Busan 2016 : Taejongdae - Seomyeon

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

Morning arrived once again and off we go to Taejongdae Park this time. This is one of the tourist must visit spots in Busan. Taejongdae is apparently a name given by a Silla king because he enjoyed shooting from this area the most. It is basically a cliff area that boasts of its picturesque view.

Before we get going, we looked for some early breakfast at a nearby cafe in Busan station. Food Cafe was our pick since they were quite crowded. It seems like a small family establishment and you gotta self serve for water. There's a steriliser for cups and a water dispenser next to it. 

From Busan station, we took bus 101 (or you could also take bus 88) to Taejongdae Cliff. It will stop at a row of shop some 200m before the entrance above. On your way back, you just need to get across the road for the opposite direction, which is basically a bus depot.

Order of the day was to get on the Danubi Circular Train. You could walk around the park, up and down the slope if you wish but it wasn't exactly a cool day so we opted to get on the train instead. The train costs 2,000KRW per pax and you're to purchase the ticket some 400m away from the entrance, near the convenience store. You'll not quite miss it because it's a roundabout and there is bound to be a queue for it.Once you get your receipt, look out for the number at the top left which indicates which train you'll be boarding. The conductors don't speak English in general but there would be a big display at the front of the queue to show the number of the train each time the gate is open.

The train stops at a number of stops but we opted to get off only at those distinct areas such as the stop for the Mother and children statue. On a good day, you could see all the little islets as you look out from the observatory deck. There were loads of photo enthusiasts who brought along telescopic lenses to capture the photo of migrating birds as well.

The other popular stop which basically proves that you've been to Taejongdae is the Yeongdo lighthouse. Many people actually walk down to the cliff area and from the top, everyone looks like tiny ants. It was quite a sight and there is a bit of walking up and down the steps to there. I was told that most people spend the entire day hiking around the park but we spent only about 2 hours there as the heat was also getting to us. In fact, if you're not walking and just taking the train, I think the tour would end within 2 hours because the train does not stop at all the stops stated on the brochure.

Once we're done with Taejongdae, we actually do not have much in mind so we thought that we could visit another popular location among the tourists, which is Seomyeon.

From the underpass, we noticed underground shopping area again just like Nampo. Since we didn't quite research on the place, we just took a leisurely walk and stumble upon the market area. We were looking for snacks instead of full lunch so we stopped by a stall selling tteokpogi but unfortunately, it's not as nice as the one we tried in Haeundae.

To the market we go, to the market we go, so many sights to behold. Everything can be found there. Perishable, toys, dry food, clothing and given the time of the day that we were day, it is considered fairly crowded.Clams, pork, beef, chicken, silvery fishes and those pickles and kimchi can be found in abundance and I'm sure the price would have been more affordable than in area like Nampo which seems to be more upscale.

There is also a fairly big mall area in Seomyeon and usually you'll be able to find Singapore brands such as Charles and Keith and Bee Cheng Hiang in there if you're looking for some Singaporean stuff. In any case, most of the items you see in the malls are not cheap so we only make a quick window shopping trip around. We also spent some time looking for the post office to send some postcards and that surprisingly took us awhile because most people couldn't understand English. Nevertheless, all is well when we finally found it some 200m away from the mall in a more secluded area.

And before we make our way back, we stumbled upon a shop selling samgyetang. It's probably the only common Korean food that we can find in Singapore but we haven't quite seen it around in Busan. Perhaps it's not seen in photos but it's actually on the menu in hangul. In any case, what I found interesting is that while in Singapore and Malaysia we could find some really nice panchan, so far our encounter in Busan is that they eat loads of raw onions, garlic, pepilla leaves, pickles and kimchi (white and red). I think it makes me appreciate the panchan that I have in Singapore more. And that pretty much wraps up the day for us!