Lost Weekend?

Nah...

Headed down to the Mike McStay benefit, which raised about 1.5 million won. Yvonne and I crashed at the usual yeogwan and shopped for books in the morning.

Normally I'm lukewarm about the bookshopping thing, but I'm working on an article. So I used Yvonne's 2-chun purchases as an excuse to snap photos like crazy. That pic on the right is the "upstairs" storage area of a bookstore in the Jung-A market. The books hide two doors which lead to even more..

well

books...

Then up to Seoul where I napped as Yvonne went (more) book shopping.

Later, we went into Itaewon and actually had fun (well, 2 beers worth for me, two cokes worth for Y) at a bar that was splendid.. except for Young Soldier X whose drug intake, crazy Cartmann reflective shades, and habit of busting into weird air-guitar poses did not add up, at all, to how annoying he was when he spilled someone else's beer and then did some kind of spastic dance in the puddles.

Morons.

As it turns out?

They are everywhere. (I just saw one in the mirror while I was shaving)

Sunday we went hunting for bookstores in Dongdaemun and after a bit of palaver, found the goldmine.

Yvonne went mad.. and I snapped pictures for the article.

Then lunch at a place we never would have stopped in, but as Yvonne pointed at the picture of Sam Gye Tang on the window, the ajumma came running out and started yapping at us in Korean. But all restaurant Korean, so I got it. She pulled us in, basically, by force of will. A good marketing approach as we had been desultorily wandering down the street apparently doomed to end up at Lotteria or Mickey D's.

As we had our Galbi Tang we watched her work the street.

Ajumma had skills... her best catch was three Ajeoshi who were wandering the street looking for food.

First time they passed she just got a bit of a word in.

Second time she flat stopped them with her flow. They sort of hovered in front of the joint for 5 minutes and then slowly walked off, with one of the three in vocal dissent.

finally, they came back down the street (the original direction they had come) and the guy who had been hectoring them, as shepherd, and the ajumma as chorus....

they found food Jesus.

Yvonne and I laughed our asses off at the positive personality this ajumma projected.

We'll be back.

The food was plentiful, not great, but the ajumma made the place rock.