Busan Part I

I went to Busan for the weekend for the purpose of jumping in the shark tank. Of course we had to make a weekend of it.

Friday after work, my co-worker Jacob and I went home to get our things and then met up infront of the McDonalds (about halfway between our homes) at 5:15 to catch a taxi. I had thought about the traffic earlier but then didn't consider it. Needless to say, the traffic was horrible. We were cursing almost the whole way due to the fact that our train was departing at 6:00 SHARP. The freeway was backed up because some idiot drove into a brick wall. ARGH!! We were only near Yongsan station with only about 7 minutes to go. We told the taxi driver to please hurry, not that he could really do much. He did help a bit and drove on the shoulder a couple of times to pass. By the time our taxi pulled up outside Seoul Station, we had only 3 minutes to get to the train. Jacob threw the money into the front seat and we sprinted across the front area, up the stairs and into the building. THEN... with only 2 minutes to get through the entire station, my backpack zipper came open and a bunch of things fell out - socks, make-up bag, bra, etc. ACK!!!! Jacob ran back, scooped up my things while I worked on getting my zipper back up as to not loose anything else and we were sprinting again - him carrying my things. Up the stairs to the KTX gates and then down the stairs to the train. I was watching my clock the entire way. We JUST made it. The doors were going to close. We got into the closest car then walked back several cars to our seats. We were so out of breath and my heart was pounding for the next few hours. SO close. Another second and we would have missed it. Shane and Eileen, some friends of mine, were very worried that we had missed it and were trying to figure out what to do. They were considering trying to stop the train, as I had called when we were running into the station... Whether or not he understood what I was saying, I don't know, since I was concentrating more on getting there than what I was saying.
We were SOOOOO lucky.
We arrived in Busan at around 8:45. We were the first of the group (of about 12) that were arriving Friday night. We took the subway to Haeundae and then walked to the hotel. We picked our mats (first come first serve!!!) and then headed out to find some food. The 3 of them wanted seafood, of course - go to the sea, eat seafood. We went to one of the little restaurants along the boardwalk. Sitting on the second floor overlooking the sea was so nice. The weather was perfect. Cool, but warm enough that we didn't need coats.

Eileen (Korean) ordered fish soup for everyone.Not very appetizing if you ask me (well, since I don't like any seafood, that is not surprising). She ordered non-seafood pajeon (green onion pancake) for me.The side dishes were pretty good, too - a zucchini dish, a spicy squid and raddish dish (I picked out the raddish bits to eat and they weren't tainted by the squid, surprisingly enough), peanuts, and shrimp and little sardines which the others polished off several dishes of. Of course, beer and soju (Busan Soju - C1) were also ordered.After dinner we went back to the hotel to meet some of the others that had just arrived. The guys had a bit of fun on the little coin bumper cars, except for Shane.... Oh Shane! - he put coins in but it just wouldn't work.

Muuido, again.

A couple of weeks ago I finally made it back to Muuido. For the past few years, friends of mine have planned a big end of May trip to the island. I went a couple of years ago and loved it. Then last year I was unable to due to a sick rabbit. :SThis year it was a group of over 50 going (though it sort of broke off into smaller groups, of course). It was perfect weather for the beach, at up around 28 C.Muuido isn't really a swimming beach, as it is pretty much all tidal flats. Yes, you can swim, but when the tides are in, it doesn't get very deep, and when the tide is out, you've got to walk a mile to get to the water.During the day, Koreans are out digging for clams and snails and little crabs that were everywhere. It is a great place, though, to lounge around on the sandy beach enjoying the sunshine and friends.You can also ride a horse around the beach for 5000 Won, or ride an ATV around the other end of the beach.Jared is always great at planning things (and a handy car) and so we had food for the entire time. For lunch, grilled chicken kebabs. For dinner, barbecued steak (sandwiches, if desired), sausages, salad, potatoes, etc. For breakfast, bacon, eggs, sausages, coffee (thanks to David), donuts, etc. At night after dinner, a pit was dug and a fire built. I love bonfires. Everyone sat around the fire or stood nearby talking, drinking,roasting toes, roasting marshmallows, burning marshmallows (one Korean girl had never roasted marshmallows before and doesn't like marshmallows, but loves burning them!).David had a great idea of giving people shots.... from a watergun. He spent almost the entire evening perfecting his aim (though he still missed every now and then).We had some entertainment in the form of one of the guys tossing knives and flames around - a hobby like juggling is a great thing to pull out at a bonfire.The next morning, we had a huge breakfast and then everyone did their own thing. Some packed up and left, some took naps on the beach, some hiked out across the flats to take a dip, some wandered about the beach and the tidal flats.Eventually it was time to pack up and head back to reality. The trip out to the island and back into the city kinda sucks. The length of time really depends on timing. To get there, you take an airport bus to the International airport and then catch a bus to the ferry. The airport buses run every 20 minutes and can take up to an hour (or more?) to get to the airport. Then the bus to the ferry runs only once an hour, at 20 past the hour. If you miss that, you've got a long wait. It is possible to catch a taxi, but it costs 10000 won for only a five minute drive. Worth it if there are a few of you. The ferry across takes about 20 minutes. Then you catch an island bus to the beach.Waiting for the ferry, David decided to try the little shellfish that were being sold and bought a bag. A couple of others tried with him. The verdict - he said they were okay but kind of tasteless. I say no thanks.

out in Bundang

Last Saturday evening I went to Bundang for a bit of a get-together. Chris' parents were visiting and he had organized a bit of a dinner party for them and his friends - the visit corresponded with his parents' wedding anniversary and his father's birthday.
The original plan was to go to Carne Station (one in Bundang), an all you can eat and drink restaurant, but it apparently shut down recently. So, we went for some kalbi (meat).

I love kalbi restaurants here. It is basically just meat that you cook on a little grill in the middle of the table.

There are always a variety of side dishes to eat alone or with the meat. Lettuce (to wrap the meat in, garlic, kimchi, some sort of green onion dish and a somewhat spicy dwenjang (bean paste) dip are fairly standard. At the place we went, there were also mushrooms, squid, tofu and some sort of egg dish. We also ordered rice, which is VERY cheap and comes with a hot dish of dwenjang chigae (bean paste stew). I LOVE IT!

At the end of the meal, they also brought out complementary dishes of an egg soup type thingy - well, more like a bowl of steamed egg. The dinner, of course, was accompanied by drinking - beer, soju

and some sort of Korean wine (called Cheong-ha).

After dinner, the parents went home and the rest of us, about 18, mostly foreigners, bought some drinks at the local convenience store and headed down to the river to enjoy them.

Once we had all run out of drinks, we went to Jared's apartment nearby to hang out some more.

A few of us ended up staying there for the night, as the public transportation into Seoul ended at 12 midnight and a taxi would have been too expensive. I got up very early in the morning (7AM) and left before the others were up as I had company coming in the morning.

To get to the subway staion, I walked along the way we took the previous evening along the river. There are bike and walking paths all the way along the river that follow the river all the way to the Han River in Seoul. Where we were sitting the evening before is just to the left of the far tents on the right. The little area has a couple of little water features and a long stretch of textured path:

sections of different textures (soft small round rocks, larger round rocks, sharper rocks, bars, etc) that you walk on in bare feet - it is supposed to help the accupressure points in the feet which are linked to the rest of the body.

the Froggy Cafe

Today the weather sucked. It was rainy and kinda cold. Too cold for what it should be here. I went back to the doctor early this afternoon to see about my throat. When I was finished there, I stopped by Sergejas for a bit to chat. We decided to go out for a walk around our area - we live in the Sukmyung Women's University area. The best places to go, which we have only recently discovered, are closer to the uni. After walking for a bit around the area, we went to the Froggy Cafe that we had noticed the other day. It was such a great idea. It made the whole day seem not so glum. It is an earthy little place. Very little, actually, with only 4 tables inside and a couple outside (not used in the rain, of course). It has a nice menu of coffee, lattes, mochachinos, and such, a HUGE list of different kinds of teas, some food items such as pizza (3 kinds), bagels and the like, and desserts such as pie, home made ice-cream, sherbets, brownies, etc. I had a mochacchino and Sergeja had a Frappe. The drinks came with an always present kwaja (snack). Here it was an unusual kwaja in that it was a mix of Jelly Belly jelly beans, coffee peanuts, M&Ms, almonds, with a little Winnie the Pooh cracker on top. How cute. We shared a "Froggy Pizza" - a thin crust with pesto, avocado, artichoke hearts, green pepper, black olives and onions. We had to wait around 20 minutes for our pizza, but we were okay with that. The owner made it on the little counter and it was baked in a little toaster oven in the corner (to the left of the pastel colored cups on the bottom shelf). We weren't sure about it when we ordered it but wanted to try. SO good! We both enjoyed it very much. It would be too much for on person (the pesto? too much of a good thing?) but it is a great snacky-meal to be shared. At first glance, the cafe just looks very cluttered, but it is quite cozy. The walls are covered in hand made jewelery (12 different designers) that is for sale.

After looking around a bit and contemplating quite a bit, I got 3 necklaces.
I know, I know, it's not like I really NEED more necklaces, but I fell in love with them. And Sergeja helped me to justify it by reminding me that because I am sick, I didn't go out drinking and clubbing tonight like I had originally planned. So I spent the money that I would have otherwise spent on drinks and such. We were quite happy with the place when we got up to pay. It was even BETTER when the owner gave me a 10,000 won discount (about $10) on the necklaces (I paid 41,000 instead of 51,000), and she gave us each a little piece of dessert that she had made - a brownie for Sergeja and cinnamon cake for me. She must have read our minds as she gave us each what we would have actually chosen.
We had already decided that we would return to the Froggy Cafe, but the owner's great attitude and generosity made us feel even better about that decision, and about our day.