Night at Hobak

Last night, Ed and I got together with some friends. The plan was to check out a Korean night club here in Yeosu called Hobak (or as we non Koreans call it Pumpkin Night Club).

I've heard rumors that night clubs here in Korea are a bit different. I found out that the rumors are true. Here is an account of our night. At no point is anything in here exaggerated or made up. This all really happened.

So we show up at Pumpkin, and they show us to a table. Now normally, you go to a club and you pay a cover, order some drinks and then dance right? Well for some reason, things work a bit differently here.

We had to negotiate our table. Yup, like we were buying a car. The whole process took like 15 minutes. They wanted us to 'buy' three tables, then buy more beer. We were all happy at one table, and buying beer but apparently that wasn't an option. Long, difficult, story short, we got to all stay at our table, pay 10 bucks each and got 9 beers for free. It helps to be stubborn and not 'know' the language sometimes.

While we were negotiating, I keep seeing the staff grabbing girls and pulling them into the back. I asked what was going on, and was told that they were being grabbed for "Booking". Booking apparently involves ladies who come to the club with out a male. These ladies are deemed open season when it comes to guys at a club; no difference than at home right? Wrong. If a guy sees a 'single' lady, then he can ask the manager to "Book" her. That means the manager goes and gets the woman, drags her in the back room for a meeting. Now I'm not sure what happens in the back room, but I can only imagine. I think the club advertises it as a free dating service; the girls generally don't have to pay for anything if they are open to booking, and apparently the men have to pay for this service. Not every girl is open, but I believe they ask them when they come into the club if they want to be 'Booked'. Where does this service come from and why is still legal? I guess the girls have a choice, but by the amount of dragging I saw I can say they must not have that much of a choice.

Okay, so that's not even the crazy part. About a half hour after being there, all the ladies rush the stage. Not wanting to miss out, I rushed it too. I was thinking that perhaps there would be some nice prizes or free drinks. I was wrong. Out comes a dancer. A male one. With NO clothes on! I guess this chain of night clubs is known for having male naked dancers. This wasn't a strip club, mind you, just a dance club. But this one offers male nakedness. I was shocked to say the least, but I would be lying if it wasn't the greatest thing ever. The guys I was with were grossed out at the flapping, I mean dancing; but hey, I've been to plenty of night clubs where girls suddenly get naked. It was about time for a change of scenery if you know what I mean, no matter how disturbing it might have been. It was an experience that was most unexpected, but absolutely wonderful because once again Korea surprises me with its randomness.

Other than that, there wasn't too much strangeness. They kept playing slow songs and everyone would vacate the dance floor. But that didn't stop them. It was overall a good, strange night. I'm not sure if I'll head back to Pumpkin anytime soon; unless that is I have a bachelorette party to attend.

On a side note, our friends Dave and Meg took us to the best street food tent in Yeosu. This lady pretty much has a restaurant set up in the back of her truck. She makes the best noodle soup I've had here. Her fried mandu are awesome too. We have eaten there about 4 times in the past two weeks. She now 'knows' us and our orders. We don't even have to say anything anymore. This stop has become the highlight of our night in most cases.