Korea 10/11 - Busan : Beomeosa Temple, Gamcheon Culture Village, Jagalchi Fish Market, Haeundae Beach

"Train your mind to see the good in every situation"

Day 10 – Saturday, 29 October 2016

Arrived at Busan in early morning at Busan Central Bus Terminal then we walked to Nopo Station. We bought Metro Busan Subway Day Pass which valid for one day and is a good way to save your transportation cost, bought at Ticket Vending Machine, KRW 4,500/person.

From Nopo Station we went to Boemnageol Station and so glad we don’t need to transfer since we got many stuff to bring at that time, especially our shopping haul kkk xDD. We stayed at Kimchee Busan Guesthouse and since it’s still early morning and we couldn’t check in, since no one there in receptionist. So we just left a note and put our bags there near receptionist after took a shower and get ready to explore Busan on that day. And also we glad since our guest house is really close with subway station :)

Our first destination is Beomeosa Temple which actually located near Nopo Station, the station where we got off this morning but since we thought we need to put our bags first at guest house so we decided to going back and forth rather than being exhausted. Arrived at Nopo Station and walking to public bus terminal and took the Bus No. 90 to Beomeosa Temple (KRW 1,200), the journey took about 35 minutes and once you alight from the bus, you need to going uphill. You can pay the bus fee with T-Money too and you can also recharge at Nopo Station.

Beomeosa Temple, located at the edge of Mt. Geumjeongsan, famous mountain in Busan. It’s free to enter this temple. We decided to visit at least a temple in Busan and according to our itinerary which day trip only in Busan we choose this temple since the one that usually people will recommend was pretty far, called Haedong Yonggungsa. At Beomeosa Temple you can have a Temple Stay experience there, the cost for 2 days 1 night program with foreigners is KRW 50,000 for adults.

Next place is Gamcheon Culture Village, one of favorite destinations in Busan. Heading back to Nopo Station by Bus No. 90 and took subway to Toseong Station, Exit 6 and take local Bus (minivan looks alike), KRW 1,200, Saha 1-1, Seogu 2 or Seogu 2-2 to Gamcheon Culture Village at top of the hill/Elementary School Bus Stop. Or just ask people around you which bus heading to Gamcheon Culture Village.

Alight from minivan and you can already see the colorful rooftop that made this place so famous with. This area was seems like Ihwa Mural Village but bit larger. Have fun strolling around, there are so many spots to take pictures, mural is everywhere, it was pretty crowded at Gamcheon Culture Village. My favorite spots are the Angelic Wings and Fish :) We spent there around an hour to stroll around before off to Jagalchi Fish Market.

We took local bus from there to Jagalchi Fish Market, we asked people around what bus to Jagalchi Fish Market. And here we are at biggest Fish Market in Busan :) it’s definitely very big. Behind the Jagalchi Market, you can see the sea, since it’s located near the seashore and relaxing there, I spotted Lotte Department Store there but seems too far to reach it by walking. Wander around there and we also got a chance to try Fried Octopus which is our first time eating it and it seems scary since it’s still moving. We asked for KRW10,000 worthed, so we only got a small plate and we only want to taste it. The taste was good but bit challenging, since it would stick bit in your tongue and you need to bite it as soon as it came into your mouth.

From there we were going to BIFF Street by walking, and it looks interesting to wander around, many shops there, you can also find underground shopping under Jagalchi, we just keep walking until we found another destination, Busan Tower and Yongdusan Park. Around Busan Tower there was an event happening there, it’s like traditional music performance and so many especiall old people gather there, around the park you can also find people playing Baduk, I know Baduk because I watched Korean Drama Reply 1988 :D it’s almost same like Chess games.

I got a nice red sweater there at the Market, only for KRW 10,000. It’s really nice to wander there and I love it. When we found Uniqlo, we can’t go without get in there, haha, seems like habit in Japan. I also got a simple yet cool backpack and so cheap KRW 10,000, the brand ambassador is Song Joongki at that time, Top10.

It’s almost late already so we decided to go to next place, on that day we walked very much so tiring but exciting. Head off to Haeundae Beach, it’s quite far from where we are now. It’s dark already when we arrived there, we were shortened cash so we look for ATM and withdraw our money from there, some ATM won’t work and we found Lotte ATM, and it worked. Haha I laugh myself off since it’s always Lotte not only in Jakarta but also in Korea ^^;;

I never imagine a beach at night will be that interesting, so many people there with their own activities. It’s not that dark because the lights are on in the beach and there were some activities like Dance Battle for whoever wants to show off their dancing skills, or singing? Just do it and have fun! I am having fun by watching it and also there were some people doing fire breathing attractions. We sit there for a moment and then go back to guest house, we decided not to go to Gwangli Beach on that night because Gwangli Beach is bit too far and prefer to go back to guest house.

We slept during our way on Subway, it took a long time to arrive. Once we arrived, we took a shower and we were planning to wander around guest house. Walking from guest house and we were hungry, my friend wants to try eating Mandu, the one that Song Triplets eat so many time and they look so enjoying eating that including their dad haha xDD.

It’s night already so once we came there, the employee of that restaurant told us they will closed very soon so they couldn’t take guest anymore. We told him we only want Mandu and can we just take away? And they said OK, we had Steam Mandu, KRW 4,000 for 8 pcs. We sit there in front of the restaurant, waiting our Mandu and we ate there, so delicious :) :) especially in cold weather at night like that.

From there we just wander around that area, we asked if there is some restaurant open and we just followed his directions and finally we arrived into an alley where some restarurants are still open and it was pretty crowded with people along the way, we also found stall (tent) where we saw in the drama so we decided to gice it a try. In 2012 I already want to try this kind of stall but I haven’t yet so yayy! Another bucket list in Korea checked this time :) We ordered a bottle of Soju and Blood Cockle and the cost pretty expensive for Blood Cockle especially, Soju KRW 4,000 and Blood Cockle KRW 13,000. We ate there and then back to our guesthouse, we back to guesthouse around 1 AM, pretty late yet had a fun night at Busan, my last night :)