Jagalchi Market | Busan, South Korea

June 27, 2013 P. Noelle Cruz

The creepiest bits of the ocean.

In November of 2011, my mom came to visit us in Busan. For the two years that Markus and I have been in Korea, she is the only person that came to visit us. I'm sad that no one else was able to make it out here, but I'm really happy that she still came! I don't know why I've never posted the photos but it's better late than never! In the short five days that she was here, we tried to fit in as much of Busan as possible. It was very important that we showed her the best places!

The first place that I took her was Jagalchi Market. It's one of the most popular spots in Busan. If you visit, you must go to Jagalchi. It's a huge seafood market that is both indoors and outdoors. There are heaps of booths and stations full of live seafood. Every time I've gone, it's been overflowing with people and it's really busy. It's amazing seeing some of the things that are popular in Korea. There were so many different things that I never saw before.

산낙지 Sannakji or Squirming Octopus

While we walked around Jagalchi, it's very easy to get a craving for seafood. My mom wasn't any different and she insisted on going to the 2nd floor to eat. At this time, my Korean wasn't that good, so I ended up using a lot of hand gestures. It was a bit confusing and when we finally got our food, it ended up being all the scary bits of the ocean. Somehow, we ordered sea squirt, sea cucumber and Sannakji. Sannakji is known as the octopus that moves while you eat it. I have to admit it was a bit strange at first, but after a while it tasted really good. They mix it with sesame oil and it's really delicious. The only difference from other octopus is that it was moving. Personally, all the other seafood wasn't to my liking. It was either really fishy or the texture was strange.

I'm really glad that I was able to share this experience with my mom. I don't know how we ended up ordering the strange foods we did, but it was great being able to go on that sort of adventure with her! I love that she's like me and is really up for anything. Now I know where I get my adventurous spirit!