Busan is the second largest city in S. Korea. it is down on the coast of S side of the peninsula and only about 45 min from B's town. It is Chicago's sister city, and they have about the same population: approx 8 million Because K is so mountainous, there are many mountain tunnel passes to get from one valley to the next. We took an inter-city bus, and ended up at the central bus station. This is me saying 'no, don't take a picture of me, just the station in general.'
Busan Bus Station
Time to head to the train to go find the Nampo, waterfront district where we are staying.
very slick train! smooth and very modern.
very cute baby!
one of my fav B pics from the trip.
do NOT get your foot trapped in the gap, the cartoon train says so!
nothing says picnic like,
tonpogi: a gooey rice cake (savory) heated in a spicy sauce with fish cake. serving it this style is common, grab and go food, and many street vendors provide this as a cold-weather snack.
tonpogi and fish cake on a stick.
nibbles and sides
Nampo District!
the giant Lotte department store. it was the most grand shopping facility i have ever stepped foot in.
tourist map.
back alley texting
peeping toms are green light with these mega-huge lenses.
walking street, this street ran behind a layer of buildings and parallel to the main driving road to the south and also parallel to of the driving road was the fish market, which will be coming up. but all the brass sculptures will be from this street.
whoever coffee & herb
slightly stifling at first.
stray cat!
quieter street
what's this, fishing nets for sale?
and two kitties in a fish trap snuggling?
woody bits for sale!
now this is what the street looks like
more nets
busy driving road just before we go full-on sea market! (sculpture walking street is on the other side of those buildings)
ok, we've had fishing nets; next is the Dry Market, which is set away from the direct sea breeze and Fresh Market, and all the vendors are together in a traditional market.
Dried Squid Tentacle Cups!
dried pressed squid hanging
dried minnows
many sizes
lots of choices.
Beautiful presentation! And check out the woman's awesome visor!
What are these?! Dried Tiny Squid, I want! the woman was selling them by the box, but she sold us a small bag so we could wander around and nibble.
getting out onto the bay'side section of the street.
dried seaweek
nom, nom. they were really chewy and salty, like jerky. you can see the ink on my tongue: so yummy! the tiny squid were so satisfying to eat because they are so much more interesting than other animal-shaped snacks, and they are an actual animal and not sweet (i'm not a candy fan).
care for a mollusk, governor?
waterfall for freshness.
octopus! these are one of the seafood critters that i eat but feel more guilty about because they have such stellar personalities. i don't eat meat very often, but i do eat tuna a few times a month. i had decided to ride the Korean food train and see where it took me, and it did not disappoint. when i do eat meat, i don't like to ignore what it is and where that meat came from, but after three weeks of it, i'm looking forward to an animal free-diet for a while now that i'm back.
experience Fresh Sea Market! :D
i think they are barnacles, but i'm not sure!
cleaning and cooking supplies.
drying fish rack.
sting rays freshly hung! (can you imagine how tourist-tastic we were at this point--taking pictures of the food drying!)
the color in the fins is beautiful!
you can see the giant store on the left.
Knife sharpener. someone has to around here!
...he's got the whole world,
a natural pose.
time to head up interconnecting market street.
sea snails!
sea cucumbers!
also sea cucumbers
these fisherwives are so hard-core!! :)
more drying racks
flat fish with funny faces
poor joe.
fresh seaweed!
game of go! (so stoked i noticed them)
sweet, bready, peanut snacks.
anti-nuke march.
tacoyaki!! it's a japanese street food, but we found it, and i demanded it! it's bonito fish flakes on top, but the takoyaki is doughy balls with a chunk of octopus in the middle, drizzled in a sweet-bbq sauce.
time for coffee, B <3s coffee.="" p="">
back out investigating street vendors!
guess where we ended up?
a traditional street food that i did NOT try; it's bugs. it's not that i didn't want to eat bugs (i have before and it wasn't that bad), it's that everyone says that they taste like mud. i dunno, maybe i should have gone for it?
experience the meandering pedestrians!!
beautifully-crafted grasshoppers.
this is the motel were we stayed!
across the street: the CNN cafe!
The hotel room! it has a hottub!!
this is a corn-flavored drink! not sweet, just corn.
going out!
they gave us aprons at dinner to keep our clothes safe.
dumplings
sides
spicy tonpogi and veggie soup!!
this was our first real meal of the day, we'd been nibbling around!
yes, that's a guy with an opium pipe doing the potty-dance outside the bathroom.
don't know why this is sideways, but this pic is significant because i took a pic with my head in a fake shark this last Aug at the Sci and Hist museum w/ B at the Mythbuster exhibit.
Eat Chicken!
Jazz Cat?!
Drunk cat!
speechless.
cat girl (if you're wondering, i promised my friend Geoff i'd take pics of all the cat stuff in Korea).
cell phone covers
take your pick
fuck! bike
public bathroon
vending machine: tissue, wipes, feminine hygiene products, and condoms.
coffee cat!
to the beach!
Jenna!
best parody, ever!
yep, you read that right.
Donky Fried Chicken!
it's a spa!
Korea's attempt at tacos
no smoking on the beach!
Donky Fried Chicken! 
