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bluelovesorangeBuddha's birthday was celebrated in Korea yesterday, so it was a nice beginning to a three day weekend here. I went to Daejon yesterday to visit my friend G. I met her in training in Seoul, and we became quick friends, bonding over love of discounts, music, and the ridiculousness that is official training. We had a nice day out in Itaewon while we were in Seoul, and once we got posted on our positions (I went back to Gwangju, and she got a school in the city where she lives), we made informal plans to meet up again soon. I wasn't expecting it to be this soon, but luckily G was game to show me around her city (official motto: "It's Daejon!").
We walked around the downtown area, I shopped a little, and then we went to Costco. COSTCO. Incidentally Costco's entry in the Gwangju handbook is "there's a Costco located 2 hours away in Daejon."
OH YEAH. CHEESE THE SIZE OF MY HEAD. Real Cheese. You have no idea how happy this makes me.
I have a smaller slab of Monterey Jack in the fridge as well. For my cheese slab (2 lbs!) I paid around nine dollars.
I also picked up a giant bottle of multi-vitamins, because after my anemia diagnosis, you can never be too careful.
My Korea flickr so far - check out the "daejon" tag.
Walking around a city with a native really changes your perspective - because yes, it's fun to explore and get lost on your own and get caught up in the adventure of just being somewhere new and strange - but to see a city through someone else's eyes, well that's special too. Fun fandom thing - G turns out to be from the little province that TVXQ Jaejoong is from, and she's the youngest of nine children as well, and has eleven nieces and nephews. She told me that his mother runs a ddukbokki restaurant back home. She thought it was hilarious that someone from America knew whoTVXQ DBSK were. I say, Google is MAGIC.
To get to Daejon from Gwangju, there's the option of the express bus or the KTX - Korea's train service. I ended up using both modes of transportation - it takes roughly the same time for each, but the train is a little more expensive. I left Gwangju at 11 and got into Daejon around 1. Then due to a mix up/detour of the Express Bus Terminal, with G's assistance, I hailed a taxi (I'm getting really good at this, by the way), handed over my cellphone to the amused driver, and G guided him to the new meeting place. Then I met up with G and her boyfriend Paul, and we took the subway (Daejon uses round tokens) to the downtown.
There was food.
There was bakery porn. Seriously, you guys, this bakery was three stories.
*Oh and I had coffee, which meant when I got home, I stayed up and watched the Golden Girls and didn't go to sleep until about 3 in the morning. MY LIFE.
There was music:
I saw a bunch of Big Bang things too, but I'm more of a TVXQ fan. I'm planning on buying a bunch of things that are hard to get/expensive in America with shipping - I'm tracking down a few of the photobooks next. Of course, I still love Western music and bands - it's just that when in Asia, you can either succumb to the pop music and enjoy it, or be all bitchfaced "AZNMUSIC IS SHIT, WESTERN MUSIC IS SO MUCH MORE SUPERIOR" imperialist monkey dog. Ahem. I'm just sayin'. Different culture and all that. And I'm a giant sponge.
There was Uniqlo. This was at Say One/Say Two department store, after G took me to Kozny, a lifestyle/stationery nook and I managed to NOT buy the entire store. Watching my won, as I have another pay day coming up and I need to send half of it home soon.
Why, Mickey, whatever could you possibly mean?
and finally, there was COSTCO.
*COOOOOOOSSSTTTCCCOOOO* I didn't know how much I missed Costco until I was standing there.
The food court in the basement is pretty much the same as Costcos back home, except they have bulgogi bake along with the chicken bake. The bulgogi bake is CRAZY DELICIOUS, by the way. AND SO CHEAP. ******COSTCO*********
Next time I visit G, she promises we're going to do more outdoor stuff instead of being all indoor shopping and complacent consumers. A spa, or an amusement park or a museum - me, I'm just so happy I've made a new girl friend, as Gravy and Dr. J are not exactly guys I can hang out with all the time.
Hope you guys are enjoying your weekend!
We walked around the downtown area, I shopped a little, and then we went to Costco. COSTCO. Incidentally Costco's entry in the Gwangju handbook is "there's a Costco located 2 hours away in Daejon."
OH YEAH. CHEESE THE SIZE OF MY HEAD. Real Cheese. You have no idea how happy this makes me.
I have a smaller slab of Monterey Jack in the fridge as well. For my cheese slab (2 lbs!) I paid around nine dollars.
I also picked up a giant bottle of multi-vitamins, because after my anemia diagnosis, you can never be too careful.
My Korea flickr so far - check out the "daejon" tag.
Walking around a city with a native really changes your perspective - because yes, it's fun to explore and get lost on your own and get caught up in the adventure of just being somewhere new and strange - but to see a city through someone else's eyes, well that's special too. Fun fandom thing - G turns out to be from the little province that TVXQ Jaejoong is from, and she's the youngest of nine children as well, and has eleven nieces and nephews. She told me that his mother runs a ddukbokki restaurant back home. She thought it was hilarious that someone from America knew who
To get to Daejon from Gwangju, there's the option of the express bus or the KTX - Korea's train service. I ended up using both modes of transportation - it takes roughly the same time for each, but the train is a little more expensive. I left Gwangju at 11 and got into Daejon around 1. Then due to a mix up/detour of the Express Bus Terminal, with G's assistance, I hailed a taxi (I'm getting really good at this, by the way), handed over my cellphone to the amused driver, and G guided him to the new meeting place. Then I met up with G and her boyfriend Paul, and we took the subway (Daejon uses round tokens) to the downtown.
There was food.
There was bakery porn. Seriously, you guys, this bakery was three stories.
*Oh and I had coffee, which meant when I got home, I stayed up and watched the Golden Girls and didn't go to sleep until about 3 in the morning. MY LIFE.
There was music:
I saw a bunch of Big Bang things too, but I'm more of a TVXQ fan. I'm planning on buying a bunch of things that are hard to get/expensive in America with shipping - I'm tracking down a few of the photobooks next. Of course, I still love Western music and bands - it's just that when in Asia, you can either succumb to the pop music and enjoy it, or be all bitchfaced "AZNMUSIC IS SHIT, WESTERN MUSIC IS SO MUCH MORE SUPERIOR" imperialist monkey dog. Ahem. I'm just sayin'. Different culture and all that. And I'm a giant sponge.
There was Uniqlo. This was at Say One/Say Two department store, after G took me to Kozny, a lifestyle/stationery nook and I managed to NOT buy the entire store. Watching my won, as I have another pay day coming up and I need to send half of it home soon.
Why, Mickey, whatever could you possibly mean?
and finally, there was COSTCO.
*COOOOOOOSSSTTTCCCOOOO* I didn't know how much I missed Costco until I was standing there.
The food court in the basement is pretty much the same as Costcos back home, except they have bulgogi bake along with the chicken bake. The bulgogi bake is CRAZY DELICIOUS, by the way. AND SO CHEAP. ******COSTCO*********
Next time I visit G, she promises we're going to do more outdoor stuff instead of being all indoor shopping and complacent consumers. A spa, or an amusement park or a museum - me, I'm just so happy I've made a new girl friend, as Gravy and Dr. J are not exactly guys I can hang out with all the time.
Hope you guys are enjoying your weekend!
