HOmecomeWING – South Korea (Busan)

part ✌️ of my heart’s home.

from jan 18, 2016 – “what i love about busan is that it is a city that has built itself from the ground up. these aren’t your city socialites. they’re the hot blooded country folks who built industries with their own hands and feet. they’re passionate and friendly, and every word that comes from their mouths, does so in the form of lilts and accents: a song.”

gukbap – i got food poisoning the first time i ate this busan specialty, but i still eat it every time i come back. also, oops, forgot to take a picture when we started (photo by C)

just missed the fireworks that happened to be ongoing this friday evening, but still got this panoramic nightview of the sea

coffee street (photo by W)

  

Le Bakery featuring the most drool inducing baked goods (photos by C)

         

oryukdo glasswalk – so peaceful and lovely to be by the ocean to feel the breeze and share some croissant crumbs with the creatures of the sea

jagalchi market – so nervewracking to be in a new environment negotiating for things i have no sense of value for. it really helped that C and W love seafood so much because it gave me the courage to speak up to the vendor ahjumma, be assertive in communicating what we want, and even cut deals by asking for bonus items. love is so empowering

    

all the spoils including live octopus and sea urchin, raw/grilled abalone, some unidentified species, and korean style sashimi

the view of the port from outside of the market

accidentally stumbled across the yongdusan stairs and took a walk through the park to see busan tower on our way to the trickeye museum

              

   

the trickeye museum is one of my favorite parts of korea – they moved locations and tried to become fancy with some VR app on the phone, which is an unfortunate move, but still had a lot of fun taking crazy pics here! (photos by W and C)

      

street yums – busan style hoddeok and ddukbokki (photo by W)

something tells me this chinatown is dying a little bit which is why it was so hard to find jjajjangmyeon here – so sad

milmyeon and ddukmanduguk for breakfast. doesn’t it look so perfect for a rainy morning?

reached gamcheon cultural village in the pouring rain, and we’re not too eager to go outside, so we’re dawdling a bit in the coffee shop with a view, and poring over this fashion guidebook for men (side hobbies)

trying to pretend that we are totally okay with the rain, but really, we’re not. and neither is the little prince (photos by C)

     

we meant to head to haeundae beach for a sand castle building festival, but with winds and rains like this, who are we kidding? everyone was cold and miserable and wet, and we ran straight to our american haven, mcdonalds, to feed, sleep and wait out the rain. i think the videos of this day will always bring laughs, and we’ll always remember this day with fondness. because sometimes it’s really just the worst days that bring you closer together and remind you of the goodness of friendship.

  

we were not going to go anywhere for dinner, so we instead scoured the downstairs supermarket for the cheapest goods and the yummiest instant food and made a feast out of it

also remembered with fondness are the evenings spent watching Secretary Kim – i love this drama love for admin figures (photo by W)

was not expecting much from the fishcake store, but this stuff was actually really good! (photo by W)

W bought me a Ryan chocolate milk for the plane ride back to HK. W knows my heart ❤️

HOmecomeWING – South Korea (Seoul)

south korea is not my actual heritage, but it is my heart’s home. it is through this nation’s people, food, and culture that i have learned how to enjoy food with more depth and appreciation, develop an eye for aesthetics, pursue excellence in music and language, and really embrace my own identity by seeing life from a different perspective. needless to say, it was with great joy that i was able to bring two near and dear friends to meet this second home, to enjoy all that this city has to offer.

in december 2016, my sister and i landed in south korea in the late evening, and pomato, right around the corner from our humble airbnb studio, greeted us with the wonder of its cheap, delicious kimbap and the most bomb rice cake dumpling soup, hot and steamy, on a cold winter’s night. it’s a late evening on our arrival in may 2019, and i’m so happy to be greeted once more by the same familiar sights and yummy dishes

 day one – kimbap ladies on the side of the road serve the most delicious kimbap in huge portions. We finished every bite. The secret – that sesame oil sprinkled on top adding that amazing nuttiness and depth of flavor

we tried to go down this alley and order one dish between the three of us, and as the ahjumma’s heard our request, they instantaneously went from soliciting our business to shooing us along and rejecting us, spreading the news about us with derision to each of the stalls in front of us. We were finally ushered into a corner at the front of the alley as the lady graciously allowed us to order one dish. We’ve definitely been blacklisted here (photo by W)

rice cakes of every variety – pretty and delicious

maybe it’s because i’m an extremely habitual person, so every time I’m in Seoul, i always start with the same route – Namdaemun market and the gate, and we walk north all the way until we reach the palace.

coincided with a gate ceremony and got a photo with one of the guys (everyone wanted a photo with the center guy but we wanted to give the side guy some love)

Seoul Metropolitan Library – “A day without a name still becomes spring; a flower without a name still smells fragrant”

 the most beautiful city hall in the world (photo by C)

i love the lovely gyeongbokgung, but one thing i’ve never been able to do is successfully take a good photo with the beautiful bugaksan properly in the background

tongin market is such a fun lunch spot, but we arrived late, and were unfortunately only able to grab some lukewarm leftovers. how do they make the pancakes so good?? (photo by W)

injeolmi everything – ice and toast! this was a delicious first for me (photo by W)

Korea has always been about fulfilling dreams, my own and others as well – so stopping here to grab a hotbar (fishcake on a stick) and fulfilling one of C’s dreams was very exciting!

the streets of dongdaemun rife with sights and smells, activity and movement, life and people. N Seoul tower peeking through

Sarangbang Kalguksu is the recommendation of my roommate. Lots of side dishes, a savory light stock broth, and strips of chicken ripped straight off the bone to dip in either the soup or the tangy, sweet, spicy sauce – not the prettiest meal, but loads of yum!

Step into any convenience store in Asia, and you’ll want to come out with every item on the shelf

the korean people are so impeccable with color. somehow, they just slap together four or five very vibrant and very different colors together, and it looks classy and chic, never tacky. i was not created to look very flattering in pink, but this was one of those moments when it was worth it to pick something lifegiving over nice looking (photo by W)

W’s poses are literally straight from the cinema. A-lister (photo by C)

hanboks – spring edition (photo by W)

i love myself and the place that i have given in life, but i still wish there were more opportunities to dress up, to play pretend, and to masquerade in another identity. so much fun to step into other shoes occasionally (photo by W)

this grandma stopped us on the street to fix the bow in the hanbok top. such a sweet moment of pride for her own people and their traditions in the form of a kind act

revisiting a favorite meal from last time – i love the plates here

dessert!!! baked injeolmi toast and smoothies and traditional cinnamon ginger drinks from this super nice lady (she even gave us free crackers for taking a long time!) – such a nice time to just rest and enjoy and play games and hide from the heat (photo by W)

ssamgiri -the kind of place where you just want to buy all the artisan goods from every store you see, from DIY goops to carabiners to journals to soaps to stationery to plants and more

hongdae by night – college town

of course the college kids have access to the best fried chicken (photo by W)

i still remember the first time we came to this market and my sister was super hesitant about eating something as unappetizing sounding as a mung bean pancake. our fears were instantly banished by the savory, crunchy-on-the-outside-soft-on-the-inside flavor of the pancake dipped into the perfectly complementary sauce, complete with fermented raw onions. also tragic is the fact that i tried to eat one in the States one time, and it was just NOT the SAME (photo by C)

they let us order one bibimbap without any questions asked. needless to say, we love this market

the fattest spicy rice cakes in the world (photo by C)

this is one of my dreams – popping by a convenience store on a hot day to look through and purchase your favorite ice pop

cityscape from ehwa mural village, which was an excruciating walk up – hopefully worth it

common ground – i don’t know how they contrived to make shipping containers look so good, but they did, and here they are. the best part of this trip was the a/c and eating the tempura at a restaurant after

i tell everyone that this is my favorite moment of the trip, when we looked up the best grilled intestine restaurants in the city and made a special trip out to this stop just for dinner. and it’s not just because the food was good. it was the fact that it was something i wanted to do but few people in my life would have gone on such a dinner expedition with me. to have friends who would come alongside with me, desire to do the things i want to do, and enjoy the things i enjoy was so empowering and made me feel really loved. thankful for friends and grilled intestines (photo by W)

i literally cried when i took the first bite. what a beautiful intersection of time, tastebuds, and friendship (photo by W)

coin-operated karaoke machines make for a cheap and extremely fun post-dinner experience. my go-to karaoke song these days is “love the way you lie” by eminem and rihanna. what’s yours? (photo by W)

perspective is such a funny thing – i’ve been to ddp multiple times and was unimpressed, so i didn’t even put it on our itinerary, but C mentioned wanting to go, so we went. imagine my shock when C and W were both blown away and fully amazed by the structure. i clearly have much more to learn about what my friends like, and that’s okay! the taiwanese night market being hosted on site was also helpful

my name is chris paul and i’m a victim (photoset by C)

biking by hangang – C’s brilliant idea for our last morning in seoul ended up being one of my favorite activities and a new memory for the annals (photo by C)

an ahjumma dragged my brother into this jokbal restaurant three years ago and i was so angry that time because there was way too much food for the two of us. so i came back with an extra person, but it was still way too much.

seoullo 117 – a beautified skywalk area next to the train station with lots of plants, benches, and an atmosphere of peace in the midst of the city bustle. Plus a view of the beautiful train tracks

HOmecomeWING – Taiwan

The summer home of C’s childhood – on the outside this is a small, humble island nation, but on this inside it is truly a mecca of creativity, entrepreneurship, beauty, and feasting. It was amazing how much our eyes, ears, noses, mouths, and hands were delighted in the short 24 hour sojourn here, but even with all we were able to take in, it is impossible to do justice to this place in such a short time. Will be back.

So many things to say about this China Airlines flight. Like how old is this plane??? Old school remote controls with credit card swiping access to phones. Flight delayed 2-3 hours :O but the snacks are sooooo much better than peanuts. Also, meal for like a 2 hour flight??? So confused. So unclear how to feel (photo by W)

The cutest, quirkiest Airbnb. I’m getting one of these bear lights for my home. And the toilet paper roll.

Black window shades – genius

W worked so hard to get this LED heart to light up for me – thank you! And lookit that loft with a bed and a bedroom with shower underneath!!!

Cone of shame lamp!! Why does anyone need this, and at the same time, why doesn’t everyone have one of these???

Taipei is home to several little arts districts that are just so wonderful – you literally just want to spend hours and hours at each shop, and as you walk down the lane, there’s just more and more and more to see. W and I went to Songyan district, which used to be a tobacco factory turned into a hip area with leather goods shops, beautiful coffee shops, and of course I spent a good hour in this stationery store and wanted to buy everything inside… (photo by W)

Kyushu Pancake Cafe and matcha flavored souffle pancakes. I need not say more. Make your way here as soon as you can. Bonus is the stool that is literally shaped like a stack of pancakes with a pat of butter on top.

Only one night for night market, so it’s the best of the best for us – Raohe Street Night Market

black pepper meat buns – buns on buns on buns in this cooking contraption that I don’t know how to describe

mango loves strawberry shaved ice, and I love you all

all my mario party dreams have come true with the eating of these steak cubes

I could eat Taiwanese breakfast all day every day…hot and delicious, with so much variety, and so cheap! Was quite indignant by the Google reviews that referred to 油条 as a biscuit fritter. None of this Western terminology to compare!

Visiting C’s favorite Fukienese restaurant – we clearly ordered way too much food, but it was so good that we finished every bite of it, and we each also consumed a bowl of grass jelly that came as dessert. More to follow.

The saying is true that one can NEVER be too full for boba. My eyes are opened to the wonders of fresh milk with brown sugar boba, and my life will never be the same again.

One may be stuffed to the brim, but one also cannot pass up a chance for the best 刈包 in town. Heart heart heart heart heart heart heart

train station sushi for less than a buck a piece? I’ll have some of that, thank you. Also a shout out to the delicious shrimp burger and fish burger at Mos Burger, also to be found at Taipei Train Station

mr. donuts mochi rings have no rival in this world. Please bring them to the States soon. Please.