There are the pictures from last Thursday’s Flickr Launch Party in Gangnam.  Overall, it was a decent event.  Even though I was told there would be a limit on the number of people allowed in, it looked like a good number of people didn’t show.  The place was not packed at all, but you couldn’t tell because it was so stinkin’ HOT!  There was only one big air conditioner, but it was located in a far corner of the room, so it was sweltering at times.  Once we checked in, we were given two drink tokens, chips for gambling at the roulette wheel, a Flickr book, and a name tag.  (The T-shirt was given at the end of the party.)  The buffet and appetizers were free and refilled often.  Inside, I ran into familiar faces - mostly people I met during a “Flickr Meet” in Insa-dong months ago.  I took this picture of a couple “Flickr Meet” girls, but I’ve have only met Youngdoo and Susan.  I also saw Curoninja, who I first met at “The Wolfhound” a couple months ago.  You can see his Flickr pictures HERE.

You know what was great about being in a roomful of photographers?  Once in awhile I’ll actually get to be in a couple pictures!  HERE, HERE, and HERE are pictures that others took, and I happened to be in.  HERE and HERE are pictures that Raswan was in.

If you’re interested in attending a Flickr Meet and meeting some new people, sign up for the “Flickr in Seoul” group.  The next Flickr Meet is Sunday, September 2nd at Olympic Park at 2:00 pm.  (Exit 1 at Mongchontoseong Station. World Peace Gate.)  I think this is a great opportunity to meet others (Korean and foreigners) outside of a bar setting.  You don’t even have to be an avid photographer.  I’m planning on attending the next meeting, and I’m encouraging anyone who’s reading this to also come out for the day.  If you get tired of talking cameras with other, we can get together and gossip about celebrities.

This is where I’ve been for the last 3 days:

Friday was spent at Ocean World… lots of fun, with perfect sunny weather!

Saturday and Sunday were spent at Anmyeon Island (Anmyeon-do).

This long, wide stretch of sand is Anmyeon Beach.

This lighthouse picture is from Kkotji Beach.

I wish I had the energy to write more, but I got back this evening and am so tired.  The reviews will have to wait for another day.  Tomorrow is the start of our new semester, which I’m definitely not ready for.

This is just a quick…

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The Seoul Flickr Launch was…

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I just got home and am heading to bed, so I’ll post more about this event later.  First thing tomorrow morning, Ras and I are heading to Ocean World!

Last weekend, we went with Reardon to a tapas restaurant, El Plato.  It’s located on the side street across from “Tea Purple” in Hongdae.  Phone #: 02-325-3515.  The sign on the door said, “Taste Amazing Spanish Food.”  We knew not to get our hopes up, but you know what?  The food was DELICIOUS!  The cooks even knew how to properly cook the tuna and beef steaks.  The three of us had all been to Spain, and were really impressed.  We even gave our compliments to the owner, Kim Chan-hyuk.  He told us he had sent his chefs to Spain for 3 months to study the food there before opening his restaurant.  The food was very good, but I will warn you, the prices were a little on the high side.  Authentic tapas are hard to come by in Korea, so you get what you pay for.  For example, my large glass of sangria was 9,000, the tuna steak was 7,900, and the chorizo was 5,300.  Click on the pictures to see more prices.

El Plato would be a once-in-awhile, treat yourself nice, kind of restaurant.  It’s definitely worth it, though.  The three of us almost spent 100,000 that night.  That included 6 glasses of house wine and 1 sangria.

Afterwards, we visited another bar on the same street.  Peering in, you could easily see people dipping their feet in the cool water.  We went in for at least one drink.

Reardon tried to get ME to chat up these Korean girls so he could then make a movie.  First of all, I can’t speak enough Korean to hit on Korean girls.  And second, I’m not your wing man!  The girl next to Reardon is cute though, isn’t she?

Yup, it’s time to go home.

Lee Hyori looks better than Jessica Alba in this video. They were filming a commercial for the Korean cosmetics line, Isa Knox. I watched the entire video, and STILL couldn’t hear Lee Hyori speaking English.