Wanna' Bang?

Greetings

Well, we've been busy crossing things off our to-do list and today we have a real doozy for you (yes, a doozy. Who doesn't love a good doozy?).

The Koreans truly love their rooms (bang, in Korean). You can find singing rooms, board game rooms, study rooms, hang out rooms, hook up rooms, and even bobbing for apple rooms (well, okay, I made that last one up. But it would be cool). They also love DVD rooms, which as of last week, we've finally experienced.

DVD rooms are simple and they're basically a cross between a movie theatre and your living room. You rent a video and then you watch it in one of the provided rooms (complete with a big screen, surround sound, and a lot of privacy...wink, wink).

In fact, DVD rooms have become a sort of underground love spot, if you will, for young couples in Korea. Most young people here live at home and under the watchful eye of Ma and Pa, so these rooms have turned into a refuge of privacy in this over-populated country.

Anyway, on with the story.

Here's a shot of the outside of the DVD room (the building is about ten minutes from our place):



K1 DVD Bang was the lucky establishment we finally decided to try out. It's located right above the "sexy bar". But that's a different blog for a different day.

But before we could go inside we had to walk the gauntlet of yummy vendors.

Mmmm boiled corn, silkworm pupae, and chestnuts...together at last.

After getting our fill of street food we made the climb to the DVD room.

That's shot of the selection. While slightly smaller than a Blockbuster video store back home the choices weren't bad overall. It had a nice mix of Korean, English, and greasy Russian porn titles. For those of you keeping track we went with 'Babel'.

Here's a shot of the long walk to our room:


The odd lighting makes you feel like you're on a spaceship or in a really bad horror movie.

The set-up in the room was actually pretty sweet. A large screen, nice speakers, and a faux leather bed/couch (with an easy-clean wipe-down surface).

See what I mean? That's pretty cool.

Notice the blackened windows? I just hope our disinfection of the furniture before sitting on it went far enough. Just kidding, the place was pretty clean.

There, ya have it. The big screen in all its glory.

The idea of a DVD room is pretty good. I can see the attraction they hold and would definitely be interested in using one again.

The only problem is that they end up costing more than an actual trip to the cinema.

But for an 18 year-old Korean I suppose that's a small price to pay for two hours sans mom and dad.

Cheers

Shayne