I arrived at the Phuket airport at midnight and boarded my flight at 2am. My stomach was still not feeling great. Actually, it was making horribly loud noises and moving like an alien would burst out any second. In other words, I was feeling "fabulous!" I was going to attempt to make a xanax-free flight, but I thought that
maybe my stomach was nervous about the flight, so I popped some pills.
About 30 minutes into the flight, I fell asleep and awoke an hour later shaking with chills, nausea, and stomach cramps. I like to call what happened to my body throughout the rest of the flight and the next few days "The Thailand Detox." It was less than fun, but at least I survived and lost a few kilos.
I landed a few hours later in a winter wonderland. And by "winter wonderland," I mean "wicked cold version of hell." There was snow everywhere, and since I packed very lightly (who knew that was possible???) and only carried only my backpack to Thailand, I did not have a jacket, scarf, hat, gloves, or socks. It's very hard to pack lightly and efficiently when traveling to and from the tropics and the arctic.
Being undressed really wasn't an issue going to the airport because the airport shuttle stops in front of my apartments. The shuttle is very nice and very warm! Coming home, however, was a different story.
I adopted a wonderful dog the day I returned from Thailand, so instead of taking the shuttle directly to my apartment in Suji, I took the shuttle to Itaewon (a foreign district in seoul) to pick up Bear, the sweetest dachshund in the world. I had a couple hours to kill in Itaewon, so I went to Tartine, my favorite bakery in the world (thus far), and had a sinfully delicious chocolate pie.
Knowing that I would have to take to two buses home, and sometimes a wait for a bus can take twenty minutes, I decided to buy some warmer accessories. Thanks to my awesome mom and Michelle, I have TONS of jackets, scarves, gloves, etc., so there was no need to spend much money. So I walked the cold snowy streets of Itaewon and bought the cheapest things I could find. I did very well, if I do say so myself. I bought a hat at Paris Baguette for 1,000 won, which is less than a dollar. Here is a pic of the hat. I absolutely love it! It was Christmas promotional item. If you bought a Christmas cake (They were anywhere from 20-50,000 won), you got a free hat. Since it was after Christmas, they were practically giving them away! It's too cute. It is a wolf in sheep's clothing:)
Next, I walked along all the street-side vendors, and finally settled on a Burberry knockoff scarf for 2,000 won ($1.78), a pair of fuzzy socks for 1,000 won (89cents), and a pair of leg warmers for another 2,000 won, which I cut holes in to create fingerless gloves. GRAND TOTAL: 6,000 WON! ($5.35) Not bad for a hat, scarf, gloves, and socks. Unfortunately, I completely broke my "made in sweatshop" rule once again, but I was FREEZING!!!!
Then, I met up with Elizabeth at the Hamilton Hotel and finally got to meet Bear. She is most definitely the best dog I have ever owned. She has not had a single accident in my apartment, she loves playing outside in the snow, and she is a TOTAL cuddle-monster! I'm in love. Sigh:)
