Honeymoon Summary, Part 2

Part 2! Here are a handful of Ulsan photos. We spent about two days in Ulsan with another aunt and uncle of Cathy's. The visit involved lots of sightseeing, seafood eating, dayhiking, and using a bathroom that had a tub filled with homemade tofu.


We went straight to Daewangam Park from the airport. As the sun set we hiked around a pine forest lining a cliffy ocean coastline while enjoying some incredible views of Ilsan Bay. There was also a beach with a bunch of snorkel women in wetsuits shouting what I can only assume were sales pitches for freshly caught seafood. I guess it worked since Cathy's aunt bought some scallops from them.


The next day we went towards the mountains to do some sightseeing. We spent a lot of time at Bulguksa, a large Buddhist temple complex which has a number of South Korea's National Treasures, one of which is this 8th century Amitabha Buddhist statue.


This woman was in a shrine doing some traditional embroidering and knotting. It seemed to me that she was one of the various individuals I saw in the area still engaging in a traditional livelihood because she in a restricted area and appeared to be completely detached from the passing visitors...


We saw some amazing structures and buildings while in the area, but for some reason I liked this one the best: the Seokguram Grotto. Small, simple, unassuming, and tucked away into the side of a mountain. Inside is a 10 foot Buddha chiseled from a single granite block and an angry Korean woman making sure no one gets too close to it. Anyway, we had a great time exploring the temples, burial mounds, museums, etc. Although Bulguksa was particularly interesting for me since I had some interest in Mahayana Buddhism (closely related to Korean Buddhism) during my first years in college.


Well, after all that running around, we had to eat. That means a platter of raw fish, some root salad, seaweed, sesame leaves, golbaenggi (sea snails), mussels, and various other accoutrement. Also a bottle of pineapple Fanta, a Korean beer, and some pillows to sit on. One thing I noticed: The raw fish wasn't refrigerator cold like it is at the sushi restaurants I go to. I was told this was because the fish was alive and prepared moments ago. I'm not entirely sure if that thought makes it more or less appetizing to me, but it does taste better.

Also, in an older post I stated I ate beondegi (silkworm pupa) and claimed to have eaten a sea slug. I now know it was not a sea slug I ate but instead a sea worm under the phylum Priapulida. So that means I ate a Priapulid worm, which is literally a "penis worm." In Korean, the sea worms are called kaebul, or roughly translated, "dog penis." That's just terrific. Anyway, it was interesting since although the worm was cut up into small pieces, if you touched a piece it would still move. Despite sounding and looking gross, it tasted pretty good (insert kaebul joke here).


Rolls of fabric at a hanbok store. While in Ulsan, Cathy's aunt insisted on getting Cathy a hanbok. If you were at our wedding, Cathy was wearing one under the ornamental coat during our paebaek tea ceremony. I have no idea when Cathy is going to wear the thing, but she'll be prepared should restaurants ever start requiring hanboks.


I knew this was Chilsung Cider because the can said so.

Next post, back in Seoul!