Busan Breeze

After several days of rain, the sun warmed our spirits on Shirley's 22nd birthday in Busan. I haven't been there since our cultural trip in October, so it was good to be back.

I painted pink and black zebra stripes on Joanne  :)

Fierce!

A few of us met up at the Gwangju Bus Terminal, grabbed Dunkin' Donuts for breakfast, then took the 10am bus to Busan. Shirley and I listened to "Call Me Maybe" on loop. Can't get enough of that song. We arrived at Sasang (사상) Station, then took the subway 25+ stops to Haeundae (해운대) Station. We met some friends there and booked rooms at the Blue High Motel. The motel was walking distance from Haeundae Beach. The weather was in the 50s, breezy, and chilly enough for most people to keep their jackets on ... but not me~ Every sliver of sunlight was an opportunity to advance one shade darker  B)

Breezy at Haeundae Beach

Hello sunshine!

Blue skies, wind in our hair, sunnies on;
City, sand, and sea on our heels;
Just the beginning of fun times to come   :)

Cali cool   B)

Korea cool~~   ^_^v

Lunch at the Shinsegae Centum City Department Store.
This location is registered in the Guinness World Record Book 
as the largest shopping complex in the world!

At Shinsegae, we hit up Spa Land. The luxurious 찜질방 (jjimjilbang) was tucked away on the same floor as the cosmetics, but opened up to a huge play spa ground for guests to rest, bathe, get massages, eat, and overall enjoy quiet time. The open air foot spas were nice. We sat outside on wooden stools mounted over steaming pools of natural hot spring water. One of our friends, Bri, had her tarot cards read for ~$7. Joanne sat beside her to translate what the teller had to say about Bri's love life. We sat in the massage chairs for 20 minutes. We also ate some smoked eggs, which Joanne and Shirley were raving about on the way to the spa. In the preparation process, the eggs hardened like boiled eggs, but turned brown. The egg whites felt more dense and rubbery than usual. It was like eating a Dr. Scholl's insole ... with salt.

We returned to the motel to get ready for dinner. Shirley, Joanne, Bri, Jasmine, Alex, Jin, James, Andrew, and I ate at a Mexican restaurant by the beach called Fuzzy Navel. I ordered a vegetarian burrito, which looked identical to the vegetarian burrito I ate at Dos Tacos in Hongdae, but tasted pretty plain. Regardless, Joanne and I drenched our burritos in tabasco sauce and a mystery salsa. Afterwards, we went to a nearby 노래방 (noraebang) and sang until we lost our voices.

Our friends surprised Shirley with an apple pie birthday "cake" from Costco!

There was more than enough pie to go around, and it was delicious!
First slice of apple pie in ages.

On Sunday, we bid Busan farewell. The day was gorgeous, and my favorite clouds blotched the sky with their wispy fringes and silver linings. It was like Melbourne all over again.

We ate lunch at a restaurant that was famous for their 돼지국밥 (pork soup). Truth be told, it was pretty bland. Coming from 전라남도 (Jeollanam-do), where the flavors are stronger and the food is known to be better, all other foods in Korea pale in comparison. At least, it was a good culinary/cultural experience!

돼지국밥 (pork soup)

The ride home took 5-6 hours. We caught a direct bus from Sasang Station to Mokpo (instead of the bus to Gwangju then Mokpo), but little did we know that this intercity bus would literally stop at every bus terminal on the route back. Nari caught a bus 2 hours before us. Then a few hours into our trip, she messaged us that her bus was stopping at every terminal, with another 50 minutes to go. That meant another 3 hours for us. It was a nice little tour of Jeollanam-do; we essentially rode all the way east (Gwangyang) to West (Mokpo) as the sun set over the endless farmland and countryside. It wasn't like we had anything else to do, but lesson learned. Next time, we're taking the bus to Gwangju first.