spontaneity and a briefcase

lastnight we made lastminute plans to go out for a beer (so, five beers) for my coworker vicky's 29th (so, 30th) birthday. we headed for a hole in the wall called mania street - a hole i'd never been in - but the hole was full. packed, actually. so we wandered past the mini-stop (convenience store with tables outside - and this is the perfect opportunity to declare my belief that drinking in public should be legal everywhere, and one should always be able to find beer alongside coke and water.) anyway - no tables. so we went to WA Bar and drank some WA beer. And some stella artois. Then we tried mania street again. Still packed. Second coworker rob was hungry, and there was a 육회 place across the street - that also served beer, of course. 육회 you say? pronounced yook hway (sort of), it's essentially little strips of raw beef. i was a bit nervous, i won't lie - but it was pretty tasty.



(didn't have a camera on me - so thanks google image search. that's bits of asian pear mixed in. ours looked just like that, and was seasoned nicely.)





after the meat fest, we went to mania street. i guess i should mention that during the meat fest, my attention was held by some guys outside mania street - one of which was carrying a briefcase. mysterious. right! i thought so too. so meat down, we crossed the street, went in, and ordered some asahi. asahi down, i decided to go out and see for myself what was in this guy's case. i sat on the step beside him and introduced myself. "what's in your briefcase?" i asked. he looked instantly afraid, but gave me a straight-faced, "drugs." for a second, i believed him. then someone said something about the mafia. his wooly-hatted friend laughed and helped him match up the numbers on the locks so he could open the old reddish-brown leather(?) case. the suspense was killing me. what could possibly be in there? he wasn't your typical business person; i wasn't expecting a stack of papers or bills, documents and invoices. i pictured some hot watches. fake rolexes. (is the plural of rolex, rolex?) maybe there'd be some toys...yo-yos or something. they finally got the numbers matched up.
he lifted the top.
i held my breath...