Our Wednesday morning started off with a visit to Trainor, a safety certification company. This was another company that I didn’t think had much to do with smart systems, so I could not sense the engineering aspect of it. It was still a pleasant visit, and afterwards we were able to explore Korea’s largest shopping mall. It had at least four stories, and each level was organized to sell certain things; for example, luxury brands and other expensive items were on the first floor, and the third floor had athletic wear. There was an ice rink and a virtual reality center next to the food court on the fourth floor. I did not buy anything, but I did try a virtual roller coaster ride which was fun but still not as good as the real thing.
It was then time to leave for the second visit of the day, Busan New Container Terminal. BNCT is a shipping port known for its automatic terminal perpendicular layout versus most ports which have shipping containers parallel to the shoreline. By having the containers perpendicular they are able to maintain a more efficient system. If this system is so efficient, I wonder why other ports still use the parallel system. I imagine it has something to do with the equipment; it would be expensive to replace the large automatic machines that lift and place the containers.
For dinner, we wanted to switch it up a bit and put Japanese on the menu. We found a Japanese curry restaurant not far from the hotel. It was interesting because, although completely Japanese with Japanese decorations, Japanese news on the tv, and the employees speaking Japanese, they still served us kimchi and pickled radishes before our meal. My shrimp curry, however, did not taste of the typical spicy chilly pepper flavor; it was different, and it was nice to have a change of food.
