Seoul...Part One

After changing in London and Tokyo, I finally rested in Seoul - a large and confusing place where blowing your nose in public is considered bad form whereas coughing up a greenie and spitting it out in the street is almost compulsory. Fortunately for me though, I had my very own guide in fellow Donny Boy James Creegan.

I arrived late afternoon then spent a short time sat in James' office at Incheon airport where he messed about on the net until safe to leave (I'm assured this is not the norm). A scary taxi ride to James' hotel and a quick change of clothes later we were heading off to Hongdae for a true Korean night out. First of all a restaurant where I almost got the hang of chopsticks but not quite. The food was great, even though I hadn't the first clue about what I was eating. Once that was out of the way it was on to the main point of my trip - the booze.

Having had 2 nights out in Seoul I think it's safe to say that it's a binge drinker’s paradise. You down shots of soju with your meal, drink gallons of dirt cheap makoli (a gritty rice wine with a kick) and you buy a bottle of vodka for your table instead of frequent and frustrating trips to a crowded bar.

We met up with a mate, or should I say buddy, of James' - Tim the American (to give him his full name). Tim possesses an unusual quality for a yank in that he's highly proficient in the art of sarcasm. We hit a variety of bars its safe to say you wouldn't find in England - from a strange bed/sofa type place where you sit in a booth surrounded by curtains (not as seedy as it sounds) to a place where you sit cross-legged on the dusty floor around a sunken pond in the middle. This experience was made even better when a girl trying to get past us stumbled and landed in the pond. We laughed. The fish did not.

The night ended in a Noraebang (if you want proper spellings you won't get them here) after bumping into a couple more people who I presume someone knew. Noraebangs are karaoke places where you rent out a room by the hour with a couple of sofas in and a huge karaoke machine. Then you blast out the likes of "Don't Stop Me Now" (a personal favourite of me and the boy who's skin fell off), "Living on a Prayer" (the choice of Tim) and "Forget About Dre" (surprisingly well performed by James).

Jet-lag, schmet-lag...we got back to James' hotel at 7am.



Here Comes the Sun performed to perfection by me and James.