春节快乐！

Happy Spring Festival!

I used to experience a bit of Lunar New Year with my friends in Canada but I’ve never been fully immersed in it like I am right now in China. This is, of course, with the threat of the coronavirus looming overhead, so I’m told this year was very subdued. I didn’t get to go out and see all the celebration, but I loved what I got to do at home.

There are so many snacks! People have been gifting us an endless amount of food: sunflower seeds, candy, oranges, milk, pastries that drip honey when you bite them, crunchy fried dough things I do not know the name of, and various vegetables. Romeo and I helped hang up the red banners on our door and we made beautiful dumplings with dough dyed pink from dragonfruit and green from spinach. I’m aiming to improve my dumpling skills – 阿姨 manages to fold them so fast.

I’m told you have to eat a certain number of dumplings to get good things for the new year: 4 is money, 6 is a smooth year, 8 is money (again), 10 is perfection, and 18 is you’ll be rich! What I'm taking away from this is that more dumplings = more money.

Then when it got dark, we went out and did fireworks in masks. Most people wore masks. But oh my god, so many fireworks! We did 10,000 tonight – they’re all arranged in a strip and they go off like dominoes, filling the air with smoke and making your ears ring. We had little ones that shot out sparks like a fountain and the usual ones that go up high and fill the sky with colour. And there were so many other families lighting fireworks so we got a lot of free shows. The night was filled with colour and light and all this noise.

Everyone seems to have saved the best for midnight. As we counted down to the last second (with some difficulty on my end – counting backwards in Chinese still takes a lot of concentration), all we saw were constant flashes of colour from the window and the deafening sounds of thousands of fireworks going off at once.

三， 二， 一！

QUARANTINE

It’s a very strange time to be in China right now.

There’s a new coronavirus (aka SARS 2.0) going around Wuhan. I’m not near there and they’ve shut down transit, but everyone’s still anticipating that it won’t take very long to spread since everyone is travelling for Lunar New Years. We were gonna go out to see the festivities but not now, obviously. It looks like no one else is either. Usually the road is filled with cars but now it’s empty. One of my boyfriend’s cousins sent us some N95 masks which is good because apparently the pharmacy is sold out. My boyfriend’s father does a lot of scientific research and has been reading all the latest articles on the virus – they’re publishing on this pretty quickly. My mom’s telling me to stock up on food in case we shouldn’t leave the house, and I got an email from the Beijing Consulate telling us precautions for the disease.

We will see how this unfolds.

TRAIN TO BUSAN

I hopped on a bullet train midway through my Seoul trip and, after a small detour (my fault), made it to Busan where I stayed for 2 days and 1 night. I was too lazy to book a hotel and I decided to stay overnight at a jjimjilbang. Honestly? Not the most comfortable, but at ₩13,000 for bed and bath, I’m not complaining. I’d recommend trying it out at least once.

Haedong Yonggungsa Temple

Dongbaek Park

Haedong Beach

I have no patience for flowery language, but so very much of Busan was beautiful. As perhaps indicated by the abundance of pictures on my camera roll, Gamcheon might have been my favourite. I could have spent so much longer exploring all the nooks and crannies. It’s one of those places you will never fully know. I collected stamps as I got lost in the alleys and I even sent a postcard to my future self – hopefully I will receive it in a year!

This place finally inspired me to read the Little Prince. I’ve only read it in English, but maybe I’ll attempt the original version with my rusty French.

“It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye.”

Raw Fish Bibimbap at Jalgachi Market

Busan was wonderful and beautiful and I didn’t have nearly enough time. I definitely want to go back. The weather was cold and rainy for both days, but honestly? The sights were just as beautiful and it was kind of nice because there weren’t as many people. Cloudy, rainy days bring about a certain type of solemnity that I can appreciate.

And the weather gave me an excuse for lots of hot drinks and fishcakes.

INTERLUDE: with her

Avec el is officially my favourite cafe. This is meaningful because I’ve enjoyed many cafes over the years but have never liked one as much as I like this one. I’ve been following their Instagram for years because everything they make looks beautiful, but I never thought of actually going there. Luckily, I was reminded that I will have the chance during my week in Seoul!

It might have been because I just walked 38,000 steps and hadn’t eaten for 9 hours (apparently I forget to eat when travelling), but avec el was so good. I got the ringo latte and strawberry chiffon sand, and received a complimentary calendar since it was the new year. The food was tasty, the interior is simple but beautiful, and cats are free to come and go. It was a nice way to relax after a long, tiring day.

SOLO SEOUL

I planned on mainly shopping, eating, and hiking in Seoul.

Shopping consisted of souvenirs, stationery, and socks. I tell everyone that goes to Seoul: get the socks because they're amazing quality for ~$1 CAD each. The ones I got in 2015 are still holding strong!

Gukje Market

I had a lot of street food because it was cheap, delicious, and also convenient so I could spend more time exploring: soondae, so many rice cakes, egg bread, cheesy corn dogs, mandu! I also discovered that the lines for these food carts seem to be pretty arbitrary. I usually decided to take a risk and go to a stall that didn’t have anyone, and by the end, there was usually a huge line-up after me. It just takes one.

Finally tried Blue Bottle Coffee… in Seoul of all places. It was expensive.

Seoul has the best cafes. I went to so many that eventually I told myself I have to have something other than coffee. Sometimes hours would go by and I would realized that all I had so far was coffee (for breakfast) and another coffee (for lunch). Such is the dangers of solo travel. But the cafes I went to were fantastic. I got to try a cafe I’d been following on Instagram for years (more on that later) and I visited as many cat cafes as I liked.

Jangchundan Park

I had planned to do a bit of hiking - nothing too strenuous, nothing too isolated. I ended up mainly walking along the Fortress Wall. It was great because I could basically drop by and spend some time at major areas along the way before resuming: Naksan, Ihwa Mural Village, Dongdaemun, Jangchundan Park, Namsan Mountain. I was exhausted at the end.

I also revisited Namsan Seoul Tower. It was a lot better since I wasn’t severely dehydrated. This time, I decided to fork over the small fortune to purchase a lock since I actually had a boyfriend this time. But then my change got stuck in the vending machine which ended up attracting a small crowd of people trying to help me. Eventually one guy starting mashing the change return button and I got my money and then some. I gave the extra change to the kind soul that helped me get it back. :')

The best time was always sunset. Everything had a lovely haze as the sun peaked through one last time. And usually once it got dark, I’d head over to Myeongdong or Hongdae to do some more shopping and more eating, along with everyone else.

I also ending up revisiting Bukchon Hanok Village and Insadong because it’s just a nice place for a stroll.

Honestly, winter time was really nice because it wasn’t that cold but there were a lot less tourists. This meant me, another tourist, could enjoy each area with minimal crowds. Also, I met so many nice people during this trip. Happy to say that I clicked with a girl at my hostel because we had a startling amount of similarities that freaked us both out. We actually had so any similarities so exploring around with her felt very natural!

I didn't know what to expect from Seoul. I didn't know how I would fare on my first real trip alone. But solo travel is actually a lot of fun because you can tailor your entire itinerary to exactly what you want, and because it pushes you outside your comfort zone. At least a little bit.

SEOUL-SEARCHING

Despite my appreciation for solitude, I’ve never travelled solo before and wasn’t sure how much I’d actually enjoy it. I enjoy my time alone but that’s always different when you’re in a new environment where you don’t speak the language. However, the flights from Seoul are so cheap from China and I had winter break, so I decided to book a somewhat last minute trip in the new year.

I had been to Seoul before with CANDANRAN, and knew it was a fairly safe city where I could get by with minimal Korean (ie. just “hello” and “thank you”). I had less than a week to plan it all, but I managed to work out a busy-but-flexible itinerary and booked a hostel, data SIM card, and bullet train to Busan. I guess that’s the perks of travelling in the winter.

So I set off for a week and had a bit of fun.