The Universe

It's almost as though Amy Schumer, Bill Nye, and the lovely gals from Broad City got together to write a sketch for me this past weekend.  Just as I had written about missing the comforts of home, "the universe" decided to send me some things I'd been missing.

Last weekend I met a fantastic young lady (and former cheerleader!) from Florida who is currently rehearsing for a show involving acrobatics.  Saturday I was invited to come spend the afternoon at Gwangalli Beach doing some stunting (well, mostly spotting) as they prepare for their show.

My cheer envy from last weekend's baseball game is almost gone (huzzah!) and the fun continued when a large group of buff Korean guys in from Seoul for a photoshoot invited us to join in for some photos and more double basing.  While the weather wasn't exactly photoshoot worthy (read: it rained) we had a blast!

Fast forward to when we got hungry - we met up with my EPIK (public school) gals in Seomyeon and decided to go to an American Grill called Ashley.  Their buffet was KRW 19,000 and bonus: they had UNLIMITED WINE for KRW 3,000 more!  $22 for all you can eat salad, pasta, pizza, all kind of meat, and bite sized desserts enhanced by offerings of sweet or dry Red and White wine (I went dry white which was the Prosecco - Koreans LOVE sweet things so I always go dry...which is still on the sweet side).  We had a great group of about 10 of us eating, drinking, laughing, and then...wobbling.  We experienced our first earthquake!  It was a pretty mild shake for us in Korea.  Apparently there are frequent earthquakes in Japan and this was the largest so far this year.

Japan has had: (M1.5 or greater)

• 2 earthquakes today
• 6 earthquakes in the past 7 days
• 26 earthquakes in the past month
• 396 earthquakes in the past year

The largest earthquake in Japan:

• today: 4.6 in Shimoda, Shizuoka, Japan
• this week: 5.0 in Kitami, Hokkaido, Japan
• this month: 7.8 in Shimoda, Shizuoka, Japan
• this year: 7.8 in Shimoda, Shizuoka, Japan

 After that we headed back to my friend's place to get ready for Club Grid.  It was a rush job to get there, but we made it before the guestlist cut off time only to be told that foreigners always pay.  This simply would not fly in Toronto (the blatant racism - I'm not saying clubs don't discriminate, but this felt ridiculous).  Regardless, we went in and had a good night.

We wiggled out way through the crowd and set up right in front of the DJ.  After a while we were invited up to the third floor where there were a variety of booths - private booths and those in full view of the dancefloor.  There was a bar upstairs as well where a late night dance show from the bartenders happened.  We peaced out, got Bibimbap, then snoozed.

Sunday we had planned on making it a beach day but things were a little derailed by the bus we decided to take.  Word to the wise: don't take the bus on weekends.  Traffic was a nightmare.  I think we could have walked there faster!

It was a beautiful day with sun, sand, music, and friends marking the end of a great weekend.  If I thought the universe was sending me what I had been missing last weekend then this weekend was an even better treat.  Stay tuned for international foods, foreigner markets, beach times, MERS, and beauty workarounds ;)

Kudeta

Merriam-Webster describes a Coup d'état as: "a sudden attempt by a small group of people to take over the government usually through violence".  "Kudeta", a nightclub in Haeundae Beach, seems to have taken over the space we originally thought was TAO Beach Club (yes - like in Vegas).  Whether through violence or not, the sudden take-over came with a new name and a surprise to my two EPIK gals, a couple of military boys from California, and me.  Most surprising of all?  The fact that my 27 year old ass was so willingly brought along to a nightclub.

Last Friday night S, L, and I met up at S's gorgeous little villa-style apartment for some planning and Makgeolli.  It was the first time I had taken the city bus in Busan, so I was glad that L waited for me at the station.  The gents had already arrived, so once we settled on a game plan we all piled into a cab clown car-style and were on our way to Haeundae Beach.

It hadn't occurred to me that we would be heading over the Gwangali "Diamond" Bridge that I've had the chance to admire a few times from land already, so my pictures of the unbelievable light show we experienced aren't fantastic.  I think it was everyone's first time rolling over the bridge so it was pretty exciting!

  














First stop was, of course, Thursday Party.  This was my first time at Thursday Party in Haeundae Beach, however I had been to the location in Changwon and then in the KSU area as well.  We saw some locals from Hwamyeong, which was unusual because Haeundae is so far away.  After a drink and some beer pong with a strapping young Air Force man we headed out in search of TAO.

As we know now, somewhere down the line TAO became Kudeta.  Friday night, however, we walked around for what felt like an eternity just trying to figure out where we were going.

The club itself was actually quite small.  We were brought over to our booth which had an arrangement of fruit as well as a couple of bottles of Absolut Vodka and various mixers.  It was kind of far from the dancefloor in its own room with couches, so I venture through to the runway-style dancefloor and met various English-speaking Koreans, one of which was apparently a Korean Drama Actress, another who owned a large shipping business.  Smoking was allowed inside the club which left me a little smelly the next morning, but that might have been compounded with the smoke machine.

If you've read about South Korean modesty rules then let me tell you - nightclubs do not reflect those rules.  My Halston dress was a criss-cross halter that was backless and I was one of the more conservatively dressed women at the club.

All in all it was a great evening with even better company and if this was any indication of the nightlife in Busan you can bet you'll see a few more posts on industry experience to come!

Haeundae Beach Holi Hai 2015

Last weekend we celebrated Sunday Funday at a Festival called "Holi" down at the famous Haeundae Beach in Busan, South Korea! 

"Holi (pronunciation: /ˈhoʊliː/; Sanskrit: होली Holī) is a spring festival, also known as the festival of colours or the festival of love.^[3][4] It is an ancient Hindu religious festival which has become popular with non-Hindus in many parts of South Asia, as well as people of other communities outside Asia.^[5]

The festival has, in recent times, spread to parts of Europe and North America as a spring celebration of love, frolic, and colours.^[6][7][8]

Holi celebrations start with a Holika bonfire on the night before Holi where people gather, sing and dance. The next morning is a free-for-all carnival of colours,^[5] where participants play, chase and colour each other with dry powder and coloured water, with some carrying water guns and coloured water-filled balloons for their water fight. Anyone and everyone is fair game, friend or stranger, rich or poor, man or woman, children and elders. The frolic and fight with colours occurs in the open streets, open parks, outside temples and buildings. Groups carry drums and musical instruments, go from place to place, sing and dance. People visit family, friends and foes to throw colours on each other, laugh and chit-chat, then share Holi delicacies, food and drinks.

Holi is celebrated at the approach of vernal equinox,^[5] on the Phalguna Purnima (Full Moon). The festival date varies every year, per the Hindu calendar, and typically comes in March, sometimes February in the Gregorian Calendar. The festival signifies the victory of good over evil, the arrival of spring, end of winter, and for many a festive day to meet others, play and laugh, forget and forgive, and repair ruptured relationships.^[5][12][13]"

We arrived at Haeundae Beach around 10 AM and decided to go ahead and register formally for the festival.  For KRW 10,000 we received a Holi cap, a bag of coloured powder, a soda, and 2 delicious samosas!  I had been craving some Indian spices and this was a great (albeit unconventional) breakfast we enjoyed wearing shorts and a t-shirt while sitting on the beach.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I was enjoying beach time mid-March!

At noon the festivities truly began, and after some Makgeoli we headed over to the area where we would be throwing the powder.  There was a countdown then boom - colour everywhere!  

I was very glad to have my sunglasses on because the powder went everywhere: down my shirt, in my hair, in my mouth (I had green teeth for a bit...), and could have well gone in my eyes.  The vibe was like an outdoor club - EDM playing, people dancing, and everyone having fun.  I was nervous to head home on the subway after the event (I had coloured powder and sand all over my clothes), but I had strength in numbers as a friend of mine from Hwamyeong was heading into the subway at the same time as me so it was nice to have a friend on the ride home.