Busan Baby!

If Seoul is Joburg, Busan is definitely Cape Town! Oh Busan- what a wonderful reminder of the mother city! I loved this place-as you can imagine-lovely beaches, delicious seafood, more casual clothing and a vibe oozing "I'm chilled out"!

As Buddha's birthday was being celebrated across the world, we enjoyed a quick 5 hour bus trip transversing the entirety of South Korea and we were there! I -very embarrassingly- had to ask the bus-driver to stop the bus, so I could go the "Hwajangshil" (toilet)! Nevertheless, the others were glad to stretch their legs too and get some kimbap (sushi in Korea) for the ride!

Arriving there just after lunch time, we missioned off to our Hotel I had found online called UTOPIA HOTEL! BUT excited about being there and bumping into some other South Africans, we weren't concentrating on the subway and overshot our stop by over 10 stops! Such wallys-so we spent an extra hour correcting our mistake and back-tracking!

Eventually asking a few of Chen's "friends" for directions when above the underground again, we eventually made it to our two star hotel! Nothing to write home about, but it was certainly good for a teacher on a teacher salary.

SO here are the highlights of the weekend:

BEST MEAL: Starving on Friday afternoon, we missioned to find the nearest restaurant- and we were in luck! The most divine Vietnamese food you have ever ever ever tasted! Goodness, it was an art in the preparation. A shabu shabu dish which consists of thin slices of beef which one dunks in a boiling pot of broth and vegetables. Then one drenches the rice paper in a dish of juice (that looks like red juice from when we were kids) until it becomes soft and malleable and after adding the cooked beef strips and other delightful veggies, one wraps up your meal, like a little parcel and voila!!! HEAVEN IN FOOD! We enjoyed our meal so very much that we went for a round two before we had to make our way back to Chuncheon on Sunday!

BEACH: After filling our bellies with pure deliciousness, we headed to the beach front-Gangilli! Lounging on the beach was fantastico! I think I fell asleep for almost 2 hours! Nothing like chilling out. Sea was not entirely inviting - rather dirty suprisingly and no waves! GRRR! But there is just something about a beach front that makes one happy! Maybe it is the ice-cream vendors or the volleyball players or the little kids running away from the "waves".

Modern Art Museum: We woke up on Saturday to rain- rather disappointingly. Nevertheless more time for art museums which has totally become a thing I love doing! We were in luck too- the modern art museum had a great exhibition on the go from Philadelphia, everything from Monet to Picasso! Even my favourite Degas was there! SO I was in my element of course! There was some very abstract Japanese Art on the first floor which was a bit bizarre and way out!

Jagalchi Fish Market: Probably my best experience in Busan! Fish, octopus, eels, prawns, snails, calamari, strange phallic resembling creatures and oysters-you name it, you could see it waiting, gutted, prepared, cooked and eaten at any one of the 50 odd fish stalls on the dock! The bright lights and vivacious marketing of the vendors contrasted beautifully with the iridescent early evening sky.

The Tower: Way up above the world in the Busan Tower we managed to orientate ourselves in the city as shiny lights twinkled all around! Not the most impressive tower ever but still good!

PIFF: Pusan (Busan in Korean) International Film Festival area. This was fun! We found a crazy little shop with bizarre goodies and dressed up-good times! tehe! Nothing like a pink lumo jacket and wind brim glasses to amke you feel like a film star 'ey!?

SAFA gang!:On Saturday night, we met up with the South African Girls from Rhodes! What fun! We were all drenched from the rain as our umbrella's got stolen -can you believe it! And so was an opportune moment to sing at the top of our lungs: "Singing in the rain!" We spent the evening in bars talking about everything from South Africa, to missing biltong and mayonnaise to where we are all going to be next year to Christianity in Korea to our wonderful students ( always a topic of conversation)! Was cool. :)

Busan Aquarium: The Entire Aquarium was underground-everything. Was absurd! Lots and lots of fun! Some crazy fish -one we decided had lips like Angelina Jolie! Of course Korea being Korea, they had a hyundai car filled up with water and fish- your very own mobile fish-tank! There was also supposed to be some grand African display-which wasn't great. I was especially upset by the tiny 3x3m room 2 rather big male lions were being enclosed in. My non-existent "hug a tree" personality trait was suddenly evoked and I actually considered going to speak to the manager about the awful conditions which those poor lions needed to endure for 3 months. But decided that a ranting white girl wouldn't make sense to any Korean aquarium manager, so instead I left in a huff!

Luckily I left with only good memories as my belly was full once again from the Vietnamese food! 5 hours home-goodness and another weekend GONE! Busan- CHECK!