I left my heart in South Korea....

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Before coming to Japan, travelling to Korea was never something I'd really thought about. However, I made a friend here in Japan who was from Busan and one who had spent a month in Seoul, the capital city and from their stories I suddenly became curious and wanted to see for myself what it was like. Fukuoka sits just a short 3 hour boat journey away from the beautiful city of Busan so it was perfect for us to take a trip there and since we had a friend who lives there, we also bagged ourselves a free and very experienced tour guide!



There were 9 of us in total and our first challenge was to get ourself to Hakata Port by 7am in order to catch our boat. A few people had entered Japan through this port when arriving at the beginning of term so we all assumed they'd know the way... they didn't! So after a bus ride (that actually took us further away than where we started) and a number of different people trying to work out google maps, we made it with a few minutes to spare. I was really surprised by how small the boat we were going on was... I've been on party boats in Ibiza bigger haha... but the inside was soo spacious and comfy! The boat was called 'Kobe' and I've never seen a boat like it, it's got like stilts underneath it that glide through the water under the boat instead of the bottom of the boat touching the water... very strange. I was really surprised about how easy getting the boat was so I was glad that we'd chosen to do that instead of flying. Another benefit was that the port in Busan is pretty much right in the centre so you get off the boat and are right in the city!

We got off the boat and through customs smoothly and headed straight for our first hostel. Despite only being there for 3 nights, our friend had the genius idea to book us into a different hostel each night so we'd get to experience 3 different parts of the city. The hostel was called Sum Guesthouse. It was a pretty cool place, right in the centre of Busan and was almost cave like as you walked in, there was a nice common area (where we got free breakfast in the morning - I ended up eating some unknown but yummy soup, may have been ox bone!) and our bedrooms were made up of two sets of bunkbeds in each room(since our Korean friend was staying with his parents). We then went for our first Korean lunch, my first taste of Korea and I loveeeed it! It was like a stew made up of rice cake, fish cake and spicy sauce. A delicacy I wasn't so fond of was the boiled silkworm pupa bugs sold on the street. As we walked around the busy streets we came across loads of food stalls know as Biff Square and of course, me being me, I decided that I HAD to try the bugs... big mistake! I don't know how to describe the taste, maybe it wasn't that bad but its the thought that its a bug in your mouth and suddenly the skin bursts and all this stuff is in your mouth.. yucccck. Trying not to be rude to the little old woman on the stall who sold us the bugs (whilst she was cackling very loudly to herself!), I managed to spit it out and get myself some water before I threw up!! We then went to the fish market which Busan is famous for and saw all different types of fish; some that literally looked like a bowl of willies and some hugeee crabs. After we made our way to Taejongdae Park which is a massive hill with amazing sea views. I think it was here that I really began to fall in love with this beautiful country. Getting to and from the park meant getting on a bus and that was quite an experience to say the least!! They literally pack you on there like sardines and then take what seems like no care in their driving; everyone is pulling out in front of each other, breaks are being slammed and in turn you are being pushed and pulled whilst trying to keep your balance on the bus haha... still, what a experience!

For dinner we made our way back into the city centre as we were meeting our Korean friend's parents! We are all pretty nervous about this since we knew that traditionally Korean parents are strict. However, despite the language barrier, we managed to get by and had a really really great meal! We had Korean bbq which is like Japanese bbq where there is a bbq in the middle of the table and you are bought plates of meat and veg to cook yourself on it, but the Korean meat was even better!! As we went to leave we were shocked to discover that our friend's Dad had paid for the whole meal!! It was so kind of him, I was definitely not expecting it but my other friend who had spent a month in Korea (and studies it at university) said that it is just a Korean thing to do, maybe out of pride since he was the oldest there. For whatever reason he paid, I was incredibly grateful. One of the greatest things about Korea is that there seem to be dessert cafes EVERYWHERE!! So after dinner we went to one and ordered Bingsu. This is a dessert made of creamy shaved ice and toppings are then put on. Between the 9 of us we had a strawberry one, a green tea one and a traditional flavoured one (i'm not sure exactly what it was but kind of nutty), all 3 were sooo yummy and I can see why they are so popular all year round! After was a bit of shopping time. Another amazing thing about Busan is that at night, the city is still lively and shops remain open so, as a night person myself, this really appealed to me. Around the city there were amazing christmas lights up everywhere which I also loved and made me realise that like the Japanese, the Korean take such events very seriously when it comes to decorations! One thing that made me laugh is that they have cauliflowers growing in plant pots in the streets as decoration, I'd never seen the beauty in a cauliflower until now haha. Koreans are obsessed with trainers and with skincare!! Of course there were other shops, some weird ones like Samsung clothing, but every other shop was a cosmetics shop and everyone around has really cool trainers on since they are sold practically everywhere!



The next day we went to another park with more amazing views of the sea as well as the up and coming part of the city where all the sky scrappers and expensive apartment buildings are. There were loads of little bunnies running around the park, they were sooo cute. However, my highlights of the second day were our amazing second hostel, the Korean spa and the fried chicken! I'll start with hostel, we got off the subway and began walking towards the sea, there is a huge big suspension bridge going across the whole bay connecting the city and because I love Bristol so much, of course I get excited by suspension bridges! As we reached the sea front we turn into our hostel, The View, which is on the 9th floor of a tall building. When we got inside it was like a mini apartment with bathrooms, dressing room with fully lit mirrors, hairdryers, hair and skin products etc. then a kitchen and living room area which had an amazing view of the sea, beach and bridge. It was so nicely decorated, it was all modern and the walls were a light blue colour with white borders, it was just so cute! There were 5 bedrooms that went off the kitchen each with two bunkbeds inside. However, we only saw one other person briefly the whole time we were there so it was like having our very own apartment! I was reluctant to leave it when it was time to move to the third place!

I've only ever been to spa that has your standard pool, sauna, steam room, jacuzzi and treatment rooms so I was in for such a treat at the Korean spa!! I couldn't believe how cheap it was, we paid about £10 and spent four hours in there! Korea on a whole was pretty cheap though, a lot cheaper than the UK and slightly cheaper than Fukuoka where I'm living in Japan. The spa consisted of two stages. Firstly the baths where you are split up into male and female since you have to be naked to use the baths. This part was fairly similar to the Japanese onsens where you must shower first then you get into the baths. However the Korean style is that there are lots of different temperature baths and some with bubbles, some with minerals and even outside baths too. Once you get used to the whole being naked and everyone around you being naked thing (it does take some time, especially as a westerner where being naked in public is so taboo), it is so relaxing. The next stage is the different themed rooms. For this, you are given a set of clothes to put on, basically just a baggy tshirt and shorts and you join again with the males. There were so many different types of rooms; from standard saunas, to turkish baths, coal room, ice room, underwater room, electron energising room.... and even an outside foot spa! There we 13 in total and I think I tried nearly all of them. I left the spa feeling sooo relaxed. Next time I go to Korea, going to a spa is definitely high on my list and I would recommend it to EVERYONE... don't be scared of the whole naked thing, you get used to it and noone is really looking at you, other than to acknowledge the fact you're white (or red after you come out the hot baths, especially since none of them seem to go red like I did!). That's one thing I did notice more in Korea than in Japan though, people stare a lot more. I think it's partly to do with the fact they are not used to seeing westerners as much, especially in Busan (maybe its not the same in Seoul) but also to do with their culture since the Japanese are much more reserved and put a lot of emphasis on privacy so staring is incredibly rude where as in Korea they don't seem as bothered by it.

After doing some 'tax-free' shopping (yes since we were there on visitor's visas we could reclaim our tax wooo!) we decided to have dinner and since a speciality in Korea is fried chicken, we thought it would be rude not to try it!! How can you not love a country where their famous food is fried chicken?! We found a little restaurant on the water front, (which was super pretty as the bridge is all lit up at night) by out hostel and the waiters spoke some English which was helpful since our Korean friend had gone to spend the evening with his family. This is another difference with Japan since in Fukuoka most people don't speak any English, or they are not forthcoming with it if they do, whereas in Korea people want to talk to you and make you feel welcome! The fried chicken in Korea is served in big dishes that sit in the middle of table and you all share. Most of the food was served liked that, a bit like the Spanish with their tapas and I absolutely love this style of eating.. I get it from my Mum but I love being able to try a bit of everything! The most popular fried chicken is the sweet and spicy one so we ordered two of those and then thought we'd get in the Korean spirit and order beer to go with it. Most people apparently order one jug per table, not us.. we decided to have a huge jug each. My friend tried to order the beer in Korean but the waiter questioned her thinking she'd made a mistake when she told him again that we wanted one each he laughed at us obviously thinking we'd never finish it... of course we did haha! Our Korean friend also laughed when we told him and said that nobody does that. I guess thats the difference between western and asian drinking tolerances though!



Our third hostel, Calli Hostel, was much more hostel like since we were in proper dorms with other people but it was still really nice. It had only just opened a few months before and the manager told us that they also have a hostel in London too. After dropping our stuff we went for a walk around the surrounding traditional Korean markets. I think people were quite shocked to see us there and one woman even gave us some of the pigs ear she was selling for free so we could try the Korean delicacy! It was actually a really nice flavour, a little tough and gristly but overall good, a million time better than the bugs thats for sure!!! I also bought some really cool trousers off one of the stalls; they are black patterned trousers but are wooly inside! Apparently they are Granny trousers in Korea that old ladies wear in the winter but I love them, plus with the sudden drop of temperature as winter makes its way over, they are great!! We then went to Haedong Yonggunsa Temple which is on top of a hill but therefore overlooks the sea. I found the Korean style of temple a lot prettier than the Japanese since there are a lot more colours and there's gold everywhere. Plus the amazing scenery add a lot to it, some of the temple is built out on the rocks and some even underground. For lunch we went to a Chinese restaurant but this was the Korean take on Chinese food so of course was incredibly spicy!!! I had Champong that had lots of sea food in, including whole baby octopus!! It was really delicious but there as no way I could finish it all as it was SO spicy and the bowl was so big. The last place to visit for the day was Busan's Citizen Park. The park was opened earlier this year and used to be one of the Japanese army bases but the Korean government wanted to do something for the people when the land was handed back. It was dark by the time we arrived but it was all lit up and looked pretty.

Our final supper was Korean Beef, Bulgogi and this was maybe my favourite Korean food that I tried!! The beef is cooked on your table but instead of you doing it yourself the waiter does it for you. Around the edge of the grill there is like a stew of veg and dumplings being cooked too which accompanies the meat. The only way to describe it is like really soft meat, a bit like pulled pork but maybe even softer and the flavour it incredible. Now I love a beef roast dinner, but the flavour of this was amazing. I don't even know how to put it into words other than to say you NEED to try it!! In return for an amazing weekend we paid for our Korean friend's meal as he had quite literally been the best tour guide ever. We stayed in three very different parts of city; the city centre, the sea front and the markets, saw so many beautiful places and ate so much good food!! However in true Korean style, he then bought everyone bingsu... I cant say I was complaining!!



I was so sad to leave South Korea, in just 4 days I completely fell in love with it. It went from being a place I knew nothing about, other than the divide with North Korea, to one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. Plus I am a sun worshiper so the fact I went in Winter and still feel this way about it says a lot! I can't wait to go back, hopefully a few times and definitely again in the summer. I don't know what made it seem so different from Japan since they both have strong cultural ties with one another but it just appeared as if the Korean people were in general more laid back and open and that the place was more lively and welcoming. The only thing cultural thing I noticed that was stronger in Korea was the respect of older people. As I've said in previous blogs, in Japan the older and more senior you are, the more respect you are automatically given by those younger than you. However in Korea the old people seem to take this even further, rather just expecting respect, they quite literally take it!! For instance they will push you out of their way if you're in their way! This was pretty amusing to me but I can see how it would get annoying. A huge contributing factor to my love of Korea was the food, not just the delicious flavours but also the way its served; how it is cooked on your table in front of you and shared amongst the table.

After this trip I'm very keen to visit North Korea if possible as I learnt that you can take trips through tour companies pretty easily if you have a British passport. However whilst I'm still researching this and working out the logistics of it, I'm already planning my next trip to the South. I can't wait!!!

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