*long, long, long*
What an unbelievable weekend! I look back on it now and it seems so surreal. If I had imagined myself doing the things I did on the bootcamp even just one year ago, I would not have believed it.
So where to start? Well, I first met Redpole Q in the Dongdaemun Doota Food Court on Thursday, (the day before the bootcamp) where he, I, and about 4 other K-lair members met and chatted before heading to a coffee shop in Gangnam. We were gonna hit Club Eden, but do to certain circumstances we never made it. There was a lot of interesting discussion, of which I did mostly listening due to my nerves about the camp and tiredness from making the trip up from Busan. It didn't take long for me to see that RPQ was a guy who really knew his stuff. He was really funny and animated as well, which made me feel very comfortable around him. Besides, he reminded me of Undercover Brother, and there I was watching the deleted scene of him trying to find the beef in his Jeonju Bibimbab, ha ha.
He and I were both staying at Blue Mystery's place, so I had the advantage of getting to know him a bit personally before putting me through the obstacle course (literally). One thing I really loved about the Pick-Up-Asia bootcamp was that it was a very "family style" operation. I could imagine taking a camp with Mystery Method or whatever, and be treated like just another paying customer to be processed in and then out. This was certainly not the case. RPQ was definitely just "one of the guys" who was helping the rest of us out. It felt like when one of your friends has some skill that you don't (or at least is much better than it than you) and tries hard to get you up to speed. I spent the entire weekend in his presence, as he had Blue M's couch and I had the floor. Sometimes he was the instructor and drill sargeant, but at other times he was the new friend in the taxi or the kimbab restaurant quizzing me about the best beaches to hit in Thailand. I really feel priveliged to have had him as my instructor, (and still do have,) a guy who really cares about his students' progress and is passionate about what he teaches.
Alright, on to the bootcamp. RPQ and I took a taxi down to Itaewon Friday night, where we would meet my co-student, Kevtron (now NRG), and the others for dinner and our first seminar. On the way, RPQ asked me if I liked sloppy blowjobs. “Of course!” A no-brainer. “Really?!!” He said. “You mean you like it when...” then he went into a whole descriptive thing about it, and though I didn't realize it at the time, he was dropping a positive anchor on me. I'm sure he picked up on my nervousness and did this to help me. Throughout the weekend, anytime I seemed a bit too nervous or like I wasn't having enough fun, there he was, either verbally mentioning it or making sloppy sucking sounds with hand gestures and a smile. With just one exception, it always worked.
We met Kevtron and went to Outback, where we met BlueM and Hollywood. Poison also joined us briefly, as he was supposed to do the camp, but due to some really strange circumstances he had to delay it until the following weekend with Billy D. Redpole Q introduced himself formally, and told us his whole background. As is the case with many of the other great PUAs, RPQ as well had trouble dealing with women in his early days. Since then he had fixed all that, and was ready to teach us what we needed the most. We then went over our lists of personal questions that we had to answer in advance, our homework, and discuss our answers. Some of the q's were: What is your 100% perfect self? What kind of women would you need to match that? What do you hope to get out of this BC? and some others. We then went into theory and took notes, and then left to hit JJs, an upscale club in the Itaewon Hyatt. We were instructed to have our sample routine stack on our person at all times, which was about 6 or 7 pages. I felt really uncomfortable about this, as we were expected to pull it out and read routines directly to HBs right off the page if the situation demanded it. Luckily, this never once happened, and I was able to keep it in my coat or back pocket at all times. On a side note, I translated the 2nd half of it into Korean for RPQ, and he said that my name would go on the cover in the next version as a contributor. Cool!
I was expecting to have had to open a set in Outback, based on past BCFRs, but the place had emptied big time by the time we left and nothing happened there. On the street, walking toward JJs, RPQ gave us some practical advice on how to open, immediately move into a BT spike, and some other basics. Near us was a Guinness promotional table with a bunch of flyers and promo items. There were a bunch of people around it, including a nearby 3-set. RPQ told me to open it by asking what was going on there, say thank you, shake their hands and eject. I did it, it went well, and it was good to get it out of the way. Pretty soon after entering JJs, RPQ had Kevtron open his first "get-it-out-of -the-way" set in the same fashion, real quick and easy. Then it was time for the walk-through. JJs is set up as 6 or 7 small and mid-sized rooms all connected, with a fair-sized patio area. RPQ pointed out the main lock-in locations, and we took a look at the dynamics- sets, potential AMOGS, noice volumes, traffic, or I did, at least. When we came full-circle, it was time to get started. Kev and I were both nervous, but RPQ said something that made us both relax. "In real life, the first 3 sets are always warm-up sets. It's like talking to someone after you first wake up. You need to get in the swing of it. In warm-up sets, you expect to get blown out. If you get blown out, you're doing well. Tonight, they're all warm-up sets." Kev: "So if we get blown out of every set we're doing well?" RPQ: “Yes.” That helped, and it was game on.
In pretty much every session, Kev and I played Rock, Paper, Scissors to see who would go first. For some reason I usually lost and opened first. Night Game turned out to have been at least 80% Wing Game, so Kev and I were usually in the same sets. By the end of the camp we had bonded pretty well, and still push each other to keep at it. My first few sets didn't go too well, and the girls wound up walking away. From there, for the rest of the camp, sets ranged from those that absolutely rocked, those that went well, so-so, not-so-well, and absolutely sucked. From here on I'll only focus on those that stand out in my mind, in no particular order within each venue.
JJs
HB Jeju- This girl had a flowery dress and a fake flower in her hair. She was an obstacle in Kev's 3 or 4 set, and since this was one of his first sets, he had ignored her and focused only on the target. She sat at the bar, disinterested with her back to me the whole time. It was a classic case of 90-10, and I had to plow harder with her than with any other for the whole camp. At times she would hook, and laugh, but then go right back to ignoring me. In the end nothing happened, and RPQ told me to eject.
HB Smoker- The obstacle in Kev's 2-set near the pool table. Kev's girl hooked pretty well, but mine never did. She was smoking a cigarette, and at one point I took it out of her hand and took a drag. When I handed it back, she made a scrunched-up face and told me I could keep it. Usually, I only smoke when I drink with people who are smoking. I hadn't had a cigarette in about a week, and smoking that cigarette, albeit already down to the last third, was the same as taking a shot of alcohol. It really hit the spot, since we weren't allowed to drink that weekend.
HB DKNY- My favorite set of the night, and for the entire bootcamp. She was an HB 9, about 20-21, in a 2-set that I opened. Got amazing kino compliance from her pretty quickly, and in about 10 minutes or so her entire body was grinding against mine, front to back, while holding hands. She was also completely sober, or at least seemed it. RPQ later told me that if this were on Saturday night, that is where I should have gone into Strawberry Fields. But, it was only Friday, and were only to go as far as Qualification. Nothing else, not even a number close. If I had met this girl on a normal night...... (need to go masturbate, will be back)
HB Questioning Machine- The obstacle in Kev's 2-set. This was a fun one, and right before we left as JJs was closing. These girls were actually in the middle of an issue where they couldn't find their locker key and were trying to figure out what to do. It's amazing we lasted so long in the midst of their mini-crisis. My girl would hook and escape, hook and escape. There were 3 or 4 times I was positive she would eject at any second, but then she would hook just enough to stick around. It was not easy, and apparently I seemed to be asking too many questions. She blurted out, really loudly, "WHAT ARE YOU A QUESTIONING MACHINE? WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS ASKING ME SO MANY QUESTIONS !!" Oh, man, that sucked. With everyone watching as well. I said "I'm just curious about you," to which RPQ later told me was a bad thing to say, since it was reactive to what she just did. He advised that next time I just ignore it and stack forward. I then told her I was from New York and showed her the New York Handshake. She was reluctant at first, but then started to get more into it. She caught on more after the second time and yelled "AGAIN!" We kept talking afterwards, and in the end it was Kev's girl who ejected first and pulled her away. BlueM and RPQ then gave me big props for flipping the frame like that.
We left for SPY, but with just a handful of dudes around, headed to B1. RPQ checked it out, but not enough sets. There was a new place around called Pulse, but upon arriving at the entrance realized that it was a gay club. Kev really wanted to stay and party there but the rest of us told him that this wasn't the time or place for it. We finally ended up at Helios, where we were able to continue.
Helios
HBs Framejack- a really cute high-energy 2-set, dancing. My BT spike was "you work at McDonalds," to which they spiked well. They said yes, and one said "smell me!" I smelled her arm and said, "yeah, you smell like fries!" Despite this, the set didn't hook afterwards, and RPQ told me to eject. He told me that I had fallen into their frame. Although it was my line, they had hijaked it and got me to follow their lead by getting me to smell one of their arms and keep playing into it. Next time, I should snip and stack.
HB Plow- I can't remember who opened the set, but I remember that Kev's girl hooked well and mine didn't. His was clearly into him, but at one point my girl said "ok, it's been nice talking to you, but we're in the middle of a serious conversation, and I need to get back to my friend." I just ignored her and kept plowing. This had to have gone on for a solid 10 minutes, with the majority of her end of the convo consisting of repeating the above. At one point I said "people don't come to Helios on Friday night to have serious convos. Do you like to have fun? Or are you always so serious?" (with a comical serious face). I thought about Hollywood's signature "If she's staying, she's playing," and also about the first time I ever really attempted wing game, back in December with Caspian. I ejected rather quickly then, and he lost the set soon after, one that had been going well. I vowed never to let that happen again. In the end, Kev's girl ejected first, and I knew that I had done my job.
We went to Tom n' Toms coffee shop to debrief, where we went through a process of stating 5 things we did well, 5 things we needed to improve on, and 5 realizations that we had made, along with a discussion. It was a process that would follow every round in the field.
Saturday Day Game
I had read in other BCFRs about guys who couldn't get much sleep after their night game sessions. I vowed not to let this happen, and took a sleeping pill to make sure it got done. It now stands as the only time in my life that I had taken a sleeping pill and it didn't work. I had a restless night. However, I was able to sleep enough to have a vivid dream that I randomly met Mystery in front of a bakery. Surprisingly, he resembled Kevtron, strangely enough.
COEX Mall- Starbucks
By the time RPQ went into theory, I was already very nervous. Even though I had done well the night before, (and RPQ told me so) I was starting to feel a sense of panic engrain itself deeper within. I had brief fantasies of "going to the bathroom" and instead bolting for the door and into a taxi back to Blue's place. I got a text during this time from Poison, asking how the BC was going, and soon after one from Pokerjaxx in Busan asking the same. The boys were counting on me, I couldn't let them down! Getting those texts helped, but it only seemed to make a small dent in settling my nerves. This was also the only time during the camp that RPQ dropped the sloppy blowjob anchor and it didn't work. This was definitely the lowest point of the weekend. I think it was a combination of things: never having attempted day game before (especially in enclosed areas like a coffee shop,) not being confident of the steps, and a lack of sleep. Chugging down a big coffee probably wasn't a great idea either, but I needed to be awake.
I was thankful when Kev opened the first set instead of me. Soon enough, I was called in, and I had my worst body language of the whole bootcamp then. I leaned in pretty badly, and the whole sarge was pretty AFC. Of course I knew better; it was a product of my crappy state. Kev needed to be warmed up as well, and the set ended up ejecting soon after. Next, Kev and I were sent into different sets. I went into a nearby single set sitting by the window. The first set had helped me get in gear a lot, and I was in a much better state this time around. She hooked pretty well, and her BT was spiked. Her phone rang, she answered it, and said that her husband was coming. Whatever. I kept plowing. Soon after, the Starbucks manager came over and started talking to her very slowly and seriously. I couldn’t catch all of it, but it was clear that he was probably asking her if she wanted him to kick me out. She said “no, it’s alright,” and the guy kept plowing himself. She finally took a more forceful stand with him, and he fucked off. About 5 minutes later a guy showed up, and I asked if he was her husband. They both said yes, and I shook his hand, said goodbye to both, and ejected. The guy seemed cool with me having had been there, as long as I didn’t stick around longer. From there, it was off to Bandi n Luni’s bookstore on the other side of the corridor.
Bandi n Luni’s
HB Japanese- This single set was holding about 5 books when I approached her. She hooked pretty well, and when I suggested a bounce to help me pick out clothes somewhere in the mall, I was shocked when she put 2 of her books back and went to pay for the rest to help me. She took me outside Zara, but before we went in, her phone rang. Her friends were nearby, and a few minutes later they showed up. We never made it inside the clothes shop, but I #-closed her with a weak timebridge to meet up in Kobe, Japan when I go there next, as that is where she was from and was going back the next morning. By the time we were standing outside Zara, her interest seemed to have waned a bit. BlueM had been following me, and said that it was because once outside the bookstore, I didn’t lead. True, she knew where the place was and I didn’t, but I should have gotten her to immediately tell me the general direction, and then lead. If she didn’t know herself, I should have led her to a map, found out, and led.
HB Pregnant- Oh my god, the worst set of the entire BC. A single set in her 30s, and looked about 6 months pregnant. This was the one and only time I challenged an instructor’s choice on a set. I said to BlueM, “but she looks pregnant..(!)” to which he replied, “what, you don’t like pregnant chicks?” Okay. I went in and opened her, to which she gave a puzzled look. I then went into my BT spike, and received a look from her that could have made Hell freeze over. It was a moment like this long ago, somewhere in Ancient Greece, that spawned the myth of Medusa. I felt my heart turning to stone. Really, who would hit on a pregnant woman? I guess it was me! She walked away, and I ejected.
HB Audience- A single set that hooked well. This one is memorable because I felt strong social pressure from a Westerner couple standing across from us at a table where books were spread out. They were both watching intently, and the woman kept whispering in the guy’s ear while looking at me and smiling. I tried my best to focus on the HB, but it wasn’t easy. At one point, I froze up and couldn’t think of what to say, and unneccesarily introduced BlueM who was nearby, pretending to read a magazine. In the end, a big American guy came over, who looked like he might have been Army, who was clearly there with her. Just like the guy in Starbucks, he seemed pretty cool with me being there talking to her. I made some small talk with him as well, said goodbye, and ejected.
HB Classy- This was an HB9 single-set, very well-dressed and classy, who hooked very, very well. She reminded me a lot of a regular in Busan, (bottom pic of my K-lair photo board post) which made me more comfortable around her than with the others. I think that had a lot to do with why she hooked so well. She eventually ejected, and BlueM gave me a lesson on kino escalation. I had done a decent job at kino, but as he pointed out, it never was an escalation per se, but instead just me touching her in different places with the same intensity.
Random COEX Spots
HBs X-Box- This was at an X-Box exhibit in an outdoor courtyard of the mall. 3 HB10s stood around, looking luscious in their super-sexy blue dancing girl outfits. BlueM told me to get in there, and this was the only time with the exception of HB Pregnant that I hesitated. For a moment or two, my brain couldn’t process the possibility of these goddesses and myself being involved in a pick-up interaction. I looked blankly at BlueM, and he said “It’s just practice.” He was right. RPQ talks about re-wiring your brain, and this was definitely a great example of that. I jumped into the set. Two of them hooked really well after the BT spike, while one walked away. I stayed in set with them for about 5 minutes, and they stayed hooked even better than the majority of the others on the BC. It ended when an X-Box official came over and pulled them away. One realization I made on this BC is that, as hard as it wouldv’e been for me to believe before, the sets that hooked the best were between 8.5-10. DKNY, Classy, X-Box.. At a later time RPQ explained that it boiled down to congruency. These girls could truly see themselves with me, while a 6 or 7 might be wondering what I want out of her.
HB Bench- This one is memorable only because out of all the sets I approached on the weekend, this was the only one to draw attention to either RPQ or BlueM involving themselves in the interaction. She said “I think your friend needs you” about RPQ after he said something to me, most likely about qualifying, seeding a bounce or timebridging. I said “no, he’s alright,” and stacked forward.
We debriefed in the Food Court. This was the first time on the BC sarging without Kevtron, as I did not see him at all after Starbucks. We gorged down Sbarro’s Pizza- Sbarro’s BABY! It meant more to RPQ and I since we can’t get it in Osaka or Busan, but I’m sure it meant even more to me since I’m from Brooklyn, NY, and NYC style pizza is very tough to come by over here. The fact that I was now halfway through the bootcamp, of course, didn’t hurt at all.
Kevtron came back with us to BlueMs place, and after a short nap, we had our seminar there with freshly brewed coffee courtesy of Blue. The topic was taking things sexual, and our added task for Saturday night game was to do just that. We soon headed out to Mass in Gangnam. In the taxi, I felt the nerves grow stronger, but this time it wasn’t such a big deal. I felt them before Friday night game and especially the same afternoon, but I knew from experience now that no matter how I felt beforehand, things were gonna work out fine in the end.
Mass
We checked our coats, did a walk-through, and it was game on.
HB Bigoltits- This was an HB 10 single set with tits to die for. ! She never really hooked too well, but didn’t seem to mind having me around. She’s memorable because just being able to hard kino a girl like this for 5 minutes, and totally get away with it, is reason to get into game in and of itself. A year ago, just saying “excuse me” to a hottie on this level would’ve felt like pushing the envelope.
HB Busan- Can't remember whose set this was, but she and her friend were both from Busan. Unfortunately, my girl lived in Seoul, while Kev's was only visiting for the weekend, like me. Had we have known this, we could've switched targets.. oh well, whatever. Got excellent kino from her, and ran Strawberry Fields for the first time that night. I made a mistake by seeding, going for the bounce and #-closing without timebridging first. RPQ was sure to correct me on this.
HB Bounce- My HB8 target in a 2-set I opened. They were dancing on the dance floor and having fun when I opened them, and hooked pretty well. I called Kev in, got isolation, solid kino, and before long bounced them out of Mass to a nearby cafe. We walked arm-in-arm over there, and the 4 of us sat in a booth facing each other. I ran SF and the Question Game with my hand resting comfortably on her leg the whole while. At one point during the QG, she crossed her other leg over and my hand was sandwiched between them as she revealed her entire sexual history to me, a guy she met maybe 45 minutes earlier. She also had a boyfriend who was in the army and not around. One of her questions to me was asking which nationality of women was my favorite to sleep with, and in her words "I think you've been with women from a lot of different countries." Nice, I knew I had done my job of projecting myself as a high-value sexual guy. I timebridged and #-closed under the guise I had been using that I was gonna be around for another week before heading back to Busan. In reality though, I was leaving right after the BC, and would have to flake on all my Day2s. It felt great sitting there without the instructors either right behind us or watching from afar, as they stayed in Mass. We did get a text at the same time however about 1/2 through the insta-date, saying "did you run: strawberry fields- question game- the cube" from BlueM. In the end, we walked the girls to their taxi, and immediately after they closed the door we heard RPQ yelling behind us "What took you so long!" Hmm.. I guess they didn't stay in Mass! We went back in and kept gaming.
HB Sailboat- This was an obstacle in Kev's 3-set that BlueM jumped in on as well. I had some big locking-in problems with her that RPQ helped me out with. I locked in well at first by spinning her and then sitting in the chair at the bar. After that, it got a bit sloppy. When I was talking, she would lean in and listen, but whenever I finished what I was saying she would start to physically drift away. I would lean in and pull her back, and she would stay there until I finished a thought and drift away again, to which I would repeat the process. RPQ kept pulling me back in my chair, stressing to me that I shouldn't physically give in. Since she would lean in when I talked, he said I should just stay put and she would end up doing the work. And, if I was going to pull her arms, I should've been holding them above the elbow instead of below. He also kicked my feet apart a few times, so she could stand between my legs. I timebridged and #- closed, however it was not solid.
HB AMOG- This 2-set never hooked and wouldn't have been memorable had it not been for the AMOG experience. I opened them while they were dancing, and while I was plowing a Korean guy jumped in and did the whole "hey man, what's up!" thing, hugged me, and spun me around with his body so I would be blocked out of the set. I jumped back in, and continued plowing. He then forced his way between us and said "I'm her boyfriend." It wasn't gonna be that easy, so I asked the girls how they knew him. They ignored me, and he repeated it while getting in the way again. I felt like a hockey player with this guy, jockeying for position with the girls being the puck. I was also starting to feel a bit reactive and territorial, and felt my adrenaline pumping. I was determined to hear it from the girls themselves, and felt on the verge of fighting this guy. Finally, one of the girls said "he's my friend" and embraced him. That's when I ejected. It was my only real AMOG experience of the BC.
HBs Mixed Set- This one was memorable because when I first started to approach, I thought it was a standard 2-set. As I got closer, a foreigner guy standing near them turned around, gave them some shots, and they did a shot together. I made the mistake of assuming they were all together, and started to back off. RPQ told me to keep going in, and by the time I got there they had already started walking away, without the guy. Turns out he was just some chode trying to pick them up by buying them drinks. It didn't work. In the end they never hooked for me either, but it was a good lesson in not making assumptions. Even if the guy had stuck around, I should have gone in anyway and asked how they all knew each other. Even if he was dating one of them, the other one wouldn't be, and they were both hot.
HB Badidea- RPQ told me to go into a set. Between him telling me to do it and actually going, he talked to me for about a half minute. In this time I must've gotten a bit confused about who I was actually going to, because I then approached a single set. It didn't hook, and about 15 seconds later some K-dude popped up. He seemed a bit annoyed and RPQ jumped in, befriended him, and told me to eject. Apparently, they were obviously together and he was standing right behind her. What balls I must have had, trying to pick up his girlfriend right in front of him! Honestly, I didn't see him there. RPQ must have meant for me to go into a different set, one that had walked away by the time he was done talking to me. The K-dude begrudgingly shook my hand as I told him what a beautiful woman he had.
Around 5ish RPQ said it was time to leave, and I finally got to use my free drink ticket for a water. We went to McDonalds up the street to debrief, and while waiting on line RPQ emphatically said "You were awesome tonight!!" and told me how much he meant it. He had told me I had done well after the first two rounds, but this time seemed to be different. It meant a lot to me. During debriefing, he said that this was the first bootcamp he had done in a long time where he hadn't had to send a student back into set for ejecting too early. A drunk half Japanese/ half Korean girl wound up at our table at one point, and Kev and I finally got to see RPQ in action as he quickly went through the steps of the sarge. When her friend came out of the bathroom, she got up and left. Back to BlueM's for some sleep.
Sunday Day Game- Myeongdong
We took the subway to Myeongdong, a fashionable shopping district with lots of restaurants, cafes, clothes shops and the like, with plenty of young sexy HBs around. Despite my success at handling the first three rounds, I still felt just as nervous riding the train there. We went to Cafe Pascucci, where we would have our seminar and run our first sets of the day. The topic was Deep Comfort, with special emphasis on having a "hero story," one in which we reveal our vulnerabilties to a woman while still looking good in the end. Kev and I both came up with stories, which RPQ polished up in the end with better focus on emotion and less on detail. Mine was about my childhood fear of putting my head underwater, and my current fear of being in deep water. Basically, (shit, I’ve gotta stop saying basically so much LOL) in one sentence, my story was that I confronted my fear, went snorkeling in deep water, and totally freaked out. Shitty day, but hey, if it helps to get me laid in the end, then it wasn't a complete loss
Pascucci's-
HB Corner- I lost RSP with Kev, so it was my job to open first. Today, we were to choose our own sets, so I opened a 2-set sitting in the corner of Pascucci's. It went very well, and I was able to make a solid timebridge and #-close, as well as run my hero story for the first time. Kev's obstacle also went well, although he encountered some communication problems. Unfortunately, the two were on a time-constraint, so we couldn't bounce them. If the logistics were better, I'm pretty sure it would have happened.
NHB Mistake- RPQ told me to find another set. A two-set sat behind us. The chair next to my eventual target was empty, the girls seemed chill, so I went in. My target was an NHB5, and she never hooked. Kev seemed to hook the obstacle, so I found myself running obstacle game for Kev instead. She kept asking me why I was there talking to her, and kept saying that she was in the middle of a conversation with her friend and that I should stop touching her. She could see that things were going well with her friend and Kev, so I think she just put up with me. When they ejected and we went back to our table, I got my first and last scolding from RPQ. "WHY THE HELL DID YOU GO INTO THAT SET??!!!! THOSE GIRLS WERE TRASH!" Really, I went in there because the logistics were good. That's it. In my mind at the time, it didn't matter so much cuz it was just practice. This is where RPQ explained to me that those kinds of sets would be much tougher to hook, because if I was doing my job right of projecting myself as this totally awesome guy, they would wonder what I was doing talking to them. I must just want something from them, or be taking the piss. "Would you have opened that set in real life?" he asked. "Of course not." "So don't do it here." From that moment on for the rest of the day, I screened my approaches with that in mind. Lesson learned: HB 8.5-10s will hook much better than 5s or 6s. Okay. I think I can live with that. RPQ punished me by making me immediately open another set, even though it was Kev's turn. And, a little while later, as we were headed upstairs, we walked past an NHB. RPQ said "you see that girl we just passed? SHE'S TRASH! Just like that set you opened!" Lesson definitely learned.
HBs Hidden Camera- the very next set, one I opened on the next level up. These girls initially seemed to hook, but were suspicious. They kept saying to each other in Korean "are we on hidden camera?" while periodically looking up to the ceiling, thinking it was a setup. In the end it never really hooked, and maybe 5 minutes after Kev entered the set they ejected and moved to another table.
Department Store-
I was relieved to finally leave Pascucci's. The social pressure was really bothering me, as all the customers there could see us move from set to set, as well as the sets themselves! Luckily we were able to vary them over a few different floors, but I was still glad to leave. We opened a few street sets that didn't hook and then popped into a big clothing department store. RPQ instructed Kev and I to open sets by asking them where the men's section was, and then getting them to take us there. It wasn't hard to get them to bring us there, as it was pretty close, but once there it was tough getting them to stick around. I told them that I was up from Busan and it was hard to find good clothes down there, and needed a female opinion on a shirt. One single-set wound up passing me off to an employee, who also was cute, and I decided to continue the sarge with her. RPQ said "you know she's a hired gun, right? it's her job to help you." I knew that, but she was already opened, so I progressed. In the end it was very uncomfortable, as some of her co-workers were watching, including one guy who looked like he might have been her boss. I also opened some sets by picking up some women's tops, holding them against my body and saying "how would this look on me?" They never hooked though. RPQ kept reminding me to have fun and relax, but I truly wasn't feeling it. I felt a bit suffocated, and coming apart a bit. Really, how could I expect to successfully open sets like that? Not a single set hooked in the department store, and when RPQ said it was time to go, I was once again relieved.
Street Sets-
We both opened more sets on the street, both from walking HBs and those standing at little accessory stalls and the like. Nothing hooked for me, and I felt like I was limping towards the finish line. I opened a 5-set of cute Japanese girls that began to hook, but they were on their way into Dunkin' Donuts and got on line. RPQ once again mentioned that I wasn't having fun. He asked me if I noticed a difference in the success of my sets when I entered having fun and when I entered like I was then. Of course, they opened better when I was lively. He then pointed out a set and gave me a very fun way to open it. As a result, it was my first memorable set in a positive way since HB Corner, and one of the most fun sets of the entire bootcamp.
HB Kebab- She was the target in a 5-set buying kebabs from a street vendor. After she got hers and started to walk off, I walked in front of her and acted as if I was about to bite into it, with a big smile on my face. Her BT spiked so much, that my BT spiked! I went into another spike, saying that she wasn’t Korean, and that she looked like she was from Venezuela. She spiked so much again, that my appraisal of her jumped from a 7.5 to 8.5. This chick was cool! Turned out that she was an exchange student from China, as were most (if not all) of the others. I brought in Kevtron, and soon after BlueM, Hollywood and RPQ were in the set. Everything went so well with them, and the others seemed to have just as much fun with their K-lair guys. In the end I got a solid timebridge and #-close, and they wanted group pictures with us. BlueM made sure that they got into sexy poses before he snapped, and we ejected. RPQ said it was time to get some food, and it was a great way to end the sarge after an otherwise lackluster session.
RPQ said that he normally went to Krispy Kreme to debrief, and then for SamGyeopSal for dinner, but since I had a train to catch and not much time, we went directly to the SGS place (Korean barbecue). There we debriefed, and afterwards RPQ wrapped up the bootcamp on two notes: name changes, and the importance of keeping things up after the camp ended.
On the first note, he likened the BC to a rite of passage, and mentioned that in many cultures, a rite of passage is often concluded with a name change, indicating that the person has essentially evolved into someone else. He suggested that we change our names to something positive that either speaks to our greater qualities or represents something to strive for. Kevtron announced that from here on, he would be known as NRG. Throughout the camp, the instructors had told him to harness his energy, as he was generally too wound up all the time. His energy could be a powerful weapon, if only he knew how to channel it properly. Thus, Kevtron become NRG. As for me, I had been Kid Charlemagne. It’s the name of a song that Kanye West sampled in “Champion,” and when I heard it, I liked the song, thought the name sounded really cool, and resonated with certain lyrics in terms of pick-up. I then announced that from there on, I would be known as Vigorous. When I am vigorous about things in my life, I tend to get things done. However, one of my biggest problems has always been fighting inertia, in all areas of my life. When I have had a lot to get done, my biggest enemy has always been procrastination. And, in terms of pick-up, getting myself moving and in state has always been difficult. This was definitely the problem Sunday afternoon. My goal is to live a vigorous life. All challenges that come my way, I want to be able to handle vigorously. Thus, Vigorous was born. As RPQ was in the middle of telling us about the common tradition of name changes after rites of passage, I got a text from Billy D (Vision) down in Busan saying “How was the camp? Can I still call you Kid C?” The timing was impeccable.
The second and final main point was stressing the importance of keeping up the good work after the bootcamp had finished. BlueM had said that a lot of guys were like rubber bands in that they would stretch themselves to the limit during the camp, but once settled back into their regular lives, snap back into their old habits. RPQ said that a good way to make sure this didn’t happen to us was to post regularly on the Entourage Newbie FR section. Unlike the main FR section, here it is okay to post simple stuff like “I opened 3 sets today and ejected after the opener,” to help keep yourself on track. He said that a number of guys on the Entourage who post the most amazing stuff now originally started out this way, and that we should first look at their recent posts, and then their original ones. It would be something we could relate to. He then told us about his new “On the Wagon” program, one where we would be in on weekly Skype phone calls to set goals, check our progress, and discuss sticking points. This would be free for us for the first month.
We ate SamGyeopSal, drank beer and soju (finally!) and had a good time. Unfortunately, I had to cut my time short to catch my train, and I was jealous of the others as they were to continue the good times throughout the night. I got to the station with about 20 minutes to kill, so I called Billy D, who had just returned from Thailand and was due to take the BC the following weekend. I talked almost non-stop about that unforgettable weekend, and nearly missed the train due to the excitement and losing track of time. During the camp, I thought for sure that I would be crashed out the entire way back on the KTX, after such a strenous and sleepless three days. However, I was awake and alert the whole time, listening to Timbaland. There was just too much adrenaline. It was my first down-time as Vigorous, and I was gonna enjoy it. Luckily I was able to sleep for a few hours before waking up at 7AM for work.
Redpole Q’s bootcamp was definitely a life changing experience. I was pushed to the limits, and am now not the same guy I was on the KTX going up there the previous Thursday.
I would like to give extra special thanks to my bootcamp brother, NRG, who was there for me every step of the way, enduring the same pain and sweetness as me as we marched forward. We have become good friends, and I spent the following weekend crashed at his pad in Suwon for the K-lair March meetup. We also regularly keep tabs on each other’s progress. Big props to Redpole Q and Blue Mystery for being such awesome instructors! These guys really care, and take their jobs personally. They’ve both been where we were, and want nothing less than us reaching that point where they are now. Thanks to Hollywood for his support, ranging everywhere from giving fashion advice, winging, helping out on seminars/debriefing and what not, as well as Caspian for helping out. And last but not least, Pokerjaxx, Vision (Billy D) and Poison for their supportive text messages during the camp, and how can I forget, a few of my Busan HBs who texted me during that time, reminding me why I was there to begin with!!
I look forward to my new life as Vigorous, and recommend this camp to any guy looking for better results with women, as well as other areas of life.
