I Love Busan! (Part 1)

I know, I know. I’m sorry that I actually underestimated Busan's charm. It’s just that the people I have talked to mostly gave me so-so ratings when I asked them about it, that I settled for a just-for-the-heck kind of trip in South Korea’s largest port city. I wasn’t even expecting much from its brown-sand beach. But hey, it all changed when I finally reached the place. Busan has the warmth that makes you want to embrace it, not to mention a beach prowess to impress! I want to go back!!!

REASON(s):

Okay, so it wasn’t really just for the heck of it. First, I’ve always loved exploring new places. Second, I wanted to meet my sister at the airport on a Sunday evening, a few hours before I would need to head back to Seoul for next day’s work. She got herself hitched to some cultural exchange program and was coming with other high school students for a one-week immersion. Third, I wanted to include this metropolitan city in my list of to-go’s before I leave South Korea for good.

INITIAL PLANS:

-> A Saturday-Sunday Trip (with a probable Monday pass-up at work)

-> Trip with a fellow “lakwatsera”

-> A random 2005, web-based weekend itinerary

THE ACTUAL SATURDAY ITINERARY

6:15am-11:46am------------Seoul to Busan Station via Train (KORAIL)

12:50pm-7:00pm------------Busan City Bus Tour

7:00pm-8:30pm-------------Dinner in a FilKor-owned resto/pub

10:00pm-next day----------Jimjilbang (Haeundae Spa Center)

Back and forth train tickets have been reserved and paid for prior to the trip. I again cannot emphasize how Korea’s efficient transportation, telecommunication, and online systems allowed for this transaction to happen. Foreigners like me still have the little inaccessibility problems to such convenience, though.

Good thing, my housemate did the online reservation for me, and used her account to choose our travel schedules. She tried to make a separate account for me in the KORAIL website, but my foreign registration ID just won't let me in.

Korea has that famous KTX Train known to cut Busan’s five-hour trip to just three, but I ended up taking the cheaper “Mugunghwa” train and just pay almost half the price as well.

KTX Train, Seoul to Busan= 45,500/ 47,900/ 67,100 won

(Standing/ Standard Class/First Class)

These prices are in the 40-60 USD range. On the other hand,

Mugunghwa, Seoul to Busan= 19,200/26,500 won (Standing/Standard Class)

These prices are just in the 15-25 USD range.

I then had to pass up on the KTX dream ride. These are weekday rates by the way, and rates get more expensive on weekends. I got mine for 27,100 won.

How my tickets turned out to be as soon as my housemate made the reservation and payment online is an SMS message sent to my mobile phone, which I just needed to show for confirmation. Paper-less. Conserves energy and protects the environment (naks!).

SATURDAY’s AGENDA

It turned out just like how my friend and I semi-planned this particular Saturday, with the city bus tour pretty much eating the whole afternoon. The starting point for the Busan City tour is just right outside train station, in front of Arirang Hotel. The bus tour offers tourists two courses: The Haeundae and Taejongdae Courses. The Haeundae course, aside from showing-off the famous “Haeundae Beach”, is leaning towards the cultural and historical. Taejongdae’s course, on the other hand, tends to be more akin to nature and showcases Busan as the fifth largest and busiest port in the world. It includes stops at parks, international ferry terminals and a fish market.

Again… choices. More striking landmarks are found in the Haeundae course, and we just couldn’t miss the beach (for sanity’s sake, haha), so off we went inside the bus for the said course after paying 10,000 won to the bus driver.

THE CHOSEN COURSE

1.) The U.N. Memorial Cemetery: This is where the soldiers who fought in the Korean war are buried. We decided not to get off the bus for this one, though. Somewhere near the cemetery, we caught on a display of flags:

2.) Busan Museum of Art: We were not that interested to go and check this one out, sorry. We therefore stayed inside the bus and thought of how the bus tour may end up to be such a waste if we keep on staying on board. Haha.

3.) Gwanganni Beach: This would probably win as my most favorite spot in Busan! The beautiful scenery was paired with a perfect weather that day. It was sunny but not scorching, and cool but not freezing-- definitely perfect for strolling and taking good landscape photos. This part of Busan is said to be more spectacular at night with the bridge lights on. Too bad, we were not able to catch the night life in here.

4.) Nurimaru APEC House: The city of Busan has also been a host to some of the most important global events, and this famous city dome was the venue of the 2005 APEC Summit. It was a long walk that we trodded from the bus stop to the actual APEC House, but neverthless caught on this spot where a bridge and wooden deck offer breathtaking views of Busan's waters.

Here are pictures from inside the dome:

5.) Haeundae Beach: This is where the Busan Aquarium is found, pretty much like Manila's Ocean Park (though I personally haven't been to our very own). Underwater creatures have always been fascinating for me as well, and even at 25, I won't mind going to kid-like, field trip venues such as this...

Entrance fee for Busan Aquarium visitors is 17,000 won. City bus tour participants get a discount and pay only 10,000 won. A sure fine deal for us! The underwater observatory is open from 10m-10pm.

6.) Haeundae Station: We were supposed to eat and do shopping in this area, but for some reasons we missed getting off the bus, so we decided to just get back to Busan Station and have dinner somewhere in the area.

7.) BEXCO: Since we were getting hungry already, as soon we missed the Haeundae station, we also had to call this one off. Anyway, this is another landmark building because it is home to international conferences and other international events.

When we circled back to the Busan train station, we started looking for a place to eat. We eventually caught on a street that bannered a seemingly familiar place as a bar/resto/pub name.

We then let ourselves be robbed-off with our choice of a Filipino dinner:

Sinigang (15,000 won / 650php, 1 large pot).

Lumpiang Shanghai (10,000 won / 400php, 10 pcs. )

And being the aspiring backpackers that we are, we finally ended the night and dozed off at a posh accommodation known to Korean history as a jimjilbang. Teehee. How's around 350php (8,000 won) for one night?