Bally's in Korea!

This past weekend began with a Friday night spent at home talking to my mom on the phone. I wouldn't say I'm homesick, but after a month and a half in a strange country, you need your mommy to comfort you every now and then.

Much of Saturday was spent in my pajamas doing nothing, but that night I met my friends Kelly and Matt at Platinum Brewery in Gangnam. Gangnam is a more upscale area of Seoul, full of good shopping and scrumptious restaurants. Platinum Brewery is a restaurant that has an all-you-can-eat-and-drink buffet from 6:00-8:30 every night. I'm usually a bit wary of the whole buffet thing, but this food was amazing...smoked salmon and capers, boiled shrimp, sushi rolls...I thought I was in heaven.

After dinner we went to "The House of Blue"...no that's not a typo; there's no "s" in this house. The entertainment du jour was a tiny Korean dude belting out pop covers, karaoke style. We played a game of pool and got out of there! As we were walking down the street, much to my surprise, we came across a Bally Total Fitness! Of course, I just had to walk inside and check the place out, resisting the urge to ask if I could personal train on the weekends. It was a good dose of L.A. (WLA, to be exact) that I needed!

Bally Total Fitness in Korea

In Gangnam, we ran into some of Kelly's work friends, and, I hate to admit it, we allowed them to drag us to the one place I've sworn too many times I would never visit again...Itaewon. I can't complain...I met a couple cool people and passed most of the time perfecting my mad dart skills.

Here's where the night turned sour...We got into a taxi to go back to my place in Pyeongchon, and over an hour (and 40 bucks) later, we were whizzing through the boondocks of Korea. It seems our driver had no clue where Pyeongchon was, so instead of asking someone for directions, he provided us with an extensive country tour. We were nowhere near civilization! We got out of the car and hailed another taxi, having to ride another 30 minutes just to get to Matt's apartment in Youngin (which is also in the middle of nowhere). By this time, I didn't care if I had to sleep on someone's hardwood floor!

Sunday morning, Kelly and I had to walk 30 minutes from Matt's to the bus stop, take a 45-minute bus ride to the nearest subway station, then take the subway (followed by a taxi) to my house. WHEW!!!! We decided to put on pajamas and make it a movie day.

I am serious this time...I WILL NEVER GO TO ITAEWON AGAIN!!!