We had an appointment at the International Clinic in Itaewon last Saturday so we went to Seoul to see Dr. Kim and have our typhoid shots. It was been three years since I had my first shot in Korea,  we also want to have yellow fever shots but this vaccination can only availed in Seoul University Hospital if I am not mistaken. After seeing Dr. Kim and getting our vaccination shots we left to find the Bulgarian Restaurant.

International Clinic can be reached through Itaewon subway station exit 2 just walked a little and you will reach the building, just beside is a coffee shop.

From http://www.internationalclinic.co.kr –

There’s really nothing much happening to me, it was my birthday last week and on Saturday my husband treated for South African meal at Braii Republic in Itaewon. We first went to Seobinggo station to look for Turkish embassy and we found the Vivien building easily so we left right away to Hongik University to find the FEDEX but it turns out it was not there anymore. Through free wifi and my phone I have found out online that the nearest FEDEX office was in Hapjeong so went there but didn’t turn out well so we decided to just go to Itaewon to eat lunch as we are already starving.

Braii Republic is in exit 4 of Itaewon station (line 6), walk straight and turn left at the alley just before the McDonald’s. Go through the intersection, past the Juliette clothing store, and Braii Republic is on your left on the second floor.

I have ordered number 4 – Karoo Surf and Turf, it consist of 2 lamb chops, 4 prawns, green salad and potato while my husband ordered number 1 –  meat platter  consisting of  2 lamb chops, boerewors,  pork banger with garlic potato, creamy spinach and slaw. The meal was delicious and awesome I could eat more if free. Haha

The service is good, the people are very accommodating.  The place was a bit small but it was fine,  a good place to hang out during the weekend if you love meeting other expats.

I seldom went out, I spend most of the day in front of my laptop. Lately I have thought that I should see everything around Korea before we left, yeah right my husband decided not to renew his contract anymore next year.  He said six years is enough, he need new surroundings and he is getting tired of Korea.

Anyway the other day my friend and I met in Seoul, we went to Buckhon Hanok Village for a walk, ate Gamjatang in Itaewon and dropped by  at I’Park Mall in Yongsan to buy a phone, her husband followed in Yongsan and we wander around the mall for few minutes before heading home in separate way.

They invited me to eat Korean buffet in Itaewon but I was not able to go because I have a lot of stuff to do online, updating blogs, list and designing a new headers.

I am tired that’s all I can whine today. I only sleep five(5) hours, I wake up very early in the morning waiting for the alarm clock to ring but it does not happened after few minutes. Darn there’s no used setting an alarm clock if I wake up before  the clock do its job.  Around 6:15 in the morning we are already outside walking on snowy street I almost slide two times, the sky is still dark and I guess everybody is still sleeping because there’s only two or three people in the street and it is all empty, we saw one videoke bar which is still open and there are people and we heard someone singing. We arrived the bus station around 6:30, Pookie bear was a little pissed off tickets are all sold for the early trip, the available bus will be at 8:00 in the morning. We need to be at the Bangladesh Embassy as early as we can because the embassy office hours is between 9:30 and 11:30 in the morning.

If we will take the eight o’clock bus will going to arrived Seoul after one hour or it depends because the road has ice. Then it will take us another one hour to take the subway and walk up to the embassy it is okay if Pookie has no class this afternoon but he has, he just told her co-teacher that he might be late and not absent. So as we walking on the bus terminal, Pookie bear found a bus with a tag EAST SEOUL, so he thought taking a chance to take that route, so we went back to the ticketing office to ask. Anyway its on the other ticketing office so we need to walk back and fourth to buy and return the old ticket after wards. Well still a lucky day, the new bus left anytime so as we are standing a new bus arrived.  Just in nick of time its full, we left the terminal at 7 o’ clock in the morning and arrived in East Seoul around 8:15 AM. We transfer to another building and took the subway. We arrived at the Bangladesh Embassy 30 minutes earlier with their office hours, the officer entertained us even they are still close he look on our documents if it is complete or not. After it he instructed us to pay for the processing fee at KEB bank while waiting for the embassy to open its window for visa or passport applicants.

Thanks to the officer instruction and we found the bank, anyway we I also asked one of the sweeper in the area where is KEB bank I just show him the deposit slip. So done paying the processing fee, what we need now to have a photocopy of our ARC and Travel Itinerary. We’ve went inside the Capital Hotel and luckily they offered that serviced, so we found ourselves inside the Bangladesh embassy again waiting for our time to submit our documents, the window is busy serving another applicant. Then done documents are submitted we I need to return on Tuesday to pick-up our passport.

After it I am running like in marathon just to walk with Pookie bear, he walked so fast. We took the subway again and went to the Express Bus Terminal, the terminal for the 8 o’clock bus. The terminal is so big that we get lost even we always ride a bus there, anyway I am the one to blame because I am the guide. instead of going out I took him on the 4th or 5th floor by escalator. Hehehe, I just told Pookie bear I am sleepy and hungry lol. We had an eleven o’clock bus, while waiting for the bus to arrived I bought some gimbap rolls and water, when I have to pay for my water darn it is so expensive W1,800 for one normal bottle so I have to ask for another one thousand won from Pookie bear. I am busy munching my gimbap rolls when the bus arrive and open its door, as we sat  I open my water..“What kind of water is this, why is it sweet?” Lol, Pookie bear told me if I did  not noticed it is not water, so I look on the bottle and read POCARI SWEET. Pookie bear seconded that’s why it is expensive because it is not water. He told me to get water and I grab this on the fridge because it is the only white drink among the assorted drinks but its not water eh. After one hour and ten minutes we finally arrived at the bus terminal here in our place. Have to walk 15-20 minutes though to get home, on the way home we went inside the super market to buy an olive oil, toothpaste and small package of meat for my food. Done for the day I tried to sleep when we got home but my eyes are wide open, so I just lay and stretch my achy back and now back to blogging after the bear left for school.

After a short visit with the Bangladesh Embassy we return to subway by walking 20-30 minutes. We went to National Museum of Korea and spend few hours wandering around the artifacts, learning about Korean ancient history and non-stop photo session. After our visit we went to souvenir shop just inside the building, I’ve bough a notebook souvenir items from G20 Seoul Summit, Emelyn bought 4 small boxes of Tangerine Chocolate which she hand  the two boxes to me. We had a lot fun walking around, then we took the subway and had a shirt shopping on the  subway stores, I bought one long sleeve turtle neck shirt and she bought two.

Then we went to Itaewon to eat late lunch, we ate at a Mexican Restaurant its a treat from her. After eating we went to their apartment and Guro and had photo session too. After staying for few minutes I have to go home I will have a long travel by subway and bus. She gave me a bag of goodies and walk with me up to the subway which is around 20 minutes from their apartment I guess. Then we bid goodbye till next meeting, I reach the the bus terminal  around 6:35 PM, and I got a seven o’clock bus. There’s a little traffic so we reached our place around 8:10 in the evening, then I walk home so fast that took me ten minutes only instead of 20 minutes. When I arrived home Pookie bear is making his meal, his first word when I enter the apartment “Will you explain why it took you 12 hours in Seoul”. I just told him I did not catch the six o’clock bus and we went to Emelyn’s apartment anyway he did not ask anymore when he noticed that I left late in the bus station here and arrived the embassy in the mid-afternoon. That means I only have short time with my friend, it was the travel that makes me longer in Seoul. The moment I arrived I just took off my jacket and finished cooking his meal and wash the bunch of dishes in the sink which is empty when I left.

Went to Seoul yesterday and it was really a tiring day. I asked Pookie bear to set the alarm clock for me at eight o’clock but I wake up ten minutes before it rings. Well I ate my breakfast so I will have an energy and I left our apartment quarter to nine and walk to the bus station which is twenty minutes away from us. The bus left at nine thirty in the morning, I arrived in Express bus terminal one hour after we left the moment I arrived I called Emelyn on the public phone, she said she is already in the subway so am I. So I boarded the train and had one transfer, when I arrived in meeting place she’s not yet there, I waited five minutes and she’s there with her high heeled boots. We walked through the Bangladesh Embassy which we thought closed because the door our wooden and not glass where you can see if there’s people inside, we went to the third floor and there we found another door with a tag “Always close the door”,I thought it is the application area, I’ve opened it without knocking (bad) there we found a man (maybe it was the Ambassador), he told us its on the first floor the door with tag “Consular”.  After saying thank you we left. Darn didn’t tried to open that door because I thought that’s where the Ambassador stays (dork) what I am looking is the word “Visa Section”  but did not find it. So we open it and we’re late, they just accept visa application during the morning, 9:30 -11:30. Anyway the officer there was kind enough to entertain me, ask what is my purposed and so on., then I found out that we need itinerary if we can’t produce an invitation letter from someone in Bangladesh (that’s what I told from Pookie bear the night before I left to Seoul but he said its not needed).

I was told too that Pookie bear also need to apply personally and not just me to bring his applications form which pertain a problem because he has class and Seoul is far from we are. When I asked the officer that Canadian can get visa upon arrival, he said it is much better to get it here in Korea because they can also denied him in the airport. They don’t care what’s the nationality of the person entering their country., I’ve told him Filipino before also don’t need a visa to enter Bangladesh as what it is stated in Wikipidea before the changes occurred and as the embassy told us when we emailed them. He said no, Filipino needs a busy as what he understand since a long time ago (lol). So I asked  again if what days they are open if Monday to Friday or what, the officer I guess is already pissed off of me he said the office hours in the morning then seconded with the office days. I say thank you and return to my friend waiting for me in the benches. Then the guy speak on a foreign language  where the other Bangladeshi  laughs, I don’t know what are they talking but I felt offended. Anyway its their embassy, country we are planning to spend our vacation and that’s how friendly they are, and well maybe they’re also offended when we just came in to their office without a word so c ‘est lavie.

Anyway there are times I feel degraded when someone know I am a Filipino now I can’t blame other  Filipino’s why they want to be white and look smart. World is not fair, it has no four equal sides but a plane curve everywhere equidistant from a given fixed point, a circle.