Kongji, Kkudeok, and I met early in the morning at Gimpo Airport and boarded a flight to Busan. Due to the recent Jeju Air accident, everyone's families were understandably worried. When we arrived, Sajangnim and Shinken were there to greet us at the airport. We headed straight to an area called Songdo in the morning and had Busan-style gukbap (rice soup). The broth was clear with plenty of meat -- it was delicious. The funny thing was, on the way there, Sajangnim called to ask where to park, and they said "just park it there." They had been monitoring us in real time. After that, we rode a cable car with a see-through glass floor and visited Yonggung Bridge, taking lots of photos. We could see the Busan scenery here and there, and the winding roads were quite striking. According to Shinken, they were built that way because the area was developed during the war.
When we moved to the G9 table tennis hall, we wore the 11K team shirts that Shinken had custom-made and brought from Japan. The design and quality were excellent. The members of the 051 club there were great people and skilled players. In the first match, I played Shinken and lost 3-2. My body wasn't cooperating, and it was obvious I hadn't been holding a paddle in a while. Especially for the first three games or so, I was still finding my grip. Sajangnim had short serves and powerful smashes -- very formidable. After I switched to the grip where I raise my thumb, I beat the other players. But I couldn't win a single game against Sajangnim. Kongji and Kkudeok played against two women who were backseat coaching, and they were initially very stressed out, but thankfully Shinken mediated the situation. Then they got their revenge by winning in an actual match. Hahaha.
The high-end tuna dishes, snow crab ramen, and the local hidden-gem jajangmyeon and tangsuyuk -- all the food was fantastic. I was so grateful that Sajangnim booked us a comfortable and cozy accommodation. There was almost a bit of trouble, though -- when Sajangnim dropped us off in front of the lodging by car and we were unloading our luggage, my suitcase bumped against Sajangnim's new Tesla and left a mark. Sajangnim said it was fine, but I felt really bad about it. The tuna restaurant called Girajeong that we went to together was truly a work of art. Every cut of the staff's recommended tuna was delicious, and the seafood ramen that came out at the end had a snow crab packed with meat, making it incredibly refreshing.
Playing the Liar Game together was also really special. I brought the Vision Pro, but since only one person could use it at a time and it wasn't that great, I suggested we play the Liar Game instead. The prompt word was "pudding," and Sajangnim wiggled his body to act it out -- it was so adorable. That image is still vivid in my mind, hahaha. The highlight was when Kongji, who was the liar, quickly figured out the word "peppermint candy" and threw everyone else into confusion.
The next day, we went to Panaka, a cafe with Sajangnim's soul poured into it. We parked at Panaka and had jajangmyeon and tangsuyuk at a nearby Chinese restaurant called Baekgaekdo -- it was absolutely delicious. The interior wasn't exactly fancy, but the jajangmyeon had that wok-fired smoky flavor, and the tangsuyuk was so tender.
At the cafe, we played a card game that Sajangnim gave us, tried the Rubik's cube that Shinken brought, and heard stories about Sajangnim's father. He mentioned that with the exchange rate being so high and coffee production at origin dropping significantly, prices had nearly doubled. It's a really tough situation, and I pray he navigates through it well. I was also surprised by how huge the cafe was -- apparently 200 pyeong (about 660 square meters). He served us coffee wine he had made himself, and we had a lot of deep conversations.
On the way back, we climbed a nearby mountain to take in the panoramic view of Busan, and with Shinken driving, we stopped briefly at an egg tart shop called "Eggmeonina" before heading to the airport. Shinken had originally planned to go play table tennis in the evening but gave it up to take us to the airport. He's actually a pretty good driver. We made it back to the airport safely, wrapped up dinner with pho, and got home safely.
Since we felt we had been treated to so much, Kongji and Sajangnim were excluded from the shared costs, and since Shinken had provided the car and ordered the team shirts, Kkudeok and I split the rest between us!!
It was such a fun and happy trip.