Seoul-PC signs
About the only signs you'll
see more than coffee
shops in Seoul are
PC
signs that are hanged everywhere on 2nd floors and higher. Inside are 24-hour
computer rooms for insomniacs and game-addicts to spend hours and hours of
frivolous fun. I didn't get to visit one until my very last night. Conveniently
enough, one was right next to where I stayed at
Motel
Couple. I wasn't
going in to play network games, but to surf the web and check e-mails.
It was after
midnight, still the place was almost full. The room was dark and smoky, with
light emitted only from computer screens. I couldn't see clearly, but it seemed
everyone had a cigarette; even the only employee there was smoking while talking
on her mobile. She seemed to understand English but barely replied to my
questions. Yet, she was just helpful enough to direct me to pick up a plastic
card on the counter and to a PC station. She later came behind me to show me
where the password was on the card after she saw me having trouble logging on.
From there it was an hour of surfing the web and observing my surroundings. I
could only stayed an hour because the girl next to me was chain-smoking and I
was soon suffocating from 2nd-hand smoke. An hour only cost me 1000 won, or a US
dollar, which I learned is a typical rate for these PC operations. What a
bargain, especially if you enjoy smoking.
Filed Mon - November 22, 2004, 03:22 AM in
Return to: |