Sunday, August 25, 2019

Busan - Seoul 2019 Day 2 Part 2: Haeundae Beach, Sea Life Aquarium, Gwangalli Beach

Headed to Haeundae Beach from Centum City Station, a mere three stations away. 

Come out of exit 5 and you will see this long road in front of you. There are eateries and shops on both sides.

Mum went to research this famous fish cake store (omuk) and it is called Goresa Fish Cake (고래사어묵 해운대점) 


We did not order any thing as we did not have the time and we did not really know how it worked. Do we pick the omuk and pay at the counter.. where do we make hot the omuk... do we get the soup... Slight regrets again, as I heard the omuk in Busan is famous and taste different from that of Seoul.

There were a lot of stalls set up along the side of the road. Perhaps this only happens on Fridays and on the weekends? There were stalls selling temporary tattoos, trinkets, even tarrot card reading aiyo.


At the end of the 500 metre walk (omy), we finally reached this road crossing which would bring us to Haeundae Beach!


But first, we wanted to see the SEA LIFE Busan Aquarium. This was an agenda I added to the itinerary that my mum kindly allowed hehe.


Look out for the shark on the right (absolutely can't miss), walk past the carpark and turn left when you see the sign. 


If you take the busan city tour bus you might get 10% off for a ticket here. Tickets are a bit hefty at 29,000 won each and I think it goes into really preserving the environment for the sea creatures to thrive in.


A map of the place!

I wanted to catch a glimpse of the manta ray feeding session which was why we rushed to enter this place at 5pm, but turns out it was instead 5pm for the mermaid story at the main tank?! Perhaps the information I received from the main website was inaccurate T_____T


The mermaid show was okay la. Hard work for the divers, the mermaid did not have a tank and had to do a deep dive each time. Some of the fishes kept swimming nonchalantly around her, right at the front of the tank also... #attentionseeking

I liked that the displays and signs had english, so I could read most of it and enjoy identifying the sea creatures hehe. There was a touch pool as well but I didn't want to stress the starfishes so I just decided to look.



These stingrays were the ABSOLUTE CUTEST. LITTLE PUPPIES OF THE SEA.




There were creative displays as well of fishes kept in a glass tank shaped like a dresser table, perfume and ice cream but I have to upload them again as they are stuck in my camera! ><

We left the aquarium without getting any souvenirs from the souvenir store. Didn't find anything too interesting to buy from there.

We then headed to Haeundae Beach itself to walk about but.... very nice meh? D:


I clearly did not put in any effort in taking these photos. I do like the sea breeze and the feeling of sand on my feet but living on a sunny island like Singapore... a beach is still a beach to me sorry D:

Perhaps it would be better if we had time to go a bit further to see the ocean view like at Oryuku Islands but we really didn't have enough time in the two days we were there sobs.


By this time, about 6pm, the streets were really bustling and all the stops were properly set up. We were looking for a kbbq place to eat and I suddenly realised I had a recommended eatery saved on my phone in google maps, so we headed there to eat.

Obanjang BBQ is a fuss free, charcoal grilled bbq place. Cheap and good :D
Address:20 Gunam-ro 24beon-gil, U-dong, Haeundae, Busan, South Korea


We ordered just a portion of pork belly and pork collar. Truth to be told we were a bit confused as the english translation, the chinese translation and what we finally ate for pork collar all didn't coincide so we don't think the translations are accurate tbh. Regardless it was delicious, and our meal only cost 23,000 won.




Thereafter we took a train to Gwangalli beach... or rather to Gwangan station and walked for almost 15 mins to the beach. WHY THE TRAIN STATION SO FAR WALAO.

Got to the beach and waited about 30 minutes for the 8pm light show. The show wasn't much tbh... Just watch on youtube la #typicalmillenials

But I do like this particular view the beach and the soft glow in the sky is really pretty. Unfortunately there was a small showcase at the side which explains the super bright spotlights and the bright sand.


We realised later after taking a cab that if you walked to the right for about 5 minutes, you will get to a calmer part of the beach where you can take a much clearer and darker picture of the beach and of the Gwangandaegyo Bridge with less human traffic.

We stayed for just the light show and then headed back to our hotel to rest up for our early morning the next day to FLY TO SEOUL WEW.