Dog Cafe

Saturday was a rainy day, so a perfect movie going/mall rat day. Ashley and went to COEX, had lunch and then saw the Brothers Bloom, which was a fantastic movie. The basic plot line is that Mark Ruffalo and Adrien Brody are brothers (the Bloom Brothers) and they run various cons and scams. The final con is supposed to target a rich young woman (Rachel Weisz), but Brody falls in love with her. I recommend the movie to anyone who likes cons/adventure/really great actors and fabulous costuming.

On Sunday, after lunch at an American style diner and a trip to the "black market" for some cold meds, we decided to head to Hongdae. Hongdae is generally a place where we head for a night out and it was incredibly strange seeing it in the light of day. Ashley had been to Bau House before and Dani and I really wanted to check it out as well. The basic concept is a cafe where people can bring their dogs (and the cafe also has 15 or so dogs) and socialize them, spend time with them while enjoying a drink from the cafe. We had to wait a bit for a table, but we were still able to pet some of the dogs. Once we got a table (complete with a sleeping dog) dogs started coming near us, jumping in our laps and generally loving us. This faded after awhile because we didn't have treats, but two very kind Korean girls let us hold their dogs! They were trying to socialize the dogs and we spent about 40 minutes with their two, tiny, freshly groomed, white dogs. They were freaking adorable and they loved us as much as we all loved the experience (and the dogs!).

Two Dozen Years

Despite being slightly under the weather this past week (I have bronchitis), I was still able to celebrate my 24th birthday, not once, but twice. I am incredibly lucky to have such amazing friends and people I work with who helped me make my birthday very special. On my actual birthday (June 10), my school threw me a little birthday party, just before lunch time. After my 11:00 class, I walked into my classroom to find a "Congratulation" banner and a beautiful cake. Shortly after, all 24 kindergarteners walked in and started singing "Happy Birthday." When they were finished they presented me a book filled with birthday wishes. Later that day, I met up with Loren, Ashley and Dani at On the Border for a fantastic birthday dinner.

On Saturday, after my visit to the International Clinic in Itaewon, a step test and H1N1 test (both of which I tested negative for) I got ready and met Loren, Ashley and Dani at Mad for Garlic in Gangnam. Mad for Garlic uses loads of garlic in their array of dishes and of course this made for some tough decisions on what to order. We started with a garlic tower, which is just bread with garlic puree that they prepare at the table, delicious! Ashley and I split a Margarita pizza and a Mexican pasta. Loren opted for the calzone and Dani a mixed cheese pizza. Everything was fantastic. After dinner, we had an amazing rich chocolate cake (that Dani and Ashley bought for me) and cookies that Loren got from Costco. Dinner was not only delicious, but fun! After dinner we headed to Hongdae where we went to a noraebang and sang for 2.5 hours! After noraebang we went to a few bars, ate Burger King and finally came home around 4am! It was such a great night and I had a fabulous birthday. I am so thankful for my friends here because without them, I'd be completely miserable!

Loren caught me off guard ^.^

Dr. Fish and Baseball

This weekend was quite eventful, but also very relaxed. On Saturday, I met up with Sarah and some of her co-workers in Myeongdong (the ultra hip shopping area of Seoul) and tried to find something to wear for my upcoming birthday bash. After an unsuccessful venture, we met back up with her co-workers for a little lunch and then headed to a Dr. Fish Cafe. I've been to Dr. Fish before and this time was great, but not quite as thrilling as the first trip. Still, it was a lot of fun and I really needed some sort of attention to my feet. I love wearing sandals, but they do a number on my feet. The week before Thailand will be major pedicure time! Anyway, after Dr. Fish I headed to On the Border to have dinner with Ashley and Dani. I had a birthday coupon for some free queso so it made our weekly trip a bit different and a whole lot tastier!

Saturday I met up with Sarah again and we went to TechnoMart so she could buy a camera. After a successful hunt, we headed to Jamsil Sports Complex to see the Doosan Bears take on the Lotte Giants. The game was pretty good and the Giants won 1-0. It is so interesting to attend a baseball game in Korea because while it is similar to home, it is also very different. My favorite part is the cheering. Each team has their own cheers and each player also has some form of a cheer. It's really fun and I found myself rooting for the Giants tonight. We also witnessed a proposal, she said "yes" and a portion of the 6th inning stretch (yes, I wrote that correctly) was dedicated to panning to couples in the audience and telling them to kiss on the big screen. After successful runs of male/female couples, the videographer decided to see if two males would kiss. Korea is a rather homophobic society so this was something quite extraordinary. Not only did these males kiss, they kissed twice! I'm sure they were just friends, but it sure stirred up the audience...with cheers nonetheless. Hooray for Koreans at baseball games!