13 | Stefano.

I spent Saturday morning cozied up in my pjs and watching the new Titans series on Netflix. I munched on some banana french toast and coffee (yes it did come from Giant-Americano-in-a-Bag: "Big boy-cano"?) while doodling some character designs for unfinished cartoon and video game aspirations.
I received a message from Dave, stating that he would be meeting a few friends for dinner and to go clubbing afterwards. I jumped on the chance, asking to join. Of course, he promptly agreed and invited me to meet him for a cup of coffee at the renowned.... Turrisbabel.
Turrisbabel is renowned for a number of reasons:

1. It is open 24-hours
2. It is in the middle of Hongdae, so its easy access to anyone who needs a break from the clubs while the subways are closed
3. They have a bathroom outside of the main cafe, so anyone could use it without being caught
4. Unfortunately the bathroom has a pad-lock.... the code is 1358, you're welcome.
5. The drink list is extensive and actually quite unique
6. Their blueberry latte is amazing, especially if you ask for espresso in it
7. The wide cafe is 60% windows, so you can watch all the drama on the streets below
8. I once saw a mime get into an argument with the police from there while sipping on a blueberry latte at 4 am.

TL;DR, I'm well revised with Turrisbabel and knew exactly where I was headed.

I approach the steps cheerfully, inside I see a plaid clad back of a man with... quite the sideburns.

"Boo!" I scare Dave to which he turns abruptly to see a white masked girl in a black tube-like coat. I suppose that would scare just about anyone. 

He offered to buy me a coffee, and yes I did get my BB special (blueberry espresso latte).

We waited around the cafe, getting on the subject of tattoos until his friend, Stefano would join us for dinner. We joked about getting drunk tattoos, waking up in the morning to wash off the notorious Mike's Cabin or Thursday Party tattoo, only to shriek in horror when we realize it was permanent. But hey, at least that means free entry always?

When Stefano finally arrived around 7:30, we went restaurant hunting. We finally came upon 삼겹의신 (Samgyeob weisin), an unlimited Korean BBQ. Alongside the BBQ, it was tradition that we share a bottle of soju and beer. 소맥(somaek), combining the words 소주 (soju) and 맥주( maekju: beer), is a common drink amongst Korea. It uses the 소주 to strengthen the beer and the maekju dilutes the 소주's bitter taste. 소주 comes in a variety of flavors, my favorite being the 자몽 (jamong: grapefruit) or the newly introduced 깔라만시 (Calamansi) flavors. The blueberry flavor is terrible. Never drink that.

Korean BBQ does have a format, so if you want to surprise your friends with your cultural knowledge, is how to follow suit once the meat is finished and cut:

1. Grab your leaf. (There will be large lettuce leaves with the food, sometimes at a self serve bar).
2. Throw in your add-ins. This can be 
• fresh bean sprouts
• 고추장 (gojujang) sauce
• 쌈장 (Ssamjang paste)
• garlic (I suggest putting them on the grill)
• kimchi (Also suggest grilling)
• 단무지 (danmuji: pickled radish)
• etc.
3. Once the selected items are in your leaf, ball it up and prepare your shot glass, or beer glass for a 짠 (jjan: like sound of glasses clinking)!
4. Drink, and immediately shove the lettuce ball into your mouth.
5. Repeat the process, snacking on the foods individually throughout. 
6. Keep your friends' glasses full.
7. Get creative! There's plenty of different flavors to add to your 삼겹살 and it can make for a fun night.

I personally enjoy the following:

• 삼겹살 
• grilled kimchi
• garlic
• 쌈장
• 고추장 
• Tofu from the tofu stew (This is a bit of a weird one, but its my life hack)

The thing about Korean meals? Its very social eating and drinking. Almost everything is shared. Including the alcohol. Including the 건배 (geonbae: toasting). The thing about Stefano? He REALLY liked to drink. And so we drank a LOT of 소주. 

After one bottle of 자몽 소주, one of fresh 소주, and two bottles of beer, we finished our meal and circled around the bars, getting our early bird special stamps at Mike's. Here I bought Dave a drink, a Gin and tonic and I ventured out to a Tequila pineapple. Not my favorite, so we switched. And Stefano had an AMF. Which was a mistake because Dave and I both had short glasses while Stefano seemed to bite off a little more than he could chew. Naturally, he enticed us to help him finish off the drink. Lucky for me, I hate AMFs. Anything with an unnatural hue I tend to avoid.

Next up, we tried a new one for Jessica:

Zen Bar.

This isn't entirely true, as I have once been let into the bar, which does have a fee after 10:30, for free. I went to find my friends with Caillean, and immediately darted out due to the cloud of smoke and many, MANY people. My return was much more peaceful, as it was before the 10:30 cut off and the bar was still in... well... bar mode. 

Here we played darts, pool, and shared the BIGGEST GIN and TONIC YOU HAVE EVER LAID EYES ON.

And after losing a game of pool, cause I suck a pool, the other teammates bought us a round of tequila shots. Disgusting, but the gesture was kind. Before we left, a fourth member of the party joined us, Stefano's friend who spoke zero English, and for some reason drove to 홍대... so didn't drink. Why anyone would ever drive to 홍대 baffles me. There's no where to park, the streets are full of people and its a drinking haven I mean honestly.

All night we ran about the town, drinking a little too much, until finally winding down into Zen Bar again. This time it was packed, drinks splashing, people dancing happily, and people of both genders were taking on the brave (and likely alcohol-induced) task of utilizing the stripper pole. Of course, my friends jokingly abused its powers, and then chanted me on as well. I, a conservative, young, innocent child, declined the tempting offer. Which was frowned upon. Did I end up taking on the challenge after all? I won't say yes.................... 

but I won't say no.

My superpower when I drink is my ability to speak any language. I'm like Starfire from Teen Titans... except unfortunately I can't shoot lasers from my eyes. But this, alongside my uniquely extroverted personality, allows me to make plenty of friends when I'm out. As Dave and Stefano hit up the bar, I got to talking with a Korean girl and the guy she was with next to me. They seemed sweet enough, and we enjoyed dancing together for a while. When Dave returned, he attempted to take me with him to the next bar. But something stopped me, latched onto my wrist.

The girl.

I assured her, he was my friend and that I had come with him. 

But she didn't budge. Skeptical.

Dave also assured her, but I suppose his word wasn't the most trustful from her perspective. I again assured her I was fine, and the guy she was with helped her back off. I thanked her and the guy for the fun, and followed Dave and Stefano out of Zen Bar. Dave swears that she was trying to hit on me. I couldn't help but laugh, since I'd never been hit on by a girl and wouldn't know the difference. 

After that bit of drama, we filled up our stomachs with some 계란빵 (you'll never guess who influenced this decision) and then wound up back in Mike's Cabin.

Afterwards, we sat around in a cafe, then, exhausted, I took a cab home.  Overall, the night was crazy fun. But high alcohol content. Dave and I both guarantee it was

stefano.