Korea
is an impressively pleasant place. Impressively. Pleasant. You could
draw similarities from Chinese and Japanese culture, but at the same
time there is defeintiely something unique and impressively pleasant
about the culture there (like, say, our beloved land of Canadia being
compared to an Anglo-American smoothie with a dash of maple syrup and
beaver tail). Busan itself is the little brother to Seoul, a
well-rounded city with tons of neat stuff to be done. I only had
about a day and a half to spend in the country, but Korea is truly
unlike anything else I've experienced.
My
good friend Matt "We like Matt" Pocketwatch was by host and
guide for the very short weekend. He, like his friends who I had the
pleasure of sharing these adventures with, work at a language center
in Busan and enjoy the bustling city life that makes a Macau resident
like myself green with envy. The wide open spaces, fresh air, and
general pleasantness of Korea contrasted the things that Macau
doesn't have strong suits in. It was surprisingly refreshing to get a
pint of craft beer, or be on public transit where the riders are
quiet, polite and well-behaved (it was a struggle to me to follow
suit).One of last weekend's indulgences was Karaoke (called Nori bong), which has a big following in Korea (and I mean a BIG following). Participation involves booking a private room with couches & tables, food service and a tv/entertainment unit complete with videos of the majestic Korea countryside to accompany your lovely rendition of Sweet Caroline. You can order a whole array of food & beverages to ensure that your group is well supplied for the hours of hopeless tone-deaf wailing. I'd love to show you a video I took from that night, but I'm afraid it is neither flattering from a musical nor adult point of view.
Holi
Hai is a celebration in Indian culture where people throw
pastel-coloured paint powder at each other (I believe this is where
our Western version of paint-parties came from). Why it was taking
place in Busan is beyond me, but Matt lived up to his pal status and
booked us a pair of tickets, to join his work friends. We snacked on
some great samosas, sported our white t-shirts, and. I learned that
I'm really bad
at throwing paint; underhand, overhand, with my left or my right, at
close range or at a distance, my throws ended in the powder
helplessly dissipating into the air, or blinding friends
and strangers alike through direct hits to the cornea. It made
for some very colourful-yet-squinty partying, and it looks fuggin
cool. 
I wasn't diligent enough to go out for actual Korean
food, instead opting for Indian, Burgers, steak & bakery snacks
instead. Korean fried chicken is one of my favourite foods, but due
to reasons, it never ended up on a plate in front of my face. One of
the best things I did consume was a thing called Makkoli,
which rhymes with broccoli and tastes nothing like it. It's a
rice-wine-kind-of drink that comes in a tin teapot and is served in
simple (usually scratched/beat up) tin bowls. Some of you may
think "But didn't you have Soju Stuart?" and, no, I can't
say that I did. Despite Korea being a nation of ~30 million people,
Soju is the most consumed liquor in the world by net volume (this
gives you an idea of how available & consumed it is throughout
the country). I stayed 20 nautical miles well away from the
stuff because of its reputation for taking the life from your very
body before you're even finished drinking it. I only had about 14
hours sleep between 3 nights anyways, and I didn't exactly feel like
crawling back to work on my hands and knees. 
Korea
really is impressively pleasant, even the cherry blossom trees were
in FULL BLOOM. LOOK AT THAT. There were cute little bakeries on every
block, fresh strawberries being sold out of the beds of tiny trucks,
wide sandy beaches with soft beige sand, and access to tasty,
inexpensive food & beverages no matter where you went. It
was a whirlwind tour that could have only been made better with fried
chicken, which is my own damn fault for not injecting into the
weekend. Matt, I will be back, and I will be ready for as much Korean
Fried Chiggin as you can throw at me. 