Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Busan - Gamcheon Culture Village 甘川文化村

Gamcheon Culture Village, also known as "Korea's Santorini" 
because of it's bright and colorful houses along the hillside. 
There's also a stamp scavenger hunt game to make exploring the village so much fun!

Gamcheon Culture Village

Bus to Gamcheon Culture Village KRW800
We took the subway to Toseong Station exit 6, then bus 2 uphill towards Gamcheon Culture Village.
The mini bus was full of people, going up narrow and sloppy roads.
It's so narrow that at times it just feels like the bus is going to brush against the houses along the street.

Got down at the last stop along with everybody else. 

Entrance to the village

Spotting murals on houses and art installations from the entrance to the village

Visitor center to the right of the entrance
After a little walk from the entrance we spotted the visitor center and went in to get the map which is also used for the stamp scavenger hunt.
Took us awhile before understanding how the scavenger hunt works because all of it is in korean. >o<

Scavenger hunt map KRW2000

Lots of painted board fishes can be spotted around Gamcheon Culture Village. 
 The painted board fishes also served as signs to point out directions of the trail.

Collecting our first stamp. Yayy!!
Finally getting some idea on how the hunt works. 
Going to the "stations" mentioned on the map and stamp in the blank section.
Pay attention that there's 2 major stations though, where you collect your postcards from.


Station to collect our first postcard. 
This station is where you get one free postcard from. 
There's a balcony on the rooftop of the building where you can take in the full view of Gamcheon Culture village.
It was a breezy afternoon so we spend a long time there just relaxing and enjoying the view. Love this spot!! :)

Following the fishy trail

Artsy signs along the trail

Fluffy cats lazing around with jars for fermenting kimchi.
Walking by local resident houses, enjoying the art installations, paintings and also daily household items. The village is on a hillside, so there's plenty of stairs up and down hill. 
Enjoyable and tiring at the same time....

Paintings made using recycled items and random stuff 

Postcards from the scavenger hunt
 By the end of day, we didn't manage to complete all 8 stamps because some stations were already closed since we started really late. 
STILL, we each get 2 free postcards of Gamcheon Village, which are simply beautiful!

Stairs to see the star
 Ending our visit by climbing up "stairs to see the stars". 
It's a witty name which means climbing up the stairs is so tiring you might actually see stars. So true!

Directions:
1. Take Subway Line 1 to Toseong Station. Exit 6.
2. You will be facing an intersection. Turn right at the corner and walk straight. You will see a hospital on your right. The bus stop is right in front of the hospital.
3. Take either Bus 2 or 2-2.


Saturday, November 23, 2013

Dongnae Halmae Pajeon 东莱煎饼

Since I LOOOVED pancakes, 
as soon as I saw recommendation of Dongnae Halmae Pajeon (동래할매파전) 
I've decided I must try it out on my visit to Busan.

Busy main street after exiting Dongnae subway station exit 2

Dongnae Halmae Pajeon exterior. 
 The Dongnae Halmae Pajeon restaurant is somewhat hard to spot.
Took us some time to locate it even after getting direction from subway staff. 
Hope the direction section below helps. :)

Dongnae Pajeon menu

Korean traditional decor


The dishes were served on golden tableware. Gorgeous!

Decided to try out Korean soju. The alcohol is SOO strong the two of us couldn't finish a bottle. >o<
  
Side dish which feels more like after meal dessert. Surprisingly fragrant and special.
Too bad there's only 2 mini pieces :|
  
Another dish I didn't expect to like. Sesame sauce on tofu. Nice!

Various vegetables in spicy sauce.

Tadaaaaa~ Dongnae Pajeon!!
Unlike my typical impression of pancakes, Dongnae Pajeon is soft, moist and much thicker.
It's filled with eggs and LOTS of green onions. Reminds me of fried oyster omelette~
KRW20,000(aprox. RM60) Pretty expensive for a pancake. :p



Directions (from visit korea website):
Dongnae Station (Busan Subway Line 1), Exit 2.
Cross the street and turn right at the corner.
Go straight for 310m and turn right at the 4-way intersection.
Go straight for 200m, cross the road, and turn left onto Myeongnyun-ro 112Beon-gil.
Go straight for 90m, turn left onto Myeongnyun-ro 94 Beon-gil, go straight for 110m.
Dongnae Halmae Pajeon is located in the alleyway on the left.

For more details:

Jagalchi market and seafood lunch in Busan

The jagalchi fish market is a signature attraction of Busan 
and also the largest seafood market in Korea. 
Lucky for us it's just minutes walk away from our hostel - Apple guesthouse.


Jagalchi market is a huge building easily spotted from afar

A bustling Jagalchi market

Plenty of shops selling seafood along the street outside Jagalchi market

It's HUGE inside the market with rows of live seafood and "ajuma" promoting their seafood

Inside it's like a aquarium with live sea creatures

Octopus and abalones

There's more variety of sea creatures here than the aquarium I've visited before

There's several floors in jagalchi market. 
The specialty here is to buy the seafood from the ground floor and bring them up to the restaurants  upstairs to be cook, so the seafood is extremely fresh. 
We didn't know how to choose seafood nor bargain in Korean so we just ordered them from the restaurants upstairs.


Love this pancake side dish!!
It was half way gone before our main dish got served. haha

Boiling seafood pot and lots of side dishes as usual.

The seafood pot was full of crab, mussels, prawns, octopus. Pure flavor and freshness!!
The first floor was full of restaurants and we had no idea which to choose.After walking aimlessly around for awhile, we settled at one of the restaurants by the window facing the sea.
Since we wanted to try everything we ordered the seafood pot which turn out to be a good choice~
The meal costs us KRW 30,000 (aprox. RM100) for 2.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Gathers Cafe @ Raja Uda, Butterworth

Was looking for a good hangout place in mainland when I came across Gathers Cafe.
Decided to pay it a visit after dinner.

Gathers Cafe exterior

Waffle and adorable desserts on the menu

Gathers Cafe specialty ~ bear face drawn on some of the coffee. 
which is what attracted my attention initially :p


 The cafe was decorated with white bird cages and duckling paintings

Satisfying our mille crepe cravings

 Garlic cheese waffle RM7
I'm not usually a fan of waffle but love this to bits...
The waffle is thinner & lighter, crispy round the edges. And the combination of garlic and cheese is just perfect !!

Oreo crush RM8

Latte RM7
Not really a coffee drinker, but ordered this anyway just for the bear....hehehe

Honey Lemon RM6

Lime citrus RM6

 The cafe has a nice atmosphere and we were able to enjoy a peaceful and quiet time there thanks to the "rules" in the cafe board specifically about not making noises.
A good place to relax or catch up with friends without needing to shout on top of your lungs. :D

Gathers Cafe
Address: 155, Ground Floor, Jalan Raja Uda, 
Pusat Perniagaan Raja Uda, 
12300 Butterworth, Malaysia
Opening hours:2:00pm - 11:00pm (Except Wednesdays)
Tel:  04-324 9657
FACEBOOK: Gathers Cafe