Jan 29 to Feb 4 - Recoop in Seoul

Ok, I've had a week for my stomach to recover from Chinese cuisine and enough time to say "there!" to all my family who'd been asking "when you gonna update that blog?!". I came to Seoul just in time for 설날 (Sulnal), the Lunar New Year holiday, held all over Asia. Actually, it's celebrated everywhere but Seoul, because every last city slicker flees the capital for warmer lands or hometowns. That's ok, there were plenty of empty rooms at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, where Jinhee and I had time to unwind (she has a friend who works high in the Hyatt ranks) and gets crazy discounts, sometimes free stays. She's a keeper ;)

My pal PJ, Heather and Kelly's little bro (the third Evans installation in Korea) came back to Seoul for the sixth time, this time to stay and attend Yonsei University's international school. He'll be here for the next four years and come out bilingual and with a business/economics degree from a reknowned school. And maybe 20-30,000 dollars in debt. But that's what family is for! Anyway, he'll be staying at the chateau de la gangnam (my place) until I come back from my next adventure, or he finds an apartment, either way.

Speaking of my next sojourn, it's time to unveil my next planless plan - 3 weeks in Thailand and Cambodia... alone! Actually, Jinhee is planning to come down 2 weeks later, so we'll have 5-6 days together, but I'll be flying solo for the bulk of it. I'm leaving for Bangkok early tomorrow morning, and will probably just stay up all night tonight, especially if I meet up with PJ and company at the new NB club in Apgujeong.

If you're wondering, "why Thailand?", I'll have to prove it via blog, but know this - it was 14 degrees F (-9C) in broad daylight in Seoul yesterday. Add a little wind, and it dipped down to 4 F (-14C), leaving us with no will to step outside at night unless we had a pretty good reason (eating was barely justified). In comparison, Bangkok right now is a toasty 91F (33C) by day and 75F (23C) by night. It'll be tempting to stay until the weather is bearable back home in Seoul, but I have to come back by March for work and korean class.