Elanie and John's Turf

Being that July 4th was John's birthday we decided to celebreate in style. We planned to go into Seoul after work on Friday night to a bar that we happened across when John, Elaine, Curtis and I wandered through an area of town. It was called Monkey Beach and because it served drinks in pails and baby bottles and most of it was rediculously cheap, we decided this was a get drunk bar.

Now, people who know Curtis and myself know that we're not generally down with the whole bar thing. Not to mention that we get off work at 9:40 and it would be at least an hour and a half out to the bar. We both were feeling a bit reluctant when we set off. We got there and the party had just kicked up to full speed according to Amber who had joined us with Matt to celebrate. John was already feeling quite "happy" so gave us each about 3 gigantic hugs and said, "Wow! So glad you made it." That's the first thing that started to swing things around and start the weekend on a good foot. The other thing is that they had lockers. I know it sounds strange, but instead of having to lug my purse around or have someone watch it, we stuck it in a neat little cubby and locked it all up. Besides my purse, we also had all of our sleep over clothes for the weekend.

The rest of the night involved the girls; Amber, Elaine, and I, getting a bit free with the stripper ploes they had set up on the dance floor stage/table area. It was wild! I never thought I'd do that in my life, especially at a dingy foreigner bar! It was fun because I knew Curtis was keeping a close eye on me and the girls and I were just having fun and being a bit goofy.

We headed to John and Elaine's place to spend the weekend and despite the fact that they were both a bit blitzed, we got to their place safe and sound. We didn't wake up until the afternoon the next day and after that we wanted to find a Dr. Fish cafe. We went to a cafe... and they had Dr. Fish... but the Dr Fish were "sick" so we weren't allowed to dip our feet in and let them nibble. We were a bit disapointed. Since we were there and wanted to experience a Korean self service coffee shop we decided to stay. Curtis and John got into deep conversations about travel and looked in some magazines, Elaine and I chatted about a lot of everything and nothing, but mostly travel and dreams. We had a bit of a self serivce foot bath where they put some salts in a tub lined with cedar wood and let the water run. They gave us a timer and some paper towels and let us sit with our feet in some hot water for 20 minutes. I'm not sure what else I would have expected for $2.

We tootled around in Beomgye a bit after that and decided to see what was playing. We went to "Wanted" which has made it into my worse movies ever list. It was so bad that it was fun to dis afterward and therefore not a complete waste of time. We got pizza and John and Elaine's favortie place and then headed to a park to watch the water fountains. By the time we'd arrived, they'd already finished for the night. We chilled out in the park a while longer hoping that they'd come back on. After 10:30 we lost hope and were also getting geared up for the next, long awaited Nore-bang!! I sang "Suddenly I See" by KT Tungstall and figured out it's perfectly my rage. Another song to add to my blazing repetoire. Elaine was channeling Leona Lewis when she sang "Bleeding Love". The new pop songs make me feel so old! I never know the latest songs... YIKES!

After Nore-bang we headed for a drink at a more relaxed venue called "Danke". They had German beer and besides the name, I'm not sure what else was decidedly German about this place. We sat down, got drinks and then I noticed something in the corner of the room. It was like a seating area with no table. I was incredibly curious and decided to wander over. It was a pool!!! With Dr. Fish!!! I couldn't believe our luck! Elaine was the first brave soul and though she was giggling like a mad person, we all eventually got our feet in as well. It was rediculouly ticklish to begin with. I'm not sure I got over it entirely in the whole 90 min I was in the pool, but I learned to control my flinching so I wouldn't scare the fish away. It was really neat to see them come up closer and then take a bite, well I guess a suck. I'm not sure how they do it in a real spa, but I'm pretty sure someone has to work our feet a bit in order to get the dead skin off in the areas the fish don't like as much.

Going home late again meant that we slept in quite late again. We didn't get to the zoo with John and Elaine, but they'll always be a next time.