Happy New Year!!!

Well, Happy New Year to everyone...I can't believe this fall passed as quickly as it did. Chris and I had a quiet Christmas, and my wonderful husband took me out on the town for New Year's. We stayed in the Shilla Hotel, and visited Namsan Park, where Seoul Tower is located. We were planning on eating in the revolving restaurant located in the the tower, but forgot that we were low on won (and there's never a foreign card ATM when you want one). Instead we just enjoyed the view. It was a very clear day-the last of a really long stretch of wonderfully sunny, clear days, in fact-so we could see pretty far. Usually, even if the weather is nice, the pollution clouds your view, and the smog is pretty thick. I've heard that fall/winter is the best time to visit Seoul Tower, so I guess we just hit the right day! Anyway, the Tower also includes an observation deck, a museum, aquarium, tourist shop, games arcade, and restaurant. There are also small restaurants surrounding the tower base that serve Korean food and coffee. There are lookout points around the area, and a beautiful pagoda, as well as vendors selling traditional Korean gifts. We looked around for a bit, then walked about 10 minutes into Myeongdong for dinner. We ended up eating at Rimini (a pasta place that only served spaghetti!), and having dessert at Red Mango (a favorite hangout of the high schoolers, I hear).
The next morning, we had a wonderful breakfast in the hotel cafe-a buffet complete with Japanese and Korean foods. You know, most Asian cultures don't eat "breakfast food" like we do-their breakfasts include rice, meat, and usually soup. They did serve some American food like scrambled eggs, although I had to check the label to make sure that's what it was. I don't know how they did it, but they made scrambled eggs that looked like cheese grits...but they tasted delicious (and yes, tasted like eggs). Anyway, after feeling completely pampered after our wonderful meal, we decided to check out the rest of the hotel, and hotel grounds. They had an arcade in the hotel that included Hermes of Paris, Cartier, and other boutiques. Oh, and by the way, in Korea an "arcade" is not a place where you play video games, it generally means a shopping area. Next, we headed outdoors to the 10-acre sculpture garden. The sculptures are all contemporary pieces, and some of them were...shall we say, interesting? There was a beautiful pagoda at the top of the hill, and along one side of the property was the old south wall of the city. The wall was built in 1395, and used to line the southernmost part of Seoul. After climbing all over the place (the garden was very hilly), we headed over to the huge Shilla duty-free store. It was kinda funny, because as we got to the door, a bus of Japanese tourists was unloading, and guy was handing out coupons (I think). We walked in surrounded by 10 or so people, but he didn't think twice about skipping right over us-what, we can't pass for Japanese? Anyway, after perusing the GUCCI, PRADA, and LUIS VUITTON stores, and getting tired of our eyes bugging out from the $1200 shoes, and $175 wallets, we headed back to the hotel and checked out.
Oh, I forgot to mention what we did for New Year's Eve. We went out to our favorite place in Itaewon- Bless U- and had a few drinks. We felt like a few lushes though, because we were the only ones in there and it was 7:30 at night! After a couple hours of playing darts (and Chris beating me horribly), we headed over to 3 Alley Pub for a little more excitement. The place was jam-packed-it's a favorite spot for the ex-pat community, and they were handing out hats and noise-makers to ring in the New Year. Unfortunately, the Army didn't feel like extending the curfew until 1 am, so we had to leave at 11:45, in order to be home before 12! And to top it all off, there wasn't even a ball-dropping in Times Square on tv when we got home (since it was only 9 am in the U.S.)! Oh well...overall it was still a fun night.
But the best part of everything this holiday, both Chris and I agree, is that our upstairs neighbors finally moved out! (okay maybe not the best part, but pretty darn close). Now we're just praying for a nice, quiet Korean family to move in...