The Eun Hye and Ha Na Reunion!

WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS SHAMELESS AND REPEATED DEMONSTRATIONS OF "TYPICAL ASIAN PHOTOGRAPHY POSES". THOSE OF A SENSITIVE DISPOSITION ARE WARNED TO READ WITH CAUTION. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

*Ahem* Now that that's out the way, I can get down to business. Eeeeeee - what a day! :D Remember Eun Hye from the jazz bar we went to on Mervyn's first night? Well, she dropped Mervyn a call yesterday (...I still chronically lack a phone... must.get.it.sorted!) inviting us to her family's restaurant! So, at one o'clock this afternoon, we took her up on her offer! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a LITTLE nervous when she took us to her restaurant in Seocho and insisted we meet her parents... I presumed they'd be more than a little hesitant to welcome with open arms two guys who their daughter had just recently met whilst working in a bar... but I was clearly thinking much too much like a Westerner: far from a receiving a frosty reception, we were given a ridiculously warm welcome and treated to a FREE (and AMAZING) samgyaetang lunch! (...Korean generosity is clearly willing to defy English sceptics who claim there to be no such thing!) ...and her mum even went so far as to compliment my handsomeness! ;D (She CLEARLY has taste. :P).



...Eun Hye herself is an absolute legend. She's typically Korean in how expressive she is about EVERYTHING (all head shakes and "AIIIISH!"es XD) and is just so kind and generous (I mean, a FREE LUNCH?!). She's even been teaching us some Korean too! Though her attempts at English are still the funniest - especially the way she answers her phone "HEY GIRL!" - and the way she gets ridiculously frustrated whenever we can't understand what she's trying to say -hahaha, so cute! n_n

So, after lunch, we popped to Eun Hye's favourite coffee place, where we grabbed some ice coffees and chilled for a few hours... just chatting and getting to know each other! Eun Hye grabbed a laptop off one of the staff there (she seemed to know them quite well!) and showed us her "CyWorld" with all her photos and friends on (CyWorld's like the Korean answer to FaceBook, except much cooler!) and we returned the favour, showing her all our pictures on FaceBook, etc... was really cool! Anyways, after a little bit, Merv had to dash to catch up with some other friends (...see the bottom of this post for details! XD), but was soon replaced by Ha Na (also of former jazz bar fame!). I'd thought her name was "Hannah" when we first met - again, typical Westerner thinking - but it's actually Ha Na! Much more Korean! Anyway, it was great to see her again too, and to be able to spend the afternoon just chilling out and getting to know them both better! Turns out they've known each other for much longer than when they started working at the bar: apparently they used to be next-door neighbours until Un Hye moved away, but have remained best friends since and now work together!

Missing Starbucks? I don't think so!

Eun Hye and Ha Na strike a pose.

From the coffee house, we moved to the jazz bar where we first met (Eun Hye was working 8PM - 2AM and Ha Na was going to keep her company, since Eun Hye was doing the shift on her own...so I tagged along too!) And that's where we spent the rest of the night! We ate our dinner (gimbap and what seemed to be some kind of udon, followed by Mister Donut donuts...YUM!) at the bar (Ha Na popped out to get it from a street vendor), knocked back a few drinks (all underpriced and oversized, thanks to Un Hye being in control of the bar for the night! XD), played some cards, racked up a few tunes on the jukebox and generally just chilled! But neither of them would let me pay for anything! First of all a free lunch, then a free dinner of yummy tteokbokki (Korean rice cakes) and gimbap (rice, meat and veg wrapped in seaweed)! I tried to force money on Ha Na but she wasn't taking it! ...I'd heard about Korean generosity - it's clearly not a myth!

Am definitely going to be arranging another meet up some time soon! Un Hye has invited us for galbi at her restaurant again on Saturday, and I promised her we'd drop in on her at work sometime in the week! They're both so good to hang ou with and the inevitable language barrier isn't a problem - if anything it makes it all more fun! XD

...in other news, I have the sad task of reporting the heartbreaking news of our EPIC FAIL in the mission to acquire SM Town tickets. I made a fatal mistake in underestimating the sheer power of the rabid fangirl to move and destroy en masse. Despite the fact that me, Hye Jung and Jeong Mi treated it like a military operation - meeting on MSN at 19:45 and each pouncing on the ticket booking website the literal second it opened - we all PHAILED. It was ridiculous! I got in the SECOND the tickets went up and was greeted with a "SOLD OUT" sign! Hye Jung warned me that they'd sell out within five minutes, but this was less than five seconds...daaaaaaaaaaamn you, fangiiiiiiiiirls! Still, against an enemy like that, I can hold my head up high in defeat, because the reality is...I never stood an effing chance. XD

...in related K-Pop news, I'm currently addicted to SNSD's "Genie" ...an addiction which is made all the more painful by the fact that they're going to be at the SM Town concert in Olympic Park! ;_; ...you literally can't walk 500 yards without hearing this song playing somewhere! Check it out:

Ahhhhhh, the beauty of K-Pop! <3

EDIT: Remember I said Mervyn left early to meet up with some other friends? Well, I've just received this FaceBook message from him:

...BRILLIANT. Sounds like he had as good a time as I did then! :D Oh and *noraebang = karaoke room... something I'm yet to experience! So expect a post coming your way soon on my first trip to a noraebang! Now that Merv has had his fill, he can show me the ropes! Though perhaps I should let him sleep tonight off first... XD