First Impressions: Seoul
* In New York City, CK and I took cabs fairly often. This is what happens when you date someone who doesn't believe in public transportation and hates walking. I'm a big proponent of buckling up, but invariably we'd encounter a cab in which the seat belts were broken, prompting me to remark that Murphy's Law dictates that we'd get into an accident and that would be the end for Our Hero. Imagine my horror when I discovered that the cabs in Macau do not come equipped with seat belts.
I'm pleased to report that cabs in Seoul all have seat belts. That work.
* It's early autumn here, and it's made me realize that I miss having seasons that aren't mild, hot and furnace. This was something I went through in Los Angeles also. Autumn makes me think of falling leaves, and cider donuts, and football played in sweatshirts on cool days. None of those things exist in Las Vegas.
* We're staying in the lap of luxury here in Seoul - the W Hotel, Walker-Hill. It's odd that in China, where the dollar should go further, we stayed in a mildew-filled concrete death trap but in Seoul, where things are much more Western and expensive, I'm sleeping in a room that is wasted on me. Well, not so much "wasted on me" as "wasted for having nobody to share it with".
* Last night C4 and I hit the town. She thought we were supposed to meet ElkY and a few other of the young pros at "Club A", but the doorman at the W had no idea what that was and couldn't find it on the internet. He directed us instead to Club Answer, which was NOT the "hottest club in Korea". It was the deadest club in Korea. We turned around and headed up the street to a club we passed called Circle which was, all in all, a decent mix of local and some foreigners, all grooving to "high class hip-hop", whatever that means. It was there that I saw my first G.I. and was reminded of two things: (1) the Americans have had a substantial military presence here for almost sixty years; and (2) I am not the first member of my family to have been to Seoul.
* My phone doesn't work here. It worked fine in Macau but in the most "wired" city in the world, I have no service. Drunken texts from the Bash will be missed.
* No craps here. What am I supposed to do on breaks?