coffee, soju, chocolate, and shopping

that's right - STARBUCKS!!!! it was the first thing i did upon arrival in Busan on saturday - get some REAL coffee... since i had been craving it for so long... i'm not a huge fan of starbucks, but they do make filter coffee... it was exquisite.

we (kat & chris) also got some chocolate cheese cake... mmm... delicious... and so rare in these parts. i didn't buy any coffee from them cause it costs an arm and a leg, but more on that later...

after starbucks we decided to go shopping at Lotte. i've been perilously close to running out of my perfume - Burberry Brit - and knew if it existed in Korea that i could get some there.

it is luscious... i love it and need it. i got some for myself for christmas last year, so thought i'd do the same this year. it's actually cheaper here than in canada!!! but still really expensive... it was a treat for me. a much deserved and needed treat... it even came with body lotion! here's what their site has to say about it:

"THE BURBERRY BRIT WOMAN EMBODIES THE SPIRIT OF BURBERRY AND MODERN BRITISH STYLE. HER CHARACTER IS REFRESHINGLY UNPRETENTIOUS AND STYLISH WITHOUT EFFORT. SHE’S OUTRAGEOUS, UNPREDICTABLE, ECCENTRIC, WITTY AND ALWAYS WITH A DELICIOUS SENSE OF IRONY."

sounds like me, doesn't it?!?! haha.

kat managed to find some of her favourite lipgloss at the MAC counter... we wandered around the food section for a bit and saw some really neat stuff - shish taouk-like pita wraps, shepherd's pie, all kinds of other wraps, the usual korean fare and much more. i'd never been to a lotte before, so it was neat to see... and we only hit two floors of it - i think there are like 10. it's sort of like the Bay in Canada, but with a more Harrods (London, UK) feel to it.

then we were off to wait around for Angela - birthday girl - so we went to Kyobo book store. i was hoping to find some english magazines but they only had Time and Newsweek... and for 7$ each i couldn't be bothered... no vanity fair...that would have been worth any price. oh well.

a giant tomato-head we found while wandering around.
the magots bean - (i know it's magGots but still!!!)

the giant bottles of Soju that were running around all over the place. later one we saw like 12 of them in a row but we were on the third floor looking out so we couldn't get to them on time... still loads of fun!

oh! i almost forgot the best part! while wandering the streets of Seomyeon (the area of busan we were in) we found all these little stores hidden away - literally felt like the twilight zone - it was a big maze of stores that were selling all kinds of real north american brands - no korea/japanese/chinese knockoffs but REAL stuff... i can only assume that it comes from the US Army bases and that this was where they sell "black market" items.

what did they have? i know you're curious - lady speed stick, colgate, aquafresh (should've bought it), skippy peanut butter, M&M's, kraft singles, the list goes on... but the best part i found the ONE and ONLY bucket of FOLGERS COFFEE!!! the exact bucket that was in my freezer at home in Canada.
notice the FRENCH and english?!?! this is right from north america... thank god! of course it was three times the price it is in Canada, but oh-so worth it! it was so weird to see it just sitting there in this weird little alley in the middle of busan. so today, for the first time since arriving 101 days ago, i brought my enviro-mug to work with me - filled to the brim with piping hot coffee...

it was a very expensive day - one that i couldn't really afford, but sometimes, when you're so far away from all things familiar, you need those little things that help make it feel like home. slowly but surely...