The move went relatively well.  Upon calling around for a moving company, Ras was quoted 500,000 won because he wanted to move on a Saturday.  After changing his moving day to a Friday and some hard core negotiating, he got a full service moving company for 300,000 won.  Since many people aren’t moving during the hard economic times, movers have to be more competitive for customers.  300,000 is pretty cheap for 2 men, and 1 woman to move everything, and drive from Gunpo to Seoul.  The customer doesn’t have to lift a finger.  The men do all the heavy lifting, while the woman packs everything in the bedrooms, kitchen, and bathroom.  They did a relatively good job, except that the woman would open up a can of Coke (from our fridge) and drink it while working.  She also grabbed one for her companions, all the while not asking at all if she could have the drinks.  I’m sure she was thirsty, and it wasn’t a big deal enough to say something, but still…  strange, right?  I even saw an empty granola wrapper on the ground and don’t remember having had some in the last week.

These pictures are the ones Ras took of the loft before the movers arrived.

(above: downstairs, and upstairs)

This is what it looks like now:

When we first saw the place, I knew it had potential, but I’m really happy with how it turned out.  It has lots of storagae, good lighting, and a lot of room downstairs and upstairs.  It’s a 5 minute bus ride to Hongik or Sinchon and there are over 20 buses that go by the place, including an airport limousine bus.  I’m enjoying my time here and can’t wait for people to visit us soon.

The brick building below is where the apartment is located.  Upon entering a locked front glass door, you’re greeted with the following lobby.  It’s completely decorated with couches, tables, and flowers.  Honestly, it’s a little strange.  Are the resident’s friends hanging out there?

The apartment itself is being completely remodeled with new fixtures, appliances, and wallpaper.  Below is the view of the living room, from the front door.  To the left of the picture, you’ll notice the stairs that lead up to the loft.

This is the view with the window to your back.  To the left, where the blue hose is, will be the kitchen area.  The sink, fridge, and washing machine will be totally enclosed behind white cabinets.  There are two air conditioners, one for downstairs and one for upstairs.

This picture is the apartment of the next door neighbor.  As you can see, this is what the final product will look like.

Next to the stairs is the bathroom.  Inside is a toilet and stand up shower.  Directly in front of me is the mirror, and the bathroom sink will be placed here.

Climb up the stairs and you’re in the loft, which is actually bigger than I expected.  The sleeping area can be to the right or left of the stairs, with plenty of floor space.  Up here will be Ras’ office and bedroom.

Upon climbing to the top of the stairs and looking in, you’ll be greeted with this view.

The apartment is modern and really cute!  It’s a five minute bus ride to Sinchon or Hongik, but a little bit far to walk to those stations.  I’ll give you an idea where it’s located.  Imagine you’re at Hongik Station and you want to take a bus to Sinchon Station.  The bus will go straight and turn right at the Y intersection.  Intead of going right, take the left road and go straight.  After a couple big intersections, turn left, and this is where the apartment is.

Maybe you’re wondering how much is this place?  The landlord was asking for 10 million won key money ($10,000 deposit) and 700,000 won a month.  Ras convinced him to take more key money so that the rent would be lowered to 600,000 won a month.  I guess the landlord likes foreigners because there are seven others foreigners living in the building.

Ras moves in Saturday, December 6th.  This is perfect for us, since we’d like to move out of Gunpo before leaving for our winter trip with Gisela and Eddie on December 20th.  Upon returning, I’ll spend my last month living and hanging out in Seoul.

By the way, if anyone is looking for small and cheap living quarters in Seoul, this is a good place to look: www.oneroom.com

Thanks to YouTube, below are some of the acts from the show.  I have no idea what the woman in white was singing about, but the song was damn catchy.  After the show, Thomas, Kristy, and I were singing the only word we recognized from the song: Alegria.  Before attending the show, I thought it was called “al leg ria,” as in a man’s name, a lower appendage, and the last syllable of the name Gloria.  Boy, was this American bumpkin’ ever wrong.  I was soon embarrassed to find out how much I butchered this word.  It should have rolled off my tongue as “ahl leg rhee ahhh.”  See below:

Click here to view the embedded video.

If there was to be one act we liked the least, it would be the two Mongolian contortionists.  Is it just me, or does it seem unnatural to see someone sitting on their own head???  Yikes!

Click here to view the embedded video.

After the show, we showed up at Star Chef with our party of 12.  At Star Chef, the salad is always the belle of the party:

Shrimp:  Before and After

Me: Before (dinner) and After

Definitely check out Cirque du Soleil while they’re still in town.  If nothing else, their churros are fantastic!

[View the night's Flickr album here.]

The guys went as Mexican firefighters – Jos-A (José), Jos-B, and Jos-C.

I went as a pirate.  Reardon and Barbara (pictured above) went as Hall and Oates.

Soju having wine.

To my right is Ji-won, and my left was Courtney (aka Janis Joplin).

Jim Carey and Sara Palin.

(too bad it was blurry.)

I’m not sure how many tickets are still available for the party, but more information can be found on their website.

Other Korean bloggers include:

I had today off and headed down to Hangnyeoul Station (Line 3) around noon.  Today’s shows were scheduled for 1:00pm, 3:00pm, and 4:00pm.  I met Mike near the front door and picked up my press pass.  Yes, you read that right.  Press pass! I didn’t have a backstage pass like Mike, but being “press” was good enough for me.  We breezed through the line and set up camp in the Press Room.  I met another photographer and friend of Mike’s named Denise.  I didn’t know it until I arrived, but I ended up shooting all three shows at the end of the runway with Denise’s 70-200mm f/2.8 lens, mounted on Mike’s Manfrotto monopod.

The press room and some snacks in between shows.

Unfortunately, I don’t have the actual pictures taken during the show.  Mike needs to post process the pictures, including putting the FatManSeoul watermark on them first.  Eventually, they’ll be available to view at FeetManSeoul.com.

Ras called the restaurant (02-529-8248) to find out when it opened and to make a reservation.  Since it was 1pm at the time, the call was forwarded to Chef Kim’s cell phone, who took the reservation himself.  At first, we weren’t sure if a reservation was even needed at 5:30pm, when the restaurant opened its doors.  Upon arriving (late) at 5:40pm, Chef Kim smiled towards Raswan and said, “You must be Ras.  Welcome.”  We were led to the back area of the restaurant and saw that all seven tables there were reserved.  We were then relieved to have made the call after all.  The two larger tables in the front of the restaurant were the only ones not reserved.

When we entered the restaurant, we were only the second party in the restaurant.  Menus were given in both English and Korean.  Ras and I already had an idea of what to order, having read ZenKimchi’s blog post.  As a starter, we opted to skip the BulGalbi and Grilled Mushroom Organic Salad and get some other mushroom appetizer with bread.  Upon hearing of our order, Chef Kim came out of the kitchen, kneeled down to our table, and offered to give us advice on what to order.  He said the mushroom/bread starter was just a regular dish, nothing special.  Instead, he advised us to get the BulGalbi and Mushroom salad.  Hey, who are we to argue with the chef?  We agreed, he smiled, and went back to the kitchen to prepare the salad.

While we waited, this came out: broccoli with garlic oil and sprinkles of deep fried garlic pieces.  Delicious!  Ras and Kevin ended up fighting for the last pieces of the deep fried garlic.

Our salad then came out.

Wow.  We were not disappointed by this.  Utterly delicious.  The meat was tender, the mushrooms were perfectly grilled, and the dressing was robust and flavorful.  Out of the four dishes ordered last night, we all agreed that this was our favorite.

The next dish was Million Won Samgyeopsal Jjim with aged kimchi.  It’s very much like a tender, but thick piece of “bosaam.”  Since I love bosaam, I loved this dish.  The guys did too.

Then came Sweet and Sour Beef (Tangsooyuk).  While this was delicious, the batter crispy and light, and the saucy not gooey, it’s still Sweet and Sour Beef.  There’s a Chinese restaurant near my university that also has a similar tasting “tangsooyuk”, although it’s with pork and not Australian beef.  I wasn’t disappointed, but it wasn’t anything too special.  We all agreed we wouldn’t order this one again.

The last dish was Fried Whole Mullet.

As Ras commented, this is not a fishy fish.  The cilantro, ginger, and onions were a great combination to the fish.  The waitress came out and de-boned the fish and squeezed the lemon on it for us.

Dessert: Apple Snowman

It might not look so good because it was melting fast, but it was delicious.  The first two layers are apples, and then vanilla ice cream on top.

The service at the restuarant was great.  The staff took great care to bring out our dishes right after we finished the previous one.  There were no long waiting periods.  Instead we were constantly eating and drinking, as it should be.

The head waiter was top notch and it was obvious he had good training before working at this restaurant.

Last, but not least, this restaurant is not cheap.  A couple dishes start at 10,000 won, but most are in the 20,000-30,000 price range.  For the three of us, we had four main dishes, a dessert, and three bottles of wine over the course of three hours, for 220,000 won.  While this is 73,000 won per person, we all thought it was absolutely worth the price.  The food was fantastic and we can’t wait to go back with a larger group of friends next time.

Star Chef:   Seoul, Gangnam-gu, Dogok-dong 417-2

Map here.  Line 3 – Maebong Station

02-529-8248  (Opens at 5:30pm, reservations recommeded)

You couldn’t pay me to wear this shirt…