Though I had no complaints* about the hostel I was staying in, when the week I paid for ran out, I decided to change locations. It is maybe a bit too comfortable in Haeundae where most days I barely venture to eat or drink coffee outside a 100m range of the hostel. Furthermore, I had heard from some expats that Haeundae is like its own world apart from Busan, so I was starting to worry that I wasn’t experiencing the “real” Busan. I booked an Airbnb in a more central location to accommodate the change.
I didn’t wake up as early as I wanted and didn’t have the energy for the long run I had planned to take in the morning, but still go out there to log another run along the beautiful Haeundae beach. After a quick shower, I made a pot of ramen noodles to finish off the lettuce and chicken from a few days ago. I went back upstairs to pack up and after bringing my stuff down, I had a second breakfast and worked on my computer until noon.
I dragged my stuff to the subway and rode the 30 minute distance to Seomyeon. The area is like an entirely different world, crowded with people, restaurants, and shops. I met my classmate for lunch (my treat this time) and followed by coffee.
There were tons of tempting places to eat and even several clusters of street food to sample, but I was so full from lunch, I wanted to keep it light with a salad. I headed over to the nearest Home Plus to buy enough salad to last two days, and spent the whole evening in my private studio apartment with a double-double bed. The most exciting part of having a private apartment was that there was a washing machine and detergent. I have been hand washing my socks and underwear regularly, some shirts occasionally, but these jeans I wear every day have gone six weeks without a launder. I don’t have another pair of pants to wear while waiting for them to dry. I had a chance to do a lot of laundry (by hand) in Daegu, but access to a washing machine was almost worth the price differential over the hostel (which would charge 5000 a pop).
I finished Pride and Prejudice and spent some time browsing the Chinese reading app on my phone for other books. I reread the first chapter of
Pride and Prejudice in translation and found that entertaining, but wasn’t willing to pay for more than the free preview. I do need to get a Chinese book in my rotation to keep that low frequency, literary vocabulary fresh.
*One actual complaint is I had a weird roommate for almost the whole week. I never saw him in person, but he was literally in his bunk 20 hours a day doing God knows what (there are privacy curtains). But, seriously, I went in and out of the room morning, afternoon, and evening, and he was always in there.
Thursday morning was cold. The weather app said there were snow flurries, but I didn’t see anything outside the window. I had a coffee and went out to exercise. I had about a kilometer on the streets before reaching Busan Citizens Park, on the other side of the train tracks. It’s a huge park, and was beautiful in the bright sunlight. I jogged haphazardly along the intersecting paths, often returning to a cluster of exercise equipment in the northwest corner to do a set of pull ups.
I had a lunch date and arrived at the restaurant a few minutes early. There was an old auntie in the lane telling passersby to come into eat. I was able to convey in Korean that I will eat there in a bit, but I was just waiting for a friend first. While waiting, I looked up and down the street at all the enticing restaurants with bright signs advertising delicacies I’ve never even heard of. I wish I could throw this diet out the window and start eating 5 meals a day, but then again, a meal is so filling, always coming with rice and banchan. Once again, I ate too much at lunch, but had a leisurely afternoon in a cafe to digest over conversation.
March 14th is “White Day” in Korea, a sort of local Valentine’s Day. Apparently, the custom is for women to give men chocolates on February 14th and for men to give women candy on March 14. I gave an avocado.
They were doing street repairs outside my apartment from 8 pm until 7 am. Oh, that was annoying.
| Jjimdalk | 23000 W |
| Salads | 5980 W |
| Airbnb | 56.78 USD |
| Sports Drink | 2000 W |
| Stir Fried Pork | 21000 W |
| Bibimbap | 5500 W |
| Total: | 729 RMB (USD 108.5) |
Running Total:
11034 RMB
(USD 1643)
Daily Average:
240 RMB
(USD 35.7)