Dinner in Busan

10:30 pm.  For dinner we eat bolgoi, where we barbecue pork on a little grill built into the table.  It was nice.  Then a walk back to the hotel along the beach.  The beachgoers are nearly all drunk or drinking, mostly in small groups of 2-5.

11:30 pm. I can't keep my eyes open any longer.

Busan: Geumjeong

6:00 pm.  Legs and feet are tired, so we've headed for the old fortress of Geumjeong, now a shrine, on the subway.  It's about 20 stops away, so it takes about 40 minutes.  At the exit we have a taxi take us to the bhuddist shrine where we find them performing their evening rituals.  We hike up the mountain for a few minutes, but it will be dark soon, and there's not enough time to make more than 1 km along the 2 km path to the peak.  As twilight deepens, we hurry down the granite boulders, as we've been told that the last bus leaves at 8 pm.  When we get back to the temple many of the paper lanterns are lit.  Another temple complex looks off the ridge to our north with more lanterns.

While waiting for the bus a taxi arrives, which we quickly catch for the base fare (2200 won).

8:00 pm. Subway back to the hotel.  Quite a few stops.

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Busan: Nampodong

4:00 pm. At the international market we could have bought a Louis Vitton for much cheaper than the department store. In the buildings and alleys they sell all sorts of goods: lighting, pots and pans, cloth, clothes, curtains, shoes, etc. You name it, they sell it. Most of it is low quality, but not all.

One of the coolest spots was a shop that sold art supplies. A classical calligraphy brush was over 100000won($100). Watercolors were also available; the prices were comparable with the US.

Another shop had a man who sold wooden plaques with designs that he wood burned onto them. A tiger. Celebrity faces. Whatever you wanted.

Jesse waited in a long line for a sweet fried doughball filled with nuts, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Mom and I had another coke.

After wandering long and hard, we bought a few very cheap ties.

Busan: Jagalchi

3:00 pm. Fish market.  Walking down towards the waterfront is a large fishmarket.  The fishwives stand over baskets of flounder, snapper, eels, crabs, squid, octopus, clams and other types of fish and shellfish, some alive, some dead, while people walk past, most of us just looking.

It was quite interesting to watch the fishmongers prepare eel:  First, fasten the head, make a slit up the abdomen and remove unwanted parts, then slice through the neck and peel the skin off.  They were quite quick.  Their technique was good and they were fast; imagine how many hours they have spent practicing.

A large, square building has more stalls, with fishwives spending their time--when they're not selling anything--cleaning squid or eels.  Upstairs are a series of korean restaurants where they serve sashimi.  Apparently you can select the fish at the market and have it served upstairs.  All we bought were a couple of cokes and some dried squid--squid jerky.

Busan: University

12:00 noon. Down, out, and off to Jesse's university, and our first coca-cola of the day. We stopped in at McDonalds, where Jesse says that he spent countless hours studying and getting free refills. We order a bulgogi burger, which is a pork sandwich with a bit of a sweet taste, and our sodas. McDonalds plus coke equals more energy for walking down the street.

Right outside the university the sidewalk is full of shops catering to students, mostly the hungry kind. Sandwiches, bakeries, coffee shops, bars, cell phone shops, and a small hole in the wall (decorated with brick-print wallpaper) that sells ice cream on a waffle.

We walked through the university campus, which was much nicer than I expected, level, and in the heart of the city. The university has added 4 buildings in the last year. We visited the student building, which is beginning to look a little run-down, with some cracks in the facade, and then Jesse took us to see if any of his professors were out and about. Since it was 1:00 pm, we're sure that the lack of professors was an indication that they were in class.

After school we bought a waffle cone for less than 1000 won. Great deal, and very tasty. Then back to the subway, headed for the fish market.

Busan: Shinsegae

10:10 am. The Shinsegae department store in Busan is billed as the world's largest department store.  It does not open until 10:30 am, though, so we wander around doing nothing for a while. Finding the street entrance, we wait until the doors open.

10:30 am. Doors open, every salesman and worker is at their station, cherrfully greeting the customers. Inside the escalator carries us up 9 floors, past all types of stores & departments, such as Tiffany's, Loius Vitton as well as local brands. The 9th floor had a performance hall, about a dozen restaurants (3 japanese, several korean, italian, chinese, etc.), a bank, and a rooftop park. Jesse really liked the bathrooms: "Probably the best bathrooms you will ever see", he says. There was also an ice-skating rink, a preschool, and a huge spa inside the store.

They didn't have everything--the bookstore was missing an english-japanese phrasebook.

Busan: Around Town

I was awake by at least 4:30. It was dark outside, and I couldn't keep the sandman around.

5:30 am I went for a mile walk on the Haeundae beach to the lighthouse, watching the waves come in and out, and later passing the rocks along a wooden walkway. I ran up to a small buddhist temple on the point before returning. Joggers were about, as well as groups of people, a few of which, at least were exercising, but others may have been performing some sort of early morning Buddist ritual.

6:30 am. Back to shower and get ready for the day. Mom is awake, and I soak in the little tub for a while. The lump in the bottom is well placed as a seat.

7:30 am. Breakfast. The buffet has a variety of korean foods, since a typical korean breakfast is kimchi, rice, etc. I tried the bulgogi, and I don't think that it goes very well with ketchup. There was also eggs made to order & scrambled, potatoes in chips and tots, sausage & bacon, which tasted steamed, bread, muffins, croissants, juice--grape, orange, and apple--and other morning drinks, cereal and milk, drinkable yogurt and fresh cut pineapple. We called the other kids, who tarried until 8 to come down.

The news of the morning was that England had a major parlimentary upset, and the CNN feed was shown on one wall of the restaurant. At breakfast I explained parlimentary government to people, about how the parties in power had to achieve a majority--in most cases--to seat a government. It turns out that England's constitutional monarch has the authority to appoint a prime minister when no coalition can be reached, and that is called a minority government.

9:00 am. After breakfast we left for Busan. It took us a while to leave, since along the way we stopped for a drop-in clinic visit to an ENT, and had mom's ear examined. I stayed out, but Mom and Jesse said it was fascinating. The cost of the visit & prescription was about 20000 won.

SeaCloud hotel, Pusan

We stayed in this room of the SeaCloud hotel, Pusan. To get to the beach we had to cross the street, so it was quite accessible. The breakfast buffet included continental-style breakfasts of toast & jam, American-style eggs, sausage, and potatoes, European muesli, yogurt, and fruit, as well as Korean kimchi, soup, and bulgogi.