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.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
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!
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