The Coex and Aquarium, Oh My

On Sunday, we braved the cold and public transportation and took a trip to Seoul to visit the Coex, which is this huge underground shopping mall. It has just about everything you can think of in it, including some American restaurants and an aquarium. It was a nice change of pace to explore somewhere other than the Ville, and the aquarium has been on my to-do list since I first got here. Plus it was nice to hang out with some of the people J works with.


Now, we all know I don't do the cold. So, the fact that I was out in it was somewhat amazing on its own, but add in the fact that we were taking public transportation instead of our car is another amazing feat. Songtan station was hard to find, mainly because we've never had to use the train station before, and the only one that we had ever passed was the Jinwi station which is on the way to E-mart. Parking was even harder to find, but once we did we bought out tickets and boarded the train. So, here's the thing about the train, you're not allowed to sit unless you're pregnant or old, and there's always someone trying to sell something. On our way to the Coex there was a blind man walking through the cars trying to collect money. He definitely hit my foot with his cane and he was way too close for comfort. That's a terrible thing to say, but it's true.


Two transfers later and we were there. Our first stop was TGI Fridays, and let's just say it's expensive to eat at an American chain restaurant off base. Almost all of the meat is imported, and the back of the menu tells you where everything comes from, which is good to know. 

After lunch we wandered around the Coex (there's like a million different places to eat, an Apple store and tons of other electronics and clothing stores) for a while and then we decided that we were going to find the aquarium. Somehow we kept going upstairs when the aquarium is downstairs. It's actually underground, so that was pretty neat.


The aquarium turned out to be everything I thought it would be and more. It was like a mini zoo. They had manatees, seals, penguins and prairie dogs there. And tons of displays that you wouldn't normally find fish in. 

 

 The journey through the aquarium took a couple hours, so by the time we were done with that we decided to catch the train home. The ride home was and adventure all on its own. I mean it was easy enough to find the train we needed and to buy our passes, so who would've thought it would turn into an episode of The Twilght Zone. As soon as we got on the train we noticed that there really wasn't anyone else in the car with us, or on the train for that matter. I mean no big deal, I mean trains are empty all the time right? Ok, maybe not, but we start moving along and going through a tunnel and the train stops, and we're just sitting there. I'm just saying that has to be one of the scariest things, what if there was serial killer on the train, and he was so excited because he lured some stupid American tourists onto a train and he decided he was going to stop in the tunnel so he could kill us all. Clearly, I have an overactive imagination as this was not the case (Korea is actually very safe, and I have yet to see anyone that I would deem a creeper) and the train was no longer running our route and was actually in the process of changing tracks. When the train pulled back into the station it dropped us off directly across from where we had boarded so we walked back and waited for the next train. 

So, the next train comes and we get on, only to notice once again, that there isn't anyone on this train either. What are the odds of getting on two trains that aren't going anywhere? This time we definitely sat in the tunnel a lot longer than before. Once the train dropped us off again, we walked across and waited for the next one. This time a whole bunch of people boarded with us and we were on our way. Two transfers later, and what is supposed to be our stop, we notice that at some point in time the train ended up switching tracks and we are now once again going in the wrong direction. So, we had to switch trains, again. By some small miracle, we actually made it home that night. But, I don't know if I'll be taking the train again. I think I'll stick to the bus. 

Tv Land

Obviously, I'm a big fan of television since this is my second post dedicated to the topic. But, I just wanted to share the greatness that is posted in the comments section on Eonline.


So, those of us that watch Grey's Anatomy on the regular know about the off screen drama with Katherine Heigl who plays Izzie. She's been wanting off the show for forever now, and last season we weren't so sure if she would be back since both Izzie and George flatlined during the season finale (which was amazing by the way). Anyways *spoiler alert* she made it and has appeared sporadically at best throughout the season. So now she's just confirmed that she is in fact leaving Grey's and her last episode aired back in January. And down in the comment section was there was this gem:

And Isaiah Washington, as we all know, played Dr. Burke, and was kicked off the show a few seasons back after an altercation with with the actor who played George (who is also no longer on the show). I just love the fact that someone was posting as him. It's the little things that amuse me.  

Korean TV

I've recently become a huge fan of Korean television. All of my favorite shows from back home air on various channels at different times of day, and some (not all) are even the current season. I mean who doesn't love House, Sex and the City, and Glee. Even my all time favorite Gilmore Girls comes on. And those that aren't on the air I can always catch online just not on the American sites since all they want to tell me is that I'm not in the states. Even Hulu wants to turn me down, and now Mtv is trying to play me too. For weeks I've been able to watch all the dramas of teen pregnancy and the exploits of the Jersey Shore, and now I get nothing. I don't know how they could do this to me. It's times like this that make me wish I lived in base housing. At least there the internet still acts like you're stateside.


Oh well, if it weren't for living off base I wouldn't be able to have experienced the greatness of Korean commercials. So of course I'm going to share these.


The best I can tell is that this one is about a money exchange place. And it's always on.



And this one is for some lame cell phone. (All cell phones are lame if they aren't Blackberries or iPhones).



There's even a commercial that's set up like The Wizard of Oz, unfortunately I have no idea what it's about so I can't seem to find it. But, rest assured, I'm on the hunt.

Gyming

Why yes, I did just use gym as a verb. That's my favorite way to describe the act of going to the gym and actually doing things there. In all honesty, I've never been one to partake in physical activities. When I was in school PE was always my least favorite class. I mean who really enjoys participating in group sports when it's demanded of you, especially when you're not good at them. Anything that I actually needed to put forth any effort in I wasn't really a fan. I mean Avon and I (she's always been my number one gym partner) would walk to the line in dodge ball so we could be tapped out and walk around the gym instead of actually participating. Plus having a ball thrown at you when you know the intentions are for it to actually hit you is not something I'm ok with, those things hurt. Don't get me wrong, I loved going to the park and swinging on the swing sets, and playing on the little merry go round thing. I mean I still like to swing now, and I'm not ashamed. These are the types of activities I could get behind, not this whole running mess.


However, you can stick my butt on an elliptical and as long as I have something to look at and listen to I'm good to go. That's probably part of the reason why I don't mind going to the gym here so much, the ellipticals and treadmills all have tv screens attached to them and they're brand new. That's probably the reason behind a little incident that took place at the gym today. I had been on the elliptical for fifteen minutes and I felt like I was going to die. The whole time all I could think about was how not going for a week really must have slowed me down, or how I must be ridiculously out of shape even though I had no issues two weeks ago. Then my lovely husband looks over at me and starts to tell me to stop being lazy and to suck it up for four more minutes (thanks J), when he notices that my elliptical is set to a level 13 resistance. Apparently instead of turning up the volume on the tv I was slowly killing myself, but I didn't notice because I was listening to my iPod while watching Wheel of Fortune. At least I know I can still solve the puzzles before the contestants, even if I'm about to pass out. 

The Hair Salon

There are few things I enjoy more than getting my hair done. To me, there's nothing like going in looking one way and coming out looking slightly improved. I love to change it up with different color combinations and back home I would just set up an appointment and let my stylist just play as she would put it. Before I would know it I would look like a walking antenna, I would have so much foil in my hair, but it was great. And I was worried that I wouldn't be able to have that here.  I mean 1) I don't know where to go and 2) there's that whole language barrier thing.


Ok, so the not knowing where to go issue is kind of silly when it comes down to it. There's at least ten hair salons between our house and the base, and some of them even have signs written in English. Unfortunately, one of the first things we found out is that if a place speaks English or advertises in English they'll usually charge you an arm and a leg for whatever their services are. Plus you have to be extra careful about how many barber polls are spinning outside a shop because apparently those things indicate the "extra" services a shop or salon includes, and quite a few of those things are of the illegal nature. 

So, it was with this knowledge that I made the decision to just hit up the beauty shop in the BX. The fact that I was going here somewhat saddened me. I'm not really sure why. I mean I guess it has something to do with the fact that I've only gone to stand alone establishments, or that I was somewhat frightened that  they might not actually do a good job but people only go there because it's convenient. Either way, I was being completely ridiculous. The lady that did my hair was amazing. Her name was Ms Kim and her name alone immediately made me think of Lane's mom on Gilmore Girls. Not to mention she wasn't nearly as heavy handed as most Asians when it comes to brushing someone's hair. When I was a kid I always thought I was going to get whiplash when my mom would fix my hair. Plus, I finally got to experience that Curly Sue moment, where you have two people drying your hair at the same time. It was heavenly. And my hair came out even better than I expected. 


Ignore J looking blind in this one, but you can really see the blonde in it.

And in this one you can see the lowlights.