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The Beetle to Korea
The hydrofoil to Korea is called the "Beetle" for some reason. I had tried booking on line, but was too close to the sailing date, so i had managed to ring up and reserve a seat.The ferry sailed at 10.15, and i was told to be there an hour before. so being in a town i have never visited before, i cleverly allowed 30 minutes from my hostel to the ferry terminal, after all, it did not look very far on the tourist map................
strangely enough i woke up an hour earlier than my alarm, but decided to do evrything apart from leave a little earlier..... have a cup of tea, look at something of no interest whatsoever on the internet as i was bored etc etc and only then dashed off to the bus station. I could not find the stand i was supposed to go to, and then one pulled up that said "ferry port" on the front.
Job's a carrott
i thought and on i hopped.I saw the coast and we were heading towards it so decided not to bother checking with the conductor. Then the bus got rammed and i was squashed in a corner and could not see a thing, but figured not to worry as the ferry port was obviously where it terminated so we would all get off together.........
after what seemed an eternity for what was supposed to be a short ride, i started to get a bit concerned and then when a few people got off i made my way to the front and asked old butler how long to the ferry port........................
"felly?" he asked
"oh.....Felly...........
yes.................... long bus!
"Pants !!!!
Not having a watch, i dug out my phone to check the time and it was quarter to ten. There was no way i was gonna catch that ferry. I was supposed to have been there half an hour ago.I jumped off at the next stop which was in the middle of nowhere and decided to look for a payphone to call the ferry company, then realised i did not have enough change. Then i saw a taxi, so thought what the hell and went for it.
Unfortunately he did not understand a word i said, but luckily another taxi came round the corner so i asked him, and he sort of understood me.15 minutes later of driving down backstreets i had consoled myself to the fact i was never gonna make it. Also i had only enough money on me to pay for the ferry, and the taxi was clocking up a right fare, so i would not be able to pay for the ticket anyway.
Then all of a sudden he turned a corner and there it was, so like anneka rice i was running through this building trying to find the booking desk. The girl there was lovely and to cut a long and boring story short i made it more or less as they were pulling the gangplank.
Apparently there is a high risk on the crossingof hitting wales and dolphins. Funny, i thought they had eaten them all.
Did not see any on the ferry though.
So landed at Busan, South Korea and negotiated the underground and then got to my slummy hostel.
I could not work it out, it was a posh apartment building. so up to the 29th floor i go and in to this really flash apartment.....The guy that owns it rents 2 of the rooms out to pay off the mortgage and to make a living, and basically shares his flat with us and his girlfriend. Very trusting i must say. We all have a free run of the flat, and our own key. All for a tenner a night.
Cool.
So here i am in a designer flat, looking over the city having a nice brew of japanese tea.
the first night here everyone went out to eat, so he came with us and took us for typical Korean food.If you have been, you will know that could involve eating raw octopus, (sometimes even alive)but there are lots of nice things as well, but we went for eel.
Ok, when in Rome i thought, so we sat down and the table has a griddle in the middle of it and on she plonks the eel, but it was all still moving, even though it was chopped up.
It was like something from Alien.
But it tasted ok, you eat it a bit like a Fajita, but you use a lettuce leaf instead to wrap it in. Then we went to a "Rock" bar. Oh yea it was the most rock and roll bar i have ever been to.....It offers Free Toast ! with jam and butter.check out the photos.
And today i have such a bad headache, drank way too much of the local rocket fuel and stayed up rocking and rolling way too much.
Also bragged to everyone how i was the resident pool champion at shanghai and i would cane them all, and i played like an absolute spanner. That will teach me.
The local beer here is called "Hite". What they should really do is to put an "S" in front of it, then it would be nearer the truth.So not going out tonight.
They are all off to a karaoke bar, but i have a splitting headache, so i am gonna stay in and get my blogs up to date for you all.
Apparently the best chat up line you can use here is to ask a girl her blood type!
They love it. They reckon it says alot about your personality, and is a good way of finding a match, a bit like their version of our horoscopes.
I might try it, as the "So how mentally ill are you then ?" does not seem to be working too well at the minute.
The guy who owns the apartment is also a fortune teller as well.
He does it based on the hour and date you were born. So he did me and said that there was no "Tiger" symbol regarding my work life, which meant that i would never be any good in a big company as i can not be arsed.........
That is about the most accurate reading i have ever had.
I asked him about bumping in to Kylie in Australia and her wanting to marry me, but unfortunately that looks like it might be off now, as he predicts i will be 45 before anything happens on that front. Not sure i will still fancy her by then.
Apparently now is the "summer" of my working life and i should be getting my finger out. Not sure if that includes going on the dole for a bit or not.
The underground here is a little different, it runs well and is easy to use and all that, but there are people selling stuff and also lots of beggars. The salesmen look proper del boy, though i am not so sure if they are allowed to be on there.The street parking is a bit bizarre as well in that it is all privately owned, but only small chunks. so on one long strip, you will have half a dozen attendants waving at you, to get you to park in their bit.
Next Installment.................Half a cow gift boxes
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