Busan : My Family in Korea

Continue with my Busan trip Day 11 ( i think ? ) lol

It was the day after Chu Seok. Omoni has to rush back to her motel because there are 50 indonesian tourists checking in that day. So Oppa and i continued the night meeting his Uni mates.

It was my first time drinking peach soju. Very nice and better than the original one because it is a little fruity. Girls will like it better. There are grapes , peach and apple flavours. KRW1,200 per bottle. Cheaper than your bottle of coke.

Korean chicken. Beer + Chicken.

This was the 2nd round. We had the first round and after that we moved to the 2nd round and then 3rd round. Never ending. I felt tired after the 2nd round already because in SG , we dont have the habit of going places for drinks and food. It can start at 7pm and ends at 3am in the morning or sometimes 4 am ( eat , drink and talk and it just keeps going on for hours ) . I was quite amazed by this culture at first but after 2 years , im used to it already.

The day after Chu Seok , Omoni , oppa and i had lunch with his paternal uncle at their hometown in Busan which is Haeundae . His mother started to introduce me to their relatives and im supposed to visit his grandmother too.

We had traditional Korean course lunch at a fine dining restaurant.

A traditional course that were used to be served to royalties.

The food just kept coming and coming.

I think we had over 18 dishes. They came in small portions.

Name of restaurant is Ye Yi Je . It means past and present.

We had our lunch near Hotel Paradise.

After which we went to Dalmaji-gil (달맞이길) in Haeundae.

It is like the Montmarte in Paris. Alot of hipster cafes serving nice and affordable food.

You will get to see alot of wedding photoshoot studios there too. Some of which we were eyeing at. This is a good place to go to during autumn and spring. Because you can sit at the alfresco or indoor cafes and admire the maple leaves during autumn or cherry blossoms during spring. The trees along the street and road will look beautiful and colourful during these 2 seasons.

Oppa’s friend opened a shabu shabu restaurant so we decided to pop-by.

His restaurant. We went there abit early so it was empty. But crowd starts streaming in during dinner time.

Self-service dessert bar where you can help yourselves with free flow of coffees , popcorns , sweets , teas , biscuits , cookies etc etc. It is complimentary for all customers.

Our Shabu Shabu beef set which comes with self-service Vietnamese spring roll wrap ( at only KRW 17,000 per pax )

You are supposed to pour the rice into the soup at the last part and stir it so that it will become porridge. It is sooo yummmy ok ! That bowl of yellow stuff was beaten egg which you are supposed to add into the porridge to make it sweet. I can have many bowls of these !

The plastic looking thing is the clear vietnamese rice roll wrap. Texture was like plastic when it was hard.

Just soak into this red solution which i guess is red vinegar . Then the harden wrap will become soft and you can start doing your own vietnamese spring roll wrap with all the veges.

After that , we decided to chill out at a cafe for desserts and some catch up. One of his friend was a Korean air stewardess so i managed to exchanges some travelling tips and places to go in Europe with her.

Dalmaji-gil. You can see some Japanese islands from Dalmaji-gil by sitting at the top floor of the cafes. Imagine these rows of green trees turns red and yellow during autumn or filled with cherry blossoms during spring.

Me , oppa and his friends whom i called Onni because they are older than me.

On the day before we left for SG , his mother brought us to a famous live eel bbq restaurant at the outskirts of Busan. You can see alot of restaurants there serving live eel bbq. Yes , the eels were sliced and cut live before BBQ so you can see the muscles still twitching when they serve the plate below onto the table. I posted a video on my instagram.

To be honest , it tasted better than frozen eels. The meat is very tender , fresh and qq.

If you are traveling to Seoul and Busan , you should travel to the outskirts of Seoul and Busan too. Because you can find many nice , good and cheap food . Not only that , you can enjoy and embrace nature and the fresh air.

Nice and cooling weather at 20 degrees celsius. Eat and eat and eat until looked so chubby and cui in Korea. Lol.

After our hearty meal , we went for a stroll up a little hill near Omma’s house.

Even Bomi joined us too.

I miss our room 😦

We always stayed at the biggest room in Omma’s motel whenever we are there.

Found this on youtube.

This was the room on the 8th floor which we always sleep in whenever we are at Omma’s motel in Gimhae which is 20 mins drive from Busan. It is 10 mins from Gimhae airport. Gimhae and Busan is just like Incheon and Seoul.

Airport of Seoul is in Incheon and airport of Busan is in Gimhae.

Busan is the 2nd largest city in Korea after Seoul. Yes in Busan , you can find the world’s largest shopping mall (Centum City / Shinsaegae ). Will intro more about Busan next time.

And here is another big room.

Room rates range from KRW50,000 to KRW 70,000 depending on the no. of pax.

The airport of Seoul is at Incheon and the airport of Busan is at Gimhae.

Most of the time , we stayed at oppa’s brother’s apartment in Seomyeon, Busan.

We go to Gimhae and help his mum out at her motel over the weekend.

Will talk about about this accommodation next time 🙂 Lotte water park, Lotte premium outlets , Lotte mart , Gimhae airport are just nearby Omma’s motel , that’s why there are foreigners checking in these days 🙂

Hehe finally done documenting my 2nd trip to Busan. Looking forward to the next trip !!

Next up is K-beauty and new posts about financial matters 🙂

Busan : Where to go and eat

Oct5

Day 4 , 5 , 6 and 7 in Busan, South Korea.

Here we go !

I came back weighing 54kg. OMG . I went there with my luggage weighing 15kg and came back with almost 30kg because it was filled with food and my skincare stock ups as well as my friends’ stuff which they asked me to help them to buy.

One thing i absolutely looked forward to was the BBQ. I can eat till my heart content and the price was not expensive and the meat were sooo yummy and fresh.

Here we are at one popular BBQ place in Seomyeon , Busan. The place where the talk about marriage started.

The place was huge and really spacious. There are private rooms , traditional floor seatings or table seatings. The decors and interiors are so nice. The toilets are even nicer. I kinda enjoy the toilet tours in big shopping malls like Shinsaegae and big restaurants like this. They looked so grand , bigger and better than some 5 star hotels’ toilets. The interior decors for the make-up area are baroque style.

The name of the restaurant.

After BBQ , Koreans usually have cold noodles or rice.

Oppa’s mum ordered rice whereas both of us had cold noodles and one of them was the North Korean cold noodles.

Saw a couple of restaurants serving North Korean food. Wanted to try but maybe next time. Saw the menu and food looks almost similar to South Korean food.

After our lunch , we went to Seomyeon and that’s when the shopping started. I got only some new make up products ( which i will review soon once i started using them for almost a week. Can’t tell if a product is good after 1 try. Will need a week for me to see if it is good or not ). Didn’t get alot because i know i will be going back again in 7 mths’ time and they will change the packaging and improve their products frequently. So there is no need for massive stock up therefore i just get what i need only. Haha and most of the bulk of the make up buys belong to my friends. Their shopping lists are longer than mine.

I really love Seomyeon . Not because of the shopping but because it is quite a hip place and you can find both expensive and cheap things around easily. To the left of our apartment , you can find wet markets , mountains, cheap and nice food. To the right , is the hip place with all the shoppings , make ups , beauty , bars , food , cafes , supermarkets , aesthetics and plastic surgery clinics and departmental stores. Right infront is a departmental store and i can see people eating yummy buffets everyday in the mall when i do laundry at the balcony. Very convenient. There are 5 aritaums and many other brands just opposite our studio apartment that’s why i have no problem buying stuff for my friends. Also Lotte Department store and hotel are just 1 street away.

Oppa’s hometown is in Haeundae , Busan South Korea. Haeundae is a popular beach place and flooded with tourists and Koreans during summer because of its long coasts and beaches. And the world’s largest department store Shinsaegae is just nearby. Seafood restaurants , bars , chill out cafes and pubs everywhere in Haeundae. It is only 15 minutes drive from Seomyeon. Love these 2 places.

Well on Day 6 , we had Kimchi jiggae at the restaurant right below our apartment. Nice and cheap. I like the concept too.

There is a free flow self-help egg corner where you can fry omelette , scramble eggs or sunny side ups or whatever you want to do. Salt , pepper , oil and ketchup or mustard sauces were provided too.You will see this sign “SELF” in most Korean restaurants or petrol stations. It means self-service and it also means free flow also in restaurants.

Hehe i fried 4 omelette rolls and 1 sunny side up.

Our Kimchi jiggae hotpot. So yummmz !

Our pot of rice.

Our bill came up to KRW 13,000 for 2 pax. Which is approx SGD 14 for 2 pax. Damn cheap right ? Just take a lift down to 2nd floor and we can enjoy yummy food.

Korean drip coffee.

If you travel to Korea and had meals in restaurants , you will often see a coffee machine near the entrances. They are free of charge and are for their customers. Some Korean restaurants in SG do also provide the free coffees but quite rare.

One interesting concept i like about this Korean Kimchi jiggae restaurant was that the rice are free flow too and you get an entire pot from the rice cooker . Lol. It is a “SELF” corner too.

I have been taking the lift up to our apartment so many times since April and i didnt know there is an Amore Pacific office branch just right at the 4th floor of our building . I didnt know it until the lift door opened at the 4th floor because i pressed the lift button wrongly. Heh..it means buying my Hera and Sulwhasoo is so much easier now eh ???

Oh i always go to this restaurant that serves Jjim Ddak (Steam Soya Sauce Chicken) whenever i miss Singapore local home cooked food. It tastes like the chinese version and it is soo nice when served with sweet potato clear noodles.

Actually cooking Korean food can be easy if you know how to mix the sauce well and accurately. Oppa’s mother made Yangnyeom pork ribs and they tasted so good. Very easy , she just mixed the sauce for us in a bottle and we just throw in these ribs and fry with the sauce. I just managed to learn the recipes and how to mix different kind of sauces.

So yummy and i really have to master how to mix the sauces well.

That pork rib was for our lunch and here’s what we had for dinner after meeting his friends.

We spent most of our time in Seomyeon and Haeundae. His hometown was in Haeundae , Busan South Korea. Haeundae , Nampodong , Seomyeons etc are like towns or districts in Busan. Same as Myeongdong , Gangnam , Hongdae etc in Seoul.

So we spent most of our time meeting his friends in Haeundae and Seomyeon during the day and sometimes at night for drinks since he only get to see them twice a year when he goes back.

So we had Tonkatsu for dinner. Tonkatsu was very cheap and only 7500KRW per pax. I seriously need to exercise more soon because i have been eating so much and gaining so much weight !

On Day 7 , i went for my C curl perming. Initially , i wanted to go to Hwamiju in Seomyeon but hmm someone was lazy to walk there ( 10 minutes walk ) so we ended up at Juno Hair in Seomyeon which was just 2 minutes walk from our apartment.

I love getting my hair done in Korea because of the prices and services provided. Salons are spacious and the staff attended to their customers very fast. They will say sorry even if they made me waited for 2 minutes because he dropped the towel and he has to get a new one for me. Koreans don’t like to wait i realized. Alot of my friends complained that the cashiers in SG and staff in SG salons worked too slowly that’s why queuing and waiting time are always that long in SG.

I remembered having my hair dyed , volume rebonded , cut and wash all in 2-2.5 hours . I realized sometimes in SG , i was made to wait because the stylist was attending to other customers at the same time and i have to lie that i have something on so that they can work on me faster and put me as priority. Time is precious and i don’t like to sit there for 4 hours just for something that can be done in 2 hours.

While conditioning my hair , i was served tea and light snacks ( you can even ask for instant cup noodles if you haven’t had your meal ) and was given a crescent shape pillow for me to rest my arms and magazines. The cushion made everything comfy instead of having to bend my neck down to read the magazine or holding it up at a weird angle. You can put this cushion on the chair while getting your hair cut too. It will curve around your chair because of its crescent shape and it makes reading easier. You can also rest your arm comfortably.

Perming starts.

My own locker with keys to keep my belongings so i do not need to worry leaving my things unattended when i wash my hair.

Final touch up and trimming. Because i was the curls to look natural and slightly wavey.

Price tag for perming : KRW 120,000 which is approx SGD 130. I want to talk about maintaining C curls and i will blog about it later and separately.

Sunday , 27th Sept was Chu Seok( Thanksgiving day) and i wanted to buy Eu Yan Sang (bird nests) but can’t bring it into Korea. I brought them in before and they were confiscated at the Korea airport customs. Hmmm it was considered as livestock.

So i ordered from some Korean shopping sites and bought for his mum this set.

During Thanksgiving , Koreans give gifts such as traditional snacks , shampoos and food as gifts. Just like our Mooncake festival , we give out mooncakes and traditional snacks.

It comes with traditional silk scarf wrapping too.

Yay , i managed to wrap it up nicely !

After which , we went to Haeundae to meet his friends for dinner. His friend owned this restaurant so we get to eat alot of yummy food. This is considered first round and after that we went for 2nd and 3rd rounds at different places respectively. Initially i was amazed how Koreans can talk , eat and drink from dinner till early morning. After experiencing it for the past 2 years , i got used to it and kinda enjoy it because the food are always good and so much to eat , learn , talk and listen. That’s how i improve my Korean too. But usually i got tired after the 2nd round and started stoning at the 3rd round.