Tulip Festival and Plane to Busan

Hi everyone, I know it's been a couple weeks since my last post and I appreciate your patience, to say I've been busy might be an understatement. Phew so while I have moment to catch my breath let me update you on what's been going on in my life since midterms! I can't be certain but I think the past two weeks have been the busiest I have ever been since being here in Korea! Planning and going on two separate trip within the span of two weeks is not for the faint of heart my friends but the motto I live by here in Korea is "so much to do and so little time" and with that in mind I did what anyone with a crippling fear of FOMO does, I booked two trips at 3AM in the morning in the dining room of a 24hr McDonalds haha. >.<

Before I start I feel like I should issue a disclaimer, I didn't just fully and blindly jump into making these plans I did a fair share of scouting and preplanning in my earlier days here in Korea but with midterms controlling my life for two whole weeks I was pressed into a do or die situation when it came to my first of two trips, a weekend trip to Taean for their annual Tulip Festival. So if you've been following along the festival usually runs for a month and with it starting the week I was in Jeju and fast forward through two weeks of midterms, this past weekend was our last chance to make the trek to the countryside for one of the highest rated flower festivals in the WHOLE WORLD! If you know anything about me you know I'm not the biggest fan of the outdoors and nature but the chance to see a festival like this could potentially be once in a lifetime for me so it definitely made my list of "must do activities". I wouldn't say I'm a world traveler or anything to that extent but I do have my fair share of international experience but the struggle to plan Taean was this close to pushing me over the edge into complete madness. Unlike previous trips in Korea I couldn't buy a KTX train ticket nor a plane ticket or anything of that sort since Taean is such a remote coastal city on Korea's west coast. This meant I had to buy an intercity bus ticket but lucky me this website was fully in Korean and also so prehistoric that it refused to take any foreign credit cards *crying* which meant we had to make an in person visit to the intercity bus terminal to hand purchase tickets. If that wasn't enough the bus wouldn't take us directly to our hotel, we had to first take a metro to the bus terminal in Seoul, ride the intercity bus to Taean city and then proceed to take a taxi/catch a public bus to our accommodations. Coupled with the fact that total travel time was 3+ hours I had a mini panic attack just thinking about it. But hey what's the old saying "no pain no gain"??? the gain better be amazing because the pain was positively excruciating. Fast forward to departure day and thank the heavens for all the planning because everything went off without a hitch and by the afternoon we were ready to be blown away by a magical tulip experience. Ok so I'm not the best person to be critiquing and evaluating a flower festival it's not exactly my forte but even as a complete novice it definitely ranked as the best flower experience of my life! With millions of tulips making up a sea of vibrant colors and arranged into various designs all according to the festivals yearly theme it was a dazzling carnival for all senses! Seeing so many different colors and species of tulips I haven't previously seen before was truly awe-inspiring! The highlight for me was definitely taking in the sunset as the soft golden light bathed the tulip gardens like a scene out of a movie or a fairy tale. Ok now as broker of honesty I will give you some of the lowlights from my trip so you can make an informed decision if you're ever posed with the opportunity to visit Taean. You already know about my gripes with the transportation from metropolitan Seoul to Taean but the extent to which we had problems with public transportation was just getting started. Whether it was local busses that came so infrequently that they didn't have a running schedule to taxis that only operate in certain areas of the city my fear of getting completely stranded in Korea was so close to being a reality. Secondly, if you're not a fan of seafood you will definitely struggle with eating options in Taean. As an adventurous eater I was excited to try locally caught fresh blue crabs that are a local specialty, prepared as Ganjang Gejang (raw and marinated) and Gaegukji (crab and seafood stew) and while both were really tasty and an excellent experience they were definitely an acquired taste not for the faint of heart. Because Taean is so rural, there a few options like in Seoul so picky eaters or those of you with dietary restrictions be prepared to either do a deep dive into accommodating restaurants or to live off of convenience store food. Finally, you probably guessed it but Taean was sorely lacking in activities to do especially past 8pm at night. We visited an arboretum, the local beaches and sand dunes which were all categorized as "must do" (and they were really pretty and fun) but besides that there are few activities that can sustain a longer trip. All in all I had a fun time all things considered and I would recommend making the long trek from Seoul but only if you are in season to visit the tulip festival and you are probably better off spending just a single night like I did or two nights at the most or there's a chance you die from boredom.

When I say Busan what do you think of? Instinctively I think of "Train to Busan" the cinematic masterpiece of 2016 starring Korean actors Don Lee (Eternals), Choi-woo Sik (Parasite & Okja) and Gong Yoo (Squid Game). If you haven't seen the movie yet please do yourself a favor and stop being lazy and read the subtitles! It's on Netflix right now and is rated a whopping 94% on Rotten Tomatoes!! If there was one destination outside of Seoul I was most excited for it was definitely Busan and I am happy to report it lived up to and even exceeded the hype I had for it! For the sake of time ( I don't have 3 hours to kill) we didn't train haha we "planed" and fortunately there was no outbreak of any infectious diseases...ughhh I guess COVID-19 kinda counts?? but none of the zombie variety, and a short hour later plane ride later we arrived! Before I move on let me just say that the idea of watching "Train to Busan" while on a train to Busan is a fantastic idea and someone who reads this please do this for me and tell me how the movie timed itself out between the movie and real life lmaooo!!

After doing tedious research and after lots of hard decisions we decided to play the tourist card and visited the following places in Busan:

- BIFF Square

- Gamcheon Culture Village

- Gukje Market

- Gwangalli Beach

- Haeundae Beach

- Haeundae Blueline Park

- Haeundae Market

- Jagalchi Market

- Magnate Cafe (Jimin's Dad's Cafe)

- Shinsagae Centum Busan

- Songdo Cable Car

- Trickeye Museum

And of course no blog would be complete without the extensive list of local speciality foods I had to get my hands on:

- Chimaek (Chicken & Beer)

- Dwaeji Gukbap (Pork and Rice Soup) @Gukbap Alley Seomyeon

- Eomuk (Fishcake)

- Grilled Eel @Eel Street Haeundae Market

- Haemul Pajeon (Seafood Pancake)

- Milmyeon (Busan Naengmyeon)

- Patbingsu (Busan Bingsu)

- San-nakji (Raw Octupus)

- Ssiat Hotteok (Seed Hotteok) @BIFF Square

Let's start with the highlights, I would definitely recommend Jagalchi Fish Market as it's the largest fish market South Korea has to offer, and is also a fun opportunity to brush up on your marine biology and haggling skills! Honestly, the seafood wasn't that spectacular like everyone was telling me it would be but definitely take the opportunity to try San-nakji the infamous raw squirmy octopus you've definitely seen on some list of weird foods. Just be careful to chew well it will stick to your throat and choke you! My favorite meals of the trip was definitely the Dwaeji Gukbap and wow the Ssiat Hotteok was amazing! I swear it's always the simplest most seemingly underwhelming foods that end up being the best! The Dwaeji Gukbap, piping hot filled with generous pieces of fatty pork in a rich creamy bone broth seasoned to taste with salt, white pepper and salted shrimp and of course accompanied with a generous helping of rice and noodles to round out an already amazing dish. And the Ssiat Hotteok, the ultimate dessert, fried to order on a flattop full of butter until golden brown and crispy and filled with honey and assorted seeds and nuts including peanuts and sunflower seeds. The contrast of textures and flavors forming what could only be called flavor heaven. Just writing about both of these dishes now and reminiscing about what each bite tasted like has me salivating and eagerly anticipating my next Busan trip! In today's world no trip can be considered complete without amazing picturesque photo opportunities and Busan doesn't disappoint. From the colorful houses that make up Gamcheon Village, amazing scenic views from both the Songdo and Haeundae Blueline cable cars to the famous beaches of Gwangalli and Haeundae and the many cafes in between, you are sure to find amazing photos guaranteed to make all your friends jealous when you post it to your Instagram! If you're a fan of shopping and need a break away from the beach or the markets make sure to give the Shinsegae Centum Busan a visit! As the Guiness record holder for the largest shopping complex in the world Finally, while they were few I do have some of what I consider lowlights and while they are completely personal and subjective I would like to share them with you in an objective manner lest it help you the next time you're in Busan. As I mentioned before the seafood experience I had definitely left something to be desired. While the cultural experience remained incredible I am not sure if we just so happened to have struck out on all our market vendor and restaurant choices but whew I think I'll be sticking to food of the land variety for the foreseeable future! And finally as a self proclaimed germaphobe, the amount of trash littering the streets in Busan and the putrid smell that came with it was nothing short of a nightmare. It was somehow worse than Seoul in the way that the smell seemed to get stuck in your mask and follow you around even after the trash was no longer in sight! bleghhhh! All in all, Busan was an extremely fun experience and much much MUCH more fun than Jeju! (I guess I really am a city person through and through after all) With so much that I want to visit again and even more that I have yet to explore I can't wait to get the opportunity to visit Busan in the hopefully near future! I think I might be able to give seafood another try in due time and hopefully the trash problem gets better or I can bring a travel sized lysol to spray the inside of my mask with! See you next time Busan, thanks for all the unforgettable memories! :)

Wow even I got tired recapping the past two weeks but I am definitely glad I did both trips with my friends! Full of lots of amazing experiences, memories, foods and of course the occasional learning experiences sprinkled in as well! I made a promise to myself that every week I would do at least one "trip" whether it was a day trip or something of the overnight variety and I am truly happy and lucky to be surrounded by friends who share the same passions and interests I do! When you're on study abroad make lots of good friends as they play a huge role in the type of experiences you'll have and even whether you reminisce upon your time here fondly or with some regrets. Just dive right in and have a good time I believe in you! I'll get off of my soap box now I hate to sound preachy haha and I'll leave you with some of my favorite memories I was able to capture on camera! Once again thank you for reading and happy swiping! Until next time see ya! :)

<3

Derren