Stop & Chat: February 24

I am a failure of a blogger. First, I forget to tell you guys about the two tealight warmers I picked up from the Daiso in my trip to Yongsan (pictured above), then I completely forget to take any pictures of my very jam-packed day yesterday



First thing's first. The warmers. These were 3,000W (~$2.40 USD! Crazy cheap!) each and can hold up to 3.5 oz of wax, from my guestimations and plopping of wax chunks in the bowl. All of my other options had very, very small wax holders. I considered picking up a third of this design in a white pattern but figured it would be there if I want another and I could come back. I was kind of concerned about how tall these were (from top to bottom it's about 6 inches) and whether the tealight's warmth would be able to reach the wax bowl. These concerns have proven to be groundless, much to my pleasure. Who knew fire is so hot? :D

Now, on to my very eventful Wednesday. No, you do not get pictures. If we're friends on Facebook you will see the one picture that was taken of my day's worth of adventures. If not... sorry?

T came to pick me and my bike up at around 8:45. We knew we wanted to drive to a park with bike trails, but we didn't know which one to go to. I learned that T is very much a get up and go kind of person, and she doesn't mind getting a little lost or not knowing where we're going or what we're doing. We had a general idea of where we were going, but it took a few loops over the bridge to find the entrance to the park. The place we went to is Hangang park. It's a walking/biking trail park that goes along the Hangang river. T and I both made some mistakes in what we wore. It was under 20 degrees and windy. T forgot some gloves, and I didn't bother to bring a face mask to keep my face out of the biting wind. Besides that we were both otherwise prepared. I brought a backpack that had my large water bottle, an extra scarf just in case (that wasn't good enough for a face mask, I tried), and my camera.... which I never ended up using. We stopped 3 separate times once we started riding. Once to adjust our gear to make sure we were warm and drink. Another time because there was a stoplight and we were deciding whether we wanted to keep going straight along Hangang river or cross it to get to Yongsan, and one last time to drink and turn around to start heading back. We biked for 1 hour and 16 minutes. We wanted to hit at least 5 miles. Our ideal goal was 10 miles. We ended up going 15 miles. Woohoo!!!

It was around 11:30 at this time so we decided to eat out. We went to the Garden 5/E mart building that I talked about here (the close to us multi building mall with bakery and pet store) and ate at a Japanese restaurant that T has eaten at twice before and highly recommends. I picked up a spicy beef rice bowl (8,000W) and dumplings (google Mandu and that's what I got) side (4,000W), while T picked up an octopus ball side and ramen main dish. It was delicious. I don't know how much of this deliciousness was our hunger from our excursion and how much of it was just how delicious the food was. I was already half way through my bowl before I remembered that I wanted to take a picture. Gah! I'm so, so sorry guys!

T and I joked a bit about how much we got to know each other while eating. In reality there were little to no words exchanged because we were so busy snarfing down our meals. Then the warm food hit our stomachs and we got really groggy. T paid for our meal, and we established that I would pay next time - because there will  be a next time and we are officially stuck with each other as biking buddies!

T then dropped me off at home and I took a shower before absolutely passing out on the couch. I think it was about 2 when I fell asleep. I woke up at 5:30 with a killer headache and swollen eyes. It was a scramble for me to get ready for bowling! I met up with N at the gate to get on post and we walked together to the bowling alley.

I was actually able to bowl this time! One of the teams was a member short so I was able to sub in and play.

Okay. Complaining time. Skip this next paragraph if you aren't ready for a whole can of complaining.
I mentioned last week that N wasn't exactly... normal. I feel like she either has some sort of memory issue or disorder that affects her ability to read social situations. I do feel like she's genuinely trying to be friendly, so I'm willing to work with her, but yesterday at bowling was.... difficult.
I sat down to put on my bowling shoes and S, one of my team members and the volunteer who ran the arts & crafts class M and I went to, sat down next to me and started talking to me about our time in that class. At some point she got up to bowl. N came in, shoved all of S' possessions aside, and sat next to me, practically on top of me with how close she was. I indulged her some conversation, but it soon became very clear to me that she was not going to give S her spot back.
Thus began a sort of dance between her and I. Every time I went up to bowl, I would pick a different spot to 'hang' in, because I wanted to be included in the conversation everyone else was having! N did not let me talk to anyone else. She would physically put herself between me and whoever I was talking with. She would talk over whoever was trying to talk to me. She would cut me off when responding to someone or trying to talk to someone. If I ever said something about it she acted like she didn't hear me. To be honest, I don't think she ever listened to what I had to say. She would try silly tactics to get me to respond to her ("you're bowling really good!") and once I would respond ("Uh... I bowled a 3...") she would then jump into whatever her real intentions were ("How did M propose to you?" - then not listen to my response, cut me off, then go on about her own experience with her proposal and marriage). You should have seen the looks of pity I was getting from the other women when they realized what was happening. I eventually gave in and sat down in my original spot, resolving to participate in the bowling fun as best as I could from my time out corner. I am ever so thankful for the ladies' attempts at continuing to include me. T would come by and rub my shoulder every so often. Whenever one of the ladies got a strike or spare they would make sure to come to me for their high five so I wouldn't have to deal with navigating around N. I'm still concerned that they will eventually give me the same treatment they've come to give N - friendly, supportive, but definitely not included.
That's all I have to say on the matter here, but know that this is the tip of the iceberg.

Even with the slight setbacks, I was able to have a good time. I'm not the best bowler, but I was happy to see that I wasn't the complete worst out of the group.
I got home last night and had a very good night's sleep. I went to be around 10 and did not wake up until M woke me up while getting ready for work this morning. I'm not sure what plans I have today, but I'm really craving a massage for my sore, tired, achy body. LOL. If only there were somewhere nearby for me to get this.

When's the last time you bowled? Are you proud of me for going so out of my comfort zone?!?! I sure am. LOL