June 4, 2013

• The Beach and Fish of Bu-san.

  The decision was made prior to any of us hopped into a plane to fly all the way to Seoul. @beowulf222 proposed it and I obliged to it. We all agreed to stay overnight in Bu-san during my one-week holiday in Seoul. Pronounced with a ‘P’, as Pu-san, it is a port city that is well known for its sandy beach and fish market. Naturally, those two were our main destinations during our one-night break from Seoul, in the second biggest city in South Korea.

  It was a bright sunny Wednesday May morning. @beowulf222, @jitiam, and I gathered at the Seoul main train station. Bags ready and cash in hand, we purchased ourselves tickets to board on the high-speed express train KTX that would get us to Bu-san in a couple of hours time. Being our seat class was a step-up from a regular economy class, we were allowed complimentary water bottles from the vending machine on the train.

  The ride was smooth. Plenty of legroom, headroom, and large wide glass windows, for us to gaze out to the scenery of South Korea’s country side landscapes along the way. But the one thing that had me impressed, is the fact that KTX provides free Wi-Fi on board to all passengers who ride on KTX. Sweet!

  

  Our day in Bu-san started out nice and easy. Upon arrival, we headed straight to our hotel for check-in and then went out for lunch. We had puffer fish soup, a specialty of the area. Right after, we lead our feet to the famous Haeun-dae beach, which located just right behind our hotel. The beach was almost devoid of people. It was a weekday and so it was expectedly bare and quiet. Few people can be seen here and there, along with some kids playing catch and throw.

  The walk along the beach was a pleasant way to enjoy the afternoon. Windy climate had us zipped our jacket all the way up to our neck. We marched all the way to the other end of the beach where the sandy beach ended and the rocky shore of Dong-baek park began. From the park’s rocky shore, one can relish the distant view of many high-rise buildings along Haeun-dae beach.

  We continued on our walk to the other side of the park until we got to a point where the view presented us with a distant scene of Gwan-gan bridge, or ‘Diamond’ bridge. It is called ‘Diamond’ because of the lights covering the entire bridge at night. When lighted up, from afar Gwan-gan bridge looks nicely sparked, which I got to witness after we returned from our Korean sashimi dinner and trailed back to Dong-baek park for an evening stroll. It was a great way to end the day.

  

  The next morning, we went to the famous Ja-gal-chi fish market to spend our day there. The day got warmer. The bus ride was so packed we could barely breath and ended up sweating underneath our layered clothes. We were ready to confront the outdoor wind but we were not expecting the heated temperature inside the bus, packed with people squeezing in for their ride to go to Bu-san main station, where we headed to store our belongings in a locker. The three of us sighed in relieve as soon as we got off from the bus, happily parted ourselves from the many pushy 'aji-mae' (Korean word for ‘aunties’) that cramped our space in the bus.

  Ja-gal-chi fish market was a nice distraction from the uncomfortable bus ride. We took the Bu-san metro to get there. As soon as we stepped out from the subway exit, I saw a truckload, literally, of dried enormous black seaweeds, piled high and tied in batches. The scent of fish was in the air. Located right by the fisherman port, many 'aji-mae' can be seen right behind their display of fresh catches of the day, along with many odd-looking live sea creatures. There were plenty of fish hung in rows to dry, as well as vendors cleaning and skinning their live catches for sale.

  

  The fish market was also lined with many food vendors at one end of the market. Some were selling deep-fried fish cakes, or spicy marinated crabs, or grilled pressed-dried squids, or pan-fried fish of various species. We stayed at the market for late lunch and rewarded ourselves with some of the mouth watering pan-fried fish. They were very fresh.

  Pan-fried at perfection, the flesh of the fish we had was still succulently juicy, with a natural salty flavor of the sea. The fish was accompanied with side dishes, as most eating-places in Korea similarly do. We were served clear seaweed soup and several pickled/marinated dishes in small portion, including the staple kim-chee. But all that only AFTER we visited a different food vendor, to savor some stir-fried pork skin in spicy red-hot sauce and spicy pork-blood tofu soup with bean sprouts. An odd type of food to sell at a fish market, and the more reason why I just had to try some, much to the detriment of both @beowulf222 and @jitiam.

  Despite the various interesting culinary adventures we had in Bu-san, the most memorable one for me was actually the fresh strawberries sold in boxes, at a street side fruit vendor we encountered nearby the subway exit to the Ja-gal-chi fish market. Bright red in color, these large strawberries caught my eye from a distant. They are probably the best tasting strawberries I ever had. Available also in Seoul, these local strawberries are always large, juicy, fragrant, and sweet with almost no trace of acidity that one would regularly get from tasting strawberries. A must-have when one is visiting South Korea. Both @jitiam and myself gorged down a box-full of them. Yum.

  

  Alas, we couldn’t stay long. The trip had to come to an end. I was this close to getting another box of them strawberries, and to maybe eat them on the train-ride back, but decided against it instead. We were obligated to get back to Seoul pronto, where a Korean friend of ours would be waiting at the main station to pick us up, and to take us out for some street-food dinner. Such a great way to be welcomed back, as food is indeed and forever be a man’s best friend.

  • 2:20 pm
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