Long Weekend

I had a much-needed, long break from work the first weekend of this month. May 1 was labor day, May 2 my school was closed, May 3 and 4 were the regular weekend, May 5 was Children's Day and May 6 was Buddha's birthday, making for a fabulous 6-day weekend! It was incredibly refreshing to get away from school for so long. I traveled to Busan and Seoul, which was a nice change of pace from Daegu. It had been months since I had been to either city.

Thursday (May 1), I headed to Busan in the early afternoon, stopping first in Gwangalli Beach. It was the first time I've been. I wasn't super impressed, but it did seem to have a nice offering of restaurants. And I want to see it some time at night to enjoy the light show on the bridge. I didn't spend too much time there. Just walked the length of the beach and grabbed a late lunch at a Vietnamese restaurant.

I then headed toward Samgwangsa and met up with Meghan. We headed to the temple and enjoyed one of the most beautiful displays of lanterns in Korea for Buddha's birthday. The lanterns were impressive during the day, but they really shined (haha, I'm so punny) when they were lit at night. The temple itself was also one of the most interesting temples I have seen in Korea. Most of the temples tend to be a bit monotonous, but this one had a variety of unique features. It was really gorgeous, especially with the rows and rows of lanterns. After visiting the temple, I headed back home to Daegu.

The next day I got a lazy start and eventually headed up to Seoul. I arrived fairly late, so I just headed to Itaewon for dinner. I went to JR's Southern Style BBQ, which was pretty disappointing. I got a half rack of baby back ribs, but they were really tough and seemed like fairly crappy meat. Then I headed to my hostel. I stayed at Pine Tree Guest House near the Samgakji subway stop. It was a nice place with comfortable beds and lovely facilities. But I forgot how much is sucks to sleep in a dorm style room! I didn't get a solid night's rest while I was there, but that's just part of the hostel experience. 

Saturday I headed to Everland. It was very similar to Disneyland. There were a few rides, the themes were heavy and there were lots of characters and some parades. I thought it was a pretty nice place, but one day was definitely enough for me. I am more of a thrill seeker and roller coaster rider, so the theme park is not my favorite. That being said, there were a few good coasters, namely the T-Express, a wooden coaster with one of the highest drops in the world. It was a lot smoother than most wooden coasters I've been on. And another bonus was that they served beer (cans and draught) in the park. I just enjoyed that is was available there. But the park is such a journey from Seoul that I wouldn't say it is a must see.

I left my hostel around 9:15 a.m., took the subway to Gangnam, waited an hour at the public bus stop, rode the bus (number 5002) for an hour and a half, and finally took a 10-minute shuttle from the parking lot to the front gates of the park. All in all, the journey took about three and a half hours! Granted that was using public transportation, so driving on your own or taking a taxi would probably be much faster. But at about $3 for the one-way journey, it is hard to sacrifice the great price to save some time.

In the evening I headed back to Itaewon for dinner. I intended to try out Vatos Urban Tacos, an upscale Mexican restaurant, but the line was insane. One girl said they had been waiting an hour just to get a buzzer, let alone to be seated any time soon. So I debated what to eat instead and ended up at Taco Bell. And I'm glad I did. Taco Bell really is its own genre of food, and it is so tasty! It really hit the spot and was a nice treat.

Sunday I met up with Jenny and she and I headed to church. Before the service, we grabbed a delicious lunch at a small cafe. We each got a tasty panini and scrumptious, fresh-squeezed glass of juice. Then we went to Every Nation Church for their international service. It was amazing! That place is so filled with God's presence and love. I wept from the first note of worship to the end of the message. They weren't tears of conviction or guilty or sadness; they were tears of awe and veneration. I just felt so overwhelmed by His spirit. And the worship was beautiful. The lead singer had a lovely voice. And the message was powerful and so timely. It was all about being God's masterpieces and loving God and ourselves so we can love others. They showed this excellent skit, which really captured the essence of the message, check it out if you have time. I definitely plan to visit that church again any time I am in Seoul on a Sunday.
After church Jenny and I headed to Hongdae and grabbed a tea before splitting ways to meet up with other friends. I also found a hoop nose ring, which I have been wanting for a few months now! I'm so glad that I was finally able to find it somewhere in Korea. Hongdae really has a unique vibe from the rest of the country. It is such a diverse, artsy place. I'm a big fan.

Later in the evening I met up with Taejoon. I still think it's hilariously awesome that we randomly met in a hostel in Switzerland, but have kept in touch and hang out every once in a while. We grabbed dinner at a Japanese-run ramen place. It was so delicious! We each got the black ramen, which was in a nice mildly spicy soup and had two melt-in-your-mouth tender pieces of pork. It was definitely the best ramen I have had in Korea and is very similar to the quality stuff you will find in Japan. After dinner we headed to a beer garden place and chatted while drinking a few beers. I enjoyed a couple of Hefe-weizens and a Blue Moon (I can't even remember the last time I was able to get a Blue Moon, and it was so good). It was great to catch up with Taejoon.

Monday Jenny and I met up again for lunch in Itaewon at a Greek restaurant. I was hopping to enjoy their gyro lunch special, but it isn't available on holidays. It worked out well though, because we shared a Greek salad and each got spanakopita. It was really delicious and so fresh. We then headed to an international food store and bought a few items before finally taking the train back to Daegu. On the final day of my vacation, I lounged around at home and squeezed in a Costco trip. It was nice to take a lazy day to recuperate from my time away.