No, I’m not talking about Kicking Korea’s ass! I’ve wanted to do something a little different with Kiss My Kimchi for awhile now and this is what I’ve come up with:
KmK’s
Kick Ass Korea!
A Kick Ass Korea Campaign compiling the great things about Korea that, in my humble opinion, truly Kick Ass! This also gives me a chance to utilize my new Nikon D90 I just bought.
I started at 25 to give myself some sort of goal to reach. I was thinking starting a 1 would’ve given me an out at 5 or possibly 10 but now I’m in it until 25 and most likely further than that.
So what do you think?
The entrance is surrounded by shops and stalls selling all kinds of bamboo products. You can easily stock up on souvenirs for friends and family. Plus a little bamboo wine tucked in your back pack couldn’t hurt either. A ski lodgesque building loomed overhead as we made our way up the steps into the forest. A measly 2,000 KRW gained us entrance into a tranquil wonderland.
First of all Green Tea will make you live a long life. I guess the glucosamine doesn’t hurt either. The Green Tea of Boseong dominates the region both economically and ecologically. They grow a large percentage of all Korea’s Green tea. It’s a mountainous region with rolling emerald hills ripe for exploration.
As a self-proclaimed pool dweller, I never in a million years thought I’d be able to call myself a “runner”. Well, hell hath frozen over and I am now one of those annoying people Facebook posting pictures of her running endeavors.
4. Goeje Island
I couldn’t have imagined a better choice. I’m ashamed to say that before researching this trip I’d never even heard of Geoje. Apparently it’s Korea’s second largest island. It’s right off the coast of Busan. In 2010 the Busan-Geoje fixed link bridge was completed connecting the island to Busan city making access that much easier for folks.
5. Platoon Kunsthalle Night Flea Market
It’s the first Saturday of the month and the night flea market has come to Platoon Kunsthalle. The excitement is a physical thing, alive and wriggling. Electric eel energy zips through the crowd. People weave around the makeshift stalls sectioning the floor (rectangles scrawled in chalk) piled high with a multitude of stuff people want to barter, sell, or trade. Faded denim, skirts, saris, tube socks, DVDs, CDs, leather jackets, paintings, jewelry, watches, coats, and everything else in-between as if everything in your grandparents stuffy old attic has been dragged out for the world to prod, poke, and rummage through in order to find that hidden gem worth saving.
Brace yourself for the smell. It’s like a slap in the face. The waxy squids and octopus, garish orange sea anemones, stark red salmon, ocher colored oyster meat, and the rainbow scales of dozens of various fish dazzle the eyes. You won’t know where to look first. The vendors bark out prices trying to lure you in with a good deal. Don’t worry about the language barrier. Broken English, Konglish, and calculators save the day for even those like me with even the most rudimentary Korean skills. Walking the multitude of aisles you’ll be swept away by the crowd or jostled, tugged and pulled in different directions to look at so many every kind of cut, size, and types of fish imaginable.
7. Olympic Park
Olympic Park was built upon the historical Mongchon Fortress. A site that dates back to the Baekje Dynasty. The Mongchon Moat with it’s cute army of ducks and the Sungnae stream almost completely encircle the park. At any time of the day joggers can be found winding their way through the pathways while others simply take their time and soak in the peaceful atmosphere.
8. Ulsan
Ulsan. Summers in Korea can make a hot, sweaty mess out of the best of us. Luckily, Korea has its fair share of beaches to cool off those sweaty pits and escape the sweltering heat. The beaches of Busan and Gangwon province are among the best known in the peninsula. However, there are some less-traveled coastlines with a lot of beautiful scenery and cultural sites to experience. One of my favorites : Ulsan.
Inside the museum you can discover the origins of tea in Korea as well as view the process of growing and harvesting the tea leaves. There are also exhibits of tea cups from around the world alongside tea cups from Korea’s Goryeo period which was before the Joeson Dynasty.
This remote Buddhist Temple on the Far East side of Busan initially wasn’t a part of my plan. It’s not on the subway system. The tour bus I was on went no where close to the location. Yet it was on my Busan City Tourist map and the sight of that little Buddha statue right on the shoreline overlooking the sea proved to be too much for me to deny.
11. China Town
You don’t need to go to China to experience the Chinese culture. Around the world every big city has it’s very own China Town to explore and experience and Korea is no different. You might think that China Town in Korea would be in Seoul, but you would be wrong. Instead it’s in the satellite city of Incheon.
The Han River has always prevailed to be the least idealistic place to frolic and swim due to its city-polluted state; nor did the 2006 parody/thriller film, “The Host,” aid to transform its rep, after seeing the poorly CGI-ed monster having a ball in its alleged chemical infested water (haha—Monster’s Ball). Albeit to the Korean version of the Loch Ness monster, the Han was surprisingly beyond satisfactory to kayak.
13. Queer Seoul
Look, moving to a new place, let alone a new country, means facing a daunting set of hurdles. Saying good-bye to family, friends, and social networks tied intimately into your day to day life probably paralyzes most people. When leaving your home country those losses can seem even larger after realizing how steep the cultural and language barriers can be in a foreign landscape.
There’s something about the strange and unusual people find alluring. Whether it’s walking off the well worn path to explore the wild unknown or gazing for hours at Dali’s Swans Reflecting Elephants the different can sometimes border on sublime and draw people in like an alcoholic to a liquor store.
Hiking. In Korea it’s a big deal. So big that folks actually have complete head to toe hiking gear ready to be thrown on at any moment that anyone even thinks about a hike.
16. K-Pop
The K pop Yellow Festival highlight video
17. Unique Seoul Neighborhoods
There’s no doubt about it: Seoul is one huge city. It’s so massive and overwhelming that a new comer might be fooled into thinking that the alternating spider web of side streets and skyscraper thoroughfares are all there is. That would be a shame since Seoul really does have a bunch of unique neighborhoods with a feel all of their own.
18. Kim Young Maze
Billed as a 5,000 year old art form and a stroll through Jeju history the Kimnyoung Maze Park proved to be a big hit with both Ian and myself. At first I was a bit hesitant to go. Despite it being the backdrop of the KTF LG mobile hand phone commercial starring Lee Young-Ae I thought most of that was just CGI camera trickery. I was so wrong.
19. Obscure Korean Smart phone Apps
Here are 10 apps for expats that while not as widely known as others still provide valuable information or countless hours of fun for expats living in Korea.
To appreciate the full scope of the event you should know some of the details. For instance, the size of the exhibition was 14,668 meters. Participants included over 96 local companies and 28 foreign companies from over 13 different countries. The festivities are organized by the Goyang City International Flower Foundation and take place every other year.
On the surface everything about the event seemed the same as I remembered. The festival once again took place at Nanji-jigu Han River park. Isolation may be necessary for the noise factor, but the grounds truly make it an impossible mission to reach. Shuttles at Olympic Park station did run, but I heard tales of folks missing the shuttle stops and trying to walk to the grounds only to get lost. Maps, posters, signs and staff should have been in place to ensure everyone arrived.
I love seafood, yet in Seoul I never seem to eat it as much as I’d like. So, you can imagine, when I hit Busan, the seaside city, the first thing I wanted to do was get some hearty seafood. The place to go in Busan to get the chicken of the sea is Jagalchi Market located at Jagalchi Station.
23. Yeosu Beach
Just the same the spot we found was atmospheric and haunting. A few locals were out digging earnestly. A few kids were doing the same closer to shore. Huge transport ships bobbed in the water a fair distance away. A dilapidated old hotel with a flickering neon red sign stood atop a nearby hillside overlooking the beach. It was very Bates motel.
The infamous event’s rotating line up includes Tommy Trash, Krewella, Roger Shah, Big Bad Nose, DJ Koo, Shinichi Osawa, Riot Gear, Fedde Legrand, Mauri Mora, Shut Da Mouth, Taku Takahashi, Sander Van Doorn, Beat Burger, Boy George, DJ Aki, as well as headliners Afrojack, Carl Cox, Armin Van Buren, Avicii, and Kaskade.
Seoul’s a wonderful place to visit and its fast paced lifestyle that may whiz by if you don’t take the chance to stop and do some of the awesome things out there. So if you’re in Seoul for only a day or perhaps a week here are 25 of the best things you can do to see the sights and enjoy yourself.
My favorite thing about Korea is the cinnamon pancake thingies that are mostly found in winter as streetfood. I never pronounce it correctly but it sounds kind of like hut-duck.
I love those things. I didn’t even try them until very recently!
Actually, I thhink you ARE pronouncing it correctly … 😉
.-= The Bobster´s last blog ..That Whole Michael Breen Thing =-.
I know! Im never happy with layouts but I think this one will last for awhile. I suggest you guys hit up haeundae beach area and try the hotels around there to be close to the sea, there’s the ariang near Busan station but it’s dingy, cheap though.
Have fun in Busan!
Everytime I visit your blog the layout changes. I think that is a great idea, would help others (including me) find more things to love/like about Korea.
PS: Some friends and I are planning to go to Busan next week, any recommendations for a moderately priced/cheap place to stay? We would like one of those pensions…like an apt you rent for the weekend. There will be 5-6 of us.
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