Day 107: Shopaholic Much!

Today was Henry's last day in town, as he was flying back home to Vancouver that evening. We slowly rolled out of bed - a little tired, a little parched - and headed back out into the city. We finally went and visited Seoul Tower perched atop Namsan Mountain, but it wasn't the best day for it. It wasn't raining, but it was really humid and SO SMOGGY today!! You could hardly see anything for all the grey-brown smog that was drowning the sticky metropolis in a death-grip choke-hold! But it was his last day and so we figured better a partial view of Seoul from above than no view at all!

After spending some time atop Seoul Tower having lunch and taking in the polluted view we decided to do some more shopping in Itaewon. No, let me rephrase that, *HENRY* decided that we needed to do some more shopping in Itaewon. OMG can that boy shop!! I've never met anyone who can shop and shop and shop and still be itching to shop some more after all that. We've done virtually nothing but shopping in the last 72 hours and as much of a blast as its been I had personally had enough of it! But, Henry's the guest, so I went along with it like a good host and tour guide would. So we checked out all the street stalls of Itaewon and with even less than an hour left before departure time, Henry was still feverishly shopping with enough zest and passion to put Paris Hilton's consumption habits to shame! But to give Henry credit he's a *damn good* shopper - he can bargain like it's no one else's business and always manages to get these crazy discounts that no one else can! To watch him shop is to watch a master at work. He's had 32 years of practice and has made shopping a true art form. I bow down to Henry's shopping superiority.

It was then time to pack up all our bags and check out of Seoul Motel. I walked Henry to the bus stop for the airport shuttle and then said my goodbyes to my dear friend. He's one of my bestest buds in the whole world and we always have a blast together. Henry's one of the very few friends that I have that I can travel with extensively (ie: longer than a day trip) and not get tired or bored of his company. It was sad to see him but he says he's planning a second visit to Seoul in December, to do some more shopping, of course! LOL!

I journeyed back to Shihung and was EXHAUSTED when I got home. My weekend with Henry was only a few days but felt like much longer. We saw and experienced in 3 days what most people would do in a week! WHEW!!! But it was a great time from beginning to end. It even felt like I was on vacation myself, with all the touring and the time spent out on the town and in the motel. I don't imagine any of my other friends back home will ever be able to afford to come visit me (airfare to Seoul is not cheap) which is too bad cause there's so much cool stuff to see here. And I love being the tour guide to show it off! So accept this as an open invitation to come visit me here in Korea - please - I'd love to see you!!! :-)