The Amazing Adventures of Alanowski

After visiting the chaotic atmosphere that is Ivy School (Cheonan, South Korea), Barry and Julie headed away to let me get work out of the way before my holiday was due to start. We had a good meal (feasting on shabu shabu) then a couple of beers and the obligatory noreabang.
Next morning meant an early start so that we could catch the KTX (bullet train) down to Busan for the holiday. We got there and the hotel was ok, we got an ‘ondol’ room so we could feel a little more Korean and save some money. An ondol really just means that you get fold down mattresses and just kip on the floor, saves a bit of hassle and the room seems huge once you fold the stuff away.
First day let us see some big trucks and some boats, Julie seemed to think that the piers in the world’s 4th largest container port would be similar to those in Blackpool, they were of course…..not. After a few hours of walking down one of the busiest roads in the world we figured we should try and see some sights. Headed up Namsan for a wee look around and the view from up there was amazing (photos on the board).
That night worked out well, we headed to Haeundae Beach and had a nice walk around. Went to a bar and decided on the set of food, I’ve never seen anyone so disappointed as Barry when it turned out that we had ordered loads of fruit and not much else. The relief was almost palatable when she came over with some fried treats for us. That whole area was really nice, so we made the decision to head there again in the morning so as to catch it during the day.
Of course, as is the Law of Sod, the weather was pretty poor but it stayed dry while we were on the beach. We headed up for a bit of a wander, got soaked in the rain (still wearing shorts and t-shirts) and found a big shop that was having a sale. The firm grip on the purse strings was relinquished and some spending went underway. You don’t care what we bought so I shall not bore you with the details.
Next morning was a trip to Gyeongju; it took just over an hour and seemed like a really nice place. We were walking around looking for a hotel that was recommended in the guide book but couldn’t find it. I was asking directions from people in the street but none seemed to have heard of it, we were ready to give up when a taxi stopped and while I was asking directions some young guy got off his bike and asked us in English where we were going. He sent the taxi away and directed us to a hotel and managed to get us a cheap deal on the room. He seemed keen to practice his English, and as I thought this would be the last time we heard from him I gave him my phone number. Of course he called later that day and wanted to meet up with us after dinner.
He came to meet us outside our hotel and said he wanted to show us his house. We got there and found that it was a pretty standard apartment and that was it, he didn’t have booze or food or anything to offer us. Julie kept looking at me as we tried to make small talk and mouthing the words “Why are we here?” All the while everyone was looking at the only chair but we were all too polite to sit on it.

I managed to get us out of there pretty fast and we headed down town to a student area for a few games of pool. Of course it turns out we were having teams – ‘Newly Weds’ vs. ‘Newly Mets’. As this decision was being made we found out the reason for our new found chum’s reticence about going for a game of pool: he had never played before and was off in the corner with the guy who worked there getting a quick lesson. DAMN.
Now I’m not sure the score exactly and if we take into account other factors such as height, age and number of ‘Now that’s What I Call Music vol XX’ records that were own I reckon that my team won.
The next day we rented some bicycles and headed up to the lake, was a nice cycle and when we got there the lake was lovely, just a real pity about the weather, it was staying dry but it was a little chilly. Once at the lake we had a wee picnic that we had packed and then cycled on in search for more sights. The best sight of all was seeing some little electric motorbikes for hire, and off we went (photos on the board). Those wee things were great fun, and after skidding about on them for an hour we headed up to the Gyeongju World, a theme park with loads of fancy rides and stuff like that.
On a River Rapids type ride Julie got slightly wet and on the final corner we looked up to see some little kids above us with water cannons. Julie must have done something to annoy them as they all went for her and the outcome was one very wet/cold/annoyed Julie (more photies, you know where). She rushed round to the water cannons to get her vengeance but the perpetrators were long gone, so she took it out on the next innocents to pass by underneath the cannons.
That night we met up with a bunch of foreigners who are living in Gyeongju and had a night out with them, was good fun and ended the night singing away in a noreabang.
The next morning we headed to the bus station and went our separate ways. Barry and Julie headed to Danyang for some more exploring and I headed back down to Busan to get my train.
I know this post seems different from the last month or so, that’s mainly because I’ve actually done something, and not just farted about in Cheonan or Seoul.
Hope everyone is well, keep in touch.