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Showing posts with label Busan. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Busan. Show all posts
Grant's last weekend
I decided that Grant's last weekend in Korea could not be spent merely lounging about and we decided to take advantage of my two days off and head to Busan on Friday morning. Still reeling from my failure as a tour-guide in Seoul, I was determined to do a better job in Busan. Though I had been there twice before, I had never really taken in some of the more popular sights, opting instead for relaxing on the beach and looking at fish. This time, I decided, I was going to do Busan differently. I wanted Grant to walk away from Busan with something more than just a suntan and a lingering scent of fish. I wanted him to leave feeling that he had accomplished something or seen something special. And so we arrived in Busan late Friday afternoon and our adventure began.


First on the list was finding some accommodation, and after my last stay I knew exactly where I wanted to go. We made our way to the rather luxurious Dejavu Hotel and spent a good half an hour soaking in the air conditioning, queen sized bed, giant TV and double bath before heading out to our real first stop (in terms of my tour-guide responsibilities) - Gwangalli Beach.
"Hold on a minute," you may be thinking to yourselves. "We thought you wanted him to leave with more than just a tan."
The beach, while quite lovely, was not the reason for our visit to the area. From the beach front, there is a beautiful view of Gwangan "Diamond" Bridge, nicknamed Diamond Bridge because of the way that it lights up at night with shimmering lights in ever-changing colours. There is also a wonderful view from the beach front of what I assume was Haeundai (the other beach area) which was lit up like Vegas with neon lights showering every building and what I was determined (but Grant didn't believe) was a Ferris Wheel doing the rounds. The Gwangalli Beach area is also, according to some friends of mine, the best place in Busan for restaurants, clubs and pubs. And so we walked along the beach front, took in some wonderful views, some decent Italian food and wandered the side-streets lined with pebbled and lit-up gutters (they looked more like beautiful streams than anything else) before heading back to the hotel nice and early - we were tired out from the bus ride and the walking and had a long day ahead of us, after all!

Waking up at eight o'clock on Saturday took a ridiculous amount of effort. I think that I have become far too comfortable sleeping in over the last month and am not used to early morning wake-ups anymore. But eight o'clock it had to be if we were going to fit everything in! Though the first stop of the day was supposed to be the Forty Steps (or the Sa-ship Gyedan in Korean), on exiting the subway, I discovered that the directions I had looked up were wrong. We quickly found a map of the area and discovered that we were in fact far closer to what was supposed to be our second stop, Busan Tower, so we decided to make our way there instead. After climbing a steep hill and many a step, we found ourselves at the bottom of the tower, sweating profusely despite our showers ten minutes earlier thanks to the ridiculous heat and humidity. We walked into the air conditioned building and elevatored up 120 meters to the top of the tower where we were delighted to find not only wonderful views of the city, but also a stronger air conditioner - I don't quite know which we were happier about. After taking in the view and the icy coldness for as long as we dared, we made our way back to the park surrounding the tower, where I played a traditional Korean throwing game before we decided to try and find the Forty Steps once more.


The Forty Steps were not easy to find. We wandered down the streets, my wonderful Busan map in hand, getting thoroughly lost until a Korean man approached us and walked us in the right direction. The Forty Steps and the area surrounding it were renovated a number of years ago and restored to the condition they were in after the Korean War. This basically means that the streets are cobbled rather than tarred, the lamposts are wooden and there are a number of bronze statues scattered about the area. While the history surrounding the area was certainly interesting, the area itself was rather boring and so, after a photo-opportunity on the steps and a stop into the nearby (air conditioned) convenience store for a drink, we made our way to the next area.


Next on our list was supposed to be a famous Korean market place that stretched from Napo-dong subway station to the fish market in Jagalchi, but we opted out of it because of the heat and decided to make our way straight to the fish market by subway. After a brief break from the schedule for a non-fishy lunch, we made our way into the market place and were surrounded by all the different fishes in bowls and tanks, alive and dried, all waiting to be sold. We did some looking around and had just made our way into the restaurant area to do some more looking when one of the fish tried to make its untimely escape. It was quickly caught, of course, and the man who caught it held it up for us, a gleam in his eye, asking if we wanted to try it. It would be an experience, we decided, and the fish had obviously chosen us. We would do it. We sat down at the table and were brought the side-dishes while the fish was being prepared for our consumption. As the fresh sashimi was placed on our table, we suddenly realised that neither of us had bothered to ask how much it was going to cost. We shrugged the thought aside though, figuring that a couple of pieces of sushi couldn't be that much, and even if it was a little more than it was worth, it was still an experience worth paying for. We made our way through the sashimi, which I wasn't too fond of, and got up to pay.
"Aniyo," the man bellowed, gesturing for us to sit down.
"Oh my God," I whispered. "There's more."
The horror in Grant's eyes showed me that he felt the same way. We were both stuffed! We hadn't anticipated this meal and had already eaten a full lunch before hand. Plus, more meant that it was going to be more expensive! But what could we do? We didn't want to offend the man who had gone through so much effort to prepare the dish and we didn't want the fish to have been killed for nothing. We sat back down and waited, our stomachs moaning as we tried to squeeze everything down to make room for more. The next course came, this one far more to my taste than the overly-chewy sashimi, and together we managed to eat our way through a little more than half of it before giving in to our complaining stomachs and getting up to pay the bill, which ended up being double what we had expected. Kicking ourselves, we made our way a little further down the fish market before deciding that neither of us wanted to look at another fish and heading towards the harbour.


Taejongdae was our next destination with its fairly easy hiking trails and its wonderful view - on a clear day, it is said that you can see one of the Japanese islands from the Observatory. But after looking at the map and realising how long it would take us to get there, thinking of our already aching feet and imagining how sweaty we would be by the end of it, we decided that walking there was not an option. Instead, we decided to take a ferry around the island and take in the views from the sea. And so we made our way to the harbour and bought ourselves a couple of tickets for the ferry that traveled between Napo-dong and Haeundai Beach. As we were waiting to board the ferry, we made a new friend, Mr Lee, who started talking to us in fairly good English about our jobs, South Africa, the weather, baseball and any other subject that came to mind. He became fast friends with Grant, and messaged baseball caps, baseballs and ten rand notes were passed between them before the trip was over. I got to see Taejongdae from the boat as I had hoped, though the smog prevented us from seeing the Japanese island, and the other side of Gwangan Bridge (it was indeed a Ferris Wheel that I had seen the night before) as well as numerous other sights including lighthouses and scenic views of the city before we came to a stop at Haeundai Beach and made an unplanned stop at the aquarium. After wandering around there for a couple of hours, we made our way back to the hotel for a brief freshen up before heading out for a night on the town.


We had done our research and had decided that Seomyeon was where it was happening in terms of Western bars. We even found one that sounded decent for dinner and wrote down the directions, expecting someone there to tell us the best place to go next. We arrived outside O'Briens only to find it deserted. O'Briens, it turned out, had moved. We started walking around, but quickly got lost in the maze of skyscrapers and could find no Western Bars and, worse still, no restaurants. By 10pm we had just about given up, when I spotted a pub in the distance that looked vaguely decent, but by the time we were finished eating, neither of us was in much of a partying mood, so we made our way back to the hotel once again for an early night.


Sunday morning started with a phonecall from one of my friends who never stops talking, and so by the time I hung up the phone, it was 9:30, an hour later than we had intended to wake up and half an hour before we were supposed to check out. We bundled up our belongings as quickly as we could, throwing a number of things into my handbag much to my shoulder's dismay, and were out by 10:30, a little later than we would have liked but not too disastrous. With our backpacks safely stored in a locker at the subway station, we made our way to our last destination - Haedong Yong-gungsa, a Korean temple that is uniquely located next to the sea. It would be my first temple visit, and I was my usual trigger-happy self, dying to capture as many pictures as I could. Unfortunately, we had limited space on the memory card, and I was only allowed 150 photos - a limit that weighed on my shoulders with every squeeze of the trigger and twist of the focus. It may seem like a lot, but consider that in one day I took 450 photos. That should tell you just how much of a limit 150 placed on me. Even though I had been told that there were better temples to visit, once we arrived and were greeted by the calming sound of the waves and the beautiful statues, shrines and buildings, I was immediately reassured that this was the right place for my first temple visit. We strolled between the statues, me clicking away of course, had our pictures taken beside the giant golden Buddha, rubbed the stone Buddha's belly for luck and thew coins from a bridge, aiming at the bowls that some of the statues held. Grant and I have different interpretations about what the bowls mean - I believe that each statue had a specific significance (health, wealth, happiness, etc.), and if you hit the one that you were aiming for, you would be granted luck in all of your future endeavours of that kind; Grant believes that if you get the coin in any bowl, you can make a wish - but whatever the symbolism behind the act was, it was interesting and fun, and the Koreans had a good time watching us attempt it. We then caught a taxi to the nearest subway station, went and got our bags and headed to the bus station, getting the soonest bus we could. The bus ride back was also an interesting one, as Grant made another Korean friend. The man sitting next to us, who we later came to know as Kim Eung-jo, started chatting away, practicing his broken English, and I became the translator converting his broken English into something that Grant would understand. And so we arrived back in Cheongju with bags fuller than we had left with, experiences under our belts and two new Korean friends.

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Busan
So, when I was going over my Bucket List last week, I noticed that I was missing a couple of posts that I had totally intended to write and never got around to. One that I was particularly sad about was my trip to Busan. I started writing a ridiculously long blogpost about it, but gave up on it when I realised that it was too long for anyone to want to read it. So, I have decided to reminisce and tell you about the different things that you can do when you are in Busan. I will tell you about what I did during my three visits to my favourite city in Korea, where I stayed, how I travelled (and the problems with each method) and what I was disappointed to not be able to do. If that last sentence makes no sense at all, you have to excuse me. I have clearly been in Korea for too long.

WHERE TO STAY
I have been to Busan three times during my year in Korea and have stayed in two motels. I will tell you about my experiences at each hotel and why I chose to stay at one of them twice.

Botel - I stayed in the Boatel in Haeundae on my first visit to Busan over Buddha's Birthday. The room was lovely and spacious with a king-sized bed, a jacuzzi tub, a large TV and a computer. Our first impression of the room was fantastic and we weren't too concerned about forking over 60,000 won per room - it was a price to pay for luxury, or so we thought. I quickly learned that the sink leaked and got lost during my stay trying to find the motel in the maze of sidestreets the surrounded it. It was convenient that the motel was located in Haeundae which was exactly where we wanted to be for our three day stay, but it also meant that finding our way around the rest of the city was a little difficult as the subway line that Haeundae is on is separate from the others.

Dejavu - On my second visit to Busan, I left my accomodation to chance, deciding to see what I could find when I got there, and I ended up staying at the Dejavu motel. I found the motel purely by chance and, as I didn't want to pay too much, was fine with a 45,000 won room. On arrival in the room itself, I was thoroughly impressed - a king sized bed, a giant TV, a computer, a two-person bathtub and a sauna-shower lay in wait, dying to be used. The motel was also very conveniently placed for exploring the city - it is close to Yeonsan-dong subway station which connects to two of the three lines that you might want to travel on. Being in site of the subway station, I had no problem with getting lost this time, and I had no other problems at the motel, so I chose to stay here on my third visit to the city. The second time around, the computer in our room had no internet access but, on telling the staff, we were quickly moved to another room that did. All-in-all, I would highly recommend this motel to anyone wanting to visit Busan.

TRAVELLING
There are three ways to travel around Busan (aside from walking, of course): Subway, Taxi and Bus. I will tell you my experiences using each of these methods of transport.

Subway - Like Seoul, Busan has it's own subway system, and I found Busan's version a lot easier to navigate than the Seoul equivalent. That Busan is smaller obviously affects the subway and how many stations need to be placed throughout the city and how many lines need to connect them, but I still found the subway journey to be far more comfortable in Busan. There weren't as many people, there weren't as many changes, and it was easy to find the station that you needed to get off at without being confuzzled by a jumble of letters strewn across a delicate map of coloured lines.

Taxi - I struggled with taxis more in Busan than I have struggled anywhere else. Apparently the accent in Busan is different from the other Korean accents, and they found my attempts at Korean more difficult to understand than usual. This was most noticable on my first visit to Busan when I tried to get a taxi back to my motel at 3am. I knew how to get there from the Haeundae subway station, and directed the taxi to take me there. Before I knew it, I had arrived at Haeundae bus station. This wasn't right!
"Haeundae subway?"
"??"
"Haeundae metro?"
"Opsseyo."
According to my taxi driver, there was no Haeundae subway station. I ended up rattling off every Western restaurant that I had seen along the beach-front near my hotel and finally wound up saying "aquarium", which he thankfully understood. He took me to the aquarium and was kind enough to give me a discount on the taxi charge because of the miscommunication, which I thought was very nice of him, but needless to say, this was not a particularly good taxi experience for me. This also happened to be the night that I got lost by the way - trying to find my way back to the Botel proved more difficult than I had imagined, and even when I could see the motel rising in the distance, I still got lost along the sidestreets trying to find my way to it. Epic fail.

Bus - I have yet to ride a bus in Busan. I was supposed to ride a bus during my third visit there in order to get to Taejongdae, but this ended up being an absolute fail. This was purely because I couldn't find the bus stop! I knew the bus that I was supposed to climb on, I knew the road that it was supposed to drive on, but finding a bus stop was an absolute fail, and as I was tired from walking around all day and sweating profusely from the heat, my quest was not long-lived. So I cannot really tell you what riding the bus in Busan is like, but I can tell you it's difficult to get on one.

WHAT TO SEE AND DO
Busan is a pretty big city, and even after going there three times, I still haven't been able to do everything that I wanted to. But here is a list of things that you can see and do in Busan.

Busan Tower - The most obvious stop during any trip to Busan, the tower has spectacular views of every area of the city. 120m high, the building is air-conditioned (a huge relief during the summer months) and there is a marketplace on the ground floor selling touristy bits and bobs for reasonable prices - a great place to look for gifts for your return trip home. Outside the tower are a few traditional Korean games that you can play and two convenience stores. The tower is situated in the middle of a park which looked rather lovely, and if you have the time I would recommend walking through it. I, however, did not, and therefore cannot give too much advise on this matter.

Fee: Around 4,000 won
Subway station: Nampo-dong (do not confuse with Napo-dong)

Forty Steps - The 40 steps or "sa-ship gyedan" is an area in Busan that was restored to it's post-Korean war state. What this basically means is that the streets are cobbled, the streetlights are wooden and there are statues spread throughout the few blocks that are included in this area. I didn't find the area to be too interesting, but there was a museum and there were a couple of statues that allowed for some good photo opportunities, so I would recommed making a short stop here, especially as it is a short walk from Busan Tower. If you are walking to the 40 steps, it can be rather confusing and difficult to find. If you get off at the right subway exit, it is right in front of you

Fee: Free
Subway station: Jungang-dong, exit 13.

Jagalchi Fish Market - Though I will admit to not being fond of the idea of a market entirely revolving around the selling of fish, I will admit to finding this market place absolutely fascinating. There are fish that you will never have seen before in your life, fish of all shapes and forms and in all stages of being cooked and eaten, and once again it is a perfect photo opportunity. I liked the area so much and had so much fun that I ended up going there twice! Also, contrary to my expectations, the area did not smell particularly fishy, and that was a rather pleasant surprise. If you are hungry, there is a restaurant that serves all the fish that you see in the market and you can pick one out for yourself. Be careful to ask for a price though, as you do not want to be surprised later.

Fee: Free (unless you eat lunch)
Subway station: Jagalchi

Ferry from Napo-dong to Haeundae - If you are tired after a day of running around and just want to relax for awhile but still take in the sites and sounds of Busan, I would recommend taking a ferry. Ferries run between Napo-dong (in walking distance of Jagalchi Fish Market, 40 Steps and Busan Tower) and Haeundae beach on a regular basis. The ferry terminals can be difficult to find, but a taxi should be able to take you there if need be. I would not recommend walking, as it is very easy to get lost.

Fee: 80,000 for an hour and a half trip to the opposite ferry station or 120,000 for a round trip ending at the same ferry station.

Haeundae - Haeundae Beach is a very popular area in Busan and one of the main reasons for visiting the city. In summer, it is difficult to find a place on the packed beach and restaurants along the beach front are crowded. It is possible to rent a jet ski or go on a banana boat ride from the ferry terminal, and there is a busy nightlife if that is your scene.

Haeundae Aquarium - Located on the Haeundae beach front, the aquarium is quite unique in that it is located almost entirely underground. Though it does not really compare to the Two Oceans Aquarium in Cape Town, it is still a fun activity to do while in Busan and a fun way to spend a couple of hours. They also offer shark dives if that is your kind of thing.

Fee: 22,000 with extra costs for things like shark dives or a 3D movie experience.
Subway station: Haeundae

Rock n Roll Bar - also located on the beach front, this bar which serves mediocre Mexican food and cheap cocktails also has a spectacular view of the city. I would recommend paying a visit to the bar at night when the city lights are shining away.
Fee: 3,000 won and up for cocktails; around 8,000 for a meal.
Subway station: Haeundae

Yong-gunsa Temple - A uniquely located temple that overlooks the sea. Most temples in Korea are situated in the mountains and require a hike to get to them. Yong-gunsa is not one of these temples, and is the only temple in Korea to be located along a coastline. This provides beautiful, scenic views and a wonderful sense of calm. The temple itself can get fairly busy, so I would recommend visiting it early in the morning before the crowds start arriving. There is no subway nearby, so your best bet would be getting a subway to Jangsan station and finding a taxi there to take you to the temple itself.

Fee: Free, though you might want to contribute a donation
Subway station: Jangsan and taxi-it-up the rest of the way.

Gwangan "Diamond" Bridge - Easily seen from Gwangalli beach, this bridge is nicknamed the "Diamond" bridge because of the way that it lights up at night. This is definitely an area that you want to visit at nighttime, as it is not nearly as beautiful during the day. Gwangalli beach is smaller and less popular than Haeundae, but the view of the bridge at night is a must-see in my opinion. There are also a number of good bars and restaurants along the beachfront, many of which are Western oriented and tourist-friendly. I have it on good authority that this is the place to go if you want to go out in Busan.

Fee: Free
Subway station: Geumnyeonsan

Museum of Modern Art - If art and sophistication are your kind of thing, then you may want to pay a visit to Busan's Museum of Modern Art. They often have special exhibits that you can pay a little extra to visit, however I did not opt to do this on my visit. Instead, I walked around the museum taking in the artwork and it was a calming way to spend an hour or two of the afternoon.

Fee: Around 7,000 won
Subway station: Busan Museum of Modern Art

China Town - Also known as Choryang Foreigner Shopping Area, this area is filled with authentic Chinese restaurants and restored houses that hold hidden treasures of books and ornaments. This China-town is also a bit of a Russia-town, and the other foreigners that you find here will usually be Russian or speak Russian-tainted English. There are statues and lanterns spread around the area and it is rather picturesque, so once again, I would recommend making a stop here.

Fee: Free
Subway station: Busan Station

WHAT I WOULD HAVE LIKED TO SEE
As I said earlier, even three visits is not enough to see everything that there is in Busan and there were a few things that I would have liked to see and experience that I didn't get the chance to. Here are some of them:

Shinsegae - Busan houses the largest department store in the world, and I would have liked to visit that even if it was just to have my photo taken outside of it. Unfortunately, time was of the essence and I did not have a chance to visit the store or even have my picture taken. Boo.

Pusan International Film Festival - An annual event, this film festival attracts foreigners from around Korea to participate in the festival which is often marked by a spectacular fireforks display.

Napo-dong market - Me and my shopping, right? Well this market is located between Busan Tower and Jagalchi Fish Market, so if it isn't too hot and you can muster up the energy, I would recommend walking through it rather than taking the subway between the two places. Unfortunately, the day that I visited Busan Tower was just too hot, and we opted for the air-conditioning over the shopping.

Taejongdae - This area is supposed to house easy hiking trails and spectacular views. It is said that on a clear day you can see one of the Japanese islands from the Observatory. There is also a great view from Suicide Rocks which is protected by a giant statue of a woman who is supposed to represent a mother to prevent people from jumping to their choppy deaths into the sea below.

And so, that is Busan. If you are thinking of visiting the city and would like some more information about it, read this personal account of one of my weekends there, or feel free to ask questions in the comments.
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Dr Fish
I first heard about Dr Fish two months ago on my first trip to Busan with some friends of mine. We had made our way to the coast to celebrate the three day weekend thanks to the celebration of Buddha's birthday. It was the first real summer weekend, and we were all looking forward to some quality tanning time. We arrived on the Friday afternoon and spent a couple of hours on the beach. I even braved the icy water before heading back to the group and warming back up on the sand. It was a glorious day. It was the only one. That night it started to rain, and it didn't stop all weekend. This put a serious damper on our plans to hike up to the temple. What were we going to do?

Kathryn mentioned it. She had read something about it in a blog on Busan and thought that it sounded interesting. I happened to agree. Having the dead skin cells of your feet sucked off by fish. It's not really something that you do every day. It's a story. An adventure. Something to write home about. But alas, the others were not quite as keen, and though Kathryn and I did keep an eye out for it on our minimal travellings, we were at a loss. We left Busan that Sunday with a day of sunshine and a night of partying under our belts and bags pull of soggy clothing on our bags.

This weekend I returned to Busan, and one of the first things that popped into my head when Zach asked me what I wanted to do was that I wanted to find Dr Fish. It turned out that Zach had also heard about this phenomenon and was equally intrigued. And so we did some research on Saturday morning (after a night of good food and slight tipsiness) and found out that there were two Dr Fish's in the area - one near the Kyungsung University subway station and the other near the Seomyeon subway station. Being closer to the Seomyeon station, we made our way there first.

"It's around the Judies Taehwa, I think on the same street as the burger king and the arcade with the lights in the sidewalk. It's on the third floor of the building, but I think they keep a sign on street level."

These were the directions that we found to the Dr Fish in Seomyeon. It sounded simple enough. Find the Burger King, and we would be set! We found the Burger King subway exit, and felt like we were really getting somewhere. We got onto the street and looked around us, expecting it to be right there. It wasn't. We walked around for a good ten minutes before actually finding the Judies Taehwa (skillfully spotted down an alley by myself) and quickly found the Burger King and arcade after that. But alas, no Dr Fish sign could be found. We looked at the third floors of the buildings all around us, looked at eye-level for a sign, walked around the block because maybe it was in a building nearby and eventually gave in to asking for directions. But alas, there was no Dr Fish in Seomyeon, at least as far as any of the people that we asked were concerned. We weren't deterred though. So the one in Seomyeon had probably closed. There was still another that we could go to.

"It's part of a new cafe replacing a Chinese fusion place, 2nd floor above NongHyup Bank, right across from Spark and Kyungsung entrance...called Dr. Fishfeet or something along those lines."

The directions to the second Dr Fish sounded far more promising, and so we headed slightly off the beaten path to Kyungsung to try again. We spotted the NongHyup on the map without too much trouble and headed towards the correct subway exit, filled with hope, our feet tingling for some fishy nibbles (well, I can't speak for Zach's feet. Only my own.) But alas once more! On arriving at the NongHyup and looking towards the second floor, we discovered that the Chinese fusion restaurant had been replaced by an Italian one. No Dr Fish for us.

With all hope gone, there was a sense of disappointment lingering in the air. No Dr Fish. No relaxing foot therapy. Sadness. But instead of wallowing in our sadness, we decided to check out the famous Jagalchi Fish Market - we were in a fishy mood after all! And so we made our way to Jagalchi and walked along streets filled with every kind of fish imaginable, and even some that aren't. My favourites were probably the orange, whiskered fish with the brilliant green and blue fins.

The rest of the day was spent wandering around Busan and visiting Chinatown and Haeyundai. While both were good fun, I think it was the fishy part of the weekend that I enjoyed the most. Here are some fishy photos so that you too can indulge in the fishiness of Busan in a small way.


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