A walk in the woods in the midst of Seoul

The trees in the SamcheonGak garden wear this little rice-stalk skirts, for what purpose, I can't figure out. Fashion?
Seongbuk-dong neighbourhood, the paradise of the privileged.
What do you do after a night of indulgence? You wake up late with a bit of a headache and feeling stifff, you drink 3 cups of coffee and have a very healthy breakfast in a desperate attempt to offset the sins of the previous night. You plan to do something productive, to catch up on work... but then, inevitably, you send messages to your friends asking them what they want to do.
Today, Clare, Deb and I decided that we wanted to walk to SamcheonGak, at the foot of Bugaksan. This beautiful old0-Korean style house used to be a secret gathering place for Korean politicians in the 1970's. The rumour has it that not only politics were discussed here but that this was a place for wild parties of Korean authoritarians, complete with booze and women.
Be that as it may, the place has been rennovated and is open to public under new management - it used to belong to the City of Seoul. Now it has, or will have in the near future, a restaurant, a performance hall, a bar, a teashop... It aims to be a place of beauty and culture. There are shuttle buses that take you from SamcheonGak to downtown Seoul, free of charge.

The three of us, in various degrees of hangovers and post-party blues, met at the Hansung university station. We walked through the posh neighbourhood of Seongbuk-dong, the place where Seoul's old money and foreign elite live. Their homes are well-hidden behind high walls and well protected by cameras, fiercely barking dogs (if not by policemen who we spotted sleeping soundly in their cars with gaping mouths and gaping windows).
The trees were amazing: scarlet maples and golden ginkos, all kinds of shrubbery with purple or red berries, concrete half-walls and road barriers covered in plush bright green moss...

After our pleasant walk we went to a nice Korean restaurant (Seongbuk-dong Mameil Sujebi http://joongangdaily.joins.com/200504/07/200504072002299609900091009101.html) that specializes in buckwheat dishes. We shared three wonderful dishes -buckwhat bibimbap, noodles and sujebi soup. After that, Clare went home; Deb and I went shopping in the Hannam market. I had left my wallet at home so girls just kept paying for me and lending me money.
My plan to work hard in the afternoon came to nothing, but, hey, I'm on top of my blogging duties. Thank god for that comforting thought of the option to wake up at the crack of dawn and working fast with a fresh brain and a fresh pot of coffee. Tomorrow is another day - what a muffler of guilty thoughts.