Day 211: Subway Air Miles

I slept in today and it felt good (and a little bit foreign) to wake up in *my own bed* on a weekend and not have to rush off somewhere. I could actually just lie in bed for whatever length of time I felt like and that was really nice. Eventually I did pull myself out of bed...to see that it was pouring rain outside. Ugh - not exactly a day that inspires one to go out and conquer the world (at least not if conquering the world involves leaving one's apartment.)

My buddy Luke was coming into Seoul from Chungju for the day so I decided to meet up with him and hang out. I got on the subway and rode the good ol' Orange Line all the long way out to Express Bus Terminal to meet him when he came in on the bus. I had one mission in mind today - to seek out and destroy, err... purchase... a Lonely Planet: Hong Kong! I was not allowed to go home until I had one in my hot little hand. Last weekend I looked for one at Kyobo and they were sold out. I was a bit surprised at this, being that it's the largest book store in Korea and all... Today I would go wherever I had to to get one. Now that Hong Kong is officially on, what overseas trip is complete without a Lonely Planet to guide me?

Luke and I checked out the bookstore at the Central City Air Terminal (it's actually a bus station, what's with the "Air"?) but had no luck there. Sold out again! Argh! We hopped on the subway and rode over to COEX. I've been to COEX before but it's been quite a few months since my last visit. COEX is Asia's largest underground mall and not a place I enjoy all that much. It's perpetually over-crowded, has the most confusing design I've ever seen in a mall (I'm always lost in it) and has really low ceilings (leaving me feeling a little bit claustophobic.) But they have a big bookstore and one of Seoul's best record stores so that sorta makes up for it. We popped in at Evan Records first and I bought the Alizee CD (a French pop star, a favourite among Michael, Eric and I) and then at the bookstore I finally found my LP:HK! Yah!! I also ran into Katie there which was a bit odd - we're both a long ways from Ilsan.

After COEX we took the subway out to Yongsan Electronics Market as Luke wanted to buy some CD-burning software. That was quite a ride in itself - it took three subway lines to get us there. By the time we got to Yongsan it was dark outside and raining even harder - and really, really windy. NOT a pleasant time to be outside, that's for sure! We had no luck at all at Yongsan - Luke shopped around but could not find what he was looking for, at least not in his price range. We were both feeling pretty tired and *hungry* and had had enough of shopping for the day so we decided to head to Itaewon for some dinner.

We went to this really cool Italian restaurant and had one of the best meals I've had in recent memory. The restaurant had excellent service, a really nice, relaxed atmosphere, and some fantastic food. We even ordered an appetizer and had some wine and it actually felt like a real, proper dinner. God it was delicious!! A little salmon penne, a little white wine, a little Norah Jones, a good friend for dinner company, what more could a guy ask for in a meal? :-)

After dinner we parted ways (Luke went back to Chungju, and I back to Ilsan) and it was, yes, back on the subway yet again for me. God I spent a lot of time on the subway today!!! I must've ridden at least six different lines today between all of our travels around this huge-ass city! I sure am rackin' up those Seoul Mass Transit miles! When I got back into Ilsan I discovered that everyone in The Village was only in the mood for a quiet night, which is good cause that's exactly how I felt. Addie and I went over to Pauline's to watch some Saturday Night Live (best of Cheri Oteri - very funny!) and play some Scrabble. I lost YET AGAIN to that damn Pauline! Oooohhhhh I'm gonna get her one of these days! My competitive nature doesn't let me lose easily!

I ended up staying up much later than I had planned... When I got home from Pauline's I popped online onto Messenger and it was like everybody and their dog was online, including lots of good friends who I haven't talked to in ages. Next thing I knew it was 4am - SO totally time for bed. Goodnight, world! :-)