SUNDAY FUNDAY

Korean's usually live at home until they get married and therefore have a huge array of places to get together with friends and lovers before they have a place of their own.

norae bang: Seen Lost in Translation? Remember when they are in the room singing? Basically a norae bang is a room brilliantly designed to house friends for a night of semi-private karaoke. You rent the room for a few bucks an hour, order a few drinks and promptly make a fool of yourself in front of a few less people than might frequent your neighborhood karaoke bar.

PC bang: This is nothing more than a huge room with super nice computers. For A DOLLAR AN HOUR, you can get online, play every video game invented and waste your life away.

DVD bang: If you haven't caught on, "bang" in Korean means "room." Walking into a DVD bang is similar to walking in to a Blockbuster, except instead of taking the movie home with you, you walk down the hall and watch it in a private room on HUGE couch with a plethora of pillows. There's even a fridge inside, so fee free to bring some booze or Cokes!

Video game bang: You guessed it. Wii, PlayStation, Nintendo. It's basically a gamer's paradise.

AND TODAY, I was enlightened to this gem:

GAME BOARD ROOMS.

As if walking into a restaurant, your shuffled to a table with your friends and handed a menu listing multiple board games. To play doesn't cost money, but it is assumed that you are going to consume a coffee, beer or juice to pay for your time.

I also went to an arcade this afternoon, and spent a few minutes inside a dog and cat cafe until the site of cute, cuddly animals with hair bows and make-up was trumped by the smell of cat piss and dog food.

OHHHHH, KOREA.