Day 7: Jeju to Busan!
Woke up earlier than usual because we had to catch our flight to Busan, and we finally got to try the free breakfast provided by the guesthouse. Regretted not getting up early the past few days because the breakfast was awesome!
The breakfast area was really cozy, and the owners prepared a table full of items, including homemade marmalade (orange plucked straight from their yard), homemade green tea buns and abalone porridge (my favourite) for the guests.
We arrived at Busan in the afternoon and proceed to check into our guest house. We stayed at Popcorn Hostel (the original), which is just about 5-7min walk to the Haeundae Market. The price was quite reasonable (242000KRW in total for 3 nights). Even though we booked a room for 2, we actually ended up with a family room! So we had a huge queen-size bed and a double decker bed, plus a private bathroom.
Headed over to Haeundae Market, just across the street from Haeundae Beach!
I didn't have a single stick of odeng when we were in Jeju, and that's the first thing I bought at the market! The odeng soup was so much better than the ones in Seoul! It was filled with ingredients, so the soup was really sweet and flavorful, plus it was alot cheaper! Some of the street stalls in seoul charge up to 1000krw per stick, whereas the ones in Busan were at 500krw each. Needless to say, I went back almost every single night to satisfy my odeng craving.
Another popular tourist spot near the beach is the Gukbup Alley, with their signature hot soup. Apparently the 2 most famous restaurants are the ones with yellow sign and red sign. Forgot which one we chose, but I guess any one would be good!
I was under the impression that they serve pork soup, but it turned out to be beef soup, which I don't mind! But poor R had to watch me eat cos he doesn't eat beef. It didn't disappoint though! The soup was really sweet and perfect for the cold weather.
It was already quite dark when we went over to the beach, so we stayed and chilled for awhile before heading back to the hostel.
Of course, since we had to walk pass the market again, we decided to get more odeng for supper!
Day 8: Shinsegae Department Store, Seomyeon, Kyungsung University (KSU)
So our 2nd day in Busan was quite boring, because it started raining early in the afternoon, and there was light drizzle all through out the day.
We started our day at Shinsegae Department Store ( the largest department store in the world according to google) with really nasty and overpriced foodcourt food :( If anyone is traveling to Busan, skip Shinsegae unless you're planning on going to their spaland!
Next on our itinerary was Seomyeon! Pity it was raining, so we couldn't really explore the area. There's a market near the subway, so we took shelter there for awhile!
Day 9: Gamcheon Culture Village
On our last full day in Busan, we visited the highly anticipated Gamcheon Culture Village (also known as the Santorini of the East). Imagine quaint colourful houses littered along the hill side. Got to know of this place through Running Man!
It's actually not that difficult to get there. I found a useful guide here:
Take Subway Line 1 (accessible from Busan Station) to Toseong Station. Come out at Exit 6. You will be facing an intersection. Turn right at the corner and walk straight. You will see a hospital on your right. The bus stop is right in front of the hospital. Take either Bus 2 or 2-2. This will take you to Gamcheon Culture Village at top of the hill.
The bus ride was quite fast, probably took less than 15min?
Once you're in the village, the view is seriously incredible.
I thought it would be quite touristy and crowded, but it wasn't too bad actually! Maybe because we went there quite early on a weekday.
Every single angle is the perfect photo op.
I really like the little doodles in the most inconspicuous places, waiting to be discovered.
Y'know Gamcheon is beautiful. But if my estate was turned into a tourist spot, I think I'll move out lol. I don't think I can stand the sight of strangers constantly wandering outside my house, and i'll be so irritated by the crowd.
Anyway, after that, I had THE BEST Takoyaki in my life. Yes, even better than the ones I had in Japan.
We went back for second serving.
Anyway, the park had rows and rows of cherry blossoms, as you can see.
It's not as crowded as the other 'famous' beaches in Busan and not as touristy. Most of the people there were locals!
That's about it for Busan!
The highlight of Busan was definitely the Gamcheon Culture Village. That place is insanely beautiful. Oh, and the odengs! Busan's odengs are the best. And urm...that's actually about it. Not that Busan is boring! It's definitely different from Jeju and Seoul, but on a whole, I think Jeju and Seoul have more to offer in terms of sight-seeing and doing a bunch of touristy things :)
We headed back to Seoul for our last few days in Korea, which I think I will update in another blog post. But as you can tell, due to procrastination, I have already forgotten quite abit of details lol. Nevertheless, I'm still planning to record whatever I can remember here, just so I can look back and experience the entire trip again.
