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6:30 pm

Dear J,

Trying to write while waiting for my order at Janges. It is a bad time to eat out. Lots of students walking on the side of the road sharing space with reckless drivers. Lots are ordering. I saw a car trying to park at Seoul Kitchen stop a woman cycling uphill. She had to push her weight up after the car managed to park as all her momentum was gone. Too many cars, too little space. Most of these people are locals living just a few minutes of walk away from everything else. But they seem to ride their cars out of necessity. I dated a driver who once told me she needed to ride her car because it would fall apart if she didn’t. What a perfect allegory of modern life.

I’ve been waiting for my burger for about 10 minutes already. Why does burger take longer to prepare than silog?

Another car parks near Seoul Kitchen. This time no parking space is available. The car, an elegant black, parks at the side of the already narrow road, its left side protruding out into the road. The woman who went out of the car communicates to her husband the driver via phone even when they’re just two meters apart. She may have informed him to fix his parking. He moves and again stops a couple walking and then a tricycle. Now another car gets out of a parking space while another enters Pearl Street. Both white cars stop momentarily. The drivers chat. They seem to know each other. The guard directs the black car on how to fill in the now vacant parking space. In less than five minutes, the road is clear once more for walkers. Students continue walking and my burger has arrived.