Alex Quinn's Japan Journal

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8/14/2005, Korea trip day 3: Gyungju

Day three was basically dead center in the middle of the trip. So, we headed out away from Pusan for a day trip. We took a train to Gyungju, a smaller city known for big gardens. When we got there, we rented bicycles and took off. Before heading for the garden, we stopped for lunch.

This shop gave us a splendid layout. I believe this was my favorite meal of the whole trip which was, in some respects, centered around food. This was a great meal.

I got this pork thing. Slices of grilled pork. They give you a big pile of cabbage kimchi. You take a leave of the kimchi and unfold it with your chopsticks until it's totally flat. Then, you take a piece of pork, a ton of RAW garlic, some hot miso-like sauce, and various other stuff. You put the stuff in the middle of the kimchi, wrap it up, and eat it. Delicious!

Akemi's food was totally different but equally delicious. Homemade noodles. Thick and doughy with beef or something mixed in. Really good noodles!

Sorry for all the pictures of food in these Korea journal entries. The trip had a lot to do with food, so it would be strange not to include the pictures. Or so I think. Now, after apologizing, here's a few more food pictures.

Melon ice cream bar. Not a popsicle. This one was creamy and had a rich, sweet melon flavor.

And this one was healthier and perhaps more refreshing. Peach ice.

Little rocks of ice coated with a tart peach flavor. You pop a few in your mouth. You immediately pucker from the sour peach flavor. Then, it comes off and you're left with plain old ice in your mouth which melts, makes you cool, and washes away the sour peach stuff. It's really nice. Akemi says she's had it in Japan as well. I've never seen it here.

The garden we went to was beautiful.

Lots of these big mounds which are actually tombs.

But, it's a real park atmosphere. Despite the fact they're tombs, it just feels like a big pretty park.

And a big park. Many nice walkways like this.

We found this tree bearing fruit. I'm not sure what kind of fruit it is. Please tell me if you know.

Pretty tree.

Pretty girl and pretty tree.

Me and the pretty tree. No, I'm not pretty.

Garden in Gyungju. (Akemi took this one.)

Another typical Korean style gateway. (Akemi took this one.)

After a nice stroll in the garden, we got on our bikes and rode around some more.

We found big beautiful fields. This kind of place is really nice in the summer.

Akemi took this picture of me at the big poppy fields.

And, lots of beautiful flowers all around.

All the while, I was eating plenty of ice cream, as always.

Akemi was amused with my seemingly constant steam of ice cream consumption. So, she took my picture as I was eating my ice cream.

Here's the picture she was taking.

If you ever wondered where all these big Buddhist grave stones come from. A grave stone store. This is not a cemetary. It's a store that sells grave stones. I found it amusing.

As we were going back, we stopped at the restroom in the station. I thought this sign was amusing. This toilet is for foreigners ONLY.

After a quick stop at the hotel, we went out for dinner to an inexpensive chain restaurant that sells traditional Korean food. All sorts of things. Like a Korean version of Denny's, I guess. Only Korean food. No western food.

A hearty chicken soup. Along side the soup were all kinds of kimchi and stuff. This is very typical Korean style.

Inside the chicken is rice, chestnuts, and various other stuff.

Akemi got another kind of soup. I think it was pork. A bit on the spicy side.

Akemi had all kinds of digestive troubles on the trip. I think it was the hot food, garlic, MSG, and maybe some of the other stuff. We did our best to avoid drinking tap water. I drank some, but never got sick. She drank none, but got mildly sick. We got a little exposure to tap water in the fresh greens we ate. But, Korea is a perfectly modern country. I don't think there is much risk anyway. A little but not much. About like getting sick from drinking the tap water in another part of the United States or drinking tap water in Canada. Or so I think. I hear some people do get sick. And, Akemi got a little sick.

Looking back on the day, we experienced a little more sexism. Very subtle. When we went to the really tasty lunch, we started out in one seating arrangement and then later moved to a more comfortable table. When we moved, they carried my plate, but left Akemi to carry her own plate, glass, and silverware. Very subtle, but noticeable.

That place also overcharged us a bit. They had an English language menu. We didn't even think about the prices since everything was so cheap everywhere else. When they gave us the bill, it was twice what we expected. Based on the Korean language menu on the wall, there was no way to arrive at the sum they charged us based on items on their Korean menu. Mathematically impossible. So, obviously, they charge more to foreigners who can't read Korean. Akemi was pretty annoyed, but I let it go. The total was around $15. Most items on the menu were around $4. We had no beverages. But, I still don't care. It was an awesome meal. Really good.