Last Saturday morning was a luxurious affair - a long, lazy example of the morning after the night before. Sans hangover, thankfully, because, a) I didn't drink very much and b) even if I had, I just don't get hangovers.
( I think I've mentioned before how much God loves me! )
Anyway, I was actually in my apartment for long enough to clean and tidy it. This is something which I've not had the chance to do for over a month, and I actually LIKE housework, so that will speak volumes of my deliciously hectic life. Hence I spent the day doing a little light vacuuming and some very serious battery re-charging until 9 that night. Then it was a case of "Once more into the breach, dear Friends...." Our objective this night was 'Benchwarmers', one of Ulsan's most popular foreigner bars.
I learned about this hot spot long before I left Ireland, courtesy of the 'Ulsan Online' website. I would never have predicted it taking me over four months to darken its doors!
I guess I just fell in with the wrong crowd!
Lush and I met in Mugeo and dined at one of my favourite Japanese places, 'Isakaya' where I had my first plum wine: different, but delicious. Then on into Shinae and through a veritable warren to find the bar. I would never have found it without a guide. Lush had decreed that since I was Irish I simply had to have a concoction called an 'Irish Car Bomb' - Guiness into which you drop a shot glass with Jamesons and Bailey and immediately chug the lot of it before the Baileys curdles. I got it down in one shot without retching, which seriously impressed my neighbour the Bar Prop. Bomb is right though! That thing hit my stomach like 4lbs of lead! So when our gang from the night before were all set to relocate to W Bar, I did not want to know. Quieter, more sedentary pursuits were called for, so Lush and I headed back to her place to watch the first episode of 'Hana Kimi', one of our favourite dramas.
I crawled home just after 2am, tired, but well pleased with my weekend so far.
The next day, Sunday, I was up and off to help out with the Youth Group at our church. Hmmm, help out sounds way too selfless - I love spending time with these kids, they're so bright and funny and so very committed to their faith. Not to mention willing to help me with my Korean pronunciation!
After church I began what theoretically was a simple bus ride to the grocery store.
Here comes the Sweet Serendipity bit: I caught my usual 104 to the University, no worries there, but then brain freeze kicked in and I caught the wrong bus. Before you could say Jack Robinson I was bussing through countryside. What the frick!! I will admit to having a slight panic attack at this point, not having enough Korean to make my predicament known to the bus driver, or even just ask where the hell we were! Thankfully, that only lasted a minute or so and sanity returned in the from of my Inner Copped On Person announcing pithily: You idiot. All you have to do is get off the bus, cross the road and catch a bus right back the way you came! Sheesh!!
And that Dear Readers, is precisely what I did. It gave the bus driver a bit of a land when I pressed the stop button seemingly in the middle of nowhere. He asked if I really wanted to get off here?
"Neh! Yogi kwenchanaiyo!" (Yes! Here is fine!)
I few minutes later I found the reason for his surprise, we were 10km from a major tourist attraction, the Ulsan Wildflower Learning Centre, which he had naturally assumed was the Waygooks destination.
I didn't care. It was a glorious day and I had my parasol. I was in the middle of rice paddies surrounded by mountains. See for yourself:
I don't know why it is, but the very shape of the mountains around here captivates me. I think it might be because it reminds me of images from 'L'Indochine' a movie set in Vietnam which I watched as an impressionable young teen and one which formed my earliest impressions of Asia.
It slowly dawned on me that this was the first day in weeks where I had spent several hours out and about on my own. It gave me a chance to slow down and count my blessings. Yes, yes, I know that anyone with half an eye can see me crowing about my blessings fifty times a week on my Facebook stati, but they are off the top of my head instant reactions. That Sunday, all to myself, I got a chance to be still and let the realisation of my good fortune sink into my bones.
It's heady stuff, I tell ya, being this happy ALL the time!
( I think I've mentioned before how much God loves me! )
Anyway, I was actually in my apartment for long enough to clean and tidy it. This is something which I've not had the chance to do for over a month, and I actually LIKE housework, so that will speak volumes of my deliciously hectic life. Hence I spent the day doing a little light vacuuming and some very serious battery re-charging until 9 that night. Then it was a case of "Once more into the breach, dear Friends...." Our objective this night was 'Benchwarmers', one of Ulsan's most popular foreigner bars.
I learned about this hot spot long before I left Ireland, courtesy of the 'Ulsan Online' website. I would never have predicted it taking me over four months to darken its doors!
I guess I just fell in with the wrong crowd!
Lush and I met in Mugeo and dined at one of my favourite Japanese places, 'Isakaya' where I had my first plum wine: different, but delicious. Then on into Shinae and through a veritable warren to find the bar. I would never have found it without a guide. Lush had decreed that since I was Irish I simply had to have a concoction called an 'Irish Car Bomb' - Guiness into which you drop a shot glass with Jamesons and Bailey and immediately chug the lot of it before the Baileys curdles. I got it down in one shot without retching, which seriously impressed my neighbour the Bar Prop. Bomb is right though! That thing hit my stomach like 4lbs of lead! So when our gang from the night before were all set to relocate to W Bar, I did not want to know. Quieter, more sedentary pursuits were called for, so Lush and I headed back to her place to watch the first episode of 'Hana Kimi', one of our favourite dramas.
I crawled home just after 2am, tired, but well pleased with my weekend so far.
The next day, Sunday, I was up and off to help out with the Youth Group at our church. Hmmm, help out sounds way too selfless - I love spending time with these kids, they're so bright and funny and so very committed to their faith. Not to mention willing to help me with my Korean pronunciation!
After church I began what theoretically was a simple bus ride to the grocery store.
Here comes the Sweet Serendipity bit: I caught my usual 104 to the University, no worries there, but then brain freeze kicked in and I caught the wrong bus. Before you could say Jack Robinson I was bussing through countryside. What the frick!! I will admit to having a slight panic attack at this point, not having enough Korean to make my predicament known to the bus driver, or even just ask where the hell we were! Thankfully, that only lasted a minute or so and sanity returned in the from of my Inner Copped On Person announcing pithily: You idiot. All you have to do is get off the bus, cross the road and catch a bus right back the way you came! Sheesh!!
And that Dear Readers, is precisely what I did. It gave the bus driver a bit of a land when I pressed the stop button seemingly in the middle of nowhere. He asked if I really wanted to get off here?
"Neh! Yogi kwenchanaiyo!" (Yes! Here is fine!)
I few minutes later I found the reason for his surprise, we were 10km from a major tourist attraction, the Ulsan Wildflower Learning Centre, which he had naturally assumed was the Waygooks destination.
I didn't care. It was a glorious day and I had my parasol. I was in the middle of rice paddies surrounded by mountains. See for yourself:
So I rambled about happily for a bit and then ambled over to the bus stop. Parasol notwithstanding I was damn glad to get on the air conditioned bus. After all that walking about in the heat, there was nothing for it after getting back to Mugeodong, but to head into Holly's Coffee for some recuperating.
Their tag line is "Fresh coffee in a Romantic Space" and they deliver both. I spent a blissful 90 minutes reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows while listening to Jazz and Classical music.
Just what the doctor ordered:
It slowly dawned on me that this was the first day in weeks where I had spent several hours out and about on my own. It gave me a chance to slow down and count my blessings. Yes, yes, I know that anyone with half an eye can see me crowing about my blessings fifty times a week on my Facebook stati, but they are off the top of my head instant reactions. That Sunday, all to myself, I got a chance to be still and let the realisation of my good fortune sink into my bones.
It's heady stuff, I tell ya, being this happy ALL the time!
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