Since I’ve been so lazy about writing lately, caught up in finishing reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and travelling and various other matters, it would be prudent to make a brief update before I document the rest of the highlights from my little trip to Korea this past holiday weekend.

Tsushima actually lies between the main island of Kyushu and the Korean peninsula. It’s just a 53 kilometre jetfoil boat ride to the nearest major city of Busan (also spelled Pusan), whilst the nearest city in Japan is actually more like 150 km away.  Thus it is actually realistic to take a little international weekend trip off the island.

This September, a couple national holidays of Japan lined up in a row, so one was added in between and this became what was dubbed Silver Week after the annual Golden Week of holidays at the end of April, sometimes the only chance people here get to travel.

After a year of living next to South Korea but never venturing over, I decided this was the optimal time.  Plus, my friend Allan just moved to Seoul. Duncan, the new ALT from South Africa, joined me.

Sadly, we couldn’t leave until Saturday afternoon, and after the boat and the backup plan of flying to Fukuoka and exploring more of Kyushu both fell through that day due to strong winds, we were left with just a night and two days before the return boat.  We made it onto a very rocky jetfoil to Busan the next day and opted to stay around there.

Up next are some highlights, but first, a couple notes.

• Busan is certainly a mix of the first- and third-worlds: It borrows a lot from Japan and sometimes improves on it with an excellent multilingual underground (subway).

• The cost of its too rapid development is a sewer system that requires one to dispose of toilet tissue in a bin rather than in the toilet.

• Touristing in Korea, even in a smaller city like Busan, is surprisingly cheap and extremely easy if you speak English, Chinese, or Japanese.  A mix is perfect.

First meal: Samgye-tang (Ginseng Chicken Soup) - With the usual arrangement of side dishes.

Gwangan Beach at night: "neon fireworks"

A less polished side of Beomeosa Temple

Pusan's mountains shroud the city's divisions

Artwork in Jangan-dong Station

Street vendor of Korean gyoza (jiaozi), meat skewers, and a delightful spicy red sauce mochi and cabbage?

Huge but fruitless underground shopping lanes underneath Seomyeon Station

Octopus and fish at one of the many vendors at Jalgachi Fish Market

More coming soon…