Korea - Day 4

When I last left you, I was eating chicken in Daegu. That night I took the bus to my friend's house in Seongju which is a little country town near Daegu. I stayed overnight there and then left to go Busan for 1 night, 2 days. With a couple of stops along the way.

If you've watched the Korean drama Boys Over Flowers then you may know that they filmed some of the high school scenes at Keimyung University, which is in Daegu. I went to the university but I hadn't seen Boys Over Flowers in such a long time that I didn't know which buildings were in the drama or not. But in any case, the campus is so pretty. Why can't we have such nice campuses like that.







And then I was back at Daegu KTX station to catch the KTX to Busan.



I had a coffee at one of the many cafes there and I believe this blackboard sign says you can borrow the charger to charge your phone while you sit and sip your coffee.



One of my favourite things about Korea is the availability of beer in convenience stores.



And the Starbucks in a pre-packaged cup is also a fave.



Walnut cakes for the train ride. So good. Made fresh in store.




Made it to Busan! Well, the station at least!




Took the train from Busan station to Seomyeon station and then struggled to find the hostel. Google Maps was my saviour because for the life of me I didn't know how to follow the directions from the website. The hostel I stayed at was Busan Blue Backpackers Hostel. The room was clean, had a TV, fridge and a rather large sized bathroom.





Once I checked in the first order of business was to buy some shoes because I only brought boots and flats with me. Flats were too thin for the weather and the boots were too painful to walk in for long periods of time. It took me forever to find an ABC Mart.



But at least I got to walk around and see Seomyeon.





Shoes bought I headed to Haeundae. I only know of because of that Korean movie of the same name, which was about a tidal wave that hit the town. It was kinda cold but a clear day. Was tempting to dip toes in the water but so much effort with the shoes and the socks and the rolling up of the pants.











I had done little to no research as to what I would do in Busan so when I got to Haeundae, besides the beach, I had no idea where to go. So I just walked around a little lost and a little frustrated. Still, it was really quite pretty.












I was Kakao-talking with some of my friends in Korea, asking them for suggestions and one of them said to go to Shinsegae, which is a huge department store. I had a little coffee break, bought some socks and did some window shopping because lots of things were so over my price range.






Then I headed back to Seomyeon and was lost trying to find food and then trying to find the hostel again. I was too chicken to go eat in a restaurant by myself. If I went again I would totally eat by myself. I don't know why I was super self-conscious about it. So I wandered, bought pants from Uniqlo, and a sandwich and beer from the nearest convenience store.


If I ever go back to Busan I think it should be in the summertime. My friends were telling me about the mud festival and fireworks which would be perfect for summer time at the beach. Probably would try to be a bit braver to try things on my own. I've never travelled on my own before so doing things alone, at the time, seemed pretty daunting.

To Be Continued!

Uniqlo pop-up store in Sydney

So I didn't know this was happening until I bumped into a friend at Kinokuniya on Free Comic Book Day on May 3 and she told me about it. So after squeezing my way through the crowds in Kinokuniya my friend and I went to see the Uniqlo pop-up store on Pitt Street mall. There was a line. Too long of a line. We talked to one of the shop assistants and they said the store would be open until the end of the year so my friend and I decided to come back later.




There was a few Uniqlo staff, I'm guessing from Japan, outside using GoPros (is that the plural of GoPro?) to record some video of the opening and as well as of Pitt Street Mall.

Those two guys, one in the vest and the other in the black jacket, seemed to be Uniqlo employees.



And these were the two who were GoPro-ing the opening.



So the same shop assistant who told us it was going to be open until the end of the year and it seems they're using the pop-up store to gauge whether or not there's enough interest for a proper Sydney store. Every time I've walked by there seems to be a steady stream of customers and I've been seeing so many Uniqlo shopping bags around the city. Still haven't bought anything from there yet, though! Pay day come at me!!! XD

Korea - Day 3

On the heels of Friday night I woke up pretty early because we were going to Gyeongju to go to an orphanage. In the morning my friends told me about the previous night. If you don't recall, I got super drunk and don't remember a lot. The morning was a bit difficult for me. I felt terrible. Terrible hangover headache. My friend made me drink a hangover drink. Though, it was revealed, it's supposed to be taken before you go out and get super drunk.



Dondaegu terminal. We were going to catch the KTX (Korea Train eXpress) to Geyongju.



On the platform and look at that guy staring at me. I took a photo because odeng. Craving odeng right now.




That roll from Paris Baguette was so good. Paris Baguette is a bread shop and they have pre-packaged bread stuff like this. I think it's crab? Amazingly good. I was thinking at the time I should remember the taste so I can remake it but I'm not too great with recognising ingredients. Next time, Paris Baguette, next time.



Arriving at Gyeongju! Look at the tree-covered hills!



Second breakfast which I didn't finish. I felt super bad because it was a small restaurant and the owners could see. This was bibimguk (spicy cold noodles). It wasn't what I wanted to order because it was cold in the morning so I wanted something soupy.

We then headed to the bus terminal to catch a bus and then a taxi to Ulsan, to the orphanage. I didn't take any photos of the orphanage but it's called Ulsan Orphanage (95 per cent sure), if you want to look it up.

My friends have been volunteering there for a while. They go on Sundays and spend a couple of hours with the children. It's pretty tiring and the language barrier made it quite difficult. Apparently, some of them get dropped off there if their parents can't look after them for a while.



Waffles! I want to say it's taro ice-cream in the middle.

Then back to Daegu for dinner.







Chicken, you so good!

To Be Continued!

Korea - Day 2

Well, on this long weekend I finally feel a little productive. So let's continue with the Korea posts! DAY 2!

When I last left you I had just gone to bed after a long first day. It was November and wasn't as cold as I thought it would be. I slept in my giraffe onesie that I brought with me. It was super warm. I was sweating in my sleep.

The friend that I was staying with had class that day and I was headed to Daegu with another friend. So we were up pretty early in the morning. Early being relative because generally if I don't have uni or work I sleep until it's embarrassingly late.





It was a very lovely autumn morning and we were off to have breakfast at a place my friend recommended.




We had breakfast at this place.



Obviously you get side dishes at a Korean restaurant.




So this was breakfast. A soup, rice dish. It was very good on a cold autumn morning. The name escapes me! And it was very healthy. I felt really good about myself after that breakfast.

Then my friend and I departed Seoul for Daegu. This involved taking the train to the bus terminal at Gangnam. The bus terminal is pretty massive and was a little confusing for a first-timer like me. You buy your tickets from a ticket window. There are different types of buses and there are lots of bus gates. We got on a pretty nice bus. Nice seats. Then we were on our way to Daegu. It's about maybe 2 hours by bus.



Trees from the bus. I also, in the search for more photos of the bus ride, realised that I didn't take many photos of the bus. I mostly slept.



A photo from the rest stop that we took about halfway through the bus ride.




Once we got to the bus terminal we still had to catch a train to my friend's apartment. Then we were headed to Downtown Daegu for some Saturday night fun!

So Daegu, according to Wiki, is the 4th largest city in South Korea and is about 198 kilometres from Seoul. It's much closer to Busan, which is on the other side side of the country.



So this is where we going to meet up with some other friends.




Look at all those shops!



And this photo only exists because I was told this place was awesome but I never got to eat there.



So we had dinner here which was a buffet that also had a sushi train. Which is awesome. Unlimited sushi for a set price. The best.



Also, for a little bit of extra won (the currency in Korea not the English word won) you can have unlimited Cass beer on tap. Self-serve. That would not work in Australia. There would be so much mess.




Then we went to an Irish bar for more drinks. There was a live band playing and lots of what I'm going assume are also English teachers.






I got to try a long island iced tea in a bag. I was told that Korea doesn't have something like an RSA (Responsible Service of Alcohol) so generally cocktails are stronger than they would be here in Australia. This was my ruin.



The above is a self-serve bar. You go to the fridge, pick your beer, drink your beer then pay later. I do not recall the paying of my beer. I don't recall a lot.



A map of the world, and beers?



We then left the self-serve place to go home. Self-serve place right is next to the cocktail in a bag place. I vaguely remember up to this point. I got to meet some of my friend's friends who are also teaching English in Korea. Apparently, I don't recall, that I kept telling one of them that koalas have chlamydia. I further don't recall that we caught a taxi back to my friend's apartment. Or getting into the apartment and I vaguely remember changing into my PJs. Yep. Good times.

To  Be Continued!