Our day started with an early morning walk to Starbucks for coffee and a 'toasted' bagel. We sat by the window and watched as Busan came alive; boys running to their bus, young girls walking leisurely to their bus stop, and some parents walking with their children to the bus stop.
We walked back home as we wanted to visit with Chooch before he left for work at 9AM.
Once Chooch left, we headed out again, this time our first stop was the CASINO. I was afraid to take pictures, but captured these slot machines on the sly. It is a very high class place which is only open to foreigners. You must show your passport to enter. Koreans are not 'allowed' to gamble...how you like that? (Mike said I should have said, "Korean's are not allowed to gamble...legally!) :)
We stopped by the visitor's information center on the beach. We obtained some information about a city tour Chooch and Rachel had suggested and took a picture of this picture. In 2008 Haeundae Beach, in Busan, was listed in the Guinness World Book of Records for having the most umbrellas on the beach at one time. (7,932) (This is the beach you can see from Chooch's place)
Our ultimate plan for the day was to take a short 1 1/2 hour Busan City Tour in the double-decker open air bus. It is a jump-on/jump-off tour with 10 stops. Our first stop was in honor of "Jackie". We were so taken by Shinsegae, the worlds largest department store, when we visited last Saturday, we decided to spend another 30 minutes there in honor of Jackie. Noting that she would spend 'days' not minutes!! :)
Following are some pictures we took inside Shinsegae.
This one is from the top floor looking down.
This is from the bottom looking up!
There is a movie theater, a center for performing arts and an ice skating rink. Yes, you can buy 'beer' at the snack stand to take into the movie. There is also another cinema where you can dine or if you prefer, sit at the wine bar and watch the movie.
The following pictures were taken on Korea's first double-deck suspension bridge, Gwangan Bridge. It is considered to be Busan's most striking landmark. a sight to behold! At night, it is described as 'glittering like a diamond necklace stretched across the sea. It has more than 100,00 lights.
The picture below is the entrance to the UN Memorial Cemetary, a permanent tribute to those who gave their lives defending South Korea from 1950-1953.
Because there is so little open land in Pusan and much to Mike's dismay, there are only a few golf courses and the minimum per round is about $199...where's Napua when you need him? So you will see these big screens where golfers go to hit the ball. There is also screen golf which is played inside using a computer and your golf clubs; not quite the same as being on a course.
I will title these next few pictures, "The Other Side of Busan." They were taken on the other side of Gwangan Bridge.
There are crosses on many buildings in South Korea. They signify a Christian church being housed in the building. You can barely see it on the right in the first picture and in the center of the one on the left. The bottom ones are a little easier seen.
A beautiful hillside.
Me standing on the bus outside the Busan Subway Station.
The front entrance of the station.
A really cool building.
Chinatown is across the street from the Busan Station.
Daily life on the 'other side of Busan'.
Outside markets are everywhere. They all seem to be selling the same things.
The roofs were not only home to 'tires', but beautiful flowers, pots, and the daily laundry.
At this point, Mike and I thought we were on our way back to Haeundae Beach. After about 30 minutes, as I looked at the pamphlet that was given us as we began our tour, I realized we were on another tour that ended up extending our total tour to about 4 hours. We were pleasantly surprised that we were afforded the opportunity to see so much more of Busan than we had planned. However, I got a little nervous, not knowing exactly how we would get back to where we started.
This is the entrance to Taejongdae, a park best know for it's observatory and lighthouse overlooking the sea and it's view of Tushima Island.
These are some lower class apartments.
Back on the other side of the bridge, this sign is for Colton. The picture through the trees is a different view of Chooch and Rachel's neighborhood.
After we had a sandwich, we walked along the boardwalk. I set the camera to 'auto' to get a picture of us together! Can you tell that I am taller in Korea? :)
After resting, when Haydn went down for a nap we took a sunset walk and got a little silly...and brave!!!
It's almost 8:30PM, we are getting ready to pick Chooch up from work and drive about 2 1/2 hours to Rachel's parent's home. We will spend the night tonight and tomorrow night, returning Saturday. We're excited to visit their hometown village.
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