Daegu

Finally, mid-term examinations have ended! Not sure if I was lucky, but out of everyone I know, I was the first to end my papers. In fact, 2 whole days ahead of the rest of the Singaporeans! Of course, all that came at a cost: 4 mid-term papers on Monday, and 1 on Tuesday. And being such a procrastinator, you can imagine how a terrible stage I was in on the Sunday before the mid-term papers!

Since I ended my exams early ahead of everyone else, I decided to travel out of Seoul alone, all the way to Daegu City, which is almost 4 hours away by limousine bus. To save money, I managed to source out a young family who was willing to host me in their house for 3 nights for free via couchsurfing.com, as recommended by Chin Keat.

My limousine bus to Daegu. Costs $22 for a single trip.

Finally arrived at East Daegu Station nearing 9pm!

Before meeting my hosts , I had my reservations, since I had never seen or talked to them in person before. However, the moment I met them, I could tell from their honest looks and warm welcome that I would be really safe during the period I were to stay with them.

My hosts, Daedong and Jaeyoon, are a pair of newly-weds (2.5 yrs) who happen to work in the same company – a Korean Oriental Medicine Hospital. They moved to the current home when they got married and adopted a stray puppy from the streets a year ago.

On the first night, I was treated to Daegu Samgyeup-sal by the couple, where I also tried soju for the first time. Surprisingly, soju didn’t taste as strong as I had imagined. And Daegu samgyeup-sal differs from the other regions in that pig intestines and potatoes are also served.

Daedong형’s house. Here’s the cute dog, named “Mong”, which stands for dream.

My own private room! Way more comfortable than my CJ dormitory.

The bed even comes with a heating mat, so that I will be kept warm at night.

For the 3 days I was there, I managed to climb 2 mountains, Biseuksan and Gat Bawi. Woah, the mountains were much harder to climb than I had expected! I thought that it was similar to trekking, where I just had to walk up a trail, but it was not the case! There were undergrowth, and rocks that I had to climb over, and it was hard! I was basically panting and resting every 2 minutes. Of course, I pretended to take pictures so that others would just think that I was enjoying the scenery.

Personally I feel coming down was the worst part of the climb, cause there is basically nothing to hold on to, and the slope is so steep that I kept thinking I was going to fall. Whereas the experienced climbers could walk naturally like on even ground, I had to keep squatting, and climbing with my hands, and hugging trees so that I wouldn’t trip over some rocks or sand. Really very embarrassing!

This elderly couple called out to me when I was going down, so I naturally said I didn’t understand Korean. However, they still signalled to me to come over, and shared their lunch with me! Of course, I tried to carry on a conversation with them in Korean as best as I could, but it probably lasted 2 minutes. For the rest of the conversation, I just kept saying yes although I understood nothing they said.

I also went to Daedong형’s university, Keimyung University. Woah, the school is really beautiful. Apparently, the school is named top 10 most beautiful campus in South Korea, and has been the filming locations for several dramas and movies. In fact, this is THE SHINHWA HIGH SCHOOL that Jandi and the F4 people attended in the Korean version of "Boys over Flowers"! I only found out after my friends told me it looked familiar to them. Checked out online and it's really true!

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My host family was the highlight of my Daegu trip. Every morning, Daedong형 would prepare breakfast for me to bring out on my journey. Not only that, he would take me to his workplace and print out a bunch of places for me to visit and then walk me to the bus stop to catch my bus. Throughout the day, he would also call to check that I was safe and enjoying myself.

An example of my daily breakfast, including donuts, bread, bananas, yoghurt drinks and choco-pies.

In the evening, the couple would bring me out to explore downtown. I went to Jungang-ro (city area, much like Seoul Myeong-dong) and Costco, a warehouse-like American franchise.

Jaeyoon누나 also prepared dinner for the whole family, where I has my first opportunity of eating home-cooked Korean food in a home setting.

Makori (막거리) – A kind of fizzy fermented rice wine

And those who know me know I don’t usually like dogs too much, but my host’s dog is so cute that I took a liking to it immediately. I felt almost like I belonged to the family, which felt really good, especially since I have been away from home for a pretty long time.

On the morning I was to leave, Jaeyoon누나 even woke up especially early to prepare sushi and miso soup for me to bring on my journey to Busan. They are the nicest Koreans I have met on the trip, and I feel really blessed to have met them here.

My special handmade breakfast, consisting of choco-pies, sushi, miso soup and banana milk.

Before I left for Busan, I went over to Seomun Market to explore around. It kinda reminded me of Singapore’s wet market, minus the wetness and the bad smell. Everything was sold there, including live cats and rabbits. Really dread to think what would happen to the animals sold there.