Korea Man and the Tentacled culinary treat

After a pleasant night with the locals of Busan at Thursdays we were graced with our favorite South African from Seoul to start the day off at the beach. Our company of once three and now four would again turn into The Five later that day when another friend from Atlanta would join us for the day. 

The plan was simple and laid back like the waves of the beach. We would soak and marinate in the rays of the sun under a nice orange umbrella until we met up with our fellow Atlantan.

My friend Sheila graced us with her presence and we proceeded to catch up on her life in Korea since she started teaching English here. After some much needed sun basking to recover from the night before we proceeded to walk along the beach when we ran into Korea Man. You could compare him to a Korean Captain America with a badass bike and the Korean Pandoras Box at his side (It might have contained the secret Kimchee that prevented Korea from totally being consumed by SARS).

The end of the beach started with a walkway along the rocky edge of the City. Some nice scenery along with a nice walkway had us wandering about until we had to go back to the hostel to get our bearings for the night ahead. 

Actually nevermind; we ended up finding some Padang to eat before heading back to the hostel. Padang can be considered the Korean omelette and it's quite good and very affordable. This being Busan meant our Padang had a good bit of seafood in it. 

That night was the night we all agreed to try the live octopus that I had been thinking about since the day I arrived in Korea. We hit up the same market from the night before and sat around the table waiting for our live squirmy friend to pop up. I wanted to try and eat a whole octopus but the ones the restaurant had were too big so there was an actual danger of choking on it. The eight legged creature was hacked and sacked and served to us on a plate accompanied with green onions, sesame seeds, and a bit of soy sauce. The plate was very much alive with what looked like octopus waves created by the wiggling of all the tentacles. 

We also feasted upon some tiger prawns, Scallops, salmon cheek, and some fish soup at the end. 

After dinner Sheila pointed out that Busan is the perfect place to shoot fire works off the beach. We would find ourselves in a cab on a mission to make it happen.

Everyday is Thursday at Busans

On the way we picked up a bottle of Maggoli to keel us over until we could find a good spot. Maggoli is a very popular rice pulp wine , it's milky and you see it everywhere. We started the night at a Bier Garten of all places where we witnessed an altercation with a Korean girl and a group of her friends. She was yelling hysterically for a good bit until the cops eventually showed up. We had no clue what happened and proceeded to go about our night.

The eel we consumed earlier that night pretty disappeared in our stomachs and we found ourselves hungry again. The need for a drunken meal that would hold us over for the restaurant had us visiting the kernel of poultry himself. They are quite abundant in Korea and scattered everywhere assuming the city is big enough. What makes them even more dangerous is that they're open 24 hours a day so there's no escaping its' potential pull (fortunately for me I have a preference for the Korean street food that lines the streets at night).

 

With out stomachs full of chicken and some horrible processed meat that I will never try again; we wandered around following the light and the noise. As it got brighter and louder and found ourselves in front of a bar called Thursdays. After taking a peek inside we saw something somewhat rare depending on where you've been in Korea. We saw an eclectic mix of foreigners and Koreans and it did not seem subtly segregated at all. The music was good and the crowd looked appealing so we stepped inside and started with some Jager shots (the shots were super cheap compared to most spots).

We made friends with a Korean couple that was sitting at the bar and a group of Koreans that were sitting next to us at our table. Needless to say they made for an interesting night filled with cultural conversations and a highly skewed game of darts. 

This shirt really gave me a laugh considering how popular the Maroon 5 song has been in the last number of months.

The next called for some beach relaxation and more of the same seafood antics with some moving food.

Poseidon's Market

After Checking into our hotel the first  spot he ventured out to in Busan is it's famous fish market. This  market had it ALL iin terms of seafood. They had all kinds of fish, eels, crabs, crustaceans, shell fish, sharks, rays, sea squirts, sea cucumbers, octopus, squid, etc. The first floor is where you go ahead and buy the critters and you can have them prepared upstairs in the dining hall. We did a good amount of walking around before heading upstairs for food since there was lots to see. 

When we did finally ead upstairs we ran into a ery eccentric food shop owner named Jackie. His english was good and his food shop was good enough to land him on TV so it seemed like we were in for a treat. We weren't too hungry so we decided to play it safe and just order a serving of eel. The eel was fluffy and well seasoned and it was just the right amount to do us good until later that night. We witnessed a "Soju parade" while we were eating. It was about 30-40 people walking in single file with Soju shirts and electrical signs advertising the famous drink of choice.

Some walking around took place after dinner and it lead us to a long set of 4 escalators upto a temple and tower. It was about 11PM but the locals still trickled in to walk their dogs or just spend some time outside. There was nice little love chair that got us in the cozy spirit for a group shot. 

Our spirits were up and anticipation for a good night took over so we went on the hunt for some good watering holes. 

Fear and Loathing in Andong with a requiem for a hangover part 3: the soju diaries

Peter Dye Diaries:

I opened my eyes the morning after arriving in Andong and I had a terrible pain in my leg. I looked around the room and saw Phil completely naked, passed out on top of the dresser holding a spear in one hand and an empty bottle of andong soju in the other. I looked down at my leg and it seemed Phil had stabbed me with a spear. Edgar was no where to be found. We eventually found him outside riding a horse around the village. But since he was sitting on the horse backwards the horse was just aimlessly plowing through hut after hut.  Most of the traditional folk village was in ruins but the mayor of the city greeted us warmly and handed us the keys to the city. This was probably due to the fact that we blended in so seemlessly with the culture and introduced so much revolutionary technology to the city. 

When discussing our favorite parts of andong we had so many precious memories to share with the world. Edgar and Phil climbed up a mountain and backflipped off the top of it and landed in a bbq restaurant and ordered some sam gyup sal. 

Phil's (English Bloke) Tale:

Having a masters in chemistry, I obviously have a vast knowledge of reactions. I thought it would be necessary to spread this knowledge to the people of Andong. Using only mud, sticks and a smidge of chewing gum, I erected my lab for the people of the village. What were the essentials in the village? As it turns out, rice was the 'hot' word coming from the ruby red lips of the villagers. So, I hot footed it to the lab with my reactions and a  copy of the DVD of 'Honey I Blew The Kids' to make a super grain of rice of the white variety. After 2 hours I formulated the reaction. For you non-chemists out there, I have watered down the very complex reaction below:

2 parts 40% Andong soju  +  1.5  bags of wank   -------->   super rice grain

I waited nervously for the reaction to finish. After the smoke cleared, I stood in awe of the 2m rice grain. I picked it up, cradling it for a second, just like I did with my wife's first born. I took it outside to the people of Hahoe and we ate for hours and hours and rejoiced the reaction of the super grain.

Then, Edgar offered our bus driver a pint of 40 percent andong soju and he happily accepted. The bus driver instantly developed the crazy eyes and the shakes and we careened into the rice fields. We swam to safety and saved the lives of the andongians. 

Then, Doc Mandu showed up in his time travelling umbrella. He said we had to travel back in time to prevent the destruction of  Andong. I said "Doc Mandu, there are no roads here for us to reach 88 miles per hour." He replied " Where we're going we don't need roads."

After beating the nonsense out of Doc Mandu, he promptly apologised for his bananas outburst and shamely mounted his umberella, and travelled back to 1960s England to drop acid. 

We apologized to the people of Andong for destroying their village and they responded simply in Korean with "It's cool man. This shit happens all the time." 

Edgar's (Supposed) Entry:

Edgar was nowhere to be found after the rice patty crash but it has been rumored in the lst couple of minutes that the Andong dragon-snake came up and swallowed him whole. Only time will tell if Edgar is to rejoin the triple threat (Three Willys) on our way to the mountains of Sokchu. RIP Edgar JuSayO...

   

Holiday park basking

The day started rather early considering most of went to bed around 7ish. Some of the group was rounded and we headed out to the market. We were still on cloud 9 from the night before so the subway trip to the market felt more like an event itself rather than the usual train commute. 

One thing to notice in many of the metro stations is the presence of gas mask stations scattered around in case of emergencies.

One of the advertisement posters in the subway called to me to replicate it's expressions so I couldn't resist.

We stoppe by a convenience store right before the market to stock on refills and the local shop owner found us particularly entertaining. She enthusiastically kept talking to us with big gestures. Some sign language was exchanged along with some laughs and than she handed me an energy drink filled with vitamins (I guess I looked like I needed it?). She gladly posed for a picture.

The market we strolled through was a straight shot and pretty thorough containing the essential seafood, grains, vegetables, meats, ailments, and household items. 

There was one aspect of the market that turned eery once a picture was attempted to be taken. As we walked by we noticed  a rather huge dead quad legged animal inside a glass box next to some meat cuts. I got closer with curiosity and thought for a second that it could be lamb. Once getting a closer look at it though I noticed that it was definitely not lamb. The dead skinned animal inside was a whole dog ready for consumption. I'm not going to lie I was rather uncomfortable seeing mans' best friend ready to eat at a market but I place no judgements at all. I would definitely try it and the dogs that are sold in the markets are bred for eating. They don't take any random dog off the street for consumption. Needless to say although many of the Koreans I met say they've tryed it and they like it there is still an air of discomfort around the subject. My friend Mercia attempted to take a picture of the dog but the booth keeper furiously got up and starting screaming in Korean so we just apologized and walked off. I'm sure she was  aware about how many westerners disagree with this practice. 

After a phone call upon leaving the market we were invited to a big park along the Han River. Once there we were greeted by many other ex-pat teachers who were enjoying the holiday by sulking in the sun on the park. The people were great and the atmosphere was definitely festive. 

We were exhausted by the end of the day and did nothing but let our bodies rest that night after a two day bender. The next stop would be Busan for some coastal fun.