Duck Boating in Jinju (진주)

Along the river running through Jinju, you can do duck paddling or turtle paddling. The rental place is right outside the JinJuSeong Fortress. The duck boats are for 2 people and the turtle boats (they look like yellow dragons) are for 4 people. Since there were 3 of us, we went on the turtle boat. It is 5,000 won total for 30 minutes (it's not strict). We were able to paddle from one bridge to the other. You have to maneuver your boat with the handle bar in the center. It is simple to figure out. I forget which is which, but when the bar is pushed all the way forward or all the way backward, it will go either left or right. When it is in the center, it is still and should go straight.

In the middle of the river there is a model of a women and a man on a boat:

Here is the pricing sign:

For a row boat, 2 people, 30 minutes, 4,500 won.
For a turtle boat, 4 people, 30 minutes, 5,000 won.
For a duck boat, 2 people, 30 minutes, 5,000 won.

You are required to wear a life jacket, which they provide included in the fee.

Masan's 3 Movie Theaters

LOCATIONS:::

1. Lotte Cinema
4th floor, Gyeongsangnam-do Masan-si HaeUn-dong 68 Beon-ji Pokseujon Building
Phone number: 1544-8855

롯데시네마 마산관

4층 경남 마산시 해운동 68번지 폭스존 빌딩 내 - 1544-8855

2. Cinus Cinema
7th floor, Cinus Building
Gyeongsangnam-do Masan-si Wolnam-dong 5

씨너스 마산

경상남도 마산시 월남동5가

3. CGV Cinema
7th floor
Gyeongsangnam-do Masan-si Huiwon-gu Hapseong-dong 126-4 Bobos jon
Phone number: 1544-1122

CGV-마산

7층 경남 마산시 회원구 합성동 126-4 보보스존 - 1544-1122

Lotte Cinema and Cinus Cinema are located in South Masan (남마산) where Nambu Bus Terminal (남부버스터미널) is located. CGV Cinema is located in the northern part of Masan, about a 20 minute taxi ride from Nambu Bus Terminal. The taxi ride will cost about 6,600 won.

Lotte Cinema and Cinus Cinema are within walking distance of Nambu Bus Terminal. When you exit the main entrance of the bus terminal, take a right, passing Roti Roti Buns Cafe on your right. At the main intersection (McDonald's is on the corner), you will see Cinus Cinema across the street on your left where Paris Baguette is. To get to Lotte Cinema, at the McDonald's, take a right and just keep walking straight about 5 or 6 blocks and you will see Lotte Cinema. Here is a link to Google maps: http://www.google.co.kr/movies?hl=ko&near=masan&ei=gWLNS7GPG4re7AOVwfyoDQ&view=map

Cinus Cinema:

SHOWTIMES:::

To get showtimes, I typed in Masan Movie Theaters into Google.co.kr:
http://www.google.co.kr/movies?hl=ko&near=masan&ei=gWLNS7GPG4re7AOVwfyoDQ&view=list&date=0
In my opinion, it is easier to use Google.co.kr than finding the cinema's website and trying to figure out all the Korean to find showtimes. But you may have more luck; here are the movie theater's websites:
Lotte: http://www.lottecinema.co.kr/LHS/LHFS/Global/Main/Index.aspx
Cinus: http://www.cinus.co.kr/front/default.aspx
CGV: http://www.cgv.co.kr/

COSTS:::

Movie tickets in Korea cost about 8,000 won for an adult. 13,000 won for 3-D movies.

Bus Fare to and from Masan
Goseong	4,200
Tongyeong	6,100
Busan	4,100
Jinju	6,300

Shopping in Jinju

Jinju (진주) is a 1 hour bus ride from the Goseong (고성읍) Express Bus Terminal.

Here are the bus schedules:

고성 --> 진주	진주 --> 고성
6:20	6:00	9:39	12:15	14:51	17:15	20:15
6:55	6:30	9:51	13:03	15:15	17:40	20:55
~	6:45	10:03	13:28	15:27	18:15
every 15-20 minutes	7:32	10:30	13:51	16:00	18:27
~	7:52	11:03	14:15	16:15	18:42
20:50	9:03	11:27	14:29	16:27	19:10
21:25	9:15	11:51	14:39	16:51	19:50

The bus from Goseong doesn't go to the main Jinju terminal. It goes to 시외버스터미널 and you can only get back to Goseong from this terminal. This terminal also serves Tongyeong (통영) and Geoje (거제). If you need the schedules for those cities, let me know and I can post them. This is the Jinju terminal you will arrive at:

To get to the underground shopping, walk to the right of the bus station. If you pass a Paris Baguette on your left, then you are heading in the right direction. You will need to walk to the next major intersection.

There are many cell phone shops and wig shops (though they don't have red colored wigs! only natural colors and purple and blue.) along this road. When you get to the other main intersection, you will need to cross the street to your right and at the corner you will see stairs leading underground. These stairs lead you to the beginning of the underground shopping.

The underground shopping, in my opinion, is more expensive than the shopping above ground. Their prices are around 50,000~100,000+ won. But if that doesn't bother you, there are some really nice shops for cocktail dresses, clubbing wear, baby clothes, socks/stockings, bags, jewelry, beauty products, and lingerie. This is what the underground shopping looks like:

The underground shopping doesn't extend for very long, but once you reach the end, take the stairs up and you will be where the "downtown shopping" area of Jinju is. The above ground shopping has great shoe shops like Puma, Nike, Converse, ABC mart, Les More. The shopping area isn't very big, though, so if you go looking for something in particular, you might not find it. They do have many cheap places for clothes and accessories. They also have western places like Baskin Robbins and Pizza Hut.

Across the main street from the shopping area (the main street is the street you came up the stairs to) is the traditional market area where you can find many household products and do grocery shopping. There are also many umbrella shops and cheap shoe shops there if you need to buy any.

Typing in Hangul

A great website to practice. 자리연습 lets you practice the characters one by one so you can get familiar with the placement. 단어연습 lets you practice combinations.

http://www.yamtaja.com/typing/hangultyping.html

Jinhae Cherry Blossom Festival 2010

2010 Cherry Blossom Festival runs from April 1- April 11

A great informational website on the Cherry Blossom Festival:

http://discoveringkorea.com/2009/03/24/jinhaes-cherry-blossoms/
This was the only website I could find about transportation from the southern part of Korea.

You can take an express bus from Goseong-eup to Changwon and go to the train station to catch a train to Jinhae. The Cherry Blossom Festival is located 2-3 minutes walking from their train station.

You can also do what I did and take an express bus from Goseong-eup to Masan Nambu Bus Terminal ( 남부버스터미널). In Goseong-eup, Masan is labeled South Masan (남마산). That just means that the express bus is taking you to the Nambu Bus Terminal, near Kyungnam University. You will then need to walk about 2 blocks to the local bus stop where there are frequent buses to Jinhae (진해). With your back to the main entrance of Nambu bus terminal, you will need to walk straight. There is a GS store on your right and you will pass a MAXRIDER on your right as well. You will need to walk until you reach the next main street and the bus stop will be on your left. It is a big bus stop with many people waiting there. You can't miss it. Bus numbers 160, 161, 163, and 164 will take you straight to Jinhae. They run pretty frequently, we didn't have to wait at all. It is about a 30 minute bus ride.

If you plan on staying overnight in Masan, there are a ton of motels surrounding Nambu Bus Terminal. The prices range from 25,000-45,000 per room for the night.

When you reach Jinhae, you will see a TON of cherry blossoms lining all the streets. The first stop will be high up near a bunch of parks. You will see picnic benches and such. It is possible to get off there, and it is quite beautiful to walk around. Or you can get off at the next stop. After the bus stops or passes by the park area, press the stop button on the local bus. The next stop will be where the most popular place is to go see the Cherry blossoms. This is the street where the bus will stop:

Once you exit the bus (with the bus behind you), you will need to take a left and walk to the next intersection and take a right down the street. Walk straight ahead and you will be in the right area. There will be a ton of people everywhere.

This is another great website where you can get phone numbers and other information about the festival:

http://english.gntour.com/03Event/01.jsp
They also have information about the other festivals in Korea.

And another good website about other festivals in Korea:
http://english.visitkorea.or.kr/enu/SI/SI_EN_3_2_2.jsp

Ancestor Day

A year after a person dies, it is Korean culture to make a big feast in offering to the ancestor. The whole family is present to pay their respects. I was invited to attend such a gathering.

The grandmother's name is placed inside a wooden plaque and one candle lit on each side. Then the food is placed on the table.

Red colored foods are placed away from the grandmother because superstitiously red is a bad color. Incense is lit and must be burning the whole time. The grandmother starts to eat first.

When she is finished with her main meal, every family does a toast with her. In this case, the eldest son and his family was first. The eldest son would pour her a glass of soju, wave it over the incense 2 or 3 times and then place it next to her plaque. Next he would step back and with his family, all would bow all the way down (on their knees, head on the floor). They would bow twice and then the next family would go.

After everyone has paid their respects, the food is taken and divided among us. It is now our time to eat! Usually the food is placed around 11pm. Then around 11:30 is when the bowing begins. We didn't finish until a little after midnight. I was told they began this ceremony so late because when the night is the darkest the spirits come out.

A GREAT Sunday!

So this Sunday the weather was cloudy, cold and gloomy, but even that couldn't stop the day from becoming one of the best since I've been in Korea. I woke up at 9:15AM still tired from the night before (I never feel like I get enough sleep). Sunday was the day I scheduled to take a trip with this really nice Korean family. The mother takes me to JangGu (Korean traditional drum) class. I wait along side the road and the family shows up, but without the mother . They originally were going to take me to TongYeong and GeoJe, but I had already been to GeoJe so we went to the Busan Aquarium instead.

In Tongyeong, we went to this place where you can take a cable car up to the top of a mountain and look at the view. The cable car ride was really great. I have a fear of heights but it was ok. When we got to the top, the view wasn't as good because it was so cloudy, but it was still really nice to see. There were so many steps to the top after we got off the cable car though. It reminded me how much i needed to work out.

Then afterwards, there was a choice whether to go to an amusement park, or the aquarium. I chose the aquarium because it was such a cloudy day. Cloudy days are best spent inside. The drive was going to be 3 hours but luckily we stopped somewhere for lunch on the way. The place we stopped by was so great! When I ride the to visit Busan on the weekends I always see this area where there are pots on the roofs. It was so great to actually be able to stop and experience this area for once! We ate such delicious food!! There was a plate of beef, rice, soup, more soup, and all these delicious dishes. I ate so much!!! And they had my favorite Korean dessert, ShiKe.

Off to Busan we went! I fell asleep most of the way.

At the Aquarium, this is the first tank of piranhas.