2017

2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008

So let’s get on with this rather eventful year (if you are wondering why 9 and not 10, read one of the earlier post)

1. New job

Yes, I started a new job in February, on the 4th day of Chinese New Year. Yes, before you say, “again?!” let me just say that this, in hindsight, was for the better. Who knows what the next year will bring, but for the time being, things are good and I’m happy.

2. Sapporo

Just before I started the new job, I went on an 8-day holiday in Hokkaido. I’ve always dreamt of visiting the Sapporo Snow Festival, and this year I made that dream come true.

3. Back to Korea

About a month later, I went back to Korea again, this time to Busan and Jeju. This will be the last overseas holiday for a long, long time. Why? See no.3 below.

4. Kid Goes to College

Yup, le kid #1 has started college. She seems to take to it like a duck to water, and she has now completed her pre-U. College proper starts in March.

5. #MalaysiaBaharu

And oh, GE14 happened, and we have a new government. Yeah, a lot has been written on this matter, but it was indeed a great moment for me personally. 61 years, baby.

6. World Cup

2018 was the year of World Cup. This edition, it was made more fun as I did a blog throughout the tournament. It was parody blog, along the lines of Tapir Times and babylonbee. Very fun.

7. TV Box

Oh yeah, I bought a TV Box. What’s that? Only the greatest tech innovation in recent years.

8. Sabah

As part of the new job, I had the opportunity to travel to some of the most beautiful islands in the world in Sabah. Truly something to be seen to be believed.

9. And still reading

Yup, still at it. This year, i clocked in at 160 books.

And that’s a wrap for the year, here’s hoping 2019 will be better, happier and more fulfilling.

So ends our sojourn in Busan and Jeju. It was an enjoyable trip, we got to see most of what we planned to see. Comparatively, this trip wasn’t as packed as our other trips, mainly because there is a lot of traveling intra-city. Jeju, as we expected, is full of attractions and surprises, and another few more trips there would still not satisfy us. Busan com as a second city to Seoul, has its own, distinct flavour. Being a seaside harbour city, there are nice beaches and waterfront attractions. Weather-wise, being at the south, it has a milder winters here (it hardly ever snows).

Food wise, we didn’t really enjoy as much as Seoul, but there is nonetheless very good food here everywhere. If you are big on seafood, then Busan is the place to be. In almost every area in the city, you can see small restaurants claiming to be the ‘best in the city’ or ‘best XXX!’. You can probably spend a year in a small district of this city and yet not try all the good restaurants and stalls.

In terms of attractions, Busan has more natural wonders, and suited for long hikes.

The highlights of our visit in Busan is undoubtedly Gamcheon Culture Village. The traditional markets like Bupyeong, Changseongdong, Gukje and Nampodong are also worth a visit, remember to go with an empty stomach. Haeundae and Gwanggali beaches are beautiful (in the non-winter months), but if you’re pressed for time I would suggest to choose the former over the latter. Do try to visit on weekends for the best experience. During harvest season, the canola and lavender fields are said to be beautiful, we were too early for that.

So another travel destination done and dusted. We returned with a suitcase full of souvenirs and snacks, and a hatful of memories to last a lifetime. Now that our kids have started college, we’re done for overseas travel, at least for the next seven years or so. Until then, annyeonghi gaseyo!

From Dalmaji Road, it was a short cab ride to Daritdol Observatory, the penultimate place on our itinerary. This is the second skywalk we visited during our trip, the day before we had visited Oryukdo. Daritdol was newly opened at the time we visited it, our cab driver hadn’t even heard of it. It was a good thing that I knew roughly where it was so i guided him there.

Daritdol is located at the end of a narrow seaside road lined with seafood restaurants. This area within Haeundae is called Cheongsapo, hence the name. At the cul-de-sac is a small hill with the observatory atop it.

Actually, ‘observatory’ is a misnomer, it should be called skywalk. It is quite similar to Oryukdo, except much longer.

With it being quite long jutting out to the ocean, it is naturally less congested, and much easier to snap photos. In the photo above, you can see the row of shops where our cab dropped us at a distance. The nearer building contains a gift shop, tourist info centre and mini museum. The observatory is not accessible by vehicles, and some climbing and walking is required. You can see the people walking back to the tour buses on the right.

From here, we took another cab to Haeundae  Market. This is a short food street that runs parallel to the beach. I read a few blogs that praised this place for having great eats, but i thought it was rather underwhelming.

We had some snacks at the most popular shop along the street, this place serving eomuk, tempura and other stuff similar to our yong tau foo.

We then walked on to our final destination, the famed Haeundae Beach.

If you’re a K-drama fan, you would be familiar with this place. The beach is about 1.5 km long, and varying between 30 to 50 metres wide of yellowish sand. A walkway runs throughout its length, where you can find different attractions like an open square, a food court, and even an underground aquarium. During the summer months, Haeundae is packed with umbrellas and sunbathers. Even when we were during early spring on a Saturday afternoon, there were many ongoing activities to attract massive crowds.

This senior citizen band was belting out 60’s dance hits, and middle aged ladies were dancing with wild abandon on the promenade.

All along the promenade, there were many street performers. This two street magicians / jugglers were exceptionally entertaining.

This one was hilarious. His routine with the volunteers from the crowd and flaming bottles is good. Here he is trying to swallow a balloon.

This other guy after him is equally funny.

Walking further up, there were a few singers. This young guy is very talented. Too bad not many people were paying attention. I guess a soulful crooner isn’t very much appreciated in the land of K-pop boybands.

We spent a few hours here, taking in the wonderful view of the ocean, watching the performers, taking in the positive vibe of the crowd, and especially the cute little dogs out for walks. Walking along the beach, i even bumped into my old university roommate. Well, i knew he was working somewhere here in the city, but in a city of almost 4 million, three times bigger than KL, what are the odds of that?

After seeing the sunset here, we took a long bus ride back to our hotel. We didn’t have dinner, instead we used up all the credit in our Hanaro cards by buying ramen cups and snacks to bring home.

The next morning, it was time to go back to the airport for our flight home.

Next – Wrap-up.

Day 6, our last full day in Korea! Unfortunately, my wife was still suffering from the food poisoning from the jajangmyeon the night before. So we had to cut down on our itinerary for the day. Originally, we planned to spend the entire day in Haeundae area. There are many tourist attractions here, so planned to visit Haedong Yonggungsa Temple in the morning, then visit Dalmaji Road, followed Daritdol Observatory before ending the day in the famed Haeundae beach. We cut out Dongbaekseom island and Haeundae market from our itinerary to reduce walking. Dongbaekseom is not really an island, it is a hilltop park on a peninsula at the end of Haeundae beach, quite similar to Taejongdae. It’s a lot of walking, so naturally we gave it a pass.

So, first stop for the day is Haedong Yonggungsa temple. This temple is also very popular in Busan, a must visit for any tourist here. Unlike most temples in Korea that are located at hilltops or in forest, this temple is located next to the sea.

As we mentioned earlier, Busan is a very big city, Haeundae is located about 45 minutes bus ride away from our hotel, going over some hilly terrain. The bus ride took us past the beach. From the last bus stop we took a cab to the temple complex. Yonggungsa is very popular, on the day of our visit (on a Saturday) the carpark was full and tourists pouring into the complex like a festival day.

There is a short stretch to walk with stalls on both sides selling snacks, souvenirs and religious paraphernalia.

We tried that seed-filled pastry again that is so popular in Busan.

Even before you reach the temple complex, there are lots of things to see. Here they have statues of all 12 animals of the zodiac. This is mine.

To get to the temple complex, you need to descend lots of steep and narrow steps. Once you turn the last corner, the view of Yonggungsa grabs you.

Try to land your coin in the bowl for good fortune.

We didn’t really spend too much time here since there were a lot of people. Instead, we went back out to the entrance and spent some time eating snacks and drinking coffee at the convenience store.

From Yonggungsa we took a cab to Dalmaji Road. This place is a seaside road lined with cherry blossom trees, famed for its beauty and serenity. There’s a row of shops here, mostly are art galleries and coffee bars. Unfortunately we were a week too early for the cherry blossoms, but the avenue is beautiful nonetheless.

At the centre of Dalmaji Road there is a park where a free public concert was held at the time we reached there.

There was also a flea market going on, filled with Koreans out walking with their tiny dogs.

At the end of the park is the Haewoljeong Pavilion, a traditional place to watch the full moon. From here, you can have a wonderful view of the sea.

Next – Daritdol Observatory and Haeundae beach.

Next on our itinerary is Oryukdo Skywalk. As Busan is a hilly city located next to the ocean, there are at least 3 of these new skywalks that I came to know of in my research. We went to two of them – this one and the brand new Daritdol Observatory (on our last day). Another one that we didn’t get to visit was the even newer Songdo skywalk.

What’s a skywalk? Its a glass walkway protruding out from a small hill out to the ocean, so you can see the crashing waves right below you.

From Dongnae we took two different buses to this place. The skywalk is located in a quite neighbourhood sparsely populated by condominiums and schools. We actually disembarked the bus about 1 km too early, due to the confusion of similarly sounding bus stops. But it gave us an opportunity to appreciate the stunning beauty of the rugged coast. 

The skywalk is located at the very end of the road. You need to climb steps up a small hillock.

The skywalk, though quite short, gives a breath-taking view. In the beautiful afternoon light, blustery early spring winds, you can see clearly forever.

I guess just like any skywalk, it is not for those who suffer from vertigo. They make you wear these shoe protectors to prevent the glass from getting scratched.

There’s another set of steps to take you down onto the rocks near the water. That’s my daughter down there looking up at us at the skywalk.

It just amazes me how beautiful the natural landscape in Korea is. And the people are so environmentally conscious that there is no rubbish sighted anywhere at all. Hopefully one day Malaysia can be as advanced as Korea are today.

It was a good walk here, burning off some of the extra heavy lunch we had earlier. As i mentioned, Oryukdo is really at the end of the road, so there’s a cul-de-sac here where the buses wait for passengers to fill up. From Oryukdo, it is a short ride to Gwanggali beach.

Being a harbour city, there are many popular beaches here in Busan. Two of the most popular ones are Haeundae and Gwanggali. The former is by far the more well-known one – in the summer the entire width of beach is packed with deck chairs and umbrellas. We’re going to Haeundae tomorrow, so today we are ending our day at the nearer Gwanggali.

Gwanggali separated from the main road by about 4 blocks, all jam-packed with restaurants and bars. I asked directions for the fastest route to the beach from this lady and her adorable son on a scooter.

They were on the way to the convenience store to buy some groceries. The lady was Korean, but she could speak Mandarin with us.

Gwanggali is right in bustling city. You sit down in one of the bars or restaurants facing the beach and sip cold beer. The entire stretch of road here is also dotted with many high-rise luxury hotels.

The biggest feature of Gwanggali, besides the wide beach with powdery sand, is the Gwangandagyeo Bridge running across bay where the beach is located. At night, the bridge is lighted up.

It’s a little early to see the lights, so we went for dinner.

After 5 days in Korea, we still haven’t eaten jajangmyeon. So with some directions from the nice cashier girl at GS25, we found one just off the beach.

This was a good, authentic jajangmyeon dish. But unfortunately, me and my wife suffered food poisoning from this meal. It didn’t affect me badly (besides making me throw up my dinner twice later that night), but my wife had it much worse. She suffered diarrhoea the entire night and stomach cramps the next day.

Food poisoning aside, we went back to the beach after dinner.

The lights change colours every few seconds, so it’s a like a dazzling light show. Every year in October, this beach hosts the International Fireworks Festival. Tonight, though, the promenade facing the beach is pulsating with after work young adults having dinner and drinks.

From here, we walked back to the main road and took a bus back to the hotel.

So another long, long day completed.

Next – our last full day in Korea.

Day Five in Korea! And our second last full day. Today is another very packed day. This is the view from our hotel room.

We are first going up north out of Busan to Beomeosa Temple, then stop by Dongnae on the way back for lunch. Then we are going to Oryukdo Skywalk, and have dinner around Gwanggali beach and spend some time walking around there.

When I was planning for this trip, I had wanted to visit both Beomeosa and Geumjeung. The latter is a mountain fortress with a hiking trail up that rewards you with a beautiful view. But its a long way off from the city centre, so I had to leave it off the itinerary. But we did manage to fit in Beomeosa (Temple of the Nirvana Fish). This is another hilltop temple that is about an hour away from Busan.

To get here, we took a bus to the town at the foot of the hill, then we got a taxi up the hill. If you have time, you can also hike up the 2km path uphill.

Once we got to the temple, we were greeting with a stunning view of the countryside and the temple complex.

Even though it was already spring, there was still snow on ground. The snow in the roofs were melting and dropping down, though.

Beomeosa (pronounced “bo-MOS-a”) is small but very ancient and beautiful temple. It is head temple of the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, and is said to contain a mythical well that never runs dry. We took some time walk slowly around the temple and enjoy the architecture and scenery.

Beomeosa is an active temple, there are many people praying here, but photography is, of course, not encouraged.

The surrounding hillside area is also very beautiful. The melting snow feeds the streams.

Our very first cherry blossom!

After checking off Beomeosa from our travel bucket list, we boarded a bus back to the city. About halfway back, we got off at a place called Dongnae, just outside Busan. Dongnae has two culinary distinctions. One is a 30-year old samgyetang restaurant, said to be the best in all of Korea. Another is a 4-generation old restaurant serving halmae pajeon (Korean pancake), and is rumoured to have served the emperor of Korea.

We had to walk quite a distance from the bus stop, and the samgyetang restaurant is quite difficult to find, as all the signages are in Korean. Finally spotting something familiar from Google Streetview, we found it.

The restaurant is a modest 2 storey bungalow with lots of benches at the side of building. We were there early so the place was rather empty. Up the narrow stairs we went.

They only have two types of samgyetang on the menu, herbal and traditional chicken.

Well, the samgyetang was actually delicious, but I’m not sure if it is better than the other famous one that we had in Seoul.

From here, we walked a short distance to find the halmae pajeon restaurant.

This restaurants is rather modern looking considering how old it is. The halmae pajeon here is quite different from anywhere else in Korea, it is said that they have maintained to the original recipe.

We also ordered this seafood noodle dish, though we regret doing so as it tasted really seafood-ish.

Having overeaten just a little bit, we took a slow walk back to the bus stand. Along the way we stopped at this coffee place that offered promo for their cakes (yes, eat some more).

In conclusion, Beomeosa is a beautiful temple in any season. Take a few hours to travel here if you have the opportunity. Dongnae is a nice town with many interesting restaurants, but we visited the both the samgyetang and halmae pajeon just for the experience only.

Next – Oryukdo Skywalk

We left Gamcheon at about 4pm taking the same bus we took coming here. We went back to Nampodong / Bupyeong market area to shop for some clothes and shoes at the open air market. As we mentioned in the earlier post, the whole area of about 20 blocks is filled with shops and stalls in the evenings. They are actual a few different markets merging together, so it is hard to know where one ends and another begins. But our plan of action is simple – start at Nampodong main street and walk the narrow sides streets in the direction of northwest until we reach our hotel.

First stop was to walk through BIFF Square again. In the evenings, the whole square and surrounding area is filled with food stalls. This particular stall in the centre of the square is very popular with a perpetual queue.

They serve this pastry filled with different kind of seeds. Quite tasty, but on the pricey side.

This one below is also quite popular. It’s like a small pot pie filled with bacon, egg and cheese.

We walked through the narrow streets checking out the clothes and food. If you have lots of spare cash to burn, there are endless cheap stuff to buy.

The Gukje market ladies are still here from this morning. In the evenings the crowds are more pronounced.

From the markets you can see the awesome Busan tower.

Surrounding the base of the tower is a urban park called Yongdusan. We didn’t have time to visit, maybe next trip we can even go up Busan Tower.

By evening we found our way to Bupyeong Market again. Since it was still early for dinner but we were already hungry, we stopped for a snack and coffee at this little pizza parlour.

We ordered one long slice of pizza and rolled ice cream (and coffee) shared among the four of us. This type of ice cream is quite common here, they mix the ingredients on a cold plate and roll the thin slices for you in a cup. There’s a stall in the Curve in Mutiara Damansara on weekends that do this.

Maybe we should have also ordered a beer…

After our snack we went back out the tside streets again looking for dinner. We were undecided on what to eat, there were really just too many restaurants and different cuisines on offer. We tried looking for a restaurant serving jajangmyeon, but no luck in this area. Finally, decided on fried chicken! There’s something about Korean fried chicken that is just tasty and finger licking good… i reckon since we probably walked more than 12,000 steps today on my pedometer, i deserve an unhealthy treat.

This double storey tiny restaurant has interesting décor.

Beer with fried chicken done two ways, with a side of potato wedges with your loved ones in Korea. Life doesn’t get better than this…

We had a long day today. We started with brunch at Jagalchi Market, went to BIFF Square and Gukje Market, walked the length and breadth of Gamcheon, then came back to Nampodong and all the markets again. Finally, a hearty dinner. Tired but very happy. We didn’t forget to stop by the stall at Bupyeong that sells awesome pastry, the one that we saw the day before but didn’t buy. There’s just something about their puff pastry here that is so delicious.

Next – Snow in Beomeosa.

From BIFF Square, we took a bus to one of the biggest attractions in Busan – Gamcheon Culture Village. Getting to here is a little tricky, as there the subway does not extend here. So we took a special green coloured tourist bus from Seo-Gu Office, this large traffic intersection near Jagalchi Fish Market. The problem is that there are many bus stops here, including in the centre of the intersection – between traffic lanes…

After asking around, we spotted the small green bus, just about to leave!

If i remember correctly, this green bus is slightly different from the regular buses, in that you don’t need to tag out when you leave the bus since the ride is per entry (or at least that was what we understood). The bus was filled with elderly ladies and China tourists.

Another way to get to Gamcheon is to take a subway to the end of the line and take bus there. Either way, you need to take a bus. It’s not advisable to take a taxi (pricey) or drive there. The road to Gamcheon is very narrow and with very sharp turns, so its a bit of a dangerous drive.

Once you get to Gamcheon, you are immediately greeted with the iconic view.

This coastal town is built on a steep hillslope, facing the sea. The houses are all painted in pastel colours, and most of the homes here are converted into tourists shops, art galleries, or cafes.

The best views of the place is near the entrance to the village. There are a few vantage points here, climb to the roof viewing decks to get a good shot.

Near the bus stop at the entrance is the tourist information centre. Here you can buy a cheap but useful map. You can follow any of the three  prescribed routes – they have easy, moderate and hard. You can collect unique stamps along the way (in total there are 12 if you follow the longest route). At 3 of the stamping stations, you can also collect special postcards as souvenirs. The map is beautifully illustrated, it serves as a nice souvenir even if you don’t participate in the stamp hunt.

We decided to take full route and participate in the stamp hunt. The whole village is set out like a 3-D maze, so it is easy to get lost here. The full route takes about an hour and is quite challenging with lots of climbing and walking. Along the way, there are many things to see like art installation, cute gift shops, lazy cats, and stunning views.

If you have time, you can also explore the narrow side paths off the main route – and seek out the hidden treasures there.

For some strange reason, The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry is really popular here in Gamcheon, They see lots of his pictures here, plus souvenirs and postcards bearing the image of the tiny prince and his intrepid fox (if you haven’t read the book, give it a go and try to interpret the inferences). See this line of people queuing below? Including the two girls in full hanbok regalia?

They are all lining up to take picture with this famous sculpture of the prince and fox looking over Gamcheon.

No, we didn’t wait in line for half an hour for this. I didn’t really like the book.

Nearing the end of the route, we decided to take a break for ice-cream, while my kid went out to find the last stamp. It was quite a warm day for spring. 

Finally, after taking the (almost) full walking route, we completed the trail and found all 9 stamps! Do note the trail does not end at the same place you start.

So in summary, Gamcheon is a beautiful village and in my opinion, the highlight of my trip here to Busan. If you have a full day, you spend it entirely here exploring all the side streets. Do note that there aren’t many restaurants, just little cafes and snack stalls. So do plan to eat somewhere else if you are visiting here. The walking bit is quite challenging for the elderly or little children, but other than that the shortest route should be okay if you want a quick view of the area. 

This was our completed map with the 12 stamps and 3 postcards. Very fulfilling!

Next – Shopping for fashion in Nampodong

From Jagalchi, it is a short walk across the main road to our next destination – BIFF Square. It’s a, well, square where there are stalls selling food from morning to night. This is where they have the annual Busan International Film Festival since 1996.

In the side streets, the stalls and shops go on forever, selling clothes, souvenirs, snacks sundry goods.

All along the walkway at he centre of the square, there imprints made by stars who have appeared in the film festivals. Most are Korean stars, there are a few international and American superstars, though.

At t the side of the square, there was a movie theatre themed bookstore. Very interesting concept.

If you walk straight on from the entrance through the square, there is a particular alley that is special compared to the rest. This is Changseongdong Meokja Golmok, or Let’s Eat Alley.

During the day time, the short street is lined with ahjummas who set up stall selling local delicacies. You’re supposed to sit on the low stools and eat. They mostly sell local specialties, two of the must-try ones chungmu gimbap (mini seaweed roll) and bibim daimyeon (stir-fried glass noodles). But we just had a massive meal at Jagalchi, so we didn’t eat anything here. But it would be quite an experience to eat sitting here, i bet.

There are only a few of these special stalls here, and in the evening it can get very packed.

Further on the alley, the market continues with different types of stalls.

The shop owner put this cute doggie in the sun because it was shivering in the shop…

Changseongdong eat alley actually joins into another nameless market, and this is a very good place to buy clothes and shoes especially for women.

Next – Gamcheon Cuture Village!

Day 4 in Korea! It’s a bright and early day for us, we have a packed itinerary today. The weather’s here been windy and cold these few days, but sunny when the sun comes at in the afternoon.  The view from our hotel room in the morning. In the distance you can see Gamcheon Cultural Village, where we are going later today. But for now in the morning, we are going to Jagalchi Fish Market and Changseongdong Eat Alley.

Jagalchi is the biggest fish market in all of Korea, befitting of the harbour that is Busan. Just like Tsukiji in Tokyo and Noryanjin in Seoul, Jagalchi serves the greater metropolitan with all kinds of seafood every morning. The market is only two stops away from our hotel, so instead of taking the subway, we took a short bus ride and walked a short distance to the market.

Along the way, there are many interesting shops to look at. Isn’t this SO cute?

“Don’t you want to take me home…?”

Jagalchi is quite unique in that it is both an indoor and outdoor fish market. In fact, the outdoor portion is far bigger than in the indoor portion. Two blocks away from the main building, you can sell the fish sellers.

Soon you can see all the sellers everywhere, with all kinds of weird sea creatures.

We’re here for brunch, so we were looking for a place to eat. They have many restaurants where you can pick the seafood outside and have them cook for you to eat inside. One of the shops caught our eye, with their “as seen on Running Man” sign.

Well, that’s usually a good enough sign for us to eat here. Besides, the lady boss, who spoke Mandarin, was quite aggressive in coaxing us to go in.

We selected one of their sets, but apparently, it came with a lot of side orders. A LOT. Well, i can only say that it is good value for our money.

This was very tasty. It’s like an omelette but made with corn.

Sashimi!

The food just kept coming and coming. The fried fish was also very good.

Finally, the food stopped and we were so full. I wonder when Kim Jong-Kook and Song Ji-Hyo came here, did they eat as much as us.

After our heavy brunch, we kept walking out in the market. We snuck inside the indoor market to take a look. It’s more of the same thing, just wet, not really clean, and smells fishy.

Stalls inside the market also have seating area for eating, but not really conducive to sit and eat a meal here.

So we can check off Jagalchi off my list of fish markets. In all honesty, after seeing other markets like Noryanjin in Seoul, Curb Market in Sapporo, Nishiki in Kyoto (have not had the chance to visit the historic Tsukiji), Jagalchi isn’t very much different. Maybe a little less interesting than Noryanjin, to be honest. But then again, with these markets in Japan and Korea, they sell basically the same stuff. But we really enjoyed the food here, lots of variety at a good price.

Next – BIFF Square and Changseongdong Eat Alley.