Max's Visit: Season Finale, Pt. 2

We finished our beer and started to get hungry so we walked to a nearby restaurant for some Dakdoritang, which was delicious. Seriously, try that recipe at home.

Next, we hopped into a cab and headed to Open Mic Night at a bar called Santa Claus, a long-standing haunt for Daejeon's foreigners. The turnout was really quite good. The rules were simple: two songs, or 10 minutes, whichever comes first. Of course, a few people thought this rule didn't apply to them because they were so awesome (not true on either count).

Our friends rocked it though. After a good deal of cajoling (and possibly some Liquid Courage), Max agreed to accompany my vocals on guitar. We warmed up for about 10 minutes, then our band "Leviticus" took the stage. Due to the lack of practice, it wasn't perfect, but our renditions of Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues" and Crowded House's "Better Be Home Soon" were well received. Plus, we each got a free beer for performing. Some pictures below:

Hello, I'm Johnny Cash.

Max on the guitar.

Working the mic.

Great shot of Max on guitar.

What the hell was that?

Everyone who wanted to play finished up their set and then we headed back to Eun Hang Dong to check out Omega, the bar that was closed when Max arrived on Sunday. Thankfully it was open so Max got to experience everything we love about it: Carlsberg, a small intimate atmosphere, and the ability to request virtually any song from the DJ, from "Fairytale of New York" by the Pogues to "Whatever You Like" by T.I. As you can see, he liked it. As we left Omega, they began to pump "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go," leading to an impromptu dance party outside.

Really, no last night in Korea would be complete without Noraebang! We got a room at our favorite establishment, with windows overlooking the street below (Noraebangs are usually in windowless basements). A good time was had by all, except when somebody put on Hotel California.

When it's 4AM and you've been singing and drinking all night, what do you do? Eat at McDonald's for the third time in two days, obviously. McBreakfast hits the spot just as much in Korea as it does in America. We hopped into a cab back home and said our tearful goodbyes to our friends. Max did some 5AM packing and then we decided to sleep for a couple of hours before he had to catch his bus to Incheon Airport. Apparently we're both half-wits because of the THREE alarms that we set, none of them went off. We woke up late, but me being a belt-and-suspenders kind of guy I had bought a bus ticket that would have arrived at the airport well in advance of his flight. We were able to exchange the ticket and get Max on the next bus. We hugged it out (in a manly, Ari Gold kind of way), he made his flight, and I went to sleep again.