Hammy's 2005 Trip To Korea And Japan - Nov 17th

Played golf at Collier Park with Mick, an 80 year old army veteran. He fought in New Guinea, Korea, Vietnam and served in Japan. Had schrapnel removed from his knee two years ago that he got in '44. Been an army man all his life. I shot a 44 and a 43 on the par 71 Island/Lakes layout - my best score ever on a fully rated course (87 on a 71 ACR - 16 over). Home in time to wash the dishes, clean the house, bring the washing in, have a shower, have lunch and watch the West Indies collapse in the cricket against Australia.

Travel frugally.

My bags and the taxi.

Bashir was my taxi driver for the trip to the airport. He's from Afghanistan and was sponsored by the United Nations to come to Australia. His previous job was that of a journalist. Last year he bought his taxi and has done 120000 km already. I did that in 11 years with my Corolla! Taxi set me back $24.40.

Less than two minutes wait to get served at check-in. Had to wait 10 mins to get checked-in as there was some problem with entering my passport details. Fortunately I wasn't carrying any of those deadly weapons known as nail files in my carry-on lugguage. Hope the flies don't have tickets coz they can bloody well stay in Perth!

My plane to Malaysia.

Flight MH124 had 17 staff plus pilot and co-pilot. You are greeted by the lovely hostesses upon boarding. As you move further down the plane's fuselage to your seat in cattle-class, the hosties become less attractive. Bit like getting drunk in reverse.

Canning Vale area of Perth.

Mt Henry Bridge.

Fremantle.

Air sickness bag insciption - BEG MABUK UDARA
- SPECIALLY PRODUCED FOR MALAYSIA AIRLINES
Why is it specially produced? Do travellers on Malaysia Airlines required a specialised sick bag?

Strange to see beer, Fosters, served in plastic cups. There is something not right about that. Interesting that tampons, nappies, cups, paper towels and razors (thought these were prohibited in carry-on luggage?!) are encouraged to be dispose of in the toilet bin.

Message from the pilot just prior to landing - "Please be aware that the importation of drugs is a very serious offence that carries a manadatory death penalty." The warning is a bit late if you already have them in your luggage, mate.

Can anyone tell me why it is important to have the windows up when coming in to land?

If the plane comes to rest in the sea is it called a "seaing"? Can't be a landing.

It always amuses me how passengers attempt to desert a landed plane like rats from a sinking ship. One of the low points of civilisation. What is the hurry?

Nice tactic so that people don't try to sleep in Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) as they constantly repeat "Nothing's gonna change my love for you" by Glen Medeiros - our wedding song.

Muslim toilet paper - KLIA.

Just before midnight I realised that the bank at the airport in Korea wouldn't be open until probably 9/9:30. Needing to depart as soon as possible I looked for an exchange service at KLIA, which I had done earlier, and ended up having to ask for assistance. The layout of the terminal is a bit confusing. Lots of people were waiting and it took a while to get served. Interestingly the guy tied to talk me out of the exchange as I would need to change to Ringgits before changing to Won and he wanted to save me the extra exchange fee. Touching. Had no choice really.

On the tarmac at KLIA we were parked next to the new Airbus A380! What a huge beast.

Hammy's 2005 Trip To Korea And Japan - Nov 18th

On the flight from Kuala Lumpur to Incheon (Seoul) I went to the toilet as breakfast was being was being doled out and almost missed out. Quite difficult to get the atention of any hostess at that stage. Wasn't really worth the effort as the teriyaki fish was not too tasty. Overall, service on this flight was much better than the one to Kuala Lumpur. Perhaps it had something to do with the cute Korean hostesses.

I have noticed that Koreans rush to the gate in the departure lounge whenever an announcement is made is English. I'm sure that their excuse is that they don't understand but it is more like they don't listen. Same thing happens in Korea but the message is in Korean then. Not that they would've been able to understand the Malaysian guy anyway as I had great difficulty.

During the landing I noticed lots of people playing golf at Incheon Golf Club - it's only 3 degrees C. Immigration don't muck around but were more than a little surprised that I could write in hangul (Korean script). My favourite hostie, Nam Ji-na, had asked me if I lived in Korea. Obviously impressed with my grasp of Korean. [Editor's note - Stop fooling yourself boy. She was just being polite.]

Golf courses everywhere. Taxi driver waiting at the airport covered one nostril and blew heaps out of the other. It is time to introduce the "snot rag" to Koreans.

Incheon Airport Tollway. Busy place.

They have seatbelts in the bus now. Don't want any bad publicity to keep the tourists away I suppose. Korean bus drivers are notoriously bad. Took a Limousine bus ride to Central City Station which wasn't without incident. We nearly hit some bloke who cut in and the horn was sounded a few times to tell him so. Everybody on the bus, who were trying to sleep, sat bolt upright to see what the fuss was about. Helpful security guy in the Central City Market helped me with directions and another guy coming down the stairs asked where I was going and showed me to the ticket office in the subway station.

Build 'em big and beautiful here in Korea.

The zipper broke on the handle cover of the suitcase. Typical. Koreans need to install elevators for those of us who have to carry 21.1 kgs of luggage up all of the stairs, not including my carry-on luggage. I found the Nambu Bus Terminal ok. Bought some fish cakes and water without too much hassle. Only fifteen minutes to eat before my bus departed - just enough time. Delicious.

Nambu Bus Terminal.

Lunch - o deng.

Bought the wrong ticket as I tried to explain to the ticket girl, I think she was talking about fast bus or not, and I said "five hours" so she gave me a ticket for 16:30 - obviously thought that five hours translated to five o'clock. Got another ticket for the 12:30 bus. Rang Miky - still the wrong ticket. An express limousine bus left at 11:00. Got the correct ticket ok.

Apartments as far as the eye can see.

Korean rest stop. Big, isn't it?

First stop for a rest and the bus driver came back to me, grabbed my watch, and said "Sam ship o bun" - 45 minutes. Meaning at 12:45 the bus would be leaving if I wanted to stretch my legs or go to the toilet. I hadn't planned to but it was a good idea.

Construction is full steam ahead in this country.

The phenomenal amount of apartments being built make me think that if China is pushing world growth then it must be an incredible sight over there.

Speedy Gonzales the bus driver.

My driver sits on 115-120 km/h on the Expressway although the speed limit is 100 km/h for cars under 1.5 tonnes and 80 km/h for vehicles heavier than 1.5 tonnes. Every kilometre or so there is a police radar and he slows down to 110 km/h. The number of vehicles that fly past at 140-160 km/h is quite surprising. They slam on the brakes when the police enforcement area appears only to zoom past again. Pretty damn pointless I say.

Watch out for that hole in the mountain ahead Mr Bus Driver.

Bus driver was a bit casual in my opinion. He didn't wear gloves, was speeding the whole way, spent a bit of time of his mobile phone and saluted other bus drivers in passing - even if his other hand was occupied with the mobile phone!

Fuel is 1479 Won - approximately A$1.90/L. There is a huge amount of roadworks going on. One tunnel that we travelled through was 3.5 km long. I already feel more relaxed in this country and can leave my bag on the bus while I stretch my legs and not worry about it getting pinched.

Welcoming party.

Great to be greeted by Miky and Yu-Jin after my five and a quarter hour bus ride. Miky looked great and Yu-Jin has grown taller. Straight outside of the bus station I spotted two foreign women - thought that I would be the only foreigner in these parts.

We went to the yeogwan (cheap establishment that passes as a hotel) so that Yu-Jin could get changed into his taekwondo gear and caught a taxi to the taekwondo class. Some of the kids are very disciplined although there was a kid with a red belt who looked as though he had no idea. I was a little disappointed that Yu-Jin couldn't do all of the exercses like the other kids but he is one of the youngest. He did some quite well though. Videoed a lot and my battery went flat. Just before I could get a photo of Yu-Jin with his sang sam nim (teacher). Dammit.

Yu-Jin's taekwondo class.

Caught a taxi back into the city and shared it. The taxi driver didn't appear to know where he was going and didn't give the right change - bastard. Had BBQ pork for tea which was delicious. Damn cold at night time when just walking around. The bath at the yeogwan was too small for myself and I had to share it with Yu-Jin. Damn these Koreans for being such short people.

Hammy's 2005 Trip To Korea And Japan - Nov 19th

Up early for a walk in Shinhyeon, Geojedo (Geoje Island). Spotted on the map opposite the ferry terminal - "Confusion Temple". Couple of funny shops - "Buy The Way" and "왼자Cafe" (translates as "Whinger" but they named it "Windsor").

Whinger Cafe, er, Windsor Cafe.

The shops don't open until at least 9:30 to 10:30. No-one seems to have an adapter for my battery charger. My early morning walk took me to the bus terminal and along the harbour side. Quite a chilly morning. We had breakfast at a 24 hr place. Mandoo soup and kim chee chigae (soup). Lots of lovely side dishes - egg, kimchee, maelchee (dried fish), squash, 감자(potato), etc. Wandered around the markets afterwards looking for an adapter.

Our favourite breakfast place.

Yu-Jin is sick. Bloody kid.

Another funny shop - "Hyman Wedding"

Hyman Wedding - for virgins only?

Yu-Jin and I went to the POW Museum today [Editor's Note - sorry, no pics available currently as I had to use a non-digital camera and nothing has been developed yet]. On the bus on the way there I saw one of his friends from taekwondo - it's a small world. Short walk up the hill and then we found the museum. Yu-Jin knew all about the exhibition as he has been there before. The guy in the ticketing office spoke to me in English - "How many people?". Entry was 3000 Won (A$4). Quite impressive to see all the video footage and artifacts. I learnt so much about the Korean War. Up to 173000 PoW's were on Geojedo at one time. Only 340 soldiers from Australia were killed during the war. Two of the 89 soldiers from Luxembourg that fought were killed. Colombia even sent soldiers. Spent a couple of hours at the museum.

Welcome. You may enter as a Commie but you won't leave as one.

Looks more like a statue in a Middle Eastern country.

The actual bridge that the PoWs crossed.

Here's a likely suspect who should be locked up and have the key thrown away.

Take that you Commies.

Great display.

Yu-Jin was scared by the reality of this display.

Civilisation is encroaching on the PoW Camp on Geoje Island.

Afterwards we waited for ages for a taxi, almost none available or had passengers already. Two young men spoke to us in Korean and said to walk 500m to City Hall. I carried Yu-Jin. Still no taxis, even on the other side of the road. Carried Yu-Jin again until he flagged down a taxi for us. Got dropped off at Popeyes where Yu-Jin had a bulgogi burger combo set.

Miky, now joined by her sister, wondered why we were so late. I rang an Aussie acquaintence, Ralph, again after ringing him at lunchtime and having the phone drop out and got connected this time. We agreed to meet at Daewoo Shipyards - 대우조선. I walked straight onto the right bus as it was about to leave and asked the driver if he was going there, thinking that he would let me know where to get off. He didn't. I went much further than I needed to. There were a lot of workers from a company called DMSE, which happened to be Daewoo Shipyards as it turned out, and they let me know that we had already passed it.

I got off at the next stop and tried to call Ralph to tell him that I would be a bit late but the Miky's sister's mobile phone battery was flat. And so was the spare battery. Jumped on the next bus heading in the return direction. Alighted at the East Gate of DMSE as there was a shop opposite - easy to park and easy to find a phone. Or so I thought. Had to convince the kid in the shop that I would pay to use his phone when I discovered that there wasn't a public telephone. Luckily I had Ralph's phone number in my passport or I would have really been stuffed. Ralph picked me up soon afterwards and we went back to his A$2500/mth Woodside-sponsored apartment. Got talking about some personal stuff. We then went for a drive around Okpo before he drove me home. After 10 mins of driving around the only parking spot we could find was a paid one. He asked "How muchie?" and the woman was very puzzled at this until I asked "을마이아에요?" Only 1000 Won to park the car.

We went out for a snack and a drink, after I had surprised my wife in the shower with my return with a visitor, at a chicken place across the road from where we had breakfast this morning. I ordered some rice cakes with chili as I'd had them before and some chicken with chili and mustard. Geoje people eat very spicy food and the waitress warned us that even Geoje people find that food to be spicy. Undaunted, I still ordered it. Needless to say the food was extremely spicy and I had so much wate to drink because my mouth was on fire. I thought that it must be called the "Fire House" and Miky looked at the name and it was something like "Spicy House". Big mistake. Ralph was ok and he paid. He even gave me an Australian 3-pin female plug for my battery charger. What a lifesaver.

The Spicy House.

Hammy's 2005 Trip To Korea And Japan - Nov 20th

This morning we wandered about early on trying to find a nice place to eat. Finally settled on the same place we had breakfast yesteday. Miky left early as Yu-Jin was being a pain. We ate mandoo soup and 오뎅 (odeng - fish cake) soup.

After breakfast I located a hardware store but it wasn't open. Sunday is the busiest day, almost, for hardware stores in Australia but this is apparently not the case in Korea. Found an extension board for 3000 Won.

Caught a bus up to the in-law's place and I made an extension lead to charge my camera battery. We went to "Korean Restaurant" for lunch and had meat soup (갈비 당 - galbi dang), seafood pancake, sashimi and heaps of side dishes. Lunch came to 60000 Won (A$80).

Miky packed lots of things to ship back to Oz. Caught a taxi back to our 역완 (yeogwan). Rang Ralph to join us for tea. He came at 7pm and we found a nice place to have pork. See if I can find the name tomorrow. We talked about bringing up kids, the differences in the two societies, work and life. He's a nice bloke but was feeling a bit worse for wear having been un until 4 am drinking and he had to get up at 7 for work, on a Sunday. The third weekend in a row that he's worked.

The leftovers from our meal with Ralph. Not too much to speak of. Glad I don't have a job cleaning dishes in Korea.

The fine eatery that we noshed at.

Hammy's 2005 Trip To Korea And Japan - Nov 21st

I wandered about this morning taking funny photos. King Dung Kalbi, Korean land reclamaition, Confusion Temple, Beautiful Dental Clinic etc. Penguin Bakery has a picture of Colonel Sanders on it.

What on earth are these people eating?

Penguin Bakery. I don't think that the Koreans care too much about copyright and trademarks.

I'm confused.

Bang Bang. It's not a knock shop but a clothing shop.

Somebody needs to teach these Koreans some English.

What the hell is a rescafe? Konglish, I think.

Touch "Crane" - English has a long way to go on Geoje Island.

Park Ho Jun - Hairdresser (just in case you thought it had something to do with martial arts).

Bloody cold walking about. Miky packed up everything to be sent to Australia that we didn't wish to carry around and we (I) had to make two trips to the Post Office. Yu-Jin stayed in the yeogwan and watched cartoons in a mixture of English and Korean.

Genghis Khan - I'm not sure what they sell here but it does say "Chicago Game Rent".

Had another nice lunch, this time at Nolboo Restaurant. It was a hot pot mixture and was delicious. Yu-Jin got to play in the play room after his lunch. I don't know why he is so much trouble when it comes to feeding and it upsets both of us having to help him and yell at him. Does my head in.

Korean hot pot. Love this food that steams and crackles in front of you.

Nolboo Restaurant - if you are ever in Shinhyeon on Geoje Island.

Beautiful Dental Clinic - Who are they trying to fool? Poetic licence employed here methinks.

One thing you will see, quite prominently, are new shops. The display put on when opening a business premises in Korea puts the old ribbon and scissors to shame in Western countries.

Korean new business welcoming wreaths.

Decorations on a new shop.

New shop welcoming wreaths. This is very common in Korea.

Pizza delivery - Korean style.

Is this how they deliver mini pizzas?

Parking - Korean style, i.e. park anywhere your car will fit.

Saw an argument on the street between a very irate construction worker and a taxi driver. Not something you see everyday. We left Yu-Jin's bag at the restaurant and I went back to retrieve it. Dragged our luggage all the way to the Gohyeon - Busan ferry terminal. Fairly uneventful trip to Busan. I may have spotted the ship that Ralph works on. We rushed to get a taxi after landing even thought I was busy taking a photo of half a ship's hull being lifted by a crane.

Land reclamation. Koreans have long been invaded by the Chinese and Japanese and it appears that they are expanding their territory in a peaceful manner.

New shopping centre being built near the harbour.

Crane in Busan harbour with half a ship's hull.

One of Miky's friends, Eun-jeong and her husband John, put us up during our stay in Busan. Their apartment is right on the edge of the city and across the road from the 국제 (Gukje) Market. Eun-jeong was home and we got to play with 6 ½ months old James. When Eun-jeong had to leave for her class Miky, Yu-Jin and I walked around the markets, had tea at a pizza place (17000 Won for seafood - about A$23) - not Pizza Hut, and they give you a buffet whereby your plate is weighed and you pay by the gram. About 400 Won per 100g. Very interesting and I can see this catching on in Australia. Aussies, your buffet is under threat.

Went walkabout looking for shoes, jeans and caps. Bought a cap for myself and Yu-Jin. Whilst walking around three schoolgirls found Yu-Jin to be very cute and gave him a biscuit and a lolly. I wanted to give them a koala but didn't have any of them in my bag.

John wasn't home when we returned so we had a hot chocolate whilst waiting. We talked until very late, about 12:30, before I managed to go to bed. Topics included health care in the US, taxes, politicians, voting, countries to live in, alcohol - no religion was mentioned. Strange what you talk about when first meeting someone.