Ridin' Solo

Not to quote Jason Derulo too hard (ahem..."Jason Derulo" - Jason Derulo), but the last few evenings I have been ridin' solo through the big bustling metropolis of Busan (er - more like Ben Folds Five: "Rockin' the Suburbs" in Hwamyeong-dong, Buk-gu).  Yesterday I hit the gym before work which meant I either had a long night of thinking about food (yes - I'm back counting my calories and working the macros) or I could go on a walk and explore the area I had seen when driving back from a field trip.  

There is a lot more to Hwamyeong than what I have discovered thus far.  I'm sure every neighbourhood in a big city has the kind of awesome places to eat (we have some Japanese places, a couple of Vietnamese restaurants, a handful of Italian spots, a ton of chicken restaurants, and of course lots of Korean restaurants!), the standard Baskin Robbins, Lotteria, McDonald's, and Starbucks, as well as a ton of bars (business and otherwise), Norebangs, and local and chain coffee houses.  We're also blessed with a glow bowling alley  and a movie theatre as well as a bunch of places you can go to play computer games, watch DVD's, or play video games.  

My apartment is surrounded by love motels and thus far my understanding of the neighbourhood has been limited to about 4 main streets, the longest of which I decided to explore last night.  

I walked past the MMA gym (the owner speaks no English otherwise you know I'd be training there.  at $100/ month and 5 sessions of training a week? Heck yes.  Perhaps when my Korean is better...), the Top Mart, and hit a dark patch, then a huge Church (giant LED red cross on a building that looks like a big office).  I continued walking and came upon another grocery store, a few ladies clothing stores, what appeared to be a bespoke tailor, a nail salon, Bbang Ddorak Pizza, a sushi restaurant, and a Yankee Candle (which always reminds me of Angie from 30 Rock: "This is just like what I told the sales lady at Yankee Candle: 'I AIN'T BUYING IT'").

After that I walked in the dark for a bit seeing a few restaurants (the really cool one I want to check out [pictured directly above] advertises Octopus...not sure if it sells much else) before walking by the Fire Station, a post office, a Mercedes-Benz dealership, a lighting store, a bike shop, and the biggest "Angel-in-us Coffee" I have ever seen.  It took up a lot of real estate and seemed to have two levels.  If it were closer I would be there all the time, but as it stands "A Twosome Place" is pretty close and is really comfortable.  I continued on and realized that I had walked the length of 1 subway station and had landed in Sujeong.  

I mean...the pastries looked incredible.  It took a lot to say no!

At first glance Sujeong doesn't look like there's much other than the GIANT Lotte Castle Kaiser complex (if you think Cityplace is big then imagine 20 of them squished together). Underneath the Castle (where the subway is located) you'll find Lotte Super (a Lottemart that is just a Supermarket), a really cool little bakery called "Bread Papa", a "Tous les jours", a "Paris Baguette", and some salons and clothing stores I will more definitely have to check out on a weekend when I have some more cash.  

Curvy ladies - there were also two "Big Lady" (ugh - I know...) stores that looked as though they had some cool stuff!  No word on price yet though.  I'll have to get back to you on that.  I've found that I can fit into Medium or Large in Korean clothes pretty well, but if I want pants that aren't from H & M I may check these stores out.














Speaking of big ladies...I might become a REALLY big one if I give into my Hotteok cravings more than once a month.  I gave in last night.  These things happen.

Tonight I had plans to head out on another mega-walk with a friend of mine and her pup but she had to stay late at work so I took myself to a chicken place I had been wondering about for a while called: "Chir Beer 369" (get it - Cheer Beer? Perfect for a retired Cheerleader!).  With a slogan like: "Don't worry, Beer happy!" how could I resist?  It's just on the other side of the small "Rose Park" near my place, and a hop skip and a jump from work, so I ordered some take-out and took a seat at the bar.  The decor is adorable with many handwritten notes on the window and walls with decals of London, Paris, and New York (we're working on Toronto and Vancouver...okay, I am). 

The owner walked in with two ridiculously adorable children who I assumed were his.  WRONG!  Another man walked in and did a double take.  As the only person in the restaurant (and a foreigner at that) I attempted a nod/ bow as best I could seated and attempted an Anyong-haseyo.  Then I got a chuckle, but not for the reason I initially though.  The guy was from California, and those were his kids!  Turns out he and his wife live nearby and they had had some dinner at a goki (meat) place next door.  They sat down, had a beer with me, talked sports, English, business, and social dynamics, all in between quips with the restaurant owner and beginner English with the kids.  I really hope I'll get the chance to see them again as we had a lot of laughs and we all seem to have some common interests.  The little girl even gave me a huge hug goodbye (aw!).

Down to what you really want to hear: How was the food?!  The chicken was fresh, moist, and tasty.  This was boneless chicken (white meat only) with a mildly spicy breading and honey mustard drizzle.  I haven't been super partial to fried chicken here as there always seems to be some sort of mystery coating (I have yet to tell you about the "Snow Queen" Cheesy Fried Chicken - that's a story for another day) or there are just too many tiny bones to properly enjoy the meal.  Thus far I have been pretty loyal to Monster Craft, but this might just be my new go-to bar for chicken, potatoes (cheesy fries, anyone?  Uhh...cheat day? :P), and salads.  They seem to use fresh ingredients (at one point I saw the owner don some plastic gloves and start grating what looked and smelled like Reggiano cheese) and the restaurant itself is clean.  They offer an array of bottle and draft beer (Heineken on tap means we need to frequent this place more) and have comparatively good prices for Busan and for the area (so it's good value).   I'll have to translate the cocktail menu, but they seemed to be decently priced too, and offered some beer cocktails which was pretty cool!  I'll actually be back on Tuesday night for a chat with the owner so I'll keep you posted on my nibbles then!

A cross-country endeavour!

Yesterday was a National Holiday (details according to Google: Independence Movement Day (March 1) This day commemorates the Declaration of Independence proclaimed on March 1, 1919, while under Japanese colonization. A reading of the declaration takes place in a special ceremony at Tapgol Park in Seoul, where the document was first read to the public.) so I decided to peace out of Gwacheon, head to Seoul, and continue on the KTX down to visit a Canadian friend (A Canadian Abroad: Ryan Kyle) who is living and teaching in Changwon.  My understanding was that Changwon is a small town outside of Busan (a city I've heard compared to both Miami and Las Vegas over the past 24 hours).  Not so.  Changwon, the 8th most populated city in South Korea, makes Gwacheon seem absolutely tiny in comparison.

It took about 30 minutes to get from Gwacheon to Seoul Station as I left around 8 AM, and my train was not until 10:40 and seeing as I hadn't had a chance to eat I headed over to the Golden Arches and grabbed some grub.  I'll let you know, good ol' Mickey D's breakfast tastes the same in every country (read: cheap and consistent) but that coffee was the best I've had since touching down in Korea.  I drank it black and savoured every sip.

The KTX is Korea's high-speed railway.  They have a variety of methods of transportation, and a variety of speeds when it comes to choosing your train.  The KORAIL website gives some information you can scan through here:

"Power of high-speed trains running at 300km/hr

• Korean high-speed trains are designed to run at 330km/hr with the top operational speed being 305km/hr.
• They are powered by a 25,000-volt current. The KTX receives the current and runs with 13,560kW, 300KN of electric braking power.
• High-speed trains are aerodynamically designed with a contour line shape. They have a pantagraph that can collect a 25,000-volt current.
• Train cars are connected by using articulate bogies which move freely just like human joints and which are light, quiet, and comfortable.
  • *Bogie is the equipment that carries the wheels axles of a train and transmits the weight of cars to the axles. It has driving and brake functions.
• High-speed rail tracks have been built as a single piece by connecting the entire lines with welding, so as to safely support the weight of high-speed trains running at up to 305km/hr.
• The minimum radius curvature is 7,000m, which means that the entire line is almost as straight as a linear line.
• The rail weighs 60kg/m and the ballast bed (the gravels used to fix the sleepers) is layed with a thickness of 35cm from the bottom of the sleepers.
  Conventional rail: the minimum radius curvature of 400m, rail length of 25m, rail weight of 50~60kg, and ballast bed of 30cm
• To reach 300km/hr, it takes 6 minutes and 5 seconds for the KTX and 5 minutes and 16 seconds for the KTX-Sancheon. High-speed trains stops within 3,300m in the event of emergency brake at 300km/hr."

The train platforms were ridiculously easy to get to (Union Station - take note!).  I had purchased my ticket online so all I had to do was get my ticket printed, head through a set of doors directly next to where I had printed my ticket, head down the flight of stairs corresponding to my train's platform and voila - I was boarding the KTX to Changwon.  The trip was exactly 3 hours long and there were TV's showing advertisements for tourism in the areas we passed through as well as the speed at which we were moving (between 280 - 300 km/ hour for the most part).  Once I arrived at Changwon station I emerged bathed in sunlight.  This is the first day I've not had to work, so enjoying the sun and fresh air felt amazing.  It also helped that this southern spot is much warmer than the -4 degrees Celsius I had had up near Seoul.

I met up with Ryan in his neighbourhood and after catching up for a bit we headed out on a walking (and a bit of a foodie) tour.  He's a pretty spectacular photographer/ videographer, so if you prefer nice photos to Blackberry point-and-shoots I suggest you head over to his website.

We walked along the water for a bit then through some apartment complexes and residential areas.  These houses reminded me a lot of little Italy in Toronto with their decorative design.

I wish I had taken some photos of the street onto which we turned next.  It was lined with seafood restaurants with massive fish tanks outside.  I didn't particularly feel like picking and eating my dinner quite that way, but I did have some fun with a fish following me and being a little silly.

Ryan's school is in a commercial area of town next to several Lotte properties/ stores.  Lotte is a food and clothing retailer that seems to have monopolized various markets throughout Korea.  They even have an amusement park named Lotte World (which has an Aquarium, Water Park, and Adventure Theme Park)!

We stopped into his Officetel and he took me to a little spot where we got a small snack of sweetly glazed/ fried chicken (with a couple of rice cake bites thrown in for good measure).  Health food this was most definitely not, however with only a couple of bites each we were satisfied for another several blocks and vistas.

The mountains seem incredibly vast and gave me that same feeling of being small as I had when I was in Vancouver.  It also helps that these mountains were snowcapped and hadn't been damaged by the war quite like Gwacheon.  

We continued to wander around stopping in Lotte to check out pricing (and sizing) and discovered some pretty ridiculous trends.  I'll let you come to your own conclusions with regards to their thoughts on Montreal (below).  They also had some awesome knock off Canada Goose jackets that actually had "Canada" embroidered on the sleeve.  It felt bizarre but nice to discover a weird little slice of home far away.

It was dinner time, so we popped into the Lotte cafeteria to have dinner.  It reminded me a LOT of a combination of Hudson's Bay and Marche/ Richtree Market, but in addition to the cafeteria-style options there was also Popeye's Fried Chicken, McDonald's, and a local Pizza franchise.  We settled on a pork dish that came with some tasty sides.  for KRW 6,000 (the equivalent of about $6.50 Canadian) we were able to split this massive dinner and be completely full.

Meandering around town I've realised that I really, really like it here in the South of South Korea.  There are way more things to do even in Changwon, so much more to see, and way more mountains to climb!  I would be eager to live and work in this area.