Day 03 - Busan's warmth

I woke up in the sudden. My clock showed 8.15. We were supposed to gather at Bio Tech lobby by 8.30. I thought we were late, with a shock, i jumped out of bed and woke Cathy up. She was surprised to see why i was in a hurry; it was actually just 7.15. And then i remembered I readjusted my phone again by mistake, so it became 1 hour ahead of Korean time and 2 hours ahead of Malaysian time. Anyway, since I was fully awake that time, I went to the washroom, washed up and got down to 10th floor to fill up my bottle, and prepared for our next outing. At 8.30am, we waited for the of our friends downstairs. Around 8.45am, Sanghyun, Shin and Hansu came, still wearing the same shirt.. haha

We walked down the street and crossed to the opposite site to wait for 128-1 bus in front of the shop we had our dinner last night. I was trying to write down the name of the food that we ate, and the bus arrived. Quickly, i threw my pen and notebook into my bag and got up the bus. It costed 1100 won. The seats in the bus were very limited. All single seats except the last row. It was quite a long journey to reach Gupo station, but it doesnt matter. I had the chance for sight seeing. Finally we reached Gupo station, the place was wide and huge, unlike our usual LRt station back home. It looked clean and modern. Sang Hyun was going back to his home, so he couldn't join us. We bought ticket to Jagalchi Fish market, but it was not a direct trip. We needed to switch at 2 stations called Dokcheon and seomyeon, we got off at nampodong however.

Once we stepped out of the station, we were welcomed by the smell of fish. Along the way to have our breakfast, we saw many shops selling clothes at cheap price. Even the pants sold in Korea Giordano were cheaper than in Malaysia. I also saw The Skin Food, which i returned there later. I had Bibimbap for breakfast. It felt strange to have rice at early in the morning, but i was terribly hungry, so i did not care much. When we were eating, Haeyoung came and joined us. Korean food were served with many side dishes, and we can demand for more without extra charges. Even water was served free.

After the meal, we went to Skin Food. I wanted to buy a foundation which was a mixture of moisturizer and base. Unfortunately, the shop attendant could not understand me. Thankfully, Haeyoung was there to help me translate. Cosmetic sold in Korea were alot cheaper than in Malaysia too. I bought a base cream and a blusher for 12,600 won. And we were given free gifts too. ^^

Our next destination was Nampodong street. It was a street that sold all kinds of pirated goods and stuff at lower price. Girls who crazy for Korean fashion should come here where they can get the most updated fashion in Korea itself at lower price. Few minutes later, more friends joined us - Hye Rim, Ms Inje and bf. She suggested we go to Busan tower. It was at a park nearby. We went up an elevator and there it was, the Yongdusan Park. Jimmy was mistaken as communist
kong sang dang :P since having the look of chinese face. Haha poor thing. We took some pictures
there and also went to an art gallery. Some of them were thirsty so we went into a convenient
store to buy some drinks. Ms Inje treated us a juice called mi nyeon, a kind of drink for pretty lady. She said it's good for estrogent hormone. We also visited some souvenir shops up there.
We saw a man crafting pictures of a pair of couple on the wood. They looked realistic! It's simply
amazing. I stood there for quite some time, impressed by his masterpiece.

Around 12 something, we left for modern history museum. Along the way as we walked on the
street, we saw an old lady by the road side selling a kind of cookie. She was sitting on a small
stool with some pans next to her. The pancake looks like 鸡蛋卷。I was curious, so i stopped
to have a look. Hyun young realized i was interested in the pancake and told me to try it. The pancake is round and contains a motive in the center. We have to use a needle to craft it out from the cake. It was tough, as the pancake was crispy and it cracked when we did so. Anyway, I tried the pancake. It was too sweet. They call it jjokja or talgona.



After the museum visit, we went for Hangbok hunting. Keke, they brought us to a street which
sell various traditional stuff. It was an old street but with a lot of feeling. I saw an apron with very cute design and was very tempted to buy one, Jimmy said it looked like Sangmi's dress... and so we didnt buy it. :P Finally, we reached the hangbok shops. There were many colorful hangbok on the wall all exquisitely designed. I had never seem such delicate hangbok in a close
view. Again, it was very tempting to me too, yet i managed to regain my rationale, as it was too expensive. Even a pair of shoe cost about 20,-30,000 won. It was the shoe that i was attracted to. We all left there empty handed. But to me, it was one of the attractions in Korea.

Our next destination was Jagalchi Fish market. Before heading to Jagalchi, we visited a shop which sold all items at 1,000 won. I managed to buy some pair of chopsticks as souvenirs for friends and family. Then, we crossed an underground pass to the opposite street. On the way to Jagalchi, we walked through a busy street selling alot of food!! Wow.. it was really like a food fair. I was taking video of the surrounding and suddenly Eun Sang stopped me and asked me to try a food, it was something like a dough, which tasted really good. Anyway, i forgot to ask the name of the food. When we came to the end of the street, we crossed another junction and there it was, Jagalchi signboard ahead of us. The scent of the fish was unbearable yet heart warming, as it was something we could hardly experience in the busy city of KL. I was stunned to see big octopus and huge giant fishes along the street. It all looked disgusting but very fresh to us. There was an area particularly for the koreans to eat them raw. We just walked pass and took some shots. It was really an unforgettable scene.



Soon, it was lunch time. We went back to Nampodong and had topokgi. It was Hye Rim's favourite place. Before coming to Korea, we had tried Topokgi by Sangmi. It was marvellous. The topokgi that we took here was good too, but it was too spicy, we ate in a mess :p

After lunch, we catched a bus nearby Jagalchi market. It took us to Taejongdae Park. It was quite a distant from Busan city to Taejongdae. Along the way, we saw the Marine University. It was built on an island, and the whole island belonged to the University. Unbelievable! Finally, we reach Taejongdae Park. We bought ticket and waited to be taken to the cliff with rugged rocks about 150m above the sea. This is something we could hardly see back home. We were actually there to enjoy the sunset. However, it was cloudy that day, we went home disappointed.
When we return to busan city, it was night time. We waited for Ga yong for dinner. I was attacked by the throbbing headache again. And i felt extremely cold. When Ga yong came, she
let me wear her jacket, but it was quite small for me. Anyway, it was really nice of her. We all went back to Nampodong market again and settled at a cozy restaurant for shabu shabu. I heard it is Japanese? Hm.. no idea, but to me it is steamboat :P


Return back to Gimhae after the dinner. We stopped at Gupo station to change a bus. Hyun young showed us a secret scene behind the station. It led to a sea! We could see a bridge at the distance litted with wonderful lights. When we were outside of our country, small things could mean a lot to us. I wonder why.

That night, i went to bed early, no chatting no soju. I needed to get rid of my headache first. And so, i went straight to bed after the shower. Exhausted.

Day 02 - From Gyung Ju to Gimhae

The next morning, we were supposed to wake up at 7.30am. However, we woke up at 8.30am, which was 7.30 Malaysian time. After washing up, we waited for Hansu's friend. He was going to join us for the outing. As we waited, We went upstairs of his house to have a look. There was an open space up there with a wooden table and few pots. According to the tv program which i saw the day before, these were the kimchi pots. Soon, Hansu's friend arrived. We greeted him, but he was shy. Hansu said that he did not speak english much. It would be quite hard for us to communicate. Anyway, he introduced him as Sumo. Sumo drove another car, Jimmy and Sanghyun went to Sumo's car. Siewchun, Cathy and I with Hansu.

Our first destination was Tumuli's Park Souvenir shops. As last night, the shops were closed, we did not manage to see anything in the shops. This morning, Hansu had a problem searching for parking place. Finally, he parked his sonata nearby a small village area. We walked all the way to the souvenir shop, however, we went back empty handed. Things were quite expensive there. We left very soon.

After that, Hansu brought us to Tesco. Along the way to Tesco, we passed by a street full of flowers. They said, it is the symbol of Autumn - Chrysantunum. We got excited and stopped by to take photos.

Korean Tesco namely Homeplus, was almost the same as Malaysian Tesco, the difference was most of the products there were written in Korean. Bananas and pineapples were sold at very high price. About RM12 for pineapple. I saw many kinds of biscuits and cookies which we have back there in Malaysia, but here it was all in Korean. When Jimmy and the others have finished their shopping, we went to the counter to pay. Plastic bags were not given as free. We had to pay about 35won for each plastic bag.

About 11.30, we went to have an early lunch, or I should say, brunch, as we did not take any breakfast. It was a Korean buffet restaurant, with various kinds of Korean food. It's only 6,400won per person. I saw many kinds of rice available there. Such as, barli rice, corn rice, etc which i never tasted before. There were also seafood, rice cake, vegetables, soup. We had a great time enjoying the food and desert.

After a satisfying lunch, we headed to park where there was a huge windmill. The sun was blazing that afternoon and the temperature was ok, not very hot. However, my head was throbbing again, and I really felt uncomfortable. We took some pictures and later headed to Mt, Tohamsan, where Bulguksa Temple and Seokguram Grotto located.

First, we visited Seokguram Grotto, which was at the top of the hill. Along the winding road, we could see the breathtaking city view of Gyeong Ju. It was simply marvellous. In Seokguram Grotto, there was the serene central status of Buddha gazes out over the forested hills and across the East Sea to the horizon. According to Hansu, previously when the Buddha statue was not surrounded by blocks of stone, the sun that rises in the morning, the sun ray shined directly onto the Buddha's forehead, forming an impressive scenic view which attracted many tourists. However, we were not allow to take photos there.

Soon after, we drove down the hill and arrived to Bulguksa Temple. Seokguram Grotto and Bulguksa were both added to the UNESCO's prestigious World Cultural Heritage list in 1995. Here are some views in Bulguksa Temple. Before we returned home, we stopped by a souvenir stall and bought some gifts. The lady was kind, she gave us some souvenirs too. We walked back with big smile. As SangHyun was exhausted, so Sumo and Hansu went down hill to get their cars and we waited them by the street. The picture here shows our tired faces :P

When we got back to Hansu's home, it was only 5.30, but we were extremely hungry, we had some snack – Gyeong Ju bread. Sumo showed us some Korean coins which we did not have yet, we also showed him some Malaysian coins. We talked and rested and packed our luggage until 6.30pm, then we departed to Gyeong Ju bus terminal. The last bus to Gimhae would be leaving at 7.30. We sat Hansu’s car to the terminal together with Jimmy and SangHyun in Sumo’s car. Later, Hansu returned his car to his house and Sumo fetched him to the terminal.

In Gyeong Ju terminal as we waited, we bought the ticket. Tickets there were purchased through machines. It was a lot more convenient. Hansu came few minutes later and together we headed to the bus. The bus came on time, closed the door at 7.29, and left at 7.30 sharp. As I was too exhausted, I slept all the way to Gimhae. Behind, Hansu was laughing his head off as he saw my head kept falling to the right (sleeping :”>).

We did not reach Gimhae bus terminal. Instead we dropped off at a bus stop, and took a cab to INJE. As we were loaded with luaggage, so six of us had to take separate cab. Hansu, Cathy and I in one and Jimmy, Siewchun and Sanghyun in another. The driver was impatient. We hadn’t even place our luggage in the boot, he already moved forward. So we hurriedly dump our back pack and got in the car. Taking public transportation in Korea indeed was heart racing!

We finally reached INJE university after a turning. The driver drove us to the far end of INJE where Indeokje located. It was the biggest dormitory of INJE. As we got down the car, Shin already waited there, he was so excited and practically rushing his way to see us. We waited the rest at the railing. They called it Titanic, as there was a steel railing there high on the hill. After a short chat, I suggested we asked for the key first in case the person in charge left early. Due to some communication problems, the person seemed puzzled with our enquiry. After the guys translated our message to him, and he checked on with some other people and finally said that, we were assigned to Bio Tech Village not Indeokje. Fortunately we were informed that earlier. Hansu told the rest to wait at Bio Tech so that they did not need to carry their heavy bagpacks all the way up the hill to Indeokje, as they were taking bus, and they hopped off at the main entrance. We went down to Bio Tech Village to meet them.

Surprisingly, Bio Tech Village is a modern building with high tech facilities. They were made of many glass doors with secure entrance. According to them, it was a newly built hostel, and is quite expensive to live in. We agreed to their statement as we saw the facilities in the room. We did not require a key to enter to our rooms. All protected with pin numbers. There was an attached bathroom in each room. Everything was properly designed for twin sharing. Even cabinets, mirrors, shelves, tables were in set of two. There were air conditioner and heater too. After settling down, we met downstairs at the lobby and went for dinner. It was 10pm, and we were starving. We walked down the street outside the campus. Unlike Cyberjaya, Obangdong street was alive with exotic outlets of entertainment, food, fashion, accessories etc.

That night, we ate and as our dinner. Bukgeumbap is a kind of fried rice and naengmyeon is a cold noodle - dough made from buckwheat and potato flour and is cut into slender noodles and boiled while very fresh. The strained noodles are added to a chilled broth made of chicken stock or water from dong chimi (winter white water kimchi). After the dinner, they bought soju again and we gathered at Shin’s room at level 5. As girls were not allowed to enter guys dormitory, Shin was an expert in this, he taught us the way to sneak into level 5, by taking the elevator to level 7 (girl dormitory) and used the stairs to the “secret entrance” of level 5. We used Shin’s laptop to transfer our pictures, and also chatted with them. We also discussed the language of Chinese and Korea. It was another happy moment again before our bed time. At 12am, we went back to our rooms and have a good night sleep.