Big Ballin on Sunday!

So, as Ajuma-Nature would have it, last Sunday’s attempt at going to a Lotte Giants game was thwarted by a sudden downpour. No matter though, when life gives you lemons, you grab big balls….and so we went bowling.

Per the suggestion of our friendly hosts, we found a spot full of these big balls below the Home Plus near Sajik Stadium. “Plus Asiad” Yeonje-gu, Busan, Geoje 2-dong, 1208 051-507-9770 we were told this is one of the larget bowling facilities in Asia which is only just slightly less impressive than the worlds largest department store and musically synchronized water show (fountain) that Busan also lays claim to.

We purchased our shoes from this amazing vending machine that was more similar to a soda machine then any shoe counter at a bowling alley we have ever been to.

The lanes were booked so we took a seat in the bleachers…yes, they had bleachers, and watched the native ball lovers do their thing. Not shocking in the least was the pro-gear that adorned the locals as they lined up for a go at the 10 pins awaiting their crushing demise. Sporty polo bowling shirts that I can only assume come fitted with a rotating sleeve to further enhance follow through were quite popular.(totally made that up) But the highlight accessory was the wrist guard glove.

Ala “Power Glove” style from my Nintendo days, the oversized work of technical mastery engulfed their tiny hands and made each bowler look like “a not quite finished Korean Ironman” ready to incinerate anyone that crossed the foul line. Having said that, the bowlers wearing “the glove” were quite good which is to be expected when you drop over $100 for a piece of NASA engineered pin killing body armor.

Our crew consisted of 6 so we broke off into 2 teams over two games. Strangely enough, even being on the opposite side of the planet, the pins were equally as unforgiving. Nonetheless we had a blast and left the competitive edge to the power gloves while we just aimed to stay outta the gutter.

After some Korean BBQ, we all headed home quite happy with our backup plan this past Sunday. Its nice to share an activity with foreign friends that we all enjoy. It bridges the culture gap in a way that can really only be done by crushing a few pins with big pink balls.