Thursday, October 24, 2019

my final fantasy

Here's what I'd like to do on Saturday when I arrive at the Nakdong River Estuary: I'd like to take a moment to bask in my victory, triumphantly swig some soda, then hobble back to the street, grab a cab, and go to the Gwangalli section of town both to get a motel (there are many low-end and high-end motels and hotels in that area) and to eat a whole fucking pizza at Slice of Life, the 'zza restaurant where I ate last time. Preferably something overflowing with pepperoni and sausage. The pizza in 2017 was damn good, as I recall; the chicken-wing appetizer was good but not particularly rib-sticking (gluttonous boor that I am, I prefer my appetizers to have some heft and substance, too). Now utterly stuffed with pizza and barely able to move, I'd like to head back to my motel, shower and hand-wash my clothes one final time so that I don't stink too much when I do lunch with a friend and his family the following day, then grab an express bus and head back to Seoul in time for a short respite before turning up at the office the following day.

I don't think it's going to work out like that, though, because Naver is saying the walk is 28.6 km. In my present agonized state, that's an 11-hour walk. Even if I leave my current motel very early (e.g., at 5 a.m.), I'm still going to arrive at the endpoint around midafternoon at the earliest. What I might do instead is cab over to Busan Station, get the same yeogwan I got in 2017 (the strangely named Busnaninn), then shop around the neighborhood for some Busan-y trinkets to give to my coworkers upon my return. (I'm thinking that trinket shops might congregate around train stations. Non?) Does Busan have any Busan-specific brands or types of tea and coffee? At least two of my coworkers are coffee addicts. I'm not sure about the rest. Local candy...?

So I don't think my final fantasy for this walk will come to pass. Even if I did manage to show up early enough to secure a motel room and get to the resto before the Saturday crowd floods in and swamps me, I can't guarantee that I or my stomach will be in any condition to actually scarf down an entire pizza. Not to worry, though: I envision many pizzas in my future.

ADDENDUM: a little internet research turns up the fact that Slice of Life works in conjunction with Sol Taphouse (솔탭하우스), which is the actual venue where the pizza is sold.



2 comments:

  1. Enjoy that well-deserved pizza. Some good Russian and Filipino food near the train station, if memory serves. Lots of trinkets.

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  2. Yeah, I might leave extra-early and try for that pizza, after all. If I wake up at 4 a.m. and leave by 5, I can get my motel and be down the street at the pizza place by 5 p.m., just before the dinner rush.

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