I apologize for the quality, they were taken with my ancient Samsung flip phone (keepin' it real...2003 real). I really have to remember to take my S100 along more often.
Anyhoo...some of these are funny, others just plain weird...
Let's start with a normal one, then I'll have this blog degenerate from there. Yesterday, I went for the first real ride of the season...in pursuit of a museum or something for my friends and I to visit. I found the Masan museum on top of a big hill:
I didn't go inside (gonna do that with friends)...but get this. The entry fee is 500 won (or roughly 44 cents!!!). For kids it's 200 won (18 cents, give or take). This is one of the things I absolutely LOVE about Korea...most museums, cultural and historical attractions are laughably cheap!
Above the museum (a little hike up the mountain) are the remains of a wall built by Mongolian invaders in the 1200s to defend their fortress. How freaking cool is that? (In this picture the wall is the snaking thing on the left...Dream Bay - around which Changwon, Masan and Jinhae are built - is the body of water...and the island behind the handful of identical high-rise buildings is Dotsom Island; the island with the permanent amusement park on it, and the bright white line stretching from the left edge of the picture to almost the middle of it is the roof of the Masan Fish Market ...an absolutely massive market where you can get anything from live squid to pig heads and candy).
How about this for scary? In Busan...we were walking around when I saw that someone decided that a round manhole cover is the perfect way to seal off a square storm drain...on the bright side, if you're not paying attention you'll merely break your shin instead of falling in...
Onto the plain weird...a "sculpture" made of hot tubs and bathtubs in front of the Masan museum:
Urinal at Yongdusan Park in Busan...
While on the subject of bathrooms...for some reason in Korea they don't believe in giving you any privacy when you go to take a whiz. Apparently a GLASS door is the perfect thing to put on a bathroom. This picture was taken from the entrance to both bathrooms (ie: any woman going to the ladies' room would be greeted with this view):
This is perfectly common, as my good pal Raines demonstrated at a bus station bathroom (my bike is in the background...in the main hallway of the station...clear view of anyone relieving themselves):
This is sad, but ironically funny. Bike theft (and more than that, theft of bike PARTS) is absolutely insane in this country. I've had people try to steal my front wheel (hence why I bought a second bike, something with cheaper parts on it, so I'm not afraid to lock it up outside the grocery store), my friends have had wheels, bikes, seats, etc stolen, I've even read of people having their BRAKE PADS ripped off...I mean...come on.
Anyhoo...while in Busan, I saw this gem...a Titicaca bike, whose slogan (printed on the downtube) is something like "All you need in life are two triangles and two circles". Referring to the no-frills, basic nature of Titicaca bikes. Ironically enough...all that remained of this bike after it had been picked clean by thieves were...two circles (wheels) and two triangles (frame)..if you look closely you'll see that they even took the brake cables...:
While in Busan (renewing my passport...an expensive adventure), I decided to check out the Russian street...where I bought me some Commie chocolate!
Also, in my never-ending quest to try to find the most idiotic parking job (that'll be a whole new blog entry one day) in Korea...I think I found an indisputable front-runner.
This guy in Daegu decided to not only park his car in the middle of a major intersection on the crosswalk..but then he casually took out a newspaper and started reading it like he was on a park bench somewhere...it's just way too awesome for words, to be honest:
While we're talking about cars...at home the flat-deck towtrucks stay put...and the deck tilts to accommodate the car they're about to haul...not here...
Random...eating fried potatoes with chopsticks...never thought it would come to this! But...when in Changwon ;)
Also...English is a huge fad here...and they use it even when they don't have to...or when they do it incorrectly...seen at a furniture shop in Busan:
Good space, good think...bad Engrish.
Okay...almost done...remember the bring pink/purple Nike backpack you thought was so cool in 1994? They're back...
And...last but not least...it's a sad day...I listed my beloved Canon 1D Mark III for sale. *sniff*...it's an amazing camera, but not the camera for me...I'll sure miss it when it's gone, though!
All right...that's it from me...hope you all had a great weekend, and I'll start amassing more tales and pictures of oddities from Kimchiland!!!
Cheers,
T
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