Busan 2016 : The historical tour

Itinerary summary:

Day 1

Gwangali beach and surroundings

Day 2

Haedong Yonggungsa Temple - Dalmaji street and surroundings - Haeundae beach - Dongbaek island

Day 3

Gamcheon cultural village - Jagalchi Market - Nampo and surroundings

Day 4

Beomeosa temple - Pusan National University Youth street

Day 5

Taejongdae - Seomyeon

Day 6

Haeundae beach - Centum City - Pusan National University Youth Street

Day 7

Busan Museum - UN Memorial Cemetery

Before we know it, it's the last day in Busan. We decided to do something out of the ordinary this time which is to visit the museum. There is some tea ceremony learning adventure and a hanbok experience if you're interested but please go early to get a slot.

Before that,we first had our brunch at this pork rice place again which as we'll need to quite a distance to get to the museum from the train station. It was funny because we find the condiments really unusual hence the waitresses and the ahjumma around us saw us observing them. I personally didn't like those little shrimps which seems like cincaluk to me and we also didn't eat the green chilli and raw garlic. The taste of pork is a little overwhelming but all in all, it was not too bad for a meal.

Entrace to the museum is free. You could hire an audio guide if you want to but if you prefer not to, fret not as they have some write-ups in English.

After touring the museum, we also spent some time to learn about their tea culture from the tea ceremony experience. There would be an instructor (and just to note, the entire experience is in Korean language) and you're to follow all her actions as she demonstrate it. Every movement, from folding of napkin and pouring of water has to be elegantly done . There is actually a more complete entry on this experience recorded in this blog. I was trying to catch up in this Korean language but towards the end, the instructor did assure us that we did well. And there's a particular candy they eat after the tea experience which has quite distinct taste. If you're interested, do try this!

A short walk away from the perfect summer heat is the UNMCK (United Nation Memorial Cemetery in Korea). The walkway to the main park is filled with sculptures from many lands. Even in the afternoon heat, I was surprised to find some were walking their pets and some were just sitting around the park to enjoy some leisure time.

The main park itself is beautiful. The grass is meticulously manicured and the beautiful green lawn before my eyes is the final resting place for the many heroes who fought in the war. I was truly surprised to see some neighbouring countries who have their fair share of fallen heroes, to recognise their contribution in the war such as Philippines and Thailand. There were even fighters from Turkey and many of them died at a very young age.

Further down the memorial area, there's walkway that walks down to the memorial wall which remembers all the fallen heroes from the United States. The walkway reminds me so vividly of Canberra where the straight axis is formed between 3 symbolic landmark in the city state. The walls around the water feature were tablets and tablets of stones filled with the names of the many American heroes who have fallen, distinguished by their states. I stood in respect to think of how many of them were so young when they were given to serve the nation, and yet this foreign land where they died may not have much relevance to them from the start. Is this the price of democracy?

Walking back frm the park, we found a small shop manned by an elderly woman which sells bingsu, shaved ice that is perfect for the summer heat. And this caps the entire Korean trip for 2016. :)