I spoke with John on Wednesday while he was in the field and he told me that he had booked a hotel, arranged for a sitter, and planned a weekend away for us, BUT because of his time in the field he just couldn't get to the list (yes, he actually wrote a list) of all the things that needed to be packed and prepared for Caden's overnight stay with our friends. So, I got everyone packed and on Saturday morning we dropped Caden off, grabbed some lunch, and headed up to Seoul.
We made a brief stop at the Chosen Gift Shop at Yongsan. I've, sadly never visited the Chosen (or is it Chosun??) and I've lived here over a year. It's a store at Yongsan (the "army base" in Seoul that is about an hour from where we live) that sells items from other nearby countries such as Thailand, China, and Japan. I apparently really like the Thai decorating style...
John had made reservations at the Hyatt. We'd been told this hotel is amazing and beautiful, and it was except for the fact that for some reason they put us in the un-renovated rooms. John paid over double what we would have paid to stay in the very nice Dragon Hill Lodge (on Yongsan... the Army base nearby). Although the Dragon Hill is not a luxury hotel by any means, it was several steps above what they were trying to give us at the Hyatt. Needless to say for the amount of money he was going to spend at the Hyatt, he was not satisfied with the room, especially after he'd researched it online and the room was spacious and contemporary with a nice big plasma TV, etc. The room we got was very old and dated, musty smelling and the TV was maybe a 13 inch, and not plasma, flat screen, or anything of the like. So, we called the trusty old Dragon Hill and made a reservation. We checked out of the Hyatt, but not before touring a newly renovated room in their attempt to get us to stay... but the sour taste was already in our mouth and besides, we'd save a good bit of money if we left anyway.
John on the phone trying to make a reservation for us to move to another hotel...
After checking in to our hotel room (for good this time), we headed off to dinner. It was my choice between two Italian places (Agio's and Sortino's... one in Itaewon, the other in Insadong... both restaurants I'd visited on the Women's Retreat last month). I chose Sortino's because of their pizza and for the time factor involved in getting there. On the walk up to Sortino's we window shopped through Itaewon and John let me buy a scarf and gloves. Dinner was fabulous and we totally splurged on wines and dessert! It was wonderful!
Dinner at Sortino's
After dinner we walked to Starbucks for a little coffee (to keep us up late for the coming show... we usually are in bed by 10 at the latest and aren't used to late nights so we needed the caffeine)! After the Starbucks we decided to save $20 from the long cab ride and kill time by taking the subway to the show instead. John had bought us tickets to see "Jump!"
Jump was fabulous and I highly recommend it to all my friends here in Korea (you will need reservations as seating is limited... oh, and I wouldn't recommend kids for it unless they are older... it can be for kids, but it's more for adults)! I think the show visits New York and a few other select cities every year or two as well. It is a martial arts show. I know that doesn't sound that exciting, but it is! Do you remember watching cartoon's as a kid (ahem, or grown up for those big kids still out there)? Do you remember the ones where they literally wouldn't utter a single word, but you were captivated and could follow the story completely even without the characters speaking? That is very much how Jump is! There is very little speaking, and the few words spoken are in English.
It is the story of a family: grandfather, mom, dad, the drunken and crazy uncle, the granddaughter, and her suitor who comes to visit the family...oh, and two burglars in the final scene. In Korea it is not uncommon at all for extended families like that to all live together so the story is supposed to be of a typical Korean family, but still not so typical. They get in to all kinds of funny predicaments and arguments and it is just so stinking funny and very action packed. The sound effects are great, too! At one point they get an audience member to come on stage and duel the crazy, drunken uncle...well guess who got picked? JOHN!! And he was so good! He totally played along and was so much fun to watch! I wish I could have taken pictures, but they are very strict about it at the theater... they even made us spit out our gum!
We posed like the Koreans (always posing with peace signs) outside of the Theater.
John with the crazy drunken uncle he got to "beat up" on stage.After Jump, we walked back to the subway stop and saw a street vendor who had been selling food washing out her cook top in the nasty, dirty, street drain! Nice!!!
Word of warning to those of you who enjoy the occasional street vendor food... they very well may clean their equipment in the street as well!
I told John I'd post these funny pictures, but these three are just a small sampling of the many we took on the subway ride! John just could NOT look normal in the pictures no matter how hard he tried. We laughed and laughed trying to figure out what he needed to do differently to look, well.... normal! :) Not that the pictures are that great of me, but he just looks hilarious!
We had such a good time and (again) I highly recommend this show! The next morning we did some shopping down in Itaewon before heading home. My dear husband gets huge brownie points for this wonderful, surprise birthday weekend! It also marks the first time that we've both been away from Caden at the same time.... and we're doing it again soon as we travel to China!
A quick shopping trip before heading home.
Can you tell from my expression that I'm only tolerating this for the camera...
Ick! They were so aggressive!
John's turn. He let them feast on his flesh for several minutes...
This picture really captures the experience of it best... 
