I Love Busan! (Part 2)

Sunday’s itinerary turned out to be more of a laze, having realized that our pre-planned itinerary for today was not feasible. Our chosen activities and places to see were nowhere to be found in Busan. That random, online itinerary that we followed made us believe that Busan and Gyeongju were just geographically kissing each other. We were so wrong. Oh anyway...

Sunday

9:00am-12:00nn------------Morning stroll at Pusan National University

12:00nn-6:00pm------------Underground & Lotte Town shopping in Nampo-dong

7:00pm-9:00pm-------------Gimhae International Airport

9:30pm-10:30pm------------Seollongtang Dinner near Busan Station

11:00pm-4:30am------------Busan to Yeongdeungpo Station via Train (KORAIL)

Getting up for today was comfortably aching (huh?!?). Jimjilbang floors are still hard and cold even with blankets to support my back. It was nevertheless easy to remember that I had a very good body massage just the night before, so it helped a bit to think that the backache was just an aftermath of the massage, and not much of the floor that I had to sleep on. We were about to leave anyway, and it was a new day to start-off.

We spent the morning inside Pusan National University, and took some easy strolls. We chose to check the place out, for we were hoping to do a little shopping around the area. Fashion stores have always been friendlier to students in the universities, so there was no way that shops won’t teem around. We arrived too early though, and there were hardly open stores at 10am. Anyway, the wide façade of the university entertained us enough. The thought of going back to school then came into mind, but after ten seconds I thought how my forehead won’t be able to accommodate more pimple scars from the stress of further learning.

Campus Map Wide Campus Facade University Mall

The rest of the afternoon was spent in an underground shopping alley in Nampo-dong and another (of the many, many) Lotte department store in the said area. Normally, I won’t be able buy anything inside a Lotte or Shinsegae or Hyundai mall. Fortunately, I caught on some pretty good deals and swiped my card out of it.

The bargains are usually in the underground alleys but the quality and designs in Busan’s Nampo-dong paled compared to Seoul’s Express Bus Terminal or Yeongdeungpo markets. I was not able to snatch anything to buy. Haaaaaaay.

My friend and I then let the whole afternoon pass by in a coffee shop and did some talking. By 6pm, we had to go on separate ways so she could catch her train to Seoul at 6:15pm. I was pretty much on my own by then. I decided to go for some more strolls and caught on these:

Lotte Town Facade

Random Quote on Some Street Wall 
Cool car, eh? Street Signs in Busan

The Grasshopper Building

Phoenix Hotel, Nampo-dong area

At 7:00pm, I felt the need to send myself to the Gimhae International Airport, so that I could meet my sister and hand her clothes that she could use. Her time of arrival was at 8:00pm. The airport limousine bus stop in Nampo-dong has unfortunately moved to I don’t know where so I ended up taking a cab for a faster ride. Cab fare from Nampo-dong to Gimhae was 13,500 won.

I was already talking to Alice, a Korean student exchange participant, and my sister’s foster sister at that, while inside the taxi. She sounded so friendly over the phone that I removed all the uneasiness of hitching to the official welcome of the Korean high school who will receive the Philippine delegation that includes my sister.

At nine in the evening, the delegates has finally gone out and was welcomed excitedly by the Korean high school students. My sister got to meet her foster family (Alice’s parents and younger brother), and I got to introduce myself to them, too. On their way back to their house around the Haeundae Beach area, they dropped me off to Busan Station, just in time for my 11pm travel back to Seoul.

Tiring as it may sound, the whole day was all worth-it.