Karl Lavtar's: June 2009

Yet another weekend trip in S.Korea, this time we are Busan bound. Busan is a southeastern coastal city. I've heard it's a fun place to visit, and in fact it was.
My friend Eun-jung and I head out Sat. morning and came back Mon. morning just in time for a MTB ride before work. ;)

We took a 4.5 hour bus ride. Along the way the bus stopped at a service station. We only had a few minutes. Grab a drink, a snack and a couple of pics. Above is the beautiful Korean countryside.

ahh....we made it. Unfortunately the ride was kinda long because when we bought are tickets before departing Bundang, the express comfy bus tickets were sold out, so we had to settle for a regular city bus. Lesson learned, we immediately bought tickets as we arrived in Napodang Bus Terminal for the luxury ride home. :)

Welcome to Busan !!! We headed towards the subway to get to Haeundae beach, our first destination.

I was told there is a pretty good Taco place at Haeundae Beach, and immediately after checking into a motel we walked towards the beach and found it. The "Fuzzy Navel"

I opted for the Chicken Burrito...it was OK. expensive and not all too tasty, but will do for SK. Man....I miss good Mexican food.

Haeundae Beach and red and white umbrellas. Little hazy out, but sunshine and a nice sea breeze.

Eun-jung getting her feet wet. The water suprisingly was a bit chilly.

Not too many people for early summer. Above, looking back towards Haeundae Beach. Very nice area...would like to come back when summer is in full swing.

mermaid sculture....

Korean gazebo...

Looking off to the Gwang-an Bridge. Cool B&W shot...

A small market near Haeundae beach. First signs of fish....tomorrow we will head to the real deal the "Jagalchi Fish Market" Above we are searching for a place for dinner and walked through this market...

Walking throug the market.....We ended up finding a Japanese restaurant for some udong and sashimi.... :D

So after awhile, we headed back to the Fuzzy Navel to check out the night life. It was the place to be, good music, good atmosphere, a few games of darts in which i lost, ugh! Above is an interesting drink.....the reggae special, I guess. Cool colors!!!

The bartender's know how to put on a show. Here's one of them in action.

Tossing around bottles....

Then, the fire show...glad i decided to bring out my camera....

3.2.1.............

the flame thrower......this was the highlight of the fire show......

Even the kiddos were out late...this one is having some fun.

Night view of Fuzzy Navel...

This is our place for the weekend...the "Sugar Motel" what a name !?!

a shop i bought some 4000W (maybe $3.50) flip-flops....they did the job.

The next morning we set off for the Jagalchi Fish Market.....above the tomato lady....

Ajumma tending to her dried fish stand...

the array of sea creatures was amazing.....i think this was my first real fish market experience

Ajumma's (Older Married Women) hard at work...

this is as fresh as it gets in SK!

drying rack....

the port....a fishing boat backing out for a days work....

one of my favorite shots from the trip...

checking out the views...

Eun-jung enjoying the sea breeze at the fishing port....

Not sure if these Ajumma's are having a good day ?!?

choppin' up some fresh fish.....they actually grab them well their still alive and give it a good whack, then cut it up!

Inside part of Jagalchi

Come ! See ! Buy!

interesting capture....

Busan street vendor...

Downtown Buddhist temple...this is another one of my favorite captures of the weekend.

Busan tower looking out from the temple....

Nampodong's streets are filled with interesting activities.....some local musicians putting on a show mid-afternoon...

Only in Korea...I think......matching couple....same shoes, pants, shirts, watches, handbags, who knows what else......

Sunday night stroll near the sea of Haeundae Beach....

It's super early in the morning....getting ready to catch a taxi and head to the bus terminal for our 6am departure. The view from the Sugar Motel....you can get a glimpse of the sea between the two tall buildings....

Didn't know they made illy coffee in a can...actually it wasn't too bad...did the trick.

Busan has a relaxing vibe, much different from the hussle and bussle in Seoul.

I'll be back at some point....maybe for the Pusan International Film Festival in October....who know...

That's all for now......

Ciao ~ Ciao....... :D

Welcome to another weekend of kayaking. It rained, but not enough for a new run. We left early on a Saturday morning to head to Gangwando. On the way, we met up with another kayaker. As usual they stopped to eat cow stomach soup, which I cannot stomach the cow stomach...so I passed. My USANA shake and some espresso did the trick before leaving my flat.

here's an interesting image from outside the Hae-jang-guk (cow stomach soup) restaurant. Maybe the portrait is the owner of the restaurant.

the jetta and two young Korean kayakers....

well...you can say they are getting ready for N.Korea due to the current tension, or just on a training near Zinbu Creek in Gangwando....However....I did see more military stationed since the last time in this area.....

rafting on the Naerincheon.......

now....how did they manage to pin the raft there?!?

stopping for a quick bite to eat before putting on the Naerincheon...

Haro

the Blunter

yours truly

name ??

small bite to eat....

well....photos to come from the play spots.....above is Captain Kim. After a run on the Naerincheon and Misan we headed to Captain Kim's kayaking compound to BBQ, have a few too many drinks and crash for the night. Here Captain Kim is BBQ'in some tasty pork. It's rare to see such a large gas grill.....he knows what's up!

First time to see Captain Kim in over a year. Fun times. You may wonder why we call him Captain Kim....well, he used to be the head coach "Captain" of the S.Korean National Slalom Kayak team.