Couplageeks

Last weekend D.A. and I went to the big Star Wars Exhibition here in Busan at Bexco. Bexco is a big sort of convention center thing with huge exhibition halls and places to eat and a couple of wedding halls, to boot. And for a few weeks, they're hosting a Star Wars Exhibition.

There were signs all over the place saying "No Flash Photography" in English. I'm guessing that in Korean they said "Do Whatever the Hell You Want", because lots of people were taking pictures. I broke down and took a few, and immediately got in trouble for it. Not serious trouble, though. No one drew any real weapons on me.

The exhibit itself was, I thought, not very informative. We were quite fortunate that almost all of the placards were in both Korean and English, but most of them were details about the stories in the movies. Character names were refered to rather than actor names. A lightsabre hilt would be on display with a card reading "Luke's lightsabre," and that was it. Nothing about who designed it, or even whether it was an actual prop used in the movies or just another model. There were concept drawings, but nothing about them other than the subject. There were movie clips with Korean subtitles, but the volume was turned down so we couldn't hear what they were saying. And, of course, there was Darth Vader and a couple of stormtroopers.
They captured D.A., and I came to help as quickly as I could. That's where I got in trouble for taking flash photos, even though other people were doing so, and these agents of the Empire encouraged me to do so.

They didn't talk. I'm sure that one could rationalize that by suggesting that a long time ago in a galaxy far away, no one spoke English, but I'm thinking they just didn't want to spoil the illusion by speaking Korean. It didn't work. In a totally cung way, one of the stormtroopers motioned me over towards the Jabba the Hut model behind us. With all of his arm-waving, I thought he was suggesting that I take a picture. No. He was trying to make me understand that Jabba the Hut and I both have very large guts.

Damn the evil empire.

D.A. and I had always dreamed of being Jedi Knights--
We would be so handsome, beloved by our allies, and feared by our enemies. Maybe we should have picked different role models, because once we got some actual lightsabres, we just started hacking at each other:
Next thing I know, I'm being decapitated, and I think we all know how that can ruin one's day.
Fortunately, it was only a flesh wound. I was able to go on and enjoy the display of giant LEGO bricks.
I thought this was pretty cool, even though they had a pretty boring selection of bricks. They were a bit rubbery, rather than being made of the same hard plastic as actual LEGO bricks. Quite comfortable to recline on, as you can see.

I'm afraid that I didn't take any pictures of the gift shop, where they were selling all kinds of Star Wars crap (but not any Star Wars LEGO sets, strangely enough. Good thing, as I probably would have bought one.) We both counted our $13 (each) well spent.

We then went to the Bexco Buffet and spent twice as much on lunch. I haven't written about going to a buffet for a while, and this one deserves a good write-up. I will have another chance, as we will celebrate Maxine's first birthday there, but I probably won't have much chance to eat, so I'm glad I took this opportunity.

Here's a partial list of foods I ate and saw:

a variety of raw fish
a raw beef dish made with sesame oil
smoked salmon
Japanese style sushi
grilled marinated beef
fried shrimp
spaghetti and meat sauce
two or three Chinese style seafood and sauce dishes
beef rib chunks slow cooked in sauce
cute little chicken enchiladas (that actual tasted a little Tex-Mexish, a little)
escargot
Chinese meatballs (I picked up two, tasted one, and decided not to eat the rest, what the hell kind of meat do they use in China anyway? No dog! No dog!)
grilled tuna and salmon
about half a dozen soups, mostly Korean style
lots of traditional Korean side dishes
some salad stuff (not tempting to this buffet veteran)
and they finished us off with some fruits and ice cream. Unfortunately, the soft-serve ice cream machine was out of order. Bummer.

I did something at this buffet that was either a miracle or a sacrilege: I didn't stuff myself. I ate a lot, and I was quite full, but I didn't eat so much that I couldn't sit down to drive home later. (And yes, I have over-indulged at buffets so much in the past that sitting down was painful, right Jon?) Horyon, my number one weight-loss cheerleader (next to the damn stormtrooper) was a bit disappointed. "That's a $26 buffet, you should eat enough that you don't have to eat breakfast the next day!" Thanks, honey.

Still, I was proud of my self-restraint. I'm pretty sure that at Maxine's b-day party it won't be a problem, as I will be wandering around, chatting up the guests, and showing off Maxine, rather than seeing how much meat I can fit on one plate.

Mmmm, meat.

It's about bed time. Take care of yourselves out there. And if you feel inclined to buy some sort of present for Maxine, that is fine. However, it is also an option to contribute to her college education. My parents have created a special account for Maxine that is tax-free if she uses it for education or career training. If you send a check to my parents with a small note explaining that you want to do so, they will add it to her account. Just send me an email, and I will email back with their address.

That's about it for tonight. I should be getting to bed now.

Peace,

Rob