![From Gyeongju to Busan it was like approx. 1hr+ and the bus fare was 4,000won. The bus will arrive at the Busan Central Bus Terminal and from there you are connected by subway, 노포동(Nopo-dong) to go to anywhere in Busan. Busan is how to say, very flamboyant for me XD It’s like another Seoul but in a way much more glamorous? Prior to coming to Busan, few people already told me that nothing much is happening in Busan and I don’t need 4 days there but everyday that I was at Busan I got back to the motel very late at night ;p It could be because visiting it during Oct when there are a lot of events happening but it’s definitely worth another visit IMO~
Part 5: Busan 20091016 - 19
Accommodation: We booked Pusan Central Hotel but decided to skip it since you can get any motels once you get off at 연사동 (Yeonsan-dong) subway station. Sadly I forgot to take the name card of the motel we were staying in but I wouldn’t rec that motel either coz the place is a bit dirty and the lousiest motel we have been in so far throughout the trip. It’s Smile-something and it charges differently for weekends so overall we paid 145K won/4 nights *shrugs*
Highlights:
+ You have gotta go to Busan for the seafood yo~ Even though I have skin allergic from eating the fresh eel (although it could also be due to the weird tasting water in Busan, which we were joking recycled from the sea water) and considering that we have to pay 10,000won/plate of seafood at the 잘같치 시장 (Jagalchi Fish Market), you cannot not eat the seafood while there ok? ^^;
+ The Busan Jagalchi Festival occurs every early Oct. This year it was the 18th festival held from 15-18th Oct at the Jagalchi Fish Market area (get off at the Jagalchi subway station). There were many events and activities planned throughout the 4 days on theme of Oiso!Boiso!Noiso! (Come!See!Enjoy!) We only managed it on the 16th Oct though and I totally missed out on the Lighting a Wishing Lamp activity ;; We had to rush to the PIFF that day as well~ [Photos]
+ The 14th Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) was from 08-16 Oct, held at the Yatching center near the 해윤대해수욕장 (Haeundae Beach) - so can we count this as we have been to the beach? XD Before that we were at the PIFF Square. Have you ever tried eating fried squids and other seafoods as snacks in replacement of your usual popcorns while watching movies? Total culture shock for me that was for sure ^^; Also the connecting Gukje Market really have a lot to see and buy and be awed of ^^b Anyway, it was really a frantic search for the 14th PIFF venue because we were just too clueless on it and after a madness random bus ride from Jagalchi Fish Market (Now that I did some research on it, you can take the subway and get off at the Busan Museum of Modern Art station and it’s a 10mins walk away) and then a cab ride (oh wow you can ask the cab driver that you want to get off during haevy traffics; if here in KL, you will be “glared” to death already uh no no) which costs us 6,200won due to the massive traffics, we arrived to find out that the tics were all sold out ._. So we could only view from the outside. We even missed the final ending red carpet. And we thought we have enough time for the final movie, etc but oh wow the time spent to locate the venue just urgh! We ended up eating our pau bought from the Gukje Market as dinner sitting outside the small park area of the yatching center. [Photos]
+ Actually I wanted to go to the 동래 온천 (Dongnae Oncheon) [Hotspring] [It was the first hotspring to appear on historic written records!] and we did go all the way to Dongnae subway station only to realise we were supposed to get off at Oncheonjang subway station instead ;-; So we didn’t get to go and to not waste the trip and subway fare we walked to the nearby Lotte Dept. Store- this was our first trip to Lotte Dept Store~ ^^; It was the first time I wanted to be the daughter of those so many rich ahjumma shopping like there is no tomorrow on all those branded items \cries
+ After the failure of Dongnae-gu that is, we went to 광안리해수욕장 (Gwangalli Beach) after the motel owner tipped us on the fireworks festival. Gwangalli was uhm breezy and apart from the beach we saw nothing else since once you got out from the Gwangan subway station everyone is headed towards the beach- probably a 10mins walk down the slope so when it’s time to go back yo know what you will be facing ;p [Photos]
+ The 5th Busan Fireworks Festival at the Gwangalli Beach was really fun and tiring at the same time. Never before I have seen so many people crowding one place at one time and then trying to leave the same place in one rush! *^* All the madness of pushing and rushing and trying to get into the subway was not something I wanted to go through again LOL! But yea everyone should do this at least one time- joining the mad throng crowds at the beach to watch a mere 45mins continuous fireworks display after waiting for like 5hrs+ xD And also try to have phones with you because if you get lost and separated at least you can locate each other back. I had a major panic attack after leaving my seat to go to the toilet and came back to the beach to find that everything looked the same and I ended up walking up down the beach, stepping on random people, trying to find my friend, Lyne! *headdesk* I was very happy to be able to use my THSK mat though ;p [Photos]
+ Yeonsandong was the area where our motel is located. We managed to find what we thought was 김밥 천국 (Kimbap Cheonkuk) but turned out to be 뉴-김밥 천국 (New Kimbap Cheonkuk) LOL! It looked exactly the same but there was the word “new” in front…franchise huh? It was also opposite this that we saw a Jaeho Oriental Medicine Clinic :DDv That was so random! [Photos]
+ Taejoongdae Park is a must-go if you want to stand at the southest part of South Korea, well at least for me it is the southest part that I was able to reach with public transportation xD Prior to departing to Taejoongdae, we had delicious 연양돌솥밥 + 해물뚝배기 (nutrituous hotpot rice + seafood) at 하정 해물탕 식당 (Hajeong Haemultang Restaurant) located at the streets along PIFF Square area. It was also here that I stole a Park Hyoshin poster from the street for his The Gift concert because I was sad I couldn’t go )): [Photos]To go to Taejoongdae, you can take bus no. 8 or 30 at Exit 6 of Nampo-dong subway station. It was quite a far journey and you basically will pass by the Yeongdo-gu District Office, Busan International Cruise Terminal, Busan Maritime High School, Korea Maritime University, Dongsam-dong Shell Midden Museum and finally the Cenotoaph for Seaman and the Monument Dedicated to the Medical Assistance Units in the Korean War before reaching the ending bus terminal. Why I bother listing all these places out? Because I craned my neck trying to read the sign boards and matching them with the info on my map while sitting in the bus, thinking damn we are lost again :p Basically ignore those people who will try to persuade you to take the sea cruise trip instead of walking by yourself because (1) they are freaking expensive, (2) it’s just more fun trekking by yourself along with the rest tourists and you get to ride the cute tram which will bring you round the main tourist attractions at Taejoongdae Park and it only costs you 1,500won. You can hop on and off the tram but mind the schedule of the tram services ok? You so do not want to get stranded up there! There are 5 spots altogether (a) 태원자갈마당 (Taewon Jagalmadang, Pebble Beach), (b) 구명사 (Gumyeongsa Temple), (c) 전망대 (Observation Platform), (d) 등대 (Light House) and (e) 태중사 (Taejongsa Temple). We only stopped by at (c)+(d) due to lack of time. At the Light House oh please if possible do go all the way to the bottom of it where all the big cliff rocks are because the wind is just amazing *^* The climbing up back to the top was a major turn off though LOL! [Photos]
+ After Taejoongdae Park, we returned to Nampo-dong to go to 용두산 공원 (Yongdusan Park) for the 2009 Korean Food Festival (Oct 14 - 18). Nothing much…I wasn’t so impressed with the food though and 5,000won for a plate of 파전 (pajaeon)?! :”)) There was some performances and basically just food and alcohol for everyone. After stuffing ourselves, we went to Gwangbokro St. which supposedly was the Dongdaemun of Busan (also there was the Gwangbokro Fashion-Art Festival from Oct 16 -17), and really enjoyed walking round the St. with so many shops and stuff to look and buy! The only thing stopping us was our baggage and thinking that we could do this at Seoul instead- so regretting it…things in general are definitely much more cheaper at Busan so buy there ok and don’t be like us xD [Photos]
+ Seriously I feel cheated on the day I went to 금강 공원 (Geumgang Park) at Dongnae-gu esp. on the cable car ride up to the top of the Mt. Geumjeong which in the end costs me 7,000won because I had to purchase the tics 2 times instead of the return tic which costs lesser. I was being informed that I would be able to go from the mountain summit of the cable car to South Gate within 20mins but I was lost when the hiking trails were not visible and not enough signages along the way ;; Luckily I was able to return to the cable car terminal after endless walking around the same area *sighs* And most of the attractions at the park were closed at tha time- no shark aquarium T_T But I guess if you like the trees and nature and the fact that the wind is blowing like mad (but I was still sweating lot due to the hiking) then yea do visit Geumgang Park because if you have enough time and energy, I am sure the trekking across all the South, East, North Gates before arriving at Pumo Temple should be fun and interesting- I suggest for you to go with someone you can chat a lot with LOL! You can go here by getting off at Oncheonjang Subway Station and then walk approx. 30mins according to the signages to reach the main entrance of the Geumgang Park (or take bus No. 203 but Idk how since I walked). As for me, I really love the temples visits and my fave shot is this. [Photos]
+ As it was getting quiet late (didn’t expect all those getting lost would delay me so much) and since I had to meet up with Lyne at Samyeon for the street food in the evening, I decided to skip Beomeosa Temple and took the subway to go to Jungangdong for the International & Coastal Ferry Terminal and 40 steps Cultural Tour Theme Street. I practically walked up down the whole streets in very strong chilling windy weather LOL! It was much fun and I always love going as near as possible as I can to the sea ^^/ I also stumbled upon the Gwangbok Underground Shopping Center. I am really amazed at the number of underground shopping centres at Busan itself [Photos]
+ The food at Samyeon 1st Street Food Alley! ngom!ngom! xD I think this should be the cheapest food you could ever find in Busan and maybe even in comparison to Seoul. They tend to sell similar type of food but I was so excited to eat those cheap spicy ddeokboggi even when I can’t eat spicy food *^* There was fried chicken and squids. I stopped by at the Youngpoong Bookstore while waiting for Lyne and we also went to the Lotte Dept. Store, which was the HQ of them all together with the Lotte Hotel, Duty Free Shops and Casino. The underground shopping centres (Seomyeon, Daehyeon Underground Arcade) connecting with the Seomyeon Subway Station could make you feel like suffocating and lost if you are so frantic trying to look at everything at the same time ;p [Photos]
+ Ohmy I thought this Busan trip is never gona end for me, but for more info, please visit Dynamic Busan](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kvod3yYHk61qavzsco1_500.jpg)
From Gyeongju to Busan it was like approx. 1hr+ and the bus fare was 4,000won. The bus will arrive at the Busan Central Bus Terminal and from there you are connected by subway, 노포동(Nopo-dong) to go to anywhere in Busan. Busan is how to say, very flamboyant for me XD It’s like another Seoul but in a way much more glamorous? Prior to coming to Busan, few people already told me that nothing much is happening in Busan and I don’t need 4 days there but everyday that I was at Busan I got back to the motel very late at night ;p It could be because visiting it during Oct when there are a lot of events happening but it’s definitely worth another visit IMO~
Part 5: Busan 20091016 - 19
Accommodation: We booked Pusan Central Hotel but decided to skip it since you can get any motels once you get off at 연사동 (Yeonsan-dong) subway station. Sadly I forgot to take the name card of the motel we were staying in but I wouldn’t rec that motel either coz the place is a bit dirty and the lousiest motel we have been in so far throughout the trip. It’s Smile-something and it charges differently for weekends so overall we paid 145K won/4 nights *shrugs*
Highlights:
+ You have gotta go to Busan for the seafood yo~ Even though I have skin allergic from eating the fresh eel (although it could also be due to the weird tasting water in Busan, which we were joking recycled from the sea water) and considering that we have to pay 10,000won/plate of seafood at the 잘같치 시장 (Jagalchi Fish Market), you cannot not eat the seafood while there ok? ^^;
+ The Busan Jagalchi Festival occurs every early Oct. This year it was the 18th festival held from 15-18th Oct at the Jagalchi Fish Market area (get off at the Jagalchi subway station). There were many events and activities planned throughout the 4 days on theme of Oiso!Boiso!Noiso! (Come!See!Enjoy!) We only managed it on the 16th Oct though and I totally missed out on the Lighting a Wishing Lamp activity ;; We had to rush to the PIFF that day as well~ [Photos]
+ The 14th Pusan International Film Festival (PIFF) was from 08-16 Oct, held at the Yatching center near the 해윤대해수욕장 (Haeundae Beach) - so can we count this as we have been to the beach? XD Before that we were at the PIFF Square. Have you ever tried eating fried squids and other seafoods as snacks in replacement of your usual popcorns while watching movies? Total culture shock for me that was for sure ^^; Also the connecting Gukje Market really have a lot to see and buy and be awed of ^^b Anyway, it was really a frantic search for the 14th PIFF venue because we were just too clueless on it and after a madness random bus ride from Jagalchi Fish Market (Now that I did some research on it, you can take the subway and get off at the Busan Museum of Modern Art station and it’s a 10mins walk away) and then a cab ride (oh wow you can ask the cab driver that you want to get off during haevy traffics; if here in KL, you will be “glared” to death already uh no no) which costs us 6,200won due to the massive traffics, we arrived to find out that the tics were all sold out ._. So we could only view from the outside. We even missed the final ending red carpet. And we thought we have enough time for the final movie, etc but oh wow the time spent to locate the venue just urgh! We ended up eating our pau bought from the Gukje Market as dinner sitting outside the small park area of the yatching center. [Photos]
+ Actually I wanted to go to the 동래 온천 (Dongnae Oncheon) [Hotspring] [It was the first hotspring to appear on historic written records!] and we did go all the way to Dongnae subway station only to realise we were supposed to get off at Oncheonjang subway station instead ;-; So we didn’t get to go and to not waste the trip and subway fare we walked to the nearby Lotte Dept. Store- this was our first trip to Lotte Dept Store~ ^^; It was the first time I wanted to be the daughter of those so many rich ahjumma shopping like there is no tomorrow on all those branded items \cries
+ After the failure of Dongnae-gu that is, we went to 광안리해수욕장 (Gwangalli Beach) after the motel owner tipped us on the fireworks festival. Gwangalli was uhm breezy and apart from the beach we saw nothing else since once you got out from the Gwangan subway station everyone is headed towards the beach- probably a 10mins walk down the slope so when it’s time to go back yo know what you will be facing ;p [Photos]
+ The 5th Busan Fireworks Festival at the Gwangalli Beach was really fun and tiring at the same time. Never before I have seen so many people crowding one place at one time and then trying to leave the same place in one rush! *^* All the madness of pushing and rushing and trying to get into the subway was not something I wanted to go through again LOL! But yea everyone should do this at least one time- joining the mad throng crowds at the beach to watch a mere 45mins continuous fireworks display after waiting for like 5hrs+ xD And also try to have phones with you because if you get lost and separated at least you can locate each other back. I had a major panic attack after leaving my seat to go to the toilet and came back to the beach to find that everything looked the same and I ended up walking up down the beach, stepping on random people, trying to find my friend, Lyne! *headdesk* I was very happy to be able to use my THSK mat though ;p [Photos]
+ Yeonsandong was the area where our motel is located. We managed to find what we thought was 김밥 천국 (Kimbap Cheonkuk) but turned out to be 뉴-김밥 천국 (New Kimbap Cheonkuk) LOL! It looked exactly the same but there was the word “new” in front…franchise huh? It was also opposite this that we saw a Jaeho Oriental Medicine Clinic :DDv That was so random! [Photos]
+ Taejoongdae Park is a must-go if you want to stand at the southest part of South Korea, well at least for me it is the southest part that I was able to reach with public transportation xD Prior to departing to Taejoongdae, we had delicious 연양돌솥밥 + 해물뚝배기 (nutrituous hotpot rice + seafood) at 하정 해물탕 식당 (Hajeong Haemultang Restaurant) located at the streets along PIFF Square area. It was also here that I stole a Park Hyoshin poster from the street for his The Gift concert because I was sad I couldn’t go )): [Photos]To go to Taejoongdae, you can take bus no. 8 or 30 at Exit 6 of Nampo-dong subway station. It was quite a far journey and you basically will pass by the Yeongdo-gu District Office, Busan International Cruise Terminal, Busan Maritime High School, Korea Maritime University, Dongsam-dong Shell Midden Museum and finally the Cenotoaph for Seaman and the Monument Dedicated to the Medical Assistance Units in the Korean War before reaching the ending bus terminal. Why I bother listing all these places out? Because I craned my neck trying to read the sign boards and matching them with the info on my map while sitting in the bus, thinking damn we are lost again :p Basically ignore those people who will try to persuade you to take the sea cruise trip instead of walking by yourself because (1) they are freaking expensive, (2) it’s just more fun trekking by yourself along with the rest tourists and you get to ride the cute tram which will bring you round the main tourist attractions at Taejoongdae Park and it only costs you 1,500won. You can hop on and off the tram but mind the schedule of the tram services ok? You so do not want to get stranded up there! There are 5 spots altogether (a) 태원자갈마당 (Taewon Jagalmadang, Pebble Beach), (b) 구명사 (Gumyeongsa Temple), (c) 전망대 (Observation Platform), (d) 등대 (Light House) and (e) 태중사 (Taejongsa Temple). We only stopped by at (c)+(d) due to lack of time. At the Light House oh please if possible do go all the way to the bottom of it where all the big cliff rocks are because the wind is just amazing *^* The climbing up back to the top was a major turn off though LOL! [Photos]
+ After Taejoongdae Park, we returned to Nampo-dong to go to 용두산 공원 (Yongdusan Park) for the 2009 Korean Food Festival (Oct 14 - 18). Nothing much…I wasn’t so impressed with the food though and 5,000won for a plate of 파전 (pajaeon)?! :”)) There was some performances and basically just food and alcohol for everyone. After stuffing ourselves, we went to Gwangbokro St. which supposedly was the Dongdaemun of Busan (also there was the Gwangbokro Fashion-Art Festival from Oct 16 -17), and really enjoyed walking round the St. with so many shops and stuff to look and buy! The only thing stopping us was our baggage and thinking that we could do this at Seoul instead- so regretting it…things in general are definitely much more cheaper at Busan so buy there ok and don’t be like us xD [Photos]
+ Seriously I feel cheated on the day I went to 금강 공원 (Geumgang Park) at Dongnae-gu esp. on the cable car ride up to the top of the Mt. Geumjeong which in the end costs me 7,000won because I had to purchase the tics 2 times instead of the return tic which costs lesser. I was being informed that I would be able to go from the mountain summit of the cable car to South Gate within 20mins but I was lost when the hiking trails were not visible and not enough signages along the way ;; Luckily I was able to return to the cable car terminal after endless walking around the same area *sighs* And most of the attractions at the park were closed at tha time- no shark aquarium T_T But I guess if you like the trees and nature and the fact that the wind is blowing like mad (but I was still sweating lot due to the hiking) then yea do visit Geumgang Park because if you have enough time and energy, I am sure the trekking across all the South, East, North Gates before arriving at Pumo Temple should be fun and interesting- I suggest for you to go with someone you can chat a lot with LOL! You can go here by getting off at Oncheonjang Subway Station and then walk approx. 30mins according to the signages to reach the main entrance of the Geumgang Park (or take bus No. 203 but Idk how since I walked). As for me, I really love the temples visits and my fave shot is this. [Photos]
+ As it was getting quiet late (didn’t expect all those getting lost would delay me so much) and since I had to meet up with Lyne at Samyeon for the street food in the evening, I decided to skip Beomeosa Temple and took the subway to go to Jungangdong for the International & Coastal Ferry Terminal and 40 steps Cultural Tour Theme Street. I practically walked up down the whole streets in very strong chilling windy weather LOL! It was much fun and I always love going as near as possible as I can to the sea ^^/ I also stumbled upon the Gwangbok Underground Shopping Center. I am really amazed at the number of underground shopping centres at Busan itself [Photos]
+ The food at Samyeon 1st Street Food Alley! ngom!ngom! xD I think this should be the cheapest food you could ever find in Busan and maybe even in comparison to Seoul. They tend to sell similar type of food but I was so excited to eat those cheap spicy ddeokboggi even when I can’t eat spicy food *^* There was fried chicken and squids. I stopped by at the Youngpoong Bookstore while waiting for Lyne and we also went to the Lotte Dept. Store, which was the HQ of them all together with the Lotte Hotel, Duty Free Shops and Casino. The underground shopping centres (Seomyeon, Daehyeon Underground Arcade) connecting with the Seomyeon Subway Station could make you feel like suffocating and lost if you are so frantic trying to look at everything at the same time ;p [Photos]
+ Ohmy I thought this Busan trip is never gona end for me, but for more info, please visit Dynamic Busan
더이상 무섭지 않다...
