The Most Random, Fantastic Birthday Ever!

Considering that we technically spent three days celebrating my birthday, I'd say 24 got brought in in unbeatable fashion. I certainly wasn't expecting this much of a birthday weekend, expecially after the Everland idea got discarded. I was even a bit blue on Saturday morning, thinking about spending my birthday away from family. Then Lizzi called, and the randomness began...

Lizzi had the brilliant idea of going to Pohang, a city about 45 minutes from here, for massages. Since my neck has been murdering me all week, the idea held vast appeal. We met at about 3:30 in the afternoon and caught a bus out of Gyeongju. When we got into Pohang, it occurred to us that since neither of us had bothered to eat lunch, we should go get kimbap. We found fantastic kimbap (I love it when they put both ham and crab in it), which disappeared way too quickly. We then had a pleasant walk along the beach before coming to the massage place.

The massage was heavenly. We both got 60-minute full-body Thai massages, which left us feeling like melted butter. The guy who did my massage worked absolute magic - my back still feels fantastic! After our massages, we spent an hour soaking our feet in luxerous foot baths while sitting in front of a window overlooking the ocean and sipping lemongrass tea. When our foot bath time was up, we were served toast and coffee, which really hit the spot.

After we left the massage place, Lizzi and I took a leisurely stroll through Pohang's attractive downtown, window-shopping and chatting merrily. Since I had been craving some American food all week, we went to T.G.I. Fridays for dinner (yes, we have them in Korea). They are much more expensive here than at home, but it was worth it. The food was great, and the service, as always, was far better than one gets in the States.

From Fridays, we went to a party that one of Lizzi's friends was having on his rooftop. It was amazing to be around so many people speaking English! We had a great time meeting and talking with other foreigners. It was especially mind-boggling to see so many Americans (there are only three other Americans in my acquantance here in Gyeongju). We had so much fun that we lost track of time and missed the last bus back to Gyeongju. We killed a few more hours with some of our new friends, then took a taxi back (it came out cheaper than staying the night in Pohang). I finally got to bed at about 4:00 am!

On Sunday, my birthday, Lizzi and I met downtown for bing soo at Dark Black, my favorite place here. It's an awesome coffee/chocolate place with an Egyptian theme. Nina met us there after we finished, and the three of us went to Pizza Hut for my birthday dinner. That may not sound very nice, considering how lousy Pizza Hut is back in the USA, but our Pizza Hut here is actually really nice. We had a veggie and mushroom pizza with stuffed crust and fondue (so delicious my mouth is still watering). Then we went next door to the cinema to see the newest Narnia installment, Prince Caspian.


Following the movie, which we all enjoyed, Lizzi and Nina surprised me (and actually got me teary-eyed) by taking me to Baskin Robbins and buying me an ice cream cake. I picked a chocolate one that was to die for. We took it to a DVD bang, where the birthday girl selected The Water Horse as our next film (I've been wanting to see it for ages). The cake and the film were wonderful. When we came out of the DVD bang, we were shocked to discover that there was pouring rain outside.
Feeling like being silly, we went to the roof of a tall apartment building near mine, where we danced on the roof in the rain. After witnessing some impressive lightening, we opted to enjoy the rain from street level. We got completely soaked and came back to my place, where we put on dry clothes and warmed up with wine and another film. The birthday celebration finally ended at 3:30 in the morning today. I can safely say, I will never forget my twenty-fourth birthday!