Hongdae Punk Rock & More

( Gangnam's wavy building )

Friday Morning

Now that Amarisse & I have started our own breakfast club that meets every Friday morning at Butterfinger Pancakes in Gangnam, I feel as though my weekends start a little earlier. We met up at about ten o'clock, exchanged greetings & walked down to Butterfinger. Sadly, it was so busy that we wouldn't be able to sit down until eleven; I'm not sure why, but the upstairs seating area was closed down. Bummer. We decided to go out for McBreakfast, which strangely enough, was served with two AAA batteries. Not sure why. After breakfast number one, we decided to go back to Butterfinger to eat pancakes. If there is one thing that is better than breakfast, it has to be two breakfasts.

( Gangnam )

( Gangnam )

( Amarisse & the giant menu )

Friday Night

With another semester coming to an end, Avalon likes to give the teachers a little somethin' somethin'. All of the Korean teachers went to see a play together, and seeing as though we wouldn't be able to comprehend a Korean play, they gave the foreign teachers 120,000 won to have dinner. We took this opportunity to visit our favorite koreans. We paid Oma a visit for some galbi and drinks. We overindulged our selves all night. Lots to drink, lots to eat. It was a nice time; it's pretty rare for all of us, including Jen, to get together and do anything. The majority of the party moved on to Jurok after dinner, but I called it an early night so that I could be up and in Seoul early.

( JC )

( SIDES! )

( Jen )

( the gang with Oma & Surin )

( Surin: dong-sang )

( Justin )

( Erik )

( another group shot )

( Connor )

( Matt's cousin was in town for a visit, too. )

Saturday

I woke up nice an early and headed into Seoul for a little alone time. I went to my favorite coffee shop, first: Coffeest. I enjoyed some fresh, delicious coffee while I waited for Erik to make his way into Seoul. We met up in Dongdaemun to do a little bit of shopping. We actually ended up being interviewed for some documentary that a few guys were making about this big shopping area. Pretty fun stuff. Chelsea came out and met up with us. We had some lunch and skated around in this big open area by the Disco Jump.

Erik met up with some boarding friends for another lunch, while Chelsea and I went out to Hongdae for coffee at Coffee Lab, another great coffee shop. After this, we met up with Erik and Martin to pick up some body jewelry and goto a punk show. I actually bought a new nose ring for only 5,000 won. It was a steal. Then, we drank a bit at a bar called, Garage Bar. It really did feel like you were in a garage. I liked it. Then we called some information hotline and went over to Liveclub Ssam for some punk music. I had way too much fun at this. I am super sore today because of it. There wasn't even a real pit, as much as there was an open area where Erik & I were beating the shit out of each other. I caught an elbow in the jaw that is still paining me today. After the show, I headed home for a nice night's sleep in my own bed. Erik stayed out all night. I wonder what he's up to, now?

( a new fence around one of the museums in Gwanghwamun )

( another )

( stuff )

( punk band )

( punk band )

( punk band )
( I think this band was called Art of Parties )

Directions:

Butterfinger Pancakes: Exit 5 Gangnam Station, Line 2. When you leave the exit, turn right and walk down the pedestrian road. You should pass a few coffee shops on your left, including a Holly's Coffee. When you reach a main road, you'll see an American Apparel across the street. Turn left and walk about 50 meters, and you'll see it on the left. It has a blue and orange sign.