Busan

Friday evening I arrived at Busan Station with four other EAPSIers. We meant to go check out the downtown area, but I lead us the wrong direction, so we decided to stick with it and check in to the hotel first.

Welcome to Busan. Russians welcome.

On the train, an old man started talking at us in Korean. We had no idea what he was saying, but after a few minutes of ranting, it became clear he was not happy with us. A woman nearby finally told us that we was griping because we were speaking English, and he didn't want to hear it because gave him a headache. The woman also said he was probably drunk, but he just seemed ornery to me.

Being the first really negative experience I'd had with a Korean stranger, I was distracted and led us in the wrong direction again, getting off about 5 stops too early. It wasn't until about 11:30 that we found our hotel and checked in. We went back out and had some beer snacks for dinner because all the real restaurants were closed.

Saturday we headed to Haeundae Beach for some sun, swimming, and sand. The place was packed with people and the beach was lined with rows of umbrellas. The water was a very comfortable temperature though, so we stayed there through the morning and brought a lunch of KFC and almond M&M's with us.

Just as crowded as the pictures warned us.

Who's the pasty white guy?

Americans surrounded by Koreans.

After becoming sufficiently burned, we found some showers to rinse off the sand and head to another beach. We were in search of the StarCraft tournament final, the conclusion of the semifinals we saw two weeks ago. At Gwangalli Beach we found the stage, so after dinner we sat in the seats outside and snacked while KT Rolster squared off against SK Telecom T1.

The Diamond Bridge that makes Gwangalli Beach famous.

A giant cigarette. Subtle.

Yessir, that's why I'm here.

Some warmup matches between lesser-pros (but still amazing players).

Nerding out.

This time, there were cheerleaders and and lengthy interview with the team members and coaches before the games began. The setup times between matches were very long though, so it got pretty boring. They did play excellent rock music though, I was impressed.

There were maybe a half dozen for each team.

It was a long set of games.

Everyone was transfixed.

Sunday we found Russian town in Chinatown, just across from Busan Station. Viktor asked around and found an authentic Russian restaurant, owned and operated by Korean-looking women. My first time to eat at a real Russian restaurant, and it was in Korea. I can't remember the names of many foods, but overall it was good. The fermented but non-alcoholic drink, however, was quite terrible.

The old entrance to Chinatown.

Texas Street. The section of Chinatown where the Russians live (?).

Meat wrapped in cabbage. I liked it.

Chicken was okay, but the beef pilaf and the beet and potato soup were really good.

The adventurers.

We all hit up Jagalchi market next. I had already seen it with e-mo, so I didn't even bother taking pictures. My friends with DSLR's did, so I've posted some here. They also caught a video of an octopus making his escape. We found the underground shopping mall at Nampo-dong station and walked to the new Lotte resort, which was humongous. They had a fantastic food court, so we all found some desserts and took a break there.

That woman held a live fish, and it got water all over me...

That octopus really wanted to go home.

A handsome pose and shot. Thanks, V.

Panorama off the Jagalchi port. I definitely did not take this picture.

My spur of the moment glasses purchase got a lot of use this trip.

Then it was a short trip to the station to pick up some dinner for the train ride home. Just for future reference, I got a premium hot dog of ddak galbi (spicy chicken). I expected them to replace the hot dog meat with the chicken, but instead they put it on top of the hot dog. Not a bad thing, just funny to me. Worth a try if you see a New York Hotdog place.