Following her directions we took a mini bus from Busan Cancer Centre bus stop to go up the hill. While waiting at the bus stop, a Chinese girl approached us and asked us where were we from. We later found out that she was planning to go to Gamcheon Culture Village too. So we asked her to tag along and visit the place together. Later we got to know her name, Wang Qing. We took lots of photos at the village. There were some stairs climbing required but it's worth the effort. The view from the top of the hill was amazing, filled with colourful houses just like those on the postcards. The village was actually an old neighbourhood, with lots of old folks staying inside. We spotted a granny with her tongkat climbing the steep stairs. She must have done it every other day as well.
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| Gamcheon Culture Village |
We also passed by a small shop selling snacks. The uncle was very kind and friendly. He showed us tourist messages written on sticky notes that were pasted all over the shop. There were so many of them. We also wrote down our message and took a photo there. After we had some drinks we headed downhill. Along our way down, we saw a stall selling the famous Ssi At Hotteok! It was recommended by Olivia earlier but we couldn't find it at Seoul. The Hotteok we fond at Seoul was different. This Ssi At Hotteok has little seeds inside and it was so delicious. I wish I could have more of it. Definitely one of my favourite snacks here.
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| The famous snack - Ssi At Hotteok |
As we set off late, everything was pushed back an hour. After Gamcheon Culture Village, it was already around 2pm. We went to the famous Jagalchi Fish Market. It was just one subway station away. Wang Qing said she wanted to go there go so it was great to have her company. Once we came out of Jagalchi station, we immediately smelled seafood. And the market was just around the corner. There were many outdoor stalls selling all kinds of seafood. But we wanted to have seafood for lunch so we went to a Jagalchi Market building. From outside it looks like a department store, around 6-7 stories high. When we went inside we realized that the first two levels were markets and seafood food court. The upper levels were offices We wanted to find a famous stall that we researched online called Jackie's. His stall received numerous coverage on TV as well as on food magazines. It didn't took us long to find it among the other stalls. We looked at the menu. Indeed the food looked delicious. But it was quite expensive. Luckily we researched online that seafood stalls here are expensive but you can bargain for a discount especially tourists. So we asked the Ajumma "nomu pissa yo. Jum kakka juseyo" means "it's really expensive. Please give us a discount". And after awhile she agreed. I think they were expecting the bargain too. We managed to cut 10000won off the original price for all the food we ordered. We ordered Sashimi, seafood steamboat and a seafood pancake. The seafood steamboat was really awesome. The oyster was still alive, shrinking and expanding inside the steamboat. The Ajumma then turned on the gas and cook the seafood inside. After they were cooked we scooped the up and devoured it. It was fresh and delicious. Because of so many seafood inside, the soup was extremely sweet. It was probably the best meal of our trip. After our meal, we took a group photo with the Ajumma. They were so lovely.
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| Various kinds of seafood sold in Jagalchi Market |
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| Seafood steamboat at Jagalchi Fish Market |
It was around 4pm after we had our late lunch and we wanted to go to Nampodong. But it was raining cats and dogs. It was the first rain in our trip and it fell on the last day. We were grounded at the market as there were no shelters. During that time Wang Qing shared with us her experience and some great photos taken at various parts of China such as Yun Nan and so on. The views were breathtaking and we said that maybe one day we should go there. We waited for about 40 minutes and we saw a group of girls waiting at the market with umbrellas. We asked them where can we buy the umbrellas but they said it would be quite far. After some discussion among themselves. one of the girl passed us two umbrellas and asked us to follow them. They shared the remaining umbrellas and led us to a grocery shop that sells umbrellas! We were so touched and grateful for their help. Busan people are really helpful. Wang Qing had to go back to Seoul in that evening by KTX and we changed our plans to go to Seomyeon instead because there were shopping malls there so we could avoid the rain. Wang Qing wanted to find a bank to withidraw Korean won to return to us because we paid for her meal at Jagalchi earlier. But we couldn't find the bank so she gave us China RMB instead. Maybe we can use them at Yun Nan one day! After that we headed to the subway station. We bid goodbye to Wang Qing as she had to alight earlier at Busan station whereas we would alight at Seomyeon. On the subway, we were all standing. But there was this uncle, probably in his 50s asked us to sit down. I was the closest to him and he kept insisting me to sit. We actually had similar experience before yesterday when we just arrived at Busan where old folks insisted us to sit. So I knew there was no point refusing since it was a courtesy of them. Then during one of the stops, an old lady boarded the train. I wanted to give up my seat to her but the uncle pressed me down firmly and told me something in Korean. I guess he was saying tourists should have the privilege compared to locals. I was a bit stunned by his actions and a bit embarrassed too. He talked to me in Korean and some broken english which I thought was Korean. Although he knew I couldn't understand but he still wanted to talk to me.
Seomyeon is like a city, with shopping malls and restaurants just like Seoul. We went shopping and had dinner there. It was our third Korean barbeque meal. But the staffs there could not speak English so we relied on sign language to communicate. The was one female staff there, a bit plum but very cute like cartoon character. Her reactions were also very cute. I still remember her confused cute reaction when we talked to her in English. After that we walked around for awhile before going back to our hostel.
Time really flies. We have ended our vacation in Korea. It feels so short. I will definitely come back here again. I love the time I spent here whether in Seoul, Jeju or Busan. There were so many friendly and helpful locals. I wonder if I will one day migrate to Korea. You only live once. Our flight tomorrow will be 10.40am from Gimhae Airport. Quan Yen and Shi Keat bought some fried chicken for supper before we went to bed, our last night in Korea.
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