He goes back to work and I set out to find this Seonamdam Lake Park I found in a tourist brochure. It looks really impressive from the photos and I convince myself winter hasn't just ended and that all these flowers will be in bloom. I go wait for the 126 bus.
Some Field of Dreams shit right thur.
Whatever. I thought it looked nice.
It's windy as shit and my desired bus takes about 40 minutes to arrive. I ain't mad though because I have my headphones this time.The ride is uneventful except for this older drunk guy. He falls on everything. When he gets off, he falls again but catches himself on the railing. The bus driver closes the door on his arm. He manages to pull it free.
I know my destination is one of the last stops. That doesn't mean shit though if you don't know what the stops are. I figure the park is massive so I'd be dummy if I didn't see. Long story short, I just see cell phone stores and no park. Bus driver kicks me off and just shakes his head when I ask where it is.
I wander around for a bit. It's still super windy and something hits my face. A cap maybe? It pissed me off though and I was worried the long bus ride was going to be fruitless. Usually you can see a lot if you are high up, so I decide to walk up this hill.
I get to the top and still can't see much because of buildings or I see trees and can't tell if they are park trees. Wander some more and thank the Lord, some church has an unsecure wireless network. I learn that one of the patches of trees is in fact the park I'm looking for. I descend the hill.
I don't know if I came from a funny direction or what, but I literally walked through a dump. There were ten dogs and they all seemed really cool. I stuck my hands out but this must be and American gesture because they just ran past me.
My walk around the lake is very nice. More people stare at me. One person says something about how cold it is and I agree. I say something about how his hat is tight as fuck and my hood is worthless. I don't know how to speak without slang though so he just nods and starts jogging.
"Hi, I like your mask!"
When I get around the first hillside of the lake, I can see almost all of it. I scratch my head because it don't see the massive field of sunflowers I was promised. I do see a weird dog peeing hut and past that, a vending machine.
This is what most of the plants looked like.
On some level, this is what humans do.
Took this later but wanted to show some weird hut in the water thing.
No sunflowers. These were okay though.
It's all in Korean except for separating the hot and cold drinks. I pick one in the middle and luck out. Hot Chocolate. The cup is silly small but it only cost about 30 cents.
Okay, I need 40 more of these.
About 15 minutes from here I stop at my first Buddhist temple in Korea. Complete with fat man statue and symbols forever tainted by this one guy.
Pretty wide and jolly.
Nazi Punks Fuck Off
The next trail I see has a map with points of interest. Each spot has a little picture to go with it thankfully so I'm not going out of my way to go to parking lots or bathrooms.
One of them had this ultra low res pic and thought it was funny.
I think the last post I tried to complain about steps when this day actually takes the cake for Stairmaster 5000. My legs are still kind of sore but it was totally worth it.
This dolphin is on a lot of stuff in Ulsan. For this hike he seemed like he was just taunting me.
The first climb was to this asian looking gazebo at the highest point in the park. The steps sort of just turn into stone and lots of people carved Korean letters into them and it was all very cool. Again, I take pictures and do my best to keep the humongous apartment high rises out of my frame.
Doesn't really do it justice. 35mm, y u no instant grat?
When I make my descent, I relish in the labor/reward exchange that has just occurred. But those steps aren't enough for everyone so of course, right below the gazebo there is an exercise park. Everyone is wearing masks and going at it. The machines I haven't seen look painful or boring so I keep trekking.
Can I borrow your mask? I want to spin on this thing.
A pair of girls jogging say hi to me and I say hi back. When I'm about to put my headphones back in, they shout that they hope I have a nice day. I laugh and hope I treat foreigners like this more when I'm at home.
More dolphins taunting me along the way.
I see these mound looking things and I'm not sure if they're graves? They're probably graves. They still look weird because it just looks like they're above ground. I thought about Korean zombies for this part of the hike/walk/passing of distance.
L.S.P
Kinky hoops.
Thought this was appropriate because of the lumps.
There are students around me and apartment buildings. I never find the park. But I enter Lake Park from a different side and see some cool shit. Like this paintball place? An upside down house? A fake whale? Miniature church? Question marks because I'm confused about these things.
Paint "Ballers"
wut
Wes Anderson called, he wants his whale back. This thing moved around too.
In the brochure this was filled it flowers and lillies. I almost like it better with the fake flower.
I make my way back to the main road where the bus dropped me off to find my way back to Dong-gu. On the way, I see my first cat in Ulsan. He or she has no tail and when I meow, fool takes off. Language barrier again.Justin and I go to Ilsan Beach for shabu shabu. I've only had this twice but never with this three step. you boil your food, wrap in rice paper, and use up all your meat. After, you throw noodles in with the rest of the veggies. Then you put rice and egg in until the broth is finished. Justin also introduced me to this service button that is in most of the restaurants here. You just press something and a chime goes off in the restaurant. Moments later, "Can I help you?"
Phase 2 of food overdose.
After, we go to this place called Beer Mart. I can't think of anything like this in the states. We picked out beers in the front (like at a mart) and pay for them. You walk into the place and drink your beer, eat their popcorn, and commiserate. Pretty neat, right?
View from our table in Beer Mart.
Went to Family Mart on the way home and got makkoli. Like soju, I have no idea what's in this but it is tasty alcohol night cap.
Scene report from Family Mart.
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