TOEVELGRAPH: Korea Spring Trip 2016 (Day 4)

Saturday, 16 April '16

Finally we woke up early today hehe, today we went to Busan by KTX. It took around 3 hours to get there, we went to Seoul Subway Station at 6.10, then walked to Seoul Station where KTX is located, we arrived at 6.30, exchange our printed confirmation email to tickets and showed our passports at the counter. You can either buy the ticket on the spot or in advance (online from Korail website). When you received your ticket don't forget to check which track should you board at. For details you can check out Funtastic Korea. We still have enough time to eat, so we went to Lotteria to have our breakfast. We both got the new burger that was displayed everywhere in the shop. Lol, the burger consists of beef patty, hash brown, sliced cheese and deep fried mozzarella. The picture looks so tempting, but actually the burger was a bit bland and greasy for me. T___T

If you're hungry and you don't have time to buy something, don't worry, you can buy snack or dosirak (lunch box) in the train.

We arrived around 10am, and when we were heading to the exit, we saw Samjin Eomuk store and went there to try a few fish cakes :9

We tried Sweet Potato Croquet (KRW1,200), Spicy Eomuk (KRW500), Ojingo Eomuk (KRW800) and Cheese Eomuk (KRW1,000). I like their Sweet Potato Croquet the best, all of their eomuk/fish cake is a little bit on the sweet side.

Ojingo Eomuk (KRW800)

Spicy Eomuk (KRW500)

Cheese Eomuk (KRW1,000)

Potato Croquet (KRW1,200)

When we got out from the station, before we took the escalator down, we bought an Odeng (KRW1,000) at a stall on the left. It was kinda cold that day, so it was nice to have something warm.

Odeng - KRW1,000

We then took the escalator down and walked towards the Metro Station. When you use KTX to Busan, you will stop at Busan Station, and if you want to use their subway, you need to get out from Busan Station to the metro/subway station. To get to the Busan Metro Station, take the escalator down and the entrance is at your 11 o'clock.

Because we had planned to use the subway a lot, we decided to buy the 1 day pass (KRW4,500). We were not sure how to buy it, so a kind ahjusshi helped us to change our money into coins at the machine, then helped us buy the ticket, and later told me not to put the ticket inside my phone case, because my phone case got a magnet and sometimes for some reason the ticket won't work anymore after it touch the magnet. Don't know if it's true or not, because I did like the ahjusshi told me lol. This one is different with the T-Money card where you just need to tap in and tap off. With the one day pass, you need to insert the ticket to the machine at the gate, walk through and your ticket will come out from the other side of the machine, don't forget to take it. The pass is only a small paper ticket. You need to hold into it because if it's gone, then say goodbye to your 4,500won :p

We then headed to Blue Boat Hostel, which located near Nampo Station (KRW1,200), because it wasn't the time to check in yet, we just dropped our luggage there, and even though it was cleaning time, the lady still helped us when we asked for recommendation on where to go in Busan. I loved the hostel! Even though the room was small, but it was clean, and also because they got different floor for women. At first I'm quite worried because there's no private bathroom. But since I'm in women only floor it was more comfortable, and the bathroom was big, clean and nice as well! They provide shampoo, soap, nail polishes, hair dryer, even a hair straightener! You can't bring your food and eat in your room, but they have a nice and clean dining room, so it doesn't really matter, oh they also provide simple breakfast. From all the guest houses/ hostels that I stayed during my visit in Korea, I think I like this one the most :p

Then from our hostel, we walked to Yongdusan Park to see Busan Tower, we didn't get in, we just took some pictures from afar and walked again to Gukje Market. But if you plan to get in, there's an entrance fee of KRW5,000.

We walked down through the long stairs then we arrived at Gwangbok-dong, there are a lot of shops along the road, we stopped by at Etude store and bought some cosmetic there. We also stopped by at Perito Gelato, there was a queue so we joined the crowd, we can choose the flavour and they will make the gelato into the shape of a rose flower. I tried their Strawberry, Mango and Yoghurt flavor (KRW5,000), and it was pretty good.

Then we walked again to our initial destination lol, which is Gukje Market.

We just strolled around the maze of shops and ended up at Bupyeong/ Kkangtong Market and saw a stall that got a really long queue. I think the stall participate in Baek Jong Won's Top 3 Chef King, because they got a neon sign of it. The stall called Mr. Lee's Tteokbokki. They sell tteokbokki (spicy rice cake), corn dog and twigim (deep fried food). I got their set, consists of 3 tteok and 2 twigim (KRW3,000). The rice cakes were bigger than what I used to eat in Jakarta, it was good, thick and chewy. For the 2 twigim, we chose ojingeo twigim (deep fried squid) and the other one is like fried dumpling but filled with dangmyeon (glass noodles). The ojingeo twigim was good and crispy but the other one was a little bit mushy and oily so I didn't really like it. And almost everyone bought the corn dog, but I was afraid that we won't be able to finish it, so we didn't buy, and immediately regret that decision lol. I also regret not buying the fried chicken at some stall near this one, they also got long queue and apparently, the store is famous and appeared in KBS, SBS, and Baek Jong Won's Top 3 Chef King. It's called 거인통닭 (Geoin Tongdak), if you come to Bupyeong Market and saw stalls that have a long queue, don't think, just join the queue. There's must be a reason for it T_____________________________T

We then go to Jagalchi Station and took the subway to Haeundae (KRW1,400), we took exit 1, and walked to the Gukbap Alley, we tried the one with red sign, which is Wonjo Halmae Gukbap (원조할매국밥), we ordered their Sogogi Gukbap (Beef and Rice Soup/ KRW4,000). Loved the soup and the beef, the beef was tender and the soup was tasty.

After we were full, we walked to Haeundae Beach, strolled around and watched some performances, then we walked back to the Station.

On the way there, we saw an bungeoppang stall called "Abung"/아붕 and there's a poster that indicate the shop had appeared in Tasty Road (Korean food show) before. They sell bungeoppang (fish shaped pastry filled with red bean/custard) and topped it with frozen yoghurt (KRW3,500).We bought the one with red bean filling, and at first I thought it comes with ice cream, but it was actually a yoghurt ice cream, and it was a good surprise, since the bungeoppang was already sweet so the sour yoghurt was a nice addition.

Then we continued to walk to the Subway Station and I saw Goraesa Co. store that I wanted to try across the street, they sell everything related to eomuk (fish cake), so we stopped by and try their Croquette Kare (KRW2,000), Udon (KRW5,000), Ojingeo Spicy Eomuk (KRW1,500). The Croquette Kare didn't really has a curry flavour in it, while the Udon was nice and there's a tofu skin filled with glass noodles.


Croquette Kare (KRW2,000)

Ojingeo Spicy Eomuk (KRW1,500)

Udon (KRW5,000)

From Haeundae we went to Centum City Station (KRW1,200) exit 12, from that exit you will be infront of Shinsegae and Lotte entrances. We only went to Shinsegae, strolling around, did some shopping and drolling over the food court (it's like Takashimaya food court), then back to Nampo (KRW1,400).

We stopped by at GS25 and bought Banana Milk (KRW1,300), Chocolate Milk (KRW1,300) and Onigiri Tuna Mayo (KRW800) to eat at our hostel.

So, that's the end of our 4th day in Busan..

Oh and this is the pictures of our room at Blue Boat Hostel Nampo, it was small but quite comfy :)

To get here, take exit #7 from Nampodong Station, go straight (3 o'clock direction) into the alley next to the camera shop, go straight until you see Woori Bank and turn left into the alley between GS25, go straight about 20m, and Blue Boat Hostel is at your right side. We booked a Triple Room (Female Only) KRW99,000 for 2 nights.

Lotteria
Lotteria Seoul Station: Tripadvisor

Samjin Eomuk
Samjin Eomuk Busan Station: Mango Plate, Tripadvisor

Yongdusan Park & Busan Tower
Visit Korea

Gwangbok-dong
Visit Korea

Perito Gelato (페리토젤라또)
Facebook , Map

Gukje Market (남포동 국제시장)

Visit Korea

Bupyeong Kkangtong Market (부평시장)