Hello, Beautiful!

Things that are all the rage in South Korea right now: strawberries, tulips, and cherry blossoms. So like thousands of others, we decided to get out and see what all the fuss was about in regards to the blossoming exhibits of nature.

General Yi statue

We piled ourselves and our travel neck pillows onto a tour bus, and a mere five hours later we were in the port city of Jinhae. And what a delight – there were cherry blossoms galore! And also, tourists galore. But nonetheless, cherry blossoms anywhere and everywhere we looked.

Just trying to blend in with the locals.

We spent the afternoon wandering from one row of trees to the next, then up a hill that overlooked the whole city, and back around the streets to examine what the vendors and carnies were peddling.

The street food was hit or miss. I expected the Korean barbecued pork to have a little more flavor, but the Turkish ice cream and fresh churros made us feel like a couple of happy little fat kids. We also learned to never trust a carnie. Yes, I’ve known this all along from living in America – mama didn’t raise no fool! But we learned that it applies to Korea as well when Mark went to try his luck at a ring-toss game only to find out after paying that he would have to toss the rings onto the far peg rather than the closer one. And just like that, winning that life-sized stuffed bear never seemed like such a distant dream.

300-ish steps

To the left, to the left. Everyone who can walk down the stairs
rather than wait an hour for the monorail in the line to the left.

A beautiful day for a camera phone and selfie stick!

Just a few people showed up.

The city of Busan was our evening destination. If we ever have the chance to go back there, I will jump right on it – Busan was a nice city! Being there and walking along the beach almost made us feel like we back in the States somewhere off the coast of California, but with a little more Asian flair.

A little Busan beach, viewed from our hotel room.

On day two of our fun-filled south-South Korean weekend, we popped into Haedong Yonggungsa Temple. Nothing is new in the world of Buddhism. But the temple was unique in that it was situated right by the ocean. Most temples in Korea are in the mountains, so a seaside temple is somewhat of a rare find.

Because husband was born in the year of the pig. And husband is a tourist today. 

Because baby will be born in the year of the monkey! (23 weeks into this pregnancy thing!)

Like most places frequented by tourists, the sidewalks leading up to Haedong Yonggungsa Temple were lined with vendors. They were selling the usual – jewelry, miniature Buddha figurines, back scratchers, chopsticks, key chains, and various food items that are only mildly recognizable to most Americans. So when we passed by a food stand that appeared to be steaming some seasoned up insects, I had to stop and ask, “What is that?” And behold, the answer I received was, “It is a delicious insect!” Then the cook behind the bugs enthusiastically offered some samples to Mark and me. “Delicious” is not the word I would have used to describe the flavor of the insect, but I suppose I would not have called it “awful” either. It was weird. And crunchy. With some mushy parts too. Pretty much exactly what I would have expected for the taste and texture of a cooked insect, plus some seasoning blend that I could not recognize but would not go back for seconds of it. I’d like to stick to granola and trail mix for my snacking purposes, thank you very much!