Entertainment options - Bars, jimjilbangs, PC rooms etc

[Dan Henrickson]

This blog space is for people to share their experiences, both good and bad, with others. Who wouldn't love to hear of a little hidden treasure as a new way to spend some free-time.

[Dan Henrickson]

A group of 9 of us were out celebrating a belated b-day this past Saturday night. A few of the group had been here before and suggested it.

The bar has a great layout, and was even playing some top-notch electronic music.

The house draft beer was served in a large glass keg, with ice in the middle to stay cold, and was excellent in my opinion. They also have the widest selection of mixed drinks of any bar I've been to in Gwangju. Drink prices were a bit high at 6,000 each. The manager came to visit us durng our stay, and I got a fancy beer opener fo free!

There was also another large group of foreigners there when we arrived, as well as another large group entering as we left, so it much be getting popular.

[Dan Henrickson]

This was the main "Foreigner Bar" in our city of Gwangju when I first arrived, but it had lost quite a lot of steam since Mike and Dave's Speakeasy started up a year ago. Well, it seems like not everyone follows the crowd, and this place has now got quite a group of regulars. They have a pool table, and last Saturday people were playing 3 strikes which is great with a group of 8 people. I lost fast, but still fun.

The drinks are pricey, at 7,000won for mixed drinks, but they are in a very big glass. The music was pretty solid as well, but nobody was dancing. There seemed to be a higher ratio of Koreans compared to Speakeasy in my opinion.

There was even a fire, and battle tossing show by the bar staff!

[Dan Henrickson]

So I will admit this night was made better by the fact that we had a group of 15 out for a friend's going away party, but it really was a hopping place. The largest nightclub we've been into, and the entire place was dancing!

The cost is 10,000 won to get in, but then it's free draft all night!

The music was mostly hip hop, but they definitely spun in some top quality trance tunes. We danced until the wee hours of the night and will be heading there again soon.

[Dan Henrickson]

So, I'm sure a lot of you have watched some poor soul stand up in a crowded bar and try his hand at karaoke, and you can't understand why this is popular in Asia.

Well, like many things in the world, the Asians might not think of as many of their own ideas, but they can sure make them better!

They've helped overcome this fear, somewhat, by having seperate rooms where only you and your friends sing together. This means only your friends present, and the ones who watch the digi cam videos after can laugh at your rendition of Sweet Child o' Mine!

Some places don't serve booze, but we always smuggle in lemon soju, to help with the confidence.

Tip for single guys: Korean girls LOVE the norae bong, so even if you stay near the back, and work your way to the side of the room, tapping the tambourine on your leg, trying to read the words to every song, they will like it.

Tip #2 - ALL foreign people move up at least 3 plpaces on the "good looks" scale when you arrive in Korea. I'm at best an average looking guy, and I've been called handsome so many times in Korea, and have even been told I look like Tom Cruise. My wife disagrees.

[Dan Henrickson]

The term sauna, or jimjilbong, in Korea is quite a bit different than in most western countries. There is one area that is available for men and women together, that has western style sauna rooms, eating areas, TV's, PC rooms of course, and even singing rooms!

The jimjilbong, or bath rooms are are unisex, are a combination, of pools of water of various temperatures from extremely hot, to 2 second frozen, as well as many hot or cold rooms. The rooms might have different substances to lie on as well; from round rock balls, to salt stones, to slabs of granite. One bog difference from western countries, is that everyone is naked! They don't even allow you to wade in the pools with a bathing suit or underwear. The best thing to do, laugh it off, and relax!

Plan on spending several hours since it's so relaxing. You can even sleep over night at most jimjilbongs...or nice for wasting an entire hungover Sunday.

If you get asked to scrub a Korean friend's back, or some random person showering next to you...well, I'll leave that up to you.