Seoul - Day 4

Today I took the 472 to Shinchon and walked around my old neighborhood. It's astonishing how much this city changes in no time. Old buildings disappear and make room for new ones, shops change their owners and offer different things. In the street that I used to live in, an old temple turned into a modern coffee shop and a used-book shop now sells items for digital communication. I guess you can call it progress.

I walked over to Hongdae and got a haircut, same thing just shorter, and for 15000 Won the service is really good. They put away your bag and offer you a drink. They don't even talk too much, and if they do, they ask you interesting questions. And the music is alright, too, no German radio shit songs from the mid-ninetees. When I walked out again the sky looked a little darker, but it looked stable for another while.

I took a bus up to Ehdae to check out a couple of shops, they have a few decent ones for male shoes, bags and hats, but none of them had any good bargains. Here too, a lot of things have changed. The only thing that stayed the same is the huge amount of people walking and shopping up and down the hilly alleyways. I was looking for a mellow pair of shoes, maybe a convenient bag, but I ended up buying a tee shirt. 

After that I took another bus back to Apgujeong and called up Phil for a snack or some coffee, but he was out on business. Somewhere between Jongno and Myeongdong it suddenly started raining like crazy. I was told that this was no rainy season rain, but just bad weather showers that would keep occurring. I went to a coffee shop right by the house and took some time to think and write a little. Took a deep breath, too.

In the evening I met up with Johnny hyung, Henne und Felix at Karosugil. Yoni was being late and Giwoun hyung was coming later. So at first it was us four and we picked a barbeque place for dinner. It was super tasty stuff and I realized again that vegetarianism is never gonna work for me. Although, I actually am trying to focus more on the vegetable side of things. By the time we were done eating, Yoni and her friend arrived.

The next spot was a place called Café des Arts. It was a nice bar with old wooden furniture and appropriate lighting, but they kept playing Metallica songs on a horribly tuned sound system. I mean, playing Metallica is arguable, but the high-pitched sound was just wrong. At least they served free mini bretzels with their drinks. We had an awesome time with lots of laughter and I truly enjoyed the company of my dear friends.