The 23rd Newsletter

Hi there 

This is your A.thentic Jong Hee. 

And this is my 23rd Newsletter for you. 

How are you doing there? 🧡
Is everything okay with you?
I hope you’re all well now. 🙏

How’s the weather there? Is it the start of summer or fall?

Here in Korea, we’re in the early fall season. The temperature in Busan is around 15-20°C, while in Seoul it’s averaging 9-16°C.

Busan has mild weather—neither too hot nor too cold. Seoul's weather is a bit different.

There’s a funny story going around about the current season in Seoul now: in the morning, when people go to work, it feels like winter because the temperature is around 6-10°C, and they feel like it's freezing. By midday, it feels like late spring or early summer, as the temperature rises to 15-20°C, and it feels much warmer or even hot. In the evening, when people head home from work, it cools down again, and they feel like it’s autumn. So, people in Seoul now can feel like they’re experiencing all 4 seasons in one day! 🌸🏖🍁⛄️

As you know, I’ve been busy unpacking and organizing my things at the new house. Honestly, it still needs more time to finish, but we’ve decided to take it slow.☕️

My previous house was located on the left side of Haeundae Beach, about 2-3 kilometers away. My new house is on the right side of the beach, and it’s only 300-400 meters from the shore.

At first, I didn’t like this area because I preferred the left side of town. The right side felt too modern and lacked a cozy atmosphere. Even though I usually prefer modern areas like Seoul, this place had a different, almost strange vibe.

When I talk about Haeundae Beach here, I recall that when I was younger, it was the most romantic and iconic beach where all the young people in the country wanted to visit and have fun. That’s why I loved this beach so much.

Here’s a funny story: When I was in my 20s, my close friend and I spent the night drinking on the beach while talking about our future and love(my best friend was a boy, the same age as me). We fell asleep right there on the sand. We woke up to the morning sun and the sound of the waves, finding ourselves lying in the middle of the Haeundae Beach. 😞 (I’ve always been weak with alcohol. I probably had a few cups of ‘soju’ back then.

These days, I can't even finish a small can of beer, so I don’t drink much and prefer coffee instead.) Like this, this beach is filled with the memories and romance of youth.🌺💕

While living in Seoul, I used to come to Haeundae or Jeju Island for summer vacations. Eventually, I decided that I wanted to live in this area for a while, and that’s why I moved here. But something unexpected happened. Corrupt politicians (most of them are conservatives, whom I deeply despise and curse) have colluded with construction companies to start building high-rise apartments (ranging from 49 floors to as high as 100 floors) on all the beautiful beaches of Busan, including Haeundae. 🏙🌃 This is not what I wanted at all.

Whenever I post pictures of Haeundae and the surrounding scenery on Instagram, I always hope that people’s comments about its beauty are not because of the lights from the tall buildings. The ocean should be left as it is, and nature should remain natural. 🏖

But these insane politicians and developers continue their reckless construction, building more and more high-rises. How can this even be allowed? The high-rise buildings are taking over the beaches, and this is not the Busan I want to see.

That’s one of the many reasons why I despise our current president (just as much as I despised former U.S. President Trump). I hope he(current Korean president) gets impeached and ends up in prison soon. There are already protests happening in Seoul and other major cities, demanding his impeachment. His approval rating is extremely low. Conservative and corrupt leaders like him don’t care about the natural environment or the people; they are only obsessed with reckless urban development. Okay. Sorry for talking about politics. 

Anyway, I didn’t like this town at first because it had changed too much. After living here for two years, I started getting bored of my previous neighborhood and was looking for a new place. What made me decide to move here was not just the good restaurants, cafes, and the beach promenade, but mostly because I noticed there are a lot of young kids in this area.🧒🏻👶🏻

I don’t have kids, but I really like children. If you look at the Instagram posts I’ve uploaded during the day, you’ll see many pictures of children playing. 😊

Seeing kids in strollers or toddlers around 2 or 3 years old walking and playing always brightens my mood (FYI, Busan has a much higher elderly population now). When I walk around town during the day and pass through the squares, I always see kids playing with their moms, and it makes me smile and feel good. That’s why I decided to move to this neighborhood. (One thing I miss about my previous home is that there was a library right behind my apartment.)💐

That’s why I created this album. It features lullaby piano songs, including a version with glockenspiels. Check it out. 🎹

• Lullabies for Piano : Peace of Soul

-Spotify -

-Apple Music-

-Youtube-

Lastly, I want to talk about tteokbokki (떡볶이), a comfort food that’s always popular—especially tteokbokki buffets. (It’s a soul food to lots of people in Korea).

Like any food, tteokbokki reflects trends and evolves in taste. When I was in middle and high school, I used to eat it a lot, but during college, I didn’t eat it much. Even in Seoul, I only had it occasionally. But after moving to Busan, I started eating it more often due to the nostalgic feelings it brings.

Did you know that Busan’s tteokbokki is really sweet? While Seoul’s tteokbokki is spicy, it’s not as sweet as Busan’s. In Busan, there’s even a famous place in the cafe district I frequent that ranks among the top 10 best tteokbokki shops in my country, but even there, the taste is sweet. It wasn’t easy to find a place that serves tteokbokki that isn’t so sweet. That’s when I found an alternative—one of the tteokbokki chains runs tteokbokki buffets. There’s one in almost every major towns in Busan.

At these buffets, they offer all kinds of tteokbokki rice cakes, a variety of sauces, and side dishes like fried foods and vegetables, and even coffee and ice cream. When you go there, you can put the rice cakes and sauce you want into the basic broth they provide, and cook it right at your table. 🧄🧅🌶

Since it’s a buffet, you can eat as much as you like. I can also adjust the sweetness, which I appreciate. Sometimes, when I crave comfort food, I come here because I can enjoy my favorite fried foods (especially sweet potato fries) with coffee. 🥔☕️

I come here quite often. It’s also fun to watch young kids in their early teens come by themselves, or see neat and tidy middle school girls talking about boys and school while eating just a little and then leaving. There are also families with children, which is nice to see.

I’ve had photos of this place saved for a while, and now I get to show them. In fact, I went to this franchise just yesterday in the next town. It was fun. The pictures from yesterday (Saturday) are below.

This is another day.

But usually, I can eat two times, a maximum of three. And as I mentioned before, after eating at a buffet, my weight actually decreases.

Okay, that’s all for now. 😊💜

Thank you for reading this. 🙏🌹

Oh, by the way, I’m working on a piano piece that may be released at the end of this month. Guess what kind of piano work it will be? You probably already know.

Okay, I’ll write to you again soon.

Have a nice day and night. 💐💖

Take care 

Best Regards

A.thentic Jong Hee