Enjoying Time Off

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On Sunday, I decided to adventure out on my own into Bundang. To give you some understanding, Bundang is to Seoul like North York is to Toronto. I was definitely in search of some western food and some black tea.

I had looked up what buses to take the day before, so I was a bit hesitant to take a local's advice about taking a different bus, especially considering the language barrier. He used his cell phone to translate a couple things he wanted to say, so I would understand, such as "after 20-30 minutes, get off the bus with me" and after I transferred "the bus driver will tell you where to go". He also welcomed me to Korea and wished me a happy new year.

AK Plaza was pretty quiet when I first arrived, but things picked up around noon. I had plans on going to Traveler's Bar, a pub run by a Canadian ex-pat and his wife. However, on the website's directions, it mentioned that you had to go past a Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts. As soon as I was off the bus, I saw a Dunkin Donuts (be it a different one than in the directions), and tried a cacao honey dip donut, which tasted like a chocolate glaze donut from Tim Horton's. Delicious!

I then walked through AK Plaza (closed on Sundays) and went to Starbucks. Not only did they have black tea, they had English Breakfast (my favourite!). So I happily caved and bought a grande English Breakfast tea for 4,100₩ (~$4 CAD) and a scone ($3ish). Sooooooo delicious! I was able to refill my tea mug with more hot water as well. I took some time to catch up on my paper journal and do some people watching. It was definitely relaxing.

Around 2pm, I wandered over to Traveler's. I ordered some medium wings and a pint of Cass. The medium wings definitely tasted more like HOT wings, but it didn't matter. I've basically eaten vegetarian since I got here, so the idea of protein was awesome. I also tried the garlic bread, but it isn't worth trying to compare it to the Canadian equivilent. I got talking to a guy named Travis there, who is an American from Seattle. He's been teaching here on and off for about 14 years. It was nice to get some advice on things and to speak English to someone other than Griff. Travis also taught me how to say 'Yongin' properly (emphasizing the proper syllables, rather than westernizing it), and how to say Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Korean ("Hangook day hak geo"). Try saying that five times fast. I stopped back at Starbucks before going home to buy a much-needed travel mug for my tea.

When I transferred buses on the way home, there was a list of buses that stopped at that bus stop. 26 buses stop there! And that was just an ordinary bus stop! I'm glad I made it home safe.

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Photos

A Taste of Home
Me enjoying my English Breakfast tea and scone in Starbucks.

"Medium" Wings
My medium wings were definitely hotter than your typical medium wing.

Which Direction to...?
Changing buses at Ori Station. So many options!