The Trash Fairy - Revealed!

Last night we had a cold snap that caused me to turn on the heater. I am still trying to get the hang of the controls and over heated my apartment and nearly burnt my feet when I got out of bed (more on the heating system later). So I decided to open a window and get some fresh air and when I did I heard the clinging of glass outside my apartment. I was relieved because I knew the Trash Fairy was paying my building a visit in spite of me snapping a picture of her the day before. You see, it's bad luck if you get caught taking a picture of the Trash Fairy. She has been known to avoid her duties as punishment to anyone snapping a picture of her; if that happened I'd freak out. So, nonetheless this picture was taken while walking down the street on my way back from lunch. There they were, two of them filling up their carts with the cardboard from the local supermarket.

Seafood delivery truck

It doesn't get any fresher than this. It is a Seafood delivery truck. The tank on the back is an aquarium and inside are fish, squid, and other shellfish that will become someones dinner tonight. I spotted this find in Seoul the day I got lost in Seoul before my first date with my new Korean girlfriend. Basically the truck comes and empties its tanks with a net into a host of tanks outside the restaurant where the diner chooses the fish they want to eat. I have never seen a truck like this, perhaps it is the first time, or maybe it is just a Korean thing. I do not know, but it did peak my curiosity so I thought I'd share it here.

To prove that there really are fish in the tanks, I am including another picture here where they can be seen kind of clearly. I really have no idea why I am amused by this, but this is my blog so just deal with it already. See the little fish in the window of the truck? There are half dead fish in that window and you could be eating them for dinner at a Korean restaurant near you. 8-) If you are a vegetarian, I am sorry.

Mmmm... Yellow Machine Fun?

When in Rome, do as the Romans... This is a testimony to the random things that I have experienced. It is funny, stupid, and one of the many random and stupid things I will do in Korea that I probably would not do elsewhere. It is a claw machine with prizes in the bottom and the players challenge is to locate the claw above the prize of their choosing and hope for the best. My average cost per win is USD$0.75 per prize. Now I have a collection of random lighters, watches, stuffed animals, and vitamins. The funny part is I don't know why I continue to play, but most Korean's out after 10:30PM at night can be found using one of these machines. Have too much soju? This machine becomes a challenge that must be met to prove that you are a better drinker than your mates. Bored around 9:30PM when the kids leaving school are met by their parents? Play the yellow machine to an audience of kids in front of the the local 7-11 and you will be a hero if you give your prize to them.

Sauna, Massage Rooms, and Beauty Shops (Seoul's Best #32)

Saunas in Korea are known as public bath houses where the women and men each have their own areas and are given a key for a locker for their clothes. They cost anywheres from around USD$4.00 to USD$14.00 and most include a Jimjilbang (sleeping room) where after a shower and soak one can sleep overnight on the floor of the sleeping room on a thin mat with a block for a pillow. There really isn't a way to describe the demographic of the customer base because Koreans of all ages go to public bath houses. They offer a wide range of services including massage, haircuts, and shoe cleaning and repair.

The one in my area is a real family affair. Father and son, youngsters out on the piss wanting to soak and sleep of the liquor before heading home, even the teenager wanting to relax after a long night of playing online video games at the local PC Room all frequent public baths. The hard part is finding one as Saunas, Massage Rooms, and Beauty Shops all use the same sign, a spinning cylindrical barbershop pole.

For the foreigner it can be quite intimidating if you're modest because, well, once inside clothes are not allowed. I was ushered to a locker told to take my clothes off while the usher watched, and was not given a towel. Once the clothes were inside he locked the locker and walked off with the key and pointed to the shower room where I was told to take a shower before getting in the hot tub. Once in the hot tub I relaxed and soaked away my aches and pains. I never noticed how much good a hot tub could be with my bum leg; it loosened up all the muscles in my lower back and improved my stride. After the soak I showered again, and went on a search for a towel; I found a stack of tea towels and proceed to the sleeping room to check that out.

Inside the sleeping room there are vinyl covered foam exercise mats and a vinyl covered brick for a pillow. On the right there is a rack of hospital gowns hanging in the corner, just grab one of those short and thin gowns put it on and grab a blanket and lay down on a mat and sleep. It is not the most comfortable accommodation, but it is cheap at USD$4.00 per night. Prices range from USD$4.00 to USD$14.00. The best scenario for using one is when you go to Seoul to see a movie and miss the last bus and can't afford the taxi home.

Massage rooms are similar to Saunas as you can sleep overnight and usually have a masseuse of the opposite sex. It is hard to tell where to find them because they too use the mysterious spinning cylindrical barbershop pole for a sign. I have been told that if they have two spinning barbershop poles, like in the picture above, it is a designated massage parlor, but times have changed so now it is a bit random. Many places do not provide service to foreigners and I do not know why, they just don't. Prices range from USD$55.00 to USD$80.00.

I haven't had a haircut in almost two months and I am scared. Why you ask? Well, because the beauty shops here use the mysterious spinning cylindrical barbershop pole for a sign. I went into one for a hair cut and walked out with a foot massage and shorter toenails. I am not going to give up on getting a good haircut, it is just taking longer than I would like, or perhaps I am too picky.

The random things I say...

cause people to laugh at me and I don't know why. In Vanuatu it was my clever way of explaining to my village that I needed to leave church early because the manioc laplap I ate the night before has given me gas and I was too embarrassed to pass it on a wooden pew in an echoey church. Hey, I did not know that there was a word in Bislama for flatulation. I looked all the possibilities up in the dictionary and found none so I went back to my training; in the anatomy lesson I learned that everything has an ass and it means the bottom or backside of something. So I simply told my village that I had to leave church early because my ass was singing out ["Mi aot long joij from se as blong me i wantem sing aot bigwan."].

Here it is a bit different. My new Korean girlfriend laughs at the strangest things I say. On our second date she drove me home and paid the toll to get from Seoul to the city where I am which is south of Seoul. As she was paying for the toll I noticed at the toll booth that they had a T-Money RFID payment pad. So upon noticing this I pulled out my prepaid transportation card and say, "Oh, T-money! Can I use this to pay for the toll?" After she paid the bill at the toll both she burst into laughter, and kept laughing all the way to my house occasionally asking me to say it again... "T-money." Now she just grunts and says, "Your so cute! Say T-money again."

Yesterday, on our third date we went for a walk around my dong, and I was explaining to her that I wanted to go a certain way because earlier in the week I noticed that a business shut down and they were doing some renovations on the store front and I wanted to see what the new business was going to be. She did not understand my fascination with the speed in which one business can shut down and another open; so I told her the story about TwoTwo's Chicken. That store used to be a shoe repair shop. My co-worker spotted a pair of shoes he really wanted from there on a Monday and on Thursday it was transformed into TwoTwo's Chicken. He walked in scratching his head and asked if they had a pair of shoes he could buy and the people working there said, "Yes. Chicken? Beer?" The shoes were gone forever. To this my new Korean girlfriend laughed and said, "T-money and TwoTwo's. Ughhh.... You are so cute!" And then proceeded to laugh at me.

As she departed she gave me a hug and kiss on the cheek. I put her in her car and she asked me to call her so she could show me that my number comes up on her phone as "T-money." I don't get it, but I can take comfort in the fact that if the locals are laughing at me I must be doing something right.