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.

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...

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…

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!

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.

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.

Photos, not great, but photos

Yeah, busy, but here are some photos.

http://picasaweb.google.com/Stephen.G.Savage/KoreaFromCabsBusesAndWork

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!!! :-)

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.