Train to Busan

Studying abroad would not feel complete if I didn't get the opportunity to travel outside of Seoul, which is why I decided to take a weekend trip to Busan. Luckily, we had Fridays off, which meant we had 3 day weekends to ourselves to do whatever we want. Planning an itinerary was difficult at first because we had so many places we wanted to visit, yet so little time to explore Busan to its fullest.

Below are some of the spots we visited:

• Nampo-dong
• Jagalchi Market
• Haeundae Beach
• Busan Film Festival
• Gukje/Mokja Alley
• Shinsegae Mall
• Lotte Department Store

Gentle Monster display (Busan branch only)

Hoddeok Stand in BIFF

The area we stayed at (Nampo-dong area) was relatively nice and not that different from Seoul. We were walkable distance from the shopping district. I was able to pick up a few clothing items from the road shops, and loved how the prices were slightly lower than they were in Seoul for similar pieces. Snagging a cute floral dress, a t-shirt and skirt for just 20,000 won? What a steal!

The food markets are also located close to Nampo--Busan Film Festival (BIFF) area in particular is filled with many street food stands whether you are there in the morning or at night. Trying the nuts and sugar filled hoddeok is a must when you are at BIFF. Fishcakes and seafood are also well known in Busan. The food courts of both Lotte and Shinsegae department stores are worth visiting if you are into exploring more food options in an indoor spot. There are drinks, desserts, bakeries, and various cuisines.

Bibimdangmyeon from Gukje Alley

Fish Cake Store

 

Lotte Mall's Busan branch is also unique because of its indoor water fountain and its specially designed outdoor garden and rooftop.

 For dinner, we went to Jagalchi Market for fresh seafood.

The next morning, we took a bus from our airbnb to Haeundae Beach. The bus ride was roughly 45 minutes from the Nampo neighborhood.

Twinning with our matching dresses from Nampo street stores~

 Some other spots I have been to in the past that are worth visiting:

• Gamcheon Village
• Busan Tower
• Taejongdae

Gamcheon Village is worth a visit, but do keep in mind that you will spend a few hours here just trying to navigate through the colorful houses. However, it is really nice once you get to the top of the neighborhood, where you can watch the sunset. Many of the houses are decorated with cute murals, great for a quick photo session!

The Busan Tower is similar to the Namsan Tower back in Seoul. Instead of a cable car, there is a long escalator that brings you up to the base of the tower. It's worth a visit to see the city from above at night, and there is a souvenir shop where you can purchase goods or postcards, and even mail it out there! (They provide stamps!) On the otherhand, Taejongdae is a scenic spot that's perfect for overseeing the ocean and taking in the beauty of nature.

Extra spots I didn't get visit:

• Dadaepo Sunset Fountain of Dreams
• Gwangan Bridge (Rainbow Bridge)

Boryeong Mud Festival + Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP)

One of the advantages of studying at Yonsei were the additional excursions you can sign up for when you register. I opted to attend the one day trip at a the annual summer mud festival in Boryeong, and it was my far the best decision after landing in Korea. It's not everyday where you can see visit an adult playground where it is acceptable to get dirty and roll around in mud. The mudflats in Korea are known for health and beauty benefits. The mud festival itself is a weekend long event--each day there are special activities and possibly even celebrity guests. This year Psy was invited as the guest, but unfortunately we attended this event on Friday, and he was only there on Saturday.

The benefit of attending this event with the school instead of going on your own is that the entire day's itinerary is planned out for you. We had 2 rest stops, once for lunch at a Korean buffet restaurant and the other for a quick bathroom break. Once we arrived at the beach, we checked in our bags at the entrance and received a bag number and wristband for entry.

Korean Fire Truck Station

The event has 3 sections, the first part was more geared towards kids, so not many people were there. The 2nd section had massive mud slides, wrestling mud pools, etc. Finally, the last section was the beach--there was a huge stage set up with dancers, and music blasting--edm, kpop, etc. It reminded me of summer music festivals back in NYC, except this one was upgraded because each side of the stage had these machines that would spontaneously spray water at the audience. Definitely helped with cleaning off some of the mud from our skin!

Towards the end of our stay, there was also an aeroplane show which was fascinating and extremely loud. The group of planes circled around in in intricate patterns, leaving behind streaks of colors in the sky. After spending a few hours frolicing around in the mud and trying out each of the activities, it was finally time to clean up and head home. Away from the games were public shower rooms (one for men and one for women) that we could use--the rooms were simply a container with shower heads lining up all the walls, and a small section in the front that was divided so people could change and use the lockers. There weren't enough lockers for everyone, so a majority of us left our belongings on the floor as we changed. Unfortunately for me, I left my towel on the hooks and completely forgot about it when I left because it was really crowded inside.

The bus ride back was nice and quiet, all of us were exhausted and slept on the way back. By the time we got back, the sun had set and it was past dinner time. A few of us decided to grab dinner near the dorms before heading back to properly shower and knock out.

Entrance of DDP (connecting to train station)

Dongdaemun's Design Plaza reminded me of my trip to Miami, where Ocean Drive was filled with buildings lining the street with colorful lights. The architecture of the building was an interesting shape, the gray walls lighting up with scattered while lights. But the prettiest attraction of all was the plastic flower garden past the flea market and down the stairs to the lower level. There are also food stands in DDP that sell various street foods and drinks.

Food Around Yonsei Campus (Sinchon)

During orientation, one of the speakers recommended a few restaurants to try around the campus. We decided to stop by the braised chicken restaurant. Braised Chicken, or Jjimdak is a dish made for sharing. It has chicken, carrots, potato, and glass noodles (potato starch noodles). Depending on the restaurant, it can be slightly spicy.
Address: Bongchu Jjimdak

A popular restaurant for lunch that was right by our dorm is 딸기, or 'Strawberry' in English. This restaurant is located in the corner, by the CU convenience store when you walk out the east side of the Yonsei campus. They serve food such as soondubu jjigae (soft tofu stew), or simple hot rice dishes and noodles. The prices are cheap, which is what makes it a popular choice for Yonsei students. You can easily be full from just 10,000 won.

Another restaurant that I found interesting around campus was a Vietnamese restaurant with a modern twist. The exterior of the restaurant looked like a Japanese restaurant, but even more unique was the vending machine that took your order. On the side of the entrance, there was a machine that listed all the menu options--different types of pho, springs rolls, etc. You pay through the machine, and then join the queue on the left side of the entrance. The staff will take note of the number of people in your party--this is best for 2 people because the seating itself is a bar seating, which is not a conversation friendly place. When we were eating, the staff did tell us to quiet down once and we weren't talking that loud. I noticed that many of the people around us came on their own. The interior was an open kitchen style where we could see the chefs prepare the noodles, and toppings in front of us. The meal came with complimentary spring rolls, but they weren't the typical spring rolls I was used to back in the States. These were bright pink, crisp, and filled with a sweet paste (either sweet potato or pumpkin). On the side was a sweet chili dipping sauce.


Right next door to this Viet restaurant is a Japanese Ramen restaurant, called Butanchu Ramen, that sells ramen at a very cheap price compared to NYC. For only 7,000won, which is equal to slightly under $7, you can get a huge bowl of ramen, loaded with thinly cut meat and even half of a soft boiled egg. In NYC, a ramen with only 2-3 slices of pork will cost you almost $10 and it may not even come with the soft boiled egg! The affordability of food choices in Korea never fail to amaze me--not only is the food cheap, but it also tastes just as good, and the chefs definitely do not skimp out with the ingredients!
Address: Butanchu Ramen

Different concentration levels of the broth

Menu on the wall by the table to show steps for ordering ramen and other appetizers/menu sets

Ramen with Extra meat (7,000 won)

We also had Pork Bone Stew around the Sinchon area--gamjatang. I was really excited to try this because having been a fan of the Youtube channel Eat Your Kimchi (EYK) and avidly watching their Food Adventure Program for Awesome People segment, this dish was one of Martina's favorites. To me, the dish is really different from how my dad prepares pork bone soup. There was definitely a lot more ground pepper and heavy seasoning than I expected. The name itself is misleading--to those who are just learning Korean, one of the common misperceptions is that 감자탕 means potato soup because 감자 is also potato in Korean. However, they will be shocked that there is little to no potato in the stew at all--감자 is actually a traditional (older) word for pork bone. There are also a lot of perilla leaves in this dish. It was an interesting flavor, but I don't think I liked it as much as I thought I would have. But nevertheless, it was still enjoyable.



Other Places to Eat:
Pop Container (cafe that sells a really tall oreo bingsu/shaved ice)
Yeoneo Sanghwe 연어상회 (AYCE Salmon Sashimi + Sides [Korean Pancake, Fried Calamari] --highly recommend!)
Spicy Rice Cake Buffet (AYCE ddeokbukki)
Mike's Cabin (Bar--Drinks, Games)

First Day of Class

First day of class is usually nerve-wracking, but it was even more so since it was my first time taking classes in another country. Waking up early in the morning wasn't easy, but luckily for me, the walk to the building wasn't that bad, only a 10-15 minute walk. The annoying part was definitely the mini hike across the campus, the uphill bend through the parking lot by the dorms, and around what I like to call our school's mini forest. My first class of the day was Social Psychology at 9am (1st period), followed by Intermediate Microeconomics during 2nd period. Both classes were taught in a lecture format, in English, with prepared powerpoint slides that were available to us on the Yonsei portal (the equivalent to CUNY blackboard). The first day went by really fast, and I did get to meet a few new people in my classes.

Raccoon Cafe (Blind Alley Cafe)

The most surprising cafe was definitely the raccoon cafe, located near another women's university. In the States, raccoons are seen more as a wild animal that is not easily domesticated. There is also the probability of it having rabies. So finding out that the cafe owners took in raccoons and made it a business was very surprising. The raccoon in that particular cafe is blind, you can find out more about his story inside the cafe. Like other cafes, the only entrance fee is your order of food/drinks. Once you place your order at the counter, you are free to enter the room with the raccoons. You are cautioned not to bring anything inside with you incase the raccoon damages it, but overall, we didn't have a problem with bringing our phones in to take pictures. You might even get the chance to feel the raccoon! Unlike the dog and cat cafes, the raccoons are less interactive aside from feeding.

Pigs Feet (Jokbal)

Jokbal, or pigs' feet, is a popular late night snack in Korea. It is well known for containing a lot of collagen, which is good for the skin. However, it can come off as very greasy. I ordered jokbal takeout from a restaurant in Hongdae called Myth Jokbal that always seemed to have really long wait times. This restaurant can be found by turning in towards the street performance street of Hongdae, by the tourist info center. If you keep walking down on the left side of the street, it is the restaurant with a pig next to the name of the restaurant.

Their jokbal was very filling, I liked how it came with sides to make lettuce wraps, along with a platter of salad. You could tell that it was well made because the pigs skin itself was packed with flavor. The broth it was boiled in for hours was fully incorporated into the layers of the pigs feet. Personally, I prefer a higher meat to fat/collagen ratio, so it was too greasy for me, but making wraps with the lettuce and pickled sliced radish helped cut through the heaviness of the meat.

Sheep Cafes

As mentioned in an earlier post, Korea is filled with many unusual themed cafes. Another one we visited was called Thanks Nature Cafe, also known as the sheep cafe. It is located on the main street of Hongdae, near the Honggik University entrance. Take the train to Honggik University (Line 2), and get out at exit 9. Then walk straight until you reach the McDonalds and turn left. Continue to walk down until you reach the block with restaurants on multiple levels. The cafe is located downstairs on that block. You are welcome to take pictures of the sheep from outside of the pen, but do step inside and order food/drinks. I ordered one of the hot floral teas, which was served in a pretty transparent tea pot. It was fascinating watching the flower "bloom" inside the teapot as the tea was steeped. There are also waffles, and cold fruit ades that you can order. Once you order at the counter, and pick up your order, you are free to enter the sheep area again and if you're lucky, you might be able to feed the sheep as well.

Address: 486 Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Thanks Nature Cafe

Cafe's Website: Thanks Nature Cafe Facebook Page