Where there is a smell of books subtly coming out, this is the Bosu-dong bookstore alley. If you find the sign with books piled up together and come inside the alley, the scenery that you would see in the Harry Potter movies are spread in front of you. This place which has been started since the 6.25 war in 1950 when Busan became the temporary capital, has the newest books to old books that we can’t find now, and there is indeed everything about ‘books’ here. The wisdom that has been piled up from the old times in this alley that has stacked the books to the ceiling along with a ladder waits for the owner quietly. From the old times students would get money to buy new reference books and buy secondhand reference books here, and use the leftover money to buy junk food or buy comic books. In the bookstore full of reference books, there are still the naughty laughs of the students. There is a bookstore that has made a wall of books, and there is a bookstore that has made a café inside. There is a place where someone drew a mural with the pictures of children’s stories on the part connected highly to the stairs, and trying to find this is quite fun. A festival is held in September.
If you enter the entrance there is the ‘Bosu-dong Bookstore Alley Culture Center>. There is a gallery where you can see the history of this place in one view, and they show a movie on Sundays, once in 2 weeks. Currently there are the originals of Kim Jong Do’s ‘Doongrung Deng Doongrung Deng’ displayed following the stairs, and at the other gallery you can take a look at the old textbooks that our parents might have used. And as I take a look at the gallery a great phrase catches my eyes.
If you walk along the alley filled with the fragrance of books, it feels like there are life forces of memory wriggling. I open between the old bookmarks at the street corner that keeps its story inside the familiar scenery.//Throw the seed of books on the rough land of war/share books and look at the world together/change the reference book into a comic book/the veining of time opening and untying the package of books with a digital camera has been piled.//We, who come to find the old debt, keep on walking on the street.
At the book café ‘Nylgda’ located on the 6th floor, there are many books with tasty juice prepared. The cost is about 2,500won, so not too much. Outside the window there is the observatory of the Yongdusan Tower standing straight up. As I read a book while sipping a glass of juice on a fine day, the time flies by.
Since I’m getting slightly hungry, let’s go to the International Market.
It is filled with the smell of people. The International Market that shows the essence of the traditional market that has disappeared a lot these days. From old clothes, accessories and shoes, medicinal herbs, spoons, plates to various daily necessities, the name ‘street of all things’ didn’t get its name for free. The International Market is connected to the Can Market, so you can also buy the sweet imported cookies cheaply. By the way the rough sign that says ‘Giant Chicken’ catches my eyes. It is said to be a famous restaurant. I couldn’t just pass it because I was hungry, so I took a seat on a table.
There are only the menus, fried, seasoned, half&half and whole roast at the Giant Chicken. The price was from 15,000won to 16,000won, so I thought it would be similar to regular chicken, but 5 female gathered and barely ate the half&half. The amount is enormous. But that doesn’t mean it is not tasty. You should try it. Even after you have had until your stomach is full, the taste stays on your tongue when you leave the store. It is not greasy but nutty and clean, and even the chicken-fries are tasty also. Adding a glass of beer, nowhere else could be heaven. I was lucky to go into the store slightly before meal time, and when I came out there was a long line in spite of the cold weather. I satisfied my appetite feeling good and went out to the BIFF street.
We think the BIFF street might have a lot of spectacles related to movies, but the place many people visit the most usually is the ‘Ssiat Hotteok(Seed Chinese pancake).’ After being introduced by broadcasting, there are people in line day and night. Not only the ssiat hotteok but all kinds of junk food catch your feet at the BIFF street. Starting from odeng(fish cake) and ttekbokki(rice cakes in hot sauce), tornado potato, chicken on skewer, sausages, takoyaki to plucking, the snack vendors with red roof fill the whole street. The copper plates of the handprints and signs of actors/actresses from all over the world are used to decorate the floor. You can also see the copper plate that has carved the participating works. If you visit there at daytime on weekdays you may be able to enjoy these copper plates slowly. This street shines the brightest when the Busan Film Festival is held in October. It becomes the main stage of the festival. Since there are many first-run theaters concentrated on one spot, so this place is always crowded with people you love movies.
As you walk more the street gets connected to the Gwangbokro. Gwangbokro starts the tree festival when the Christmas season comes, and with the big tree that has a star on top and hangs blue lights in the center, the whole street sparkles. At the Gwangbokro where the demonstration project of public design is being carried on, making it wide and clean, funny statues give you much fun. There are the stairs to the Yongdusan Park, and the Lotte Department Store Gwangbok branch stands at the end of the Gwangbokro.
How about watching the aqua show of the Lotte Department Store that begins every hour on the hour to soothe your tired legs? The fountain that goes up to 4 story heights present interesting spectacles with great lighting and music mixed together. In some ways, it is a pretty trivial place. Reading books, eating junk food, watch here and there, it is just an ordinary daily life of us. But the happiness inside there is not small at all. Feel the true values of these simple and honest streets when the festival begins. The unforgettable memory that you cannot forget makes this street special once again.
Recent comments