Murdoc came to Korea

Well there internetland, my friend Murdoc came out from home to visit me for a little over a week.
I made sure to keep him busy. Especially and when he woke me up on Saturday earlier than I had been expecting him.

We went to Insadong, a nice little artsy/touristy neighborhood in Seoul.
I showed him one of my favorite tea houses, and a Buddhist temple.
Then we walked to Gyeongbeokgong, an old palace in Korea. From there, we followed Jongno Daero until we made our way to Cheonggyecheong, which is a massive man-made river park in the middle of Seoul. We even walked up to a spot where a piece of the original Berlin Wall now stands. From there, I asked him if he knew Namsan Tower, and he asked me, Where is Namsan Tower?
It's not far from the truth to say that became his favorite song during the trip, and he noted that it sounded very much like this gem:

After going up Namsan Tower, we went to Itaewon and I showed him a few of the local watering holes. Finally, jetlag overcame him after his third drink, and I nearly had to carry him home. Thankfully, a taxi and subway train helped for the bulk of the journey.

On Sunday, we were hellbent on checking out some of Incheon, the downtown of which is closer than the bustling South Korean capital. We decided to check out Chinatown, and as luck would have it one of my friends out here, Cece, had planned to meet up with her Korean friends who knew the area well. We arrived in Chinatown and proceeded to eat a feast of Jajjangmyeon and Mapa Dubu. Our Korean friends then walked us around Chinatown and around Jayu Park where an impressive statue of General MacArthur now stands commemorating his efforts during the Korean War. We even stumbled upon an art gallery, and a street fair before going to a theater to see the recently released "Source Code." After that, we went to an arcade and had dakgalbi, one of my favorite Korean dishes. Ol' Murdoc got his first taste of the delicious Korean liquor, soju as well. We headed back to my apartment and made plans for the rest of the week.

Unfortunately, I'd be working in the afternoon to evenings at my private after-school academy. So I wouldn't be able to join in on all the Korean adventures with Murdoc. Knowing this, Murdoc was equipped with a metro card which works on bus, cab and subway train; a spare key to my place; a phrasebook; and a pre-paid cell phone.
During the week while I was away he went back to Insadong, tried his luck at the Yongsan electronics market at the station and even watched one of those Starcraft matches that gets put on tv 'round here. He made a pilgrimage to the DMZ as well. Murdoc also went to a tattoo convention near Gangnam.

On Monday night, we shared a few brews and spent a great deal of time catching up, now that there was no sightseeing to be taken care of. We went to an arcade and then back home.
Much of the weeknights were spent in this fashion. Murdoc would see the sights during the day and return to my place before I returned from work. He found winning a Rillakuma bear from a crane game deceptively hard, and wasn't able to be the victor in many matches against a local machine.
We went to a pub quiz together on Thursday night, and even had some Japanese rice wine afterwards with a few bites of Buldak.
Friday night, we met up at Sindorim, at the Techno Mart (electronics mall, not a rave center, sadly) to see the trick art exhibit where we were encouraged to take photos of ourselves in several hilarious poses.We met up with some other friends, Wade and Maresha, who're also from my area.
Shortly after the art gallery closed, we jumped on a train to the coveted Hongdae, a college neighborhood renowned among expats and locals alike for its' vibrant club scene. Now, dear reader, when I say that we partied all night, I mean that we were dancing and carrying on from the moment we got off the cab until the first subway train in the morning brought us back home. There is no bastardly last call in Korea. If you want to keep partying, there's no puritanical law holding you back from having an amazing time and arbitrarily telling you to stop your fun. Of course, you're also not protected from getting hardly any sleep and paying more for it the next day. Gotta take the bad with the good, deal with it or just stay home, I say.

When we got up in the early afternoon Saturday from Friday night's fun, we were determined to make the most of our last day together. Murdoc had suggested that we return to Insadong, where he had gone before during the week and found a great traditional restaurant that he'd read about in a guidebook. Our friend Cece joined us again on this leg of the adventure. We also made sure to find him some pajeon, or Korean pancake. A little Dongdongju to wash it down didn't hurt either.

At the traditional restaurant, where we were served a delicious variety of kimchis and other vegetarian dishes, there were traditional dances performed.

When we left Insadong, we headed back to Bupyeong for a few quick rounds of Starcraft. I got devastated by Murdoc's tactics in both games. Perhaps he picked up some skills when he went to Yongsan during the week to watch a match that would later be televised on Korean national broadcasts.
We tried to win a rillakuma bear one more time, but then Murdoc settled for a cell phone charm from a nearby store.
With that, we walked back to my apartment and set alarms for the morning.
When morning came, too soon I might add, we said our farewells and Murdoc made the slow trek to his home. Subway to airport railroad, to airport, to airport to home.

I look forward to returning to the US in the Fall and seeing my friends and family again on US soil, but I also plan on enjoying the Summer I've got inbetween now and then.

Photatoes here!
Blogger's Note: When I'm less tired I might go over this post and embed photos throughout the writing, but I'm happy with this as it is.