KMK: Itaewon or did I lose?

The city that never sleeps is not New York, it’s Seoul. The city comes alive at night. People by the hundreds roam the streets with friends or lovers seeking restaurants to dine in, clubs to dance in, and bars to get down and dirty drunk in.

I’ve walked the streets and seen dozens of business men staggering down the street, arm in arm, singing songs, obviously drunk out of their minds and loving every minute of it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many drunk people out and about as much as I have in Korea. They roam the streets like packs of happy hedge hogs, cute but disturbing.

So far my main drinking area has been Itaewon which is the big area for the foreigners congregate to shop, dance, eat and especially drink. Let me say beforehand that I am not really a big drinker. I’ll have a glass of wine with dinner sometimes, but mostly I’ll grab a rum and coke when out with friends. However, since I’ve been in Seoul I seem to be drinking quite a lot as in multiple-shots-of-god-knows-what a lot.

The evening starts by hailing a taxi with my coworkers and heading out to Itaewon. Our first stop is Geckos, an expat bar filled with Canuks, Aussies, Kiwis, Yanks, and every one else in between. It’s a big space with a central bar, pool table and a few dart boards. They serve food, but I haven’t tried anything on the menu yet, well except for the alcohol. Cass beer is the big brand of cheap beer that everyone seems to guzzle like water. I’m not a beer lover by nature, but my lips too have tasted the Cass. It’s not that bad, but I’d rather have a Corona or a Heineken.

After Geckos the crew moves to Helios, a dance club playing mostly top forty and hip hop. The music is loud, the dance floor is small, but packed and guys are on the lookout for pretty young things. The crowd is lively and fun loving, but soon the party is moving on to either The Loft or Wolfhound.

The Loft has a similar feel to Geckos, but the Wolfhound seems to be a straight up Irish pub. If it weren’t for the Korean bar tenders I could’ve believed I’d stepped into a merry ole Irish establishment. The vibe was different, but still fun and once again Cass was the girl on everyone’s mind.

As the night turns to dawn the party moves on once again, this time to Seoul Pub, at least that’s what I think it was called. I don’t really remember too well. It’s the place where the hardcore party goers welcome the dawn and the next day under the cover of drawn shades and mugs full of beer. Nothing like the bite of the dog that bit ya, to get the day going.

At this point it was like 7 am and we all walked down to the McDonalds for breakfast. Our parade of drunken foreigners I fondly call march of the living dead, because I was zonked out. After eating it was a fast cab ride home and right to bed.

And people do this every Friday and Saturday night?