Saturday, Jinha Beach--and the hottest day on record :-)

At 7:30 yesterday morning, Lindie and I embarked on our adventure to find our next scenic sight, Naewonam Valley of Mt. Daeun.  We knew that we were going to have to take a bus from here to another bus near the terminal in Samsan, so off we went.  I was a total dork and washed my beach towel the night before because I thought for sure it would be dry by the time we left (it wasn't. . .) so we had to make a quick pitstop at Lotte Mart to get new one.  But, I thought it wouldn't be a big deal because we had to go right by there to get to the terminal anyway, so it would just put us a little behind schedule.  So, at about 5 after 8 we got off the bus and headed to Lotte Mart.  For some reason it didn't occur to either of us that it would be closed. . .but there it was without a light on.  We went around the corner to get some caffeine as we were both extremely out of practice at getting up (fascinating how things can change so quickly, isn't it??  I spent the last two years getting up at 4am every morning and now getting up at 6:30 requires an extreme effort!  :-)  amazing.) and got some Hot Six (ps, this is the closest thing to Red Bull that I know of.  So, just a little moment to beg if you don't mind, anyone who wants to send Red Bull over this way, EVERY foreigner will love you forever!! :-)) and sat outside for a moment hoping that perhaps Lotte Mart would open at 8:30.  Lotte Mart is enormous and has tons of employees and there were basically no signs that it was going to open anytime soon so we got on another bus to get to the bus outside the bus terminal (enough buses for you??)Now, just a little explanation here.  Lot of people use the bus system here and it's fantastic.  Every bus stop that I've used so far has a computer that tells you every bus that stops there and either what time it's scheduled to arrive or how many minutes away it is.  Most of the buses that I use come very regularly (every 20 minutes or so) or there are several different buses that all go to the places that I need to go (like school) but this particular bus that we needed we knew only ran every 72 minutes.  The reason we left so early wasn't necessarily to catch the bus on time but because the bus stopped running at 10 to 8 (where most buses run until almost midnight) so we wanted to get in a whole day and not miss our bus (a taxi ride back is always possible but would be very expensive.)
This bus terminal did not have a computer.  It did have a sign telling us that our bus stopped there, but we had no idea when it was going to get there.  So, we debated taking an express bus that we knew would get us there and then just taking the regular bus home.  We walked into the express bus terminal and realized that we had no idea what the name of the place was (because I forgot the bring the book with me. . .lame) but fortunately they had the very book we needed in the terminal!  Updated!  So, we went up to the counter (here's where I was a total lame tourist.  I found where in the book it had the name written in English, and they had an identical book in Korean, so I thought if I found the place in the book where the name was written in Korean, we could totally show it to the person at the ticket counter and it would be easy, right...?) and the very nice lady told us that we actually needed to go into the next building. 
Lindie and I had been in one of the bus terminals once before when we went to Busan.  But we didn't do anything except take the tickets that were handed to us and follow everyone else to the correct bus.  We were in the wrong terminal, we realized once we got into the correct one, but even then we had no idea how to get to where we needed to go, or more importantly, how much it would cost to get there.  Since we still had an outside chance that a regular dollar bus would get us there we finally decided to grab some breakfast and hope for the best at the bus stop.
At this point it's extremely important to point out that it was amazingly hot outside.  It was an absolutely gorgeous day but we were melting out there.  So, breakfast inside sounded like a good plan.  In the terminal was a place called Lotteria, a chain restaurant that we've both seen all over the place.  It's a type of burger place, but kind of reminds me of a Steak and Shake.  So, we ordered some bulgogi burgers (it was 9am, remember :-) but everyone was already eating burgers) and we had a great time chilling in the air conditioning and listening to the very entertaining music that they had (plus, studying the maps that we looted from the bus terminal and hoarded like classic foreigners)  We found out that the scenic sight we wanted to go to was actually not close at all to other things we wanted to see that day, and also that a regular bus, according to this updated map, may not get us there at all.  So, we decided on Jinha Beach, and walked to the next available bus stop.

Melting. . .but finally on our way!!

Ironically, the next bus stop didn't have any buses that went to Jinha Beach, so we decided to back track it to one that we knew did have the right buses.  In the meantime, we saw this one the other side of the road:

Please! Please! Please Lindie can we go over there and see!!!!??

Amazingly, it was still closed.  But that wasn't enough to get us down!  Off we went to find a bus that would work! 
This took a lot longer than we thought. . .but FINALLY one came, so we climbed into our first real success of the day

Yay!  We made it!!  (we think...)

 
What we didn't realize ahead of time is that this bus left from where we started. . .because it took us nearly all the way back.  But, in the meantime we saw a lot of interesting things.  One of the most random things of the day was we drove by this lake and every couple of seconds multiple fish would jump out like the water was boiling or something.  Everywhere you looked fish were jumping really high out of the water.  So strange.
This was our bus initially:

Empty!  Just chilling in the back seat :-)

This was our bus a little while later, and all the way to the beach:

They all had these boxes with them. . .and all got on together.  I felt bad for them, but we were still just chilling in the back.

Everyone got off. . .like, everyone, but I didn't see a beach anywhere so I convinced Lindie to stay on the bus a little longer.  Two seconds later we did see the beach, but the bus stop was way later...like, on the other side of a mountain later.  There was a beach there, though!

Pretty :-)

Do you see those buildings over there?  That's where the beach we wanted to go actually is.  But, isn't it pretty??  Time for a hike.

Here we go!!  It's a billion degrees, but a gorgeous day!!  Lindie and I had gotten ice cream right before this. . .I don't know what melted faster...

From the top of the hill we were climbing.  Isn't it gorgeous?

We found a shortcut. . .looks precarious but, let's give it a shot!

From our shortcut trail. . .isn't it lovely?

Is that a dead end?  Is this the end of Lindie and Jean??

We made it!!  And were very glad that we saw this. . .memorial? after we made it down the mountain :-)

After we were asked multiple times if we needed tubes or umbrellas, two little kids came up and said "Hello!  Try!  Very, very delicious!" Since we are here to teach English, how could we refuse??

It was very, very delicious!  Also, I need sunglasses.

Beautiful day at Jinha Beach!

We spent most of the afternoon in the tubes just chilling in the water.  Of the beaches we've been to so far, this wasn't our favorite

but it wasn't bad :-)  Tubes area always a good decision, and were very handy for lounging on the beach for a while as we tried to decide what to do next. 
AND I got a new towel:

Great, right??

And then, as we were hanging out on the beach, just chilling and minding out own business, an entire baseball team walked onto the beach.  Then, they walked right over to us.  And stopped.  The whole beach and they stopped right in front of us, so random.

Obviously they were planning on going into the water, but certainly not with all of their clothes on????

Or, maybe so.  Even their socks.  Crazy, huh?  :-)  That's quite a celebration :-)

So, we walked through the streets just a little while longer looking for a shower and a bus stop.  We thought maybe we would try another beach because it was only about 3.  We walked and walked looking for a bus and looking quite lost and then, out of no where, we heard this honk, we looked back and the exact bus that we needed stopped, opened the door, and picked us up.  We weren't at a stop or anything.  He must have felt bad for us :-)
On our way home we decided that getting something to eat was first on the list.  We thought maybe grab a pizza and then head back to Samsan for a movie.  We went back to my place, took showers, and decided that by the time we ate we would be way too wiped to head back out.  So, pizza and then a movie at home it became.
We went to this cute little place called Pizza Bingo that had really cheap pizzas, and we were so starving we seriously thought about gnawing on the pictures of the pizza.  Pizza Bingo's Hawaiian pizza was pretty awesome but contained one interesting surprise: potatoes.  On a pizza??  Yes.  Lindie's pepperoni had corn. So, I think I'll take potatoes on Hawaiian over corn on pepperoni.  We both decided that by the time we got home we wouldn't be able to live without pizza with corn or potatoes.  :-)

No Scenic Sight but all in all, really great Saturday.  And still one more day of the weekend left!  :-)  And there's still 11 months left for the rest of the Sights :)

Bored spaghetti magic

Today is chill and relax day at Jean's apartment.  But, even on chill and relax day at least one meal needs to be eaten.  So, I walked over to my fridge and found something very distressing. . .

Out of milk.  What a bummer. 

Not even one tiny drop!  How could I have let this happen?!  Do you know what this means???  It means no Oreo O's!

And I love my Oreo O's

All they're chocolate and marshmallow-y goodness!  They're just so delicious!

They're like my best food friend!  I just love them so much!  :-)

Sorry. . .got a little carried away. . .

Let's get back to the story!  So, I decided I'd better try my hand at turning on my stove.  I had ingredients for spaghetti so I thought I would give it a try.  Some people may perhaps think that making spaghetti isn't really cooking.  To those people: I refer you to my earlier several pictures.  So, to the freezer:

I got these breaded mini pork cutlets a couple of weeks ago.  They're pretty tasty with honey mustard and cook easily in the microwave.  How do I know they're mini pork cutlets???

voila! I'm proud of this because, if I remember it correctly, this was the only package in the freezer at Lotte Mart that was actually marked this way.  Score.  :)  Now for the noodles:

I got these noodles last week, I think. . .I'm not sure exactly what they are but they were cheap and looked like they would cook quickly.  Besides, I'll try anything once!

Here goes nothin'! 

Thanks to Lindie, I was able to actually turn on my gas stove.  And I actually splurged and got some butter.  Butter has a thousand uses and I thought it would encourage me to cook. . .so, mini pork cutlets, fried in butter, on a gas stove.  I'd say we're off to a good start. 

They say that people who don't know how to cook can't even boil water.  I can boil water, thank you very much.  My stove, on the other hand, cannot. 

This is my rip roarin' high flame!  I think I'm going to have to mention this one. . .my other burner doesn't work at all. . .

Fortunately I was correct about the noodles cooking quickly.  They cooked beautifully even without boiling water.  They were a little gelatinous, but actually had a really nice flavor!  :-)  Now for the hard part: 

Adding the sauce!!  Maybe you can't see it...but it says "Rose Spaghetti Sauce" and it has tomatoes and CHEESE on it!  It should say "magic sauce of awesomeness" because that's what it was.  Awesome. 

So, there you have it.  Rice noodle spaghetti with breaded mini pork cutlet and rose "magic" spaghetti sauce!  Doesn't look too bad, right?

Mmmmm, tomatoes and pork.  I posted this because I know all of you will want to rush out and buy the ingredients for this incredibly involved and sophisticated dish.  Now I just have to think of a snazzy name for it. . .

Elegant and complicated won't mean a thing if the end result stinks.  So, here's the final piece of the ornate design: is it good??

Success.

Tune in next time for more "Cooking with Jean"   (did I forget to turn the gas off?)

Amazing day at Daewangam Songnim (Pine Forest and Ilsan Beach!)

Even though we had a late Friday night, Lindie and I met at 9am this morning to go to try to find the Pine Forest and Ilsan Beach.  Like last time, we got on the bus knowing that we would find something awesome but hoping to find this third Scenic Area of Ulsan :-)

About 45 minutes later we were among the very last remaining on the bus and we finally saw a sign for the Pine Forest (thanks to Lindie's incredibly handy ability to read Korean!)  So, off we went. 

Finally off the bus and probably on the right track to our destination.  This is our victory picture :-)

Well, this is the picture of the place we were looking for, so looks like we're going in the right direction...also, it was an amazingly foggy day so I had to take this picture for irony :-)

And here's the story of the forest :-)  This was a really fun thing to think about while we were walking around today. :-)   Interestingly, this place had the most dragonflies I've ever seen.  Awesome.

Right inside the park :-)  Really beautiful.  But there was this strange buzzing/blaring sound far in the distance. . . 

I know what you're thinking. "Why is it always foggy when you and Lindie go off to find scenic sights??" I have to tell you that I don't know.  But, in this case, I think it really added something special :-)  But there was still that strange noise. . .

I think the shape of the trees is just amazing.  :-)  But what the heck is that sound???

If you guessed fog horn, then extra credit for you :-)  I had a feeling, however it was such a haunting sound our imaginations definitely got the best of us... :-)  That's one of the seven or eight light houses on the peninsula, and that horn thing on the top of the little building was the loudest foghorn I could possibly have imagined. 

Even though the horn went off at perfectly regular intervals, it still scared us to death every time.  So, we covered our ears, which was perhaps better than the photographer who stood directly in front of it and started screaming at it :)  I hate to tell you, we spent several hours in the area and his screaming didn't persuade the foghorn one little bit.  I guess it was worth a try, right?  Look at those beautiful trees!

One of the beautiful trails we walked today :-)  My camera had an attitude problem  (and a bit of a lying problem as well, as far as the battery was concerned) so it only took one picture every couple of minutes.  But, this was a beautiful trail to walk!  And the ocean was very close by. . . . . . . . .

This was a little cove we found that we were both completely fascinated by.  The whole scene was like one of our wildest childhood imagination fantasy land wonders.  Fantastic!

Still in the cove, but look!  That bridge over there is the one from the website!  And the one we both saw from the plane!  How beautiful is this place?!?

Here it is again!!  :-) 

I fell head over heels for this tree :-)  This was just such a beautiful spot!  It just felt so ancient and calm.  I think the fog added a lot to that feeling :-)

I love the walkway winding through the craggy rocks! 

Lots of climbing!  But it was all totally worth it!  The sea was all around us here, and these lovely rocks!  Random thing, though, those rocks go down a really long way to the water, and Lindie and I saw a cat just appear down by the water and start walking around looking for stuff.  Random rock cat :-)  My camera didn't feel like taking a picture at the time, but I just wanted to tell you :-)

"We made it!  We made it!  I can't believe we made it!"  :-)

My camera wouldn't let me take a picture for a long time, so this was after quite a bit of hiking.  I had to stop and touch everything, like I do, and I'm pretty sure Lindie was mocking me for touching the trees, so for that she gets blogged :-) 

At the top of another part of the park...or at least on the way to the top.  It's just too beautiful!

The rock formations literally fascinated me.  I couldn't stop staring at them.

So, now I'll make you stare at them!  Aren't they wonderful??

So, at this point my batteries were totally dead so we started making our way to Ilsan Beach which was on the other end of the penisula.  We needed batteries.  And Coke.  And to eat the lovely sandwiches that Lindie made.  So, you can see we still had a lot to do.  :-)  While we ate the amazing sandwiches that my camera refused to take pictures of :-( Lindie and I called Elien.  Elien is a fantastic teacher at my school and was actually brave enough to come to Sally's birthday party last night, and braver still, said she would come along with Lindie and I to Ilsan Beach :-)  So, while we waited to meet her, Lindie and I searched for our treasures. . .

Sweet, sweet success.  :-)  Well, partial.  It's Pepsi, but obviously still passable.  :-)

Mountain Dew in a bottle?????  Can this be???  Yes!  (and completely fizz free!  oh well :-)  It's still lovely Mountain Dew!)

It's a little foggy...but that's part of where we were exploring.  That and then all behind it.  Beautiful!  :-)

I think fog kept the beach population down a bit.  So, we thought we would try the water!  It was cold in Busan, if you remember, very, very cold, but this far surpassed the last time!  We made an ENORMOUS spectacle of ourselves screaming and carrying on at the freezing water.  But eventually we were victorious. . .

Victorious, at least, until we were numb top to bottom and decided to regroup on dry land to come up with a new strategy. . .

 Then, Elien came!  Yay!!  And we decided the best plan of attack was by tube.  So, off we went to rent them.  They were fantastic, and made everything better :-)

Yay Elien!!  :-)  Absolutely fantastic person!  But she's leaving in October for new amazing opportunities in Australia!  I guess that's pretty much what Lindie and I did so I shouldn't be mad at her, but I can still give her a hard time about it, right? :-)

What's all over Lindie?  Um. . .armor.  Against the evil cold ocean.  :)  Okay, so it's sea weed.  We were both pretty fascinated by it.  It feels like plastic and so completely not slimy and gross like we thought it would.  Is Elien trying to shoot her?  :-)

Aren't we glamorous??!  :-)  Those tubes, affectionately called "dodo tubes" were the best idea ever.  Made the water so much more enjoyable.  We spend most of the afternoon this way :-)

Yay!!  :-)

Lindie's amazing (frankly, spot on) impression of a frozen, pink, beach, day-dwelling vampire.  Amazing!  :-)  It was cold though. . .but so much fun :-)

Elien handled hypothermia with a lot more dignity than we did :-)

The beach had showers (yay!) and a bathroom (yay!) so after we got washed off a bit and changed, we walked along the boardwalk and found all kinds of wonderful things, including atoy stand with those robotic dancing and barking dogs where Lindie found this little treasure:

I'm going to have to go back and edit this because I can't remember his name...even though I said it a million times today. . .It's an amazing name and perfect for him, but I can't remember....Sorry Lindie and Mini Panda!!  He has a bit of an off-center face...and his eyes glow. . .and he sings a little song and walks. . .he's basically amazing :-)

Among the many interesting things to look at on the board walk we saw this little hedgehog.  He was adorable and only 60,000 won :-)  But the best thing was that he was dreaming and kicking in his sleep.  He was absolutely ridiculous and was very nearly adopted.  Poor little, cute little thing! :-)

So, at this point we were pretty much starving and lucky for us Elien's little sister just happened to work for a restaurant near where we were, so off we went. It was a place called January and was fabulous!  All of the tables were in their own little rooms, had couches and pillows, and everything!  :-)  Awesome :-)  

Our own, personal doorway to our own personal little room :-) 

Christmas lights AND graffiti???  Best place ever!

And a view.  :-)  So, there we were, just chilling on lovely couches, looking out the window, and deciding what we wanted to try.  :-)

Dry AND warm!  Ahhhhhh   :-)

Poor Elien had to read the whole menu to us :-) and everything sounded amazing, so we finally chose and just enjoyed the amazing restaurant until our fabulous food arrived. 

Spaghetti!  :-) 

Baked seafood rice COVERED in CHEESE!!   (not a hard decision for Jean!)  :-)

Cheesy, yummy, lovely :-)

Nothing is ever going to beat cheesy seafood :-)

Lindie got a fantastic steak.  Not sure why I didn't get a picture of her eating it...Sorry Lindie!  That sauce was fabulous!

Just wanted to leave a little bit out our lovely day here in this lovely restaurant :-) 

Does magic panda approve?  (I think he felt a bit left out.  It's just that he has no thumbs, you see?  Which makes it difficult for him to sign things like walls.  It sure would have helped me remember his name though!!)

There, there, panda.  You have plenty of other nice qualities!  Like those brilliant glowing eyes!  Huh?  How about those eyes!  No one else has those!

They gave us candy at January.  Yummy suckers with incredibly long sticks :-)  Awesome.  But, this is where we said goodbye.  Hopefully more adventures to come!!  Soon!  :-)