Sokcho: I'm a tourist and I know it

I got up not as sore as I thought i'd be.  My impeccable sense of deduction is sure that this is due to the large amounts of Kim-Chi that I have consumed.  It must have healing powers;  the extreme stench must serve to contain them.   I found Yoda, Matthew, and Loraine at the breakfast room. (or the toast, jam, and instant coffee lounge).  Yoda and I decided we wanted to try and climb Mt. Daechebong, the 3rd highest peak in Korea (1750 meters).   There is a way to get there from close to Sokcho but it could take upwards of 12 hours, so we decided to investigate a shorter route from the nearby town, Osaek (also renowned for their hot springs).   Matthew and Loraine left for a quick trek back to the park to do the cable cars and then catch a bus back to Seoul, so we said our goodbyes.  I will definitely look them up when I get to Hong Kong.  Yoda and I went to the bus terminal to ask the lady in the information booth/prison cell (seriously there was no door to it.  I think she has to climb through the window) about getting a bus to Osaek.  So her English was great but her enthusiasm was south of the border, but helpful nontheless.  There are plenty of buses to Osaek, so Yoda and I decided to chill in Sokcho for this day and catch a bus early the next for the supreme hike.
I left Yoda and went around Sokcho myself.  I first walk towards the docks.  I found what looked to be a row of pet shops:  little shops with a bunch of full fish tanks at their front.  But then I realized these fish were all for consumption.  It looked like you pick your fish and pay by the gram (various tanks were marked with various prices).   After you pick your fish and pay they take the basket into the back, across a hallway to another room--a room with very good drainage.     This is the where they gut, fillet, make edible your fish.  The final product looked great.  The in between was a bit much.  Even so, I would imagine it would be far more difficult to watch a mammal get slaughtered and then have to eat it, raw or not.

I walked up to a small shrine and a lighthouse after this.  Not that interesting.  I was more interested in trying to get a peak of North Korea, but I really couldn't tell.  The only glimpse I got of North Korea was the scuba diver that was pretending to be fishing for clams that was so obviously a North Korean spy.

I spent the rest of my afternoon at this posh coffeeshop with terrible coffee.  The lady who owns it was really nice though.  She brought me lots of snacks and attempted to help me practice my Korean.   I think the problem with the phrasebooks is that they follow proper grammar and sentence structure, but really all people need is the key words and such.  The less the better.  Lonely Planet -3 pts.
I changed to the Hostel that denied me 2 nights ago.  After checking in I found Yoda and we headed down for dinner, where we found Olive from Bebop House in the lobby (she had emailed me saying she was coming so I wasn't surprised).  The three of us went in search of a Cornucopia of Neptune for dinner.  It was a fairly difficult meal.  A few things were still moving when they served them.  I at least tried everything once.  I did not try many things more than once.  If I had been wearing my Galactus helmet I would have fared better, but I didn't want to scare anyone what with how close to the border we are.

One our way back we found the Korean equivalent of Dennis the Menace in Canine form.  He was hiding in the bushes until someone walked by, then he want behind them and humped the crap out of their legs.