Bye Bye Busan

It was our second and last day in Busan.  It was a short trip, but we all had to get back for class on Monday (yes, we do actually go to class sometimes).  We left out motel and then walked along the Gwangalli beach for a bit.  We hadn't seen it in the daytime.  The ocean was beautiful and the temperatures were much warmer than Seoul.

We grabbed a quick breakfast at a coffee shop and then headed for the subway.  We were going to check out the famous hot springs in a northern part of the city.  There are many spas you can go to with water from the springs, but we decided just to check out the water from the springs that was right in the middle of town.  When Busan hosted the APEC meeting in 2005 they built a little foot bath with water from the hot springs.  It was really neat!  We took off our shoes and sat with our feet in the pool; the water was extremely hot but it felt good.  There were many older Koreans sitting there and like usual, they didn't hesitate to stare at us.

Felix taking a picture of Rosie and me at the springs. 

Nothing like starting your day off with a little foot soak! 

We then continued toward the base of Mt. Geumjeong, a mountain located in the northern area of the city.  We took a cable car up to the top and the view on the way up was spectacular; we could see the entire city of Busan.  At the top of the mountain is Geumgang Park, which is a famous tourist destination of Busan.  Koreans love to hike and so there are many different hiking trails at the top of the mountain.  We were most interested in seeing the Geumjeongsanseong, which is an old fortress in the park.  It was built in the 18th century to protect Korea from both Chinese and Japanese invasions.

A shot of the cable car from the top of the mountain.  In the background you can see how big the city of Busan is!

While hiking through the park on our way to the fortress, we encountered a bizarre, yet fun group of Koreans hanging out at the restaurant that was at the top of mountain.  There were all sorts of families and adults, including many kids and older Koreans.  It kind of had a "family-reunion" feel to it, although we think that it was just a big group of locals enjoying a Sunday afternoon.  Those that weren't eating or socializing were playing a game on a volleyball court that was a volleyball-tennis-soccer variation.  They were really intense about it and we realized quickly that they were playing for money.

Rosie and me at the top of the mountain in Geumgang Park.

The scenario by the restaurant was so intriguing.  We couldn't help but stop watch them play for a bit.  In no time many of the locals came up to talk to us.  Very few of them spoke English, but they asked us to join the game and even offered us food.  Rosie and Felix headed in to join the game.  It was so funny watching them try to learn the rules to the game; from what I could understand you could kick, bump, or head to ball back over the net.  At one point Rosie even "scored" and all these old Korean men rushed over to her and started hugging her and yelling something that I couldn't understand.  It was pretty funny!

Rosie scored!

I was sitting at a table watching them play but also talking with these cute little Korean kids; sitting with the kids is much more up my alley than playing the game.  The kids were so adorable I just wanted to take them home with me!

When the game was over a group of older women brought out trays and trays of Korean food.  They literally pulled us over to the table and just started feeding us.  I mean, literally, these women were so aggressive, they were shoving kimchi into my mouth!  I wasn't complaining though, they were really nice people and I think that they were just so excited by our presence.  Also they were pouring shots of Soju (Korean vodka) and Makoli (Korean rice wine) and were insisting that we drink with them.

Andrew trying to understand the wonderful and old Koreans as they merrily force-fed us. 

Displaying hospitality in any kind of situation is deeply ingrained in the Korean culture.  So although these Koreans were extremely aggressive in feeding us and making us drink, it was their way of welcoming us to their get-together.  We stayed for awhile longer and then kept heading towards the fortress.

The remains of the fortress were beautiful, most of it had been knocked down, but the main gate remained almost completely in tact.

The entrance to the fortress. 

It was slowly beginning to get dark so we headed back towards the cable car and took it back down to the base.  Andrew and I were taking the KTX back to Seoul, but the others were taking the bus and had to head to the bus station.  

Andrew and I took the subway back to Busan Station and purchased our KTX tickets and then went looking for somewhere to get dinner.  Across from the station is Busan's China Town, although very small, we managed to find a yummy Chinese restaurant for dinner.  Afterwards we wandered around some more but then headed back to the station for our 8:40pm train.  now.  All in all, it was a great trip.  We didn't do as much as I had wanted, but it's hard with such a big group.  After a quite speedy 2 and half hours, we were at Seoul Station.  Arriving back in Seoul is always nice because now it feels like home to me.

A Trip to Busan

This past weekend I traveled to Busan with Andrew, Steve, Rosie, and Felix.  Busan is a port city located on the southeastern coast of Korea and it's the second largest city in the country.  Andrew and I took the KTX train from Seoul Station to Busan and I'm really glad we did that instead of taking the bus.  The KTX is Korea's high-speed express train.  This thing moves!  We got to Busan in about 2 hours and 30 minutes, while the bus was a 5 hour ride.  The TV monitor on the train told us that we were going 289 km/h, which is about 180 mph!

We got to Busan in no time; the sun was shining and it was really warm out.  We knew the rest of the group wouldn't be arriving for a few more hours so we decided to check out the "world's biggest department store" while we waited.  We hopped on the Busan subway, which was a far smaller and simpler system than Seoul's.  The Shinsegae department store was beautiful, it is indeed certified by the Guiness Book of World Records as the world's largest department store, the Macy's in Herald Square takes second place.

Andrew and I had a lot of fun exploring the place.  There was so much to see on each floor, it was quite overwhelming.  There was an ice skating rink, day spa, and even a driving range.  Once we got word that the group's bus had arrived in Busan, we headed over to the famous fish market to meet them.

The Jagalchi Fish Market in Busan is the Korea's largest fish market and it was definitely worth seeing.  The place was huge!  There were floors and floors of aquariums and vendors and perhaps the coolest thing was seeing the live octopus.  The famous attraction at the fish market is eating "live octopus" at the upstairs restaurants.  The octopus isn't actually still living, but since it's freshly killed, it still moves around the plate.  When Andrew and I had arrived at the market the group had already tried the live octopus.  It was a bummer that they didn't wait for us but what can you do. 

One of the vendors at Jagalchi Fish Market.  All the fish you can imagine!

After the fish market we took a cab to the entrance of the Taejongdae Cliffs.  These cliffs overlook the Korea Straight, which is the water body in between South Korea and Japan.  It is said that on a very clear day you can even see the coast of Japan from the cliffs, however I could not see anything.  We took a tram up to the top and then descended many stairs to get out onto the cliffs.  The sight was beautiful! We could see the Taejongdae lighthouse and an amazing view of the ocean as the sun was setting.

The view of the Taejongdae Cliffs before getting all the way down.

Steve and me on our way down to the cliffs.

Rosie and me as the sun is setting, in the background is the Taejongdae Lighthouse.

After sunset it got quite dark so we left the cliffs and walked around to the other side of the area.  We took a look at some of the memorials that were on the other side of the cliffs and then walked back down to the base.  We jumped on a bus and then met up with Andrew who had decided to do some other stuff around the city.

We were tired and hungry so we decided to look for a motel or a hostel before it got any later.  The group found this sketchy (sketchy is an understatement!) motel outside of Gwangalli (a well-known tourist district in Busan) and decided to take a look.  All the rooms were Korean style, which meant that it was merely a floor with some blankets; no beds, no furniture.  The man flipped on the light to show us the room and cockroaches scattered into the holes in the floor!  No way was I staying there!

We then headed into Gwangalli, which is where the Gwangalli beach is located and a part of the city where a lot of tourists stay.  The beach was beautiful and the area was a lot nice than where we had previously been looking.  We had no problem finding a motel here.  The one the group chose was still sketchy and gross, but it was fine for just one night.

We headed out to the beach and walked through the sand for awhile.  It was so beautiful, even in the dark.  We had an awesome view of the Gwangan Bridge which was all lit up with different colored lights.  We bought some drinks (once again, enjoying the ability to drink legally!) and then headed to the other side of the beach to pick out our fish for dinner!  One of the main attractions of Busan is picking out a fish at a fish market and then having a restaurant skin and bone it for you and then eating it for dinner!

The view of the Gwangan Bridge from the beach. 

At the end of the beach was a huge multi-floored building.  The bottom floor was made up of 20 or 30 different fish vendors, all loud and feisty Korean women trying to sell their fish.  We bargained for a good price from this one vendor and picked out three different fish.  One of them was a flounder, but we're not sure what they other two were.  We paid about 40,000 won for the three fish and then the lady killed them right there in front of us!  She then put them in a basket and we followed her as she led us upstairs to a restaurant on the 5th floor.  Each vendor works for a different restaurant that is in the fish market complex, so depending on who you buy your fish from is the restaurant that you eat at.

The woman that we bought our fish from, she's holding our first selection!

She was just about to kill one of our fish.  Notice my head peaking in on the right, I was trying to get a better look!

The restaurant seated us Korean style, on the floor, and we ate some delicious scallion pancake and salad.  After what seemed like years, our fish was finally served to us on a big platter, all boned and cut up into small pieces.  We had lettuce wraps, rice, sauce, and a bunch of other Korean sides.  The fish was delicious.  It was like a sushi-lettuce wrap combination.  Although I enjoyed it, I much prefer traditional sushi.  Our waiter also brought us a soup which had the rest of the fish in it, including the skeleton and the head.

Steve, me and Andrew with our fish.  The vendor had just brought us upstairs to the restaurant. 

The end product, one of three platters full of raw fish!

After dinner we ventured over to a carnival that was on the beach.  We had a lot of fun watching Felix and Rosie "bullride" and we ended the night riding a big pirate ship ride.  As I'm sure you all can picture, the pirate ship ride is basically a huge boat that swings back and forth.  We were so high up that on the "up" swing that we had a fantastic view of the city!  Exhausted, Andrew and I headed back to the motel shortly after that, we wanted to get up early the next day to see the rest of the city.

Felix and me at the carnival, behind us the epic pirate ship ride.

E-mart

Today I needed to do a little grocery shopping and since we always go to Grand Mart I thought I'd try something new. E-mart is the biggest retailer in South Korea and it is known around here as a "mega-store". It's kind of like a Walmart Supercenter, in that it carries everything from clothes to electronics to groceries. I went to the one in Yongsan, and in my opinion, it's much nicer than Walmart. Everywhere you turn there is an E-mart employee ready to help you, and if they don't speak English then they go and find someone who does. Also, they were giving away many free samples which made shopping on an empty stomach much more enjoyable.

My friends and I have been cooking a lot more because we've quickly realized that eating out for multiple meals a day is not only unhealthy, but also a big waste of money. We haven't been that adventurous with our cooking yet, but we're working on it. The types of things we've been making are basically sandwiches for lunch, scrambled eggs and egg sandwiches for breakfast, and usually fried rice with some meat or vegetables in it for dinner. We've also made some different types of stir-frys and we're going to try pasta this week. We'd like to make more but the kitchen in our dorm does not have any ovens, just stovetops. We were told that Koreans don't use ovens that often to prepare meals and that's why we don't have any. So we've been getting creative with the microwave and stove! If you know any simple recipes that we could throw together, let me know!

E-mart is much bigger than Grand Mart, which I think I've mentioned is our local grocery/department store in Sinchon. E-mart had a much bigger variety of everything, including a huge bakery, a fish market, and a large produce section. Apples, cereal, and cheese were on my list, and I didn't deviate from my list because E-mart was a bit of a hike from Sinchon and I didn't want to have to carry many bags. I also got some dish soap because with all of the residents of SK Global House sharing one big kitchen, the pots and pans have been getting a little grody. All of the items I got were a little bit cheaper than at Grand Mart, but not by much. Produce is incredibly expensive here because all the rain during the monsoon season has been bad for the crops. I bought a bag of 7 small to medium-sized apples and it cost me 6,900 won, which is about $6. I even saw a watermelon on sale for 35,000 won, which is over 30 bucks! The cheese and cereal are both considered "Western" items so they too were expensive. The pack of cheese I bought (individual slices just like American cheese, but they don't call it that here!) was 4,980 won, which is about $4.50. Lastly, the cereal almost killed me. Most Koreans really don't eat cereal here, or any "breakfast item" for that matter, so how anyone can wake up and have a big bowl of ramen and squid soup is beyond me! So, after unsuccessfully trying to make my beloved Cinnamon Toast Crunch last more than a week, I needed to buy some cereal. I bought a mid-priced box of Post cranberry and granola flakes which cost 6,950 won, which is a little over 6 bucks.

So it wasn't the cheapest grocery store trip, but all necessary items for an American college student living in Seoul! It was fun checking out a different grocery store and a different part of the city, but I always forget that once I leave Sinchon, I'm no longer surrounded by as many international students and therefore people definitely look at me more. As I mentioned in my last post, it really doesn't bother me as much as it did before. Also it's occurred to me that when I pass newborns and little babies in the stores and on the subway, I could possibly be one of the first Caucasians that they've ever seen. I know that's a strange thought, but being a foreigner (and an obvious one at that) in such a big city, these are the types of things that go through my mind.

Another cool thing about going to E-mart was that the subway line to get there, line 1, uses a Korail train, or a "KTX". The KTX is a newer model train that travels at a much higher speed than the conventional trains. I tried to read about it at the subway station while waiting for the train, but much of the sign was in Korean. An interesting fact about the KTX is that the train is designed to look like a shark. I was not at the top of the platform, so I couldn't actually see it, but here's a picture I found that resembles the picture on the KTX info board I was reading from: