So this is wayyyyy overdue, but it's time to talk about Chuseok! I traveled to the wonderful city of Busan, also known as the second largest city in Korea. Let's see, how shall I describe Busan...
Well, it's pretty fantastic. It has actual beaches, as opposed to the rocky, slightly sandy seashore that Mokpo calls a "beach." We had gorgeous weather and were able to do a lot of things.
The first night was mainly traveling, taking the train to Masan, about 45 minutes from Busan, and then a bus into the city. But the traveling doesn't end there! After the bus, we hopped on the subway to Haeundae, the area our hotel was at. After lugging our things into the room and settling for a bit, we hit up Gwangali Beach. It was super nice out, breezy, by the ocean, all those good things. Got to listen to some swanky music by some duo. I think my favorite was "Take Me Home, Country Roads." Perfect. I just tried uploading a video of it on here. It didn't work :(
The next day was Chuseok, so many places weren't open. We found a building with numerous western restaurants open. We had Bennigans. Delish. It was rainy, so we found something inside to do. What was that inside place. The Busan Aquarium!!! That's right, folks, the aquarium. It was fantastic. The whole thing was underground and quite big. Now, it's no Shed Aquarium, but it was still pretty stellar. Afterwards it was still rainy, but luckily there was a heavenly place just across the street- *cue choir singing softly* Angel in Us. Delicious coffee was then consumed, followed by our own crazy antics.
Later, we found Chinatown. It was probably the shadiest Chinatown I've ever seen. And also the one with the most Russian shops too. Rain continued to fall, so we went to the Bus Terminal nearby for a while, then headed back.
Thursday we traveled to a huge fish market. Now I've never been to a fish market before, but it was better than I thought it was going to be. Thank goodness it wasn't inside so the smell of fish didn't completely consume me. There were many interesting things I saw, some of which were a bit odder than I would have liked. Close to the fish market was a ginormous shopping area. And when I say ginormous, I mean GINORMOUS. You can easily get lost within all the different side streets. It was also packed. But it was still fun! Many hours later, we had some bi bim bap for dinner and headed back.
Friday was a beach filled day. We had some lunch, then Lisa, Naomi, and I walked along the beach to find the observatory. Pictures were taken, but that's not unlike us. The observatory was, well, I don't know if you should call it an observatory. There was a building, which is where there was some national leader's meeting or something. And then outside of that, there was a walking area, trees, things like that. I guess when I think of the word "observatory" I think of a place with a huge telescope where you can look into the sky, but this place would be one where you can walk around, sit, and observe the ocean, other building, those things. Still pretty neat.
We met up with Yuyong (I have no idea how to spell it in English. His english name is David), Naomi's friend. Had some dinner, then went to Shinsegae. We got there a bit too late, because it was closed. But not everything in there was closed! Their movie theater was still open. Oh, I should mention. This Shinsegae is the largest department store in the world. !!!! To say that it is huge is an understatement. Not only did this place have a movie theater in it, but also a skating rink, multiple restaurants, a huge bookstore you can spend hours in, a driving range, a spa, plus the actual department store. Anyway, we went to a Korean movie! Cyrano Dating Agency. It was so cute!
On Saturday we went back to Shinsegae since it wasn't open the day before. We did some shopping, had lunch, and checked out the skating rink as well as the bookstore. It was fantastic and way expensive (most things). Then it was time to start heading back to life in Mokpo. Our trip to Busan was fantastic, and I very much liked the time off from work. Now I've been back to work, the usual stuff. Lately we started planning for Halloween. It's going to be pretty stellar. Not to mention exciting! Can't wait.
