Friday – Firstly thank you to everyone that responded to my post last night. It was great to hear from you all. You are most welcome to send me emails – I do love to read them every day! I just can’t respond personally as most of the time I can receive emails, but can’t send them (strangely).
A very full day today (as are all our days!). After breakfast at Dunkin Donuts (the Novatel prices are exorbitant so we have a tab across the road), we were bussed down to the Mipo Port ferry terminal where we caught a small ferry for a cruise along the beautiful Busan Harbour to the Jagalchi Fish Market area in downtown Busan. The ferry trip lasted 1 ½ hours and was very scenic – lots of beautiful rock formations in the harbour, majestic mountains framing the city, and as always, cherry blossoms everywhere we look. We are all in awe of the beauty of this special city. We all bought the kids packets of prawn chips (recommended by the ferry people) to feed to the seagulls on the way. They ate them out of the children’s hands while the boat was doing a good speed – the kids thought it was fantastic. We all had our cameras out as we glided into the beautiful port entrance – the fifth largest/busiest harbour in the world. Lots of container ships, and various other types to look at. We alighted at Mipo and then were taken up to Yongdoo park – a scenic park set on the cliff top overlooking the harbour. We caught the lift up Busan Tower for spectacular views of the city and surrounds, and was given a short guided tour speech about how during the Korean War, Busan was the refugee place of the nation, and how the Japanese occupation affected the people here.
We then spent a couple of hours walking around the PIFF street area (Pusan International Film Festival), visiting the local flea market (the shoppers among us were once again in heaven). Most of us came back with tshirts, caps, pyjamas, miniature Korean fake food, pictures, and various other items. Oh my goodness, buy of the day was Barb’s fake fur designer handbag – go Barb!
Lunch was an Italian (well, lets say a Korean version of Italian) buffet which we all enjoyed. We just love the bling in the toilets – tassled pink curtains, and chandeliers...
We had a walk around the very impressive and famous Jalgachi Fish market, marvelling at all the amazing types of aquatic life (most of which we haven’t seen before).
I had my own personal bit of life in Korea today. For several days I have been battling a very sore mouth (toothache), and decided I could stand it no longer, so mentioned it to our guide Sunny. She quickly whisked me off to a dentist who promptly took xrays, poked around and said I had an infection, wrote out a script for antibiotics and some heavy duty pain killers, and all this for only 10,000 won!!! (about $9 Aus). Dentistry is brilliant and cheap in Korea. I was just amazed at the dental clinic. Floor to ceiling glass windows overlooking the ocean, massage chairs in the waiting room, four plasma TVs for me to watch during the consultation, and a very hi tech xray machine that went whizzing around my head! A surreal experience.
Anyway, back to my ramblings... Back to the hotel, where we met the Roland and Bok families - it was terrific to see them all again. The kids have grown so much! (two expat families from Melbourne that are part of our Korean adoptive community who now live in Busan for a few years teaching at the international school). We welcomed them onto the bus, and headed off to Gijong for a traditional restaurant (of the thatched roof variety). This restaurant specialised in duck, which we all enjoyed, before heading back on the bus, and then we all got dropped off back in Hyundai (suburb of Busan) at Eric and Lindy’s beachside apartment for supper. The kids had a great time playing with Na Rae and Min Song (and their toys!) and we all enjoyed having a look around their apartment. Much hilarity followed as they regaled us with tales of living in Korea. We all enjoyed our time together immensely, and then all decided to walk back along a beautiful cherry blossom covered avenue, down along Hyundai Beach in the moonlight, back to our hotel. A late, but great night was had by all.
Hi guys, it sounds like you are having a wonderful time and packing so much in. I'm so glad to hear that you had a positive (and interesting) experience with your toothache. It is always a bit scary having to see a doctor in a foreign country.
ReplyDeleteWe are really enjoying reading about your trip. The cherry blossoms sound and look spectacular.
And what is all this western food you are eating - donuts for breakfast? Whe in Korea, do as the Koreans do... eat kim chi and dried fish soup for breakfast - I am looking forward to a post, complete with pictures of a traditional Korean breakfast.
Keep having fun.
Diana and co