Exchange Day 52 - Zoolung Zoolung (Part 2)

Spot the red claw crab!

The park challenges you to find the various types of fish that they have in their aquarium, and the level of difficulty of spotting the fishes are denoted by the number of stars they have next to their descriptions. Try to find the regal blue tang, yellow tang and the clownfish!

Can you see the hidden fish?

The number of fishes feeding on my hand tells me that it is high time to visit the manicurist again.

I like the pink fighting fish the most! She looks more like a fairy maiden than a fierce warrior.

Porcupines are boring, so far all the porcupines I've seen curl up in a ball and sleep all day. Needless to say, they are prickly to the touch and their thorns kind of feels like a plastic badminton shuttlecock.

Ironically, they put their giant tortoises with the bunnies and it reminds me of the story of the Tortoise and the Hare. I wonder if the arrangement was on purpose and if there's a korean version of this Aesop Fable as well!

Another very kind park ranger let me into the enclosure so I finally had the chance to pet my favourite bunnies! #win

The giant tortoises, true to their name, are humongous and their skin is scaly to the touch. Kind of like what dinosaurs would feel like if they still existed.

These two parrots were sound asleep when I was there. My ears are very thankful. They are housed outside of the aviary where all the other birds are, so I presume they must be for visitors to take photos with.

The park also houses its fair share of creepy crawlies, but all creepy crawlies are safely locked up in their cages and are not available for close interaction. I'm not sure if this is the butt or head of the tarantula.

A male horned beetle sits motionlessly in front of a female horned beetle. Picture descriptions in front of the cage teach you how to tell both genders apart. I presume the female beetle is his wife, otherwise it would be unbecoming of them to cohabit for I am a traditional woman.

This is a bug whose name I forgot. Sorry. :(

This Indian Star tortoise hides in one corner away from two other friends, whom I infer to be a couple, because he wants to give them privacy.

These are axolotis, otherwise known as the unmythical dragon. I never knew dragons existed and they were actually so small and modest. Well, at least they are pink.

This is what your pet terrapin would grow up to look like if you had not abandoned it into the public ponds.

The park even has an ant farm! You are encouraged to turn on the flashlight in your mobile phone and shine it into the tunnels so that you can see the ants clearly!

I did not explore their outdoor park as it had rained previously and they kept all the animals. However on sunny days, you can expect more people and fun here and for a small fee, you (or rather your children unless you are small enough) can enjoy a pony ride!

Busan is highly environmentally-friendly and loves to recycle its cans and bottles into beautiful structures. The backdrop of the stage is made from Chilsung Cider cans, which are the korean version of Sprite.

I had the opportunity to watch one of its 'shows', thanks to a park ranger who guided me to the stage area when the announcement was made. It was announced in Korean so I couldn't understand what it was saying. Later on, much to my embarrassment, I found out that the 'show' was actually a phototaking session for little children disguised under the pretext of an educational programme. Depending on the time of the day, a park ranger would enter the stage with an animal and teach the children about that animal in a cutesy encouraging children's-programme voice. She would then ask them questions about the animal and award lightsticks (to kids) and vouchers (to parents) for correct answers. I would very much have liked to participate except I couldn't understand exactly what she was saying.

A mural near the washroom where you could take touristy shots with!

Goodbye!

After I left the park, I walked around Jangsan in search for a cheap lunch! I was hungry but not enough to eat an entire meal, since I had a big breakfast. Set meals normally cost around 5,000W (S$6) or more and I did not want to overspend, until I recover my personal debt of 200,000W. Ever since my financial scare, I have been religiously updating my cash book every day to keep track of my expenditure. That's one thing about keeping a cash book. All the money that goes out is clearly documented and accounted for, and you become more of a penny pincher than you already are. The more you pinch, the more you realise it is easy to save money and the harder it is to part with your cash.

So I walked around, searching for imo cafeterias that served affordable and delicious food. Imo cafeterias are small homely canteens, mostly owned by housewife-aunties (imo is an honorific term), where you can find local delicacies such as bibimbab (mixed vegetable rice) and bokkeumbab (fried rice) with lots of side dishes all for less than 5,000W. Sadly for me, there were none in sight. Just when I thought all hope was lost and I had to choose between shrivelling in the cold or succumbing to expensive food, the smell of warm food beckoned me like the sound of the ice cream truck on a hot summer's day.

The imo was so kind! She waited patiently for me to finish comprehending the menu before asking me for my order. I was really hungry by that time and the toasts they had were comparatively cheaper than other shops, so I got myself a Supreme Toast with ham, cheese, vegetables and egg for 1,900W! Other than toasts, the shop sells spicy rice cake, fried chicken bars, fried dumplings and yakitori! All perfect for a cold autumn's day! (sorry I sound like a loser but autumn is really super cold, and today's the coldest day in the entire week according to the weatherman)

She dipped the bread in egg batter I think, when I took a bite it tasted like french toast instead of the normal crispy toast! And the coolest thing was she pan-fried the vegetables together with the egg into a neat square, which fit nicely on the toast!

I have no idea what the shop is called, but judging from the bag, I think it's called Shoe Potato?

Gluttony knows no bounds, especially when the weather is cold. I really like the weather here! Other than the fact that I rarely break into a hot sweaty mess even when I walk for miles and miles, the cold weather legitimises everything you do, or don't do. "It's too cold to exercise" "I eat more because the weather is so cold" "Eating ice cream in cold weather is good because the ice cream won't melt so easily" "Cold weather is great for sleeping in" and the list goes on and on!

Anyway when life shows you a huge sign that spells "찜빵1개 800W" on your way to the subway station, you don't just ignore it, you walk right in and get yourself a hot steamed bun! 찜빵 (jjimbbang) means 'steamed bread' and it is normally filled with red bean paste, although there can be other variations such as pumpkin and sesame. My Korean buddy told me that 찜빵 is a popular snack that Koreans like to enjoy during winter to counter the harsh cold! All the buns in the shop are hand made, just like the noodles and dumplings that the shop also sells.

The hardworking ahjussi looked a little shocked by my sudden entrance but recovered quickly as he continued on kneading his noodles. 

My steamed bun! It just came out from the steamer so even when the weather is so cold, I could feel that the bun is scalding hot!

I always thought 찜빵 was just an expensive version of tau sar pao but after trying one, I realised it's same same yet different. (not only the Thai says this, the Koreans do too) The bun of 찜빵 tastes more moist than the tau sar pao, a little like the Shandong mantou that I always buy from Mainland Chinese shops and the red bean paste is harder with chunkier red beans, more like a paste as compared to the silky smooth tau sar paos you get from dimsum restaurants!

Armed with my 찜빵, I walked for ages around the area in search for a subway station (I was clueless as to where I was heading) before I saw the familiar sign of Haeundae's E-Mart! E-Mart is like the Korean version of Carrefour. Like all supermarts, E-Mart is a standalone building by itself and it has numerous floors to house its wide range of products - food, clothes, household products etc. Shoppers can also settle their meals at the in-house food court or Starbucks, before getting dessert at Baskin Robbins. But that's for another day!

I scurried into the subway station as quickly as I could as I was running late! Although the professor is friendly and easygoing, it wouldn't be polite to be late! Wednesdays are always long days for me and I have to either eat dinner very early or scoff it down in between classes since my last class ends at 9! Thankfully, my professor let us off earlier today and I could squeeze in a proper meal before the other classes start!

Spicy rice cake from the school snack food shop! The rice cakes are really chewy but it's too spicy for my liking. I had a really hard time finishing everything but I still did!

There isn't roll call for the whole of this week in light of next week's midterm papers, so I can finally sleep early! Good night!

xoxo, ❀