Louise's Seoul

Birthday Part Deux

Last Saturday Songsu was dragged to central Seoul knowing that a 'suprise' was in store. I tricked him into thinking that we were going to the Gyeongbukgong area, because he had been bothering me all week about giving him clues as to where I intended to take him. When he guessed Gyeongbukgong I just gave this kind of sheepish smile, to which he responded with a feeling of pride that he had worked out where we were headed for. However that feeling soon evapourated when we got off at a completely different subway station (Jongno). No longer did he feel like Mr Smartypants, but like a complete numpty.

As we walked the streets of Jongno he continued to nag about where we were going. I just silently made him follow me, until we neared the pub. "Oh, we are half an hour early for the thing I want to take you to, let's get a drink in here while we are waiting" I suggested. So we entered the pub and I quickly scanned the crowd.

Within seconds I had him at a very long table with 9 of his friends sat down waiting for him to arrive. "Happy Birthday!" they all cheered in Korean as a suprised Songsu took his place in front of the birthday cake. Songsu was completely bewildered and asked everbody about how they organised the party. Eventually he found out that it was my idea, and I had asked one of his friends to contact everybody else for a suprise birthday party for Songsu. In fact, the day that I started making arrangements, Songsu told me that he had already arranged a boys night with his friends for the same day and time. Panicking, I demanded that he cancelled his appointment because I had arranged a suprise for him weeks ago etc. So he cancelled the plan, and I got on the phone the next day to the same friend, whom I then asked to phone these boys and tell them to come to the party. How suprised he was to see the same boys turn up at the party and therefore the cancelled appointment was not really cancelled at all!

People arrived in dribs and drabs over the course of the evening, topping at around 20. Many photographs were taken, especially ones of Songsu drunk as a skunk wearing his 'I'm 31" badge, but unfortunately not with my camera because I forgot it. However, I really hope that this is a night he remember for the rest of his life.

(5 days later, despite repeatedly giving his friend all the credit for the suprise birthday party, I'm still receiving special attention from Songsu and basking in the glory of "the Best Girlfriend in the World" quote).

posted by Louise @ 3:59 pm 0 comments

He's a Year Older!

Today is my other half's 31st birthday, and because I work late tonight we decided to celebrate part A of his birthday last night. I meet him in Itaewon (Seoul brown line) after he finished work, a place that I detest due to the overwhelming number of foreigners and the general ghetto-ness of it all. However, due to the wide variety of foreigners residing here, there is also a wide variety of restaurants, so I thought it would be a cool place to take him (on a budget, as we both need to save a lot of money this year).

While he was studying English in Oz, he lived with an Australian housemate of Turkish descent, who regularly cooked him Turkish food. Even though it has been nearly 4 years, he still misses the food, so I thought it would be nice to take him to a Turkish restaurant. The place I took him to is named Salam, and despite the interior looking like the Turkish version of Kimbab Nara, and being well out of the way in some nook in the wall of the Mosque, there was competition for seats. Even Turkish people were eating there, a true compliment to the food and it's Turkish chef (or maybe because it is one of the few Turkish restaurants that exists in Korea).

Unfortunately even though I brought my camera with me I forgot to get batteries for it (duh), so I have no pictures of the food. Also this place does not seem to have a website. However the most important thing is that we had a really good time; it was my first time to eat specifically Turkish food, and for him it brought back fond memories of his time in Australia. The food....I find it difficult to describe. I suppose I can say that the main meat is Halal lamb or beef, and there are side dishes of various curries and salad. It is not particularly spicy, so it will suit most tastes. Also the food is eaten with rice, or wraped in flat bread (you wrap it yourself).

At his Royal Namjaness' request, I also gave him his birthday present: a limited edition Dr Who DVD boxset, 1963-1993, the theme being the Darleks. Songsu got into Dr Who after watching the recent ones on TV in Korea, and he loved the fact that it was the Darleks, because the mechanics are famous etc etc (it went straight over my head, but the most important thing it that he is happy). He also got a chocolate pig birthday cake...about 3 inches in diameter seeing as does not have a particularly sweet tooth.

Birthday celebrations part deux/B will commence Saturday night....it is a suprise so I cannot mention it right now in case he takes a sneeky peek at my blog.

posted by Louise @ 1:25 pm 5 comments