Korea Life Blog - Zen



After anju at and beer at the The Oregon Trail, we headed here to Zen, a small little club next to Dunkin Donuts on a main drag in Sinchon. It's early yet but the hiphop music is already blasting.



It's early yet but the hiphop music is already blasting. This is what is scary about bars. Those two girls across the way didn't look so bad at the time. I told Julie the girl with the long hair looked like the famous (in Korea/Japan) and pretty singer BOA. Keep in mind I drank all but a few gulps of that big pitcher of beer at The Oregon Trail. Looking at this pic now, I must have been out of my mind. Oh well, it wouldn't be the first time. Judging by the enormous amount of KGB (a sweet, vodka based wine cooler-like drink) bottles, I think this place is frequented by young female customers. To balance it out, later they played an uncensored Ice Cube/Eminem concert which showed girls stripping to fully nude in the audience and backstage. That was a surprise.



Here's Julie. She rarely drinks so after just a few gulps of beer and 1/4 of a KGB she's already half drunk. That must be nice. I have to drink jugs of beer to feel the same then end up going to the bathroom every 5 minutes. There were several US soldiers in the place and whenever I went to the bathroom they would squeeze in and pee in the sink and/or the drain hole in the floor rather than wait a minute. It's no they have a reputation of fighting. One guy stood right behind me and kept telling me to "hurry it up, buddy."



As the night went on the place got very busy. We actually ended up having a great time. After 3 or 4 more Coronas and Julie drinking another 1/4 of her KGB, we hit the dance floor for a couple of hours. You can see a Korean guy wearing glasses. He spoke perfect English to me while taking a leak. (Why is it that guys don't talk to you in the bar, but the second you're in a bathroom together they strike up a conversation?) Turns out he's American and in the army. That must be weird, being Korean by blood and serving in Korea in the American army.


It's not really a dance club, and there's no cover charge to get in. The place is pretty small but it attracts a decent crowd. If you want to get a seat, you'd better go a little early. Most importantly, the music is good if that's your style. I'm not a huge fan of the genre, but after for drinking and dancing with girls it's perfect. And outside the bathroom the atmosphere wasnt bad at all - certainly better than a place like Stompers in Hongdae or anywhere in Itaewon.