The Scoben Takes South Korea - Day 2
At the point of finishing this entry, Naela is already 2 months from older from our Korean Trip. Sigh
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We had rented a car for our journey to Seoul, as advised by Tom. The other option for the Seoul's trip would be via the Korea High Speed Train (KTX). However, Tom said it would be too expensive for our family and it made more sense to travel by car instead. Well, we like the idea of a roadtrip so we took it. That way you get to enjoy another side of your Korean journey which will not be possible if you use other means. The suggestion made sense, but what made it more sense was that it was in view that it will ease my parents' traveling at least. Less walk for them, less things to lug around, more comfy seat. Well in fact, a lot of our travel arrangement was catered for them. We toned down a lot for them. The best way to travel if you have senior citizen with you, is of course via travel agents. But, travel agents is not really our thing. Plus you can save a lot of money if you plan your travel yourself. And for me it's much more fun. The travel preparation is fun. It's a lot of work, but it's fun.
We had planned for the Busan trip on the 2nd day. We decided to rent the car even for the Busan trip as well. Bus to Busan from Okpo will be every hourly, so it would give us less flexibility. With 2 senior citizen, and 4 small kids to tow, that wouldn't be easy.
Our first journey was to the Gamcheon Cultural Village. The day started quite late, cos u know, 4 kids in tow and whatnots. We reached there around 11 plus. That left us with very limited time to spare there. It is however, one of the major attraction in Busan. It's even in the list of the Travel Agent's itinerary in Busan. The village is very much an art village where people share their arts and stuff. We would have enjoyed it more had we had the chance to explore it further.
We had nasi goreng for breakfast, and since there was some leftover, we brought it along. Before the first venue was done, the kids were already screaming for food. I was very skeptical on buying the street food. Not only that we were lost in translation with the seller, we had no way to find out what's in that. Lucky we have Tom around, so he kind of sanctify what's OK and what's not. So we had some kind of Korean apam balik, only difference was the nuts. . They use luxurious nuts like almonds walnuts and the likes. And since then, we were a fan of the street food. Well, when in Korea, you must do like a Korean right.
The journey back was climbing uphill. so both my parents were quite troubled with it. My father was a tough lot but my mother was not so much. They may have the energy, but they may not have that much leg and knee strength. And Korea is known for its multiple flight of stairs and unforgiving hills. They love their Mother Earth and would preserve where they can. So Hills would be retained in its original condition as much as they can. Hence the roller coaster ride everywhere, and some sort of trouble for elder of people and children. My children are tough lots. These were certainly nothing for them.
The next stop was the Jagalchi Fish Market. This I think, kind of what Busan is most famous for. It was indeed very big. For the non-Seafood lover like us, it was just a feast to the eyes. As for Mr Hubs, anything with shells is not very much his thing, except prawns. Well prawn is very much liked by all his family members. They have this kind of thing with prawns. They get fascinated with prawns and will always get bright eyed. And Jagalchi had a lot of things. Almost like you are going diving, snorkeling or underwater there. You can even eat directly there as well. We had a good time there. But time was short so we had to rush.
From there, we headed directly to the Busan International Film Festival the LED Street (BIFF) Square. Below here is a Picture courtesy of Google, just to give a better idea of what it is about. It's basically a street that has garnered visitors to a certain event called 'Ground Opening the BIFF Square'. But there was no event when we there but it got famous due to it and people just come over all year round. Probably because of its vicinity to the Jagalchi, people just pay a visit no matter what and it got famous since then. The street was mainly packed with stalls selling mostly street food stuff. Our particular stall that interest us was the stall by the Indonesian lady. Mee goreng Indonesian was what it was called. Having a stall in South Korea is already a big deal, having it in busan is an even bigger deal. And there was quite a queue there. Even for the locals. Seems like it just did not garnered interest from people like us, but for the locals as well.
We then walked further more onwards and that led us to the Gukje Market. This is kind of the must go budget shopping area in Busan. Namdaemun in Seoul equivalent. We did not buy much, as we did not have much idea what to buy. And I do not fancy the crafts so much. We only bought the Korea legend tshirts for the kids and a tshirt for bibik as the bro in law insisted that it would not get any cheaper anyway in Seoul.
Afterwards, a more upbeat place, the Busan Shopping Street, Gwangbok-ro Culture & Fashion Street. The Myeongdong Street equivalent in Busan. Again, we didn't shop much. We knew we had a long journey ahead of us, so any shopping ideas just didn't come. I had no idea what to look for myself. Stopping and deciding what to buy and hopping around shops will consume too much time. The best was when I saw Charles and Keith. Took a look and nothing much I could buy as there were only winter equivalent items. Skin care shops was of course plenty. But despite that, still did not shop much. Didn't occur to me that I would have to shop, hence my mind was blank on what look for there.
Straight ahead was the Busan Tower of Yongdusan Park. It was quite a distance. But the distance was nothing in that weather. I can last for as long as I can. The concern was more to my parents, especially in reaching the Busan Tower, we had to climb ourselves up. To make things worse, the escalator was not working as well. Lucky only the first few escalators were not working, the rest up to the top was working fine.
The view at the top was spectacular. I love trees in autumn. But come to think of it, who doesn't. Although it was not much, but it was sufficient. Naela was screaming suddenly, off I went, looked for a more secluded spot just to latch on, and had it done. Easy as that. The carrier was so much a saviour. Naela literally cling on me all the time. She sleeps, she drinks. And since she was barely 5 months that time, it was light and very easy to handle. 4 months is such a good travelling time with a baby. This is where we decided to solat as well. We had wudhu' with the freezing water in the toilet, made our way to the back were there were less people, and had our prayer.
The tower is also a love padlock spot as well. Similar to Namsan Park in Seoul. Little did we know that Namsan Park would only be a dream.
There were a lot of elderly there. It was definitely a spot for tourists and the locals. And you seldom see overweight people there. Even the elderly are tough lots. Them being there, already indicated that they are tough lots. Cos it was certainly a climb there. And in order to go back down, there's no other way than the stairs. I really pity my parents there.
Then we started our undulating journey to the Haeundae Beach. It is a must go beach, where major parties is held. Once reach, it was freezing cold, mostly thanks to the strong wind from the sea. My parents couldn't stand it one bit and decided to just stay in the car. Me, with my minimal winter clothing was feeling it as well. Hence the minimal photos taken as it was too freezing to let your hands out in the open. The main destination is of course the Hard Rock Cafe Busan.
On the way back, the kids were certainly enjoying their beach stroll. Qays had left his gloves, so they went back to pick it up, hence he was not seen in the beach photos. I bet it must look much prettier under the sun. The beach is so wide and long, very similar to the Surfer's Paradise in Gold Coast.
---
We had rented a car for our journey to Seoul, as advised by Tom. The other option for the Seoul's trip would be via the Korea High Speed Train (KTX). However, Tom said it would be too expensive for our family and it made more sense to travel by car instead. Well, we like the idea of a roadtrip so we took it. That way you get to enjoy another side of your Korean journey which will not be possible if you use other means. The suggestion made sense, but what made it more sense was that it was in view that it will ease my parents' traveling at least. Less walk for them, less things to lug around, more comfy seat. Well in fact, a lot of our travel arrangement was catered for them. We toned down a lot for them. The best way to travel if you have senior citizen with you, is of course via travel agents. But, travel agents is not really our thing. Plus you can save a lot of money if you plan your travel yourself. And for me it's much more fun. The travel preparation is fun. It's a lot of work, but it's fun.
We had planned for the Busan trip on the 2nd day. We decided to rent the car even for the Busan trip as well. Bus to Busan from Okpo will be every hourly, so it would give us less flexibility. With 2 senior citizen, and 4 small kids to tow, that wouldn't be easy.
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| Tunnel. They have lots of tunnels. And that's the great thing about them. They preserve and love their mother nature so much |
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| Our rented car. Kia Carnival. So spacious and comfy |
Our first journey was to the Gamcheon Cultural Village. The day started quite late, cos u know, 4 kids in tow and whatnots. We reached there around 11 plus. That left us with very limited time to spare there. It is however, one of the major attraction in Busan. It's even in the list of the Travel Agent's itinerary in Busan. The village is very much an art village where people share their arts and stuff. We would have enjoyed it more had we had the chance to explore it further.
We had nasi goreng for breakfast, and since there was some leftover, we brought it along. Before the first venue was done, the kids were already screaming for food. I was very skeptical on buying the street food. Not only that we were lost in translation with the seller, we had no way to find out what's in that. Lucky we have Tom around, so he kind of sanctify what's OK and what's not. So we had some kind of Korean apam balik, only difference was the nuts. . They use luxurious nuts like almonds walnuts and the likes. And since then, we were a fan of the street food. Well, when in Korea, you must do like a Korean right.
The journey back was climbing uphill. so both my parents were quite troubled with it. My father was a tough lot but my mother was not so much. They may have the energy, but they may not have that much leg and knee strength. And Korea is known for its multiple flight of stairs and unforgiving hills. They love their Mother Earth and would preserve where they can. So Hills would be retained in its original condition as much as they can. Hence the roller coaster ride everywhere, and some sort of trouble for elder of people and children. My children are tough lots. These were certainly nothing for them.
Afterwards, a more upbeat place, the Busan Shopping Street, Gwangbok-ro Culture & Fashion Street. The Myeongdong Street equivalent in Busan. Again, we didn't shop much. We knew we had a long journey ahead of us, so any shopping ideas just didn't come. I had no idea what to look for myself. Stopping and deciding what to buy and hopping around shops will consume too much time. The best was when I saw Charles and Keith. Took a look and nothing much I could buy as there were only winter equivalent items. Skin care shops was of course plenty. But despite that, still did not shop much. Didn't occur to me that I would have to shop, hence my mind was blank on what look for there.
Straight ahead was the Busan Tower of Yongdusan Park. It was quite a distance. But the distance was nothing in that weather. I can last for as long as I can. The concern was more to my parents, especially in reaching the Busan Tower, we had to climb ourselves up. To make things worse, the escalator was not working as well. Lucky only the first few escalators were not working, the rest up to the top was working fine.
The view at the top was spectacular. I love trees in autumn. But come to think of it, who doesn't. Although it was not much, but it was sufficient. Naela was screaming suddenly, off I went, looked for a more secluded spot just to latch on, and had it done. Easy as that. The carrier was so much a saviour. Naela literally cling on me all the time. She sleeps, she drinks. And since she was barely 5 months that time, it was light and very easy to handle. 4 months is such a good travelling time with a baby. This is where we decided to solat as well. We had wudhu' with the freezing water in the toilet, made our way to the back were there were less people, and had our prayer.
The tower is also a love padlock spot as well. Similar to Namsan Park in Seoul. Little did we know that Namsan Park would only be a dream.
There were a lot of elderly there. It was definitely a spot for tourists and the locals. And you seldom see overweight people there. Even the elderly are tough lots. Them being there, already indicated that they are tough lots. Cos it was certainly a climb there. And in order to go back down, there's no other way than the stairs. I really pity my parents there.
Once done at the Busan Tower, we headed back to the car, but via train. Maybe we had travelled so much, that going back on foot is certainly out of question.
Then we started our undulating journey to the Haeundae Beach. It is a must go beach, where major parties is held. Once reach, it was freezing cold, mostly thanks to the strong wind from the sea. My parents couldn't stand it one bit and decided to just stay in the car. Me, with my minimal winter clothing was feeling it as well. Hence the minimal photos taken as it was too freezing to let your hands out in the open. The main destination is of course the Hard Rock Cafe Busan.
On the way back, the kids were certainly enjoying their beach stroll. Qays had left his gloves, so they went back to pick it up, hence he was not seen in the beach photos. I bet it must look much prettier under the sun. The beach is so wide and long, very similar to the Surfer's Paradise in Gold Coast.
It was daunting enough to reach the beach, it was an even more daunting task to reach home. We were stuck in weekend traffic. It took us 2.5 hours just to reach home. Everyone was already hungry and cranky. Almost all our snacks were finished. We reached late, tired and had to get ready for our long journey to Seoul the day after.
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