So the first visit to a shopping centre after three months in Korea and my wife noticed it first: I’m bowing to EVERYONE.
And sometimes I even expect them to bow back! Yeah… it’s going to be a weird first week.
Anyway, it was an almost surreal experience to be back in Jem, a shopping centre near our place. It’s like we never left and that Busan was just a dream.
Nobody put up banners welcoming me back or anything!
Outrageous.
The last time I had a burger was before we’d left Singapore.
Oh yea and we wanted to get new pillows too. You know how no matter how hard you try to identify a pillow is like with your hands, it always feels differently when you’re lying on it at home?
Problem solved.
Tomorrow’s Monday. That means a week of job-hunting and returning to the gym. Just eight more months left until we’re back in Busan! I hope!
It’s a beautiful Wednesday morning, and sun is shining. Well, it’s literally shining directly onto my face. *squints* I’m still gonna miss you! *squints*
I was heading back from the gym last night and met a mom and her son in the apartment lift.
As soon as the kid saw me, he began glancing at me with an expression of nervousness and excitement.
I’m almost used to this and it reminds me of one of the more adorable things I’ll miss about this place: the Korean kids (and some adults!) who are dying just to practise their English!
It’s one of the cutest things ever haha.
Anyway, we’ll be heading down to the beach later today and maybe spend the whole day at home and spend some time with my wife’s mom on the eve of the flight.
13 days left before we return to Singapore, and I’m already missing Busan!
I’ll especially miss the peacefulness of Haeundae, along with the pleasant strolls we’d take in the cool weather.
Finally got round to walking the entire stretch of Dalmagi Hill, which is touted as the best place to view the moon. And we did it with a stroller.
Great for when hiking up the side of a mountain isn’t tiring enough for you.
It was very nice, but just be aware that near the middle, you’d have to cross the road because for some insane reason, the smooth path stops, and gets replaced by dirt paths with flat stones. Not stroller-friendly.
There’s several ways to go through, but we decided on the boardwalk for convenience.
And if you decide to check it out, you’ll be greeted with incredible views.
There’s also a lot of cafes along the way which makes it a fantastic place to take pictures for Instagram to make your friends jealous like the annoying hipster that they know and love.
Even the public restrooms are nice.
Keep going and you’ll finally hit the bridge that was only recently completed.
As we made our descent, the first drops of rain began to fall.
Have you ever tried running down a mountain with a stroller in the cold of winter? IT’S FUN. TRY IT.
Lungs burning and legs screaming, we arrived home just in time!
So the wife had to head over to the immigration office to extend her visa by one more month and man, while I love most of the Koreans I’ve met here, if you have to deal with them, try and bring along a local if you can. Not a pleasant experience and I’d probably have lodged an official complaint if I’d been there.
Aaaanyway. Here are some pics of Chinatown that my wife took!
Chinatown and the Russian districts are almost the same basically, and pretty close to Nampo. This is where you’ll find awesome (and Halal!) Russian and Eastern European dishes (Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, etc.)
Be warned though, Texas Street is a notorious red-light area and is somewhere there. Generally safe overall but I’d avoid that street at night unless you enjoy the company of drunk, burly Russians (hey if it’s your thing, you’ll probably love it!)
It’s really close to the Busan KTX Station too so it’s not hard to get to.
Been feeling under the weather lately, but I wanted to do a quick post for the New Year’s Eve celebration.
For Russians, it’s one of the major celebrations that involves a MAJOR feast!
Check it out:
It actually looks much better. Again, I suck at photography
There’s only six of us, and we’ll be eating on and off until the clock strikes 12 (the feast began at 9.30pm).
It’s not exactly big here in Korea, but there’s a tradition observed by a lot of the locals here where they will gather at the beach for the first sunrise of the year. Missed it last year, but I hope to make it this year!
Returned to beautiful Jangyu for my mother-in-law’s haircut, just a stone’s throw away from her old apartment, where I stayed during my first visit to Busan about four years ago.
Excellent candidate for a Silent Hill-like event
After that, it was time for more shopping at Lotte Premium Outlets (Gimhae).
If you really focus, you’ll be able to hear your bank account cryingNow, today being Christmas Day and all, with more and more Koreans observing it… I was hopeful it wouldn’t be too crowded. Goddammit.This time at least, I captured photographic evidence of steep discounts!
Is… is my bank account crying even louder?
Oh yea and I captured this:
The fourteen year-old in me was giggling uncontrollably
Next on the list: Halal meat. My wife, her brother and mom had already eaten and I was starving. Plus I was saving space for Samsa, a delicious meat-filled Uzbek baked bun/pastry.
Not sure what the area is called, but here’s the street name:
I am NOT attempting to type that on this phone with Autocorrect waiting eagerly, and cracking its knuckles
The nearest LRT station would be either Royal Tomb of King Suro (no, seriously) or Buwon. We drove there and man, it reminded me a little of some really narrow streets in Bangkok where cars mingled with pedestrians.
Here’s the cool thing about the place. It’s a true melting pot. You’ve got everyone from Indonesians to Vietnamese to Thais to Uzbeks and more.
Much more festive, it’s just that my photography skills are still almost non-existent.
We parked near the mosque:
Something weird about this. Can’t quite put my finger on it…
Before heading to the restaurant to get our meat (they also sell frozen meat), we checked out the nearby wet market which reminded me a lot of the old markets in Singapore:
Bank account seemed glad to see this place for some reason.
According to my brother-in-law, the prices here were significantly cheaper than in Busan.
Finally we arrived at the restaurant:
Hand over the Samsas and nobody gets hurt.
I’d show you a picture of the Samsa, but I’ve pretty much eaten all of them. They’re that good. And a hot Samsa in winter? Oh yeah.
At this very moment, I’m typing this on a phone, on a big comfy couch in the hall, with my reflection and its full tummy in the glass window staring at me. I regret nothing.
My hand now looks like a wrinkly apple with an attitude problem, but the pain’s almost gone so hopefully I’ll be able to resume my workouts tomorrow!
Anyway, we visited the ancient Haedong Yonggungsa temple recently. First built in 1376 (and my little sister calls me old!) and situated on a cliff by the sea, the views you get are breathtaking.
Here’s the entrance from the car park:
On the way to the temple proper, you’ll come across many vendors on either side of the narrow path selling souvenirs and unique (and a little overpriced) snacks.
The weather was really nice. I just suck at taking good pictures.
This was pretty good, actually.
Gets pretty crowded on the weekends.
Totally worth it.
There’s also a trail that leads you directly to Songjeong Beach. Definitely trying this out next time I’m there.
Hopefully I’ll be able to return at least one more time before we leave.
Getting there:
We drove there, but if you’re going by bus, as per the Visit Korea site, take the subway to Haeundae Station (Busan Subway Line 2), and then head to Exit 7. Take Bus 181 and get off at Yonggungsa Temple Bus Stop.
It’s still a bit of a trek to get to the entrance though, so if you have leg problems, it’s best to pay a bit for a cab to drop you off.
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??
What we thought was going to be a relatively quick visit to the Jagalchi Fish Market ended up with our spending hours in Nampo instead.
Getting There:
Get off at the Nampo subway station and take exit 5. You’ll be at the mouth of winding pathways filled to the brim with shops and restaurants and cafés and bars. It’s a pretty hip place but also a bit of a tourist trap, you know what I mean? Definitely a must-visit if you’re in Busan!
This is what greeted us when we arrived:
Every year it seems Christmas gets bigger and bigger in Korea, if Nampo is anything to go by.
Follow the trail and venture deeper inside and you’ll be treated to a view that could only otherwise be achieved by consuming vast amounts of LSD. In other words, it’s AWESOME.
I mean, check out this huge Christmas tree!
Under the hood.
I made a new friend! Or are we more than friends? Hmm…
Check out the traditional street food.
Are you a fan of Running Man? They had some food at this stall. You know, if you’re into that sort of thing.
This one was significantly less shady than it looks like in my badly-taken picture.
We eventually settled on this seafood restaurant, after being approached by a strange portly gentleman who happened to be their promoter. This one’s in one of the slightly seedy alleys, but the food was pretty good, I must say.
While it was pretty crowded for a weeknight, some parts were naturally less lively.
Heading back after a few hours and a nice hot meal.
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