Day 8
Stay: Airbnb Choryang, Busan
Nearest Subway: Choryang Station Line 1 Exit 10
08:45 | Depart from Airbnb
Stay: Airbnb Choryang, Busan
Nearest Subway: Choryang Station Line 1 Exit 10
08:45 | Depart from Airbnb
10:00 | Haedong Yonggungsa Temple
11:00 | Lunch at Lotte Premium Mall
15:00 | Haeundae Beach
11:00 | Lunch at Lotte Premium Mall
15:00 | Haeundae Beach
17:00 | Shinsegae Centum City
18:15 | Gwangalli Beach
19:15 | KTX Busan
20:00 | Seomyeon Underground Shopping
Planned to leave Airbnb by 8am but ended up nua till 8.45am. Today's plan was to head to the east of Busan which was far away from where we stayed. Though my plan for today looked quite packed, it turned out to be quite relaxing and we had plenty of time to stroll around leisurely and had a few tea breaks in between.
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18:15 | Gwangalli Beach
19:15 | KTX Busan
20:00 | Seomyeon Underground Shopping
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| Our plan for today (source: google map) |
Planned to leave Airbnb by 8am but ended up nua till 8.45am. Today's plan was to head to the east of Busan which was far away from where we stayed. Though my plan for today looked quite packed, it turned out to be quite relaxing and we had plenty of time to stroll around leisurely and had a few tea breaks in between.
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HAEDONG YONGGUNGSA TEMPLE (ν΄λ μ©κΆμ¬) - a temple by the sea
Nearest Station: Haeundae Station Line 2 Exit 7 (then proceed with bus 181)
Operating Hours: 05:00 - to leave by sunset (365 days)
Admission: Free
Website: http://www.yongkungsa.or.kr (Korean, English, Chinese, Japanese)
Take Bus 181 and get off at Yonggungsa Temple bus stop | duration 20 mins | fare 1,200 won
Operating Hours: 05:00 - to leave by sunset (365 days)
Admission: Free
Website: http://www.yongkungsa.or.kr (Korean, English, Chinese, Japanese)
Cab from Haeundae Station to Yonggungsa Temple, around 10,000 - 15,000 won
Direction from Haeundae Station:Take Bus 181 and get off at Yonggungsa Temple bus stop | duration 20 mins | fare 1,200 won
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| Wait for the bus at the bus stop right in front of exit 7. Citadines and CGV are on your left |
Haedong Yonggungsa Temple is a beautiful Buddhist temple built in 1300 and reconstructed in 1970. It was rare to have temples built by the sea. Once there, I can understand why this is such a popular place for tourists and locals alike despite it's location which is far from the city.
Mic hesitated whether to visit this temple because it was located far away at the east of Busan (which means he has to get up early to travel there). Since I'm the one doing the itinerary, of cause I will include this in π. Once we reached there, we were amazed by the stunning scenery, soothing strong wind and calming waves sounds. It was drizzling on and off while we were there but it was still OK to walk around and surprisingly it wasn't too cold despite the wind.
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| We are finally here looking at the real scenery instead of photos! Pretty! |
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| Look at the carefully painted colours |
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| Haesu Gwaneum Daebul - Great Goddess Buddha of Mercy |
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| View from Haesu Gwaneum Daebul |
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| 12 Zodiacs |
Tips: Wear a good pair of shoes as there are many steps and you may walk on the rocks by the sea
Besides Seongsan Ilchulbong (Sunrise Peak) at Jeju, this place is also swarmed by people on new year's day as it is the Koreans' culture to view the first sunrise of the year and make a wish. Otherwise, you may come at any day of the year to watch the majestic sunrise from this temple.
Stalls selling local food and souvenir were seen outside the entrance to the temple. Mic had odeng (again), before we left this place. We decided to walk to Lotte Premium Outlet which is located nearby, but be prepared to walk around 20-30mins from the temple.
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LOTTE PREMIUM OUTLET - Dongbusan Branch
Operating Hours: 10:30-20:30
This huge building is combination of premium outlet, shopping mall with retails stores, cafΓ© and restaurants, Lotte Mart and a cinema. I guessed due to it's location, this place has less crowd. Otherwise it would be a good place to shop or eat because you can find most brands here and even a Lotte Mart to stock up your groceries.
It finally rained heavily outside accompanied by really strong winds, so we had our lunch at their premium food court named Food Empire. Surprisingly both sets we ordered were good! π
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1) Input your search criteria and set train type to KTX
2) List of trains will be shown
Tips: Shortest duration from Busan to Seoul is 2 hours and 16mins. I will always choose the shortest duration.
3a) Click on the train no. to see all the stations which the train will be stopping at.
Tips: Besides shortest duration, I will always choose the least stations that the train will stopped at. For e.g. Train 140 only stops 3 stations in between before it reaches Seoul.
4) Click on Select button to choose your seats type: First Class or Economy Class and it will brings you to this page
You will need to print out the confirmation email and show it to the ticketing counter staff together with your passport for the exchange of train ticket. Ticket will only be charged on your credit card once you have collected the train ticket from the counter. My credit card was only charged 1.5 month after the day I took my tickets.
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Operating Hours: 10:00 - 22:00
Closed: Second Tuesday of the month
Plan B activated due to the wet weather!
Initial plan was to go back to BIFF to have our fav street food again before leaving for Seoul tomorrow. However, we had to drop that plan and proceed to Seomyeon instead because it has underground shopping mall where we could walk and shop without having to worry about the rain.
We had our dinner at 1 of the random restaurant located at the street level. I had my 1st jajangmyeong (which I had been wanting to try) and Mic had a whole plate of fried chicken as his dinner π (he cannot understand how people can eat a bowl of noodle with black sauce). When I was having jajangmyeong in the restaurant, I find that it was not bad, until I had a really good one in Myeongdong.
1) Seomyeon Station Line 1 (Orange Line) Exit 1
2) Seomyeon Station Line 2 (Green Line) Exit 7
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Most outlets were selling very thick winter clothes because the temperature in Korea dropped below 0 degree even on midday. We preferred walking in the shopping malls instead which has Miniso, beauty shops, SPUR and other brands and explored some food stuff in their Lotte Mart.
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HAEUNDAE BEACH
Nearest Station: Haeundae Station Line 2 Exit 3 or 5
From either exits, walk 500m straight and you will see the beach.
We took the same Bus 181 from Lotte Premium Outlet back to Haeundae subway.
Other than to see Busan's most famous beach, our main purpose there was to:
1) visit Hard Rock Shop because it's my norm to get their local city shotglass
2) have our lunch in a famous abalone porridge place called Wonjo Jeonbukjuk
3) find the extinct Starbucks rooster mug (which just launched 5 days ago) because there were 4 Starbucks along the beach
I got 1 in Jeju on the 2nd day it was launched. And that was the last time I saw this on shelves. Thought of getting a pair but too bad... Starbucks Korea collection is always so pretty and cute and it will be gone in no time once it's launched.
Once the rain had stopped, we walked to the beach area.... and smelled the sea.... and felt the breeze... and watched the seagulls playing at the beach!
It was so soothing, I luv this place!
From either exits, walk 500m straight and you will see the beach.
We took the same Bus 181 from Lotte Premium Outlet back to Haeundae subway.
Other than to see Busan's most famous beach, our main purpose there was to:
1) visit Hard Rock Shop because it's my norm to get their local city shotglass
2) have our lunch in a famous abalone porridge place called Wonjo Jeonbukjuk
3) find the extinct Starbucks rooster mug (which just launched 5 days ago) because there were 4 Starbucks along the beach
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| κ·μ½λ€~~ Rooster mug. Cute isn't it? I'm actually attracted to it's golden chicky leg π |
I got 1 in Jeju on the 2nd day it was launched. And that was the last time I saw this on shelves. Thought of getting a pair but too bad... Starbucks Korea collection is always so pretty and cute and it will be gone in no time once it's launched.
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| The Rooster collection |
We skipped the abalone porridge because we had our lunch earlier at Lotte Premium Outlet. It was raining when we alighted the bus hence we put on our down jacket hood (and I also wore my shawl over my head) and quickly walked all the way towards the beach. There was no sheltered pathway from the subway to the beach, so we were wet and cold, and quickly seek shelter at 1 on the Starbucks along Haeundae beach and had a cup of hot coffee ☕.
Tips: We sprayed our boots with Timberland Balm Proofer (before we fly to Korea) which repels water and stains so our boots stayed dry even though we were running and walking onto puddles of waters.
Once the rain had stopped, we walked to the beach area.... and smelled the sea.... and felt the breeze... and watched the seagulls playing at the beach!
It was so soothing, I luv this place!
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| Marks the Rooster Year |
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| This sign reminded me of typhoon Chaba that struck Busan not long ago. |
If I had not seen this sign, I would have forgotten that this place was affected by typhoon Chaba months earlier. Most of the destructed structures from this disaster had already been restored, there was almost no sign of the typhoon aftermath except for this part of the beach where the destroyed wooden benches beside the beach was cordoned off for repair.
We walked to all the Starbucks in Hauendae to find my rooster mug but to no avail. After I got my shot glass from Rock Shop, we planned to walk from Hauendae to Centum City where Shinsegae is located at. Super ambitious I must say. It's actually quite far π . But it started to drizzle again when we almost reached Dongbaek Station, so we hopped on the train to Centum City.
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Operating Hours: 10:30 - 20:00 (Closed on 1st Jan)
This is a must visit for shopaholics because Shinsegae Department Store is registered in Guiness World Record as the world largest mall. You can find almost anything there, from luxury brands, to household items, to food, to anything else.
If this place is still not enough, Lotte Department Store is located just beside Shinsegae, connected via the underground basement where subway station is located.
If relaxation is what you are looking for, try out the famous Spa Land which is located inside Shinsegae Centum City. It is a traditional Korean style sauna/spa called jjimjilbang and it's currently featured in a lot of K-dramas including the Legend of the Blue Sea. All reviews I read about this place were positive plus it is super affordable (18,000 won for 4 hours, around $22.50). We have yet to give it a try which gives us a reason to come back to Busan again.
We walked to the food area at Shinsegae Dept Store and spotted Busan's famous eomuk, Samjin Eomuk. You definitely can't miss this because the long queue at the cashier will grabbed your attention. Even if you know nothing about Samjin Eomuk, once you saw the variety of eomuk and the queue, you will want to give this a try.
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Another famous beach in Busan is Gwangalli Beach. Located on the same subway line as Centum City station, we reached Gwangan Station after 3 stations. We walked around 20 mins along the main road to reach the beach. Many people come here at night to see the brightly lit Gwangandaegyo Bridge and have raw fish dinner at the nearby Millak Raw Fish Town which was part of our plan.
Millak Raw Fish Town (Millak Hoe Town)
Operating Hours: 09:00 - 02:00 (depending on store/restaurant's owner)
This is a 10 storeys building where fish market is located on the 1st floor and restaurants on the upper floors. It has the same concept as Jagalji Market where you buy the fish on the 1st floor and get them served at the restaurants or simply tabao and eat at the beach. You can still have the fish in the restaurants even if you did not buy the fish from the 1st floor. We skipped this because we figured that there will be language barrier as I read that most menu were in Korean (and I was actually too tired to walk all the way to Millak Town and it started drizzling again). However, this place is highly recommend in Naver where most locals go.
It rained again so we took a cab to Busan Station because we need to change the KTX ticket I booked online. I also want to confirm the exact location of Busan Station for subway and KTX (both are different stations) because we will be walking there tomorrow morning.
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Nearest Station: Busan Station Line 1 (subway station) Exit 8 or 10
We walked to all the Starbucks in Hauendae to find my rooster mug but to no avail. After I got my shot glass from Rock Shop, we planned to walk from Hauendae to Centum City where Shinsegae is located at. Super ambitious I must say. It's actually quite far π . But it started to drizzle again when we almost reached Dongbaek Station, so we hopped on the train to Centum City.
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SHINSEGAE CENTUM CITY
Nearest Station: Centum City Station Line 2 Exit 12Operating Hours: 10:30 - 20:00 (Closed on 1st Jan)
This is a must visit for shopaholics because Shinsegae Department Store is registered in Guiness World Record as the world largest mall. You can find almost anything there, from luxury brands, to household items, to food, to anything else.
If this place is still not enough, Lotte Department Store is located just beside Shinsegae, connected via the underground basement where subway station is located.
If relaxation is what you are looking for, try out the famous Spa Land which is located inside Shinsegae Centum City. It is a traditional Korean style sauna/spa called jjimjilbang and it's currently featured in a lot of K-dramas including the Legend of the Blue Sea. All reviews I read about this place were positive plus it is super affordable (18,000 won for 4 hours, around $22.50). We have yet to give it a try which gives us a reason to come back to Busan again.
We walked to the food area at Shinsegae Dept Store and spotted Busan's famous eomuk, Samjin Eomuk. You definitely can't miss this because the long queue at the cashier will grabbed your attention. Even if you know nothing about Samjin Eomuk, once you saw the variety of eomuk and the queue, you will want to give this a try.
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| We tabao back to Airbnb |
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GWANGALLI BEACH
Nearest Station: Gwangan Station Line 2 Exit 3 or 5Another famous beach in Busan is Gwangalli Beach. Located on the same subway line as Centum City station, we reached Gwangan Station after 3 stations. We walked around 20 mins along the main road to reach the beach. Many people come here at night to see the brightly lit Gwangandaegyo Bridge and have raw fish dinner at the nearby Millak Raw Fish Town which was part of our plan.
Millak Raw Fish Town (Millak Hoe Town)
Operating Hours: 09:00 - 02:00 (depending on store/restaurant's owner)
This is a 10 storeys building where fish market is located on the 1st floor and restaurants on the upper floors. It has the same concept as Jagalji Market where you buy the fish on the 1st floor and get them served at the restaurants or simply tabao and eat at the beach. You can still have the fish in the restaurants even if you did not buy the fish from the 1st floor. We skipped this because we figured that there will be language barrier as I read that most menu were in Korean (and I was actually too tired to walk all the way to Millak Town and it started drizzling again). However, this place is highly recommend in Naver where most locals go.
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| Millak Town is the building on the left with green colour lights signboard |
It rained again so we took a cab to Busan Station because we need to change the KTX ticket I booked online. I also want to confirm the exact location of Busan Station for subway and KTX (both are different stations) because we will be walking there tomorrow morning.
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BUSAN STATION
Busan Station (Subway) and Busan Station (Railway) is located opposite each other, around 100m apart.
Main difference:
1) Busan Station (the station name as you see on metro line map)
- located underground
- serves Busan Metro Line 1
2) Busan Station (Railway)
- is an actual building
- serves as a railway platform connecting KTX and general trains to other parts of Korea.
Once you exit from Busan Subway Line 1 station (exit 8 or 10), you will see Busan Station building in front of you.
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| (source: google map) Busan metro station is on the left. Right is the Busan KTX station |
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| Busan Station - this is the building you take KTX trains. Apology for the blurred pic. |
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| The train ticket |
Step by Step to do Online Booking of KTX Ticket
Here's the link to book KTX ticket1) Input your search criteria and set train type to KTX
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| source: www.letskorail.com |
2) List of trains will be shown
Tips: Shortest duration from Busan to Seoul is 2 hours and 16mins. I will always choose the shortest duration.
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| source: www.letskorail.com |
3a) Click on the train no. to see all the stations which the train will be stopping at.
Tips: Besides shortest duration, I will always choose the least stations that the train will stopped at. For e.g. Train 140 only stops 3 stations in between before it reaches Seoul.
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| source: www.letskorail.com |
3b) Click on Fare to check the fare for each train
Tips: Generally the more expensive the fare, the shortest duration it takes to reach your destination
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| source: www.letskorail.com |
4) Click on Select button to choose your seats type: First Class or Economy Class and it will brings you to this page
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| source: www.letskorail.com |
5) Once you input your details, seat number will be assigned to you
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| source: www.letskorail.com |
You will need to print out the confirmation email and show it to the ticketing counter staff together with your passport for the exchange of train ticket. Ticket will only be charged on your credit card once you have collected the train ticket from the counter. My credit card was only charged 1.5 month after the day I took my tickets.
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SEOMYEON UNDERGROUND SHOPPING CENTER
Nearest Station: Seomyeon Station Line 1 or 2 Exit 12Closed: Second Tuesday of the month
Plan B activated due to the wet weather!
Initial plan was to go back to BIFF to have our fav street food again before leaving for Seoul tomorrow. However, we had to drop that plan and proceed to Seomyeon instead because it has underground shopping mall where we could walk and shop without having to worry about the rain.
We had our dinner at 1 of the random restaurant located at the street level. I had my 1st jajangmyeong (which I had been wanting to try) and Mic had a whole plate of fried chicken as his dinner π (he cannot understand how people can eat a bowl of noodle with black sauce). When I was having jajangmyeong in the restaurant, I find that it was not bad, until I had a really good one in Myeongdong.
We walked to the underground mall because it was drizzling (it kept on off raining or drizzling today) and I was amazed at the endless rows of shops and we don't even know where we were at and kept on walking and looking (and buying) until we were too tired and looked for the sign to the subway to take the train back. No photos of the underground malls because I guessed it just looked the same like elsewhere (it looks the same to me like Taiwan Main Underground Mall) and the whole area was crowded probably because of the rain.
Tips: things in Busan or this underground mall is cheaper compare to Seoul. I couldn't find the same price in Seoul for the same item I bought here. Regret~
Another place that you shouldn't miss when you are in Seomyeon is the food street with rows of restaurants, cafΓ© and street food stalls. We didn't go there, maybe will do on our next trip to Busan. In case you are interested, here's the direction.
Seomyeon 1 Beonga (Seomyeon First Street/ Seomyeon Food Street)
Nearest Station:1) Seomyeon Station Line 1 (Orange Line) Exit 1
2) Seomyeon Station Line 2 (Green Line) Exit 7
We heated our Samjin Eomuk for supper and ate it while watching Legend of the Blue Sea live in Korea π.
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Day 8: Busan, Haedong Yonggungsa Temple, Lotte Outlet, Haeundae Beach, Gwangalli Beach, Seomyeon
Day 12: Everland, Lotte Mart
Day 13: Myeongdong, back to SIN
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