* Norabang (karaoke/singing room) - Friday January 20th
* Night caps - Sunday January 22nd.
So for our first mission Helyn and I decided to get in there with some local food. Helyn had been raving about 감자탕 (Gamja tang) for ages and kept insisting I try it. Well with nothing else to do on my Thursday night I sent out invites and went for dinner with Helyn and joined by two other friends, Rodney and Megan.
We went to a nice, fairly large restaurant in Gyeongsan which serves really good gamja tang. The restaurant was special in that it was a Korean family restaurant. What this means is: a) you have the choice of sitting at a table or on the floor, b) it was very big compared to other Korean restaurants and c) it was really quiet with soft music playing in the background. I loved the atmosphere. There weren't people shouting across the room to each other every 3 minutes, as is the case usually in Korean restaurants.
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| Our waitress cutting the meat and kimchi up into smaller pieces. |
It's basically meat and vegetables in broth or soup. Together this makes up the 'tang'. The ingredients include sesame leaves, kimchi (both spicy and non spicy aka 'white' kimchi) some potatoes, bits of rice cake, sprouts and of course meat- pork in this case. All this cooked in a water-based broth with chilli powder and other condiments. The equivalent of this back home would be stew, I guess. Soooooo delicious!!! It was my first time trying it and definitely will go back there!
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| Tong master, Rodney doing his thing while Megan gives moral support. |
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| Just about ready to eat. Mmmmm. |
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| All done!!! |
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| Stuffed. Rodney about to pass out. |
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| Helyn and I looking lovely as always. |
For this mission I decided to stay in my 'home city' Gyeongsan, for three reasons: 1) It's the week before the Lunar New Year (huge national holiday in Korea) so getting around is a nightmare. Train and bus tickets were all sold out days in advance. 2) I wanted to stay in my city as it has a bustling day and nightlife and I feel like I haven't taken full advantage of it. 3) My friend Winston's brother and sister came over from South Africa so I got a chance to hang out with them and together with the rest of the Gyeongsanites showed them an amazing time!!
On Friday night we decided to go to a 노래방/ noraebang (singing room/ karaoke) as suggested by my friend Lea. Together she and I do a mean duet. This is by far one of my most favourite things to do in Korea. Time goes so fast when you're singing!!!
We spent exactly 5 hours singing our hearts out. Started at about 9pm and walked out at 2am.
For those are unfamiliar with this concept, it's basically a room dedicated to singing- karaoke style. Room sizes vary from small (about 2 or 3 people) to large. We had a large room with exactly 10 people in it.
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| Steph warming up. |
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| Family affair - Winston, Amey and Adrian. |
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| No idea what song Lea and I were singing! |
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| Paul, Steph and Tim collaborating while Amey dances in the background :) |
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| Tim, New friend Ross, Steph and Paul. |
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| Amey and I sing lead while Adrian and Tim sing background and dance. |
What would karaoke be if everyone didn't join in???
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| EVERYONE!!!! |
Thanks to everyone for coming out! Not only did we show Amey and Adrian a good time, but I was also able to thoroughly enjoy myself and spend some time with great friends. I'm gonna miss this!!! Love to you all!!!
There's nothing like ending a lazy Sunday afternoon with some great food and drinks and the company of great friends.
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| Fried food platter at Barket. |
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| New Tim, Old Tim, Megan, Rodney, Paul and Me. |
Week 1 successfully completed! I have some exciting stuff planned for the coming weeks!!!
