Hungover Eye for the Drunk Guy

I figured I might as well post something a little bloggy, since it's Saturday night, the little girl has just gone to bed, and I have nothing better to do (well, I could read a book, but I'm too damned tired and that'll put me to sleep faster than Superman fucks).

Plus, blog entries about getting drunk seem to be par for the course for Koreacentric expatriate blogs, and I realized today that I don't have a single one regarding what is arguably my favorite pastime.

Tonight I'm busting my cherry, so to speak.

Last night I met up with Zyzyfer (not his real name), who used to live in Bundang but who recently moved to Seoul and started a new job. I met him at Samsung Plaza, and, both of us starving, we searched for a place to appease our discerning appetites. We settled on a sam gyup sal place specializing in 'kimchi sam gyup sal,' which we ordered, but which didn't appear any different from regular sam gyup sal except that it was served with kimchi soup (not chigae, just watery kimchi soup). And kimchi of course, but that's to be expected, right?

[As a brief aside, nothing beats kimchi cooked on the grill. They need to market grilled kimchi-flavored potato chips here. Why hasn't anyone thought of this before? Your guess is as good as mine.]

Afterwards we headed to a place called Monkey Beach Bar. Before dinner some guy handed us a flier and explained, in rather good English, about the establishment. It was 'Thai style,' whatever that means (lady-boys and people trying to steal your passport?). The bottom line for both of us was that it was dirt cheap. Beers were 2000 won and shots of tequila were 1000. A price like that for a shot of tequila tends to make me think that the booze is watered down, but it tasted pretty darned potent to me.

The problem was that, when we entered, the bar maiden said that they were full (the place isn't that large). So we went to a 'western bar' called Posse instead and had some Millers and shots of tequilla, which were a lot pricier than at Monkey Beach.

After a few drinks at Posse we returned to Monkey Beach and were able to get seats at a table. Actually, tables were our seats. two rectangular tables sat on opposite sides of a circular, raised table. Except for the poor circulation in my legs from sitting in a such a way, I wasn't complaining. The drinks were cheap, the staff friendly, and the atmosphere nice.

We remained there for a few hours, talking philosophy, and then headed, drunkenly, back to my place. My wife, god bless her, said she didn't mind having a guest stay the night. We got home at about 3, cracked open some Budweisers that I had in the fridge, poured out some Pringles (Tomato & Garlic, which is pretty similar to ketchup chips for all you Canadian snack food junkies) and watched half of Collateral on DVD. At a quarter after 4, Zyz and I split a microwaveable pizza pocket, drank some coke and called it a night. The plan was to have Burger King for lunch (very effective in curing a hangover; the PR people for Burger King should actively promote this) and head down to the Tancheon river to play basketball.

Which we did. Pretty amazing, because I -- and I assume most others -- talk out of my ass a lot when drunk. I inwardly postulated that there was a high probability we'd wake up in the morning and be too tired and hungover to do much else than grunt and groan. But, remarkably, both of us felt pretty good when we awoke, despite lack of sleep. I had some emergency work to take care of (thanks, Mr. Lee, for sending me a text message at 5:30am to let me know that you needed the assignment handed in ASAP) , and then we ventured off at a quarter to 12, bidding farewell to my polite yet visably annoyed wife.

BK, as always, was the move. Then we took a cab to the river and played ("tried to play" is perhaps more accurate) b-ball. Man, was it ever humid today. The sun was hidden behind a thick haze, yet I still managed somehow to get a sunburn after being outside for close to three hours.

[Second aside: I once read that one can get a sunburn through glass, but my father, a scientist, contends that it's impossible.]

Some Korean high school students who spoke great English (why is it that I always encounter Koreans who speak English well only when I'm out with other expats and never alone or with my wife?) asked to join us, and we played for close to two hours. The heat and humidity finally got to me, so I decided it was time to head home. However, since I neglected to put on deoderant before venturing out, I smelled terrible, and, not wanting to subject innocent public transit riders to my fetid stench, opted to walk home rather than ride the bus. It took me roughly 45 minutes, and by the time I arrived back at Chez Sparkles I was insanely exhausted. I took a shower, turned on the a/c and lied in bed, watching Saving Private Ryan before falling asleep.

I awoke an hour later, hearing the rabid cries of children scampering around our apartment. My wife had decided to serve raw fish to the mother and children who live next door. After they left, I got up and cleaned the apartment. I wasn't feeling too great, likely from all the heat (don't you just love how people who have drunken a bit too much the night prior will find every possible reason to explain their shitty condition, except for the most obvious one?). Dehydrated, I managed to drink about 4 liters of water, but all that seemed to do was give me stomach cramps and the runs.

So now here I am, nursing a beer in an effort to quell the belated beast of last night's debauchery.

And I'm actually starting to feel better. Maybe I'll have a nip of whiskey to preserve the feeling.

Or not.