Good Times Are Always To Be Had When Koerans Are Around!!

Holly's co-worker Eddie is an office admin. at her school for his mandatory military duty. Anyways, the two of them planned a night of drinking in Seoul, since I missed drinking with Eddie before because I was in Canada, I was excited for our Friday night venture to Sinchon.

Holly and I needed a pre-Seoul picture, so here we are in Seonhak station looking quite fabulous! Holly, Duncan, Paul and I met Eddie his friend for Mexican food at 'On The Border.' We enjoyed some rather large margarita's and delicious food. When we finished at the Mexican restaurant we headed to a bar in the area and let me tell you, they weren't hard to find.

Eddie and Bong are really close friends and they are both absolutely adorable and fun to hang out with especially Bong.

Holly and I can take semi-decent pictures together when necessary.

Surprise of the night: Kristy graced with her presence. Always a fabulous time with her and Paul around.

Duncan, the crazy British guy, Eddie and the adorable, Bong.

Holly decided to start the, "You can't use your hands while drinking" game.

We ended the night with a group picture: Bong, Holly, Duncan, Eddie, Me.

However, we did got noraebanging afterward and then we headed home to Incheon in a cab. Then on Saturday night, Nicole had a good bye party for herself, because she was heading home to Canada for her renewal home visit and she would be gone 4 weeks. Holly, Carolina and I hung ouot during the day together and then Nicole, Carolina and I headed to the Incheon United soccer game where we met up with Chris and Nick. It was exciting that Incheon won for Nicole. After the game we headed to Guwoldong (Art Center Area) to have some dinner and drinks. We met up with Mike, his Korean friend, May, and Tahee. We enjoyed some galbi, drinks and each others company. Caro is absolutely terrified of getting a 'box kick' from Nicole, which is pretty funny because it would never happen.

Carolina decided to move here chair away from the table after making a comment against Nicole, for fear Nicole would come after here. LOL. It was pretty comical. Well, you don't see this everyday. A picture of Carolina and I together after so very very long.

Once we finished eating we heading to King Kong, one of my favorite places in that area, for some drinking games and K-pop music :) It ended up being really quiet that night for some reason, so we didn't stay as long as we normally would have and some people started to bail. When Nicole had enough of King Kong we headed to downstairs to Rio's bar and said, Hello, to him, drank some more, played some music and enjoyed a round of darts. Nicole was destined to go to Diana nightclub, so we did. Chris, my friend Jessica and her boyfriend joined us. We usually only ever go to this nightclub for the dancing, but sometimes guys try to us 'book' us or hang with us. Nicole and I were the last ones standing, so we headed for our usual 5AM dulkgalbi at our usual place, which ended up being bought for us by some random guys. Then Nicole and I shared a cab home.

Another Parent Visits Korea!

Lindsay's mom came all the way from America to great us with her presence and she got here while Nicole and I were on vacation. Lindsay wanted her close friends to meet her mom, so she had us over for dinner, which was delicious. You never turn down an invite to Lindsay's for food because it is always fabulous. We had dinner and drinks together before heading to Mad Max, which is a must when any one comes to visit.

Lindsay and her mom Pam at Mad Max. Her mom is fabulous!! May and I at Mad Max. I'm a little wet from the rain we endured on our way there. Nicole, Me, May, Lindsay, Pam and Holly - who didn't get the 'Indian Boy' memo.

We didn't stay at Mad Max too long because Lindsay was excited to introduce her mom to noraebang. We headed to the Luxury noraebang beside Mad Max and ordered ourselves some more drinks and good times!!

Holly and Nicole at noarebang - Holly got the 'Indian Boy' memo this time. Lindsay and her mom sing a duet together. Leave it to Holly make this face and give you all the finger. LOL!! Lindsay, Nicole, May, Me, and Holly definitely posed for this noraebang picture.

After noraebang, May, Nicole and I still wanted to drink, so we ended our night at Touchdown. I also had to take a picture of how bad my sunburn from the Philippines turned out. Brace yourselves:

This is the aftermath of a sunburn gone bad.

LADY GAGA!!

Sunday night I attended the Lady Gaga concert in Seoul with Enee, my co-teacher, and my friend Rebekah. I had literally been home from the Philippines less than 12 hours before I had to head to the concert. I didn't even care that I was tired and sore because I was so excited to see Lady Gaga in concert. Since Enee has a car she decided to drive to the concert, which I'm thankful for because it would take over 2 hours to get there by train. The venue is on the opposite side of Seoul compared to Incheon, so it is quite the trek. We arrived a bit earlier than planned, so Enee and I grabbed a small bite to eat and walked around while we waited for Rebekah.

A view outside the concert venue, while we waited to go inside. I was actually surprised by how many more Koreans attended the show than foreigners.

Rebekah, Enee, and I excited for the show.

Enee and I inside the venue.

Rebekah and I anxiously awaiting the show to start. Please check out the color difference on our legs.

This is the view of the stage from our seats. We actually had great seats for the show.

The show got started about 15 minutes late and it was her opening act, Lee Jung-Hyun who kept us semi-entertained for 4 songs while we awaited the pop diva. I was less than impressed with the opening act because I'm not a huge fan of her, but she kept the crowd going. Once Lee Jung-Hyun finished her set we had to wait some more for Lady Gaga, but we didn't realize we would be waiting for 45 minutes. Lady Gaga took to the stage at around 8:30PM, which is an hour and a half after the scheduled concert time of 7PM. However, she was worth the wait.

She opened with her song, 'Paparazzi' and she looked fabulous in her big hair and dress.

She was very very energetic and it was only her second song.

This was one of my favorite outfits she wore during the show. The back of the bodysuit was a thong.

She was a total crowd pleaser and she is one sexy biatch!

Here is a video of her performing the song that made her a star, 'Just Dance.' The quality turned out better than I expected. Enjoy!

Lady Gaga, use to be a song writer before she came to 'Lady Gaga' fame. She decided to showcase her music talents by playing the piano for a couple of songs and she even sang her newest hit song, 'Poker Face' a cappella. Turns out she has an absolutely incredible voice.

She is wearing a bubble jacket to mimic her look on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine a few months ago.

She even did a little acrobatics for us while playing the piano and singing.

She is looking mighty fierce and sexy in her nude colored outfit.

She closed the show with her recent hit and the very popular, 'Poker Face.' First, we got to enjoy it a cappella with the piano, but then she sang it again in full force to close the show.

Unfortunately, her concert only lasted about an hour because she only has one album. I was a bit disappointed because she didn't even sing some of her songs off the album, which would have extended the concert a bit longer. However, her concert was very upbeat and energetic and it had everyone there singing and dancing along the entire time.

Lady Gaga, her dancers and her band bid us adieu.

After the concert Enee drove Rebekah and I home. The drive back to Incheon was way quicker than the drive to Seoul. When we returned to Incheon I joined Holly and Nicole for some drinks at Mad Max.

The Philippines: Goodbye Cebu!!

We had all day Saturday to spend in Cebu because our flight back to Korea was not until 12:40AM. Since we had so much time to kill we asked the hotel to keep our bags in storage while we spent the day out and about shopping and looking around. We ate breakfast at the hotel first to pass the time and then we headed out into the big scary city of Cebu...lol! Our first stop was at a very popular and busy flea market. Nicole and I were the only foreigners and we got stared at, whistled at and talked to by every one we passed. I wish I had taken some pictures, but I was too busy shopping and looking around. We each bought three pairs of flip flops for under US$5. Since it was so hot and we were sweating like pigs we decided to head to the air conditioned mall nearby to cool off and look around.

This was the main road near the mall. Check out the horse and buggy on the left.

We visited the grocery section of the mall and found all kinds of crazy candy, including these mini chocolate cups, with mini spoons included.

All of the buses are decorated according to their owners individuality. This Bob Marley bus was one of the best.

Just a view of the street from outside the second mall we visited.

OK, so at this one store we visited in the mall we got to enjoy a live dance routine. Every 4 hours the store employees do a dance and song routine to entice customers to shop at their store. Nicole and I got really lucky that we caught one of the performances, and it was the last one of the day. Here is the short video I took of the routine:

After we had enough shopping we headed back to the hotel to drop our purchases off and then we headed to a restaurant recommended to us by the hotel staff called, the Lighthouse. It was quiet when we got there, but got super busy the longer we were there.

The decor at the Lighthouse restaurant was really pretty.

They also had a mariachi band to entertain us while we ate. Nicole and I were convinced they were blind.

When we finished dinner we headed back to the hotel to pick up our bags, clean out the safety deposit box and head to the airport. We wanted to get to the airport semi-early to get emergency exit seats and seats together. We checked it too late on the way to The Philippines, so we didn't get to sit together.

My feet were so swollen and burning from my sunburn, so I asked the airport cafe if they could give me some ice.

We bought candy called, Big Bang, just because it was named after our favorite Korean pop group. From the looks on our faces you can tell we were not satisfied with how it tasted.

I had to take a picture of all the beer we consumed at the airport while waiting for our flight back to Korea.

Nicole and I were hyper and busting some moves on the plane to the tunes coming from iPod. Nicole got told by the flight attendant to come down at the request of the girls behind us. Well, they were even more annoying with their loud talking and laughing and they turned on their overhead light when the whole plane was dark.

Nicole had to cover her head with a blanket to block out the light, so I took a picture of how ridiculous the situation was.

In conclusion, my vacation to The Philippines was absolutely amazing and I can't wait to go back. We got home safe and sound, but we would rather still be on a beach in Boracay.

The Philippines: Bye Bye Boracay, Hello Cebu!!

Since Thursday was our last night in Boracay we decided to go out with a bang and it was the first full day since Manila that Nicole and I spent the whole day alone together. Instead of blabbing on about how the night went down, I will explain through pictures.

I ordered myself my favorite cocktail, a Cosmopolitan at an Italian restaurant recommended to us by a friend.

Nicole enjoying her very strong Mojito at the delicious Italian restaurant we ate our last Boracay supper at.

Jungle Bar is where the party really got started. It actually looks like a Jungle inside, as you can see.

Some of the employees at Jungle Bar entertained us with a live performance.

This is probably my favorite picture of Nicole and I (taken at Jungle Bar).

The super hot bartender at Jungle Bar then enticed us with his fire tricks. There is nothing sexier than a topless man who plays with fire. *Sorry mom and dad, if you are reading this*

Nicole and I with our captain from the sailing trip the previous day (sitting behind me) and his cousin (beside Nicole).

Another cute picture of Nicole and I at Jungle Bar. I think all the free rum and cokes were getting to our heads.

Nicole has taken to liking cats, but not to the cats advantage.

This picture was taken at around 5AM, when Nicole and I walked back to our area at the end of the night along the beach. I LOVE IT!!

These two guys are from Dubai and they were creepy to us most of the trip. However, they grew on us and they bought us our food at Jammers around 530AM and they didn't even order a thing.

Nicole showing off the enormous chili dog from Jammers we were about to stuff our faces with.

Since, it was about 6:30AM when we finished eating our food back at the hotel and we had to be up at 7:45AM I decided to just pull and all nighter, but Nicole slept.

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Friday morning we got picked up by the company that would take us all the way back to Kalibo to catch our plane to Cebu. Nicole and I decided together to pay a little extra to get to Kalibo to make sure that we wouldn't miss our flight. They drove us to the boat, got us on and off the boat, then took us in a giant bus that only had about 10 people on the two hour ride to the airport. Once they dropped us off at the airport we were on our own. We got to the airport about 3 hours before our flight, so we had loads of time to kill. We found a nice coffee shop in the airport, so we grabbed some food and hung out in there until it was time to board. While we were hanging out there we noticed a bunch of commotion on the runway. There were a row of army men lined up on the runway waiting for some thing. Then a plane landed and the President of The Philippines (or who we assumed was the President b/c of all the security) got off it.

She is the lady dressed in white with the soldier on her left.

We ended up boarding our plane an hour late because of the President landing at Kalibo airport.

This is how many people were on the plane from Kalibo to Cebu.

As soon as we arrived in Cebu we had to find a hotel. Once we did we took about a 45 minute cab ride into central Cebu to get to it. As soon as we set our bags down we passed right out. We decided to set a clock, so we didn't sleep through night. When we woke-up we wandered around the streets looking for a place to eat. We found this semi-hole in the wall restaurant to enjoy some traditional Filipino food.

I made Nicole take this picture for the view of the restaurant, but can we please talk about how I looked starved and I'm not.

When we finished eating we wandered the streets for a bit before heading back to the hotel to get a good nights sleep.