Twenty Three

My birthday landed right in the middle of Chuseok holidays this year. Lucky me! While most people opt to club at Hongdae to celebrate, I chose something a little bit more Claudia.

Step 1: Popeyes Chicken

If there is a popeyes chicken in the area, Claudia will find it. The chicken and biscuits are just as delicious here as they are in Canada. Perfect start to a fantastic birthday.

Step 2: Go to the zoo!

I love the zoo. I was a little worried that the Seoul zoo would be small and disappointing, but it was large and very nicely decorated! I saw all kinds of animals I have never seen before. Korean zoo behaviour was a little bit odd and unsettling though. Children were reaching over the enclosure to pet the MEERKATS. I was sure little Timon would bite her little fingers off. But by the way Timon reacted, it probably happens all the time. Why was the enclosure so low anyway? People were also reaching in to pet the tapir and throwing apples at the black bears. Poor animals :(

Oh and did I mention that the zoo cost us only 4 dollars?

The group pictured above are the friends who braved the zoo wtih me. I am sporting my panda mask and holding a bag of goodies, gifts from a couple of my zoo buddies. 

 Step 3: 닭갈비 (pronounced: DakGalbi)

This is what we ate for dinner. For the friends who have heard of "Joons" in Toronto, this is the same thing but way better because I am in Korea. You start with chicken, rice cakes and cabbage in a sweet and spicy sauce. THen you add whatever you wish, in our case it was cheese and ramen noodles.  This is all cooked on a big pan in front of you.You eat approximately half of this (knowing exactly when to stop is crucial for the enjoyment of this meal) and then you order some rice. They throw the rice on the pan, cook it with whatever is left, and voila! Cheesey ooey gooey spicy savory delicious rice. 

Step 4: Predrink at 711.

And by predrink I mean drink half a cooler really really slowly.

 Step 5: Go to a bar.

Yes. This is a bar. You have to believe me even though cat is holding a bottle of orange juice. 

We drank some soju mixed drinks (soooo delicious!) and ate some more snacks. I drank 1.5 shots of the mixed drink. Cat wanted to make sure that i ate a lot so that I wont feel sick, so she shoved 8 stale fruit loopy puffy bar snacks into my mouth. 

Alcohol total: 0.5 cooler + 1.5 shots of mixed drink. A successful 23rd birthday!

 Step 6: 노래방 aka Karaoke

 We're in Korea, so we naturally ended up at a karaoke. Funnily enough, the group that came out for karaoke liked all the same songs as me. :D Pictured above is my favourite neighbour from Atlanta. He has a mean falsetto. 

All in all, an incredible birthday. Popeyes, zoo, dakgalbi, a TINY bit of alcohol, snacks, oldies, and really great company. I couldn't have asked for more for my 1st birthday outside of Canada.