BauHause Cafe, dogs anyone? - Not Your Average Ultra-Mod Kennel

What a awesomely-bizarre concept! The doggy cafe, of which many, are popping up all over Seoul. I think by now I've read at least four or five signs in major areas advertising these very lovely, entertaining "cafes". 

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A Mid-January pick up is definitely needed at this point. Three weeks in and the snow on the ground is a promising sign that things might be okay. January is always better with a little (or even better, lots of it) snow on the ground. this 'cafe' (if you could even use the sacred frappe-mocha-non-fat-sugar-free-latte word to describe it) is a great place to just enjoy the company of man's best friend. This is Hongdae's version of the doggy cafe. a simple three step process!!! one) wait for a table. two) sit down, order something to drink (most of them being priced above 4,000w). three) sit back and relax as pups, dogs and beasts roam the cafe coming over to say hello and be loved. bring your own dog for a dog-sitting service or just to hang out. everyone gets along here and there's plenty of love to go around for the whole bunch! big dogs, little dogs, matching dogs, tye-dyed dogs, hyper dogs, and calm dogs... they're all there... enjoy!

he was a beast. taller than me if i was kneeling!!

curious puppy

this one really wanted to go outside, but it wasn't her turn yet, so she proceeded to place herself on top of the leads till they took her outside, haha

matching scared-y cats

on the table, in your lap, sprawled on the floor, in their kennel, on your chair... anywhere they want to go

what's red, white and black? a sunburned zebra!

it's funny. to break a cork.
you really have only two ways out of your predicament.
get a cork-screw or you have to shove the remaining bit into your bottle. i suppose it's an even sillier predicament to have to complete this task on a moving subway. the eyes... wondering. the bottle convulsing as the car wobbles on the tracks as the train hurtles from one station to the next. well there isn't much wobbling comparatively, but as you could imagine the wobbling whilst you try to punch a cork into its bottle because you don't have a cork-screw... hmmm. ahh. a wintry subway - - - -



you know me. really. it's minus 13 out. finally i've traded in my mini-skirt and hot shorts for a woolly scarf and two pairs of pants... not to mention the three shirts i'm wearing, plus my jacket. it's not that the stations are cold... it's walking around that is. and it's the shear evil-ness of the winter here. at least by now at home i'd have a consistent three inches on the ground. insulation from the chill. something to warm my bones with.

here the wind bites around the sky scrapers and shoots down the sides of buildings to crawl under your skin and scrape at the back of your spine. making your eyeballs hurt and your nose freeze. possibly even in your own damn apartment! under the blankets when you don't wanna wake up in the morning because the floor heating is still to far away from your warm body between the sheets and duvet. and the cold morning tile in your bathroom makes you doubt the validity of showers for a week or two at a time.

and here all i'm doing on the subway now, on a not even Very cold day is catching a bus to suwon, and wait.. what's happening now. my ass is burning? quite literally. the seat in the subway has my cheeks alight and sweaty, this doesn't bode well for the trip out into the cold soon, better to stand in discomfort than cause my pants to freeze to my skin because of a slight bond of moisture.

mmmm,.. ahhh big-gulp.oh 7-11 why don't you have them? big-gulps, no never been interested in those, but the idea of them reminds me of slur-pees. so no, not the big gulp, the slur-pees. they're non-existent. *sigh* worthless space if you ask me, no not slur-pees... 7-11. what's the point.

some silly aspects of my product driven life. i've come to terms with no slur-pees, though they're still wastes of space.. 7-11's. but yeah, no slur-pees, no car, no personal space... wait that's more environment than product. or maybe i was a product of that view now slowly becoming a product of this view.
thrown into the the crunch-n-bunch, shuffling-bustling life... a new environment a new product? could it be. god no. please. it could mean so much more than just an adjustment to shuffle and bustle. i wouldn't allow myself to spend an additional three hours each day checking my clothes and make-up (wait, i'd be wearing make-up... ahh!)
have i accustomed myself to the aujimas shouldering me to get past only to stop in front of me? or the constant coughing into the air i breathe? or the looking in the subway as i squeeze my non-korean ass onto a korean-ass sized seat? pfht. i dun-no. maybe it's the wine this time around?
ahh... gangnam exit. here we go.. bum bum bum

exit three, buses 3000, 8001 both will take me where i want to go. see yaas.
ahhh pushing. so much pushing
off the train, in the station, mini skirt asians with blonde hair flash past on the way to fanciful nights out on the town. gangnam. beauty. primal. savage. carnal.... wait mini skirts... hot shorts, in winter?!
well at least they have nice legs right now. i can't tell if exposing them to prolonged nights of harsh cold would be beneficial to their youthful appearance. maybe i'll think about the article i just read about cold water swimming and how it's supposed to be good every so often, as i walk outside...
nope.nope.nope.nope.nope.nope.nope.nope.nope.nope.
it's warm on here though. maybe they know something about youth and cold that i don't but the bitter wind stresses me. i can feel my wrist stiffen and my body protest. i was raised in four seasons but that doesn't mean i can consider this a season. toll bridge. i'll stay seated on the stairs with a good view of the door window and drink my wine watching snow piles go by. i'll pass the twenty minute ride in pseudo mi-gook korean style. by the door. i like it here. it's my winter break.

enjoy the captures

lazy lean. tired kids. shabby santa

andy's face. a+

happy carolers, prize hats, time to go home

olympic peace gate skate rink! the helmets make people look stupid so i'm not posting any pictures of myself on here skating... i'll thank myself when i'm 30 that they only ever stayed on old blue

Zoo Coffee. yes there are large animals there. confirmation, no they are not real... a little disappointed chimps weren't trained to serve me coffee.

 SEOUL TOWER...  finally. right?!

yes. i am. right here.

make a wish on a tree at the top of the tower. i mean, cause if it doesn't come true there, where else do you expect it to work?

be korean kute, hang a lock. 

space. hur.

destination city

no... stephen.... no.

doing the awkward face

not so far. could be worse.

Chi-town!

hello colin! hello alexis!

it means more if a bug on a tile tells me how much you love me.

love tiles.

how to spend 3 weeks till christmas

it's really very simple. there are

three and a half  weeks before christmas
twenty-four days
five hundred seventy-six hours
thirty-four thousand five hundred sixty minutes

simply put..
out of those i will devote
18 days to working
roughly 8 hours a day i am in my work building
7 hours are spent in bed
and the other 8 or 9 are mostly spent doing jack... who knows. i've never asked myself or answered to anyone about it

here's the predicament. christmas, 24 days..
shopping
shipping
cards
posting

biggest problem shipping.
what to do when you have to do these these but all you really want to do is (and I quote murphy here) "faf" about and do your own things cause you can't really be bothered getting all these things together because it's fairly difficult, the post office is difficult, far away, open only during my lunch break (my love for food is hard to break) and even if i go during my break i practically have to run, who wants that burden.. bah!

okay. get it done quickly.

numero uno project, complete. i did send things out, got it done.. heh. from what i gather it'll even make it there before chrsitmas. i'm on it, like white on rice. wha!

what now. ah yes... a trip. because climbing mountains at the start of december is fun, and it's spectacular when you go south and the weather is perfect even though you never bothered to check the weather because you were to lazy. great job!

haeinsa, an old temple. peace, serenity, and free water abound to those who can spot it. otherwise some might only see it as a lot of stairs plopped onto the side of the mountain with some fancy brick work.

don't let this mash-up of words fool you, i may seem a bit jaded about the haeinsa movement, nope not a bit. i found my peace there. i realized my serenity and even tried the fresh spring water. attempted and succeeded a climb i was actually unaware i was doing at the time.
[note]: when you pick a mountain you can see the top of note it on a map.. it'll give perspective.
i enjoyed the soothing company of a good friend and had great food.
i discovered the great feeling of traveling and arriving by bus and train.

if the peace of land didn't drive home the feeling of calm i'm sure seeing the incredible scope of buddhist text written on tablets. it fascinated and astounded my scholarly mind and surely would have dumbfound those who didn't know such things existed. or maybe it was the mountain river running through the midst of the path in some spots, that took away my existing cares and for a moment made me forget the threats that are rising and the shadow of danger that has been cast across the country, and as i looked from the top of the mountain over a very consuming and vast mountain range near this utterly gorgeous temple i could maybe see a portion of survival, feel the tug of the wind against me and the call of the wilderness in my blood.

but really don't take my word for it. i wouldn't even bother reading anything actually, but by now if you've read this it's much to late for you my friend. i'm sorry.

The KTX... first time ever.. fast train. classy, we rode it backwards, i took window. nana

view from the room

winter is coming

the temple grounds

prayer rooms

steven decided to switch a monks walking stick with another's umbrella.. bahahahaha

it still felt like fall, nothing like december

the 1,200 year old tree, planted by a buddhist

haeinsa day 1: over... 

Food Time!!! and What a spread!

BibimBop and Bulgogi and like twenty thousand different sides

seriously? we're hiking.

at the tippy top

koreans and their personal space concepts. or maybe it was the cold wind?

to the west

to the south

the fiesty wind nearly blew me off the north face

the feet that took us to the top 

thank you mr. korean man

check it!

much love... that was a lot higher than i thought originally. 4k hike.. eh why not. 5,000 ft. oh, really?

the mt. from the parking lot.

i also again went to the aquarium, this time with stephen. it really is nice. we tried to save a horseshoe crab that was (excuse the pun) stuck between a rock and a hard place (glass)... BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

oh yes, they would certainly eat you if the glass broke. sharks, watch out.

"homeless mi-gook steals starfish from local aquarium and sets them free"

wait... what? stephen? noooooooo....

you need to look happy to be in there.

jelly fish...

o.m.g. so many pictures. 

k.thanks.