Haeundae Beach (해운대) is the most famous beach in South Korea. It's part of Korea's second biggest city, Busan--located on the southeastern coast, Busan is kind of like the Miami of Korea.I visited this past weekend and had a BLAST! The motto is "Sun & Fun: Haeundae," and I had a lot of both. I took a 6-hour bus ride from Ansan to Haeundae and met an e-pal there who volunteered to show me around. (free tour guides rock!)
Her name is Jiyoung.CUTE tour guides rock even more! =)
She is a Busan native, so she knew her way around everywhere and had some great recommendations for sight-seeing and restaurants.
Speaking of restaurants, first stop was a.. Mexican place?
Si! Taco Senora. A tiny shack that Jiyoung told me was famous among foreigners. I saw plenty of buff American dudes there that were probably in the army.
Tacos, burritos, fajitas, quesadillas... everything you'd expect. Even Corona. I was hungry after my long journey, so of course got the burrito.
Elmo says, "Muy delicioso!!!"
I think this says it all.
Next stop: The BEACH!
I see the ocean for the first time in Korea.
E X C I T E D !(I had also just bought that hat before going to the beach. ~10 bucks for my new favorite hat!)
My feet touch the South Sea for the first time.
Giant hotels line the beach. My motel, the Inka Motel, is about a 10-minute walk, but it's much cheaper. $35 bucks a night instead of $200-300.
There are jet skis and boats,
and plenty of foreigners about,
And tons of sexy people.
After walking the entirety of Haeundae beach, about a mile long, Jiyoung and I checked out some souvenir shops.
Then, we kept walking for about 5 minutes and made it to what is technically an island--an extremely small one. It had some wooden steps and elevated walkways with beautiful views of the coast.
Really beautiful.
Shake it!
Shake it like a polaroid picture!
This is a nice view from the island.
See that big bridge in the distance?
We got closer to the bridge that night.It's called Gwangan Bridge.
I'm actually on a boardwalk with Gwanganri Beach right behind me, but you can't tell with the lighting.
It looks really cool all lit up.
Even cooler when it changes colors!
Here's a professional picture so you can actually see how pretty it is.
There's also some lit up buildings right next to the bridge.
Complete with color-changing ability!
We met up with Jiyoung's friend, Jiwan and went to a pretty nice, typical western bar. It was called Thursday Party. It had some great cocktails and flavored draft beer (lime, hazelnut, choco... sounded kinda weird). I tried lime beer; it was okay but too sour. Jack and coke was better.
When we left the bar, there was an outdoor play going on pretty much right where I was standing earlier. These actors were dressed up in really cool costumes.
They had microphones and speakers so we could hear them, but it's not like I could understand it. Still, crazy costumes and exaggerated acting was entertaining.
Next the three of us went to Norae-bang (singing room/karaoke), but my camera was dead by then. Sorry. Then more drinking happened and I met some friends of Jiwan and it turned into a very late Saturday night.
Now Sunday!
Jiyoung and I hopped a subway to Beomeosa Temple, the most famous Buddhist temple in Busan. All the buildings have been reconstructed over the years, so not original. But it was definitely the coolest temple I've seen here so far. Probably the coolest Buddhist temple I've ever seen actually. It was like a large estate and had a ton of buildings that I couldn't really capture on my camera.
Entrance Gate.
With just a couple frogs to guard it??
Weak.
Damn, nevermind. That mofo's scary.
Fire? or Dragon?! My favorite part were these four giant statues. Okay Okay, so I only got pics of two of them. I'm mad at myself now.
New FB profile pic. Obv.
One of many prayer buildings housing wonderful statues, artwork, and devoted Buddhists bowing vigorously.
Wonderful example of said statues and artwork.
After some sushi, we went to see the Taejongdae cliffs.
They're part of a great coastal park--Taejongdae Park. It offers gorgeous views of the harbor, ship traffic, and sunset (or sunrise on the other side of the island).
I heard the Taejongdae cliffs are also known as the Suicide Cliffs.
Here's some random thing.
And a big lighthouse!
How should I end this one?...
How else? With the STARCRAFT CHANNEL on the 50-inch flatscreen TV in my hotel room!
Is it sadder that people watch other people playing Starcraft on television? OR that it was actually better than the Mark Wahlberg movie that was on, Shooter?
(Verdict: The saddest thing is that you can tell that's a Protoss Nexus without even enlarging the pic. Ha Ha! Ok I am just as nerdy...)
