In honor of CNBLUE, a band that is closely identified with Busan, I am picking up what is remaining of my South Korea travel posts.
Busan is the second-largest metropolis in South Korea, second only to Seoul. However, when it comes to land area, Busan trumps Seoul, having a land area of 767.35 sq km to the capital city’s 605.21. Anyway, my point is… it’s huge, and we only had a couple of days, tops, to spend on it. It is yet another injustice that I hope to rectify in the future. God (and budget) willing.
In an effort to simplify things a bit, take a look at these maps I snagged off the Dynamic Busan website. Straight off our Jeju adventures, we got off Jeju International Airport and landed at the Gimhae International Airport in the district of Gangseo. By the way, Busan is divided into 15 administrative districts, as shown below:
So, going back on track, we took the airport shuttle/bus from Gimhae International Airport to take us to the district of Haeundae, where we will be staying. The trip took a little over one hour. If my memory serves me right, we were booked at a place called Sunrise Hotel, and our room is waaaaay up there, so you get a fantastic view of the coastal area.
Sunrise Hotel is right across the street from Haeundae Beach. So we stowed our luggage and hit the pavement – literally and figuratively. You see, it’s crunchtime, and we’re on the final leg of our trip, so we plan to see as much as we could in what little time we had.
Just a bit of background. Haeundae is one of the 15 administrative districts of Busan, and is described as an “affluent beachfront community”. The main reason why it’s called a beachfront community? Haeundae Beach, Busan’s most popular beach, and one of the most famous beaches of South Korea.
When we went there, it was relatively quiet. There were no beach festivals, there was no crowd… perhaps it was partly because it was a chilly time of the year. Or maybe we just got lucky. *shrugs*
The title of this blog post is taken from the posters we saw all over the place. I am guessing it is a tourism tagline or something.
And you will be immediately welcomed by… the Korean version of “Yosi Kadiri”?
See? What did I tell you about the crowd? The place was so wide, and you’ll appreciate the space and the freedom it signifies. There’s just a handful of people who are minding their own business.
Oh, and lots of birds.
Stepping on the sand felt like walking on a cushion. It was that soft, but still quite compact. No wonder kids love running around. And dogs, too.
For a moment, we just sat down on the sand, unmindful of the sand getting on our clothes and shoes.
And just watched the goings-on around us. It was a restful long moment, after the long travel time from Jeju to Haeundae Beach. A much welcome respite.
Birds were flying all around us, swooping in from the water, landing and walking on the beach, walking alongside and around the humans. I think they’re used to people by now, which is why I even had some of the birds waddling (is that right? Do they “waddle”, just like ducks?) right up to me.
Oh, the stories you can weave in your mind just by sitting still and watching everything.
For example, these couples sharing a private moment in a public place, probably making plans for their future while staring out to sea.
Or these kids taking their first steps towards building sand castles, until such time that they grow old enough to build bigger sand castles and dreams.
We spotted a father and his three sons early on when we first arrived at the beach. The three boisterous kids were running all over the place, flirting with the water, while the dad kept careful watch. That went on for about fifteen minutes, then the Dad called it a day.
The kids obediently followed along, passed by us, and were so friendly. One of them even stopped and touched me on the shoulder. The dad was friendly as well, teaching his young boys to greet us “hello” in Korean.
Now, that is quality time.
I saw another father-son tandem (and they were wearing similar jackets! How adorable is that?!).
The little boy was playing on the sand while his dad kept watch. This little boy in a red jacket approached the boy in green. Red-jacket boy was also with his dad, who was seated on the steps not too far away.
For a few minutes, the two boys were randomly playing around on the sand, jumping up and down and giggling. And then, time’s up. Red-jacket-boy’s dad called out to him that they’re leaving, because his mom arrived. Red-jacket-boy turns and runs towards his parents.
Green-jacket-boy gives chase, and does not listen to his dad calling out to him. His playmate is leaving!!
He only stopped when his dad threatened to leave.
Again, how adorable is that?
And if you are wondering what a lovelorn (love)bird looks like, take a look at this.
We spent around thirty minutes or so at Haeundae Beach before heading to our next destination (the Busan Aquarium), which is right beside the beach itself.
* Photo credits: Peach and I.
