Arriving in Busan around 5 pm I made my way by taxi to my accommodation which unfortunately was the other side of the city and a pretty long distance away at that. The room I was staying in was part of a small complex above a 24-hour convenience store (convenient in itself!) and a short distance from a subway station. On first inspection, I couldn’t find the shower but a closer search found it hanging over the toilet – this was compact living taken to the extreme! By this point, it was around 6 pm and about time to find some sustenance…
For some reason, Koreans always seem to expect westerners not to be able to eat spicy foods but I for one love the opportunity to start a few fires and no doubt destroy my taste buds in the process! The dish of choice this evening was another very spicy chicken dish with rice, simple but ever so delicious. I like the way you always get chilled water in metal cups in Korean restaurants, simple but refreshing.
After filling up it was time to explore the city centre and it turned out that night was the best time to see it. With thousands of neon shop lights illuminating the narrow streets it felt like being on a different planet. The atmosphere was pretty lively with mainly young people out shopping and enjoying themselves. It would appear at a glance that the economy is doing pretty well in Korea with people many people clearly having considerable disposable income.
One of the more intriguing sites was a game arcade full of people playing various games at an alarming speed – I’m not quite sure how to describe it but check out this video for an example – those crazy Asians! Another craze was groups of friends going in special photo booths and taking photos which can then be customised on a touch screen computer to add rather girly effects… all very stupid if you ask me 😉
I eventually made it hope around 2 am and considering I’d been up since 6 am collapsed directly onto the hard floor mat which served as a bed… it’s a hard life!
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