Walking and Hiking Tours of Busan

Bio:  Michael is a Canadian English professor, but traveller and trekker at heart.  He has been living and working in Asia since 1997, having called Pusan his home for six of those years.  When he is not binge watching television or eating out with Taiwanese wife, Carol, he is hiking in the beautiful mountains of Pusan or visiting one of the local markets. Walks with Michael The Jeonpo Cafe Street and Antique Market Walk by Michael Lesser On a typically crisp Pusan winter day in January, my friend and I took off walking from the Seomyeon subway station towards Hwamyeong San (Mountain), along Seo-Jeon Road.  (Please note that if you aren't interested in the scenic route, you can always get off at Jenpo Station or the Busan International Finance Centre Stations on the Green Line #2).  Along the way, you can find the urban pipe markets, shoe cobblers, as well as motor-boating engine stores.  Quite an eclectic group of stores and mark...

MAKASSAR, SULAWESI The airport here rocks man.  It's full on 21st century,.a big deal for anything / anywhere in Indonesia! We spent two nights here after a direct flight from Kupang.  Stayed at a crap hotel near the airport our first night, and then found a back backers to drop our stuff of at and nap until the night bus to Tana-Toraja.  Carol slept, so I checked out Fort Rotterdam, built by the Dutch. There are a lot of Chinese people in Makassar, so you see lots of those Malay / 'Spore style restaurants around town.  One dish that is famous in Makassar is beef inerd soup.  The broth is good, the soup cooked in cauldrons and the place was packing in the people!!  The place was right behind a Chinese temple.  The bus station had a very funny guy working as the toilet collection guy, asking me questions about have to work out.  Little kids kept running over to me to give me a high five and shake my hand.  Carol said: ...

PART 2.  KUPANG, WEST TIMOR We checked into a 6.50$ a night place with breaky included.  It wasn't the Ritz, but it suited out needs and saved us $.  Our mission on day 1 was to apply for an East Timorese Visa at the consulate.  Normally it takes 10 working days to apply for the visa online, so we thought we could get it quicker in person, and with 20$ passed to a man in an office, turns out you can get it in three days.  Later that day, Carol took a nap, so I went out for some exploring.  Turns out Kupang is Tainan 1998 on steroids.  In the words of Borat: "IT'S NICE!!".  All the Angkots (Indo Jeepenys) are full of paint jobs and music, unlike the boring ones in Jakarta.  I took one to the sea, where they had set up about 35 corn BBQ stalls (talk about killing the competition aspect??!!).  Then I walked back through an expensive night market where I found Lovona's Tourist Information Center and Bar.  There was a somewhat lethargic ...

PART 1. My dad's Canadian friend from childhood, Gary Ross, came to visit us from Australia, where he lives, in Jakarta one week before our one month vacation.  We checked him into the Grand Kemang Hotel and went to the bar to watch some World Cup matches and catch up.  The next day, I met him for the buffet breakfast at the hotel, and then we went to the dentist, so he could save major $.  I bowed out early, as I was dealing with food poisoning.  Over the next few days, we visited several malls, so he could buy clothes, billiards equipment, glasses, and electronics, plus, it was a chance to see where Jakartianese hang out, since there are no parks or other recreational places here.  We also visited FEZ bar and a Korean restaurant, where we socialized with Carol's co-workers.  Once day, we visited M.O.N.A.S., Jakarta's Monument, which was boring, and we also went to Jalan Jaksa the same day to sit in a terrace, play pool, and talk about Ottawa.  On the...