Our Weekend: Busan Sand Festival 2013

It was that time of year again where people congregate in Busan to see what amazing things can be done with sand. Haeundae was really, really busy. When we first arrived, we'd just missed the big water fight that they had arranged. We headed straight to the beach to check out the sculptures, as we missed them last year.

This year's theme was Hollywood. As soon as we reached the sculptures, we were greeted by one that looked like a roll of film, with all the characters from recent blockbusters. There was Spider Man, Hulk, Batman, Gollum and... PSY. I didn't know he had magical powers. I also liked the fact that there was someone dressed in a kigu whose job it was to maintain the sculpture.

There was an E.T one, a mermaid one, Marilyn Monroe, Frankenstein and many, many more.

Judging from the previous years' pictures, there seemed to be more actual sculptures before, rather than big blocks of sand with things carved into them that we saw. It did make me wonder though, whether it's some people's full time jobs to make sand statues?!

After we'd spent a while looking around the sculptures, we tried to find ourselves a spot on the beach. This was easier said than done. There were hundreds and hundreds of people along the whole of the beach. I really dislike the fact that as soon as Summer arrives, that the beach is swathed in umbrellas so no sun actually touches the sand! Luckily we managed to find somwhere, just in time to catch the air show they'd put on.

Following that, the girls from the roller derby team arrived in Busan, so we lazed around on the beach all day, chatting.

That night we tried out a new makeolli bar in Seomyeon, then headed home quite early, ready for roller derby practise the next day.

Sunday was gloomy and grey, which meant that it was the perfect temperature to be skating outside. We had a two hour practise, then I wiled away the afternoon in a coffee shop, practising my Spanish until Alex and Nick arrived having got lost on their bike ride!

It was relaxed and easy, exactly what I needed. Only 6 and a half weeks left until Summer holidays and I will be off to Beijing and Kuala Lumpur! So excited!













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Busan's Children's Park, Seomyeon

We found ourselves having a couple of hours to spare around Seomyeon of Saturday afternoon, so we decided to have a walk around the Children's Park in Seomyeon.

I'd been before a few months ago, as there's a free museum in the middle of the park, and we went to do some research for the space themed event day that we had at school last year. Most of the information is in Korean, but there are lots of fun, hands on things to do that you don't need to read to figure out. Including a set of scales that tells you how much you would weigh on each planet. I'm just happy that I live on Earth rather than Jupiter! It is definitely worth a walk around on a rainy afternoon.

But as it was nice outside, we decided to wander around the park. At the weekend it's absolutely packed with the usual families and ajummas in their hiking gear. I've decided that it's about time that I started learning how to use my camera properly, and there were plenty of things to take photos of here.

The park itself is a man made reservoir surrounded by forested mountains, so it's nice and cool under the shade of the trees. There are lots of small restaurants around the paths serving simple food and makeolli, and also toys and balloons for the kids.

I also loved that there were areas that had been created around the water where you can sit and chat, or have a picnic. We all know that picnicking is one of Korea's favourite past times! Not wanting to be left out, we stopped to have some lunch on the way.

About half way around the reservoir there are lots of parks for the kids to enjoy, along with badminton courts with gushing streams running along side it. It's amazing when you're in the park to think that the busy streets of Seomyeon are not far away, it's so quiet and calm.

It was so nice, that I decided to go back for a run on Monday, and it was perfect because the reservoir is about 1km to get around, so it's easy to measure, and the path is completely shaded, so it wasn't too hot.

In the evenings, it's a completely different place. It's very peaceful, and the swings and playgrounds are eerily quiet due to the complete lack of children. I had old guys cheering me every lap I did, and ajummas who watch you with steely clances from their benches in the trees.


















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Korean Make Up Trash, Treat or Stash: Daiso's Nose Clean Pack

Trash, Treat or Stash. The products I've discovered are better off in the bin, the ones you should treat yourself to every now and again, and the ones that are so good that you should definitely make sure you have a stash of them.



Korea in the Summer is all sticky, but in the Winter it's so dry. It's a constant fight with your skin which is always complaining by surprise breakouts or dry patches. When I saw how cheap these nose packs were in Daiso, I decided to try one out. Here's what I thought about them...

Cost: A box of four of these costs just ₩1,000, that's roughly 60p. Bargain.
Prettiness: There's nothing pretty about these, especially when they're flapping off your nose, as you can see in the picture above. These should be done in a locked room, that's preferably dark.
Usability: Despite the Korean instructions, these are very easy to use in theory. Take one out of the sachet, they feel a little like plasters on one side and smooth and a little sticky on the side that you put on your skin. Place it on your nose and leave for 15 minutes. I found that the patch wasn't the right shape for my face, which means that it didn't sit naturally on my nose. This meant 10 minutes spent pressing the patch back onto my nose. The patch dried out after this time so I took it off.


Overall: If you hadn't already guessed, this product has earned my very first Trash status. They're incredibly cheap, and that would be brilliant if they actually did what they were supposed to do. When I took the patch off, I felt like it hadn't done anything, which is no surprise when it spent the whole quarter of an hour flailing in the breeze rather than beautifying my skin! The price definitely was too good to be true.

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Our Weekend: Shakespeare, Soju and Sun

This weekend I spent lots of time outdoors, which was great!

Friday started with a run after school. Trying to avoid the commuters bustling around on the pavements took my mind off the run. After that I watched some Dexter as Nick had gone out for a meal with his friends.

Saturday was gloomy but incredibly hot. I was supposed to go to Daegu to play roller derby, but the attendence list was low so I decided to save my money and wait until next weekend when the whole league will come down to Busan ready for the Sand Festival.

So, instead of skating, we decided to take a walk around the Children's Park, near Seomyeon. It was such a perfect day for it as we were under the cover of the trees hidden from the grey clouds. I'll share more about that later.

Saturday night Dan's parents were in town so we went for delicious BBQ and showed them what soju was all about, followed by a beach party down at Dadaepo, with more soju.

Sunday I wasn't feeling too clever, but it was bright and sunny outside. We headed up to Dalmaji hill to watch a production of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night at the outdoor theatre. It was the perfect Sunday afternoon to laze around in the grass, surrounded by lots of people who were being incredibly quiet. (I've noticed that Korean's love noise!).

To top it off, we wandered down the hill back towards Haeundae, and grabbed some sushi with Alex and Katie at their local restaurant called Sushi Berry. It's fast becoming my favourite place to eat, it's so tasty and so cheap! And that's coming from someone who doesn't even like sushi.

When we got back we finished the weekend by watching a film called The Angel's Share, based in Glasgow Scotland,on Alex's reccommendation. It's one of the only films that Nick and I have both watched and loved recently. All about whiskey and chavs, what more could a girl want?!

Entrance to the children's park// My beach party outfit// Sunday afternoon at the amphitheatre//
The walk back from Dalmaji// Amazing views of Haeundae beach

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May

May's been a quiet month where I've really been trying to watch my spending. The faster the months go past, the more I realise I need to save, ready for the next adventure after I leave Korea. Here's what we got upto:


May was the month that my group of friends decided to explore Namhae Island and the Wineglass Festival. A long weekend to celebrate Buddha's Birthday can't be bad. The company was great, but the festival not so much!


As it was Buddha's Birthday, there were lots of festivities going on around Nampo. I loved the night time lantern festival in the park below Nampo Tower. So pretty!


Also, it was the month that I discovered lots of other bloggers around Korea by taking part in The Colors of Korea project. Here's what pink means to Korea. Also, please take a look at Mimsie's collaborative post which features all of the colours. Pink wasn't just about cuteness, it also proved to signify religious and cultural traditions too. Notice my struggle with the British and American spelling of colour, or color. Something I have to be very careful with infront of my kids too!


I went to see The Great Gatsby, and I have to say that I loved it! Despite the reviews that I'd heard before hand. We went as a belated celebration of Tasha's birthday. See what I have to say about it here.


I carried on the Trash, Treat or Stash, which has been really popular. I even got Natasha to guest blog one week, and she gave us our first Trash rating! Products that did better than Daiso's nail wraps were Etude House's Face Masks and Tony Moly's hand cream.


I got to watch my Korean colleague get married. It was the first Korean wedding that I've been to, and was enough of a mix of Korean and Western to be slightly bizarre. She looked beautiful though.


I was showered with gifts for Teacher's Day. I really think that this day should be adopted by England!


Trying to save my money meant nights in were alot more regular, so I got crafty and made these phone accessories from a DIY kit.


I hope that your May was good! June looks like it should be good, we have a national holiday this week and Nick's birthday to look forward to. I've already booked his birthday present, but can't say too much as it's a surprise!

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