Places to go when visiting Busan - Last part :)

Go around Busan with bus :)

We started our day by taking public transport - in this case, bus - to visit Gukje Market, the largest traditional market in Busan. Fyi, it was convenient to travel around South Korea using public transport, such as: bus or metro. Train and domestic flight were easy to book as well. So no worry about traveling to South Korea without any knowledge of their language because English was available at most places.

My cute T-money card :)

What you need to purchase was T-money card - which you could get at any convenience store or metro station at KRW 4,000 each - usually with no value inside, and you could also top up the charge amount at the same shop or using machine (English language instruction was available).

I used Google map to get direction from one place to another in South Korea. But sometimes I still had to use their own apps like Kakao map and Kakao metro to get better information. In anyway, I would find any way to reach my destination as I had to lead my group to the place in the most possible best way :D

Gukje Market in Busan, South Korea

We went to the market with empty stomach because we knew that there would be many delicious local dishes that we should try. As I said in previous post, this was my second visit to South Korea, and the first time I went was five years ago. That time, I did not explore as much as I did now, since these days, I could easily get information from internet - through blogs, Korea tourism website, and so on. And this time, of course, I would be more daring exploring public transport and visit more local market to experience their culture and life style.

Breakfast at Gukje Market - Busan, South Korea

Sitting down on low chair, choosing what we wanted to eat, and sharing our food together was one of the things you should try in South Korea. Do not always go into air-conditioned restaurant where menu was given and what you had to do was just order and waited for your food to be delivered!!!

So, there we were!!! Since we came too early, we could only patron this shop (the next door stall was still not started their operation yet). They served pretty similar food anyway. And since it was still early, we got all items freshly prepared with fresh oil to fry the ingredients (for better health, cheers!!! :D)

Gukje Market - Busan, South Korea

Once we filled our stomach, we browsed around the market, walking from one row to another. The market was so huge. The place where we ate earlier was food street market selling not only cooked food, but also fresh vegetables, meat, seafood plus their famous banchan (side dishes like marinated seaweed, kimchi, etc.).

Hustle bustle street around Gukje Market - Busan, South Korea

They had many other areas apart from that one. And they sold many items there, like clothes, household necessities, bags, and so on. When buying clothes, we had to ask where were they made from. Hahaha... Because we tried not to get made in China product when we were there and willing to pay slightly more to get the made in Korea products :P

Angel-in-us Cafe - Busan, South Korea

When got tired, we decided to find a place to sit and sip some energy booster from local cafe. Here, we ensured that we only patron the local brand cafe instead of supporting the usual Starbucks or the Coffee Bean, in a way supporting their economy :P So we sat down at Angel-in-us to have some rest before deciding where to go next :)

Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) Square - Busan,South Korea

We took another bus ride to reach the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) Square. You can find more information about the BIFF here. For me, the reason I came to this place was to try their street food. Hahahahaha.... :P :P :P

Ssiat Hotteok (sweet pancake with seed) - Must try food in Busan!!! :D

Yes, this is one thing that you should try when you go to Busan - Ssiat Hotteok (sweet pancake filled with sunflower seed, pumpkin seed, cinnamon, and brown sugar). In BIFF Square you will find many stalls selling the same thing. Some with long queue and some is without. So it is up to you from which stall you prefer to get. This thing is prepared on the spot - fried, cut and filled with to serve with freshness. Just give some time before eating it as it was still piping hot by then time it reaches your hand.

Must try street food in BIFF Square - Tteokbokki (spicy rice cake), Sundae (blood sausage), Kimbab (rolled rice), Mandu (fried dumpling)

While my two elder sisters and mom preferred having their lunch in the restaurant nearby, my third sister and I preferred to explore and have various street food there at BIFF Square. We had Tteokbokki (spicy rice cake), Sundae (blood sausage), Kimbab (rolled rice), and Mandu (fried dumpling) for our lunch. It was very filling and of course, delicious!!! :)))

Twisted Ice Cream as tall as 32 cm (including the cone, sadly) hahaha... :P

And as a closure, we purchased the twisted 32-cm tall ice cream (yoghurt with mango taste), sadly the measurement was included the height of the cone, not the ice cream alone. Hahahaha..... :P

Gigantic Melon Ice Flakes from Cafe Cloud Bam at BIFF Square, Busan, South Korea

Oh, it was not closure yet... Hahaha.... As we descended from where my siblings ate their lunch, we bumped into this dessert shop. We decided to enter the shop and order this gigantic Melon Ice Flakes. It costs KRW 18,000, containing a whole piece of melon being scrapped off, flakes ice poured with melon milky syrup, and one melon ice cream. Five of us were having hard time finished it as we were just having our lunch. And afterwards, we saw two Korean young girls ordered the same thing and only them eating. Hahahaha....

Well, if you go to Korea, you will find out that all the food portion there is very huge!!! Sometimes I wondered how come Korean could maintain their body shapes slim while the food portion was that much!!! Even for 5 of us, we often had to order less (like 3 to 4 portions) for us to share. We often asked for less, but many restaurants did not allow us to order less (they wanted their customers to order a portion for each person, but we managed to bargain to order only 4 portions for 5 of us). And, yes, those 2 young ladies might take that gigantic Melon Ice Flakes for their dinner instead of just a dessert.

Our dinner at Lotte Food Court - Busan, South Korea

We took turn browsing around the area for some shopping too. And on our way back towards metro station, we saw the Lotte Department Store ahead and decided to go there for having our dinner before going back home. Fyi, Busan is also famous for Milmyeon (cold wheat noodles). That was why I ordered the spicy cold noodle for my dinner while my sister ordered beef Bibimbap (Korean mixed rice).

My last photo from Kakao Friends - Aqua Mall Busan, South Korea

Before leaving the mall, pose with these cute characters from Kakao Friends shop.

Delicious fish cake from Samjin Eomuk at Busan Station - Must try!!! Or you will regret!!! :)

And before leaving Busan, make sure you go down to Samjin Eomuk fishcake store at Busan Station. They sell varieties of fish cake products - fried and non-fried (for takeaway and cook at home). In Singapore, I never like eating fish cake, as the texture and taste are not to my liking. But the fish cake here from this store, I can never forget the taste and I have never eaten such a delicious fish cake like this before!!! So I am really glad that I purposely went down to the shop (even after getting so tired from whole day walking outside), to purchase and try few varieties of fish cakes. Yummy!!!! :)

So, that's all my post and recommendation for places and food to eat in Busan. Hope you enjoy and hope it helps you when you decide to go there and experience it yourself. Have fun!!! :)