Dynamic Busan!

Busan, South Korea. What a beautiful place! It's the second largest city in South Korea with a population of 3.6 million. Also known as Pusan. The correct pronunciation sounds like a cross between a 'B' and 'P', hence the multiple spellings. It is also the fifth largest port in the world, and after seeing that port I can't imagine what the largest looks like! There were hundreds of ships in port and waiting to come in to port. It also has the world's largest department store, Shinsegae, which we went to and I don't quite fully understand how it was different from a mall. There is a Sky Park on the top, with some awesome night views of the city. We spent 3 days there & I don't know where to start. I suppose I'll follow logic and start at the beginning.

Here we are on the train. It's pretty comfortable. The seats swivel around so we can all face each other. There is a refreshment car but it was closed on this train ride for some reason. It takes a little longer to get somewhere by train than car because of all the station stops, but it's convenient and cheap. Four tickets cost about 25 USD. We don't have to buy tickets for the girls but we do anyway so we can be sure to have the space! Otherwise they have to sit in our lap if the seat is taken.
Here are a couple random pictures from the train ride of the countryside.

South Korea is one long mountain range. They're not towering peaks, more like graceful rolling hills. I will miss the view when we leave. It makes driving anywhere a sightseeing adventure in itself.

So we made it to Busan, and the train station was overwhelming! It was larger than many regional airports in the US. There were many restaurants & little shops/kiosks inside to while away your time before your train. We spent a fair amount in a Dunkin Donuts before we left! We took a taxi to the hotel I had picked out, until they told us the price. So I had to call a friend from Busan who was able to recommend a well priced hotel. It was great, and they gave us a military discount. Yeah, shocked me too. Here is the view from our room. (It was better in person!) We were on the 19th floor and the window would only open about 5 inches, so I had to wedge the camera lens out the crack to get a clear picture; hence the odd angle of the picture.


After checking in the hotel we got on a hop on/off bus tour & saw a few tourist attractions around the city. The Modern Art Museum, where they had a Picasso sketch & also one from Renoir, and an interesting exhibit titled "Water Drops". I found it shocking that they had a large humidifier in the center of the gallery. At first I thought maybe it was part of the exhibit, but then determined it wasn't. My oldest really enjoyed the art museum, which I found surprising. We also saw some beautiful views from Yeongdo 75 Square. I've been trying to find out why it has that name, but so far no luck. We also walked along the beach a bit and brought back a sizable portion that I'm sure the maid enjoyed the next day. To complete our day we had dinner at TGIFriday's & it was fabulous. Finding a restaurant you know the menu of brings new meaning to the phrase 'comfort food'. I'm all for trying new things but after so many months the novelty wears off and you just want something recognizable! Although of course they have their cultural variations on the menu as well. For example: kimchi fried rice.

both from Yeongdo 75 Square

The next day we met the aforementioned friend from Busan with her husband and daughter and went to the aquarium. Afterwards they took us to one her favorite restaurants in Busan called VIPs, which is a smorgasbord buffet style place and a Korean chain. Then we all went on walk on a path that goes around Haeundae Beach and past the Nurimaru APEC House, a conference hall. It was a beautiful walk and I could have lingered there all day. It's also a very popular exercise spot with the locals so it was pretty crowded. I got a lot of looks due to my never ending picture taking.

APEC House

Haeundae Beach Lighthouse

I should mention that there is a large, fresh seafood market here as well, Jagalchi Market, which is supposed to be quite the thing to do and they pass out samples of their wares. Yes, still fresh. But honestly I couldn't stomach the thought of walking through row after row of raw fish and the accompanying smell and subsequent shoe mess. So we neglected the cultural aspect in favor of the glitz of tourist attractions. And I don't regret it one bit!

The day we left we went to Chinatown and shopping area for foreigners. It mostly caters to Russians as there is a large Russian population in Busan. We ate lunch at a Chinese restaurant where I had seafood fried rice with real crab meat for 5 bucks. Can't get those prices in good ol' USA!