5/4

May 05, 2019

5/4

7 am... not TOO bad but not TOO great either. Regardless, I roll out of bed and finish some work at my headquarters (aka Starbucks). Today would be my first tutoring session with my new student, a nursing assistant in her 40s who was looking to keen up her English skills to better serve foreign patients. Although the session didn't start until 8 pm, I figured it was best to get work out of the way and prepare a worksheet for her.
After a liquid breakfast consisting of soy and coffee, I take a refreshing walk through my new favorite path along the old 경의산 (Gyeongeesan) line. I planned to visit one of my all time favorite locations in Seoul for a quick snack, Greek Day. Dave had introduced me to the relatively hidden venue that was located above Nature Cafe, which is well-known for its outdoor sheep petting pen.
Greek Day specializes in the worlds THICCest yogurt parfaits, with both a set and customizable menu using organic and unprocessed ingredients.
So totally up my alley.
I go for the custom route, choosing an unsweetened yogurt with banana, cacao nibs, granola, matcha powder, and the absolute cherry on top... the green kaya jam. I am WEAK for that stuff. Its a jam made from coconut, egg, and perilla leaves. its creamy and fine grained texture leaves a buttery taste in your mouth, with only a hint of coconut.

I store my yogurt into my bag and stop next door at 쥬씨 (Juicy) for a takeaway 딸바 (ttal-ba | Strawberry banana) juice.

As I'm walking home, I ring my mom to inquire how her day had gone. While the phone rang, I hear a sudden, "Hey, hey!" From behind me.
A guy in sunglasses and appears to be from Vietnam or China is approaching me suddenly. I ignore him, and continue to walk on as it wasn't completely new to me to have strangers walk up and try to talk to me on the streets. Although these days it was less common as Korea sees more foreigners, the best tactic is just to ignore them and walk away. So my mom pick up as this guy not only continues to follow me, but then begins walking ahead of me as I reply to my mom, "Ah! 엄마 (eomma | mom)! The line drops momentarily so I call out to her, "여보세요 {yeoboseyo | hello (by call)}? 여보세요?" My mom doesn't speak Korean but these two words she understands. Eventually she catches the call again, and replies "Hi honey!"
So I respond, "Hi!"
And the guy stops in front of me, does a 180 and cries "F*** this, I'm done!" And stormed off in the direction he had just come from. I laugh and tell my mom about the bizarre encounter. Which of course just managed to worry her.
At home I finally indulge in my yogurt and take a rest before my class later in the evening.

I walk back to 홍대 (Hongdae) around 7:30 pm, and meet my new student in the second floor of Starbucks near Playground park. 영준 (Yeongjoon) is an absolute delight, sheepish in nature but fun and giggly. I just adore her! And she's very bright and easy to work with.
After the session ended, I was excited to finally see one of my best, long time friends for the first time since January. I wait in Playground park, until I finally see 윤도 (Yoondo) stalking up to me, clad in a monochrome outfit of a plaid jacket, black sweater, and grungy, ripped up bottoms. This was classic "윤도 goes to 홍대" attire.
Happy to finally reunite after so long, we find a chicken (I settle for chicken as I know its one of 도's favorites) 집 (chib | house), 지고바 (G-cova) Chicken. According to 윤도 it's famous in Korea for its two main dishes, 소금구이치킨 (sogeum goo-ee chicken | salt grilled chicken) and 양념구이치킨 (yangnyam goo-ee chicken | spiced roast chicken). He declared that 양념 was most delicious to any true Korean. So I obliged and we ordered the spiced roast with a bottle of Cass.

Past dinner, we agreed to go bar hopping, and we stopped by Cocky Pub for twin Tequila Sunrises.
After words we stopped by a 편의점 (pyeoneejeom | convenient store) and shared a bottle of Calamansi 소주 (soju) and FilGood beer. Here is where I introduced 윤도 to the majestic wonders of America's pocket sized water enhancer squirt bottles. Knowing he would appreciate the invention, I had brought along three flavors: grape, green apple, and strawberry watermelon. He immediately stole the grape and squeezed a shot into his dixie cup full of beer. The beer was gone within seconds...
And so was my grape Mios.
Next the ingenious 윤도 took us to Gabia, a club next door with free entry.
Why?
Because they have really nice bathrooms.
I was skeptical, but it turns out THEY HAVE REALLY NICE BATHROOMS. So yay! Free bathroom pass for the rest of the night. And. Free. TEQUILA SHOTS.
You bet your buns I enhanced mine with a shot of green apple Mios.
After relieving our bladders and playing around with the clubs unique atmosphere (see below), we decide to go on a search for one of Jessica's all time favorite ciders. 나랑드 (Narangd).

We had tried quite a few convenient stores for it but it appeared in none. But 윤도, the king of 편의점s (because he's worked in so many), refuses to rest until he finds it.
As we walk, a light seems to glow among the rest in the distance. As we get closer, its as if the golden beams radiate from within a small, shabby box. Mist erupts from the box and an aroma both sweet and salty fills the air. An small, monkey-like 아저씨 (ajeoshi | middle aged man) waits inside, cold, squinted eyes beaming out at the harsh world. Above him, a sign read one of my favorite words...
곌란빵.
"윤도." I say very seriously. "I want 곌란빵 (gyellan ppang | egg bread)."
"Now!?" He exclaims.
"Now." I reply. "I'll buy."
So we go forth and I order. But as I go to pull out my wallet, a flush of heat crawls across my face. I had only brought my credit card and ID, and left all my cash at home.
I turn to 윤도 slowly, knowing he had done the same. Feeling terrible, I ask him what we should do, and he scurries off to the nearest ATM as I inform the 아저씨 about the terrible mix up. He's surprisingly more than forgiving as he waits patiently, perhaps he remembered me.
As I wait for 윤도 a kind American guy approaches the stand and politely inquires about what the food is. I asked if he'd ever tried it, to which he said no but it looked amazing. I assured him it was, as it was one of my favorite foods, and asked if he'd like me to order it for him. He agreed and I ordered one for him as he handed the man his money. He thanked me for the help and agreed that it was absolutely life changing. 윤도 returns to inform me that the ATM wasn't working. The 아저씨 nodded in understanding, mentioning that it had been happening a lot recently around 12 am. A cardboard sign above had information about sending the transaction by mobile bank, and 윤도 sent the money over. I apologized to him profusely, and promised to buy the next round of drinks.

Finally, we arrived at the 편의점 directly across the street from where we had eaten dinner, and I score on my 나랑드 cider. I pour the whole can into the remaining bottle of calamansi 소주 and searched for a bar we had passed earlier that seemed to be poppin'.
We finally arrive, and we manage to get a table just across from the bar. The menu had the usual, appealing to both English and Korean speakers. My eyes jump to a rather delicious looking menu item, banana cream beer... until my eyes sink lower to read the translation.
Apparently now 막걸리 (makgeolli) is considered cream beer.
Disgusted, I searched the menu for something better. But... the 막걸리 was the only thing that stood out to me. Being faced with terrible flavor choices of banana, cream cheese, and peach... I settle for the banana. And 유도 opts for the peach. It was a new experience for a number of reasons:

I had never seen 막걸리 translated into cream beer.
I had never ordered 막걸리 in a bar.
I had never been served 막걸리 in a glass.
I had never had 막걸리 with ice in it.
I had never experienced Fire by BTS played in a bar.
I had never experienced native Koreans so excited to hear a BTS song.

It was time to hop. We decided to give our old hot spot, Thursday Party a visit. Crowded with tourists, the place is infamous for its cheap drinks and free entertainment... crowd watching. But with the price of a mass rush around the bar, no seating, and long bathroom lines where at least one stall always had a broken door.

After pushing past the masses, we were able to order. I was bored of my usual drinks and decided to try a margarita instead. Here is what I learned that night:

Don't try a margarita instead.

Not from Thursday Party. It was maybe 20% margarita mix and 10000000000000000000% tequila. Even 윤도 who enjoyed tequila could not even drink it. So we threw it in a plastic takeout cup and ditched it to one of the bouncers at the entrance. Then we enjoyed a beer from the Good Time in Playground park.

The night was nearing 3 am and we were both feeling our age creep in on us. We decide to go to Angel in Us Coffee, but are informed that they'd be closing off the upstairs cafe soon, which would leave little to no seating downstairs. 윤도 agrees to walk me home, and we take 경의산 trail back to my house.