Exchange Day 67 - Happy Halloween!

Today was an exciting day because my friends and I would be having ice cream at Baskin Robbins before our late evening class! We were going to challenge ourselves to finish the mega huge ice cream monster pail! At Baskin Robbins, there is a promotion for every thirty-first day of the month, where customers will receive a free upsize with every purchase of a family pint, giving you savings of 5,000W and a whole lot more ice cream!

I had breakfast at the dorm as usual, which was a carbohydrate-loaded meal of gravy potatoes and fried fish fillet with rice and spicy tofu-radish soup. I have to say the soup was the best part of the meal, I don't enjoy eating normal potatoes that much and the fried fish today was tasteless if not for the salad cream.

For lunch, I met a friend, whom I got to know two days ago. It was a really random occurrence as I was standing outside the post office after having dropped off a parcel to Chubby. She came up to me and started talking to me in a flurry of Korean. Thinking that she needed directions, I smiled sheepishly and said that I was a foreigner, expecting her to understand that I could be of no help and she had to find another person for help. To my surprise, she kept on talking and we ended up chatting so much that we arranged for a lunch date today.

She was late so she offered to treat me for lunch, which I gladly accepted as it's considered rude in Korean culture to decline such an offer. We ate in the school cafeteria of Seunghak campus, which was new to me as I never had classes there. Like all other cafeterias, we had to buy a meal ticket from the vending machine but there were a whole lot more food choices here as compared to the rest. I'm a little sorry that I didn't take a closer look at the menu before deciding on dumplings as I didn't expect the dumplings to be fried and the fried chicken that I loved was on the menu today! Such a pity.

Lunch ended on a bit of an awkward note as more 'friends' turned up than I had expected and I felt a little pressured by them to take up activities at their cultural centers. My friend had told me about her cultural center that they offer dancing and modeling classes for lower prices and so I had agreed to find out more about the classes from her over lunch today. But I didn't get as much information as I would like to because I had to visit the center to find out more, which was fishy I thought. Coupled with the fact that I felt out of place and uncomfortable with everyone that was present, I thought I better leave. Thankfully they could sense my discomfort and didn't press for me to stay.

The next part of the day was the best as I fled to Baskin Robbins to have ice cream with my friends!!! Being indecisive girls, we took a long time but we finally decided on six ice cream flavours to enjoy! Each monster bucket entitles you to choose up to 6 different flavours and you won't just get a scoop of that flavour but the staff will use this thing that looks like a paint scraper and cut one whole chunk of ice cream for you.

Look at the mountain of ice cream oh my god this cost us 19,500W, which was really a steal. 

It took lots of pain and determination but we managed to finish every single drop of ice cream in the bucket. We have agreed that we will not eat any more Baskin Robbins for the next one month.

Dinner was fried chicken from a roadside stall and rice burger from Bongusu Burger, which was newly opened right outside the side gate of Bumin Campus. As I liked it sweet, the staff suggested a Mayonnaise Ribs Burger, which I accepted.

2,500W for my burger.

The cubes were chicken in bulgogi sauce and there was also tuna mayonnaise in the burger. It was really satisfying and we ate our burgers with a spoon although you can choose to compress it and eat it like a normal burger.

Fried chicken was 2,000W for a medium sized cup, which we shared, and there were also golden brown hashbrowns inside! So delicious!

T'was a fatty but really happy day for my tummy! I shall try to eat healthier for the next few days to mitigate the damage done by the ice cream and cake and fried food. Good night everyone!

P.S. My friend and I saw people in Halloween getup heading towards something that looked like a party so we decided to try our luck. Korea doesn't have a Halloween culture so we got really excited when we saw people in costumes, but it turned out to be a 'sensual' (as quoted from their poster) club event so we bailed.

xoxo, ❀

Exchange Day 66 - Japan hour (Part 2)

I went to the Busan Modern History Museum next, which was just down the road from the 40 Steps Street. For those who drive, there's a parking space right beside the building so no worries about leaving the car elsewhere. Similar to the Center, the Museum has many floors but only two of its floors (2F and 3F) are dedicated for the museum exhibits.

I was greeted warmly by the receptionist upon my entrance and although admission is free, I had to enter my name in their guestbook before I could explore the place. For visitors with young children, strollers are available at the reception counter free of charge.

The lift was full so I took the stairs! Climbing makes good exercise.

Everything reminds me of Baca's class and Korean political propaganda. It's really interesting when you can actually see for yourself what you're learning in school. I'm glad I picked his class, although it's the really stressful.

I think this is some sort of a treaty signed between Japan and colonial Korea.

Map of Joseon. Baca's class again.

The original Japanese flag in colonial Korea.

Poster promoting less consumption of rice during wartime.

3D map of the Jagalchi-Nampo-Jungang area. There are buttons at the front of the exhibit, which are linked to various landmarks in the area. Pushing a button will activate an informative video about the landmark and the building lights up in the 3D map.

Gyeongsong (now Seoul) branch of something I'm not too sure of.

Liquor vessels and jars that were used in the brewery industries back then.

An old phonograph.

A realistic portrayal of the modern Busan streets.

A traditional sweets house selling cakes, pastries and candy.

I thought it was a real lift, but it's just a painting.

All that walking made me really hungry so I went to Kappa Sushi for lunch. I was googling "eating alone in Busan" when I came across a review of the restaurant in one of the links. I'm quite an independent (I wanted to say solitary but I think that's too extreme) person so I'm fine with going anywhere alone, and I enjoy doing that too. It's difficult to always eat with friends as a lot of time and effort goes into planning lunch dates and sometimes all we want is just a quick bite. For all lone diners like me out there, this restaurant is a safe haven for you! (cheers) But of course, parties with two or more are welcome too.

Kappa Sushi is located in the building opposite to the humongous Art Box in Nampo and you have to walk inside the building to get to the restaurant as there are no side doors. It's hard to miss the restaurant as it'll be enthusiastically adorned with eye-catching cartoons of the 'kappa', a Japanese sea monster.

According to the number of people in your party, the staff assigns you seats and similar to most conveyor belt sushi restaurants, you get to choose between a counter seat or a normal seat. Don't worry if you have a big party because the group seats can seat up to six comfortably. Hot green tea and soft drinks are complimentary and diners can help themselves to free refills at the self-service bar.

These are the larger group seats. I sat at an individual counter.

Apart from taking the sushi right off the conveyor belt, you can also order food through its electronic menu. It's easy for foreigners to use this menu as it is available in other languages such as English, Chinese and Japanese.

The food comes really quickly in a mini KTX train, which is really cute and also saves the waiters much hassle, especially during peak hours.

After your food arrives, you have plenty of time to take them down from the train before pressing the 'okay' button, which sends the train back into the kitchen.

The food came really quickly so I didn't have to wait long. For first-time diners at the restaurant, I recommend ordering using the computer as the restaurant does not have a hardcopy of its menu. Also, its conveyor belt is pretty empty most of the time as there's only one plate per type of sushi.

Each plate of sushi costs 1,700W regardless of type and sashimi costs 3,000W per plate. Other than sushi and sashimi, there are also proper meals (bentos and udons) and dessert. Bargain hunters can catch the lunchtime special of set meals for under 7,000W on weekdays. I would say that food is generally affordable but don't expect too much from the quality.

(clockwise) Teriyaki chicken yakitori, salmon belly sushi, basil sauce raw shrimp sushi.

This was surprisingly really good! My favourite out of everything I ate today!

Somehow I don't think this is salmon belly ):

The yakitori was too soft and disappointing.

I had a mini bowl of tempura udon, which was delicious! 2,600W for a mini bowl!

My room mate and I wanted to try the cakes from the bakeries here so we decided that every last day of the month would be Cake Day! Today it was my turn to choose the flavour so we got a Sweet Potato and Pumpkin Cake from PB. Chubby says I keep eating the same food in different forms, which is amusing, but I really love sweet potato and pumpkin!

17,000W for 500g cake!

The moment I opened the box I could smell the fragrance of sweet potato and the cake was so soft and yummy it melts in your mouth. In between the cake layers were tiny cubes of potato and the cream wasn't too rich even I could accept it. The flavour is really unique and unlike anything I've eaten before in Singapore so I'm really pleased! The only downside was that it made my throat feel really dry, even though I drank a lot of water. Since this cake was meant to be my dinner, I ate one third of it and we gave some of it away. Some day I am going to eat a whole cake by myself!

xoxo, ❀

Exchange Day 66 - 40 Steps and a new friend (Part 1)

Having been a hermit the past few days, I have decided that I'm not an indoor person and it's time for me to come out of my shell. (punny) (choruses of cheers and applause) I have reaffirmed my suspicions that I'm actually a flower as not getting sun is damaging to my health, literally.

I sprained my left wrist during those days in the cave, I don't even know how when I haven't been exercising. It must have been the long hours in front of the computer. Ridiculous, but true. Okay typing this on the bus is a bad idea. It sounds cool theoretically like "Hey check out my Mac beside your puny smartphones" but it's actually just making me more car sick than ever.

Breakfast was honey bread, which wasn't much to look at so there's no photo. Class didn't start till late afternoon today so I thought I'd better get some exploring done in the day. There's only two months left till exchange ends and there's no time to be a wasting. My plan was to visit the 40 Steps Cultural Street, followed by the Baeksan Memorial Hall and Busan Modern History Museum, then lastly to Bupyeong-dong where there's a Book Alley and a Porridge Alley. They were all in the vicinity so it was easy to get from one place to another. But, expectedly, I woke late and ended up leaving the room later so I only managed to strike two out of the four on my list.

Every journey has to begin with some food, so I went into a neighbourhood bakery to grab a bite. The bakery had lots of tantalising cakes and cream cheese bread but I was only there to have a small snack so I resisted the devil's temptations and I only bought one walnut strudel. It looked much nicer than it actually tasted so I felt a little cheated but the walnuts were huge.

I think it was around the size of a 30cm ruler, this is only half of it! 2000W!

Armed with brunch, I began my search for the 40 Steps Cultural Street. According to the Internet, you can get there by taking the subway to Jungang Station on Line 2 and getting out at either Exit 11 or 13. Nearer to Exit 13, you'll see this giant billboard on the 40 Steps Street and after that there'll be small signs to guide you along the way.

The signs were quite helpful in leading me to the bakery but I was lost as to where the themed streets were. I never did find them in the end, or maybe I did but I just didn't realise it. Instead, I went to the 40 Steps Cultural Center, which is sort of like a museum dedicated to the 40 Steps Street.

As you walk straight ahead, after turning left at the giant billboard, you'll see a star-studded spiral pathway (no stairs) that stands out amidst the boring buildings. Walk up the pathway and you reach the doors of the 40 Steps Cultural Center.

Can you see the Cultural Center at the top of the photo?

The Cultural Center has a total of six floors, but only 6F and 5F are dedicated to the 40 Steps Street. I took the lift up and started exploring from 5F. Although both floors are about the 40 Steps Street, they are different in the scope of their exhibitions. 5F shows you more about the general history of the 40 Steps whereas 6F gives you an insight into the lives of the people who lived there.

The lift takes you straight into the exhibition itself and at the entrance of the exhibition, you can find information brochures about the Center and the exhibits. I love how museum curators are mostly old people and you can feel how passionate they are in wanting to share their extensive knowledge with you. When I was there, a friendly grandpa was on duty and he looked really excited to see a foreign tourist. He could speak a teeny weeny bit of English, so we made little conversation and he attempted to explain to me some of the exhibits. If you know Korean, he provides guided tours in Korean.

These are the kinds of ration foods the people ate during the War. The packets on the left are the westernised ration foods, probably given by the American soldiers and the bowls on the right are types of porridge and soup. This is probably why porridge is considered as the oldest traditional food in Korea.

Tools used for clean water.

The grandpa told me that in those times, schools were destroyed, so the people had to study in outdoor classrooms, which were basically plots of open land with tables and chairs. It's really inspiring how hard the people back then studied despite poor conditions, and yet look at us now in our comfortable school buildings.

What the people turned to for entertainment during the War.

Culture during the War.

Transistor radios and cigarettes.

(top) Calligraphy books, paints. (bottom) Reading glasses, oil painting.

The place isn't very big but if you take time to look at each exhibit, it'll probably take you a good fifteen minutes to explore the entire floor.

6F was comparatively smaller, but interested me more as the items on exhibit were everyday stuff that people used back then and were more relatable than general history. Looking at these stuff, I could imagine myself as one of the people who lived in the past.

The entire gallery was just the area that surrounded this beam. Really small.

A photograph of child concubines, I wonder how old the King was and if this marked the start of paedophilia.

Coin currencies that were used in the past.

Designs of Lotte gum wrappers that changed over the years.

I think this gum was designed to resemble a bug. Why would I want a chewy bug oh my god it looks like something out of Hogsmeade.

The currencies on the left are closest in appearance to the modern Korean currency.

Regardless of nationality, girls played with paper dolls.

This is an example of a board game that was played during the War time.

Outside the exhibition area of 6F, there were clay models and bronze sculptures of residents in action and also an outdoor gallery, which was just an excuse for smoking.

I left the the Center in search of the 40 Steps, which was after all the main point why I was even here in the first place. How can I know about its history without even seeing the place with my own eyes? But the streets around the Center all looked pretty boring and ordinary, so I gave up the search very quickly.

It was pure luck that when I was about to leave, I saw this bunch of tourists gathering around a rock and furiously snapping away. The rock turned out to be the landmark of the 40 Steps and as a tourist myself, I of course couldn't resist taking a few pictures of my own.

The interesting part was that there was a man at the bottom of the stairs, handing out free candy to whoever sits there and chats with him. As a kiasee Singaporean, I flinched and ran away abashedly when he gestured me to sit down at the table. But then again Singaporeans are also highly kaypo, so I stood in the middle of the stairs watching and observing each and every passerby that talked to him, and I came to the conclusion that he wasn't trying to sell me anything. He was just being friendly.

So I plucked up my courage and activated every single YOLO cell in me, and I went straight ahead to say hello and ask if I could sit down too. Thankfully he didn't diss me for fleeing previously and he welcomed me warmly with a piece of malted candy that he was generously giving out to everyone.

He makes the malted candy from scratch using his simple tools and tiny metal pot. It's like an open concept kitchen.

My candy! He didn't ask me what shape I wanted, but just as well, this is a daffodil. :)

The point of this malted candy was that he would imprint a shape in the middle of the candy using a cookie cutter, while the candy was still soft, and when the candy hardened, you could try to get the shape out using needles that he provides. I failed.

The man couldn't speak English well, so we conversed mostly in Korean. I used whatever broken Korean I had and he attempted to explain some of the more complicated questions in bits of English. On a side note, I'm really proud of myself for daring to and trying to speak Korean with locals. He was really easy to talk to and he asked about my dream and what I would like to do in the future. I told him that my dream was always to be a singer and he delightedly asked me to sing a song. And I did.

I thought I would be really shy but I'm glad I put myself out there and it has been so long since I could legitimately sing my heart out, so I'm really happy I did it. I sang him a Korean song and I'm glad he and the two other ladies who were also sitting there liked it. One of the ladies managed to get out her shaped candy perfectly, and she gave it to me. (touched)

This experience has made me closer to stepping out of my comfort zone, which was what I wanted to achieve from this exchange and I highly recommend everyone who's going to go or currently on exchange to do something like this that you would probably never do back home. As long as it's not illegal or harmful, I think that we should always try new things because we never know what these experiences might bring us and we wouldn't want to live with regrets.

xoxo, ❀