Busan Beach Day

Since our holiday was only 7 days of the possible 8 we could have Lee and I woke ourselves up early and headed to Busan for the day. As I’ve mentioned before I really wanted to live in Busan when I moved to Korea but ended up in Daegu so I savour any day I can sneak there.

Luckily for me it’s only a cheap train ride away so spending the day there was easier than expected.

We hopped on the slow train and before we knew it we were wandering the boiling streets of Busan.

Like smart people we decided to hike to the beach in the mid day sun (?) but it was actually really fun. We decided to go to Songjeong  beach instead of Haeundae as everyone heads to Haeundae and it’s always stupidly busy.

The hike was one we found on this website:

And although you can do it in flip flops it is easier if you have shoes.

I found a bridge troll

WE DID IT!

Drying chillie

Once we arrived on the beach we laid ourselves down and instantly fell asleep in the shade. We must have needed the rest because 3 hours later we woke up to a cooler but still lovely Busan day. We read our books and I took a dip in the freezing sea.

A very girlie book is always needed for the summer.

Then we sampled the delights of café street. To say that it’s a street of cafes really doesn’t sum up how ridiculously full of cafes this road is. I counted about 32 coffee shops and not one 7-11 or anything else in sight.

This did give me the perfect opportunity to let Lee experience PatBinSu which is a Korean dessert. This is a new discovery for me and I’m in love with it. All dieters in the UK should get involved as it has almost no calories, takes stupidly long to eat and is easy to make.

It is literally a bowl of ice flakes with different types on toppings. Normally always red bean which is a very sweet (not quite chocolate/not quite jam) mixture. This is followed by cereal, rice cake, ice cream and sometimes fruit.

Ironically tomato is a rare ingredient that springs up from time to time. Unfortunately as it is the only food Lee doesn’t like it was bound to make an appearance on our dessert. He soldiered through and although he may not be a convert I was even more hooked.

After a lazy wander we headed to the top of the pier park and watched the sunset over the beach. I even had a go and the stupidly heavy and crazy Hula Hoops that are laying around for people to exercise with. I am ashamed to say that Hula Hooping may be one of my only skills but this was really hard. I want one for the house (but its bigger than my flat)

Wishing stones. People leave piles of them to make a wish

Lee's new favourite food...should be horrible but is actually great!

We headed back into town and took a stroll through China Town. This little area made me so happy since I have been craving actual Chinese food. Koreans do their own version of Chinese food which is a little odd and sometimes tasteless, although their version of sweet and sour pork is worthy of any meal.

We were running a little too late to stick around but we did get to see the great number of Russian prostitutes (?) as well as sample some chicken and beer.

The day was given an extra bit of sparkle when we witnessed the fountain light show. I think Lee thought I was crazy but I loved it. Especially the Barbie girl number. Who doesn’t love watching fountains and lasers dance to music I ask you???

It was a great day and lovely to know that Busan is so close we can pop back there any time which is a good thing since my Busan ‘To Do’ list is very long.