BUSAN TRIP DAY 4#

DAY 4 - 7/9/2019

Continuing with our trip to Busan in September 2019
We woke up to a rainy day as the typhoon had hit part of Korea.

Busan Station, where you can take the KTX to connect with Seoul within 3 hours.


happy to get her hands on the pastry

We woke to a rainy day.. the typhoon had hit South Korea.

We have to cancel our plan to visit the Taejondae Observatory, so a longer sleep-in. With no signs of the rain stopping, we made our way to the subway for Chinatown.    

 
We took our breakfast at Lotteria, Korean own fast-food chain.


a quick walk down the street of Chinatown.. most of the shops not opened yet.
With the rain stopping now and then, we decided to go check out the Choryang Story

The 168 Steps are one of the tour spots of the 1.5 kilometers of back alleys, called "Ibagu-gil (story trail)," in Choryang-dong, Busan.

an old alley that tells the story of war & poverty during the Korean War from 1950 to 1953.

This 60m long monorail with 33 degree incline was built for the residents. However due to the rain/typhoon the monorail was not working that day. 

View of the Port of Busan at the top. 

Not sure what this exhibit supposed to be, the place was closed. 

the well that was used for washing laundry of the residents 

the city first modern hospital Baekje Hospital established in 1922 

Now known as Brownhands Design cafe on the ground floor with art galleries on the upper floors.

a latte and a slice of rainbow to brighten the dreary day 

 
A rather unusual building - nothing  much to look at from the roadside..

 

interesting design for a church..

Totally "wow" inside... 

Beautiful stained glass windows adorned a slanting side wall  of the sanctuary

looking back towards the entrance.

on the right are pillars that also let in the sunlight.

Just to sit and stare...

stumble upon the Tous Les Jours Bakery 

a hot chocolate for me and bread to warm us as the rain was still drizzling on off with strong wind that Sarah's cap flew off!  

We were the only customers in the cafe, so took our time to rest and just people watching.

Our stomach-warming dinner - Army Stew.  We ask for "not so spicy" and it was a mixed pot deliciousness.

"Budae-jjigae or spicy sausage stew is a type of jjigae, made with ham, sausage, spam, baked beans, kimchi and gochujang. The dish was created shortly after the armistice that ended the Korean War, using the scrounged or smuggled surplus foods from the U. S. army bases. Wikipedia

BUSAN TRIP DAY 3#

DAY 3 - 6/9/2019
Our itinerary today:
BREAKFAST @ FISH CAKE SHOP @ Haeundae Beach -HAEUNDAE BEACH- Walk along the Dalmaji Road- COFFEE @ CESKA CAFE- hiking along the MOONTAN ROAD - HAEDONG TEMPLE and finally relaxing at SPALAND .

Big waves and minimal crowd as its autumn

 

From Haeundae Beach, we walked up along the Dalmaji Road, the most popular spot for viewing the Cherry blossom season aka the romantic road. 

plenty of cafes along the Dalmaji road and we landed at this Ceska Cafe... 

Very Hungarian-style cafe including their signature. 

Trdelnik or Chimney cake 

After refueling and resting, more walking along the Moontan Road Trail..its a hiking trail off the Dalmaji road along the coastal line.. 

the place to view the moon and get a "moon tan" 

the lights along the walk normally lights up from sunset to 11 pm 

Its so serene and peaceful  as we seemed to be the only people around.

Clearly this must be a romantic nocturnal walk to view the moon and the sea...

 
a cooling walk with sea breeze and plenty of fresh air with the forest of pine trees

almost the end of trail, we met a gentleman walking his 3 dogs and had a good chat! 

After the walk, we took a taxi to our next destination... 

the temple by the coast...

Haedong  Yonggungsa Temple 

It was formerly known as Bomun Temple and it was renamed Haedong Yonggungsa which means "Korean Dragon Palace Temple".  It was said  that the name came from a vision of the Goddess of Mercy riding a dragon to the head monk during his meditation.

stone-stacking stupas

"in Buddhism, this practice of stacking stones is a form of worshipping - but it can also be a gesture of asking or wishing for good fortune to be bestowed on the stacker and his family. Each stone within the stack represents a particular wish and, possibly, a particular family member"

the bamboo forest 

Access to the temple by going down these 108 steps and bridge

Many people threw coins here for luck

more steps to climb..

Since we did not intend to pray and the place were full of tourists, we decided to leave for our next programme... 

checking in Shinsegae Centum Spaland... Korean Jjimjilbang 

Busan is home to SINSEGAE Centum City, recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records as the largest department store in the world. Visitors can enjoy shopping as well as year-round ice skating and a Korean-style spa. The dining area in the basement is filled with branches of famous restaurants from across the nation. Centum City Mall, opened in the annex, features a large bookstore, duty free store, electronics store and more. The department store is a great way to escape the summer heat!

Yes we love this place 

after our first onsen, time to wander around to try their sauna rooms. 

Sweet Rice drink with


Onsen Egg
After 4 hours relaxing and onsen-ing, it is time to hit back to our hotel.


Spicy Ramen with fishcakes for breakfast @ Goresa Fishcake shop along Haeundae Beach


Look at the various fish cake with cheese in spicy soup!

We went back to the Haeundae Beach for our dinner and night view of the beach..

Sarah's Gamjatang- spicy pork ribs  soup 

Dwaeji-gukbap - Busan famous pork and rice soup.. 

Remember to add the saeu-jeot (like our Malaysia cincalok) for a umani  flavour and of course plenty of chives (or marinated leeks) 

the marinated chives (leeks), fermented shrimp sauce (saeu-jeot), kimchi, green chillies and garlic are the basic banchan (side dishes) to accompany this bowl of deliciousness.