Some Wild Nights in Seoul

This post is dedicated to my ex #2, who I hope is not having fun right now, LOL, and to my friend Reina, whom I share some of my heartiest laughs with. I also dedicate this post to Leo Babauta and Benjamin P. Hardy -- my virtual mentors. Really thankful for these two for when their articles have saved me from the rut and, or from mental breakdown.

 Twenty-some months ago, I visited South Korea for the second time. This time I made sure I stay for at least a week because the first time, which was in 2014, was only three days -- so quick that I even forgot if I ever got to enjoy that tteobbokki. This time I traveled with a colleague who is close to me -- it was also actually a few months before he leaves the company for good. I'm not going to talk about our whole trip, but just this one night I would describe as a "wild night". By the way, his name is Dwight. And we are very close friends that if he were not gay, people would have already made stories about us. Does this line resonate so much? Anyway, this is Filipino culture and I have to understand "culture". Regular folks are clueless as to how special my aesthetics is and maybe this is also the reason why I find it hard to find a suitable mate. I can smile at people and praise them all day but this does not mean I like them in a romantic way. In fact, if I really like someone, I may not be very articulate and may be even shy.

Around the first week of October is when Koreans celebrate Chuseok holiday. This is a time when families and friends gather for dinner and give each other gifts. It's mostly like Thanksgiving. I especially planned to go on this holiday to get a cultural experience of that. Of course, we were not disappointed as it was a week-long celebration with many activities left and right. I will not be documenting anymore how being broken made me really looking forward for this holiday -- you heard about Bea, Julia and Gerald right? LOL I'm sure the guilty parties were reminded of that. But I have this talent of easily bouncing back and I thank God very much for taking care of me. Without faith, I think one can easily get swept into the abyss of perpetual existential crisis. Life is good and we have to realize this fact.

The itinerary I planned was not as tight as in the past. The one that I wished I scrapped off was the Nami Island because since it is a long local holiday, it can be tiring lining up from one place to another. Plus, it could really be as claustrophobic at times. The beautiful autumn weather is the only thing that was able to redeem all these inconveniences. It makes you smile for no reason, and inspired. This is why I travel.

There are not much "oppas" in the surrounding as one kpop fan could hope for -- actually, there was one, right, Dwight? LOL. Usually, Dwight and I would just stalk discretely if ever there is a cute face. But this is very rare because oppas are only ubiquitous in kdramas. For those planning to go to Seoul, do not get your hopes too high. There were many cute girls, though, and maybe that is thanks to the universal red lipstick.

We booked co-ed room-sharing with three bunkbeds. This is where we met Margaret who would later invite us to that one wild night. She was a Korean living in Holland and with a typical Korean background of having feud in the family and the culture of giving up offsprings that were not born male. A very good example of a backward thinking society. I remember those kdramas where little girls were punished for reading books in secret -- for me to feel so lucky to be in a world right now where knowledge and information is free is an understatement.

I love traveling not only because of the dopamine you get from the thrill of new experiences, places, people and food but also the opportunity to get active -- hiking and walking all day everyday is not something I can possibly do in Manila, with its climate and polluted air. I am not saying Seoul has zero pollution but it is preety easy to go out the city skirts -- compared to getting stuck in traffic going to Laguna, for example. I think I always say this in my posts but I think it's good to always remind yourself the reason behind why you do the things that you do, which I think we can all apply in practically anything in life. So why do you travel?

 Dwight and I came back to our home away from home in Hongdae from our hike in Suwon Hwaseong. It is an impressive complex of a fortress situated in the city of Suwon, a few hours away from Seoul -- no actually, 45 minutes only by fast train. We were exhausted and actually I forgot what we ate that evening. We were alone in the room, as is usual, as our company would be out all day and all night. I stretched my now sore legs out and took a short nap without changing clothes. I heard the keypad with security lock by the door was activated which means someone has arrived. It was Margaret. And another guy, Adrian Paz, the guy she introduced to us the other day, who I would later find to have worked as a financial analyst.

I quickly stood up and fixed my hair. I reached for my comb almost instantaneously. This was the night that everyone in Hongdae will be out and about to celebrate Chuseok. But I did not feel excited, or I was not in good spirits because the message I was waiting for the whole day did not come. Margaret was in high spirits and told us that she will introduce us to her other friends staying in another hostel. One of them is a musician she said.

 Still in the bunkbed, looking at the small square mirror I placed at the mini deck at the foot of the bed, I put my hair in a lose braid and swiped a pink lipstick. I removed my black blazer and put on the denim jacket. I thought though that it was colder than usual so I changed my mind and instead wore the black blazer inside the denim jacket, just to be safe. I looked at my phone again but the message I was waiting for did not arrive.

 We went out and sat at a bench near the gate of our hostel and we were all laughing because they were making fun of Adrian who was still not out after a while -- he moves really slow for a guy they said. And they weren't wrong. Me on the other hand was already calculating in Astrology terms -- ha! This guy must be a Taurus or have strong Taurean influence in his birth chart LOL. In fact, from what I know, nobody can ever rush them, literally or figuratively. My Aunt Tes was the best example. ✌

 Chuseok is no joke. Everybody were literally on the streets, even children. Maybe I am exaggerating here -- maybe not all of Hongdae but just parts of it like the parks and the area with restaurants and pubs. Restaurants were at their busiest and very, very loud. I understand that it is a holiday and I am fully aware that I am here for the experience but I did not like very noisy restaurant. I can hear an English speaking guy who was actually the loudest in the room talk brag about things. Or maybe I just assumed he was bragging about something due to the tone of his voice and the high volume. I was rolling my eyes the whole time. He was from another table of course. And I'm delighted that our group were rather gentle people. I feasted my eyes to the physically beautiful people around me -- to my right sat Adrian and to my left was a french guy whose name unfortunately I cannot remember. They are not that attractive but it's their eyes I would stare at when talking because I find them exotic -- green and with curved eyelashes, and pupils which I think were dillated. They were gentlemen but both were trying to hit at me on the get go. Or maybe they were just trying to be friendly to some Asian friends who look really innocent. I know Dwight would stare at them too especially when the guys put food on my plate.
I like Adrian's voice but that is it. I also feel that he and Margaret has something between them so I would not dare flirt. I did not eat much except for kimchi. At times I would listen to what other guys are talking about. Tina, the musician, were talking intimately with Thierry, a tall guy with black hair but has European features, who actually wore a rather more put together outfit of white long sleeves and black trousers. He also has a handsome face but is the quiet type of guy so he lacks some charm. In Filipino culture, he looks like a "mama's boy".

 Like my other posts, there is nothing so special about this story -- it's simply a diary from my travels. As boring as it started, to be honest, it will end on the same note. If you came here just because of the hype then I am really sorry, haha!

Anyway, let me continue. We all smelled like barbeque by the time we are done eating and to grasp for crisp air was marvelous. I can feel my nose get cool but not frozen. I asked Dwight Gomez if we would still go with the group who were planning to go for a drink. Soju were not enough, I guess, or maybe nobody enjoyed it. We walked the even more crowded street leading to the happening area -- near exit 9 of Hongdae, I believe. There's a strip of pubs where young people flock to. You can already smell the cigarette everywhere and it makes you want to smoke as well. We walked past by a few and then the group entered one.

So here is a plot twist -- I forgot to bring with me my passport so I could not enter the place. I ended up going back with the help of Tina, the musician. We went back to her place first and then discovered the love of my life back then -- a golden retriever! She said the hostel owner tasked her to walk this dog and since she have yet to walk the dog for the day, she decided to walk it once we reached the place. We happily went out and walked the cutest dog we named Georgia to a park. It was around 1 am. In the park were people and mostly locals of all ages. Everyone was so star-strucked to see Georgia who was about a year and a half. Evidently, this was the part where I truly enjoyed this holiday. I wished I could raise such a dog. All my sadness if ever there was any, disappeared. Just like meeting the love of your life. But it was only a short one hour or so. After walking Georgia, I told her that Margaret would be waiting for us so we went to my hostel and grabbed my passport. Dwight was still there, too, and I could not miss the happening, FOMO.

 Ah, we entered the smokey place, well, outside was the smoking area and inside the pub was in AC and as is any pub during holiday, it is jam-packed. I wished I wore my high heels. People were so tall and my five foot one could really feel intimidated. When I reached the bar to order a drink, I immediately sat up the tall stool so the bar tender could see me. The bar itself is like almost five feet. I got the sweet apple beer and ran back to the outside where the group were. I said we're back. We could not hear each other because the music is too loud but I did not mind much. There was nothing to talk about anyway. I used hand gestures to ask for a cigarette and lighter. The French guy gave me one. He was very young, I think around early twenties, and he has a very animated expreasion. I liked to make fun of him but he also knows how to make fun of me when my cheeks turned red due to alcohol allergy. He was like a kid.

I looked at Dwight and saw him and Adrian having conversations. I think I talked to Tina briefly then she dragged me inside to dance. It was Michael Jackson song. She is of German decent and is tall and is a big woman but her face is tiny and her hair short and blonde. She is the friendliest.

 So people there were normally in groups, some are dancing, some are just having conversations and some are watching a soccer game. At that time, I could not find my timing but Tina was very enthusiastic so I just pretended to look confident LOL. She introduced me to some of her friends there she have known in the past days, including a pretty Korean girl who is fluent in English. Turned out she lives in the UK and was just visiting Korea. Exchanged hugs, yes, of course. I already thought I was already acing this socializing thing.

 We went back and found ourselves hopping to another pub. This time a more intimate one without a crowd. The name of the pub was DISS. Okay, I thought. It was dark but the music they play was hip hop. Okay, not bad. There were very few people in this pub -- we were the only group and the others were basically just couples on a date. The table adjacent to ours were a Korean couple. To the far left near the bar were a Korean girl and a white male who would later make a scene.

 Actually, I was not in the mood to order anything more as I cannot go over my budget already LOL. So I took an orange juice. But still pricey for me. Liquor and drinks in pubs in Korea are expensive -- like 200 to 500 pesos (Philippine). So you really have to bring a lot of moolah if you plan to experience night life here.

 Personally, I don't like the taste of alcohol. But of course, I tried some when I was younger like during college when my dorm mates would mix gin and Tang orange juice -- yuck! I remember how I dislike the taste and remembering those moments would be enough to make me puke right now LOL. So most of the time I just pretend to just sleep but they eventually came to dislike me because I did not socialize with them enough. Looking back, during college, I basically did not have any sort of life except for working, working, working to support myself because if not, I would be eating nothing. Those were days when my family started falling apart and my dad was deep into his vices. Also, this was the time in my life where I learned to manage my own finances. Since my pay in my part-time jobs were really small, I could not waste any bit of it to nonsense -- and could only buy one shirt from Divisoria for 100 or 150 pesos and that is it.

 Going back to the narrative, the group talked about random things. Adrian was fully engaged talking to me when I opened up a topic just out of curiosity. But he sure was intent on hitting on me as was evident to his one-liners. I was from time to time looking at Margaret's reaction and I wondered if she ever thought of Adrian flirting. She dragged me one time to dance and she was doing a sexy number. I said I don't know how. She pressed her tiny frame to my own and she swayed my hips -- so I moved along. Okay. I alsp saw Dwight dancing solo without a care in the world and just feeling the music. I actually miss him right now.

 Here's a photo from Dwight's phone:           

Before going home, the group was so shocked to see an unexpected scene to the table to the far left near the bar. They were all looking except me who had no idea what was going on. I wasn't wearing my eyeglasses and my vision aint perfect in dark placesw. I inquired about it and they told me that the girl was lying on the bench... no she wasn't dead, just drunk and something was going on.

The end. Thanks so much for reading!