June 23 (Wed) - Gangam and Aeri

Well, one thing's for sure - I did take more pictures today. Since I last posted, I haven't gotten much sleep - but it's been quite fun.
I'm not sure how many pictures I want to post here... (it's really annoying to upload them), but I'll make them all available soon enough.

Firstly, last night - we stayed up to watch Korea play live against Nigeria in the World Cup. They played 3:30 AM South Korea time.... so, to pass time - we didn't play BnB -- we watched Love Actually xD... and then talked and lost track of time until we heard shouting outside. Flipped on the TV right after the first goal, but decided that we really just wanted to sleep. xD Or, at least I did. I think Aimee was bothered by the noise, so she watched the whole game. South Korea tied with Nigeria, but they had more points, so they're still advancing!

We got up late morning to eat and catch the bus to Gangnam again. This time though, we were meeting up with a new friend named Aeri (prounounced more like "Eddie") :) To sum it up without the pictures, we ate, took pics, went shopping (this time I actually spent money at three places @__@), ate again, and went for drinks. A day long event... had fun, took the bus, and got home around 9PM. ;)

So, this was my brunch. It's the same stuff as before, but I just included a shot of the tasty granola cereal from Post. The crunchy is great with the yogurt. I think I drank some aloe juice too... very nice meal. Though, tomorrow I'll just try to eat rice, since that's what Aimee had.

Before we headed out, I also made time to try one of these "coffe slim" flavored wafer things. I'm pretty sure the box reads "kukeudaseu". I didn't find them particularly appealing, but I'm sure they're much better with coffee. We have another flavor in a red box, but I'll try them tomorrow, I guess.
Anyway - we went to the bus stop shortly afterwords.

I know this doesn't show much, but I couldn't really get the front shot of this card reader easily. There are two doors on the bus and both doors have a card reader. This is the exit door though. When we want to get off, we press the stop button and the driver stops at the next stop. Now, I'm not really familiar with public transportation in the US (not nearly as common in my city), but here it's all very uptight, but efficient. Each stop only takes a few seconds, so the people wanting to get off line up right as the bus pulls away from the last stop. Also, when using a card, you scan it twice - once at the front to pay, and then once as you leave. Both times show how much the ride costs and the remaining amount of money the card contains. :P

Probably too much information (most of it obvious), but I'm young. This was all new to me, but a good experience. Now, I'm quite familiar with the bus and how to scan my card without embarassment when the driver correct me :(

Less than an hour later, we arrived in Gangnam... and walked right off into the building next to the bus stop: Krispy Kreme! We waited for Aeri there... and then sampled some donuts xD

Starting from mine on the far right: a limited edition "football" donut xD~! (World Cup promotions are everywhere), Aeri's New York Cheescake donut, and Aimee's Strawberry... Yogurt(?) one. XD All of them had filling, too. Though, mine's the only one that might not be self explanitory - I discovered it was chocolate. Yay. Quite good. Probably more expensive than donuts back home, but nothing to break your wallet. They also had a dark chocolate flavor too... might have to try that next time. xD

Anyway. Then we headed to the photo sticker place. xD

Inserted money here... and got some shots. Cut and divided them... :p

Then, we shopped...
I actually went inside a nice clothing store and snagged a deal :o

Tried it on in the room. A note about Korean dressing rooms: only allowed to try on pants/skirts and (at least with this one) you take your shoes off before entering ( I failed at this). I liked how the curtains had hooks (seen here). :) Luckily, it fit perfectly, it was cheap, and I learned my size in cm. xD Three wins. I think even the bag was free! (a plus xD)

We walked in an expensive shoe store and saw a real (I think?) Asian afro... like bigger than Mugen or Spikes... more like that guy Samuel Jackson voices in that one anime... Whatever. xD. We also looked around in Lush (handmade cosmetics)... expensive, but nice and fragrant. Lucky it was all in Korean or I might have been inclined to buy something :x. The sales lady that tried to help me actually spoke amazing English though. (Only after addressing me in Korean - I feel honored someone finally tried). Must've studied abroad. That was cool.

Shop people here are so much more attentive... at first it was really annoying/awkward... (puts me on the spot) but I guess I'm okay with it now. Though, I'm sure this has something to do with the fact that (most of them) can't communicate with me. :) They always address Aimee. =]

This is a shot of a cool store I bought stuff from. Unfortunately not dirt cheap like I was dreaming existed, but definitely quality and cute. So, I suppose my money was well spent. I guess I'm just stingy :(

Sorry if my vagueness on exact items is annoying. I do this to preserve gift surprises.

Then, we went to Kyobo again. This place is amazing after all? I'm sure we could go every time and still find something awesome to buy... and, well - so far this is still true. xD By the way - this shot is outside the huge building that also houses an insurance company. The bookstore and music/stationary store is right downstairs. This lovely mosaic is actually the designated smoking zone :P... though, the stairwell down to the bookstore still reeks of cigarrete smoke. >.<

Thenn, we went for food. :) A foreigner's haven? Hah. Nonsense! Both places were packed with Koreans. Not like there are many food places in Gangnam.. it's all Cafes! :p
Still, we snagged a table and nommed.

I sampled the foreign item (I didn't notice much else different) -- Bulgogi Burger! (in case you couldn't read the wrapper). Basically, a beef paddy covered with one of the Korean BBQ (bulgogi) sauces. It was kind of sweet, but good. As long as I was a meat eater, I'd get it again. It also had mayo and lettuce... lots of mayo. Of course, after living for almost half a year without adding extra condiments to things, I might be biased/exaggerating. Bear with me. With the salty fries, this burger was especially good. The States are missing out.

Finally, we went to a fancy cafe/bakery I'd never heard of. Though, this is a franchise, I'm just not sure where most of them are located. I kept thinking Aimee said we were just going "to someplace" xD... haha... kind of frustrating until I realized the name. :P Lots of foreigners here though. (By lots I mean.. three? xD) Most I'd seen together in a while - separate tables, of course!

Anyway - we'd originally planned to go to Smoothie King (yes - they exist here too!), but it was being renovated... :(... so I was a little upset to have an expensive "common" iced mocha instead of an expensive "foreign" smoothie...

Yet, I recovered quickly once I tasted its amazing rich flavor... I was impressed. Though, I was really thirsty (didn't have a drink with dinner), so I ate most of my ice cubes while I drank this... took a while, but I think that's called savoring... I really enjoyed hanging out with Aeri, too. She tried speaking a lot of English with me, so we actually conversed. xD.. sorta.

So, after a good time, we said our goodbyes and hopped back onto the red line bus and headed home.

My new expensive friend earned his keep on the ride home:

I was reluctant while purchasing, but it took only that one ride to realize what I'd been missing out on as a traveler xD Plus: isn't he cute? :P Softer than I expected, too!

Thank you, Artbox.

Tomorrow's plans are still up in the air, but I imagine we'll have more down time. Plus - we'll finally call my friend in Jeju Island! His plane ought to arrive tomorrow :o It'll be nice to have that crazy side trip planned out.

;)