urinal

What would you do with an unused urinal in a women's bathroom???

in Hongdae

Hongdae is the Hongik University area in Seoul. It is a popular clubbing area for both Koreans and foreigners. Here are some randon pics of businesses around the Hongdae area. (I haven't actually been to any of these places.)a smoothie shopa hof (a sit down bar with a small food menu)the entrance... we were going to go there but decided we wanted something a bit more upbeat... we were feeling the need to danceummm...an eyewear shopHo Bar II. Yes, there is a Ho Bar I... and III, and IV and???Club The Hole

Harisu

A discussion the other night brought Harisu into the light again. One of links that I used in my previous post about Harisu no longer works, so I was looking for more links. She is now engaged and will probably be married sometime early this year. She is a model/actor/singer.

Here is her Temptation video:

If you don't know who Harisu is... well... check out the wikipedia page about her, or her international fan page.

More pictures of Harisu.

Happy New Year

Happy New Year to everyone.
Make it a good one!!!
Hopefully this year will be better than the last.
I'm hoping my streak of bad luck (that has lasted about a year now) will not follow through to the new year!!!!

Bill Clinton??? or...

What Famous Leader Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com
I actually ended up taking the test 4 times. There are 2 sets of questions, and the I got a different result depending on which set. 2 VERY DIFFERENT RESULTS!!! I got each of the 2 results twice. Bill Clinton was the first and 4th result. The other one...

IGA Mart

It is a 24 hour convenience store similar to a 7-11. There are many stores like that around Korea: IGA Mart, 7-11, Orange Mart, Family Mart, GS Mart, etc.

a notebook

Christmas Day

Christmas Day, Jason and I went to the Wolfhound, an Irish Pub (THE Irish Pub) in Itaewon. Irish Tom had organized the outing and had made reservations.

[this photo by Janine]

It was a buffet style Christmas dinner with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, beans, veggies, buns, shellfish (yuck), and raw fish (also yuck), among other things. There was a group of 12 of us there. Kieran and Dairin et al went to the Hilton Hotel for their Christmas dinner. It was twice the price and they got only a small bit of turkey. Anyway... The dinner started around 4:30 or so and ended fairly early (7ish). The group slowly shrank as everyone went their own way for the rest of the evening (some home, some elsewhere). Jason and I stayed for more drinks. A few of the people we met the previous night at Kieran and Dairin's were there, as well (all Irish, I think).

some of the groupKing Yiannis Tom and DavidKing JasonKing Richard's Christmas cigarmost of the group [this photo by Janine]

"Halloween without the candy" ???

South Korea Encourages Prostitute-Free Holidays
Why Party With Prostitutes When You Can See a Movie?
What's New Year's Eve without drunken co-workers and hookers? Well, in South Korea, where office parties often devolve into bachelor parties, it would be like Halloween without the candy (almost). Nevertheless, in an effort to stomp out Auld Lang Syne debauchery, Seoul's Ministry of Gender Equality is giving away free movie tickets to workers who pledge not to hire prostitutes this December 31st. [...]
[washingtonpost.com]

South Korea combats prostitution with cash offer to businesses
SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea has launched a campaign offering cash to men if they promise not to buy sex from prostitutes after year-end office parties, government officials said Tuesday.
The move is aimed at changing the party culture in this male-dominated society by winning commitments from male employees to abstain from hiring prostitutes after the parties finish, said an official at the Gender Equality and Family Ministry,
who asked not to be identified because of policy.
A total of $5,000 will be paid to companies based on the largest number of volunteers who sign a written pledge, the official said. Some 1,300 companies so far have participated in the campaign.
South Korea has stepped up its crackdown on prostitution since 2004 when the legislature passed new anti-prostitution laws targeting human traffickers, pimps and prostitutes. The practice remains widespread, however.
[BostonHerald.com]

Prostitution is illegal here, yes... but...
I know in Yongsan, the red light district (a long street with doors and display windows lit up in red) is right around the corner from the local police office. The anti-prostitution laws have not made the street even change its look. And you can still see women sitting in the windows at times.

a turtle tummy

The kindy's first floor turtles.