Chuseok

I want to start off this post by saying that, "We are all prostitutes". At least that's what this guy's shirt said on the back. I saw him after getting off the bus in Busan.

I was in Busan visiting my Korean friend Jeong-Ah. This past Sunday was Chuseok. The Koreans say it's like Thanksgiving. Everyone gets a few days off from work to travel back to their hometowns and visit their families. Like Thanksgiving, the roads get clogged with vehicles, and people fill themselves up with delicious home cooked meals. We got to meet Jeong-Ah's mother and her grand mother. Her mom prepared lunch for us. First, she gave us some goodies to munch on before our meal. The thing on the left was sweet treat that reminded me of sweets my mom makes. It was very sugary and a little mushy. I think it was made of flour, they probably fry it and soak it in sugary syrup. I'm still not sure about the thing on the right. All I remember was that it was quite crunchy and looked cool.

After chatting for a good bit, Jeong-Ah and her brother pulled out their table which was covered with food. We took our seats on the floor and started to dig in. We ate galbi, some sort of soup, octopus, and other different types of seafood. The food was really satisfying for the stomach. I'm really glad Jeong-Ah invited me over. It was a good opportunity for me to take a look at a real Korean home. They had a flat on the 15th floor of this high rise building, which seems to cover a lot of the Korean landscape. The inside was spacious. All the other homes I've seen are one room apartments that my friends live in. Anyways, after finishing an awesome authentic Chuseok meal Jeong-Ah gave us a few options to decide what we'd do next. We ended up picking going to Yong-Kung Temple.

The temple is by another beach in Busan. One that isn't covered with umbrellas and is a little less crowded. We passed a few things on our way to the actual temple. The road leading up to it is lined by street vendors.
One thing I saw a lot of were stalls with vendors selling bundaegi. Bundaegi is silk worm larva. It's a popular snack here. But, something I still can't and won't stomach.

Before we got to the actual temple area, we saw animal sculptures lined along a pathway. There were 12 animals in total. Each animal represents a particular year in the lunar calendar. Rumor has it that I'm the tiger.
People offer up coins to the animal for good luck.This is a pagoda where people pray and give offerings to help prevent automobile collisions from happening. I hope it works because driving gets a little crazy on the roads here.

As for the temple itself. It sat by the water. I wont say much about it because I think the pictures can do all the explaining of how beautiful it was.
Here's a plump shiny happy golden Budhha. He was sitting at the top of the mountain.Here's a collection of miniature monks that visitors leave behind for the temple. My personal favorite is the one that is front and center showing off his tush.
And finally, I'll leave you with my favorite picture of the entire batch. It's another image of Budhha just chilling out by the sea.