We start on Saturday morning with a visit to the tomb of King Suro....
King Kim Suro founded Garakguk (A.D 42) as ruler of Gaya and helped to promote the magnificent Gaya culture. The Gaya period saw the cultivation of rice and production of iron, thereby playing a leading part in helping to form an ancient civilization in Korea. King Suro's tomb stands as a state symbol of the Gaya culture."
The grounds are another example of peace and tranquility and space in the middle of a bustling town....
In line with Confucian custom the King's tomb is burial mound and because of his status is very big (6 metres tall) in comparison with the average citizen (0.5-1.5 metres tall).
After wandering around the grounds for a bit it was time for Ki Tae and I to make our way to Busan to attend the wedding of Park's older brother....
I can't tell you what was said during the service, firstly because I couldn't understand a word they said, but secondly because the atmosphere at this particular wedding was very different to the weddings I've been to in the past.... None of this quietly listening to the service, there was talking, laughing (not with the bride and groom - with other people in attendance), cell phones ringing..... but the sentiment was there and I could follow the gist.....
Poor Park had to play receptionist during the ceremony....
After the reception lunch, next stop was Mr Gung's dojang where Mr Brown instructs. Mr Chirtoca and I were roped in to assist with an English class - "Excuse me, how much is that?", "Is that your best price?", "Do you have anything cheaper?".
Time flew and in what seemed like no time at all we were back at the YangJeong dojang discussing plans for the evening.... No Karaoke this time, but after dinner once again we were off to Seomyeon. This time we filled our night dancing at one of the many clubs in the area. Unfortunately the smoke machine and cigarette smoke in the club has played havoc with my chest cold and it looks like I might have to go back to the Korean Herbal Medicine clinic - not that the guys are complaining, that means they get to talk to the assistants again..... But you'd never believe it, I walked into the bathroom at one stage during the night and ran into a girl from Hataitai, Wellington!!!! Talk about insane!! She's over here teaching English and from the sounds of it is not having as good a time as we are as guests/employees of ITFK.
Tongyeong is a beautiful town with many temples and memorials to the Admiral including a scale reproduction of the Kobukson which Mr Brown and I took great pleasure in exploring. (Sorry Mr Doogan!!)
And all this before breakfast! Breakfast by the way was at about 10-11 o'clock and consisted of rice rolls (rolled in seaweed), with chilli squid and kimchee (chilli radish)... not your average breakfast really is it?
More exploring of the hills and bays, a walk down a historic underwater tunnel, a walk through the outdoor sculpture garden of the local Arts and Culture Centre.... (by the way - mum? this set of photos is for you :-) )
Finally a stop at the Traditional Handcraft Exhibition Centre where we were blown away by the mother of pearl inlaid lacquered furniture and exhibits..... We asked the price of the wardrobe pictured behind Mr Brown and Mr Kim..... guess.... you'll never guess..... we thought they must have had it wrong..... $1,000,000.00!!!!!! That's right!!! Mr Brown was contemplating putting it on layby.... I think he was really quite taken with it.......
By this stage we were starting to fade a little at the edges, so we decided it was time to head back to Busan where we'd been invited to join some friends of Mr Kim's for a home cooked Chinese meal.
Now, Mr Brown and I thought the Koreans ate alot of food..... But the Chinese guys that we had dinner with? (Not to mention Mr Kim and Mr Gung who were there as well? These guys ate for pretty much a solid 2 hours..... drinking, talking, eating..... It was basically a giant hotpot dinner, they started by just making a basic soup which bubbled away for a while as we waited for the other guests to turn up making the flat smell delicious!!!! This was surrounded by plates of food, ham, tofu, mushrooms, chinese cabbage, lettuce, shaved beef, crab sticks...... 
and basically the idea was to throw the food into the pot and when it was cooked it would bob to the surface and you'd know it was cooked so you could fish it out..... No problem! We can do that! Slowly we began making our way through the food on the table thinking that this was a great way to eat (and it was!!! the food was delicious!!!!) and that just this food on the table was a big meal for all of us and how on earth would we make it through it all.... but wait..... there's more!!!! every time Mr Brown and I thought everyone would stop and the meal was coming to a close the guys would bring out another couple of plates of ingredients and chuck it into the pot, some more soup mix, more water.... Oh My God!!!!!! Mr Brown and I stopped pretty early in the piece thinking even then that we'd need to be rolled down the stairs and out to the car...... But the guys just kept going and going and going and going....... And of course as you can imagine the soup in the pot just kept getting thicker and thicker, eventually looking more like gravy than soup....... What an amazing experience! Nothing like a Chinese meal cooked specially for you by Chinese students in Korea!!!
For those of you who have actually made it through to the end of this particular entry - thanks for sticking with me, and I hope you enjoyed the story.... I certainly enjoyed the weekend......
Signing off now.....
2 comments:
Wow.. what action packed weekends you have over there, NZ will seem boring by comparison!Shifted successfully and all settled in, even the cat.Look after your chest cold.
Looking rather coy behind that pillar…Turtle ship and temples look fantastic.
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