South Korea Pt 23: Wrapping Up Busan

It’s been a long series of posts (haha!) but I’ve finally come to the end of my South Korea series. I had to take several (long) breaks in between, but let’s just say that was my way of stalling having to say goodbye to this chapter of my wandering soul, so to speak. (And, oh, Ohayou from Kyoto! We’re seeing CNBLUE live in concert this evening, so this is a fitting post, don’t you think?)

There’s a part of me that refuses to accept that this is, indeed, a “wrap-up” of Busan. After all, just like Jeju, I’ve only gone through a fraction of the city. I hope to come back. Next year, perhaps? *hint hint*

In this wrap-up post, I will be talking about our after-dinner-at-Street-Market-Village jaunt to the Busan Nurimaru APEC House, which is a bit of a walk away from Haeundae Beach, Busan Aquarium and Street Market Village.

We didn’t go to the actual house, though, since it closes at 6pm, and it was already around 7 by this time. So what we (and many others) did was to walk around the perimeter and check out the park.

Wood seems to be the theme for this place, because there are wooden stairs, inclines and pathways to walk around on.

apec narimaru busan 1 apec narimaru busan 2The place actually gives you a view of Gwangan Bridge or the Busan Gwangandaegyo Bridge.

Walk down further, and you’ll be right beside the water, with Gwangan Bridge right in front of you.

The Busan Gwangandaegyo Bridge is also known as the “Diamond Bridge” and the second-longest bridge after the Incheon Bridge. We passed this bridge during the day when we were on a bus on our way to Taejongdae.

apec narimaru busan 8 apec narimaru busan 4 apec narimaru busan 5 apec narimaru busan 7Our “lost tourists” shot. Haha!
apec narimaru busan 3I’ll be honest and say that I find myself more bewildered in Busan than in Seoul. We had many “where are we, wait, how are we supposed to get there, and why are we still here?” moments. 🙂 Still, it was part of the thrill, though.

busan south korea haeundae 2

Interesting storefronts and even more interesting store names.

Like this one. It’s an apparel store, from the looks of it. Too bad we couldn’t see what they really sell because it was still closed when we passed by. If I remember correctly, the shops in this area opens at around 11 already so we’re a bit early.
busan south korea haeundae 1It’s a good thing it’s COMMA and not COMA, though. I doubt many people would want to stay there if that were the case.

I’d curious to see what a “period” is like. Just sayin’.

busan south korea haeundae 3And what about this one? The shape of the building is like that of a coffin.

And the name of the establishment, which is a coffee shop, is “Coffine Gurunaru”. Cool, eh?

busan south korea haeundae 5Fuzzy Navel, which is right across the street from our hotel.

Oh, and it’s a bar. Makes you wonder what you’ll see when you go there. Fuzzy navels, perhaps?
busan south korea haeundae 7And check out the piggy plant-holders. 🙂

busan south korea haeundae

I don’t know what to make of this. This sign was lit up on the side of the tall building across the road when we stepped out of Busan Aquarium.

busan south korea haeundae 8Luckily, we haven’t experienced rush hour in the Busan subways.

busan south korea haeundae 4We didn’t go here to shop (because shopping was not really on our to-do list) but we did go to the Shinsegae Spa Land at around 10pm and stayed there until closing at midnight.

busan south korea haeundae 11This gave us a good night’s sleep, after that relaxing session at the Shinsegae Spa Land. That is where I fell in love with sauna. Seriously. The Koreans know how to do it.

Our “adventures” at this Korean spa is an altogether memorable one, for so many reasons. I wish I could relay all of them here, but for purposes of discretion (and because I don’t really want to cross the TMI line, it shall remain in my, and my friends’, memories. Haha!)

busan south korea haeundae 9You can tell that the South Koreans love their celeb culture. There isn’t a corner where you can’t see the faces of their top stars (and now Hallyu stars) splashed in one endorsement or the other. This one, with Song Seung-hyun, Kim Tae-hee and Micky Yoochun, is for a chain of coffee shops.
busan south korea haeundae 10
busan south korea haeundae 12This was on the subway! XDDD We turned and, whoa, A WALL!

It shouldn’t have come as a surprise, considering how CNBLUE is strongly identified with Busan. Nonetheless, it was more than a pleasant surprise. (Oh, and I already mentioned that we’re seeing them live in concert tonight, right? What I failed to mention is that we’re seeing them again TOMORROW! Yep! TWO NIGHTS IN A ROW! #fangirlmodeON

busan south korea haeundae 13 busan south korea cnblue 0So, with this post, I am saying “until I see you again, beautiful Korea”! It’s been a lengthy run, but oh so worth it.

trazy.com

Leave a Reply

Proudly powered by WordPress | Theme: Baskerville 2 by Anders Noren.

Up ↑