A Bus to Busan Just Isn’t As Good of Title

 . . . Also, the fact that a pack (horde, squad, unit, pod . . .?) of zombies would have made really quick work of a bus. If you’re confused at this point, you probably didn’t watch 2016 thriller Train to Busan/부산행.

Train to Busan stars Gong Yoo/공유 (Goblin, Coffee Prince, Silenced, etc., etc.) as a divorced workaholic with a young daughter. It’s his daughter’s (an excellent performance by young actress Kim Su-an/김수안) birthday the next day and all she wants is to visit her mother in Busan. They board the train, but so does a wounded young woman with a nasty bite on her leg . . .

Naturally, the enclosure of the train carriages and a rapidly spreading zombie-virus make for an intense setting and constantly tense situation. It is a really well-done thriller with empathetic characters, and the lead actors are all fantastic. I’m not a fan of zombies, but I loved the movie anyhow (though be advised, the zombie violence is genre-typically disgusting).  I was also surprised at how touching it was. (cries inside). As an interesting side note, I did ride the KTX to Pohang, and we stopped at the East Daegu Station/동대구역 where the original train stops in the movie.

But back to Busan

Busan is South Korea’s second-largest city, and it is located on the east coast about 96km/61mi south of Pohang.

From Pohang, we took a taxi to the intercity bus terminal, and rode for about an hour and a half – which, in total, with the subway ride at the end, cost about 17,000 won ($15.21) per person! The we, in this case, included myself and 5 other international students. We stayed at a hostel near Seomyeon Station, which put us in a pretty central location for shopping, sight-seeing, and riding the subway to other locations in Busan. Despite the good location, a two night stay only put each of us back 18,000 won ($16.11). Granted, the trip over all added up expenditures quickly – but try spending so little on transportation and accommodation in Chicago or Manhattan! To be honest, if we hadn’t gone shopping, been to the noraebang, and eaten at several restaurants, we could have returned to school having spent under $100 and still seen everything we saw. (While I’m finding that cities in Korea aren’t cheap, there is a lot that is free or has minimal entrance fees if you are willing to walk a bit and ride the Subway a lot).

Since we had to leave after classes on Friday, we didn’t arrive until evening. But after checking into our hostel, we set out to explore the busy, brightly illuminated Busan streets.

Cute or Cheesy – not sure?

After wandering around, we ended up at a Dak Galbi (see this post) place, which was fantastic, and then we continued roaming the streets. By the time we’d walked off how full we are, we picked a random noraebang to troop into. The staff seemed slightly dismayed at the sight of six 외국인 (foreigner, pronounced “wayguk-een) girls, and no one spoke more than a few words of English, but I muddled my way through with Korean, translating back and forth until we had a room, too many snacks, some soju – aka, the necessities.

It would have been a lot easier for everyone if we had known exactly what we wanted before we walked in, but the place also didn’t have a sign advertising what it had. Still, in the end, I got some good Korean practice in. I just felt bad for the poor guy who got to deal with our indecision!

After karaoke, there was talk of a club, but I was tired from all the navigating, so I went back to the hostel. Everyone else ended up there as well, and we decided to explore earlier the next morning. Our first stop was for coffee (necessary), and then we went to Synnara Records (신나라레 코드)Synnara is well-known throughout Korea, and it was fun to see Korean albums, movies, and soundtracks alongside on an actual shelf*

VIXX!

(they also had quite a lot of Korean traditional and classical music, which was cool). Bookstores and music stores are places I will stay forever, so I made sure that I didn’t browse too long, as this was only our first stop.

Required BTS standee

After Synnara, we went to Kyobo (교보문고), which is a major bookstore in Korea. This was a large, two-story place with a pretty big selection of books, including some English and Japanese ones, and a very cool stationary section that we all spent over an hour in. I mainly bought gifts here, so since I don’t want to risk my siblings seeing the post (because you know they’ll read it if I talk about things I bought them!) – here are some pictures of the Korean books I bought so far (for myself, lol). I keep telling myself I won’t buy anything, but books are so hard to resist, you know?

So, after emerging from Kyobo with lighter wallets but heavier backpacks, we planned on going to Aladin Used Bookstore (sad but true story), however, we got turned around and distracted by underground malls, the ritzy, over-the-top Lotte Department Store, and finally decided to head on to Samgwangsa Temple (삼광사), which we had heard had some great views. We decided to walk and see the city, so it took us a bit to get there. However, it was fun to look into cute cafes, restaurants, and anything else interesting on the way.

Samgwangsa is a newer temple, only built in the 80’s, and still functions as a place of worship for many of Busan’s practicing Buddhists. As of 2015, only about 43% of South Koreans identified with religious, which breaks down into approximately 19% Protestant Christian, 15% Buddhist, 8% Catholic, and the remaining 11% divided between traditional, or folk religions such as Shamanism, or offshoots of Buddhism, etc. Like the US, Korea is pretty secular, but the churches and temples are still more populated than the ones I visited in Hong Kong last year (the busiest temples I saw in HK were full of fellow tourists). Anyhow, since I’ve been in Korea, I’ve mainly attended the International Community Church in Pohang, and the people there are extremely kind and full of vibrant love for their community.

But back to Samgwangsa. Samgwangsa is built into the side of Baekyang mountain (basically in the foothills), and took a fair bit of climbing. The views inside and outside the temple were as gorgeous as we heard, with most of Busan visible from the highest parts. The temple complex itself was serene and well-maintained, with hiking trails in the back and lovely architecture and garden areas. We all wandered around (quietly, since this is an active temple), and took a few pictures. The serenity of the woods and the buildings was quite the contrast to the bustle of Busan!

Sadly, we didn’t have time to go to any of the older, more historic spots in Busan (six people’s opinions to consider and less than two days!), but I plan on going back before I leave Korea!

After walking all the way up to Samgwangsa, going down was easy. We took a different route back, going through a market on the way. Markets in Korea are large affairs that have stalls selling everything from fish (live in tanks), to blankets, shoes, and cooking-ware. This one was huge, and several of the girls bought walking shoes (their need became obvious after Samgwangsa^^). I didn’t buy anything, but I always have a lot of fun looking!

When we finally made it back to the subway, we were hot, sweaty, and hungry, so we headed for Haeundae BEACH (해운대해수욕장). The minute we stepped out of the subway exit, you could smell salt water and feel that beachy vibe. The streets here were more open, with a lot of people milling about and music playing everywhere. I wanted to explore, but I was as hungry as the others, so we hunted down a Halal/Vegetarian restaurant that two of the girls had really wanted to go to the day before. The food was delicious, but a little pricey for the amount.

After the restaurant, we headed back toward the beach, but were distracted by a crowd in the middle of the road. In the middle was a street performer doing magic tricks. We watched for a few minutes, and then stayed because he promised to do tricks with fire next. He was a great showman, with good presence and a sense of humor, so by the time the fire tricks started, we were all cheering and clapping along with the rest of the crowd.

I admit I was partially distracted by two little twin sisters who were watching the whole performance with the widest, most serious stares. They were probably around 2 years old, and wearing chic, coordinated little dresses. Anyhow, they both hardly blinked, and while one of them danced to the performer’s music, the other just stared and frowned. They were so adorable! At the end of the performance, one of them gave the man a high-five, but the other one hid her face behind her hands, which made the whole crowd laugh.

By the time we finished the fire show, the sun was setting. It was a little dark from cloud cover, but we hurried down to the beach in time to take some lovely pictures. There was a live band setting up, so we listened to them practice and walked along the beach. The air was quite cold, so I wasn’t as sad that I didn’t have my swimsuit, but I still managed to get soaked up to above my knees because I couldn’t keep out of the water!

The night was so fine, and vibrant from the people everywhere, so we wandered around for a couple more hours. We found a street with food-stalls, and I finally found Hotteok (호떡), which was something I’d been keeping an eye out for since I came to Korea! It’s more of a winter thing, but I figured that we could find it somewhere. Hotteok are basically a filled pancake made from a yeast dough. The dough has to rise for a while, and then you fill it with a sweet mixture of brown sugar, honey, seeds, peanuts, for more traditional ones, or in the case of the food vendor we went to, cheese! The dough is shaped into balls to keep the filling inside, and then dropped into a tray of sizzling oil. Next,  the vendor flattens them out

with a special press (see the photo), and once they are golden brown, they slide the sizzling Hotteok onto a rack to get off the excess grease, and in our case, the vendor shoved the Hotteok into a paper cup which we held out to her so she could reach it with the tongs.

Naturally, you have to eat the Hotteok while it’s hot ! The flavor is fantastic – crunchy golden-brown dough that is just thin enough to crisp up, with a subtle of saltiness, and the volatile liquid honey inside that seeps into the dough to add just the right of sweetness – it’s comforting and painful all at once, since it’s still burning hot! And, just so you know, this is something you don’t ask the nutritional value of.

Eating street food in Korea is something that has always been on my list, and I hope to do more of it next time – but for now, the Hotteok was enough (though it didn’t stop me from buying a loaf of bread and some red-bean buns for the next morning as well).

Eventually, we were all tired enough to head back, and we slept well from all that walking! One of the other girls and I got up early the next morning to go to a church I found through Google (lol), and the others went their separate way as well. It was a lovely Sunday morning, and even though I wasn’t exactly sure how to get to the church (Google maps is dodgy here), the walk to and from the Subway was lovely. Of course, as soon as we made it to the bus stop (a landmark from the church’s website), we realized we were going to be about 10 minutes late, assuming we could actually locate the church. However, a couple other women came to sit and wait at the bus, and after looking at us (very American, backpacks included) lost-looking girls for a minute, one of them introduced herself and asked if we might be looking for Redeemer International Church. Of course, we said yes, and it turned out that both ladies were regular attenders, and they helped us find it and soothed our worries about being late (we went in with them!).

The service was led by a teaching elder, since they couldn’t support a full-time pastor yet, and though the building was humble and unassuming (and hard to spot!), the people were from all over the world, and united by their sincerity and faith. Afterwards, many people greeted us since we were obviously not members or regular attenders, and then invited us and some other visiting students to go to lunch at a Thai restaurant. We accepted, and then we got to spend some more time getting to hear the individual stories of the people there. It was a fantastic time (and the Red Curry I had was delicious!), and they were so loving, sincere, and welcoming, even though we told them that we were only there for that day and might never be able to make it back. I was truly grateful that we had decided to strike out and find them! **

But we had to head on back so we wouldn’t arrive in Pohang too late to finish some homework. We walked back along the beach, and as the sun was out, we were able to take some gorgeous pictures. I was sad to leave the beach and Busan, so when we got back to the original meeting point, we messaged the other girls and told them to head back without us. I planned on catching a later bus, at least, and two of them joined me.

Now I was able to go to Aladin/아라딘 Used Books. It’s a good thing we were on limited time and money, because I could have spent hours there and several hundred thousand won if I had the opportunity. I did not escape without loot (more presents, sorry!), but if I’d had more spare cash, I would have probably accumulated an extra suitcase full of DVD’s, CD’s, and used books. I do plan on purchasing a couple used DVD’s before I go back, just because it is frequently hard to find movies with Korean subs outside of Amazon (at least in Michigan), and they are really good for learning practice! Also, if you’ve ever seen a K-pop album, you know that they are frequently more like collector’s pieces with art, beautiful photography, and an intense level of design (seriously, one of my BIGBANG albums is in a metal slide case. Metal) – so if you want to see, scroll down to the bottom of this post to see what I’m talking about.**

But I digress – as usual. We ended up missing the next bus, so we got coffees  at the bus station and visited until the next bus showed up. The ride home was lovely, still light enough to see the mountains, the trees, and the lovely architecture of Gyeongju (경주) on the way. Gyeongju is one of my must-visit spots, being a historical hub, and I can’t wait to spend more time there!

Overall – I had a blast in Busan, and I am looking forward to going back to see some of the more historical sites. However, it was a fun place to be with a group as well, and group of other exchange students were cool, interesting people and I really enjoyed spending more time getting to know them better.

Footnotes:

*Yes, Korean music in Korea, imagine that – but seriously, when you are an avid collector of international music, seeing physical albums on a shelf gives you thrills – I’m just a nerd, okay?!

**Korean albums be putting everyone else to shame – they are more like crazy labors of love for the fans – and it makes dropping a twenty on a CD seem like a lot better deal!

Exhibit A: LOVE YOURSELF 結 ‘Answer’ – 방탄소년단/BTS

Best part – these are the same guys:

How’s that for multi-faceted? (Mic Drop, feat. Steve Aoki)

See – I wasn’t kidding! And to make it more complicated, this is only one of four editions of the album (they spell out SELF), each with difference visual concepts and themes. (Also, a percentage of the proceeds go to their big UNICEF campaign for ending violence against children).

This doesn’t even include the poster that came with . . .

So do you get the picture? These albums are serious. And they take up a lot of space (one of my BIGBANG albums came with a square canvas – wall art! – for real).

OKAY – that was a lot of pictures and information! Hopefully it wasn’t too boring 🙂 Have you seen Train to Busan? What is your favorite beach you’ve been too? Have you ever toured a Buddhist temple? Do you want to try Hotteok? Have you ever seen an album more extra? Tell me in the comments!

Top 10 Authors I’d Like to Meet (Top 10 Tuesday)

It’s that time of the week again: Top 10 Tuesday with The Broke and The Bookish. This week’s theme is Top 10 Authors you want to meet. 

Seeing as I live in the backend of nowhere, I haven’t met a lot of big time or international authors. On the other hand, I have a bunch of Michigan author meetings. Regardless, most of the authors I really want to meet are dead, which is slightly more backend of nowhere than West Michigan.

Well duh

I’m still waiting on the TARDIS, so while the Doctor is off saving the universe, I’ll just content myself with a list of living authors I want to meet.
 If any of you have read previous top 10s of mine, you can probably name at least two of them. So I’ll start with one that is not Neil Gaiman or Robin McKinley (though their inclusion is inevitable):

1. Matthew Pearl

If you can’t actually time travel, there are a few authors that make you feel like you can. Matthew Pearl is one of them. I love his historical fiction. I’m reading The Last Bookaneer right now and it’s really good. I am so impressed with his ability to incorporate historical figures and events into his story without changing or contradicting them. The Dante Club is my favorite.

2. Erik Larson

Larson is Pearl’s nonfiction equivalent. Erik Larson writes about history like it’s a first-rate thriller, weaving events together in a way that only a master of research and words can do. With my keen interest in the past, I love any book that makes you feel there, and Larson’s books always do. I would love to learn about all of the things he’s researched for his books. (My favorite is Devil in the White City)

3. J. K. Rowling

Do I have to explain? Is there a reader/writer out there who wouldn’t like to pick Rowling’s brain? Frankly, I’d like to know more about her rejection letters, some of the responses she got from publishers, and why she kept plugging on. I know she’s under a lot of popular pressure now that she’s crazy famous, and it would be interesting to know if she ever misses anonymity.

This is an awesome Zelda cosplay, btw

Naturally, my favorite is Harry Potter.

4. Marissa Meyer

When I randomly picked up Cinder (confession, it was the cover) and saw that it was a cyborg Cinderella, it was a rare insta-buy moment for me. I hadn’t heard anything about it, but you can’t get more up my alley than a cyborg, fairytales, and space combo. The anime influences were a bonus. I’d like to meet Marissa because we like a lot of the same things, and she seems like such a cool person, so open and fun. I’m not sure which one of the Lunar Chronicles I like best, but I am very excited about Winter, and I can’t wait to see what Meyer comes up with next.
Awesome picture credit here

I envy every one of you that lives in a major city, because you’ve probably had a chance to meet Neil Gaiman. Honestly, I’d rather have tea and chat with him than most authors. He is fabulous on the radio, so funny and engaging. I love his novels, and I would be honored to “talk shop” with him. But I’d settle for just meeting him and telling him what an impact his words have had on me (I’m sure that gets old, but what can you do?).

This picture is epic
Jonathan Maberry convinced me to read not one, but 5+ zombie novels. I liked every one of them. That was a major accomplishment. The mixture of action, thrills, philosophy, humor, heart, and wonderful characters in his novels got me (even though I don’t care for zombies). I would like to hear more about why Maberry likes zombies (who knows, he might convince me?), his thoughts on real-world Bushido and samurai history, and I’m not sure if I want to thank him or curse him for Tom Imura.* 
Even if you are a very casual Robin McKinley reader, I dare you to not enjoy her blog. She is a fabulous writer, and her wry sense of humor is in full force on her blog. 
As for her novels, there isn’t much I haven’t already said: I love them. They are lifelong favorites, and I’d love to tell her that in person. My favorite is still The Hero and the Crown, although Chalice is a close second.

8. Susanna Clarke

Susanna Clarke, of course, wrote one of my all-time favorite novels, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. If no one has convinced you to read it, then read this lovely BBC article and reconsider. Susanna Clarke is funny and smart, well read, loves magicians, and is very interested in history. Why wouldn’t I want to meet her?

For more of his work click here

9. D. M. Cornish

Though he is currently in between projects (I think), I love the layered world of Cornish’s Monster Blood Tattoo series.

In addition to writing a fantasy series with a rich world and fascinating characters, D. M. Cornish can draw. The series ( a bit like Oliver Twist with monster hunters and the moors of a Bronte novel) is completely illustrated by Cornish. Which is awesome.

I don’t really know much about Megan Whalen Turner besides the basics. What I do know is that she wrote one of my favorite series in the history of the world: The Queen’s Thief series. I love her characters, her writing style, and again, her love of history. I’d like to sit down and get all the details on the series, the characters, and her inspiration. 

So that’s all for this week. Did you have any of the same authors, or have you met any of them? Which authors would you like to meet and why?

Cheers!
Footnotes:
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