a terrible night out

I left the office a bit early last night by order of the boss, who told us all to go home early because it was Friday, and we were ahead of schedule. I decided to hit the local Ho Lee Chow for dinner again. Like last time, I had to get my temperature taken, and the lady told me that dine-in was only until 8:50 p.m. It was 8:10 when I arrived. I shrugged and resigned myself to a rushed meal, although I now think I should've just left and found something to eat at a local grocery. I got hot-and-sour soup plus my beloved mushu pork; the food was great as usual, but the experience was a rushed one. I paid my bill and stepped outside into a comparatively cool (or not-so-warm) night. Using my cell phone's Naver Map app, I found a local motel/hotel called Demian, which was exactly one kilometer away from Ho Lee Chow.

Demian turned out to be a midrange hotel (on the lower end of midrange); my room was W70,000 for the night (about $60, US), which is par for the course in rich, ritzy Gangnam. The accommodations were clean enough, if a little timeworn. Wi-Fi was available, but as I found out, not very stable. The bed proved to be the biggest disappointment: it had one of those mattresses that might make sense for sex but not for sleep—big and soft and offering no back support at all, great for collapsing onto post-coitally, but not so good when you're looking to catch some Zs. I watched YouTube on my laptop (my faithful, 2011-era MacBook Air, refurbished a couple months ago after its sudden and mysterious brain-death) and noticed how the Mac's battery power drained rapidly. I doubt I had even two hours of battery life, despite starting at 100% charge. Luckily, the room had a power socket that allowed me to hook the laptop up and recharge it. I relied on my cell phone for the rest of my YouTube viewing... and because I couldn't sleep, I watched YouTube all night.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the room also had a decent air conditioner, but the A/C blew straight at the bed, which made the bed even more uncomfortable. I raised the A/C's temperature to compensate, and that made the breeze tolerable. It might have been better simply to have an electric fan that I could point slightly away from myself.

I kept thinking that "Demian," the name of this hotel, was a misspelling of the French demain, i.e., tomorrow. But, no: the hangeulized version of the name said "deh-mi-ahn," so I knew the spelling was intended. Sleep was fitful; I gave up around 9:45 a.m. and was out the door by 10:30. My inner drill sergeant was yelling at me for pussying out and spending a night in a hotel instead of walking to Bundang and back. I had thought I would do that walk tonight, but honestly, I'm not feeling it. Maybe next week. I can do the Yangjae Creek stairs in the meantime, what with the cooler nights we're now enjoying.

For those who don't know: checking out of most low- to midrange Korean hotels/motels doesn't involve anything more than leaving your room key (or card) in a tiny basket that's located inside the establishment's elevator. Plop your key in the basket, go down to the lobby, and just say "Thank you!" on your way out. Easy. I stepped out of the Demian Hotel, caught a cab, went to Itaewon, grabbed some lamb qeema and feta cheese, then trundled back to my place, where the electricity was on again after another temporary power outage. And now, instead of walking intrepidly out to Bundang and back, I'm prepping the meat for this coming Friday's gyros. That's not a lot of work, I confess: I spent most of Saturday catching up on the sleep I'd failed to get at the hotel. Tomorrow, I'll be working on the homemade flatbread.

How's your weekend going?