How do you Sunday Funday?

I've been staying in on Saturday nights to take full advantage of Sunday mornings and it's been paying off.  The past couple of Sundays have been pretty spectacular.  Great friends, great food, lots of walking - just a grand ol' time before heading back to work on Monday (let's be candid - my job is great and I don't start work until 12 PM Noon so every weekend feels a little longer than back home!).

Last weekend I was going to go to Jinhae for the Cherry Blossom Festival but the weather wasn't great (it ended up raining) and the air quality was giving me a headache.  The bus to Jinhae would have been nearly an hour after a 20 minute subway ride and I just wasn't ready for that.

 

After wandering around trying to find a salad bar (not quite as advertised - it ended up actually being a Vietnamese Hot Pot restaurant), we went over to an Italian spot that advertised several salads and thin crust pizza.  I've found that most of my friends and I have similar tastes so we can usually split a couple of interesting dishes and be reeeeaaaaallly happy!

The spicy garlic chicken pizza at Pasta Vanita was actually quite spicy (and I put chili flakes on everything).  The salad hit the spot with a lovely balsamic dressing and thinly sliced apples.

We found a pretty rad little arcade with mini-norebang rooms.  The Paradise Coaster was a pretty epic 4D Dinosaur experience (and we got to wear pretty spectacular and fashion-forward glasses).

We topped the evening off with my absolute favourite food I've had in Korea: Chicken from Monster Craft Brewing!  The above image is a half portion...can you believe it?  We also found some adorable calico kittens that reminded me of my childhood pet, Angel.

This weekend's Sunday Funday we ventured out into Gwangan (Gwangali Beach).  I discovered a place with fantastic margaritas, tasty tacos, and a wicked patio called "Fuzzy Navel".  Apparently there are a few different bar. restaurant concepts under the Fuzzy Navel Company, and I got myself a membership card because I have a Korean phone number now and I'm allowed to do stuff.  Wa-hoooo!

Gwangali Beach is the ultimate mix of Wasaga Beach, Vancouver vibes, the concentrated area of bars in Miami, and Korean spots.  There are also a ton of Sushi restaurants I'm dying to try.  Summer here is going to be unreal.

My lime Margarita was tasty and I ordered the breakfast tacos (that were supposed to have eggs on them I'm pretty sure, but avocado and bacon made me pretty happy).

We were told that Beached Bar had a wicked view so that's where we headed next.  Mark and Craig were great hosts and it was cool to talk about some of their experiences in Korea as well as back home in Manchester and Christchurch, respectively.  The vibe was really cool, the music spot on, and the company fantastic.  Then came the Marmite...

We were still a bit hungry after the tacos so K had my fries and I had an interesting skewer of really awesome sausage (not Korean "hot dog" sausage), a couple of potatoes, chicken tenders, tomato (yummm), and mushrooms (double yummmm).  We'll certainly be back to Beached Bar for some sporting events (and Australia Day...next...year...).

I discovered the panorama setting on my phone so just get excited for some pictures of the water, okay?

We walked down to the seawall and all the way around and back up to KSU enjoying some of the last buds on the trees this time of year.

We were really jonesing for some Indian food but were unable to find it (if you know where to get Indian food in KSU please let me know in the comments!).  We decided to take a chance on a little nook near the KSU subway station and it did not disappoint.  Our Pumpkin Cream Cheese Pizza had the perfect amount of crust, some really nice seeds and slivered almonds, and was a good size to share.  at KRW 14,000 it was really good value.  We'll certainly be back to "Man in the Kitchen" soon for its great atmosphere and delicious pizza.  Take a closer look at the kitchen in the photos and you'll see the Chefs being adorable and posing!

It just keeps getting better!

What a jam-packed, fun-filled week it has been!  No complaints whatsoever.  Good times with new friends and tasty food in Hwamyeong all week followed by a Friday adventure to Gwangali Beach and Kyungsung University (an area of Busan full of Expats).  I've seen live music, have tried new foods (who knew I liked grilled radish so much?), and went glow bowling with house music.

On Monday I found my namesake makeup line at a store full of interesting cosmetics (some local, many international).  I haven't tried "Kate" makeup, but once my stock of Canadian makeup depletes I'll definitely consider it! 

After a walk around the area (Hwamyeong-Dong - "Dong" means neighbourhood), we stopped into a spot for some soup!  Most places will serve you several complimentary side dishes of pickled radish, kimchi, garlic, and other bits and bobs to either grill up, toss into your soup, or just eat on their own. The dish above is a Bulgogi soup which I believe is called Ddukbaegi Bulgogi (or Ddukbul for short?).

Tuesday night we found Mandu for KRW 1,500 (about $1.75 Canadian).  It's so delicious and is full of beef and kimchi.  If you're looking for a cheap, filling lunch then look no further than Mandu!

The craft beer game in Hwamyeong is strong (well - for Korea!) and we're lucky enough to have Monster Craft Brewing.  This cute little spot has the best chicken I have tasted in Korea with some fabulous spicy garlic sauces.  I didn't manage to save the picture I took, but you can see the massive pile of saucy fries we got as well as the beers we tasted.  Mine was an IPA, and my friend's was a very hoppy Amber.  Beer is super cheap in Korea (KRW 3,000-5,000) but these ones were KRW 7,000 because they were from a microbrewery.  Worth it!  I think we're going there for Japanese curry tonight.  I'm pretty excited!

For lunch I've managed to find a super cheap and cheerful spot called Hansot!  It's a lunch box place that serves inexpensive meals with rice, meat, and often kimchi or mixed greens.  Meat and vegetables are extremely expensive at grocery stores (they're cheaper if you buy them on the street but they're still pretty pricy by North American standards).  It's actually cheaper for me to buy my meals at Hansot than it is to cook for myself at home.  I'm able to read the Korean phonetically (the language itself - Hangul - makes a lot of sense but I'm having trouble associating the sounds with the meanings still) so sometimes they'll understand my order and sometimes I'll just have to point.  There are so many items on the menu ranging from KRW 2,000 to around KRW 10,000 so I have lots of options when I'm really hungry as well as "at the end of the month" ;)

Friday night we were going to spend a quiet night in Hwamyeong, but after a nap and some tunes we headed out to Gwangali Beach and KSU!  The lights on the bridge look magnificent.  It was raining and I didn't bring my proper camera with me, so apologies for the low-quality images.  We had some local "American" pub fare at Sharky's Gwangali and then cabbed it over to KSU where we had no wifi and meandered the side-streets until we found Ol'55.  The drinks were cheap, plentiful, and served by a cute Oklahoma boy.  We met some other Canadian, American, and British teachers and ran into some expats we had met Thursday night at Trivia.  The owner of another local bar was there and she had some great stories to tell us while the band jammed in the background.  There was free popcorn, and it was quite possibly the best I've ever tasted.

 

After Ol'55 we headed out to Blue Monkey - a club we had frequented on the expat pub crawl last weekend.  I swore I would never go back, but it was completely empty so the 6 of us had the entire dancefloor to ourselves!  Ps. That's what bottle service looks like at Blue Monkey - an unexpected delivery of vodka and juices.

The next day I woke up early and watched a couple old episodes of 30 Rock while enjoying the sunshine flooding my apartment.  I had plans to meet a gal pal around 10:30 AM who was getting her hair done at a Busan salon.  I thought we were heading out on the subway a ways away (most of the exciting spots are about an hour away on the subway) so I was so surprised when the salon was just upstairs from our Hwamyeong meeting spot!  The prices were really, really reasonable, and since they had a ton of chairs open I thought I'd get some highlights put in.

Ultimately the deal was, in fact, too good to be true and it was only after they sat me down that they told me it would cost about KRW 389,000 (yep - $400) because I have long hair.  I didn't end up going through with the dye, but I'd go back for a haircut for sure!  It's a beautiful salon and if you take a clear photo of what you want then they'll do a super job.  My friend got her hair dyed in an ombre style and it turned out beautifully (and SO shiny!).  It changes her whole look and I would be really happy if my hair turned out half as well.  Hers was only KRW 88,000 and considering tipping isn't customary here it's a pretty rad deal.

From the salon I headed to the park near our apartment complex.  My friend's boyfriend and one of his friends were playing basketball and teaching some of the local boys some shooting techniques.  The sun was shining and it was quite warm out so it was a lovely afternoon spent in the sun.  We realised that none of us had eaten by that point, so off to the Korean BBQ place we went!

Earlier in the week someone had made a crack about bowling not being cool when I had suggested we go, so I was pretty stoked when my 3 late lunch companions suggested going to Hwamyung Rock Bowling.

This glow bowling spot was unlike anything I've ever experience.  Sure, we have "The Ballroom" in Toronto, but the number of LED lights and the raucous house music being played was amazing.  We played two games switching up the teams halfway through.  Turns out I'm not too bad at 10-pin bowling!

All in all a great week!  Saturday was the best day I've had in a LONG time (and resulted in a very early bedtime!).  Today I'm heading to Nampo with the gals during the day and for Japanese curry tonight at Monster Craft, so another blog post is most certainly on the way soon.

What else should I try in Korea?  Any discoveries from your travels (or from Google)?  Leave your thoughts in the comments!