We were going to go rock climbing on Sunday, but the weather turned to drizzle in mid morning and we decided to take a drive out to the coast. We ended up in Ganjeolgot, a rocky outcropping that is the eastern most point on the Korean peninsula. It is known locally as the place where the rising sun is first visible in Korea and is quite popular for sunrise pictures and So-ju drinking during the Lunar New Year festival. We obviously didn’t get up there early enough for a sunrise picture. I’m more of a sunset kind of guy anyway. We got there in mid-day, but a cloudy day makes for nice photos since there aren’t heavy shadows to deal with.

MyeongHee puts on her best smile.

The point, with its oversized postal box. The East Sea is filled with freighters going to and from Ulsan, which is just north of Ganjeolgot. The picture below is zoomed in heavily (10x) but shows the sprawl of Ulsan and its petrochemical plants. It was quite windy and the sea was whipping up the whitecaps.

Out on the point, is a statue of a woman in a traditional Korean Han-bok dress with her two offspring. I decided she could comfort me and my pup as well as her stone children.

Meanwhile, MyeongHee decided she wants a “ho-tteok” a kind of pancake pastry filled with brown sugar. The ho-tteok didn’t do anything but make me hungry for something more substantial. We decided to head up the coast a bit where a mass of Korean-style sushi houses serve up seafood straight from the boat to the platter.

Before we could get off the point, however, SaTang decided to make friends with an azumma selling kelp stalks. The azummas are a funny bunch. Described by most Koreans as a “third sex” these old women must try hard to find clothes that clash. I have yet to see one with any semblance of a coordinated outfit or even a bland, nondescript wardrobe.

Nevertheless, she was kind enough to offer SaTang a few scraps of seaweed from her treasure before shooing her off. SaTang, not knowing any better, happily snarfed up the scraps before spitting them out seconds later. Straight off the pile, they’re heavily salted as a preservative and should be rinsed before eating.

At the Sushi house, we tied up SaTang outside while we sat at the short tables and feasted on mounds of whitefish wrapped in lettuce leaves with garlic and sweet bean paste. Appetizers included steamed mussels and the ever-popular Sea Penis. I’d seen these horrid things often enough, but never tried one. I ate several bites of the dreaded water-wang, drenching mine in soy sauce and wasabi. They’re not wonderful, but neither are they horrible. There’s no reason for one to go out of one’s way to find and order these little ocean organs; they’re fairly bland and have a texture akin to what innertube must be like to eat. All told, it was a pretty good day.