Well, I had an interesting weekend.

After volunteering at my second speech contest and visiting town, it was back into town for a Hallo'ween Party at the International Pub. Numerous things were happening in the centre of town, including some filming for a TV show and a talent contest in which the prize seemed to be a new car. Myself and Garry settled down to some free food and all we could drink for 15,000won. On offer was OB Beer, Gin, Vodka, Rum and Whiskey. I plumped for Whiskey - Canadian Club, incidentally.

The maitre'dee (i know i've spelt that wrong) is Soon Young - not Neil's sister but a genial host nonetheless. She looks after us very well, as do the bar staff who were also pretty entertaining and, erm, pretty.

Andy joined us later and, likewise indulged. There were plenty of entertaining characters all dressed up and lots of photos taken. The phrase 'all i could drink' was, however, literally demonstrated by my requirement to lay down for a bit. I fell asleep for 3 hours, during which time, Garry kept on taking pictures and invited folk to pose with me. A couple of aliens begun drawing on my face and a new craze begun... obviously there is a lesson to be had here. I had absolutely no idea what was going on. I didn't even twig when i woke up in my own bed, with a disgustingly black pillow case - i didn't even look in the mirror and had a shower has normal... washing away all the evidence.

On Sunday, there was a chance to recover. Eun-jung, a work colleague, took me to Pusan for the afternoon and evening. I had a lovely time getting to know her, chatting and seeing the beach at Pusan. We had lunch at her older sister's place, before taking her daughter - Eun-jung's 13 year-old niece - and her friend to the beach. We also went cockle-picking, balloon-popping, crab-pointing (See photos) and ended up in the Hotel Aqua Palace - a huge building full of various fun things to do with water... we relaxed in the jimji-bang (a sauna and several different relaxation rooms). It's a very Korean thing to go to these kind of places - they are all called 'bangs' (rooms) of one kind or another. So I felt very refreshed but just a little bit unbelieving about the state I had got into the night before.

Anyway, Eun-jung has offered to teach me Korean (if I teach her more English) and take me to the mountains next Sunday.... so two great offers I can't refuse. Let's hope it happens!

Anneyonghi Kyeseyo

Phil