- a. I couldn't really be bothered;
- b. I was out a lot and I didn't have the time, and;
- c. The previous exams were fairly manageable and I felt like I could afford to do a little less study.
Anyway, class ended early again, and we took selfies as a group in class, while the teacher declined because she wasn't very 'presentable', according to her.
We then collected out certificate of completion(woohoo!) at the lobby, where we then excitedly contemplated the possibility of heading out for a midnight ski trip. (How crazy are we?!) Unfortunately, it had to be cancelled because there wasn't a bus that would head out that late.
As usual, we then went to Sinchon for lunch, where we had chicken and soy sauce/cheese + noodles (jjimdak 찜닭). We then obviously went to Sulbing for our final dessert together.
We then went into a nearby Etude House to get a final look at some things (and to escape that crazy winter wind). We then *ahem* managed to get into the wrong Missha store as we attempted to find one of the guys who went into another Missha store in the same 50m radius, but that was all resolved after some confused messages. We decided to go to a nearby arcade where we watched a guy just nail all the steps in the fastest DDR (Dance Dance Revolution) song ever. Then we headed to Cornelius' Airbnb Sinchon apartment to have a look around before we got this innocuous text from Richard saying 'are you guys still at the arcade?' Oops.
Leaving that place, we went to ARTBOX for a bit before we 'almost' left another guy in the store. Later on, we went to a second arcade, where Dickson proceeded to win like 7 small soft toys from the claw machine, with a little strategic help from Ellin. Since we're due to leave tomorrow, we decided we should go back to our room and pack for a bit.
Gen, Eugene, Dickson and I have dinner at 'Strawberry', a place recommended to me by my roommate Anu and a fantastic eating-place that we only got to try on our second-last day.. sigh..
Genevieve suggests we all go to a jjimjilbang 찜질방(yay!) and stay overnight. A jjimjilbang, or a 'health center', is basically the Korean version of a Japanese onsen, so it's like a hot bath/overnight stay. After some packing and weighing of luggage, we grab our clean clothes, toothbrush/toothpaste and take a taxi to the Dragon Hill spa at Yongsan.
We checked in at the counter (no previous booking needed), grabbed our wristband locker keys, removed our shoes and placed them in the lockers at the lobby before we headed up to our gender-specific floors. We agreed to meet back downstairs in 1 hr. Gen and I took the gender-specific lift (with the doors helpfully coloured in pink) up to where our lockers were, removed our clothes, grabbed our toiletries and towels, and walked down to the bathing area that was a short distance away. Amidst the steam and sound of bubbling water, we were greeted with bodies of all shapes and sizes. We grabbed a stool each, sat down, and took a shower. We chatted while doing so (not awkwardly I might add) then went into this incredibly hot steam room. It was way too hot (50-60deg) so we got out after like 5 secs.
There were other pools around the bathing area (like Jacuzzi pools) which were less hot but were more than warm (~30-40deg). Gen and I 'chilled' in them for a bit before we decided to try the hot steam room again. We actually managed to stay in there for 5 mins or so since there was a cool bath there, but my face got very hot in the process.
We walked around the place a bit (still in our birthday suit, mind you, though not at all self-conscious anymore) where we found out that there was an area for old ladies in bras and panties to scrub you down - nothing like a good exfoliation in the heat. Unfortunately it was quite expensive (~20-30,000won) and kinda awkward so we passed up on that.
We went back up to our lockers, and even with the bright white lights and mirrors all around, we were now no longer the scared and shy people we were when we first arrived. There was a counter there, so we got some braised eggs and I got an 'Italy towel' (a little late for scrubbing now) as a souvenir. This was paid by scanning our stretchy bracelet thingies at the counter. We then changed into the baggy clothes typical of a jjimjilbang and we finally headed down to the common area.
There was an arcade there, but we just sat and talked at the mini food court area for 1-2hrs.
After that, probably around 2am, we decided to explore the place a bit. The spa has a communal sleeping area, an outdoor terrace (closed), multiple heated rooms for sleeping, whether stone, marble or ice room, massage chairs and computer rooms.
The boys played a little bit of old arcade games while we just sat around, before we finally decided to sleep one of the warmer rooms to the side of the communal area. There was A LOT of snoring. At 5am or so, we woke up and headed into one of the heated pyramid (made of granite?) rooms as we were all dazed and not ready to leave. (Dickson had a flight to catch that morning). But we finally do leave, and so we change into our clean clothes, get our shoes and leave the wonderful* jjimjilbang.
*according to Gen though, the spa wasn't as great as the one she went to somewhere else in Seoul, as they didnt provide mattresses (we slept on the floor with hard rectangular 'pillows'), and there were more rooms in the other spa.
Pro-tip (as provided by Gen): go to the jjimjilbang with 'dirty' clothes and bring a new set of clothes, shampoo, soap and facial wash. Obviously bring money and a phone as well. If you have trouble sleeping, I would recommend going in the early evening, showering, exploring all the spa has to offer, then leaving in clean clothes when it's your bed-time. If you can sleep almost anywhere, you should be fine, but I gotta warn you, it won't be the best sleep.
Snapchat:
0 comments:
Post a Comment