for some folks from the office that are at least within a decade of my age to go check out some early evening eateries/bars. We’ll see.
The weather, well Seattle eat your heart out, sunny every day. Oh, did I mention it sometimes gets above freezing. I have a feeling at the end of my month it will have warmed to maybe 40 or 45, or not. I hear Korean winters can be rough, and unpredictable, hooray for painfully close Siberia.
Kinda miss being able to walk to The Duchess. :-( I know its lame to plan a party for one’s self, but, seriously, we should get a crew together when I get back and get silly playing shuffleboard, pool, and walk poor Steve home. “Where do I live? I know its somewhere nearby.”
Until next time.
Oh, snap, I just found out because staff are having a slight mutiny, I am staying at the Marriott until further notice…SCORE!!! :-)
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Korea?!?
Yes, that's right. I got the chance to go to Korea with 24 hours notice and did it. I heard Wednesday (2/6) at 10am that I was going to Korea the next day at 1pm. Well, that was just crazy! I also found out that my two week deployment to Seoul was being extended to 4 weeks at 2pm on Wednesday. Well, after booking a flight and hotel, time to change both. After changing both, I found out, 30 minutes before the travel agency I book through, that I was in the WRONG hotel. Well, after trying to fix it, the language barrier proved too much, and I was "stuck" at the Marriott. (Upon closer inspection, I really would like to stay at the MUCH nicer Marriott, sigh)
Now for that adventure in Korea itself. So I flew over on a 12 hour flight direct to Seoul, sitting next to a small man, with an even smaller bladder, ugh! No sleep, 4 movies, and thousands of miles later - Seoul - Incheon! Left Seattle on Thursday at 1pm, arriving in Seoul on Friday at 5:30pm. Wow, its absolutely a brand new airport, and 30 minutes from ACTUAL Incheon. So after a 50 minute bus ride, at the Marriott. Let me tell you, it was so easy to travel into, through, and out of the airport, a sweet cushy bus to the hotel, and even easier to check in and get "settled." Unfortunately, that means not unpacking because I know I am moving come Monday. Sigh!
Well, with my giant brick of a work laptop, I jam into work, meet some coworkers and start the transition process. I notice that HAL 9000 is operating the HVAC systems, and fire suppression, it's quite impressive and a little unnerving, glad I'm not Dave. Anyway, for my first Korean meal, I go with the new coworkers to Indian. Ha ha! Still only have had Korean on the flight! Dinner, well, me and the other GIS guy Chris (amazingly, another fellow forester become computer nerd) try to go to the Irish Pub. Well its packed and smokey, so we jam out and over to the Austrian restaurant. Chris worked for CH in Germany, and knows his bavarian food, and said this place was great, and he was not lying. I forget real German beer can be amazing. All of you will be shocked, but after my delicious dark brew, I decided I would try the Hefeweizen, and its the FIRST that was not a total piece of ASS. Gotta hand it to the Germans, they really are amazing brewers. Did I mention that where I am working and supposed to stay is right outside of a US military Garrison?
Looking forward to getting settled, finding some spare time, and touring. Closest I got was last night looking at some stores, and this morning walking the 2 miles to work over the river. Absolutely gorgeous, and amazing, I hope to start getting some photos to do it justice. Well, talk to you all soon, and watch for updates and photos.
Now for that adventure in Korea itself. So I flew over on a 12 hour flight direct to Seoul, sitting next to a small man, with an even smaller bladder, ugh! No sleep, 4 movies, and thousands of miles later - Seoul - Incheon! Left Seattle on Thursday at 1pm, arriving in Seoul on Friday at 5:30pm. Wow, its absolutely a brand new airport, and 30 minutes from ACTUAL Incheon. So after a 50 minute bus ride, at the Marriott. Let me tell you, it was so easy to travel into, through, and out of the airport, a sweet cushy bus to the hotel, and even easier to check in and get "settled." Unfortunately, that means not unpacking because I know I am moving come Monday. Sigh!
Well, with my giant brick of a work laptop, I jam into work, meet some coworkers and start the transition process. I notice that HAL 9000 is operating the HVAC systems, and fire suppression, it's quite impressive and a little unnerving, glad I'm not Dave. Anyway, for my first Korean meal, I go with the new coworkers to Indian. Ha ha! Still only have had Korean on the flight! Dinner, well, me and the other GIS guy Chris (amazingly, another fellow forester become computer nerd) try to go to the Irish Pub. Well its packed and smokey, so we jam out and over to the Austrian restaurant. Chris worked for CH in Germany, and knows his bavarian food, and said this place was great, and he was not lying. I forget real German beer can be amazing. All of you will be shocked, but after my delicious dark brew, I decided I would try the Hefeweizen, and its the FIRST that was not a total piece of ASS. Gotta hand it to the Germans, they really are amazing brewers. Did I mention that where I am working and supposed to stay is right outside of a US military Garrison?
Looking forward to getting settled, finding some spare time, and touring. Closest I got was last night looking at some stores, and this morning walking the 2 miles to work over the river. Absolutely gorgeous, and amazing, I hope to start getting some photos to do it justice. Well, talk to you all soon, and watch for updates and photos.
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