Entry The Sixth: Busan And The Case Of The Empty Beer Glasses [Subtitle: Where Are My Shoes?]

Last weekend was my first real trip around South Korea, heading over to the easy coast to the city of Busan with several people I hadn't seen since orientation. I wish I could say I have pictures, because some of the sights were really something, but in the end I made the right call. You see, Busan has a brewery that operates out of a restaurant by the beach, and they really make a quality product. Good beer is a rarity in Korea, I've found, so much like a camel gets its fill of water for the long treks through the unforgiving desert, so too do I choose to fuel up for an extended drought - by making extensive use of draught. No harm no foul however, and despite having someone punk my shoes on the beach while I was messing around in the ocean a bit, the weekend went over quite well. I sincerely hope that they enjoy them, but as they were size 11 and it seems rare to find any male over a size 9 in this country, I suspect they may be an ill-fit. Perhaps they'll trip once or twice; possibly into traffic.
While the fish markets of Busan are a thing to see in themselves, like an extensive marine life zoo that you can eat, the highlight was easily Haedong Yonggungsa Temple, which looks out over the rocky coast of the ocean. You can see some pictures here, or do a Google image search for some better ones. It's the first big temple I've seen so far, and it's set the bar pretty high based on setting alone. The artistry on the temples here is quite impressive, and I can't imagine how often they have to redo the paint job, especially by the ocean.
Busan is an impressive city, being undeniably large and heavily populated, but maintaining such efficient public transportation that you'd never really know it. It's far too huge to get to know in any detail even over several weekends, much less one, so I have no doubt that I'll be heading back there a few times to see more of the temples, museums, and the elusive Cat Cafe. It is exactly what it sounds like from what the pamphlet told me (it was in Korean, so mostly it had to do with all the pictures of cats on or around coffee tables). This lady here actually found one, and goes into very informative detail. If I had more mindfully planned for Korea when I was back in Canada I would have brought a large bag of catnip with me, because running into a crowded Cat Cafe and heaving a full bag of cat crack into the air is an act of terrorism we can all get behind.