Eating Korean Barbeque… IN KOREA!

Asia ~ South Korea ~ Busan

Last week I decided to swing by my travel agent in downtown Fukuoka to see if they had any deals for travel to South Korea, as it is so close to Fukuoka, and I’ve never been. When I found a deal that included the return trip on a boat, and a night in a hotel that was cheaper than just the boat trip, I decided to grab it. As a result, 24 hours later I was speeding across the Korea Straight towards Busan on the JR Kyushu ‘Beetle ‘ hydrofoil…

As per normal, I had the normal issues travelling… Got to my local bus stop to see the bus leaving, even though I was 5 minutes early… Raced to get the bus, but it wasn’t until halfway to town I realised I had left my alien registration card (my Japanese ID card) at my apartment. They made a big fuss of it when I left Japan last time, but I decided I didn’t have time to go back and get it… Then the bus, which was supposed to go to the bus terminal (so I could change to a bus headed for the port) stopped at the station, and said it was going no further! Turns out when I raced for the bus earlier, I had jumped on the earlier bus, not the right one that went all of the way, so I had to try and find the bus terminal on foot. Everyone I asked didn’t know where it was, cos I was ages away from it… Finally found the correct bus stop and got to the port terminal, where I went through emigration with no issues – the girl asked for my ID card, but when I said I’d left it behind, she was fine with it. I suspect that if I hadn’t of spoken Japanese, there would of been problems.

The JR Kyushu ‘Beetle’ hydrofoil is a very small ferry that takes 3 hours to make the crossing between Hakata (Fukuoka, Japan) and Busan (South Korea). We were warned to keep our seatbelts on because they often “have to swerve quickly to avoid whales and dolphins”. I kept my eyes peeled, but didn’t see any. Did see a very interesting lighthouse as we were leaving Japan that was bright red and decked out as Santa for Christmas (complete with white beard and all).

Beetle Ferry

See the boat at the back (it says BEETLE)? That's the ferry that we crossed international waters in, only 3 hours, but still, it's tiny! The ferry at the front is the international overnight one from Shimonoseki (only 1 hour from Fukuoka).

When I mentioned to my Japanese friends that I would be heading to South Korea for a night, I asked them what there was to do in Korea – everyones response was “Shopping and food”, so I headed to Busan with a list of markets to find and foods to try. On arrival, I headed for the main train station, where I jumped on a double decker tour bus, which proceeded to take me around the city for only ₩10,000 (approx $10 AUD). I jumped off at Haeundae Beach to get some lunch (time to start crossing of the “food list”!). Surprise, surprise, at one of the most touristy spots in town I ended up munching down on good ol’ Aussie burgers, not a Bimbimbap restaurant in sight. Wandered around the area for a while (saw the Fish Car – a small car near the aquarium that has been turned into a fish tank, with large colourful fish swimming through the steering wheel and gearstick).

Fish Car at Haeundae Beach

Fish Car at Haeundae Beach

Checkin to my hotel was quick and easy – upon discovering I spoke Japanese, communication went from haltering English to fluent Japanese. Helps of course that I was staying in the Japanese part of town, in a Japanese hotel, but still much better than attempting to communicate in my non existent Korean (but perhaps my next language to learn?). My day finished up with a Korean barbeque for dinner, recommended by my hotel as “cheap and delicious”. And they weren’t joking, at only ₩12,000 (approx $12 AUD) for a huge amount of quality beef, kimchi and beer. They didn’t bat an eyelid when I came in on my own (despite Korean barbeque being a shared dish), and the owners mum helped me sort out the barbeque. I have never had real Korean barbeque before, it is eaten quite different in Korea compared to Japan – a long piece of beef on the barbeque was cut up into pieces (by the amused owners mum when she realised I had no idea what I was doing), and then dipped into sauce. Kimchi is added (all of the various bowls around the table are kimchi) on top, and then eaten. And, if you’re like me, and the owners mum is amused by you, she will put all of this together for you and basically spoon-feed (chopstick-feed) you!

Korean Barbeque

Korean Barbeque

On my second/last day in Busan, I headed out to fulfill my shopping component of my list. Busan is famous for it’s Jagalchi Fish Market, but having been to the world’s largest fish market in Tokyo, I wasn’t particularly interested in seeking out this one. Despite my intentions, I ended up at the fish market whilst trying to find another market. The fish market was surprisingly clean and not too smelly, and I saw plenty of interesting sights, including tanks upon tanks of sea snakes, and octopus’s making a run for it in the street. I eventually found the Gukje market, but didn’t buy anything, as I’m going to China soon, and much of the stuff at the market was similar to the things I usually see in China. Had bimbimbap for lunch (another tick on the “food list”) at ₩4,000 (approx $4 AUD), which was much spicier and tastier than other versions I have eaten in Japan and Australia. My day ended with me wandering back to the ferry terminal, where I caught my speedy boat back “home” to Japan.

I’ve just begun to start thinking about my Christmas shopping, how’s everyone else going?!

Please not be ill

Asia ~ China ~ Qingdao & Beijing

‘Please not be ill’ is the only English message on the fast moving public buses of Beijing. But that’s jumping forward a little – cast your minds back a week, when I was just about to leave lovely, civilised warm Japan…

The boat trip from Japan to Qingdao was easy enough – no where near as luxious as the boat from Shanghai to Kobe, though. The boat obviosuly used to be fairly important in its day – from the huge dining hall to the lavish dancing hall you could see that it was used to lots of important guests. Unfortunatly, that wasn’t the case for our trip. Although the boat can hold 350 people, we only had 12 people on board, including an American family teaching English in west whoop-whoop China and a Japanese painter importing expensive Japanese dolls into China. I had a 12 bed dorm to myself and was over the moon…

Sunset from the boat

Sunset from the boat

I arrived in Qingdao, hoping to organise a train ticket for that night… Ha! The entire city of Qingdao is under construction for the upcoming olympics – the main train station was closed, as were many of the other main buildings. Luckily, my friend the Japanese artist had already told me this, so I managed to get a taxi to the correct station. And -woooosh – I had to swap back to Chinese mode to try and secure myself a train ticket. Luckily the language part of my brain complied, and I was able to comunicate my desire to the railway staff… Only to be told no tickets. And none for the day after… Finally got myself a ticket for two days later and made my way back to the local hostel.Where my slight cold that I’d been nursing in Japan turned into a full blown cough-all-night, blow-nose-all-day ukky cold. The weather in Qingdao was so incredibly totally and utterly cold that I went to sleep of a night wearing my full body suit of thermals, my pjs, my gloves and scarf. And the heater was on. Of a day I sported my new face mask – fantastic in keeping out the bone-chilling wind. After spending two days wandering Qingdao I caught my train to Beijing and walked into my old hostel, what a relief.

Beautiful, if slightly freezing, beach at Qingdao - notice the crazy guy running into the water brrrr

Beautiful, if slightly freezing, beach at Qingdao - notice the crazy guy running into the water brrrr

First day in Beijing was spent at the hospital, after being convinced I needed to go there by a variety of people. I was right – despite what I looked and sounded like, I wasn’t dying, just a bad cold. The doctor loaded me up with a suitcase full of pills (really, there are heaps of them) and off I went… Shopping… Where I’ve been every day since I got here, loving it. It’s also how I managed to experience the warning to foreigners to ‘please not be ill’ – a little late! Being at an international hostel is nice as well, our room is full of Swedish, American and Australians, so getting to chat to a lot of people who are starting their travels in China…Well, tomorrow I’m off to Thailand, to grab some sun before heading home…

xoxo Bobbi!

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas

Asia ~ China ~ Shanghai

Well, maybe it’s more like I’m nightmare-ing of a white Christmas. I can tell that all blogs here-on-in (not including Thai ones) will be comparing how cold it now is over here. So to give you an update – we have now reached the ‘it hurts to go outside’ stage. My ears are still ringing from the freezing temps out there – we just walked back from the supermarket, what a stupid thing to do, ow ow ow. Gotta get me some ear muffs.

Since I last wrote – we have been shopping, studying, shopping, doing exams, eating, shopping, Chinese acrobats, shopping, eating, went to Suzhou and shopping. As you can see, shopping is playing a major part in our life here in Shanghai. We have been to the Yuyuan bazaar twice now, the Long Hua Lu Markets 3 times and the Museum Metro (great underground market) 3 times. We have also been to Cyber Mart twice – a fabo place full of electronics, you can get every fake version of the various iPods there for a fraction of the price – some of them may even work. I haven’t bought all that much stuff, due to the planned travels after China, but I’ve still managed to get some good bargains 🙂

Kylie and Joni & I, exhausted from a day of shopping

Kylie and Joni & I, exhausted from a day of shopping

We went out on Friday night to celebrate my birthday – spent the night at a Thai restaurant, it was delish. Very fancy, we stood out, this time not because we have blonde hair, but because we look like students (which, of course, we are!). Desert was Haagen Dazs ice cream, yum!

Pauline, Paulina, Kylie & I at fancy-smancy Thai Resturant

Pauline, Paulina, Kylie & I at fancy-smancy Thai Resturant

~~~~~~ ahhhh just checked weather.com – the temp is 1 degree celcius, with a ‘feel temperature’ (temperature based on wind, humidity etc, reflects how cold it actually feels) of -3 degrees celcius – OWWWWW ~~~~~~

We had exams last week, which was full on. Two and a half weeks of learning a semester’s work, and then our oral and written exams immediately after. It was tough trying to retain so much information, but I do feel as though I’m learning more and more each day. I’m even beginning to communicate with shop staff. That said, I’m still having troubles. Mum told me she sent a package a week ago, so I’ve been trying to collect it from the lobby. On the first day I went and asked (in English, it is a big hotel) if they had a package for me. The girl just stared at me – she had no idea what I was on about. The second time I went I asked again (in English) if there was a package for me. Without looking, the receptionist said ‘no’. I asked ‘Do you want to know my room number?’. He said ok, and I said my room number. ‘No’, he replied without even glancing at the desk. On my third try I attempted to use my dodgy Mandarin and was rewarded with a smile and my package. Gotta love China…

We have been on a couple of excursions with the Monash group. Last week we went to Suzhou, a cute little water town, toted as the Chinese ‘Venice’. We went off on a canal tour, and then to the local temple and gardens and generally had a great time. Our tour guide was a crackup – on the way there he told us that the bus driver was number two bus driver in China. ‘Why number two?’, he asked us. ‘Because number one is still in hospital…’ We also went to the Chinese acrobatics the other night – simply amazing. Amongst the various acts, there were the bicycle girls – a group of about 12 girls who rode around stage on the one bike, and the motorbike men – 4 guys who were put in a round cage and rode motorbikes up down and all around.

Other than venturing out shopping and studying, we have just been trying to survive. One of our group – Paulina – left yesterday, and Kylie leaves early tomorrow morning, with others leaving as well. Ling and I are left here for the long haul – we don’t leave until early January. Man, it’s gunna be soooo cold then. I’d better be off – heading back to the room to drink the cold away, and celebrate my birthday! (thanks for the vegemite mum, us aussies had a feast of bread, butter, Vegemite and cheese last night… cept the bread was sweet (all Chinese bread is sweet), the butter was fake, and the cheese was actually cream cheese – oh, and we don’t have a knife, had to use the back of a fork to spread the butter and Vegemite and cut the cheese!)

xoxo one very cold gal…

Brrrrr

Asia ~ China ~ Shanghai

My fingers are soooooo cold. What’s making me even colder is the knowledge that we aren’t even really into winter yet – it’s going to get a lot colder! I don’t know the exact temperatures, but they have definetley plummeted in the last few days. I haven’t resorted to my thermals yet – but it’s only a matter of time. Discussions on where to go for dinner, when to leave for class, what to do on the weekend all center around one thing – what will be the warmest way to do it (I can foresee a lot of 2 minute noodles being eaten in our room!). For some reason, the heating in our classroom isn’t working so well anymore, and it was almost icy today. To top it off, my cold is progressively getting worse, so I’m madly sucking on cough lollies to try and get rid of it. I’ve run out of mouthwash (dad’s suggestion on how to get rid of the cold quickly), and have – as per dads suggestion – gone out and brought myself a bottle of cheap spirits to gurgle. I forgot that I had ‘experiences’ with baiju last time I was in Beijing – I nearly throw up every time I attempt to gargle it!

As per normal, we’re continually exploring the different food options. Today, we discovered that there is an upstairs part to our dining cafeteria – and it is so much better than where we’ve been eating. We have a sneaking suspicion that upstairs is only for the 3rd and 4th year students, and the teachers, but whenever anyone looks like they are about to approach us to tell us off, we just play dumb and keep eating. I have dumplings and fresh noodles for brekky – only cost 4.5 yuan (about 75 cents Australian). Tonight we are going to head out to our new favourite local restaurant – it has pics on the walls, so we just point at what we want – 3 yuan (50 cents) for a plate of dumplings. We’ve noticed a lot of the long term students that are staying at our hotel down in the lobby at about 7pm, waiting in their pyjamas. Turns out, most of the local restaurants will home deliver for free, and it’s just a matter of meeting the bike rider (‘delivery man’) at the door – now how do you say home deliver dumplings in Chinese?! Might just be the next thing I learn…

Strange apple juice that Kylie found at the supermarket, has black jelly 'pips' all the way through it, doesn't taste too bad

Strange apple juice that Kylie found at the supermarket, has black jelly 'pips' all the way through it, doesn't taste too bad

We spent last weekend getting to know a little of Shanghai… I had to get a visa extension, so we caught the metro to the right area, and I left everyone shopping, whilst I went off to find the visa place. I had asked my teacher where it was – and he wrote down the address and said to catch a taxi, it would be too hard to find. Stubborn as I am (and determined not to hand over the $2.50 for the taxi :)), I pulled out my map and walked. Took me 5 minutes, and it was sign posted all the way. I think Chinese teachers, just like their Australian counterparts, think that blondes can’t be trusted with maps… After a bit of shopping, our little group (Kylie, Paulina, Johnny and me) headed off to the Pearl Tower, where we spent the rest of the day. The Oriental Pearl TV Tower is a huge tower that can be seen all parts of the city (including from our bedroom window), provided the day is clear. From the top, you can see all of Shanghai and surroundings (once again, provided the day is clear, which is unusual). We managed to pick a fantastic day, and spent a great deal of time at the top, taking photos and just looking and looking and looking.

Oriental Pearl TV Tower

Oriental Pearl TV Tower

Classes are steadily getting harder, although I’m beginning to understand more. I’ve been feeling as though I’ve been picked on more by the teachers than anyone else – one of my classmates confirmed it yesterday. No idea why – there are heaps of people in my class the are basically fluent, but my name is easy to remember, and I’m sitting in easy view of the teachers. It means I have to always be paying attention, and am continually corrected, but at least I’m going to get the most out of this. It certainly is dispiriting when there are near-native speakers in the class (I’m only doing beginners Chinese, but some of the students have Chinese parents, and have been speaking Chinese in the home since they were kids), but everyone is struggling with writing the characters, so I guess it all evens out (I have some advantage in this area because of my Japanese studies).

Which reminds me – I have now successfully completed level 12 Japanese at Monash – woohoo! And with that note, I’m off…

xoxo Bobbi

Pippi Långstrump is coming into your world..

Europe ~ Sweden ~ Stockholm & Uppsala

No-one warned us that Sweden would be COLD. To be honest, we sort of knew it anyway, but choose to ignore it and worry about it when we got here. Our first warning was when we stumbled out of the train station on our way to the hostel, and noticed everyone wearing snow jackets. Our second warning came when we realised that our hostel offered a free sauna. Hmm (fact: in Sweden there is a sauna for every 3 people). Despite the weather (which really isn’t all that cold – after all, it could be snowing), we have been enjoying ourselves in this Scandinavian country. Did you know Pippi Longstockings (in Swedish: Pippi Långstrump) is Swedish? That’s why she has long stockings – to keep warm!

Playing in the rain in Stockholm

Playing in the rain in Stockholm

We became braver on the second day and decided nothing would stop us. And then it started pouring down with rain. We ended up wandering around town in our ridiculous looking $2-shop plastic bag ponchos. Eventually we found a museum which listed ‘fri’ entry (our language skills are getting much better, I bet you didn’t know I could read Swedish!!!). The museum turned out to be the Royal Armory, which had, amongst other things, the clothing worn by one of the Swedish kings when he was assassinated – blood stains and all. The best bit was when we stumbled across a kids section all about princesses. They had swords to fight with, a frog to kiss and even a colouring-in area. To the amusement of one of the tour groups we sat down and did some great artwork! We also visited Skansen (large open air museum, they have brown bears and elk) and the Vasa Museum (huge ship), which were interesting, although they didn’t provide crayons and play swords.

Tash concentrating hard on her picture

Tash concentrating hard on her picture

Spent a couple of days visiting Sophia, a friend of Tash’s. Sofia is studying in the town of Uppsala, 45 minutes north of Stockholm. She took us to a couple of parties – one in her ‘nation’ and a corridor party. All students of her uni join a ‘nation’ when they start studying at university – the Swedish students join different nations based on what area in Sweden they are from, whilst the international students get to choose which one they’ll join. The nation organises parties, dinners, extra curricular activities, that kind of thing. The corridor party was weird, a bit like what the U.S. TV shows portray college life to be. Everyone goes to a particular hall in one of the student flats (in our case building 9, floor 7), and party in the corridor. Loud music, BYO beers, its like a paddock party back home, just cos we’re in cold Sweden they have to do it inside! Sophia showed us around Uppsala a bit as well, we got to see the ancient burial mounds of the Vikings in Gamla Uppsala. Although I envy the fact that she gets to live here for 6 months, I’m glad its Sophia and not me that’s going to be braving the Scandinavian winter.

Bring on the warm weather – next stop Spain!!!
xoxo ME