Sunday, August 30, 2015

Sunday news

I'm still putting everything in place at my new residence. Later today, I'm hitting Gangnam for a pre-birthday dinner with my buddy Tom.

Tomorrow, I turn 46. I had hoped to hit Braai Republic for lunch, but it turns out that Braai is closed on Mondays, of all the dingle-damn days to close. So I'm looking for alternatives. Your suggestions are welcome.

It's decided: I'll be hitting Immigration tomorrow morning with the paperwork I have in hand. If that's not enough to prove who my mother is and that I'm related to her, I really don't know what will do the job. My fear is that bureaucrats are narrow-minded dullards who will flatly state that only Document X will do, and nothing other than Document X.

My building, as I mentioned before, is a city unto itself. I'm still exploring the place, but I've now located the underground restaurants, the ground-floor restaurant, and the B1-level grocery known as E-Mart Everyday, a small-scale offshoot of E-Mart. Alas, E-Mart Everyday doesn't have all the items I need, so I'm on the lookout for a full-size E-Mart or some other, similar store (like Home Plus).

Once I've got my place squared away, the next step will be to explore my neighborhood. I began this process over a month ago, when I first found the path leading up to the mountain I want to start hiking. I need to find other, alternative grocery stores that carry the items I can't find in my building's shop. I'd also like to see what other restaurants are nearby, and whether there's anything else worth knowing about. I'm only a couple stops away from the famous Garak Market which, I'm ashamed to say, I've never once visited. I should take a stroll through there one day and see what's for sale. The market used to have the reputation for being the largest of its kind in all of East Asia, but I don't know whether that's true any longer. China is Asia's Texas: the Chinese do everything bigger, if not necessarily better.

Then there's the matter of signing up for a gym. There's one in my building, and there's also one at the building where I work. I need to find out which is cheaper, but there's a chance I might sign up for both, for convenience's sake. We'll see. Much depends on prices.

UPDATE: I've spoken with the lady, and we're heading to Everest tomorrow. I've written about Everest here, in case you've forgotten.


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1 comment:

John from Daejeon said...

Now, that you are on the downward slope of middle age heading into the abyss (unless, of course, you stick your body, or head, in a cryogenic chamber hoping it isn't unplugged before you can be revived with a new, longer-lasting body in the very distant future), you might need a birthday pick-me-up. This film, "X+Y," is not only entertaining but also pretty inspirational in more ways than "1."