2 days 1 night trip at Gyeongju

July 23 and 24, Saturday and Sunday – Today, we departed to Gyeongju, a state which is located at the North of Busan. We departed at around 9am from the subway station to Busan Bus Terminal, which is located at Nopo Dong. It was actually Ryan’s lab’s training camp. We just joined them. Training camp doesn’t mean that they will be undergoing physical training or training related to computers, it was just an outing with all the lab members. We arrived at around 10am and waited for Ryan’s other labmates there.

At around 10.35am, all of them had arrived. There were a total of 12 people – 9 guys and 3 girls. We bought the tickets for the 10.50am bus to Gyeongju and it cost 4,000 won each. We had a small photo session before departing. I only happened to know 3 of Ryan’s labmates - Jong In, Dong Kyun and Joon Dal. The bus was a slightly different from the express bus that we normally took in Malaysia. There were belts for each seat. The way there took around 1.5 hour. Along the way, there was much breath-taking green scenery. I like the many layers of green paddy fields, white color birds in the paddy fields and ponds.

Gyeongju was the capital of the Shilla Kingdom for over 1,000 years. Thousands of historic buildings and objects have been maintained well throughout the city. As we arrived, we were able to see buildings with the traditional roofs. Gyeongju was the third biggest city in Korea. However, it was more to countryside, with more green scenery and very few concrete buildings. I had always thought of Korea being a country with only concrete buildings and advance technology. Well, I guess there is still nature here.

As we arrived at the bus station, a lady from the pension that we were going to stay fetched us there while some of Ryan’s labmates went off to buy food and drinks first. What is a pension? Pension is a regular payment to a person that is intended to allow them to subsist without working after they retired. However, pension here is something like a resort. Our pension was located inside a small village, just beside the paddy field, it was really wonderful. The pension was not a wooden house, but a concrete one. There were many pensions around the area as well. According to Jong In oppa, pension was the cheapest accommodation. The most expensive one is hotel, followed by motel and then mimbak. We were staying the area called HungHwa Condominium. The place that we were staying was a huge room with everything inside. It was quite decent, with a cupboard of mattresses and pillows, fridge, mini kitchen with stove and basin, a big mirror, television, air-conditioned and a toilet just beside it. It was rather different from what I imagined.

At around 1pm, the rest of them arrived with 2 boxes of food, beer, soju and soft drinks. The amount of drinks was actually more than food. The guys began cooking and arranging tables. Everyone was very cooperative. We had ramen, rice, kimchi and some seasoning food. It was very funny looking at how they ate with only ramen and rice. Some of them even mixed them together. I had tried that out as well, having rice after I finished the ramen and with some soup left. It tasted quite okay.

After lunch, we visited Gyeongju National Museum. The place was quite near to the bus terminal. The admission fee was 200 won. Dong Kyun sponsored us for this. The museum was very huge and nice. Too bad we were not allowed to take photos inside. Yet, I had secretly taken some and was spotted and being warned by the officer there. There were many clay figurines and potteries, with patterns in the shape of animals and humans. The ancient Silla also believed in Zodiacs and tombs of kings, queens and generals had those kinds of drawings on it. The design was rather different for each. The earrings and necklace were made of gold and it was very big. It must very uncomfortable when wearing them. Some of them were made of jade and the designs looked a lot like beans. There were many displays of Buddha statues as well as the kingdom of Silla was much affected by China. According to them, Silla conquered and united Korea with the help of China. Their main religion was Buddhism. We were able to notice many similarities they had for the design of their roof and some goods with China’s.

Our next destination was Anapji Pond. On our way there, we passed by a small place full of Lavenda. It was purple in color and really beautiful.

After that, we visited Anapji Pond. It was designed in such a way that the buildings were higher so that it was liked islands floating on the pond. It was very much like the palace in ancient China, where the noble sat beside the pond and reading poems. Only a small portion of the original place remained as most of them were burned down during the war. The admission fee for this place was rather expensive, 1,000 won. Ryan’s labmates sponsored us again for this. We spent of the time playing games inside rather than admiring the view. This game brought back a lot of my old memories during primary school. I am sure that most of us know about it. There are 3 keepers and will be chasing the rest of them. Before they are being caught, they must say “freeze” and stand still. If they are being caught, then they are out of the game. Those who are not freeze and are not keepers can run around unfreeze the others. One of them even bought us a small gift before leaving. We went back by bus number 10.

Everyone was taking turns to bath as there was only one bathroom/toilet. We had Samgeoksa(grilled pork) for dinner and the guys were doing a good job preparing the meal. Maybe this is the result of army training. It was funny looking at how Jong In and Dong Kyun oppa was eating while they were cooking. They must be very hungry. The dinner was very full as there were tones of supply for pork. There was an ice-breaking session as well. Most of Ryan’s labmates are actually engineering students.

After the meal, we played some games and those who lose need to drink soju. Jong In oppa was drunk very fast as he drank a lot before that. He even called himself a soju maniac. Sung Dong is very active, always in action. Dong Kyun is very shy, his face becomes red easily. He always gets the camera ready for photos. Joon Dal oppa was cold as usual. Jae Won oppa is always serious but actually a nice fellow. For the first time, I drank soju as I normally told them that I do not take alcohol drinks. After drinking 2 small glass of soju, my face became really red, but I was not drunk. They begun to worry about me and let me leave the game.

The game ended at around 2-3am. We did some major clean up after that. Song Jung oppa was really drunk and begun talking a lot in English. It was very funny as he was very quiet person. Some of them were washing the dishes while some were chatting outside. Jae Won oppa was the first one to sleep even though he hardly drank any soju. The next one was Dong Kyun oppa. BJun and I slept soon after that.

We woke up very early in the morning, around 8am. We were watching some television programs together. It was a word guessing show. Giving a word, the Koreans must give the foreigner a hint on the word using English and she guesses them. It was funny looking at how the Koreans described them in English. Some of them even made sounds and did some actions. Then, they watched a show on people playing a game, which I think it was Star Craft.

At around 10.30am, we had breakfast/lunch. We had ramen, rice and kimchi again. Then, we departed to Bulguksa, our last destination by bus number 10. Originally built in 528, Bulguk-sa provides an excellent example of architecture from the Shilla Dynasty. Literally meaning "Buddha Land," it remained intact for more than 1,000 years before the Japanese destroyed it in 1593. Only a few of the buildings were rebuilt until the 1970s when it was completely reconstructed. It is designated Historic and Scenic Place #1. UNESCO recognized it as an international cultural property in 1995(from Life in Korea). The architecture of the buildings here were indeed splendid, especially the interior design.

At around 3pm, we departed back to Busan.