The Return to Daegu
Dom being a goofball <3
Finally! A post where I’m not just talking about how sad I am! I’m sorry for the depressing content lately, friends. Or lack of content, as it were. I’m feeling a lot better these days, so thanks for your patience.
This past week was 추석 Chuseok, the big fall harvest holiday that’s sometimes described as Korean Thanksgiving. Most people leave the big city and return home to spend time with family and eat lots of food (specifically, 송편 songpyeon, or traditional rice cakes).
While some foreigners spend Chuseok at a coteacher’s or friend’s house, many of us use this time as an extra holiday. In past years I’ve zoomed over to Hong Kong or Seoul for a long weekend. But, as we’re all too aware, that’s not so feasible this year. So, instead, I spent most of Chuseok at home, bumming around and watching Thai horror movies (The Promise and Pee Mak).
Then my friend, Dom, asked if I wanted to do a little day trip to Daegu. I’d been there before around this time last year as a solo day trip but Dom hadn’t been there before since orientation (fun fact! We were roommates at orientation). That Friday, we hopped on a bus at 9am and headed south.
When we arrived in Daegu, we were reminded summer wasn’t totally over. It was hot. We rolled up our sleeves and headed to an area I remembered going to last time, in hopes of maybe finding that egg bun place again. Unfortunately, the location I went to was permanently closed. Also, because it was still Chuseok, a lottttt of places were closed.
So we wandered a bit until we found a random open cafe, aptly and enthusiastically named Yamm!. I tried kimchi fried rice with pesto. Never a combo I’d have put together but it was actually pretty good?
After, we popped into a macaron shop, Cassiopeia, and then took a bus to begin our journey to the cable car up Daedok mountain. This ended up being a HIKE. The weather was sunny and perfectly warm, and people kindly gave us directions every time we got lost.
It was pretty busy. I guess taking the cable car is a good Chuseok activity? After paying 만원 (roughly $9) waiting maybe 20 mins, it was our turn.
We headed up from the cable car station to the observatory, where we enjoyed the view and took a billion pictures. A little girl noticed us and became enraptured with my camera. I ventured asking a few questions in Korean, and she, after getting over her shock that I could speak any Korean at all, began chatting my ear off. It was cute.
It was mid-afternoon by this point and we were getting tired. One bus ride later, we found the cafe we wanted to go to was closed, so we went to its neighbor and spent some time on its cute little rooftop.
This place was called Oreuda and it’s…pretty pricey, in my opinion. 5000 or so for an americano….but maybe you’ll think the views are worth it.
Then, the best part of the day. We found a craft beer place on Kim Kwang Seok street that serves pizza, so of course we headed right there. The place is called Daedo Brewery and I highly recommend!
We spent about an hour or so getting drunk and people-watching from our balcony, like Statler and Waldorf.
The journey back was easy, except I did lose my wallet on the bus…those ten minutes were the worst. But I got it back, thanks for a very helpful bus driver!
I’m glad I returned to Daegu. Much as I liked it the first time, it’s always different seeing it with another person. Sometimes, when I go somewhere alone—especially if I’m walking around, observing with my camera—I feel a bit “apart from.” This time, I feel like I got to explore the social aspect of the city more. And I’d never have thought to take the cable car without Dom, our resident cable car enthusiast.
Daegu has a fun vibe. Kind of more military (the amount of camo, my god), and…grittier, I suppose? We also noticed the social distancing measures were stricter—seats taped off, many attractions closed, etc. Last February, Daegu experienced the worst COVID 19 outbreaks South Korea has seen so far, and you can still see the effects.
It likely won’t be the last time I go to Daegu, cause I’m gonna definitely want to get that craft beer again.
Kim Kwang Seok street. Thanks for reading!