After the beach and fireworks at midnight we had the urge to play darts. Me and Jaeeun have acquired a fascination for darts after her visits to Mokpo and playing darts at Moe's. Jaeeun took me to a bar she had spotted earlier that looked promising. We sat and observed and drank our nasty flavored beers (passion fruit and chocolate, not a winner). There was a dartboard with a board where you signed up to wait your turn. I wrote "Kyle" in big letters. There was another couple that came in perhaps 20 minutes later. They were clearly confused by the board and put there names before ours. We waited patiently, perhaps 30 minutes before it was our turn. The board had been messed up, my name erased by that time. We remained calm, cool and collected. The "crazy couple" consisting of a Korean girl and her European boyfriend freaked out at us. Jaeeun got a little angry :). Nevertheless I ceded and let them go first, let children be children. We played our darts eventually, I did terribly and Jaeeun cheated.
Cute as can be
The "crazy couple" as J called them
Day 4
The Plan: Wake up bright and early for the New Year's Sunrise Festival at Haeundae Beach.
The Result: We woke up late but still made it with plenty of time to spare
The Story:
A few hours of sleep later it was time for our main goal on our 4 day trip. We were destined to watch the "first sun" of 2012 make its ascent into the sky. Being in Korea we would be among the first in the world to see it. We woke up two hours late! It was still dark and as we scampered through the streets of Haeundae to the beach. We made it to the beach and Jaeeun wanted to get one of the complimentary balloons given out to be released at sunrise. We waited in line but they eventually ran out before we could get one.
We made our way through the crowded beach until we found a suitable spot to stand and wait among the hundreds of thousands of early morning spectators. It was a little chilly but I kept warm thanks to the knit hat that Jaeeun made me for Christmas. We laughed at a group of Koreans that made a plunge into the frigid ocean to celebrate New Years. It seemed like an eternity before we caught saw the orange glow on the eastern horizon, the sun was on its way. All eyes gazed east and it seemed like it was just me and Jaeeun out there on the beach, never mind the thousands huddled around us. The orange glow got brighter and brighter until at last a sliver of an orb could be seen and the huge crowd applaud. A countdown began and thousands of golden balloons were released into the sky at once with music and celebration. The sun was exceptionally big that morning, we're talking the beginning of Lion King big. It sounded silly at first, watching the sun go up on a cold beach. In reality it was one of the more special moments I could ever experience. 2012 promises to be a special year.
Waiting in the dark
Me and Jaeeun
The Korean swimmers
Waiting amongst the thousands
The first sun arrives!
Hello sun
After the sunrise we went to Starbucks which was surprisingly not crowded. It was around noon when we went to Shinsegae Centum City, the biggest department store in the world. We exited the subway station and the department city loomed before us, it was incredibly massive! We were excited as Jaeeun chased me into the store only to find...the majority of the store was closed for New Years. We settled for a visit to the bookstore, Jaeeun got me a notebook I could use for taking notes and journaling. We then went on a wild goose chase to look for a good meal. We wound up in a popular shopping and dining district. We were lost for a moment, I get cranky when I am hungry, but luckily Jaeeun puts up with me. The food was delicious! We got some snacks at a little bread shop and made our way to Busan Station for our return home on what would be a very crowded train!
Delicious food! Worth the wait and journey!
We got to the train station with perhaps 10 minutes to spare. We thought we had done well to get there early. We waited on the platform...and the mob arrived. We packed into the train with no where to sit and little room to stand. I got us a spot by the vending machine where we had to sit for 4 hours on the floor, the last hour we had to listen to two old men fighting and cussing at each other. We would eventually get to Sintanjin station again. It was biting cold in Sintanjin and we were hungry, we had to settle for Lotteria. We got in the next train to Mokpo, this one with less people but still no seats. We had to cram ourselves into one of the seats used for the pay computers for an hour or two. The closer we got to Mokpo more people left the train until we could finally get seats in one of the cars. We reached Mokpo, tired and weary but full of incredible memories.
Sardines
Me and Jaeeun on the floor
Exhausted
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