Published: June 9th 2012June 8th 2012
This past Wednesday, Korea celebrated their Memorial Day. Usually our weekly routine can get to be a bit boring. We go to the gym, have dinner, watch a show or read a little, but with it being warmer at night we've been able to get out more and more. Tuesday we decided to head down to the Ocean Park, which is near the Expo and near my school. Everday on my way home I ride through the park where stalls are set up with vendors selling touristy type goods and food stalls. It recently came to my attention that there was a Turkish Kebab stand here and Jen and I were eager to try it. Yeosu isn't very accomodating to foriegn foods so when you get the chance to try something that is different from the fare we eat everyday you jump at it.
We found the Kebab man, who is here until the end of the Expo, near the end of the line of vendors. There before us sat the roatating meat spinning like a dizzy fat man in a sauna. We ordered and chatted with the worker a bit while he prepared our food. We paid
A guy riding around with a bunch of glow sticks on his bike.
the man and went on our way biting into our kebabs, hoping for the best. We were met with the flavors or ketchup and mayonaisse, both ingrediants not normally found anywhere on a kebab. Oh well, we sighed and continued to eat, although slightly dejected. Being here so long we've learned to set ourselves up for disappointment when it comes to foods other than Korean. In Seoul, there is enough diversity that you can find nearly any food you want and be quite happy with the results but in the smaller cities you have to look a bit harder or lower your expectations a bit.
After dinner we took a walk through the vendors and did our best to fight off there sale pitches for souveniers. Most of the things for sale we'd already acquired. Still it was nice to walk along the harbor as the sun went down and talk to some of the vendors. Jen found a couple of dresses that she liked but they were very over priced for what they were and she ultimately decided that she could find something better when we head to Malaysia in a month on our honeymoon trip
Later in the night, still not satisfied with our dinner, we went on the hunt again for food. We were looking for bindaedeok or nokdujeon. Both are a fried mung bean pancakde with vegetables and usually some ground pork or chicken. They're nothing like a breakfast pancake at all and are actually really good despite what it sounds like. We went from food stall to food stall looking over the menu's for the fried pancakes or anything else that would fill us up. We passed over fried chicken and fish stews until we made it to the end of the line.
The last little food stall did maekoli, a traditional white rice wine, so we headed in to share a couple of bottles and nab something to eat. As we looked over the menu one of us caught the sight of something spinning out of the corner of our eye. We both looked to find a flayed pig turning over and over on a a spit roast, the meat crackling and juicy.
We ordered a plate of what was some of the best BBQ I've probably had in two years and soon went through
Round and round it goes.
it before ordering one more to share. Behind us crowds were starting to gather near the performance stage. It was hard to see who was on but I could recognize the sound as karaoke. The crowd was bigger than some of the concerts I've been to back in Oregon and everybody seemed to love it. I got up and went to have a look. On the stage a Korean man in a pink skirt was singing what was probably some old love song to the sounds of a casio keyboard demo track while a cartoonish looking man in traditional clothes that were a couple of sizes too small for him hit a cymbal everyonce in a while, not giving in to the rigid demands of rhythm. This went on for hours. When the costumed duo wanted a break an elderly man or woman would step up to the mic to serenade a whooping and clapping crowd with tales of love and heartbreak. I went back to find Jen at the restaurant who sat watching a lady feed her dog food with her chopsticks.
With the end of the night coming we headed for the batting cages that are always
They loved whatever the men were singing about
in operation near the circle park. We each took a few at bats, I hit a few HR's, and then we moved onto the next thing. We played the basketball game that you see at carnivals and arcades all over America. Just before we called it a night I felt the urge to spend my last few W500 pieces on an arm wrestling and punching bag game. Money well spent I thought and a Tuesday night well spent as well.
The next morning we woke early and made for the beach. The weather wasn't as great as the day before but it was still warm and humid enough to take to the beach for some relaxing and swimming in the ocean. After running around in the morning gathering supplies we made it to the beach by 12:30 and set up our spot. After a while workers from the expo started to trickle down to the beach with their European bathing suits. Much to the delite of the heavily clothed Korean teenage boys, the Russian and Ukranian girls were running up and down the beach in thongs. This is something unseen on a beach here. The locals tend
Dog eating from chopsticks.
to go the the beach in shorts, short or longsleeve t-shirts, big straw hats and anything else they can get to keep the sun from actually shining on their skin. The sight of women and even one man in thongs sent a wave of confusion up the beach. I watched as old women stared at the group and leaned in close to make comments to each other as the group left the beach. Whatever the overall outcome of the Expo is at least it's bringing people to a place they would probably never visit and giving some of the local people a chance to see and learn about people from different lands. Whether they come to see the temples, hike the mountains, or sun their butt cheeks while running up and down the shore it's gonna be an interesting couple of months for Yeosu-ites.
There are more photos below