Short Weekend at Busan & 3rd Thanksgiving Dinner!!

On Saturday, I took the 10:40 express bus to Busan and I arrived at 4:04pm...it was a very long bus ride.  This is my second trip to Busan but this time I'm travelling alone and I have my camera with me!

Then I took the subway to Anna's home.

subway map in Busan is so simple...only 3 lines!

By the time I reached her home, Anna and Peng (her boyfriend) finished shopping at Costco and I took the taxi with Anna to Home Plus to buy more ingredients while Peng stayed at home to clean.  There was a lot of traffic so it took Anna and I 30 minutes to get back by taxi when normally it would've taken only 8 minutes.  Once we arrived back at her apartment, we quickly gathered everything together and took the taxi to her friend's home which was around an hour taxi ride.  By the time we arrived, Anna's other guests were already at the train station so we all walked to her friend's home together.  What are we doing?

We are cooking for Thanksgiving!  This makes it my 3rd Thanksgiving meal this year but I'm not complaining.  I had a lot of fun cooking and mingling with new people.  Most of the people were Anna's coworkers (fellow Americans teaching English in Korea), Peng's friend, and Anna's korean friend's friends.  I made mash potatoes and brownies :)

look at all the food!

my brownie

and mash potatoes!

not cooking...

After eating, we had dessert :)

Then a bunch of us played Apples to Apples for awhile and sang and just talked a lot...a lot of people were drunk.

We arrived back at Anna's apartment at around 2am and by that time we all pretty much crashed on her bed. The next morning, we woke up at noon and quickly got ready because I was leaving in 4 hours.  First stop: food!  As we walked to the restaurant, I saw some pretty buildings and Christmas decorations!

Then I had 2 amazing meal.  First is jajangmyeon (자장면)  which is black noodles covered in black soybean paste with onions and meat.  It is a Chinese dish but Korean people love it.  Apparently, Busan is famous for it so Anna and Peng took me to the best restaurant that serves it.  It only cost 3000 won!

Then we had chicken galbi which was so delicious!  We cooked it with ramen and cheese :)

Then afterwards, Anna, Peng and I walked around 자갈치 area which is like Myeungdong in Seoul.  We sampled a lot of street food while we were looking for a sticky photo booth.

We finally found a sticky photo booth but gosh it sucked!  It was the worst booth ever because they didn't have background options and after we took pics, the people didn't cut it for us...we had to cut it ourselves!

After that, it was approaching 4 so I said my goodbyes and headed to the subway to the bus terminal.  I didn't get back to Seoul until 11pm.

It was great seeing Garst again but gosh I'm going to miss her so much.  Garst is truly one of my best friends and I feel so fortunate to be able to see her in Korea two times!  I'm so happy for her that she met Peng because they are the cutest couple ever!  I don't know when I'll see her again but I know that our friendship will last forever :)

WOOF WOOF! Dog Cafe :)

Today a bunch of friends and I headed to the dog cafe call Bau House Cafe.  Here are the directions by subway:

-Exit from Hapjeong Station (합정역) exit #3

-Walk straight ahead to first big intersection

-Turn right, walk straight ahead, over slight hill

-At Koryo restaurant, where the street bends left, turn right

-At the Praha Castle, turn left

-Walk straight ahead, Bau house is on the 3rd floor of a building on your left.

When we entered we immediately saw a really big dog but it was leaving with its owner so I couldn't play with it :(  First, we have to order a drink first (the cheapest drink is 5000 won).  After that, I set off to play with the dogs but we realized that the dogs don't come to you unless you have treats.  So I bought a packet of treats for 3500 won and OMG all the dogs surrounded me!  At first it was very exciting but they all got too excited and started jumping on me!  One of them began to nibble on my tummy but luckily I cut the treats in time and was able to hand out the treats.

ahhhh!!

There were a lot of dogs there!!  There were probably about 20-30 dogs...some of the dogs belong to the cafe, boarders or just visiting with their owners.  I didn't like the fact that we have to buy treats in order to play with the dogs...it felt like bribery.  The dogs will literally walk away from you if you don't have any treats.  But it was a lot of fun and I will definitely do it again!!!!

아약가 씨's surprise party :)

Today is 아약가 (Ayaka)'s birthday and once again my Korean class threw her a party.  Tim and I met up yesterday to buy the party preparations: cake, birthday signs, balloons, cards, toys, etc.

I got to class 15 minutes early (an amazing feat since I went clubbing the night before) to prepare for the party :)

I love the cake!

even the box is hello kitty!

Then Ayaka came and boy was she surprised :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AYAKA!!