Seafood BBQ!

Today I tried a new form of Korean BBQ that is all about the seafood! Yum, Yum, Yum. Its a good thing that I enjoy most seafood. Here was the view from our table. It was literally across the street from the sea and we had the view of two different lighthouses. So amazingly beautiful and really could you ask for better scenery at dinner?

Here's the group! 6 our of the 8 people at dinner were from Wisconsin! WISCOSIN UNITE! It really was because the girl on the far left was margee, Rita's old roommate in college! She came to visit with her husband (to her right) and their two friends who live in Singapore of the far right. In the middle is Alex (a co-teacher of mine) and Chris, our Korean friend who knew the owner of the restaurant we were going to and was kind enough to come and show us the ropes!

Here are the sides, THIS KIMCHI WAS SO DELISH! That is the first time ive EVER said that and I kept eating it... so good!

The brown things are larvae. I've been seeing this around and never wanted to spend the money to buy it... well here it was a side dish and you'll get to see me try it a few pictures down! Those little seashell things are yummy and you just suck out the meaty insides!

We ordered scallops. You cook them on the grill in seashells! When they are nice and browned you put them in the tin foil pan with butter, spices, onions, and this summer sweet Korean sauce. Like I said thank goodness for Chris because he was sharing all the insider secrets to how to BBQ properly!

Here I am trying the larvae....

Here I am eating it.... I was thinking it would be crunchy but it was soft, salty with a slight fishy seafood flavor. Defiantly not the best thing I ate at dinner. But, I'm happy I tried it... there you go Dad and AJ, I'm eating all the strange stuff.

I was so excited to eat shrimp... I LOVE SHRIMP.. but these shrimp were impregnated lady shrimp with the eggs inside. Imagine my surprise! I politely and quietly stuck them on the side and didn't eat them again... they had a very sea foodie flavor and a strange texture.

Here are the real, big, fresh, yummy, amazing shrimp on the grill. In the tin pan is our scallops. They were so good because they were dripping in butter and onions. They were so fresh and had the best flavor and texture ever.

Chris making the shrimp dance for the photo. I also love this picture because you can see the ocean behind Alex and Chris!

Food demolished!

 

There you go family and friends... 5 blogs posted in one night. I'm sorry I've been slacking but I like how a lot of people were asking for more blogs! It makes me feel loved and then I know people are actually reading this stuff and looking at my pictures which makes me feel really motivated to keep up on blogs so I can share my adventure with you all! Try to add comments, I love to read them!

Busan Tower

I stole this from the internets for your Busan Tower education: Busan Tower is a symbol of Busan that stands proudly 69m above sea level at a height of 120m. The top of the tower is modeled after the baldaquin of Dabotap Pagoda in Bulguksa Temple, Gyeongju. Beloved by Busan citizens and tourists alike, the tower offers a stunning night view and plenty to see, such as the Statue of the Great Admiral Yi Sun-shin, the Bell of the Citizens, a flower clock, the Museum of Musical Instruments of the World, and a bust of the Busan-based independent activist, Baeksan An Hee-je.

 

Rita posing by the Busan station fountain. It was so ridiculously hot out we both wanted to jump right in it! 

Here I am!

Here is Busan Tower

The tower and the bell of citizens building. There's a really big gong inside that I wanted to bang... but its only for special occasions.

The Statue of the Great Admiral Yi Sun-shin

Awe, look at the pretty museum and the awesome round trees.

Here is a traditional Korean dragon. I learned that they have 5 arms... I'm not sure why but its tradition. This one looks like he's holding a baseball in one hand. I wouldn't doubt it... that seems like something they would do in Korea.

Here is a statute. It was actually pretty funny because if you weren't looking really hard it for real just looked like a girl sitting on a bench. I found out that she is an independent activist, named Baeksan An Hee-je.

This area is a place where couples in love can write something cute on a lock and put it on a fence. I said they were putting their love on lockdown. Since I'm not in love with someone other than myself, I took lots of solo pictures on the love bench. :P

My artistic photo of the love locks.

Here are the views from the tower! This is my city, Busan! You cant see it all because of all the mountains in the way.

I wish there wasn't a glare on this picture because its really cool! Korea has changed very quickly in the last few decades. These photos show the same area over the years and how it has changed.

 

Who wants to drink Job's tears tea?

I live in this direction past the mountain in the distance. Busan is a very large, very long city. It is spread out along the Sea of Japan and split up by mountains. Which makes this city of 4.6 million people feel not as big. The area that I live in feels like a nice urban community because of how the city is split up.

Oh look, theres me!

Here's another picture of Nampo. The 3rd picture was in the 1950's and the bottom one if today. Korea has changed very quickly.

AWE! These are marriage ducks. They are a traditional present people give a couple at a wedding because ducks mate for life. You also move the ducks depending on how your relationship is. For example, if you are happy you face the ducks towards each other. If you are fighting you put the ducks butt to butt away from each other. If one person is made you put the ducks butt towards the other ducks face. lol. Kelly and Kenny Warren, I know you have a pair of these!

Korean Masks, I need all of these, they are so silly. I especially like the one with the goofy looking teeth.

Here is the musical instrument museum.

Me with some lanterns!

Me and my friend Buddha, see we are holding hands.  

Just thought you might like to see the largest department store in the world. 5 floors, one store.



Lotte Giant's baseball game!

During break I also went to a baseball game for the Lotte Giants, Busan's home team. Baseball is a huge thing in Korea. They really get into the game! There were many things that were different about going to a game in Korea and going to a game in the states. One big thing was that people don't really tailgate in Korea. We still had a few celebratory pre-baseball drinks outside while we were waiting to take our seats. But I think a major reason people don't feel the need to tailgate is because they do not over price everything at the game and kill your wallet for food and beer. In fact, in the stadium there were 7-11's where you could stop in and buy a 1.5 liter bottle of beer for less than 4 dollars. Hello, US, please learn something from the Korean's and stop over pricing everything for your fans! Even the food at the game was cheap. I got a meal for about 5 dollars.

Here is Lotte Stadium!

Here's some of the game! I was trying to get a picture of how they bring the relief pitcher out but I missed it. When they bring out the new pitcher they sing a song and the player gets driven out on the field in a really fancy car. It was pretty amusing.

This section is the "excite" section. For my next game I really want to sit here. This is where most of the cheering comes from. They also have cheerleaders dancing and an MC that leads songs and chants for players. Just like at a Brewer's game each player has a song that plays before they bat. But, in Korea its not simply a song that's played the whole crowd sings the song and cheers like mad before they are up to bat.

During the game it started monsoon raining. They really could use a retractable roof in Busan. The game was delayed for a while and we thought it was going to be rained out but it cleared up! This is when they were raking the field.

Here's our group! All of these pretty ladies are my co-workers. Starting from the top left you have Em, Kendall, and Kat then its Rita and I. I bought a head band that has the name of the Giants best hitter, it is so crazy florescent that it doesn't even look real in this picture. It looks so funny!

So you no how at baseball games in the states you turn your hat over in the last few innings? (I'm not sure what its called or why people do it) but in Korea they do something similar. In the last few innings they pass out bags to put your trash in. Somehow it became tradition to blow up the bag and wear it on your head! Its pretty awesome.

I also did a little bit of garbage picking because I saw someone throw away an inflatable hand. I quickly went and picked that bad boy out of the garbage! Score! I Learned that the hand says "MA!" which means "bastard" in Korean. When someone in the other team does something you don't like you tell "ma!" and point the finger down.

Here's a shot of the crud with the bags on their head.

The petting zoo

So I had a week long summer vacation break from school last week. On one of the days Rita invited me to go to a petting zoo with her and her girl friend Jess. We started on this adventure when I found out that the petting zoo is literally a block away, on the 12th floor of a department store. Lol, only in Korea.

A fennic fox. They are so cute. I love their giant ears!  

Here's a prairie dog posing for the camera. He's saying "get me outta here!"

My favorite animal pen in the how place was the squirrel enclosure. Yep, that's right... squirrels. But it was super fun because you could stick your head in the middle and feel like you were literally inside the squirrel playground.

A lizard of some sort.

This one looks like a ferret to me, but I honestly have no idea what it was. I just loved how it was lounging on his hammock.

Brown bear, brown bear, sticking out his tongue.

Here is me and a Toucan. It was cool but I didn't exceptionally enjoy it. You put food in your hand and within seconds the toucans start flocking towards you. There are not just one or two either, there are many toucans so them flocking at you made me a bit nervous.

Jess, Rita and I with our Toucan friend.

I think these are parakeets.

Rita being the bird whisperer.... or the crazy bird lady from Mary Poppins.

These birds couldn't fly. So I liked them better.

All three of us with the pretty parrots.

An armadillo!

Ducks!

So I know some of you have heard of doctor fish before. Typically you put your feet in a pond and these fish eat the dead skin off of your feet. Like a natural sort of a pedicure. At the petting zoo they had a pool where you could put your hands in to exfoliate them. Like most of you know, I am horrified of fish. So sticking me hand in a pond where the whole point is for them to bite you was not my favorite thing.

I look like I am enjoying it so much.

They had a mini horse outside of the 12th floor. So bizarre.

Me and a super cute turtle.