Free To Be Song-Ei and Me

Saturday I broke out of the Freedom55 set in a big way. Song-Ei, who I met through Oliver in Vancouver, took me out on a 12-hour day. Manseh! (“Hooray and lift your arms!”).

We ate budaechigae which bubbles away on the table (it’s already cooked but the gas element in the table keeps it cooking). Spicy. Yum. Afterward, Song-Ei grabbed a few toothpicks on the way out and gave me one. It looks like green plastic but it’s not! It’s potato starch!

We poked our heads into shops filled with cute Korean things. I admired the stationary and laughed when Song-Ei said that Canadians use ugly notebooks. I told her that it’s just that really cute things seem baby-ish. But yes, we use ugly notebooks.

We had tea in what Song-Ei says is a cool hangout. It mainly looks like someone stuffed Laura Ashley fabric samples into Homer’s make-up gun. The hostess wears a little red cape with pompoms. It was very “the hills are alive.”

By early evening, Song-Ei knew of my penchant for all things adorable so she took me into a capsule toy shop. I went nuts at one of these in Tokyo a few years ago. It’s a whole shop filled with coin-operated machines which are in turn filled with the coolest, cutest little quirky toys. I found an iloveegg circus set! And there were funny little Japanese radishes doing household chores. I filled my purse with them.

Then Song-Ei took me to a nearby club called Soundholic to see some bands. The show had started at 6 pm but by 8:30 there was only half an hour left so the nice guy at the door stamped our hands for free. The band was called “Romantic Couch” and they were actually pretty good. Grown-up club music with a pretty girl singer a la Cardigans and a guy with retro-kitsch facial hair and tinted glasses working the laptop. When everyone yelled “encore” after, they pronounced it “enn-core” not “on-core.” Adorable.

After that, a late dinner of noodles. I was taking the subway home at midnight. Wowee! Every other night I’ve been in my pyjamas by 9. Whew. Song-Ei rules.