Our trip started in Busan at the Busan Train Station. It was a beautiful Saturday morning. However, by the time we got to Gumi it was raining and it would continue to rain much of the weekend. [If you read last week's post you can see my pictures of the rain storms we survived.] Nonetheless, although we got damp our spirits didn't and we had a great time exploring and re-living some of our funny and more memorable experiences from 2003.
It took about one hour and forty-five minutes to reach Gumi.
We got off at the Gumi train station. It had been almost two years ago since I had last been here and yet the NEW Gumi Train Station is still not completed. Not only that, but I was shocked to see that basically NO PROGRESS had been made. In Korea buildings normally go up very quickly. You can walk by a construction site everyday and still see the progress. So, I can't imagine what is taking so long here at the Gumi train station.
From a distance you can see the basic structure of the new train station and it looks like it will be amazing IF and WHEN they ever complete it.
Directly outside the Gumi train station is Dunkin' Donuts. It was one of my favorite hangouts when I lived here and it has one of the nicest restrooms in Gumi. It has a bidet toilet with a heated seat. I went back to see if everything was still the same and sure enough it was exactly as I remembered it.
Gumi is said to be the "Silicon Valley" of South Korea since it is where Samsung and LG Companies are located and where many young executives start their business careers. There are so many factories in Gumi and as a result there are a lot of English Teachers here since for young executives to be promotable they must made a certain mark on their TOEIC [English Language Tests]. I guess they changed the Gumi slogan slightly and now it is called "Electron Valley". I saw this painted on a light post and couldn't resist snapping the picture.
After leaving the center of downtown my friend "Ray" and I were hungry so we set off to see if my favorite Chinese restaurant was still is Gumi. As you can see from my photo it was. It is located toward the painted bridge of Dong-A Department Store. It's on the 4th floor of a large building with a bowling pin outside [to show that there is a bowling alley in the top of the building]. I discovered the restaurant by accident one time after spending a rainy Saturday at the bowling alley. It's a place not many foreigners seem to know in Gumi. What a shame, as, it's beautifully decorated, the food is fabulous and the service is quite lovely. Unfortunately, I can't tell you the name since it was written in Chinese characters and not either English or Korean. However, the menu is printed in both Korean and English so if you ever find yourself if Gumi don't be afraid to check it out.
We decided to get some exercise and try and walk off our lunch while doing some more site seeing. We walked by the Gumi Bus Terminal and it hasn't changed a bit.
Then it was off to E-Mart. When I lived in Gumi there was only E-Mart. Since then Home Plus and Lotte Mart have been built and now there is a choice of supermarkets/department stores that carry some of the "Western" products we ESL teachers crave.
E-Mart has these neat buggies for the kids to ride in with a basket above to hold their parents' products. It's a brilliant idea and seems to help keep the kids happy and let their parents shop in relative peace.
At the risk of seeming obsessed with bathrooms I have to add this picture. E-Mart has always had wonderfully clean bathrooms with "Western" style toilets, toilet tissue, and sinks with liquid soap and paper towels. I know it might not sound like a big deal to other people but after using stinky public squat toilets, carrying my own tissue, and drying [my rinsed in cold water without the benefit of soap] hands on my jeans I don't take nice restrooms for granted. Moreover, the E-Mart toilet seats have pressed flowers incased in the clear molded plastic seats making them easily the prettiest toilets I have even seen in Korea.
Maybe now that there are two other department stores in Gumi E-Mart is feeling the competition. I say that because while we were there we saw them doing this promotion giving away free gold fish to the children. I hope it works for them since I think it's a neat idea and I really like E-Mart.
We walked by Pizza Mall a really nice pizza and spaghetti restaurant in downtown Gumi. I always loved this place. Unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to eat there but it looks the same as ever and it used to be awesome.
Then we went off to Wa-Bar. I used to hang out at Wa-Bar a lot when I lived in Gumi. However, I have to say this visit didn't impress me at all! Firstly, the menu was printed only in Korean. This kind of shocked me [I hadn't remembered that] and Wa-Bar sort of markets itself as a "foreigner" bar carrying beer and liquor from all over the world. I got a Molson Canadian beer and sat back to relax and enjoy. Soon we were served free corn chips and "salsa". I took a big bite only to discover it wasn't salsa at all but sweet spring roll sauce. I thought it was funny so took a picture of it. As "Ray" would say, "Welcome to the land of not quite right".
Next in our Wa-Bar adventure "Ray" decided to order a rum and coke. However, our waitress couldn't see to understand despite our even trying to order {or maybe I should say clarify his order} in Korean. What is even more puzzling is that rum is "rum" in Korean just said in a slightly different accent. After the manager was called over "Ray" finally got a drink that looked like rum and coke but alas it was pure rum. This is him after tasting the drink and discovering it only had enough coke in it to color it. Oh, well, I guess you can't say they are stingy with their booze.
Wa-Bar has a long, long way to go if it wants to compete with the other "foreigner" bars in Gumi. Not somewhere I will ever feel the need to re-visit at least not unless I feel the need for a really, really stiff drink. LOL!
After Wa-Bar it was off to S-Bar one of my favorite places to dance in Gumi. I found it no problem but it was closed.
I thought it was odd that is was closed on a Saturday night and then I saw this sign that says 임대 [Im dae] which means "for rent" in Korean. I guess S-Bar has gone out of business. That's too bad it used to be a great bar.
Next stop was Club Psycho or as we call it "Psycho". This is the sign.
Walking up the stairs to the 3rd floor is the sign painted on Psycho's signature black walls.
Inside is the bar with all the different kinds of liquor and the small poster of the "hear no evil, see no evil, and speak no evil" aliens.
Even the menu is the same. I love it. It's done on an old vinyl record. I thought it was a neat idea when I first saw it and I still like it today.
One thing has changed. The two Daves [the former owners] are both gone. I miss those guys. At least one of the Dave's had a real gift for remembering people's names. He'd meet you once and after that he'd always greet you by name. It was a nice touch and it always made me feel my business was appreciated.
At least the bar is exactly the same, the service was good and the drinks were spot on.
Even the inflatable doll is still there hanging over the bar.
***
The next day after coffee and lunch we made our way to Daegu. We took the train to the Daegu train station and then caught a cab to the final destination of our weekend COSTCO.
This is the only photo I took inside Costco. Costco was over-whelming for me. I even found Jelly Bellies and Rice Krispies Treats, yum, yum. Don't even let me start telling you about the cheese .... Despite my best intentions, I got so excited by all the foreign goodies I was too busy shopping to document that part of my trip.
Oh well, I guess I'll just have to make other trip back there so that I can document the wonders of Costco for you - my loyal blog readers. [Okay, I know you're not buying it ... but that's my story and I'm sticking to it.]
Always a nice read...thank you for sharing...
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