I went to Gyobo Moongo in Gwanghwamun, a local book store today. Had several heart attacks at the price. Never mind that these were all imported books, the prices stunned me as I prevented myself from screaming in the store.

While there, I saw the US version of The Tales of Beedle the Bard for 20,000 won, which is about $15. I practically threw that book aside as I fumed at the price. Remember, I’m used to the won rate where for the longest time it was 950 won to $1, so basically a 20,000 won book would have been $20 just six months ago. I’m a bit . . . finicky with these import price tags.

Anyway, later, I saw the UK version for 15,000 won which is $11.55. Now that I was willing to pay for since . . . well it’s the UK version. Not something I will find in the US military stores. Yes, I’m weird.

So now I have that.

Now that I’m a lot calmer than I was yesterday (which was a mixture of heaven and hell), let’s see if I can type more than a series of conjugation. I’m just glad Christmas is over. The ambush of relatives yesterday, with a 14-month old baby, drove me nuts. I felt like I was back in my old job. *shudders* Anyway.

Here’s the good stuff I received for Christmas.

* $100 from Daddy
* 80,000 won from Mummy
* 100,000 won from Aunt
* Giant cookie and other stash
* Prom Queen and Memento DVDs
* Gift card and a bunch of cards from friends
* Four-day weekend from my workplace

Here’s the “bad stuff” I received for Christmas.

* A letter from my financial headquarters saying that I owe them $173.65 for THEIR MISTAKE of overpaying me on my first pay cheque for the new job. GRRRR.

* An iPod Touch from Daddy that refused to work with the iTunes on my computer. !@#$!@#$ That’s what I was bitching about yesterday. Let’s just say I threw the thing back in the box, threw it on my dad’s bed, and told him I don’t want it even if it does work later. Screw that. I’ll just take a netbook over that POS.

I mentioned how my mother received a new TV and how I’ve been cleaning my room. Combine that into one thing: clean up my TV/VCR/DVD/Game Consoles area to make way for my mother’s old tv.

I am now the proud owner of this 32″ LCD TV, to which I name Pita for being a pain in the arse with the hooking up process:

I spent the next hour or so hooking up my devices back to the TV. Dad and I hooked up the DVD player at first. Nothing would work until I said that perhaps we should try hooking the TV itself to the switchbox. That worked. Then by myself, I hooked up the VCR, thought the VCR died because when I tested it with a VHS, the VCR wouldn’t eject the tape. Luckily Daddy fixed that. Then after I decided to just put my Gamecube away, I hooked up my PlayStation 2, turned it on to test the new TV out with Suikoden Tactics.

HOMG. When I tested a DVD movie and a VHS movie, I wasn’t impressed or anything, but when I tested the video game . . . Let’s just say I had the biggest smile on my face and it’s a good thing I lost my voice for that moment since I would have screamed so loudly, my whole neighbourhood would have heard me. Just, bloody fucking WOW. Now I can see why people like these TVs, especially gamers.

Trample that Taxi Driver!
I met the rudest taxi driver in the world today. I went to the PX, spent way too much time in there which hurt my feet, bought couple of heavy presents, and was tired, so I didn’t want to walk the twenty minutes home. I got in a cab, and here’s a recap of what happened in the next ten or so minutes. Oh and it’s a Korean driver, so he didn’t necessarily said this the way it’s typed, but that’s how I translated it in my head.

TC: I want to go to ****.
TX: Where? Oh ****? Man, that’s so close! You could have walked! I should have just driven on by instead of stopping for you!
TC: *scowls and doesn’t say anything*
TX: Are you a student?
TC: No.
TX: Do you know if those AAFES workers aren’t allowed to ride in these on-base cabs?
TC: I don’t know. *thinks — Are you assuming I’m an AAFES worker, now?*
TX: Man, you really should have walked and come out **** to get to your place.
TC: *glowers in anger*
TX: Are you Korean?
TC: No, I’m not Korean.
TX: I think you are Korean. Is you parents Korean?
TC: My dad’s a Caucasian.
TX: You are Korean, though.
TC: *scowls in the darkness, remains silent, and digs out her change to give him the exact amount instead of letting him keep the change since she was PISSED OFF by the service so far*
TX: *stops in front of the apartment*
TC: How much? *can’t see the metre since the damn gear stick or whatever is blocking it*
TX: 2800 won.
TC: *didn’t hear him and saw the 2800 as 2500* Gives him change.
TX: No! Just give me 3000 won.
TC: *sees the metre at 2900 and gives him the rest of the change*
TX: *grumbles* You should have just given me 3000! See, now it’s 3100 won!
TC: *realises the fucking moron hasn’t stopped the metre, climbs out, and slams the door hard*

WTF. What a rude mofo of a douche bag! I tried to catch the taxi’s number, so I could file a complaint, but it was too dark. DAMN. I hope I don’t encounter him again! From now on, I will claim at not knowing Korean (unless it’s this one awesome driver I like) and only speak English to these stupid taxi drivers on base. GODDAMN.

Giant TV Greetings
I walk into my house right after that incident, sees the living room arranged differently, and remember my mum telling me something about Dad getting her a new TV. Unbelievable. After getting one of those nice HDTV almost three years ago, my mum has this MONSTER now. Uh, wow. Jeez. Who knows. Maybe Dad will let me have her old one if he doesn’t wants it! If that’s the case, I better try to figure out how to make room for that smaller monster.

Acer Me!
Ivy blogged about how she wanted an iPhone or an Asus EEE PC. Until that post, I had no idea that such a thing like Netbook existed. Yes, I’m a bit behind at times. The point is though, I read up a bit on Asus, and I was intrigued. Yesterday, I met my friend J, and she and I talked about getting it. I decided to show my dad this EEE PC. However, he decided it wasn’t that great, so he asked me what I think of this Acer Aspire One Netbook, instead. After I read about it, consulted J, and etcetera, I think I’ll for it.

My dad asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I said I wanted an 88-keys keyboard. However, now I think I’ll ask him to get this instead. I need something like this to not go insane at my work. That place is one place I cannot access Gmail. So when I’m on my lunch break or something, I can take the Netbook with me to the nearest hotspot and check it there instead of agonising and cursing the damn cyber-sitter programme at the computer lab.

But oi. What a weird day.

Wrap, wrap, wrap the presents
until I drop dead.

I am bad at this!
(Kudos to anyone who knows which tune I wrote this to. Though, it’s really obvious. ^_^)

That would be me. Seriously. I don’t know how anybody can gift wrap prettily. That sort of thing is a talent, man. I just spent the last hour wrapping Christmas gifts, and dude, I don’t care if it looks fugly. I TRIED. Ugh.

I hit the store again after work tonight. I spent over $250 bucks in two days. OUCH. $200 of it was spent on gifts. I am proud to say that I am done with all the major Christmas shopping. Everyone else that doesn’t get a gift from me will be getting candies instead. That is if I can find the time and the energy to go buy a bunch of candies and make the candy grams. *dies*

For once, I want December to be over. This is one thing about having a steady job and living with parents. I can’t use the “I have no money” or “I’m a poor college student” excuse like I did the last four Christmases. Now I have the cash to purchase or make gifts, so ta-dah. Still, how the hell can $200 bucks fly out that quickly?! *sighs* Thank goodness for credit card.