Staying classy

With next to no castings and only one job this week things needless to say are slow on the modeling front. Keeping up with cardio in the morning, followed by strength training in the evening, I keep myself quite active.

This week involved much more socializing outside of directly with agency and my roommates.  I have been a member of a large expat community called “Internations” since I lived in Singapore.  Friday involved an outdoor group activity walking around the mountain known as Namsan and to Seoul’s iconic Seoul Tower. 

Communities like “Internations” provide an opportunity to meet people living in a similar situation as you. I enjoyed some great conversation with people from all ends of the world (minus Antartica). Following the walk I ventured into a more westernized part of town called Itaewon. Unfortunately with western population comes western food and makes it that much more difficult to find a Zach friendly meal. 

Saturday was another event for J. Estina. While not being terribly exhausting, I found myself tired yet again. So after a quick power nap, I bit the bullet and went out to the club for the first time here.  A literal 2-minute walk away is the Ritz Carlton and its subterranean club Eden.  

You see stuff like this

Not this

One of the perks of being a model is the treatment at clubs, frequently its no line, no cover and free drinks. Here was no different.  The loud bass and smell of cigarettes filled the environment.  Personally I can’t stand cigarettes, and being thrust into this environment is less than ideal for me, but I made due with the venue.  Be the party, bring the party and have fun.  I did just that, I made myself have fun and I did. 

Probably the most enlightening part of this experience was seeing the attire of the women at the club. Sluttiness outside of the Caucasian girls was few and far between. The women dressed classy and sophisticated and mostly conservative. I found this much more attractive than the skankiness I see floating around clubs in Canada, Thailand and even Singapore.  So ladies take note, class over cleavage. 

As I am not a big drinker, there was no hangover to deal with today so I was able to find yet another adventure today. Seoul’s world cup stadium was playing host to the K-League match between FC Seoul and Jeonbuk Hyundai. This was actually the first professional football match (I am outside of North America so I can’t call it soccer) and it was amazing to be in such a large stadium. The fans were boisterous but not obnoxious. I also picked myself up a souvenir from today’s game and will try and make it back for next Sunday. 

You save fitty cent (lots of pics)

Rise and shine morning glory! After a first night out in KL, we got up bright in early with only minimal sleep. The mission should you choose to accept: to get 2 of the 1000 daily passes to the top of Petronas Towers. They start selling passes at 8:30 and can sometimes be sold out within the first hour. Of course those of you that know me, know that mornings aren’t exactly my strong suit. So realistically getting out of the hotel by 9 was a feat not short of a miracle. 

A 30-minute walk to the towers got us there around 9:30 and we lucked into a tour starting at 5 pm. You don’t need to ask directions to get to the towers in KL, simply just look up and ask yourself, am I getting closer. If your answer is no, I strongly encourage you to recalibrate. With tickets in hand we found ourselves some breakfast. I had an omelet and beans. My meal cost a total of 6 RM or 2 CAD not bad I must say.

Zora and I became total tourists taking pictures of the towers and surrounding park, some really cool shots I must add. The towers almost look like they are made of plastic or something. We then waited for Mike, Zora’s Malay friend, who would be a tour guide for the day. While waiting I indulged in a cold beverage. No, not beer this time, but an apple blended with ice and a bit of honey. Not bad!

Mike had this idea to check out some modern art museum thing. Sure why not, we eventually found the place, although it was less than stellar. BUT! There is always a but. On my way out from the 7-11 buying myself a redbull with was 1.80 RM (.60 CAD) we noticed a very interesting sign. 1 hour Balinese Full Body massage, 58 RM. So the three of us went in and all had a massage. I certainly fell asleep and was so relaxed from the experience.

Too funny

Back to the towers for some awesome shots. The sky bridge was spectacular, but it holds nothing on being 88 floors up. While I know this isn’t the tallest building in the world anymore, it is certainly the tallest building I have been in.

A quick run back to the apartment and then adventure to the Petaling Night Market. This is essentially the knock off market. Hundreds of shops with everything from Starbucks t-shirts, to Nike shoes (upside down checkmark), to LV bags, watches and cell phones. My first experience at one of these markets was quite interesting. Everyone tries to pull you in, they also ask ridiculous prices for knockoffs. But that alone is where the fun begins. You haggle. I haggled on a new watch for myself. I found one I liked and examined it. Terrible it has a plastic band and felt cheap. The man pulled out a better quality one, still felt cheap, alumni. I insisted that if I were going to spend money I want something that looks nice and will last. So the man digs into his cupboard and pulls out a solid steel briefcase. The starting price was 1100 RM. Stainless steel, quartz crystal (can’t scratch, I tried) and felt solid. Ridiculous you might say, well that is exactly what I said and he immediately returned asking for 550. Worth a try I guess, some fool would probably pay that. My first offer was 200, and his response was “too low, too cheap, no deal, how about 385?” He proceeded to take out a calculator and type those three numbers in. I laughed at the dramatic effect of it. I returned with 220, and him 350, 230, 325, 250, 300 no lower. Ya right, no lower I thought. 252? He laughed and was like you only go up by 2 dollars, that’s no help. So he was like 285, I can’t go lower my boss won’t be happy. Finally I cracked and said here is 275 or I walk. Could I have gotten a better deal? Possibly, but I was happy with this. All said I spent about 84 CAD on a very nice watch. Check it out. 

After the excitement of shopping for the watch, we met up with Mike again for some food then to head to a bar. Convenient that the bar we ended up going to was having model night. Free entrance, sure why not? Too good to be true however, for me at least. They are much more relaxed about cigarettes in KL and many people were smoking inside. I started to get a headache and was ready to leave within a half hour. An earlyish end to the night, and quickly coming departure.