Surprise in Ulsan

So I got the surprise of my life last week. I know that most of you knew about it, and I can't believe you were able to keep it a secret. For those of you who didn't know here is the story.

D asked me to go with him to pick up a co-worker from the airport who was coming in to check out Ulsan as he was going to be coming here to do some work. I wasn't all that interested in going but thought it would be nice to keep D company on the drive, he also insisted that I come. On the drive to the airport I was asking D a million questions about this co-worker coming in. Why was he coming? Are they really busy now? How long will he be here? What is he like? He isn't taking work away from you? What are his kids names? If you know me this is typical behaviour, I just want to know everything.

So at the airport while we waited for the plane to arrive we watched some Korean baseball and checked out all that Ulsan airport has to offer (it is nothing in case you were wondering). The plane finally arrives from Seoul and we line up with the other people waiting for people to get off the plane. The usual suspects come out of the arrival gate and then I see two young looking people who I think "oh great more english teachers". The one with the hood up looks a lot like Fiona but think to myself it is just my imagination. Then she takes off her hood and I notice that her boyfriend Taylor is filming me! IT IS FIONA!!! "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" I scream so that everyone in arrivals area is staring at me.

The next few minutes I am in total shock and can't believe my eyes! After lots of hugging and introductions (D has never met Taylor) we headed off to the car. We got home and had a few drinks because after traveling for 26 hours you need a couple gin and tonics. Fiona and Taylor came bearing gifts of magazine, candy and of course vodka in a glass skull (best hostess gift ever!) Both Fiona and Taylor were very tired understandably so they went off to bed but I couldn't sleep so I laid in bed trying to fall asleep but just couldn't!

The next day we woke up caught up, at some breakfast, cleaned up and were on our way. Since they were only going to be in Ulsan for a few days we had a lot of accomplish! We started by walking around where I live. We walked to the foreigners compound, then to Shiller (sp) road, Hyundai department store, Home Plus (grocery store) and Ilsan beach(y). After that we went for Shabu Shabu, a great Korean dish where you cook raw meat and veggies in boiling broth.

After lunch we headed to "new" downtown to look at the sights there. We walked around the Lotte and Hyundai department stores to check out the high end merchandise. Turns out most things are about twice as much as they are back home as we found out when we tried on some LV sunglasses. I also can't not mention the cab driver that took us back to the apartment. He spoke no english and we had such a hard time telling him where to take us that I had to call one of D's coworkers to tell the taxi driver where to go. After that it was Korean ballads at 20 decibles and some pretty fierce hand clapping and dancing in the cab (this was mostly done by the driver himself).

That night we went back downtown to take Fiona and Taylor out for a traditional Korean night out, which basically means eating and drinking a lot and ending the night with Karaoke. We started out at BBQ and were joined by two of Dennis' coworkers and a friend of theirs.
The night progressed when Sejin took us to a seafood restaurant, I know we just ate dinner but it was time for dinner #2. The first course was giant clams cooked on the hot plate at our table and then cooked with cheese, garlic, and jalepeno peppers. Then came the seafood platter...

After devouring all of that (Dennis ate the head) and many more bottles of Hite beer and soju we were off for some Karaoke!

I don't need to go into great detail here as I know you all know what happened at the karaoke bar: we all sang like angels and went home to bed at a reasonable hour...

The next day when we woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed...we all drove out to Busan together to do some more sightseeing. We went to Shinsigae for lunch and some shopping. Then we went to the fish market so that Fiona could hold an octopus.

Back in Ulsan we decided to stay close to home for dinner and went to a Japanese sashimi restaurant down the street from us. After dinner we played with the claw machine (vending machine where you use the claw to pick up toys), which is a total scam! There was a sweet Baretta gun in there and none of us could get it, not even after feeding the machine about $20! To calm our nerves we went and had some "bekju", I don't really know how to describe this drink better than it is a milky looking cold beverage that tastes sort of like the candy bottle caps (I know Fiona will disagree with me on that), that is served in a gold tea pot! After adding some Cilsing Cider the beverage is drinkable! For stop number three of the night we went to D and my favorite bar by us "The Polaroid Bar"! This tiny bar is covered in polaroids of each person that comes to the bar.

This picture is currently on display in the bar right now!

The next day we decided to do some real Korean sightseeing and not just looking at unaffordable handbags. We drove to Gyeongju to look at the grotto and Bulguksa temple. After getting our fill of sightseeing we headed back into town to make a very special dinner for a special lady.

I had totally forgot that it was Canadian Thanksgiving last weekend until Taylor and Fiona reminded me. So to celebrate that and Fiona's birthday we made "Mapley/ Bacony chicken with potato and mushroom gratin, as well as some zucchini and salad. Of course we had some champagne to celebrate Fiona's birthday.

Of course we had surprise cake too! We were trying to keep the cake a surprise but Fiona kept asking us to buy her a cake and we had to keep changing the subject so she would stop talking about it the whole weekend. She was very relieved to have a cake.

The next day Fiona and Taylor had to go to Busan to catch a plane to Jeju island. I was so sad to see them go because it was so nice having them here. Both D and I loved having a "normal" weekend with friends. We all had such a great time together and lucky for us it gets to continue this weekend as we are all meeting up in Seoul!!!

To be continued....