Weather’s not that cold, and I was hoping to get a bit of sleep before the wife and her mom headed out to the Lotte Premium Outlets (I’ll be sure to post more about this awesome place later).
Unfortunately the Littlest Dictator had other ideas and after much screaming (hers not mine) (maybe partly mine) I tagged along.
Yea not a bad day. So far. Soon I’ll be left alone with the baby. I must prepare for battle.
We decided to have a nice stroll along the beach yesterday and earlier this evening. Simple, right?
Now in Singapore, all you had to do was ensure the Littlest Dictator basically isn’t buck naked.
But here, check out all this crap:
So first we headed to the clinic to get my bandage replaced:
Finally arrived at the clinic.
But first…
Finally…
The pictures don’t do it justice. It was so beautiful and surreal, like you were walking in a painting or one of those really slick promotional videos on big screen TVs at E Mart.
My wife’s Samsung S7 did much better:
Now back to my crappy pictures!
Baby was getting restless. Fortunately just outside Paradise Hotel…
The journey back up the hill is a good workout for your quads, and will prompt you to remind yourself over and over again ‘It was worth it.’ “Was it really?” ‘Shut up brain! It was totally worth it!’
Sunset at Haeundae Beach is definitely a sight to behold. And best of all? No crowds!
In one of my previous posts I included a drawing of an adorable kitty wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. It’s now on shirts and sweaters and other stuff in case you’re into this sort of thing.
In the next couple of days, I hope to walk the length of this old railway track near Haeundae Beach. Been putting it off since last year. The time is now!
Went back to the clinic this morning to get my bandage replaced. Man was it a beautiful day!
Since it’s pretty close to the beach, figured I’d take a detour on the way back.
So I went from here:
To here:
Not a bad trip.
Updated 8th January 17:
So I was still sick and my mother-in-law suggested heading to a clinic ahead.
This is highly recommended instead of the hospital. It is significantly cheaper. A consultation without insurance sets to back only about 10K won.
Koreans have a thing for injections which is both amusing and a little disturbing.
Also, the nurse insisted on injecting in my ass for some reason.
After that, we got a prescription for more meds and headed over to the pharmacy. I still wasn’t feeling well after two days so we returned, and the doctor legit asked me how many days of medication I wanted. Again, slightly amusing and disturbing at the same time.
In the end I did get better though so yea… always head over to a clinic first if you can.
Updated on 15th Dec 16: Added a bit more advice under ‘Recommendations’ at the bottom. Also, if you like the cat drawing, you can get it on a shirt or sweater here.
So about a week ago, I scalded my hand pretty badly. In this post I’ll give a quick recap, and at the bottom, recommendations on what you should do if you’re stuck in a similar situation and can’t speak Korean.
For that first visit, you’re looking at paying around $50-$100, and that’s on the upper end of the scale. It’d probably have set me back by $15-$25.
But when you’re in Korea and especially if you don’t know the language, it can be a major pain in the rectum. Right smack in the rectum.
For example, let me introduce you to this crappy HOLYCRAP 240k won bandage (and some antibiotics) courtesy of a visit to the ER…
They fixed me up pretty nicely, and the doctor was critical of the hospital bandage that I got.
Not too bad… until they said I had to keep getting it replaced daily until it got better.
There’s plenty of resources for tourists in Busan, so while medical care might be a tad pricey if you’re not covered, if you know exactly where to go (and don’t have an over-anxious mother-in-law!) you won’t end up paying too much.
So I finally relented and went to the hospital to have someone look at my messed-up hand. After being directed to the Emergency Room…
Here’s what my hand looked like with a homemade bandage:
Here’s what it looked like after a HOLYCRAP 240k won quick bandage and a few antibiotics:
This one one of those rare moments we didn’t pay with my credit card (Citibank PremierMiles) which comes with travel insurance. And like a genius, I’d completely forgotten to get us covered for a three-month stay in Busan.
The doctor barely had a look at my injury, and when I asked if it were infected… he replied with – and I kid you not – a goddamn “Probably”.
He gave me two locations I had to pick from to visit a burns specialist (apparently) hospital for a special dressing. No idea what that even means. But I’ll go. I’m already feeling a little feverish. That can’t be a good sign.
Oh yea and these hospitals are like, an hour away by car. GODDAMMIT.
Just outside the hospital were a few pharmacies, each with its own promoter standing near the entrance. Coming from Singapore, this was surreal.
All in all, a very expensive lesson. I’m getting travel insurance later tonight from a company that offers it for those who are already on their trip.
Always get travel insurance.
So I was in deep trouble. This particular morning was our anniversary, and with all the crap that had been going on, I’d realised too late that my original gift idea wouldn’t work, due to time constraints.
Yea, yea, that’s not an an excuse I know… I know…!
I’d gotten the flowers preordered from before, but I couldn’t find what I was looking for in Jangsan… matching hats for my wife and our Littlest Dictator. This morning was basically a do-or-die (possibly literally) situation.
Got my brother-in-law up to drive me to Shibsegae Shopping Mall, once the world’s largest mall in the world (it was in the Guinness Records, if I’m not mistaken).
We got there on a cold morning at 10am.
And… they were still closed!
Normally it wouldn’t be a big deal to me, since they were going to open at 10.30am. Except in my haste, I did not dress for the really cold morning.
Ah well. Decided to walk around a bit to warm up.
Didn’t realise that Bexco (a major exhibition and convention centre) was so close by).
We grabbed a quick coffee at the nearby convenience store and headed underground to one of the main entrances.
Turns out there were others who just couldn’t wait to get their morning shopping in. I wonder if they too had messed up in a big way like I did!
The place is huge. I moved from floor to floor, communicating in a mixture of very basic English and sign language (the latter mostly).
It reached the point where I’d almost given up and decided to have a bit of stupid fun instead.
This is a man who has lost all hope:
At long last I found them!
These, plus the flowers basically meant I could continue to breathe the cool free air 😂.
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??
Be scaling you real soon…
My mother-in-law has a really good filter that also dispenses cold and HOLYCRAPTHATISHOT!! water.
Unfortunately after my workout last night, my hand experienced first-hand (get it? Get it??) just how hot it was. And even now my hand still feels like it’s on fire. In winter.
I came to Busan from Singapore in part to the experience the cold of winter. Talk about ironic.
So here I am, posting with a phone, while being interrupted every five minutes by my two year-old.
But fear not! I’ve got a ton of stuff yet to post about! Including my Quest for Snow in Busan (more about that later).
In the meantime, here’s a nice view of the sunset from two or three days ago.
One Weird Dude's Busan Blog 