Seoul has no shortage of bars and clubs, but we did most of our drinking at convenience stores. In a city with three major nightlife districts—Itaewon for military personnel and those who like sleazy bars, Gangnam for those who enjoy overpaying for everything and Hongdae for those who prefer to have fun on a night […]
New Year’s Eve in Madrid: Eating 12 Grapes and Drinking Thousands
When I was living in Madrid, I decided not to do much for New Year’s Eve. I made that decision partly because all of my friends had left for the holidays, but largely because all the clubs in the city were charging entrance fees upwards of 100 Euros when the standard 15 to 20 Euros […]
How to Make Basketball Slightly Fun (and Drinking Beer Less So)
Let me get this out of the way right off the bat: I’m not a huge basketball fan. I don’t especially mind watching it, but if given the choice, I would prefer to watch pretty much any other sport (and no, I’m not including golf and car racing in my definition of sport). As for […]
Forget Vang Vieng—Go Tubing in the Mekong at Si Phan Don
For many backpackers, Laos is synonymous with tubing. The majority largely ignore my favorite country in Southeast Asia, apart from a small loop through the northeastern corner and the highlight of that loop is Vang Vieng. For years backpackers have been flocking to this little village of bars and guesthouses amidst hundreds of limestone peaks […]
Signs of a Good Beer Garden: a Dedicated Vomit Sink
I recently went to a touristy beer garden in Berlin where they apparently charge customers to use the restrooms. That is bad customer service. The Pod Wawelem in Krakow, Poland clearly believes in good customer service and I’m sure some of their heavier-drinking clientele appreciate this. That said, the guy who accidentally uses this sink […]
Passed Out Koreans Litter the Streets of Seoul
If you spend any time at all outdoors after dark in Korea you’ll quickly notice that the usually fairly clean streets are suddenly littered with large immovable objects. They lie on benches, curbs, sidewalks, streets, subway platforms and anywhere else large enough to accommodate them. If you move in for a closer look, you’ll have […]
Large Drunk Bikers In Seoul’s Hongdae Children’s Park
This little story relates one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen, but have been putting off writing about, because I have no idea how to accurately paint the hilarious picture. Even the word biker in the title doesn’t quite give the correct impression, despite being the correct descriptive word. Doesn’t make sense? I know. […]
Climbing the Great Wall of China Is Not For Drunkards
Every visitor to Beijing makes a trip the Great Wall of China and all but a few choose between two sections: Badaling and Mutianyu. The first is the most popular and naturally, the most crowded; the second gets all those visitors who want to avoid the crowds of the first. Since more and more travelers […]
How a Billiard Hall in Seoul Almost Made the Game Enjoyable
At this pool hall we went to in Changdong in northern Seoul, they provided customers with these three-fingered gloves. That changed my game forever. I didn’t get any better, mind you, and a practice round playing against myself would still last several days (assuming I don’t sink the eight ball), but it did give me […]