another failed quest

My buddy Tom called me up early this afternoon to see about doing lunch. He was in the grip of an idée fixe: he wanted Mexican, and since he was in the Gwanghwamun area, he wanted to go to Dos Tacos. I took the taxi over to Gwanghwamun and met Tom at an Olleh coffee shop next to the Kyobo Building. We hiked the better part of a mile to Dos Tacos's tucked-away location, and... it turned out they were closed until 4:30. Well, shit. Since we were basically in the Chongno district, we knew there were tons of restaurants everywhere, so we wandered around randomly until we found a curry place (karae-jip) that had a wall socket where Tom's cell phone could recharge.

Tom then declared he had to take a mighty post-pranidal dump, so I suggested we mosey over to the posh Lotte Hotel, where the restroom stalls are about as luxurious as it gets, and the dumping is blissfully comfortable. While I waited for Tom to do his business, I wandered into the souvenir shop and struck up a conversation with an older woman who was, I imagine, the store's proprietor. I shocked her with my Korean ability (see? what's my problem talking with Grandma??), and we discussed my job prospects. She was hopeful for me: "You've got skills, so I'm sure things will turn out fine," she said. I thanked her; not long after, Tom reappeared and proudly declared he had launched a three-log flume. We walked out of the hotel, passing a high-end buffet called, pretentiously enough, La Seine, where the lunch and dinner prices were a ridiculously inflated W100,000 per person. What sane individual would pay that much for a damn buffet? I'd rather get a burger.

Tom and I hung out for a few minutes in front of the Lotte Department Store, which is attached to the hotel, then we went our separate ways. Dos Tacos will have to wait for us to strike another time.


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