Sunday, January 8, 2012

Party Rockin' Korean style!!!!!!!!!! Shots! Shots! Shots!

As the temperature was slowly dropping in November, the party scene in Korea was just warming up!  After our incredible trip to Seoraksan, we decided to embrace the Korean nightlife and give it a go.  The month of November felt like we were back in University; drinking excessively, going out all night and having so much fun it felt as though it was illegal.  Our first of many nights out was on November 11, or Peppero Day, which is a big deal in Korea.  Unlike in Canada where we reserve this day for remembrance, Korea celebrates November with a much commercialized "festival" (I use the term loosely since Koreans have a festival for everything).  For this particular event, stores sell chocolate covered candy sticks, called peppero sticks, which you are supposed to give to the ones you love and care about.  Good thing nobody told me about this before I got to school...  I was flooded with peppero sticks from my students and the staff.  Of course, being completely oblivious to this peculiar holiday, I had none to give back.. Oops.  Ah well, scratch that as another foreigner fail moment (which I seem to be having a lot of lately).  


So needless to say, after a day of sheer craziness with the kids literally jumping off the walls, I needed a drink.  Jen and I made plans to head over to Gecko's (our second home) for dinner and invited Katie to join us.  We also invited another Canadian couple, Briana and Chris, who would join us after work.  Since they work at a hagwon, they get the morning off, but they have to make up for it by working until 9:30pm.  To each their own I guess.  I much prefer the 8 to 4 schedule of the public system.  Anyway, we got to Gecko's around 8:30pm and ordered some grub and well deserved drinks.  The night was off to a great start!  After a great westernized meal, we were ready to get the party started!  
SHOTS
More Shots
A few weeks back, we had noticed that Gecko's had a shot club.  Basically, you have one year to do the 55 shots on the list and you get a t-shirt and a plaque with your name engraved on it.  Why not?  I called over the server and told him we were interested in joining the club.  After the paperwork was done (it consisted of putting our names on a piece of paper) we ordered our first three shots.  I can't really recall what they were, but the list includes shots with names such as Abortion, Hard dick, and Nymphomaniac.  But shots just aren't the same without LMFAO playing in the background... so I requested it! Shots! Shots! Shots!



Three shots lead to four..  Four to five.  Then Briana and Chris got there and decided to join the club so shots six and seven followed shortly.  Since we were dropping a lot of coin, we also got an extra shot on the house.  By 2 am, when Gecko's closes, we were definitely an interesting lot.  Katie was done for the night so we got her a cab and she was on her merry way home.  But for the rest of us, the night was only getting started.  Our mission was to find a Noraebang and sing the night away in true Korean fashion. We first stopped at a convenience store to replenish our drinking selection: a few 1.6L of beer, some soju...  Looking back on it now... it was probably not the best idea... but at the time, it sounded like the best plan in the world.  The first Noraebang we went to wouldn't let us in with all our booze so we set out to find another one (they are literally everywhere).  This time, no problem!  We rented the "karaoke room" for an hour (I really don't remember how much it was cause I was way too hammered by that time) and became instant pop stars.  We sang classics such as Semi charmed life by Third Eye Blind... (actually, that's all I remember... lol)  All I know is that Chris and I kicked Jen and Briana's butt in the singing contest, all the while continuing to consume more and more alcohol.  By 4:30-5:00am, it was time to call it.  I don't think I could really speak clearly or walk straight by then.  Not too long afterwards, everything I had consumed that night came rushing back out the way it came from.  And thus started the weekend hangover...


So when the next weekend rolled around, we were ready to start all over again.  Saturday started with our failed attempt at finding Costco and set the stage for another night of boozing and having fun with awesome people.  This time, we set our sights for the beautiful Hongdae district, where nightlife reigns supreme.  I had been here previously on Halloween, but this would be Jen's first experience of the crazy seoulite night life!  After her afternoon nap, we set out from Jukjeon, with our new friend Alice... Destination Hongdae!  We were to meet up with some friends we had made while on the Seoraksan trip earlier in the month for a night of dancing, drinking and partying!



We arrived in Hongdae around 10pm and searched for a quiet drinking establishment to start us off.  We settled for a cute little pub where we consumed copious amounts of beer (and in Jen's case - soju and peach juice).  After an hour, we decided to hop to the next random destination.  This bar smoke-filled bar had a nice ambiance and menu carrying such classics as "fuck ne" and "fussy navel".  After sharing a laugh and a drink, I got the call from Niko (friend from Seoraksan) that they (he, Jenna and Lindsay) had finally made it to Hongdae.  We agreed to meet up and half an hour later, we were sipping frozen margaritas on our way to the first club of the night, which was called Papa Gorilla.  The place was packed but the music was awesome.  We stayed for a few drinks, danced a whole lot then hopped to Mama Gorilla to continue the dancing and drinking.  At around 3am, it was time to refuel so a stop at Lotteria was in order.  People we passed out everywhere: on the street, at the pub, in the restaurant, etc.  It was quite hilarious to see and I took the opportunity to snap a few pics. (see below).  Following our late night snack, a cab ride home was all that was left before calling it.  We got home around 4:30am, exhausted but overall well please with how the night had turned out.



In the next few weeks, we continued our party rockin' closer to home, with visits to Gecko's, Underground in Suji, and LA Club in Seohyeon, all within about 25 minutes of our living quarters.  We hung out with the usual suspects: Katie, Alice, Dana, Chris, Briana, and our special friend "Having a blast".  Everything culminated into an incredible overnight trip to Busan to celebrate the New Year.  Stay tuned for that blog post coming up shortly.  All I will say for now is that I am getting too old for this.  I think I finally got the partying out of my system for a while.  Now it's time to get back on the wagon...

2 comments:

  1. Anyong Haseo Jen and Jason!

    Just found your blogspot link from TTMIK, haven't been through all your blogs, very interesting!
    I have lots of interests learning about Korea, I was just there last June 2011, spent a week there, promised myself to go back.
    Went to Namdaemun and the surroundings (Myeong Dong), Korean Folk Village (in Suwon), DMZ, Namsan tower, that's pretty much it for 1 Week!
    Definitely not enough!!!

    Good luck to both of you!
    Sam.

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    1. Thanks Sam! Korea is a great place to live and we are thoroughly enjoying ourselves so far. We're trying to give our readers a glimpse of life here from our perspective. We're also taking this opportunity to use Korea as a hub to visit other parts of South East Asia.
      J & J

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