Happy Halloween from New Zealand! Hope you have a warmish and ghoulish All Hallow's Eve!
Here is my attempt at catching up on the Asian portion of our trip. I apologize for all the blog entries this week but I finally have time to sit down and write! Enjoy!
Last week spent an action packed week in Korea and started in the second biggest city, Busan, with a population of 3.5 million. Its a beautiful town on the southeastern coast of Korea. Let's dive in!
We flew from Osaka, Japan to Busan, Korea on a quick flight. We had the afternoon to ourselves so of course we had to try the local food.
We ate our first Korean meal- BBQ beef with Soju, Cass Beer, and all kinds of side. The waitress was so nice and helpful even though neither of us spoke the same language. The next day we had a full day of adventures planned so we explored a bit more of the city and then got some rest.
Our first activity was the Haeundae Blueline Park Sky Capsule which was so fun! It had a great view of the city and was a fun way to traverse the coast.
View inside the capsule.
View outside of the capsule.
Next stop was the Haedong Yonggungsa Temple. It is along the beautiful shore line and was settled by monks who saw the spot as sacred.
The monks knew what they were doing. The site had other temples, zodiac statues, and other sacred spots to visit.
After the temple, we headed to a Cafe Street called Jeonpo. It is a thriving neighborhood with coffee shops, independent stores, and a craft market.
Later that evening we went to the Bupyeong Market (Tin Can Market) which was full of vendors selling delicious local foods. It was so tasty and busy!
These were Fay's favorite dessert!
There were prepared foods as well as bulk items of fruits, veggies, and fish.
After the long day, we headed back and ate some fried pork that took 2 hours to make at the market because it was so popular. It was deliciously greasy!
The next morning we headed to Gamcheon cultural village. In the 1980's, the whole neighborhood was becoming run down so by the 2000's the city council decided to make it an artists village. There are murals and sculptures everywhere created by the residents. It was spectacular!
There were cool steps and art in the alleyways!
View of the colorful neighborhood!
Everywhere we went was quirky and cool!
Next stop was the Jagalchi Fish market, Korea's largest seafood market. We got to pick out our live seafood on the first floor. Then we headed upstairs to eat it. I loved meeting this sweet octopus but felt bad eating it!
One of the freshest seafood meals we've ever eaten. Fay even tried most of it!
After filling our bellies we checked out Book Street which is a wide lane full of used bookstores. We found all kinds of cool items and Fay bought Harry Potter in English! We figured reading it in Korean would be too hard.
Next stop was Magnate- a cafe owned by the BTS star Jimin's father. Maja is a huge fan so we had to pay homage.
The inside had a huge birthday alter to Jimin who's birthday happened to be that week. His father was super nice and came to our table, shook our hands, and even gave Fay some won. It was so surprising and generous!
We all enjoyed a coffee, tea, and treat at the cafe and Fay felt like a star!
Last stop of the day was the Songdo Marine cable car that provided a beautiful sunset view of Songdo beach and the shoreline of Busan. We had a blast there!
View from the cable car. I wasn't even terrified of the clear bottom floor which was a miraculous scene.
At the top of the cable car there was a suspension bridge with a view of the city.
Afterwards we walked along the shoreline and Fay saw her first in person Mermaid! It was a cool story that went along with it and added to Busan's magic.
After such an amazing few days in Busan, I knew I wanted to come back. The city just had so much good energy, natural beauty, and creativeness that I wanted more.
The next stop is Seoul, the capital and biggest city in Korea! See you there!
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