New Year's Eve in Seoul

J did it again.  You know, that woman is hell bent on slowing my progression into the bitter, angry, old woman I am so meant to be!  We did establish that I'm the mayor of Bittertown, and she's the princess of Sunnyville.  LOL.  Anyways, I was planning a chill evening at home with wine, pizza, and Netflix.  I was going to ring in the new year sitting on my bed.  Well, the night before NYE I got a text from J saying 'It would be lovely if you joined, but perfectly fine if you don't... tomorrow, A, M(H), A, myself and maybe H are going to see fireworks in Gangnam and then you are more than welcome to get a taxi back with A and myself.'  I was in bed, so I didn't respond.  Then when we met up to walk to work, she started right in on all the arguments why I shouldn't stay home, alone.  I'll sum up: we're in a new country, it's the end of the decade, we're going with good people, there won't be any clubbing, you'll be home to sleep, it'll be fun, fireworks are pretty, even A thinks that you shouldn't be alone on NYE, I want to hug you at midnight, etc.  That's the gist as I remember it.  Anyway, she'd pretty much convinced me by the time we got to the coffee shop.

Side note - my coffee shop lady is moving to China, so she won't be there anymore.  I'm so sad cuz she's so sweet and makes getting coffee so nice.

After work a group of us (J, A, M(H), A, H, and I) got on the bus to Gangnam, then the subway to the Coex mall.  We all split up to get food from the food trucks - I got pad thai - then met back up to go in and eat.  After we ate, we went outside and listened to/watched the concert going on.  It's apparently the year of the mouse, so that's why you see the big mouse in the pic.  Then there was the standard countdown to midnight (starting at 30 sec), then about 10 mins of music (starting with Queen (Don't Stop Me Now), then some pop song, then Will Smith's 'you ain't never had a friend like me' from Aladdin, ending with I wanna say 'Lean on me,' maybe 'Stand by me'... or the equivalent, anyway).

 Korean star on screen with the lights in the bushes... my artsy shot, if you will.

 My pad thai place.

 Year of the mouse, indeed.

 Counting down.

 Fireworks started...

It was a beautiful show, and a great night.

After the show, we went home via taxi.  We had a much more sedate ride this time.  The taxi driver was an older gentleman.  We got home at about 1:30 am, and I was in bed by 2.  It was amazing.

Today I've been messaging people around the world as it turns midnight their time.  I've also been watching movies, drinking tea, taking vitamin C, and just now fighting the urge to nap.  I'm planning on running out for pizza after finishing Dracula Untold.  You know, this movie just isn't as much fun after knowing what Vlad Dracul's castle actually looks like.

Anyway, that's my story of how my NYE got hijacked.  Instead of spending it alone in my apt with pizza and wine, I spent it in Gangnam with people from work, a bunch of random people, and fireworks.  I can honestly say that I am glad that J doesn't give up on me sometimes, though I know if I'd really had a crap day and gone home she would have understood.  I'm still fighting residual nasties - runny nose, sometimes stopped up, tickle in the throat that causes a cough, and just general tiredness.  I'm sure I'll be ok.  In the meantime, I can have pizza and wine today.  That's the best thing about plans with me... I understand when we need to reschedule.  LOL.