The last 24 hours or so...

Since thing here are so inexpensive (as opposed to cheap and crappy quality) I did a chunk of shopping yesterday at Namdaemoon Market. Ya, got more shirts but also Christmas gifts. You know you can get shetland wool or lambswool sweaters here for 5,000 won (4.50USD)? Ya. They aren't in a store being fondled and folded by prying teenage sales associates, but they are the real deal.

I got a pair of pants also and wanted them altered before I left. The guy said in the basement of a nearby building there was 밴딩/banding (Konglish for hemming, I gathered correctly). I thought I'd have to search the place to find one...but, in true Korean fashion, there were 7-8 down there. I just approached the one that was least busy and he got at it. The price was 4,000 won (3.60USD) and done in about 5 minutes. The guy I bought the pants from said it was 2,000 won but I wanted a cuff on it and was not energized to fight this guy for a couple of bucks (it costs 5,000 won for the dude to come to my apartment so what the heck). Here's a tip in negotiating: if you need alterations (basically all dress pants and suits) then ask them to discount the price of the item you're buying. It works A LOT. This guy (begrudgingly) gave me 1,000 won off the pants (a whopping 14,000 won total price) so even when they don't want to they usually do.


Here is my tailor going at it...on-the-spot-service.

It's tough to find this little spot, so maybe get a local to call him for directions.


If you need some 밴딩/banding and you're in Namdaemoon look him up!

Welcome to the U.S. of A?! A few shops had this animatron Santa outside of them...a little scary, actually. For a place that has little Christmas fervor this display was a little surprising. Maybe Christmas is getting bigger here...


U.S. Thankgiving has passed...so Santa is out in Korea too!

And, proving that Namdaemoon is full of specialists in virtually everything: here is a store whose stock is entirely made up of zippers.


And if you need a gajillion 지퍼/ji-peors (zippers) check out this place outside Exit 7 of Hyoheon subway station.

Next it was off to 시청/Si Cheong (City Hall) area to have dinner with John and Jung-Soo and Bunny (who knows Jung-Soo as well). On the way there I saw this sign...


Sand & Food? Sounds great! (Sand could mean sandwich, but isn't that food too??)

Jung-Soo is getting married on Saturday (the day I depart) so I'll miss it but I still gave him the envelope of money. (Yes, I did use the right one.)


Here is the groom-to-be Jung-Soo cookin' up the pork...he'll make a lovely wife, won't he?

Check out the pork on this cool (well, hot, actually) grill. Basically lean, mouth-watering...pork chops...sizzling on the...hot metal....getting so...well-cooked...then dipped in a honey-mustard sauce....excuse me, I gotta go back there right now...


John and Jung-Soo; friends in Korea for over 8 years.

Afterward his fiance Sook Jeon (Sook is her first name, most but not all Koreans have 2 first names; Jeon is her last name-in Korea women keep their last names and kids take the father's name) showed up. She's quite good-looking (a little thin for my taste, but then I'm a bloody bear, as you may know) and we had some ice cream...with fruit on it...and...just a sec I gotta go have another one.


Shaved ice, yoghurt ice cream, peaches, oranges, melon, other fruits...cherry tomatoes and Frosted Flakes?!?! Sounds a little weird, but really good. (Could use some chocolate sauce, though.)

After that I went back to Yeouido and met with Jo again. He is so sad to think that I'm getting on a plane soon. Whatever will he do? Wherever will he go (to drink)? Well, I'm sure he will survive. A new bartender at The Outsider (yes, I was there again--figure I'll overdose on it before I head off) took a liking to him so maybe he will go there on a daily basis.


Jo is melacholy (over here Koreans call this emotion sentimental for some reason) tonight...thinking of how he'll survive without my being there. *sob* Or, he may be just drunk.

Got up today, got dressed, went to work and saw my boss come in the office at 9:02AM. Then I left to go to the doctor for this damn foot of mine again. (As long as I am physicaly there when he arrives in the morning and leaves at 6PM it seems he has little worry about what happens in the interim.) Today I got an elastic thingy to keep things in place (rather than the short-leg cast/splint) and my obligatory shot of something from a needle in my butt then off to physio (upstairs) again for more shock therapy and stuff. This time they treated my foot as fries in McDonald's for a few minutes.


My new bandage...can now wear normal shoes on both feet!


How you like your toes? Extra-crispy??

They also gave me 써비스/sseu-bi-sseu (service, free, extra) in the form of a massage bed treatment. It isn't what you think, this is a legit place. It was actually a mechanical thing that you laid on your back on while piano-hammer-like thing-a-ma-doods pound your shoulders, back, gluteous maximus and legs. Ahh-hh-hh-aa-aah-ahh. My father-in-law got along famously with the doctor and they traded contact info so when/if he goes to Vancouver they can go golfing...what a guy: always networking.

Time to work!