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Budget Luxury #1:Malbec Under 9,000 Won

If you’re anything like me, life in Korea might feel like a slippery balance between squirreling away as much Won as possible each month while still spicing up your days with a little indulgence every now and then. Living on ramyeon and spending weekends indoors with your wallet locked up may be good for the number crunchers at Student Loans, but it takes a toll on your spirit. As a former boss of mine in Canada once said after an overtime shift and a general discussion of finances, “you gotta live.”

But living doesn’t have to mean spending big bucks. Starting now, I’m adding a new category to the Coco Busan blog called “Budget Luxuries.” It’ll feature cheap Korea finds that make life sweeter while keeping the bank account balanced, afloat, and hopefully brimming. Starting with this Argentinian Argento Malbec, found at Costco.

This red is smooth. It’s got some dark berry action and a little bit of spice. It tastes great on its own or with an olive and cherry tomato penne. Crack the cork, pour a glass, and in ten minutes it’ll flow with whatever you feel like tossing into a pan. Come to think of it, I bet it would even be awesome with ramyeon. It’s the best budget red I’ve tried in Busan, and it’s only 8,990 won. (For those of you in North America, that’s around eight bucks.) Who knew 2010 was such a stellar vintage?

Faster Than a Speeding...

On a crisp December morning, two travelers set out from Busan Station in search of adventure in the north. We watched the giant neon ticker for our signal to board. Efficiency is everything at this train station, and punctuality is key. We climb onto our train and find our seats.

This shiny high speed rail would take us from Busan to Seoul at the opposite end of the country in just two and a half hours. Before the KTX began crisscrossing Korea in 2004, the same trip between the two largest cities in Korea took more like five and a half hours. Though more expensive than slower trains to Seoul, the KTX was comfortable and quiet and fast. Though we spent a considerable amount of time under tunnels, the trip afforded us some great views. Here's our highlight reel:

Riding the KTX
Uploaded by shane11111. - Explore new destinations and travel videos.

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2011-1-16)

My Top 5 Artists (Week Ending 2011-1-16):

Imported from Last.fm Tumblr by JoeLaz

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About

Hi, I'm Stacy. I'm from Portland, Oregon, USA, and am currently living in Busan, South Korea. Check me out on: Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram, Lastfm, and Flickr.

Live from Busan!

One of the most comforting discoveries of living in Busan has been the robust expatriate community here. Coming over, my misguided self thought I wouldn't often run into other English speakers-- how little I knew. The Busan city government estimates that about 1 in 100 residents in Busan is a foreigner, English speaking and otherwise, and this community has cultivated an active expat scene.

A couple months ago, Shane became part of the community when he became a cast member Busan Night Live's second incarnation. Staged by a combination of Koreans and expats at a local nightclub, the sketch comedy show jabbed at life in Korea and life itself.

For all you Shane fans, he played a few roles including a beer pong playing, cheap drink buying, dating game contestant; a frustrated waiter who finally lets it all go... in the salad; and a failed magician's on-stage sidekick. He tried his hand at voiceover in a prerecorded sketch called "Shit on a Bus".

My favorite sketch was the "Ajumma Olympics"-- several guys running around town competing in ajumma's favorite activities. I think we all know how much Shane likes to put on a dress for a role, so of course, here's a sketch featuring cross dressing. I promise hilarity!

market and classroom

I started a tumblr a few weeks ago (liking the hi-res photos and simple layouts) and have since been neglecting this ol’ wordpress. Being pretty lazy about blogging as it is I imagine that this site might not get updated much since I’ll be committing my scant resources and time to the new flavor of the week. That said I will attempt to keep here an abridged collection of photographs and other digital nonsense which I find amusing.

a few new things

nikon fe2 slr w/50mm 1.4 nikkor lens
dry winter skin which has me itching like a mangy dog
a penchant for markets, especially garak, which i have been wandering through weekly during winter-schedule lunch breaks

My January schedule has me working 60 hour weeks, leaving me a crumpled mess by evenings, and a catatonic zombie by the time the weekend rolls around. I haven’t been out as much as I want, and haven’t had the time (schedule+terrible weather) to get out and shoot. I usually don’t bring a camera to school, but have lately because I acquired some new gear. Here are some bw shots of the people I see the most.

Filed under: 35mm, Uncategorized Tagged: 35mm, fe2, fuji superia, hagwons, nikon, seoul, South Korea

Review: The Ultimate Tech Guide for Travelers – Anil Polat

If you’re traveling anywhere in the world, tech likely travels with you. Where can you get internet access, and how can you ensure your data stays safe? What about encryption, using Tor, wiping your data remotely if your device is stolen, and a hundred other things?

Before starting the popular travel blog foXnoMad, Anil Polat was paid to hack into a company’s systems and make their security better. Today, he’s well-known as an expert on travel and tech, and helping people travel smarter. “The Ultimate Tech Guide for Travelers” gets you started whether you’re coming to Korea for a year or backpacking around Europe.

“The Ultimate Tech Guide for Travelers” starts off helping you pick out a laptop. Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you probably know some of the computer terminology already; if you don’t, Anil explains it without embarrassing you in the process. From there, the book goes into backing up your data – something this blogger needs to do more often. While some solutions require money, the e-book points out dozens of free solutions as well. That’s repeated throughout the book, as Anil points out plenty of free alternative programs to those costing money. You’ve probably heard of some of them, but there are plenty I hadn’t heard of before reading.

While the e-book’s focus on security, proxies, and encryption makes sense if you’re traveling to countries where the internet is censored or restricted, my wonderful readers in Korea might wonder if they need the advice. Sure, some people might need it to keep themselves anonymous – you, however, might want to use a proxy to score some online video or watch Hulu (things only available with an American IP address). Also, hackers and data collectors are everywhere there’s a computer, so keeping track of your security is prudent anywhere you go.

The last chapter – Ultimate Hacking Secrets for Savvy Travelers – talks about everything from using the Pirate Bay to tethering (connecting your phone to your computer for internet access). He links to many other resources, including good guides for jailbreaking an iPhone or rooting an Android device, and ends with a reminder that “working well with technology is to make it work for you.”

As one of those classic ‘buy the book and get something else free’ ideas, you get 6 months of Anil’s personal tech support. He won’t help you reinstall an operating system, but getting helping with anything talked about in the book is fair game.

Get your copy of “The Ultimate Tech Guide for Travelers” – it ain’t free, but it’s money well spent.

Disclaimer: Chris in South Korea received a complimentary review copy of ‘The Ultimate Tech Guide for Travelers’, and there are affiliate links in this post.

Ratings (out of 5 taeguks): How do I rate destinations?

This post was originally published on my blog,Chris in South Korea. If you are reading this on another website and there is no linkback or credit given, you are reading an UNAUTHORIZED FEED.

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Vacation Tips

I meant to throw up another post in addition to this one, but I’ve been far too busy this week finishing up English camp and and preparing to take off for vacation.

My school has allowed me to leave the plantation for a couple of weeks and I’ll be spending that time in Thailand. The cold in Busan has been annoying as of late so the beach and sun will be a welcomed (and much needed) change-up.

I’m normally horrible at preparing for trips. When coming to Korea, I barely made it out of the country on time on account that on the day of my departure, I was still bringing clothes and other crap from my apartment to stash in my mother’s basement. I didn’t call my bank to notify them that I was coming to Korea until I was about to board the plane. I still have yet to suspend my cell phone account. It’s that bad.

Getting prepared for Thailand has been somewhat different though. To my own surprise, I’ve been able to take care of all the loose ends in fairly organized fashion, and since I’m proud of myself for doing so, I thought I’d share a few tips on vacation preparation for those planning on jumping ship for vacation. Keep in mind these are all things I almost never do, so I’m probably the wrong person to be lecturing on the subject. Nonetheless, it’s my blog and I need to write about something before I go on my two-week hiatus.

#1 Sure Up the Money Source
This may seem like a no brainer, but I’ve read several accounts of people taking off from the peninsula and having absolutely no access to their money once they’ve reached their destination. If you’re bringing along your Korean bank card, make sure your shit will work in OUTSIDE of Korea. Many bank cards are completely useless once yo leave the peninsula, but several banks offer global cards that at the very least will allow you to withdraw money from the ATM in another country (usually you won’t be able to make purchases with it). I bank with KEB and had my co-teacher call them several times yesterday to make sure my card would work in Thailand. After reading a few threads on Waygook.org and Koreabridge.com, I was convinced I had nothing to worry about. Still, I wanted to double check. Turns out the card I had wasn’t going to work, and with only a half an hour till the bank closed, I had to run back home, grab my passport, and get to the bank to exchange my normal card for a global card. I made it there just as they were about to close the front gates. Payday is coming up and I would have been shit out of luck had I not double checked. Of course you could avoid this whole dilemma by transferring money to your account from back home, but if payday will occur after you depart for vacation and you have no way to set up a scheduled transfer, you might still be screwed.

#2 Clean Out the Refrigerator
Trust me, you do not want to come back to an apartment that smells like old man farts. Look in your fridge and take out anything that could (or as in my case, already has) gone bad. There is no point in holding on to those few extra oranges that will only be rotten by the time you make it back. If you really want them, take them with and eat them on the plane.

Don’t want to waste food that you’ve spent your hard earned money on?

Start eating that shit early in the week before you leave so you won’t have to toss anything out. This tip may be mute for some, because obviously not everyone cooks (a good idea considering how it’s often cheaper to eat out), but if you normally keep your fridge stocked, make sure you empty it before leaving, along with the trash.

#3 Wash the Clothes
No point in having to go commando for a day due to a shortage of clean undies. Do yourself a favor and throw in a couple loads of laundry before heading off. Now for some of you, this might not be an option. You may not even have clean clothes to bring WITH you on vacation, but if you’ve already picked out your vacation wardrobe, take some time to wash up the clothes you are leaving behind. If nothing else it will make your apartment look cleaner and should you fail to clean the out the fridge the smell won’t be compounded by stinky laundry–not that your dirty laundry stinks in the first place.

Yes I know all of this is common sense and probably does not need to be mentioned, but I have suffered from not doing one or all of the tips mentioned above so it comes from the heart.

I could go on and on with other tips (originally, I wanted to do a list of at least five), but I have a flight to catch and I still need to swing by Family Mart to pick up some plane snacks.

I doubt I’ll be posting while on vacation so this might be the last you hear from me for a couple of weeks, but then again you never know. I might decide to pop in to let you know I’m still alive and haven’t been arrested.

Ciao,

Kimchi Dreadlocks

As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.
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Henry David Thoreau

{Things of focus lately}

1. friendships

the people in my life that inspire, humor, love, and motivate me are crucial to my being. i do my very best in expressing to them daily that they hold that importance to me. but lately i have found it to be quite disheartening how others don’t reciprocate. i had such an incredible group of girls in tennessee that i really fear may never be matched. one that i could always count on taking me out for an adventure, and strong drink. she was capable of always making me laugh. another one that would give me the more motherly approach but always met my needs with creative inspiration and advice. another that was the same sort of emotional person i was, she looked on the deeper side of things, and not only did we have the same taste in a lot of things, but we were able to save one another by lessons we had both already learned. i try not to focus on it. missing them. really wanting that face to face coffee conversation. but i noticed when i am around my friends here, it just isn’t quite the same. they aren’t seeing that part of me that i must have left in tennessee.

2. who i am today

i changed at some point into a much stronger and wiser version of my previous self. i found stillness and a way to cultivate quietness in my mind. i feel that i can always find something good out of even the worse situations. but i still need to work on a lot of things, really truly forgiving people, and moving forward with that. trying not to understand others actions but just love them regardless. not letting the small things that people say bother me. that is something that must be a vice of mine. i don’t hold on to it for very long, but i am a bit sensitive.

what i want to say with all of this, is that it really does a great heap of good to reflect on these things. to write them down. talk about them. and try to work on them. there seems to be no point in mindless actions and words. if you feel things {like i do, in a very strong way} then let that be a positive aura that you create and can share with others.

Pictures from the Orange County Buffet in Dongnae. I often feel...

Pictures from the Orange County Buffet in Dongnae. I often feel cheated eating at buffets in Korea, because they lack two essential items: (1) unlimited free soda and (2) ice cream for dessert. Who cares if you can cook unlimited amounts of beef at your table if you can’t refill your soda five times at the fountain? Also, who wants to eat toast for dessert?

Sheesh, Korea, you do me wrong.

But, yet, I can’t quit you.

Koreabridge