Wednesday, October 09, 2019

Places to go when visiting Busan, South Korea - Part 1

Departing from Seoul Station

This was my first time visiting Busan, a large port city located in southeastern part, known for its beaches, mountains and temples, despite my second visit to South Korea. By population, Busan is the second largest city with almost 3.5 million people out of total of 51.7 million people in South Korea. I went there with my sisters and mom, our first ladies trip together with no man involved. Haha...

In the platform - Seoul Station

We took KTX train from Seoul Station and after three hours later, we arrived at Busan Station. You can purchase the ticket online through Korail up to a month before. Payment is done by using credit card. My sister booked most of our hotels, train, car with driver rental, and domestic flight tickets, while I gave insight on where to go and how as I was pretty occupied with other travel arrangements.

Busan Station :)

We decided to stay nearby Haeundae Beach area for our first night in Busan as the beach is very famous there. After storing our big luggage at the hotel and had our lunch nearby the Busan Station, we took a bus ride to Haundae Beach area.

Lunch all my favorite Chinese-Korean food in Busan - fried rice, Naengmyeon (cold noodle), Mandu (fried dumpling), Jjamppong (spicy seafood noodle), and Jajangmyeon (black paste noodle) :)

The bus was quite full and some of us had to stand up for some time until the seat was available. The journey took us almost an hour time. Once we reached, it was raining. Well, kind of spoiling our mood. I mean, beach you know! We were kind of expecting to get sunshine in the beach, and not wet and windy beach. Hehehe...

But everything happened only for a good reason!!! :) We decided to go to Shinsegae Dept Store Centum City by metro. Fyi, this place was registered in the Guinness World Records as the largest department store in the world back in 2009. Surely, not to be missed when you visit Busan!!! :)

Metro line in Busan. You can use your T-Money card here too!! :)

There is a Korean traditional jjimjilbang or a large, gender-segregated public bathhouse, furnished with hot tubs, showers, Korean traditional kiln saunas and massage tables, called Spa Land. You can check the admission price here. Too bad I was having my period on that day so I had to give it a miss. However my sister went there and she was very happy hopping from one bathhouse to another naked and experienced the culture that was different from what we had back home.

The Bay 101 - Busan, South Korea

We had our dinner there before continuing our journey to visit The Bay 101. It was just less than 15 minutes walk from Dongbaek metro station. Initially I was unsure too what kind of place The Bay 101 was.

Beautiful night view from The Bay 101

Initially I thought it would be some kind of shopping mall. But the Google map did not indicate so. I just knew that it was the place that tourist could visit, that's all. So after reaching there, then I realized that it was a place where you could see a beautiful water view with high-rise buildings with lighting at the opposite side. There are restaurants and cafe at the building itself, but nothing much. Just a place to take photo and chill out with family and friends.

Roadside food stall displaying water tank filled with fresh seafood for you to choose and eat - Haeudae Beach area, Busan

From there I continued walking towards Haeundae Beach as the rain had stopped. It was another 15 minutes walk to reach and we passed through food stalls at roadside displaying water tank filled with fresh seafood right in front of your eating place - for you to choose and eat. I felt it was kind of cruel to dine in such way.

Haeundae Beach signage - Busan, South Korea

Just kept walking until I saw the above signage. Just seconds after taking the above photos, I heard the firework sound from the sea.

Fireworks at Haeundae Beach - Busan, South Korea

It was not just a small handheld fireworks that people could purchase and play, but bigger ones and it continued non-stop for more than 15 minutes. Wow!!! As if they knew I was coming there and wanted me to celebrate my visit there :D I felt an immense gratitude and peace watching it from afar. Thank you SB for the beautiful arrangement :)

Sealife in Busan, South Korea

The Sealife there is also worth visiting if you come from the country where there is no sea within reach. But for me, who stayed very near from the sea and visited many such places before, I made it a skip to visit this place.

Along Haeundae Beach area in Busan, South Korea

My sister and I kept walking along the beach. There were many people strolling the beach like us. Since rain had stopped, the air had become cooling and perfect for walking. There were few buskers entertained the passer-by with their beautiful voice and music played. Mostly young guys. They romanticized the already romantic beach. Oh, how I wished my loved one was there walking beside me and enjoyed the night together!!! :P

Finished the day with Terra Beer :D

And on our way back to the hotel, I stopped by at the convenience store to get a can of chilled Terra (Korean beer) and drank it all the way. Small handheld firework is sold on the street so anyone could buy and play it freely along the beach. How nice!!! :)

Let me stop here before continuing the journey next day. Stay tune! :)

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