20041202110000: what in the world...

ok this goes down as the funniest spelling of the year .... kinda threw me off for a little bit before i realized what it really was...

20041202103000: irony comes in all shapes and sizes

so why would you wanna call a bird like that the "great tit"... i think the bird should press for sexual abasement of the highest degree... are y'all animal rights activitists listening???

20041130113000: jeonju fifa world cup stadium

inside the jeonju stadium... having a quiet and ponderous moment

20041128030000: ladies at murphy's @ the pusan marriott

so what are the chances of finding a puerto rican woman in pusan, korea... almost zero right... oh well wrong!! meet ovidia (on the right) from san juan... who teaches english to the koreans... nice meeting you senorita.

20041127200000: can we not eat at mcdonalds

ok.. this is officially the most extravagant mcdonalds i've ever seen...

20041127120000: buddha be my guiding light

geben Sie mir die Kraft, um mit der ganzen Schwäche zu kämpfen
geben Sie mir die Macht, mit Übel zu kämpfen
geben Sie mir das Geschenk, um andere zu bringen und ihnen das Licht zu zeigen

20041127100000: lang lebe deutschland!!

Lang lebe mein Heimatland!! Können die Farben des schwarzen, roten und gelben Flatterns hoch oben!!

20041127000000: let's get soju-fied

ughh... soju is the shit... after 10 shots it's karaoke time !!! LET'S GET SOJU-FIED !!! 우리들을"soju-fied"을 얻는 시키십시요 !!

20041122115800: two minutes to midnight.. guitar sessions

well nothing better than to wind down and shred a little on the axe for a bit...two minutes before midnight.... .. and wake up your neighbors ;-)!!!

20041122120000: no food like mom's

yes it's true... no matter how articulate the recipe of a fine french gourmet or an italian chef... nothing comes even close to mom's.

20041121180000: home at last... and gosh it's nice

so this is my first time at my new home in gunsan... never thought we'd live here in the first place but what the heck... can't get enough of the korean gizmos on the toilet seats or for that fact anywhere in the house... click here to see pictures.

20041121170000: ride back to gunsan

so finally we left seoul towards gunsan... that's where my home is these days... nice ride back home... in my dad's ssangyong chairman cm600s

sedan... watched terminator 3... while getting a massage in the back seat... so hell yeah i'm pampered...and proud of it ;-).

20041121133000: good desi food in seoul... really!!

yeah it's true .... there's this place called 'ashoka' in the famous itewan market
in seoul... right on the 3rd floor of the hamilton hotel... try the buffet on sundays.. has very eclectic indian dishes... chicken manipuri, andaman chilli fish - and the food tastes great too... all for approx $15 buffet lunch.... not bad for a place where indians are scarce.

20041121113000: buddham sharanam gachchaami

if you didn't quite get the meaning of the title... it means... "i seek my refuge in the buddha"... i think after all these years of more or less escapism and dodging any semblance of spirituality, i think that i have realized that in some sense my beliefs have some congruence with the buddhist teachings of good karma, non-existence etc... so i have decided to flirt with the idea of seeing how buddhism works for me... maybe get somewhere close to salvation from this god-forsaken world.... we'll see... did my first 'prayer' in front of lord buddha at the chyogesa temple seoul...
felt weird to submit to a master is some sense... but knowing that he was a rajput prince and probably the most respectful amongst the lot... and influential too... so what the heck... we all need a guiding elder brother figure don't we?

20041121023000: here we go again.. attack of mr. jetlag

here i am awake again... at 2:30AM ... in limbo between borderline sanity and sleeplessness... listening to w.a.s.p. - crimson idol... cool album... that's 10 yrs ago... decade of aggression.... metal will live foreover... 'nuff said... gute nacht!!

20041120220000: room service.. thai food.. yummy

ate some thai food... time to pass out... might be awake again in a couple of hours... the hours of sleep beckon... must go to sleep....

20041120200000: seoul tower (not impressed)

maybe i've way too many of these back home in the usa... very similar to the seattle space needle... and almost 5000 krw (~ $5) to get up there. if the night's clear u could get a good view of seoul downtown... had to get out though .. the jetlag was killing me... enter sandman and pour sand upon my eyes.... they grow heavy with the weight of slumber.... ughh... need to shake off the curse.

20041120150000: szechuan chinese food rocks!!

yeah szechuan chinese sure does rock... and it's not the regular crappy chinese take out in the usa... this is family style... burns a hole through your tongue but still hits the heart... and remember don't tip the waiter... it's considered rude in korea(!!)

20041120120000: remember the joseon dynasty

went to the downtown museum for the ancient relics of the joseon dynasty, saw the palace (see below)

and finally the emperor's pavillion...with a cute korean guide...named ms. cho...

20041120110000: shop-a-lotte-vaganza

in the lotte shopping center and the current exchange rate is about 1078 korean "won" to a usa dollar... so shopping is fun... but goddam expensive... electronics are six months newer than what u'd see in the local circuit city or best buy... and u thought usa was really out there huh??!! although it's fun carrying 50,000 krw's in your wallet... feel like a rich dude... although that would translate to $50... i'm such a cheap-ass.

20041120103000: starbucks korean style

ok... so nothing is different here.. starbucks look the same except for the hangul equivalent....

and yeah there is no venti... only small, tall, grande... remember to be nice to the girl across the counter.... and say "Kam-sa-ham-ni-da" before u leave.

20041120030000: sleepless in seoul....

... and wonderin' what to do... got in on 20041119220000 and tryin to get some sleep on the heavenly westin bed. can't do. watch some stupid chick flick on the 42' plasma tv... the bathrooms are loaded with bvlgari accessories...
might steal some for home ;-).