Busan continued...

How could I forget the whole last day!! Really though there's not much to say, just to look at. We went to Yongdusan Park where Busan Tower is located. There's not much to it parkwise but the tower gives quite a view of the city, port & ocean. After that we went to Jungang Memorial Park. This used to be a refugee shantytown after the war. I don't know what happened to change all that and turn it into what it is today. The memorial is quite immense and very solemn. It's set high up on the hill and it is so quiet up there. There was something written about how the memorialized souls continue to stand watch over the city and sea.
I want to be sure that I don't leave anyone with the impression that this is just a simple port city. There is much more to it. This and my previous post only scratch the surface of "Dynamic Busan"! (They give these labels to cities here. For instance we live near "Colorful Daegu", although it is certainly not colorful. I wonder if they rhyme in the Korean translation?)
You can enjoy the view from the tower also!

The large building in the foreground on the waterfront with the 'folded' roof is Jagalchi Market. It is supposed to look like a seagull.

The building in the center of this photo is the beginning of Lotte Super Tower, slated to be completed in 2013, which will then be the third tallest in the world. (You can click this link to see what it will look like when complete. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotte_Super_Tower )

Jungang Memorial. It's much taller than this picture makes it look. You can only see about half of it from this perspective.

This sign was at Yongdusan Park. I thought the bottom rule of what not to do was so funny!

Dynamic Busan!

Busan, South Korea. What a beautiful place! It's the second largest city in South Korea with a population of 3.6 million. Also known as Pusan. The correct pronunciation sounds like a cross between a 'B' and 'P', hence the multiple spellings. It is also the fifth largest port in the world, and after seeing that port I can't imagine what the largest looks like! There were hundreds of ships in port and waiting to come in to port. It also has the world's largest department store, Shinsegae, which we went to and I don't quite fully understand how it was different from a mall. There is a Sky Park on the top, with some awesome night views of the city. We spent 3 days there & I don't know where to start. I suppose I'll follow logic and start at the beginning.

Here we are on the train. It's pretty comfortable. The seats swivel around so we can all face each other. There is a refreshment car but it was closed on this train ride for some reason. It takes a little longer to get somewhere by train than car because of all the station stops, but it's convenient and cheap. Four tickets cost about 25 USD. We don't have to buy tickets for the girls but we do anyway so we can be sure to have the space! Otherwise they have to sit in our lap if the seat is taken.
Here are a couple random pictures from the train ride of the countryside.

South Korea is one long mountain range. They're not towering peaks, more like graceful rolling hills. I will miss the view when we leave. It makes driving anywhere a sightseeing adventure in itself.

So we made it to Busan, and the train station was overwhelming! It was larger than many regional airports in the US. There were many restaurants & little shops/kiosks inside to while away your time before your train. We spent a fair amount in a Dunkin Donuts before we left! We took a taxi to the hotel I had picked out, until they told us the price. So I had to call a friend from Busan who was able to recommend a well priced hotel. It was great, and they gave us a military discount. Yeah, shocked me too. Here is the view from our room. (It was better in person!) We were on the 19th floor and the window would only open about 5 inches, so I had to wedge the camera lens out the crack to get a clear picture; hence the odd angle of the picture.


After checking in the hotel we got on a hop on/off bus tour & saw a few tourist attractions around the city. The Modern Art Museum, where they had a Picasso sketch & also one from Renoir, and an interesting exhibit titled "Water Drops". I found it shocking that they had a large humidifier in the center of the gallery. At first I thought maybe it was part of the exhibit, but then determined it wasn't. My oldest really enjoyed the art museum, which I found surprising. We also saw some beautiful views from Yeongdo 75 Square. I've been trying to find out why it has that name, but so far no luck. We also walked along the beach a bit and brought back a sizable portion that I'm sure the maid enjoyed the next day. To complete our day we had dinner at TGIFriday's & it was fabulous. Finding a restaurant you know the menu of brings new meaning to the phrase 'comfort food'. I'm all for trying new things but after so many months the novelty wears off and you just want something recognizable! Although of course they have their cultural variations on the menu as well. For example: kimchi fried rice.

both from Yeongdo 75 Square

The next day we met the aforementioned friend from Busan with her husband and daughter and went to the aquarium. Afterwards they took us to one her favorite restaurants in Busan called VIPs, which is a smorgasbord buffet style place and a Korean chain. Then we all went on walk on a path that goes around Haeundae Beach and past the Nurimaru APEC House, a conference hall. It was a beautiful walk and I could have lingered there all day. It's also a very popular exercise spot with the locals so it was pretty crowded. I got a lot of looks due to my never ending picture taking.

APEC House

Haeundae Beach Lighthouse

I should mention that there is a large, fresh seafood market here as well, Jagalchi Market, which is supposed to be quite the thing to do and they pass out samples of their wares. Yes, still fresh. But honestly I couldn't stomach the thought of walking through row after row of raw fish and the accompanying smell and subsequent shoe mess. So we neglected the cultural aspect in favor of the glitz of tourist attractions. And I don't regret it one bit!

The day we left we went to Chinatown and shopping area for foreigners. It mostly caters to Russians as there is a large Russian population in Busan. We ate lunch at a Chinese restaurant where I had seafood fried rice with real crab meat for 5 bucks. Can't get those prices in good ol' USA!

Gasan Mountain Fortress

I realized while editing this blog for book print that I double blogged this. Oh well!

 Wanting something to do as a day trip, we settled on this fortress that I happened to discover some information about. It was a nice drive with some interesting things to see. The fortress, I believe, is almost entirely rebuilt from the original, though much smaller. The original was built, of course, during the Joseon era. It consisted of the 'layers', and outer, inner, and central wall and is supposed to be one of a kind in Korea. There's not much other information that I can find. 

back side of fortress gate

view along top of the wall

It was a bit of drive to the fortress, with lots of great scenic views of mountains and overviews of valleys. We also passed some interesting restaurants along the way!

Or, if you were in a more DIY kind of mood, you could buy some freshly killed pheasants to take home. 

Scenic Drive

I found a tourist map of the county we live in and gave it a good look over. It was in Korean so I could only go by the pictures to find what looked interesting. There were several small things here and there to look at so this Saturday we got in the car to go for a drive and check it out, stopping periodically for photo ops. The first place we saw was this temple. It was an eye catching sight; driving along looking at the bare winter landscape and then this large gold statue with the sun shining directly on it.

Buddhism has various influences, this sect was obviously influenced by India. There were several signs around, but they were all in Korean. There was chanting over some loud speakers echoing off the hills so it felt like you were surrounded by people chanting. It was kind of neat. Here is the temple.

We continued on our way, snapping a few more photos along the way.

It was a beautiful drive and we arrived at our intended destination, Gasansanseong Fortress. I was quite proud that I was able to read that in Hangul all by myself! But I couldn't read anything else so I didn't know anything about it except what was in the picture. When we got to the park area where it was, this wonderfully nice park ranger came out to talk to us. He spoke English well enough and asked if we wanted him to show us around a little bit. So we said yes and he took us to this Buddhist temple close by that was built by some guy who still lives there. I believe it's considered rude to take pictures inside the temple so I didn't. He showed us how he does his bows (apparently people have their own personalized bows) and explained some of the things in there to us. Then he showed us how to get to the fortress and gave us his card and said to call when we came back. He was so nice, I wish I had taken a picture of him!

The fortress entrance, obviously with some repair.

A view along the wall.

the gate from inside the fortress wall

A little history: This is a triple walled fortress, apparently the only one in Korea. The first wall was built circa 1640 and the last built circa 1700. There are supposed to be some remnants of what some sources call a castle inside this area, but I didn't see them. I also don't understand the triple wall; it looked like one wall to me.

Because it was so cold this day...

...(the water is frozen solid coming out of that pipe!) we just continued our scenic drive back to our home.

There were several of these boat restaurants. We also passed one that was an old airplane!

Waegwan War Memorial

While very few Americans could probably even name the decade the Korean War was fought in, the Korean people are still hurting from this 60 year old war. It was their civil war, except no one really won, and their country still remains divided. Here is a quote from the museum that I felt very moved by: "We still cannot heal all the scars left in our heart, but have opened an era of dialogue & cooperation. We wish the long cherished peace would finally come, leaving the time of pain and sorrow behind."
This is a war memorial near where we live commemorating the war and also a battle that occurred in the area. It consists of a few outdoor monuments, some equipment set up outside, and a small museum detailing the battle and an overview of the war, with a small section giving props to the UN force. (I was shocked to learn that France contributed fighters, though even South Africa sent more. end sarcasm )

This is the museum in the background with the flags of the UN & participating countries in the foreground. You can also see some of the weapons behind the flags.


Here is a plaque describing the battle. I hope you can click on the photo to enlarge.


I like this one with the soldier on one side and the woman, presumably his love, holding the Korean flag on the other side, separated by the memorial. (The above plaque was on this monument.)
The next is a combined memorial to Korean veterans from the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

I always feel very reflective at war memorials, which I guess is the point. I try to imagine what it would be like to live through such a thing. What is it like to fight for the survival of your country, yourself, your family? Where will your next meal come from? Will you be alive to eat it? How can you protect your children? They have photos of life during the war and it is so very sad.

Sorry it's sideways!

I always leave memorials feeling so grateful to be born as an American. American soldiers have left their blood in so many foreign lands, not because someone ordered them to, but because they believe in something bigger than self. They believe in their brothers in arms, in the cause of humanity, and they believe it's okay to love your country and be unabashedly proud. They choose honor over political correctness, selfless service over their 'right to free speech'. No matter how coarse they are or how arrogant they act I believe that for all their flaws American soldiers are truly the greatest and bravest in the world.

Apsan Mount

I'm rapidly becoming an outdoor person. With this climate who wouldn't be? Yes, it's cold, but that's what clothes are for, eh? So we were stir crazy Saturday and wanted to get the girls out of the house. A drive to Daegu was in order. But what to do once we got there? Hey, let's follow the signs for Apsan! Apsan Park is comparable to what we would consider a very small national park. I knew that they had a cable car there and some pretty decent views of the city. That was the extent of my knowledge. Once we arrived & did a preliminary recon Matt decided it was too 'outdoorsy' for him in this cold weather & drove off. However, after proclaiming my extreme displeasure at this tyranny, he relented and we went back.

We parked & bundled up for the walk to the cable car. It was about a 3/4 mile uphill walk on a sidewalk trail. It's a park area with benches and typical park things. There are also numerous dirt trails through the forested area as well. It was a beautiful walk as the snow is still lingering and the area is very rocky; strewn with boulders and capped with snow.
Of course there was a temple also. I believe there are several scattered around the park; it just depends on which trail you take as to which one you see. This one was very small, & I thought it seemed somehow nicer than others we've been to. (Well, as nice as a place that encourages idol worship can be!) Maybe because it was primarily a temple & not a popular tourist destination.
We got our tickets for the cable car & rode up. Carrie was very proud of herself for not being afraid. She's usually resistant to new things, (much like her father), but we've been in cable cars enough times now that I suppose she's used to it. The last cable car down left about 45 minutes after we got to the top, so we didn't have a huge amount of time to linger. There's a lot of space at the top to explore; it's not just an observation deck like most cable cars end up at. (They have the option to take the car up and hike back down or vice versa as well.) It was still very icy so it was kind of slow going. But of course it was beautiful up top, with quite a view of the city. Take a look!

Snow!

I was cleaning up from breakfast & looked out of the kitchen window and saw it: white flakes floating gently down. I tried not to get too excited because it has flurried several times here but never stuck. So every few minutes I would glance back outside and there it was, still falling and now covering the ground. Not wanting to delay any longer and fearful of missing any more flakes I rushed to get the girls bundled up and out we went. It's amazing how infectious excitement is. Emily, having no idea what snow was, was cheering with me to go out, while Carrie took a little more coaxing but eventually got into the spirit. Carrie doesn't remember her first snow, but at the time she was afraid of it, so I was a little apprehensive as to how Emily would react. No worries. She loved it. She just walked around the playground rubbing her (mittened) hands in every pile of snow she could find. At this point it hadn't been snowing long enough to have much built up, but the snow was falling harder and we went inside to warm up and eat and come back out later.

Later, about an inch or so more snow had fallen. I took the girls to "Hill 303" behind our building, where there is also a large public field they use to play sports on the weekend. So we had a whole field of new snow to play on all to ourselves. That was fun. A small snowball fight, some snow angels. Tried to make a snowman but the snow was very fine and powdery so gave up on that. We stayed there for a while then went back down to the playground where some other kids were out now and having a snowball fight. Carrie eventually joined in but by then Emily was so cold and not at all happy about that so we had to go in.


The girls had fun playing and I had fun playing with them too, but I really loved simply watching the snow fall. It was just so beautiful to me. This is only the fourth time in my life that I remember snow and I still get just as excited as any kid about it.