Saturday, May 06, 2017

Walk Thoughts #185: new digs for 2 nights

I was pleasantly surprised to see that a yeogwan sat directly across from the certification center. With a freeway between me and the motel, I walked through an underground passageway to get over to the other side.

For a Saturday, when people are normally fuck-happy and looking to shack up, the motel was unusually quiet. When I told the old lady at the desk that I would be there for two nights (du bam), she accidentally booked me for two rooms (du bang). It was an amusing miscommunication; I'm actually surprised it hasn't happened before now.

I was given a key to Room 201 of the Lee Motel. On the way up the stairs, I saw a sculpture of a woman in a sensual pose, but noted that her arms were so long as to be gorilla-like. Perhaps one day, I too will know the primal pleasures of a brachiating lover.

My room ended up being neat and clean. I think it's got WiFi, but I haven't tried it yet.

The second-to-last pic shows something that's become extremely significant to me: an electric socket next to the bed. This is crucial for using the phone while recharging it, and it's now one of the ways by which I judge the quality of my accommodations. If your room doesn't have a socket next to wherever I'm sleeping, then it sucks.

As with so many love motels, this one's room comes equipped with a ceiling mirror. So I took a seductive picture for you. Sorry about the blur, but otherwise... you're welcome.

2 comments:

Charles said...

That last pic is going to give me nightmares.

Oh, and the miscommunication is due to the fact that rooms aren't reserved for "du bam." When you talk about how many nights you are going to stay somewhere, the Chinese-character "bak" (泊; to stay) is often used. Thus: "i-bak" for two nights. More colloquially, we might say 이틀 밤. (Alternatively, you could also say when you are staying until, e.g., 모레까지.)

Basically, it just boils down to a different number system used for days and nights. If you want to stick with vernacular Korean, it is 하루, 이틀, 사흘, 나흘 and 하룻밤, 이틀밤, 사흘밤, 나흘밤. (And, yes, the fact that "three days" is 사흘 confused the heck out of me for the longest time.) Sino-Korean is easier, and we often talk about the duration of trips taken using this system; an overnight trip is 一泊二日. A two-night trip is 二泊三日. And so forth.

Kevin Kim said...

Ah, so desu nae...