Beautiful Busan

The title of this post is not necessarily the opinion of the writer, but the city slogan of Busan, South Korea. On Saturday, I embarked on a trip to this coastal port city with a group of fellow Daeguans for a little more than 24 hours of hedonism and revelry. Busan is the second largest city in Korea, with a population of just under 4 million. It is on the South Eastern tip of the Korean peninsula. It is the departure point for ferries to Japan, Jeju Island, and China.

Upon arriving, it was immediately apparent how huge Busan was. Daegu is a speck comparatively. Busan is a city that sprawls out around mountains and islands. It is the future home to the third tallest building in the world. It has the fourth largest port in the world. It has a hell of a lot more character than my Korean home town does.

Our first stop was Taejongdae, which is a national park with pretty stunning seaside cliffs.We discussed how something like this would probably not happen in the United States. I don't mean cliffs, as we have those, but a park where there are no railings or safety glass and you are at your own risk to not fall to your premature death. The insurance costs for something like that would be astronomical and lawsuits would be a constant problem. But, Korea is a tad naive, and they have ample time for some idiot jerk to screw it up for everyone else. I was definitely in fear of that edge quite a few times, but it allowed me to get some pretty nice pics.One of our group had been a teacher in Busan before, so he knew where all the cool kids hung out. Before grabbing an awesome dinner, we drank some makkoli in a cave. No, not some bar designed to look like a cave, a bar that was made out of an actual cave. A cave with water trickling down the walls and dripping onto the floor and that musty cave smell. I think it used to be a bunker or something.
They had kimchi that was actually decent. It was a little different from the standard fare, as I think they fermented it longer or something. It wasn't as pungent or overwhelming as kimchi tends to be. The makkoli was good, too, but the focus was on how the kimchi didn't suck. Quite a place.

We hit a couple of other bars downtown, as is the tradition when visiting a Korean city, and spent the night in a jimjilbang. Being a veteran of the jimjilbang experience, I was pumped and ready for it. It was, however, many of our group's first time in the jimjilbang, so it was humorous watching them react to seeing two Korean men washing each other in the shower. In America they'd be fags, but here, they're just washing up after a long night of table tennis or something.

This morning, we got some amazing dumplings and jaja myeong (Korean black noodles) for brukkus and then headed to Busan tower for some high rise sightseeing action. Our day today was really highlighted by absolutely insane taxi drivers. Korea has some crazy cab drivers, but our luck in Busan with the wack jobs was uncanny. Most of the time, that cab was absolutely silent as we all sat breathlessly white knuckled. You just don't go 100 km/hr down a busy city street swerving through traffic like that. As a closer, we hit up the largest fish market in the world just to see the bizarre things that go on at such a place. Things I learned:

• Eel apparently tastes better when skinned alive (not learned through actual taste test, mind you. I'm not a cab driver in Busan)
• Old women with purple hair are allowed out in public
• People eat pig faces
• There is some kind of sea worm thing that looks remarkably like a male appendage
• Korean Christian hymns require a vibrato that would annoy even Helen Keller
• The legless man in Daegu who pushes himself around with his hands either has a twin in Busan or the guy really gets around
  
• Live lobsters can be caught via a crane game

Hmm, this little number is just about Mavis' size...My other favorite is the Guinness sweatshirt in the back right. Toddlers wearing beer advertising and calling each other a bitch. I love that mental image.

That damn KTX is always something. This time, they had an oriental instrumental version of Neil Young's "After the Goldrush" playing while everyone boarded the train. You know the style I'm talking about, with the weird stringed instruments that sound like a cat is trying to sing. That was just really bizarre, but I am in Korea. I don't know why I am still surprised by things. Oh, speaking of, I saw a Ford the other day and it blew my mind.

So, Busan is a really cool town. I'll have to come back when it's warmer and hit up the beach. I hear it's annoyingly crowded and not much fun. Just my cup of tea there.