So I make it into Seoul the city where the university i am attending is a couple of days ago.
I check into the hostel and go out to look for a place to eat dinner.
I walk for about 15 minuets and find that pretty much everything is closed. So after the 15 min, I start to hear music. I walk towards where that was and BAM! I find myself in the middle of an outdoor rock show.
There was a huge stage set up outside this shopping center and there were bands playing!!
A bunch of Koreans were out in front dancing and having a good time. Everyone was soaking wet since there was a hose that everyone used to fill up their waterbottles and just throw at everyone in front of the stage.
My post to bill sums it up
I just got back from an outdoor punk show.. it was sooo awesome. 4 bands, one rock, one ska, one heavy metal, and one really good punk rock band,]
since it was outside, someone got hoses and everyone kept filling up waterbottles andbuckets and drenching everyone. me and two off duty GI:s that i met showed them how an american rock show does it. we got a huge mosh pit going, then circle pits, had some hardcore dancing, and topped it off with some stage dives.
i skanked with sooo many hot chicks it was unbelievable.
haha i took my shirt off after half of the show and since korea is like it is, i had a couple of people come up to me and be like, you naked! and i:m like yeeeeah! then i threw my shirt up and would go start a mosh.
it was tight.
but i ate grinded pig earlier for lunch and that was a bad idea.
the grinded pig was pretty bad too. i:ll never eat that again.
The day after all this rock show madness, I went to a palace in seoul then met a guy when I was taking the subway back home. It just so happened that he is a real estate developer in seoul and we talked for about an hour about real estate and the politics and economics of seoul and korea.
I met him again today and he bought me lunch at this really nice place by my hostel. He used to work at a global company called SK Telecom until he quit and started his real estate company and during his employment at SK, he would often go to Guatemala to meet clients. He has been studying english for many years and graduated at Seoul National University (the top university in Korea) with a Masters in Textile engineering.
I just think it:s really cool that I`ve been able to meet two koreans so far who enjoy talking to me so much that they buy me lunch so that they can talk to me longer.
Haha, I told him some of my windsurfing stories about being in Cape Sand Blas and windsurfing with the stingrays and when I was in Busan and I saw the 4 foot wide jellyfish monster.
Today I went to the electronics market in Yongsan. What did I find there? The worlds largest collection of
#1 PC parts and componets and laptops and custom made video cards (made to your order!) and everything you could think of that relates to a computer including millions of styles of mice
#2 Pirated Dvds. I could not believe how many pirated DVDs there were everywhere in this area. You can pick up 6 for $10.00. It was just crazy. I also found tons of Ps2 games but I couldn:t tell if they were legit or not, but they probably were since I didnt: see to much console modding advertisted (although i could probably find it if I looked)
#3 Display laptops playing obviously pirated/downloaded movies. Every place that had a laptop was playing a movie on it and sure enough, it was obvious that the movies were illegally downloaded haha.
I noticed these two particually;
Rush.Hour.3.PROPER.TELESYNC.XviD-DELAY
and Next.DVDRip.XviD-DoNE
In perfect view above the movie are these filenames...I thought it was pretty amusing.
But after reading some info with a google search *korea piracy* I realized I should have expected it.
Tommrow I get to check into the university. That means no more pillows filled with woodchips (It:s like i`m treated like hobie!)
ps the ` is located in a really wierd place on the keyboard so it comes out as ; a lot
Monday, August 27, 2007
Monday, August 20, 2007
So after I got off the bullet train I was in Kyoto. The whole station was soooo big. It was like a full scale shopping mall mixed with 4 train stations and a subway stop. I accidentally got off at the wrong floor and ended up lost in the middle of the station.
But this isn't like being lost in a train station that you would imagine, it was a full scale open mall. So I was lost in a sea of stores and clothes and mix and match english words and phrases.
After about 15 minuets of wondering about I actually find an exit. It may not sound like a long time, but I have my pack on and it is really really heavy. It felt like I was just going on and on for hours in a sea of high fashion clothes.
So once I get out I make my 50 minuet walking trip to the hostel (train station - subway - walk).
I get out at the wrong exit and have to walk through downtown super crowded Kyoto high fashion district.
Once I get to the hostel, I meet up with some people that were from Seattle and we go out with a english -> japanese pickup lines book.
Haha that was fun, going around the city at night with a whole bunch of pick up lines (clean and dirty). hahaha.
The next day we go out on bikes and see some temples and joke around.
The next night I hang out with these two guys from the hostel that were Canadian and from England.
We talked for a long time about the differences we have growing up like school cliqs clicks not sure how to spell it.
The guy from england was telling us all these stories about how the gypsies would beat everyone up at high school verses the jocks, and he had all these different British terms for these groups of people and it was awesome to hear.
So we kept talking for about 6 hours about this and that. It was really cool to be around these guys and compare how we were taught world history in school and stuff like that.
The day after that I found the scariest place in Kyoto on bike.
It was an 8 feet high storm drain that was about 12 feet wide.
I took my bike, and went through it. I probably went about 1/4 of a mile through it until I just couldn't go any farther. It was so freaking scary. It was pitch black and there were pipes running across the width of the place at times so I would have to duck my head while riding.
I tried to take some pictures and video, but they don't do justice to how scary it was. But I'll tell you this, it was freaking awesome. At some points in the storm drain there were adjacent pipes that you could look down into and see light, but the thing was you would see light so far away that it is barely a glimmer.
It was awesome. And scary.
Farther down (that day I rode the bike I rented for 6 hours straight right out of the city and into the rural mountains) I found a small dam and had a break at the creek. I sat down took some photos and enjoyed the pleasant weather that the sunset had brought.
The rural areas past the city were by far the best part of the city. I'm beginning to notice a pattern that the areas I like are rural in Korea and not the city areas. That goes for back home too, but I'm not surprised granted where I was able to grow up.
After I left Japan, I tried to go to Yeosu, but had to leave immediately after I got there since there was no tourist information center.
Without that I can't find out the bus schedule of get a map. So I had to leave and go to Mokpo.
I spent 3 days in Mokpo and the first was spent being sick and it was absolutly horrible, all I wanted to do was go back to Seoul and go to the dorm.
By the third day I felt good, climbed a mountain, filmed some video and headed off to where I am now, Jeonju.
Being sick just made me want to give up traveling and quit. I guess that just means that I need to try my hardest not to get sick so I won't feel that way.
But this isn't like being lost in a train station that you would imagine, it was a full scale open mall. So I was lost in a sea of stores and clothes and mix and match english words and phrases.
After about 15 minuets of wondering about I actually find an exit. It may not sound like a long time, but I have my pack on and it is really really heavy. It felt like I was just going on and on for hours in a sea of high fashion clothes.
So once I get out I make my 50 minuet walking trip to the hostel (train station - subway - walk).
I get out at the wrong exit and have to walk through downtown super crowded Kyoto high fashion district.
Once I get to the hostel, I meet up with some people that were from Seattle and we go out with a english -> japanese pickup lines book.
Haha that was fun, going around the city at night with a whole bunch of pick up lines (clean and dirty). hahaha.
The next day we go out on bikes and see some temples and joke around.
The next night I hang out with these two guys from the hostel that were Canadian and from England.
We talked for a long time about the differences we have growing up like school cliqs clicks not sure how to spell it.
The guy from england was telling us all these stories about how the gypsies would beat everyone up at high school verses the jocks, and he had all these different British terms for these groups of people and it was awesome to hear.
So we kept talking for about 6 hours about this and that. It was really cool to be around these guys and compare how we were taught world history in school and stuff like that.
The day after that I found the scariest place in Kyoto on bike.
It was an 8 feet high storm drain that was about 12 feet wide.
I took my bike, and went through it. I probably went about 1/4 of a mile through it until I just couldn't go any farther. It was so freaking scary. It was pitch black and there were pipes running across the width of the place at times so I would have to duck my head while riding.
I tried to take some pictures and video, but they don't do justice to how scary it was. But I'll tell you this, it was freaking awesome. At some points in the storm drain there were adjacent pipes that you could look down into and see light, but the thing was you would see light so far away that it is barely a glimmer.
It was awesome. And scary.
Farther down (that day I rode the bike I rented for 6 hours straight right out of the city and into the rural mountains) I found a small dam and had a break at the creek. I sat down took some photos and enjoyed the pleasant weather that the sunset had brought.
The rural areas past the city were by far the best part of the city. I'm beginning to notice a pattern that the areas I like are rural in Korea and not the city areas. That goes for back home too, but I'm not surprised granted where I was able to grow up.
After I left Japan, I tried to go to Yeosu, but had to leave immediately after I got there since there was no tourist information center.
Without that I can't find out the bus schedule of get a map. So I had to leave and go to Mokpo.
I spent 3 days in Mokpo and the first was spent being sick and it was absolutly horrible, all I wanted to do was go back to Seoul and go to the dorm.
By the third day I felt good, climbed a mountain, filmed some video and headed off to where I am now, Jeonju.
Being sick just made me want to give up traveling and quit. I guess that just means that I need to try my hardest not to get sick so I won't feel that way.
Saturday, August 18, 2007
Japan was really cool.
I left from Busan on a hydrofoil boat that moved almost as fast (maybe 3/4 the speed) of the bullet train.
After the three hour trip, I arrived in Fukuoka and walked around. Actually I was running as fast as I could to get to my hostel before 9:00pm when reception closes. I had a hard time figuring out where I was since the streets in Japan are hardly if ever marked. I have no idea how the people there get around when they go to a place they arn't familiar with.
The hostel was pretty nice and I scored a single bed, which I would later give up for 12, then 24 mixed bunked dorms later on my trip. The third hostel I stayed in was terrible too. It was so bad I was surprised when I actually had hot water when I took a shower in the morning (and we were limited to one shower pass per stay, so I had to choose wisely).
I found tons of cool arcades in Fukuoka though. They were AWESOME! They had everything and Konami was a major player so there were lots of trademark games like Devil May Cry Arcade shoots and the like. That place was so awesome. And it was on the top floor of a mega tech mart, so the whole place was full on all this new tech (cams tvs movies dj equipment, etc.) It was awesome.
To get to Kyoto I had to dish out some huge cash to get there by train (bullet train). So I get into Kyoto and I'm off to find the hostel I booked. It's soooo hot during the day that I'm starting to get dizzy and just had to quit walking after a while. Of course, not being able to read the street signs just made everything harder.
I'll have to continue later, I'm really thirsty.
I left from Busan on a hydrofoil boat that moved almost as fast (maybe 3/4 the speed) of the bullet train.
After the three hour trip, I arrived in Fukuoka and walked around. Actually I was running as fast as I could to get to my hostel before 9:00pm when reception closes. I had a hard time figuring out where I was since the streets in Japan are hardly if ever marked. I have no idea how the people there get around when they go to a place they arn't familiar with.
The hostel was pretty nice and I scored a single bed, which I would later give up for 12, then 24 mixed bunked dorms later on my trip. The third hostel I stayed in was terrible too. It was so bad I was surprised when I actually had hot water when I took a shower in the morning (and we were limited to one shower pass per stay, so I had to choose wisely).
I found tons of cool arcades in Fukuoka though. They were AWESOME! They had everything and Konami was a major player so there were lots of trademark games like Devil May Cry Arcade shoots and the like. That place was so awesome. And it was on the top floor of a mega tech mart, so the whole place was full on all this new tech (cams tvs movies dj equipment, etc.) It was awesome.
To get to Kyoto I had to dish out some huge cash to get there by train (bullet train). So I get into Kyoto and I'm off to find the hostel I booked. It's soooo hot during the day that I'm starting to get dizzy and just had to quit walking after a while. Of course, not being able to read the street signs just made everything harder.
I'll have to continue later, I'm really thirsty.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Friday, August 10, 2007
Yesterday I got up early and reserved my hotel for another night (usually the front desk guy sleeps until noon and I caught a break and saw him around 10:40 am). Since I was able to get out early, I headed for Gangwalli Beach.
This is the windsurfing beach. So I get there around noon and eat a little bit of lunch (a milk, meat on a stick, and water). Then I go to the windsurfing shop and pay 50,000won to be able to rent gear for the day.
So I get taken down to the edge of the beach (it is within two pier like things with hotels crammed on them) to where they keep the gear. I chose a 126 liter board and all they have are 6.0's. It's blowing maybe 12, but the wind doesn't keep it's direction at all.
So I take the 6 (even though I tried to get the 7.4, but he kept telling me no; must've belonged to one of the locals).
I get out there and the wind is so funky it's unreal. Since it is blowing side shore and there are highrises where the wind is coming from, the wind just changes direction from west to south to west, etc. So I never can keep a direction.
After a lot of falling on the 126 liter board, I get back in to the launch site and trade out boards for a big bic board. I think it was like a 300 liter board, it was as heavy as the obrien I used to use.
So taking that one out, I had a much better time. I just kept the sail by me, launched more downwind (so the wind wasn't as squirrely with the hotels) and I headed out towards the bridge (the one in my pictures).
Once I get past the pier, the wind was pretty steady and blowing 15mph. I had a couple of good runs and was having a great time. I actually got them to go fetch me a harness so I could hook in and that made the day even better~
On my way out, I'm looking down at the water as it's passing me by and I see this huge orange ball. I surf right past it and realize what it is. It was a HUGE jellyfish. It was about as big as my torso. It was HUGE! I was so glad I didn't fall in and get eaten by it. It made me remember the stories of the Japanese fisherman being to scared to go out fishing since the squids would eat them alive.
So I finally make it to the bridge (about a 1/2 mile out) and it's gusting up to 20 mph. I start to make a tack to head back in and that's when it happened.
I ended up twisting my knee all the way out there. So I drop my sail, sit on my board and asses the damage. I just hurt like when you twist your ankle, but it was my knee.
Aggravated and in pain, I know I have to make it back in. I struggled to my feet, bit my lip and grabbed the uphaul line. I pulled the sail up, while carefully making sure not to put too much weight on my knee and started my long journey back to the launch site. (There were plenty of boats and jetskis around so I wasn't worried about not making it back). I sail all the way back in and make it back to shore (I had to go into the illegal side where everyone swims and the jetski cop was pissed, but I don't care).
Once I made it back onshore, I just sat and rested for about 10 minuets. That was it for the day. I put my gear back up and headed back to the motel.
Then I set my legs up on my bed, took some advil and watched for any swelling. As of today not much swelling, and I'm just limping around since I can't make my leg straight without a lot of pain.
Looks like I'll be hobbling around Japan for the next 5 days.
I think I'll be okay though, my range of motion is good except for fully extended, and I'll rent a bike in Kyoto.
Looks like for the next week I'll be surviving Japan.
This is the windsurfing beach. So I get there around noon and eat a little bit of lunch (a milk, meat on a stick, and water). Then I go to the windsurfing shop and pay 50,000won to be able to rent gear for the day.
So I get taken down to the edge of the beach (it is within two pier like things with hotels crammed on them) to where they keep the gear. I chose a 126 liter board and all they have are 6.0's. It's blowing maybe 12, but the wind doesn't keep it's direction at all.
So I take the 6 (even though I tried to get the 7.4, but he kept telling me no; must've belonged to one of the locals).
I get out there and the wind is so funky it's unreal. Since it is blowing side shore and there are highrises where the wind is coming from, the wind just changes direction from west to south to west, etc. So I never can keep a direction.
After a lot of falling on the 126 liter board, I get back in to the launch site and trade out boards for a big bic board. I think it was like a 300 liter board, it was as heavy as the obrien I used to use.
So taking that one out, I had a much better time. I just kept the sail by me, launched more downwind (so the wind wasn't as squirrely with the hotels) and I headed out towards the bridge (the one in my pictures).
Once I get past the pier, the wind was pretty steady and blowing 15mph. I had a couple of good runs and was having a great time. I actually got them to go fetch me a harness so I could hook in and that made the day even better~
On my way out, I'm looking down at the water as it's passing me by and I see this huge orange ball. I surf right past it and realize what it is. It was a HUGE jellyfish. It was about as big as my torso. It was HUGE! I was so glad I didn't fall in and get eaten by it. It made me remember the stories of the Japanese fisherman being to scared to go out fishing since the squids would eat them alive.
So I finally make it to the bridge (about a 1/2 mile out) and it's gusting up to 20 mph. I start to make a tack to head back in and that's when it happened.
I ended up twisting my knee all the way out there. So I drop my sail, sit on my board and asses the damage. I just hurt like when you twist your ankle, but it was my knee.
Aggravated and in pain, I know I have to make it back in. I struggled to my feet, bit my lip and grabbed the uphaul line. I pulled the sail up, while carefully making sure not to put too much weight on my knee and started my long journey back to the launch site. (There were plenty of boats and jetskis around so I wasn't worried about not making it back). I sail all the way back in and make it back to shore (I had to go into the illegal side where everyone swims and the jetski cop was pissed, but I don't care).
Once I made it back onshore, I just sat and rested for about 10 minuets. That was it for the day. I put my gear back up and headed back to the motel.
Then I set my legs up on my bed, took some advil and watched for any swelling. As of today not much swelling, and I'm just limping around since I can't make my leg straight without a lot of pain.
Looks like I'll be hobbling around Japan for the next 5 days.
I think I'll be okay though, my range of motion is good except for fully extended, and I'll rent a bike in Kyoto.
Looks like for the next week I'll be surviving Japan.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
My camera lens is getting pretty dirty now. I haven't been able to find a decent cloth to wipe off the lens. Luckily, it is just the wide angle lens attachment and the camera's own lens hasn't been touched at all.
Yesterday I went to the lighthouse island in south Busan. this is the island that is on the sea of japan (which koreans hate calling it and want to change the official name to the east sea....haha good luck) and it has huge cliffs.
So I climbed down the cliffs and checked out the little beach that was down there (on the non sheer cliff death side). It was one of those rock beaches where all the rocks were about the size of baseballs and you hear the tide wash them back and forth when the waves come in. It reminded me of a beach that we went to in Maui. I also treked along the beach for a while and climbed one of the huge rock formations that went out into the sea. At the very top of it was an old South Korean military lookout. They probably used it to patrol this part of the coast since it would be a direct route for the japanese to come and invade. They still had the machine gun mounts plastered into the rock and cemented rocks together to form a bench rock seat big enough to sit about 3 soldiers.
That day it was overcast so most of the sea was covered in a mist. That made it really cool. Half of the time the little islands and rock formations were half visible making it seem unworldly. It really sucks that my video camera's ability to take snapshot pictures really sucks. What I could see and what my camera's lens could see were sooooo far off from each other it wasn't even funny.
I tried to take a picture of all the ships that were docked in the sea with this really cool island in the middle of them (all enshrouded in mist) and all my camera was able to shoot was just a grey smog... and that's it. haha. o well.
this was one of those days I wished I had a digital camera that I could actually adjust the focus and light levels. My cam is horrible at shooting in overcast.
54
4f
50 (this is part of the beach festival show)
52
53
Yesterday I went to the lighthouse island in south Busan. this is the island that is on the sea of japan (which koreans hate calling it and want to change the official name to the east sea....haha good luck) and it has huge cliffs.
So I climbed down the cliffs and checked out the little beach that was down there (on the non sheer cliff death side). It was one of those rock beaches where all the rocks were about the size of baseballs and you hear the tide wash them back and forth when the waves come in. It reminded me of a beach that we went to in Maui. I also treked along the beach for a while and climbed one of the huge rock formations that went out into the sea. At the very top of it was an old South Korean military lookout. They probably used it to patrol this part of the coast since it would be a direct route for the japanese to come and invade. They still had the machine gun mounts plastered into the rock and cemented rocks together to form a bench rock seat big enough to sit about 3 soldiers.
That day it was overcast so most of the sea was covered in a mist. That made it really cool. Half of the time the little islands and rock formations were half visible making it seem unworldly. It really sucks that my video camera's ability to take snapshot pictures really sucks. What I could see and what my camera's lens could see were sooooo far off from each other it wasn't even funny.
I tried to take a picture of all the ships that were docked in the sea with this really cool island in the middle of them (all enshrouded in mist) and all my camera was able to shoot was just a grey smog... and that's it. haha. o well.
this was one of those days I wished I had a digital camera that I could actually adjust the focus and light levels. My cam is horrible at shooting in overcast.
54
4f
50 (this is part of the beach festival show)
52
53
Monday, August 6, 2007
So I've been in Pusan for a couple of days and it's raining.. a lot. It's like non stop here. I think it may be some off shoots of the storm that went by Japan.
Speaking of Japan, I just bought my tickets to Fukuoka, Japan today. I'll be leaving Pusan (Busan and a bunch of other cities switch their spelling alllll the time) on August 10th to hit the ferry to Japan and coming back on August 15th.
Today and yesterday I've been hard set on trying to find a place that rents windsurfing gear. I've been all over the coast and beaches. What really blew my mind was that yesterday I found out that one particular beach (which was only 3 miles from the beach I was at) was doing a whole free windsurfing clinic. They had all their gear out on the water and everyone could try it for free.
It was part of the Busan Summer Festival deal. When I found out about that, I was sooo pissed. I was so close to it, but it was blocked by that stupid bridge and marina so I couldn't see the windsurfers out on the water.
But today, after 2 days of searching, I found a windsurfing shop and asked them about their rates. They rent for 40,000 won (~44 usd) for a whole day.
Oh did I tell you, the first day I got here it was blowing a constant 25mph?? I really wish I would have known where this shop was that day, you know? Since it was only blowing 6 mph SSW today, and I found the shop at 3 pm, I figured I'd just hang out for the day.
So I rented a tube (that's what everyone does over here at the beach) and went out into the water. Brittany asked how cold it was and yeah, it's really cold. About as cold as when I went to Panama City Beach FL in mid March. I still didn't want to get all the way in, I'd save that for when I went out windsurfing.
Oh, something interesting. All the beaches everywhere so far are buoyed off about 50 feet from the shore. They always have boats and lifeguards waiting and watching to yell at you when you get too close to the buoy. I'm not sure if it's because they don't want people being sucked out to a rip tide (which was weak at most at every beach i've been to so far) or what.
They just don't want you going far off from the shore.
Well in Busan, I'm staying on Shanghai street (it's the awesome red pillar thing in my picture). It is also right beside Texas street (this is where the american soldiers hung out during one of the Korean Japanese wars). This area is heavy heavy duty russian. Tons and tons of russians and tons and tons of russian call girls. Like every fourth building is a bar full of call girls.
I did meet an american guy here named dennis. He was pretty cool, we hung out for the day and he showed me a place where they have korean barbecue. And mannn is korean barbecue gooooood. It's a whole bunch of meat that you get to grill right in front of you, then you add kimchi to the grill and mushrooms and vegetables, and everything else they put on your table.
Then you take one of the leaves they give you (a plate with like 10 leaves) and put all the meat and vegetables into the leaf, roll it up like a burrito and take a bite! That stuff is soooooo good. Best food I've eaten in Korea so far.
Dennis also knew Russian and told me all his stories. One of which was when he worked for the US Embassy in Russia. One day he was approached by the KGB(Russian mafia/police but they have a new name now) and they wanted him to spy on the US Embassy, he said no, and they threatened to never let him get a VISA in Russia again. So lo and behold, his VISA expired and he is now forever blacklisted to get a VISA into Russia.
He also told me a pretty good joke.
Russians think that everyone around them are spies
Americans think that everyone around them are criminals.
That day I also went over and got my information for my Japan tickets.
All my clothes are dirty so it's time to throw them in the sink and pour washing machine soup all over the place.
That bathroom is going to be a mess.
But I am soooo glad I have an air conditioner!!! wooooooooooooooooooooooo!! It's a LOT better than the hostel where I slept on the floor with no pillow and only sometimes had water pressure and consistent water temperature.
I really stoked that I can go windsurfing in Busan. I also am getting a friend to tell me where in Jeju-do I can windsurf at since they said that there are rental places there too!
I think that if I get to sleep around 9pm tonite or around that time, I'm going to try to wake up before sunrise. There is a fish market here in Busan that's really famous for it's sunrise shipments.
You see, all the fishing boats come back into harbor around the time of sunrise. When they come in, they plop all their fish onto the docks and the bidding wars begin. People from all around the city come to the port and bid on the fresh fish. Not just ordinary people, but also really rich companies like the ones that run the 5* hotels.
Supposedly it's really a sight to see when all that fish comes in and people pour around trying to bid on the best price.
Oh haha, in front of the train station in this city is a stock ticker. I noticed it displayed Dow, Nasdaq overall +- gains losses for the day, as well as individual stocks (but they didn't stand out as much as NASDAQ and DOW in big english alphabet letters.
Today for dinner I ate from the street vendors. I had a hot dog for my first meal of the night. I went up to her cart and she had a big boiler/fryer in the middle of the cart. She would take what looked like big jalapenos and coat them in this wet flour sauce, then drop them in the fryer. She'd let them fry for a little bit, take them out and put them up to be sold. I was thinking to myself that as hot as the last jalapeno I had was (it was a baby one that I could barely take one bite out of before I drank the entire container of water they had at my table), there could be nooooo way I'd survive something like that.
Also I got a breast and a thigh for ~2 usd that the guy grilled right in front of me. What he would do is have the chicken cooked about 85%. Once someone comes up and wants some, he'd take it and grill it until it was done right in front of you. He added these awesome spices to it and it was awesome! My hands still smell like chicken haha.
And there is this pizza place here,, ooooo man it's goooood!~ Just as good as any pizza place here on in new york. it was AWESOME!
Oh, in the videos below you'll see a stage with some people preforming. Today on the beach I was at, Ganwalli Beach, they had a bunch of stuff set up for the Busan Summer Festival.
On the stage, they'd have a bunch of different people. This one band went up there and they were really good. They were a punk band that sounded a lot like HomeGrown and had a lead singer that sang in a fun ska style like Goldfinger.
They had a tight set. Each act was able to play/do two songs. The next act (I didn't tape the punk band since they went off set before I could unlock my bag to get my camera) was cool since they had some cheography, but the last act was the best.
It was this korean girl that looked russian (wearing red and black) and she had 3 backup dancers (maybe 4 in the beginning, you'll see). They kicked ass!! Everyone must have been there to see them, since the crowed moved up to the 2nd and 3rd rows once she came on.
But still, since it's korea, no on was making a pit or dancing, they would all just sit and claps along to the music.
It was really fun. I probably would have had trouble with the cops if I got there sooner. I really wanted to jump on stage and mosh during the punk band's set. Only until everything was over did I see all the police they had around the area....phew. haha.
51 (stage music)
4b
4c
4d (24 x 7 starcraft tv, only for the nerdiest of nerds)
4e
Speaking of Japan, I just bought my tickets to Fukuoka, Japan today. I'll be leaving Pusan (Busan and a bunch of other cities switch their spelling alllll the time) on August 10th to hit the ferry to Japan and coming back on August 15th.
Today and yesterday I've been hard set on trying to find a place that rents windsurfing gear. I've been all over the coast and beaches. What really blew my mind was that yesterday I found out that one particular beach (which was only 3 miles from the beach I was at) was doing a whole free windsurfing clinic. They had all their gear out on the water and everyone could try it for free.
It was part of the Busan Summer Festival deal. When I found out about that, I was sooo pissed. I was so close to it, but it was blocked by that stupid bridge and marina so I couldn't see the windsurfers out on the water.
But today, after 2 days of searching, I found a windsurfing shop and asked them about their rates. They rent for 40,000 won (~44 usd) for a whole day.
Oh did I tell you, the first day I got here it was blowing a constant 25mph?? I really wish I would have known where this shop was that day, you know? Since it was only blowing 6 mph SSW today, and I found the shop at 3 pm, I figured I'd just hang out for the day.
So I rented a tube (that's what everyone does over here at the beach) and went out into the water. Brittany asked how cold it was and yeah, it's really cold. About as cold as when I went to Panama City Beach FL in mid March. I still didn't want to get all the way in, I'd save that for when I went out windsurfing.
Oh, something interesting. All the beaches everywhere so far are buoyed off about 50 feet from the shore. They always have boats and lifeguards waiting and watching to yell at you when you get too close to the buoy. I'm not sure if it's because they don't want people being sucked out to a rip tide (which was weak at most at every beach i've been to so far) or what.
They just don't want you going far off from the shore.
Well in Busan, I'm staying on Shanghai street (it's the awesome red pillar thing in my picture). It is also right beside Texas street (this is where the american soldiers hung out during one of the Korean Japanese wars). This area is heavy heavy duty russian. Tons and tons of russians and tons and tons of russian call girls. Like every fourth building is a bar full of call girls.
I did meet an american guy here named dennis. He was pretty cool, we hung out for the day and he showed me a place where they have korean barbecue. And mannn is korean barbecue gooooood. It's a whole bunch of meat that you get to grill right in front of you, then you add kimchi to the grill and mushrooms and vegetables, and everything else they put on your table.
Then you take one of the leaves they give you (a plate with like 10 leaves) and put all the meat and vegetables into the leaf, roll it up like a burrito and take a bite! That stuff is soooooo good. Best food I've eaten in Korea so far.
Dennis also knew Russian and told me all his stories. One of which was when he worked for the US Embassy in Russia. One day he was approached by the KGB(Russian mafia/police but they have a new name now) and they wanted him to spy on the US Embassy, he said no, and they threatened to never let him get a VISA in Russia again. So lo and behold, his VISA expired and he is now forever blacklisted to get a VISA into Russia.
He also told me a pretty good joke.
Russians think that everyone around them are spies
Americans think that everyone around them are criminals.
That day I also went over and got my information for my Japan tickets.
All my clothes are dirty so it's time to throw them in the sink and pour washing machine soup all over the place.
That bathroom is going to be a mess.
But I am soooo glad I have an air conditioner!!! wooooooooooooooooooooooo!! It's a LOT better than the hostel where I slept on the floor with no pillow and only sometimes had water pressure and consistent water temperature.
I really stoked that I can go windsurfing in Busan. I also am getting a friend to tell me where in Jeju-do I can windsurf at since they said that there are rental places there too!
I think that if I get to sleep around 9pm tonite or around that time, I'm going to try to wake up before sunrise. There is a fish market here in Busan that's really famous for it's sunrise shipments.
You see, all the fishing boats come back into harbor around the time of sunrise. When they come in, they plop all their fish onto the docks and the bidding wars begin. People from all around the city come to the port and bid on the fresh fish. Not just ordinary people, but also really rich companies like the ones that run the 5* hotels.
Supposedly it's really a sight to see when all that fish comes in and people pour around trying to bid on the best price.
Oh haha, in front of the train station in this city is a stock ticker. I noticed it displayed Dow, Nasdaq overall +- gains losses for the day, as well as individual stocks (but they didn't stand out as much as NASDAQ and DOW in big english alphabet letters.
Today for dinner I ate from the street vendors. I had a hot dog for my first meal of the night. I went up to her cart and she had a big boiler/fryer in the middle of the cart. She would take what looked like big jalapenos and coat them in this wet flour sauce, then drop them in the fryer. She'd let them fry for a little bit, take them out and put them up to be sold. I was thinking to myself that as hot as the last jalapeno I had was (it was a baby one that I could barely take one bite out of before I drank the entire container of water they had at my table), there could be nooooo way I'd survive something like that.
Also I got a breast and a thigh for ~2 usd that the guy grilled right in front of me. What he would do is have the chicken cooked about 85%. Once someone comes up and wants some, he'd take it and grill it until it was done right in front of you. He added these awesome spices to it and it was awesome! My hands still smell like chicken haha.
And there is this pizza place here,, ooooo man it's goooood!~ Just as good as any pizza place here on in new york. it was AWESOME!
Oh, in the videos below you'll see a stage with some people preforming. Today on the beach I was at, Ganwalli Beach, they had a bunch of stuff set up for the Busan Summer Festival.
On the stage, they'd have a bunch of different people. This one band went up there and they were really good. They were a punk band that sounded a lot like HomeGrown and had a lead singer that sang in a fun ska style like Goldfinger.
They had a tight set. Each act was able to play/do two songs. The next act (I didn't tape the punk band since they went off set before I could unlock my bag to get my camera) was cool since they had some cheography, but the last act was the best.
It was this korean girl that looked russian (wearing red and black) and she had 3 backup dancers (maybe 4 in the beginning, you'll see). They kicked ass!! Everyone must have been there to see them, since the crowed moved up to the 2nd and 3rd rows once she came on.
But still, since it's korea, no on was making a pit or dancing, they would all just sit and claps along to the music.
It was really fun. I probably would have had trouble with the cops if I got there sooner. I really wanted to jump on stage and mosh during the punk band's set. Only until everything was over did I see all the police they had around the area....phew. haha.
51 (stage music)
4b
4c
4d (24 x 7 starcraft tv, only for the nerdiest of nerds)
4e
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Friday, August 3, 2007
I had to dump all my images at once so this may have some layover from the last time. You should be able to skip any ones you've already seen.
Today wasn't all that exciting. I went to the lake in the north east and walked around there. I was going to rent an ATV or mini bike (battery powered; there were also true gas powered ones, but I didn't even bother checking their prices) but they cost $50 an hour. That's pretty steep, but not suprising since the Hilton is next door. Haha the food over there was incredibly expensive too, like $8 for a domestic beer.
Right now I'm checking for hostel prices in Busan (a city in the south east [2nd biggest in south korea]), but I think I'll go on the advice my friend told me from Italy and book at a hotel that's by the bus station for 30k won.
Videos
49
45
46
47
48
So after looking up some more inforamtion about Japan, I think I'm going to find the a place in Busan that sells tickets and visit Tokyo and Kyoto.
Peace!
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Today I'm in Gyeongju and it's awesome.
I'm staying at a hostel for about 18 bucks a night. No a/c but it's nice. It has a small tv and can pick up OCN which means I get to watch american movies/tv shows in the morning.
Today I climbed Mt. Namsan for about 5 hours. I can't belive how much land I hiked through, it was intense!
I also went to Pohang and it was the worst city ever. That place sucks more than anything. If a tornado came and destroyed it, I wouldn't care.
Yeah Pohang sucks, cross that one off my list. It's the dirtiest most sleezy city I've been to. It's like pure garabage on every corner piling up.
But I have some videos that I'm working on upload. I'll post them in a sec.
Dude, for dinner, I actually got some meat. Thanks to patricia who told me to ask for galbi, I got a huge bowl full of soup with roast beef still on the bone cooking in the soup. It was awesome! I savored every bite.
1 Hour 43 Minuets later, video time (650 MB+ worth uploaded)
note: Missing 45 and up!
Gyeongju
40
41
42
43
44
(4a is actually supposed to be after like 47, but my time ran out to upload more so..haha yeah)
4a
Found the temple (last
I'm staying at a hostel for about 18 bucks a night. No a/c but it's nice. It has a small tv and can pick up OCN which means I get to watch american movies/tv shows in the morning.
Today I climbed Mt. Namsan for about 5 hours. I can't belive how much land I hiked through, it was intense!
I also went to Pohang and it was the worst city ever. That place sucks more than anything. If a tornado came and destroyed it, I wouldn't care.
Yeah Pohang sucks, cross that one off my list. It's the dirtiest most sleezy city I've been to. It's like pure garabage on every corner piling up.
But I have some videos that I'm working on upload. I'll post them in a sec.
Dude, for dinner, I actually got some meat. Thanks to patricia who told me to ask for galbi, I got a huge bowl full of soup with roast beef still on the bone cooking in the soup. It was awesome! I savored every bite.
1 Hour 43 Minuets later, video time (650 MB+ worth uploaded)
note: Missing 45 and up!
Gyeongju
40
41
42
43
44
(4a is actually supposed to be after like 47, but my time ran out to upload more so..haha yeah)
4a
Found the temple (last
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