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41 GETTInG THERE Walk out noksapyeong Station, exit 1. When you exit the station, look to your left for a pedestrian overpass. take the stairs up and over, then turn left when you reach the other side and walk down the hill. Southside Parlor is located on the fourth floor of a building labeled “Happy Bldg,” just beyond the small English bookstore, on the right-hand side. You’ll see thunder Burger on the first floor of the same building. the stairs to cocktail contentment are off to the left. Kings got busy that year, but their cocktail catering offshoot ven- ture, Southern Sons, really took off. “People were very receptive to our food, but our drinks especially. We were crazy busy.” They laugh. They explain how fast it happened, how much has changed for them in the past year, how random occurrences led to others that led to others still, until they found themselves signing on a new business property and scheduling a soft opening. “We all left our jobs,” Philip says with a grin, “moved into new apartments, and I even got married. It’s been a hell of a year.” Yet here they sit, comfortable and composed, asking me if I’m ready for a drink. Well, okay. Having already confessed my affinity for gin and tonic, Philip leans forward and asks if I’ve ever had a real one. “Um...yes?” I answer, wondering what it is that makes a gin and tonic real. He laughs, stands up and leads me behind the counter to show me what’s what. “We’ve just recently started making our own tonic,” he explains, showing me the special quinine syrup, “so this’ll be a gin and tonic like you’ve never had.” He carefully measures some caramel-colored quinine, Tanqueray gin and soda water, then tops everything off with an artful curl of lime zest and a splash of juice. Done. I sip. I sip again. I love. It really was the best gin and tonic I’d ever had, light and refreshing, perfect for a chilly evening among my fellow expatriates. As things got busier and more people filed in, I watched as the friendly bros I’d been visiting with turned to the business of business, choreographing their attentive mixology ways behind their big, broad, Texas bar, carrying towering plates of “piggy chips” and smoked brisket to their hungry customers and chatting incessantly with anyone who’ll listen. The cowboy boots are far away, but the Texas spirit is in. To stay.