Koreans don't celebrate St. Patrick's Day but soldiers do! Hubby and his buddies wanted to go out to celebrate on St. Patrick's Day. We started off the celebration by going out for dinner. We left the post around 4:45 and took a taxi to downtown Uijeongbu. Once downtown we walked to a Korean pizza place called Mr. Pizza. Yeah, I know, really original name. It was around the corner from Mr. Doughnut.
One pizza is about $30 in Korea which is crazy but again I think all American food is higher priced. They had a bunch of specialty pizzas but Hubby had to explain to the waitress that I only like cheese on my pizza and nothing else. I know, I am boring. Hubby's buddies ordered a pizza with a bunch of different toppings but were surprised to find corn on the pizza when it was delivered. Who knew corn could be put on pizza? Hubby said he thought the pizza was made with goat cheese but I couldn't tell and I am very picky. Two interesting things to note about eating out in Korea are 1) you don't tip the waitress and 2) she won't come over every five minutes to see if you need anything. Instead, there is a button on the table that you press when you want service.
After dinner we walked around downtown Uijeongbu a bit. They have all sorts of statues and art in the plazas and all of the store fronts were colorful and lit up with neon signs. There was so much to look at I was a bit overwhelmed. I didn't know where to look first! I almost tripped over an uneven sidewalk because I was trying to look at everything and wasn't watching where I was walking.
We went to a flea market area and looked around for awhile. There were vendors selling everything from shoes to food and everything in between. One of Hubby's buddies wasn't wearing green and we kept giving him grief so he decided to buy a green Yankees hat. He didn't realize until after he had paid for it that the back said "New Yuck" in stead of New York. Ha ha... the Yankees suck anyway.
The boys wanted to start drinking but most of the bars were still closed. Eventually they found one and we trekked up to the second floor where it was. In Korea, they cannot build out so they build up instead. Each floor of a building can be a different store, restaurant, etc. We sat at a table by the window and people watched as people walked by below.
Hubby pointed out a barbershop that we could see from the window that had two barber poles out front. Apparently in Korea, two barber poles means that they offer haircuts with a happy ending. Who knew? Hubby said that they were told this info when they were in processed so that they would not get themselves in trouble.
Eventually we ended up at a bar called Radio Clock where we spent the remainder of the evening. The Korean bar tenders were very friendly and the soldier's explained to them that it was St. Patrick's Day. They took song requests all night and would look up any song that you asked for. I heard a Korean version of a Rhianna song and a J Lo song which was interesting. Hubby played darts and we had a good time until we decided it was time to head home.
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