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, ❀ 

Exchange Day 52 - Zoolung Zoolung (Part 1)

Finally! Today's the day I'm going to be reunited with my baby! I never realised how big a part of my life my MacBook could be until its charger died on me a week ago. I could still live and breathe, but not having a working laptop when I'm in a foreign country really handicapped me in a lot of ways. For example, the computers in the PC lab in school and the dormitory use Internet Explorer. Or should I say the oldest version of Internet Explorer there ever existed. I have never expressed so much hate for Internet Explorer ever. I couldn't use the computers to access Google Drive, which I needed for school, and I couldn't even use Facebook properly. I couldn't even use Naver's street directory, which I will talk more about here. (it's the coolest thing since air conditioning and ice cream)

Four days ago, I ordered the Korean MacBook charger head from Seoul and the order has arrived! *cues fireworks explosion* So I headed out to TUVA early in the morning to pick it up.

As a penny-grabber, I took the subway instead of a straight bus so I could save 400W ($0.50). It might seem little, but if I do this three times, I could take another train ride for free! (sort of) Since TUVA is all the way on the other side of Busan and I had time to spare before class, I decided to visit Zoolung Zoolung in Jangsan, just five stops from Centum City, where I was heading. I was counting down to the number of days I have left on exchange before I had to return to Singapore and I realised that time really is running out. What on Earth have I been doing the past two months?! I didn't even remember travelling around that much, so from now on I'll diligently travel more.

To get to Zoolung Zoolung, the easiest way would be to take Line 2 of the subway to Jangsan Station (201) and go out of Exit 5. You should see NC Mall right opposite you and Zoolung Zoolung is located on the 12th floor of the mall. So just cross the road using the zebra crossing and take the lift up!

Look up once you are out and you'll see this! It's like any other department store, so you can find shops, food and even a cinema!

Zoolung Zoolung is an indoor animal park that operates throughout all seasons, every single day from 10:30 to 20:00. Tickets are priced at 8,000W for adults (aged 19 and above), 12,000W for children and teenagers (aged 2 to 19), and 6,000W for infants (aged 12 to 24 months). Each ticket entitles you to two hours in the park and there's an overtime charge of 500W on weekdays and 1,000W on weekends for every 10 min exceeded per person. Don't be daunted by the time limit for two hours are more than enough for adult travellers, unless you take a hundred selcas with each animal then perhaps not. I took my time to visit every single enclosure and I still had half an hour to spare!

The lift brings you right to the ticketing booth at entrance of the park where you'll be warmly greeted by their talkative parrot! There are several discounts available, which you can find out from their brochure. I got my brochure from the Gimpo Airport I think, I forgot! The brochure entitles you to a 10% discount on the entrance fee upon presentation so I paid 7,200W for my ticket!

The park rangers are very particular about the time so be sure to stick to the timing stated on your receipt if you don't want to accumulate any overtime charges! I guess this is a good initiative on their part to prevent overcrowding and keep our park experience enjoyable, considering the small size of the park. It stretches across an entire floor of the mall, but is loads smaller as compared to regular zoos.

Despite its size, the park boasts a collection of 1000 animals of 50 kinds, of which many are available for visitors to interact with and touch. Although there is a small corner specially dedicated for visitors to touch, feel and learn about various small animals, the park rangers are very friendly and they either let you into the enclosures of the other animals or they pick them up for you to touch. Most of the visitors I saw were pairs of mothers and their children so I guess this park is more suited for little kids! But I had loads of fun nevertheless!

I took so many rubbish photos before I had a decent shot of the squirrel because it was so speedy and fidgety!

What does the Fennec fox say? Yip.

I think this Wallaby is a new addition to their park because I cannot find it on the map in the brochure!

Poor thing, it looks so lonely though.

The prairie dogs were originally lazing in one corner and then the park ranger came over and woke them up for me!

I forgot the name, but the map says it's a coati. From its enclosure, there's a tree that holds up a bridge, which it can walk across to get to the other side where visitors are free to get up close with it! It's so cute and chubby!

At the top of the stairs, there's a library full of children's books about animals. I guess parents can sit here with their children and educate them about the animals they see in the park. Who knows, they might be visited by a friendly coati!

The log-shaped enclosure you see in the previous photo is a part of the Small Animal Experience Site that allows visitors to touch and feel tiny animals while learning more about them. There are three of them in total and since I noticed the enclosures do not have fixed signs, the park rangers probably alternate the animals every now and then. During my trip there, they had frogs, hamsters and lizards, to my horror. But thankfully all the lizards I have seen here are in zoos. Please don't jinx anything. :<

In the tiny logs, you can find small animals that you can touch, feel and learn more about. Here's a frog, which can be bought at supermarts for 4,000W. I liked mine broiled with porridge. :<

I was staring at the adorable little girl rather than the hamsters heehee, she looks like one herself! (gushes) She was really fascinated with the hamsters but when the ranger tried to hand her one, she was afraid.

My best friends. Please stay here and don't move anywhere. Thank you.

I forgot to take note of its name but I think it's something close to a salamander? Anyone?

I tried googling, and I think this one is a horned lizard. It looks so beautiful up close! Nothing like its domestic cousin. :<

The way this white lined gecko stares at people really unnerves me, but for the sake of my readers, I spent some time trying to take a perfect photo of it. Lizards and I, we have a mutual aversion so I'm glad I'll never see it again.

Sitting comfortably in its bowl is an anaconda. I thought anacondas were supposed to be long and huge, but maybe this one is a baby? Or perhaps a smaller cousin of the anaconda?

The ferrets were all sleeping comfortably against each other, oblivious to the presence of a poor tourist who was trying to frame them in the most interesting way possible.

Then her fairy godmother came! (the same park ranger) And she picked up one, which let out a long yawn to show his displeasure of being woken up. This reminds me I have to visit my dentist the first thing I get back.

The geese were really active and surprisingly, hard to capture! They kept honking and waddling about, it was really difficult to get a clear shot of them with just my iPhone. Oh well, compare the two shots to get a good look at their faces!

Like parents, like children. These little geese were equally difficult to capture and they kept waddling about, but in a neat line interestingly.

The badgers were sleeping really peacefully and it wouldn't be polite to disturb so many sleeping animals in a row! So here you have one sleeping albino badger sleeping on its ordinary badger pillow.

The racoons were a stark comparison to the badgers as they ran about their confined enclosure, chasing each other. 

And when a foreign tourist comes along, they were eager to climb out of the cage, maybe in hope that she could play with them as well!

What's an experiential animal park without little chicks? Next to their enclosure was a booth where you could learn about chicken eggs and their incubation periods. There was also a incubator filled with rows of eggs that were predicted to hatch at various timings.

In the aviary, there were many different kinds of birds - parakeets, canaries, parrots and even toucans!

These three remind me of the three dumb pigeons in Bolt. Haha.

The toucans are the star of the animal park and you could step into the aviary, under the guidance of a park ranger, to feed them! (as well as the other birds)

This post is getting a little too long so I'm splitting it into two posts! Thanks for making it here to halfway mark! (and I didn't even digress much)

xoxo, ❀