d-Wizz Hankuk Travel Diary [2005]
Day 26 (2005-08-21) / Day 27 (2005-08-22) / Day 28 (2005-08-23) 
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Day 27: 2005-08-22 (Monday)
After breakfast, Chi-Ung took me out to show me around Asan. Our first stop was to be a PC bar, where I was hoping to show Chi-Ung some of the music I had brought with me on CD. On the way there, we walked alongside a rather wide canal, and I asked Chi-Ung what it was. He had a little trouble trying to explain it to me, but eventually I understood that it was a “grey water” drain. Apparently, in Korea, “grey water” is not sent to the sewerage system like in Australia; instead it flows along these open drains to the river, and only toilets go to sewerage.
When we arrived at the PC bar, we could not use the CD drive, as the owners had disabled them on their PCs, so we left, and continued walking up to a nearby mountain. I began to explain to Chi-Ung about phosphorus, algal blooms and salinity problems in Australia, which were caused by poor water quality. I wondered if the “grey water”, with its high phosphorus content was causing a problem in Korea. Chi-Ung did not know, but he was interested in the discussion.
When we got to the mountain, the view overlooked the city of Asan, but there were too many trees in the way to get a good picture, so we walked down the other side of the mountain. After a few minutes, we came to a point where the view of the city was better, so I took a picture with Chi-Ung standing on one side. As we walked through the city, I noticed the vending machines outside, and commented to Chi-Ung that, in Australia, a vending machine left outside would probably be vandalised or even stolen very quickly, because of the higher crime rate. In Korea, outside vending machines were found everywhere, and they were very convenient. But the concept would never work in Australia. Chi-Ung was amazed at this information. As we walked through a market downtown, Chi-Ung asked me if I would like to have pizza for lunch. Although it wasn’t traditional Korean food, I was curious to try a Korean pizza, and Chi-Ung told me it was popular with Koreans, so I agreed to his suggestion, and he led the way to a pizza restaurant.
Inside the restaurant were a number of glass tanks with water in them, similar to fishtanks, but the “fish” were made of plastic. Air bubbles were being pumped into these tanks from the bottom, which created convection currents, causing the plastic sea creatures to move around inside. It looked rather amusing to me, so I made a couple of short video clips with my camera.
Also while we were waiting, I remembered about my ferry reservation, so I asked Chi-Ung to call the ferry company and try to book me on the ferry from Busan to Hakata on Friday (2005-08-26). He did so, and was successful in making the booking for me. I needed to arrive at the ferry terminal at Busan between 1830 and 1900 to check-in, and the ferry was scheduled to depart at 2000, arriving at Hakata twelve hours later.
Our pizzas arrived, very large and very delicious, unlike the dry Pizza Hut experience with Patrick in Daegu. It was a tasty meal, and I ate quite a lot more than I expected I would.
After finishing lunch, Chi-Ung went to a barber shop to have his hair trimmed. I browsed a magazine, and found two advertisements which intrigued me, so I photographed them. We went to another PC bar, where I was able to show him my CDs. About one hour later, we walked back to his home.
We waited at Chi-Ung’s home for about one hour before Insu arrived, followed by Jamie about 30 minutes later. It was the first time Jamie and I had met for over 18 months, so we gave each other a long hug. Then the four of us went into Asan to have dinner at a restaurant together. Jamie said my sister had visited the same restaurant with him just before he went to America.
I began to get moody again, and I could not explain why, not even to myself. I looked at the three Koreans talking among themselves and I guess I felt left out, as they were all speaking in Korean and I didn’t understand what they were discussing. I had to understand that Jamie had been away from his friends for two months, so it was like a reunion for them also, but that did not help my mental state.
I was rather sullen as we finished dinner and went to Jamie’s home, which was not in the city of Asan itself, but not far away. My moodiness continued and indeed intensified as they did things together in Jamie’s bedroom; I listened to my CD player and withdrew from the activities going on.
At about 2300, Chi-Ung and Insu left, and Jamie came in to check that I was comfortable for sleeping, then he went downstairs to sleep.
Day 26 (2005-08-21) / Day 27 (2005-08-22) / Day 28 (2005-08-23)
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