Wiggin' out after many a pint

Not quite sure if this blog will end up being written by me as much as I'm being written by it. I love that I feel compelled to click click clack for you all so I'd best be getting out to the world and painting the town red- or green in this weekend's case! Between chasing the Guinness man and sucking down helium filled balloons, it was a good time had by our wee little gal group.
























St. Patty's day in Seoul was a strange site to be sure! Now, I know they love their beer and at times even a Guinness but there was no beer-dom in the streets not even behind a pint blimp. Wrapping around a city block over and over, spots of green and strange music concoctions of Korean drums and Scottish bagpipes- odd, very odd. The pubs were full and no one could grab a drink unless they were seated at a table. So after 30 minutes I got myself a 10,000 won Guinness and waited an additional 10 minutes for my special frosty mug request. The white froth atop the liquid splendor just made my the 1/4 Irish in me happy as a leprechaun. Might I add that I did a jig?





After the St. Patty's day parade antics, a bit of Guinness at a Texan pub, came home to prep for the mass birthday party of ladies at my school.
I believe I resembled some kind of leftover this morning, slightly drag queenish after wiggin' it up last night in Hongdae as my alter ego, Viv. It was an early night though, only out until 3:30am after a lot of mischief.

Cabbing in sardine-packed traffic, singing James Brown in the car making our cabbie steal a smile we arrived to Go-Go's and then Ska II downstairs.



All 19 of us had far to much fun, we were a colorful bunch to say the least. Dancing with cute Japanese boys to bad music at Ska II, had to leave in order to yuk it up at an 80's bar and I actually, gasp, got the entire floor to Electric Slide- can I tell you it was amazing!? What night can't end with a little Dirty Dancing soundtrack and Madonna? Working up a sweat in a wig is hard work, lemme tell ya!



Had to hurry home for a good night's rest as I'm heading for a little Buddhist temple love outside of the city. Two days of gorgeous sunshine and blue skies, a first in months! Yippee and I get to go monk it up on a Sunday in a new Seoul
search day.


After a ride on the green line and the blue, a cab ride too, we arrived at Hwayesa Temple. The International Buddhist Temple that offers lots of meditation retreats and hiking trails. What beauty to see. The edifices reached back in age to 1888 when they were reconstructed after a fire (they were originally built in the 1500s). The air was bitter cold and fresh, it tasted so good. The wind picked up the smoke from the incense burning on alters and the chanting hums of the monks in each little prayer house. Each of us girls just swallowed up the sights of trees, although barren, and the sunshine rays.

We followed our basking with a dharma session with a visiting Master who was really into smacking his wooden stick and kept mentioning 30 blows to give, Korean Buddhism is a tad different after all. Apparently there's a different speaker every Sunday and I'm not quite sure what to make of our slightly sadistic monk today. Nevertheless it was gorgeous day, filled with delicious slumber and sweetness at the base of the Seoul mountains- a nice change of scenery to say the least.