If you're in Korea, asking whether you love or hate K-Pop is kind of futile. It's not like you're going to escape it, regardless. Could you "hate" the color yellow? Oxygen? Gravity? I suppose you could, but what's the point? These things are just immutable parts of life, and it's best to have a healthy, positive relationship towards them.
I've had terrible vision since I can remember. Glasses, contacts, waking up every morning blind... severe myopia has played a major role in my life and always been a part of who I am. When I first heard of LASIK technology, probably twenty years ago, it sounded like a dream from some futuristic fantasy world, too good to be true. "But one day", I thought. "I am totally doing that."
A collection of sculptures found near BEXCO and the Museum of Art, Busan's Olympic Sculpture Park pays homage to the city's involvement in the 1988 Summer Olympics and provides a place to check out some bizarre modern artwork. We paid a short visit to the park after a day of shopping at Shinsegae.
South Korea has made a serious effort to brand itself as a Health Care Tourism destination. "Medical tourism" is a phrase normally synonymous with "cheap plastic surgery" but, as we've discovered during our own adventures in Korean hospitals and clinics, that's not all it means. "Would Mr. Horn please enter the doctor's office?"
Straight across from Busan Station, a traditional Chinese-style gate welcomes you into Shanghai Street -- the nexus of the city's Chinatown. We visited this hectic and very un-Korean neighborhood during its annual celebration.
The only thing which Koreans love more than taking pictures is having their picture taken. So I shouldn't have been surprised to find in Busan an entire museum dedicated to the art of posing for funny photos. But still... I was surprised. The Trick Eye Museum, underneath the Heosimcheong Spa, is one of the most bizarre places we've been in a long time.
Are more than one haiku called haiki? I don't think so, but I'm too drunk on soju to really care. Imo, another bottle, please! And you might want a few, too, before reading my haiku. (Is more than one bottle of soju called soji?)
It's been five months since Jürgen and I lost our French Bulldog to cancer. We've been able to distract ourselves with travel, but every once in awhile (and especially after seeing a French Bulldog on the streets), I'll feel that empty pang of sadness, and start wishing I had a dog again. Luckily, there's a place in Busan where I can go to purge myself of such silly whims.
A trip to the Gamcheon Culture Village was one of the stranger excursions we've undertaken during our time in South Korea. This neighborhood in the west of Busan has dedicated itself to art, with murals, sculptures and installations that occupy entire houses. Visitors are taken on a tour which snakes through narrow alleys and ends at an observation deck with an amazing view over the city.
For our first trip to a Korean spa, we choose one of Busan's biggest and most modern: Spa Land in the Shinsegae department store. Twenty-two baths, thirteen distinctively-designed saunas, relaxation rooms, steam rooms, foot baths and more were ours to enjoy for four blissful hours.
