Just kidding. It's all about the "Family Adventure", and Jake is certainly having the most exciting ones right now. Here is another excerpt from the email he sent to me this morning. :)
So yesterday was our last day in Busan. We had decided the previous day to visit the aquarium. The Seaman's Club at the base had some coupons, so we grabbed one. It was basically six dollars off. We took the liberty bus down to the Paradise Hotel, one of the nicest hotels in the city, right on the beach. The stores at this hotel were all Prada and Gucci and such, so we didn't bother sticking around. From what we had heard already, even the casino upstairs cost $100 just to sit down.
The beach was packed. The first week of August is the annual Busan Sea Festival or something or other. This year they were trying to set the Guinness record for most umbrellas on one beach. The newspaper reported and estimated 28,000 umbrellas. We walked down the beach to the aquarium, taking in the sights along the way. There was a giant buoy-thing, a light house, a dirigible getting its ass kicked by the wind, and the weirdest park bench ever. It had bars in the middle of it to separate the occupants! And this in a country where one's personal bubble ends at the toes!
The aquarium took our coupon and gave Heath his discount, then we used the same coupon and Jim got a discount, but since he was paying form Mark and me, he only got one discount. Mark and I were full price. Lame. The aquarium was worth the price of admission. It reminded me of the aquarium at the Mall of America, but more touristy. The penguins were a nice touch, but the shark tank was great. We were just in time for feeding time, which was done by a guy in scuba gear in the tank with dozens of six to eight foot sharks. I'm no mathematician, but it seemed rather sensationalized and dangerous to me.
After that it was off to lunch. We picked a T.G.I.Fridays across the street. I had a tasty Szechuan Shrimp Alfredo and a Coke. Heath and Mark noticed that none of the locals wanted to sit by us. We figured it was because we stank so bad from sweating in the hot hot sun. Or because we were the crazy rowdy Americans no one wanted to be near. Either way, my pasta was quite decent for something from a chain restaurant.
We stopped in at Starbucks and then hopped in a taxi to head out to the International Market. Riding in a taxi in Busan in itself is almost worth the cost of visiting. To appreciate, you have to know that in Korea, everyone with a license is considered to be a professional driver. Pedestrians and bicyclists NEVER have the right of way. Traffic signals are a recommendation, and the taxi drivers know only two speeds: Fast and Stop. Luckily, they don’t charge much. (Side story - The other day, we saw a guy on a bike cut off a driver, and the car knocked him right down. Once he got up and dusted himself off, he started apologizing to the driver. Our taxi driver, a witness, pulled up along side and started chastising the bicyclist!)
The market was all you would expect it to be. Hello Kitty socks, dried squid, assorted meat-on-a-stick vendors, belts, faux handbags, neckties, and everything you could imagine out in the streets. There was a surprising number of stores I recognized: McDonalds, Adidas, Rebok, Nike, Krispy Kream, Dominoes, Pizza Hut to name a few. We walked around for a few hours until we got too hot. Mark needed a belt, but the biggest belt we could find was about nine inches too short. Finally, we got stopped by these two old betties who happened to be running the belt store we happened to be teasing Mark about, since it appeared to be a women's belt store. We pantomimed an explanation about how none of the belts fit Mark, so they took him inside, cut him a fresh eight-foot chunk of leather and punched some holes in it lol.
Jim bought some shorts and was able to haggle his way down from $45 to $20. It was very hot. About 3:30 we decided it was time for a drink, so we headed to the recommended Hollywood Club. It didn't open until 4:00. Back out in the street, we noticed the place across the street and upstairs was open, with a sign that said "Soju". The place was called Piff or something. It was this neat trendy little place, but it kinda looked like if you went around the back you could end up in someone's living room. We sat in this nice booth and had ice cold C1 soju for about an hour. Soju is a 40 proof liquor that comes in a beer bottle, so one bottle is like drinking four or five beers. We sat and talked and made our toasts to all the things that make live on a ship great (yeah, right). After we cooled off we headed back out to the market and walked and walked and walked until we got hungry.
Pizza Hut was our dinner of choice. Heath had a plain-jane pepperoni pizza, and Jim, Mark, and I shared a large everything pizza with sweet potato stuffed crust. It was interesting, like the soju or the kimchi. I don't think I'll choose it again, but at least I can say I had some.
We then went on a mission to find you a refrigerator magnet. After an hour or two, it ended up being a bust. Sorry. We did however find several "barber shops" lol. Then we caught a cab back to the ship. I sat in the middle back, squished between Jim and Heath. I told them the ride isn't nearly as terrifying when one can't see out the side windows. That was it. I'll send you pictures once I find my thumb drive to get them off the laptop.
I love you and will call you soon.
Husbandxoxoxxoxxox
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