Got up a little bit earlier today (OK fine I actually had to go to the bathroom and then couldn’t sleep afterwards) and went for a walk. A leisurely stroll, if you will.
Here’s the thing though. Without a downpadded coat in minus two degrees Celsius, the ‘leisurely’ bit tends to get left behind. Too lazy to head back up, I kept going.
Beautiful view while freezing my little kimchi off.
The cold has not yet lost its novelty for me. In fact, I’ll probably miss it (and not sweating like, everywhere all the damn time) once I’m back in Singapore.
The moment I finished that last sentence, my brother-in-law came out of the room and told me “It’s snowing!”
I rushed back out like my life depended on it along with a stupid grin on my face. And I made it! It was the first time I ever stood outside while it snowed.
It’s gearing up to be a really good day. I’m definitely going to miss this.
Woke up a bit more late than usual, and still feeling groggy and considering a return to whatever dream I had… turned my head and saw… SNOW!!
Just ah, trust me. There’s snow there.
At first there were only a few snowflakes dancing across the window… and I was slightly annoyed, mistaking them for joss paper ash, which is not that uncommon in Singapore.
What’s even more amazing (to me only, apparently) is that it’s not even below minus.
And then it hit me. I literally ran to the hall, even forgetting to greet the mother-in-law.
Seeing it snow for the first time. Quite a sight to behold. Just incredible.
The wind is still blowing strongly and it’s like someone’s playing with the tap in the sky, with the snow getting turned on and off and on again.
I’m really glad I finally got to see snow here in Busan.
After my failed attempt to find snow last night (well technically it was really early) I woke up early (OK fine, at 9am) and decided to head out while it was still cold.
In Singapore at this time, you’d be sweating buckets
I’ve explored most of the area, so I wanted to try something different and walk along the river. You know, being the trailblazing hellraiser that I am.
I’m so badass
About halfway through though, I was distracted by the Haeundae Cultural Centre. Because apart from being a badass, I also apparently have the attention span of a toddler.
Oooh big shiny building!
A couple of weird things about this place on a Sunday morning:
It’s neither open nor closed. The doors were open… but there was no one inside. Not security, nothing.
It’s a cultural centre and… it’s apparently closed… ON A SUNDAY. Like, are people supposed to take a day off of work and school for the kids to take them here? Yeah… I totally seeing that happening.
Anyway, after sitting around for a while I began heading back via different route.
Stopped by a Starbucks along the way.
You can travel through time and space and when you arrive on the other side… you’ll probably find a Starbucks waiting to serve you overpriced Cappucino
Aaaand that’s about it. Hopefully there’ll be snow tomorrow!
Edit: This is like, my 3rd attempt to post it due to a weird problem with the app basically saying “Hey, hey, you want to post this? It’s interesting right? Yeah? NO. SCREW YOU, HUMAN! KISS MY DIGITAL RECTUM! SKYNET 4 LYFE!”
Baby’s down for her nap, and my laptop needs recharging (like, 20 mins into the series finale of Rectify) so there’s time for another post!
We went skiing! Or, as I should call it, ‘That Time My Ass Kissed the Icy Floor Over and Over Again.’
More detailed information on the resort and how to get there can be found at the bottom of this post.
I had no idea what was to come
We went to the Eden Valley Ski Resort in Yangsan. At night. For the first time. So yea, we got a little lost.
I don’t know man, this looks just a wee bit off than what I expected a ski resort to look like
We finally found the proper route and you can tell it is (you know, besides looking at the signs) by the increasing number of ski/snowboard gear shops the further you go.
We settled on getting equipment from here:
There was a guy in hockey mask and a bloodied machete who was pretty nice and spoke with high-pitched British accent
The place was fine, but just bear in mind that they are an independent shop.
Be very specific about what you need to rent and for how long, and remember that they do not have any say regarding the admission cost. My brother-in-law told me that the guy spoke as if he were connected to the resort. I’m hoping it was a communication issue. Yeah. Communication issue.
Anyway, I’d recommend renting directly at the resort. Easier to drop off the items and stuff.
We finally arrived:
Getting the tickets
One important thing to bear in mind, especially if you’ve never skiied before: There is no beginner -level slope. I mean, they have one, but you’ll get what I mean further down.
First, the view from the bottom:
The one on the left is supposedly the one for beginners. LIES, ALL LIES
For starters, we had to take a goddamn ski lift to get to the top of the beginner-level slope.
For beginners. That is, for you to begin crapping yourself
Aaaand here’s the view from the top of the slope:
Notice how it looks deceptively flat… that’s because there’s a super-steep decline that connects to the slope on the rightThought I’d take one last picture of my being alive
Being the genius that I so clearly am, I’d decided to sit in the snow for a moment to rest. In non-waterproof pants. It’s amazing what a freezing ass and the threat of hypothermia can do to motivate you to speed down a death slope.
My last fall was when I’d decided to just go for it… and was speeding downwards when I realized I couldn’t stop. Because of the speed, I actually bounced off the damn ice. Oh yea, and I’d also neglected to wear safety gear. You know, all part of being a goddamn genius.
Luckily I got away only with slight cuts on the elbow which I legit thought was bleeding heavily at the time (shut up).
Would I do it again? With safety equipment, I’d say yes.
Would I recommend it to beginners?
HELL NO ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND??
Overall, an… enlightening experience.
Getting There:
We drove there at night (night skiing is from 9pm-1am), and the road conditions were pretty good.
Looks like a pretty cloudy day today, and it’s projected to snow across most of Korea tomorrow! Most… just not Busan. GODDAMMIT.
However, I do have a plan! Ready or not, I’m hitting Jangsan Mountain early tomorrow morning, possibly before sunrise. I WILL HAVE MY SNOW.
It’ll probably kick my unprepared ass, though
In the past month we’ve been here, I’ve received two or three earthquake (!!) notifications. If you have coverage here, you’ll get an alert on your phone.
Oh yea and the apartment has a scary-as-hell alarm that goes off followed by an announcement.
It’s a long run to the ground floor
Apparently quakes happen regularly, and you only get notified if it goes beyond 2.0 on the Richter scale.
Seeing how they’ve had major ones recently, I was a little spooked at first. But yea, it’s nothing to get too worried about. Overall it’s a pretty stable country. Japan however…
For those who don’t know me (which would be most of you since I only started this blog like, a week or two ago), I’ve been hoping to encounter snowy weather for AGES.
The last time I touched snow was about four or five years ago in Jangyu after I arrived just a little bit too late during an unusually cold day in that part of Korea. There were only small piles of it left on a mountain.
Ever since then, I’ve been hoping to see snow again. Each year I always get so close. SO DAMN CLOSE. I mean goddammit there was even once where it snowed JUST AFTER I LEFT.
With these being my final three months in Busan, I’ve got a plan. Right after the coldest night, I will scale Jangsan Mountain. There’s got to be snow up there.
Every week once or twice I’ll practise going up Jangsan. Once the time comes, I intend to reach the summit hopefully in less than three hours. What? A guy can hope, can’t he??
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