Once the weather seemed warm enough, and the threat of rainy season wasn’t looming overhead (as it is now, if the week and a half of steady rain has been any indication) my friend Alyssa and I decided to book a weekend down in Haeundae, just outside of Busan. Haeundae Beach is known for having one of the best beaches in South Korea, so we had to go before Alyssa’s contract with GEPIK ended.
July 17th, we found ourselves in a panic on the train down to Seoul, our tickets on the KTX booked for 6, and our subway not scheduled to arrive at Seoul Station until 6:02. We missed our train, but luckily were able to reschedule to the train half an hour later, and were in Busan by 9.
We ended up staying in the Toyoko Inn Haeundae, a brand new hotel part of the Japanese business hotel chain. Anyone who has ever asked me for travel advice will know I will always recommend this chain of hotels before any other, because I find their price amazing for the comfort you get. A wonderful, Japanese style bath tub, a comfortable bed, free internet, and a free breakfast as well. The staff almost always speak at least two languages (in Japan) or three in Korea, and I’ve never come out of there feeling ripped off. The hotel in Haeundae has to be the nicest of all the Toyoko Inns I’ve stayed at. It was just across the street from the beach, right across from a Starbucks, quite a few really good bars and clubs, and there were some convenience stores really close by too. It’s a little further down the beach, so there’s less crowding, which was quite nice as well. The beds were super soft (a rare luxury in Korea) and they even had a FREE laundry machine. This was absolutely amazing, especially after a day in the ocean where everything we wore had various degrees of salt water soaked into them. The staff were really nice to us, and the breakfast was really good.
The weather wasn’t as amazing as it could have been, but it was only mid June, so we weren’t overly picky. It was warm enough to go swimming, but cool enough that I didn’t get heat stroke (something that happens to me more than I wish it would.) However I did get a sun burn, some how, so now I have a lovely tan settling in. We were able to get some swimming in on the Saturday morning before it cooled over and we had to go and change.
One thing both Alyssa and I are rather adamant about is our dislike for foreign traps. I don’t like Itaewon or foreigner clubs, for the simple fact that if I wanted to be surrounded by foreigners, I would have stayed back in Canada. So instead of caving to the temptation of going to somewhere like TGIFridays or Outback Steakhouse, we decided to go off the beaten track a little and find a regular Korean restaurant we both could eat at (Alyssa can’t have gluten, I don’t like spicy food. It makes eating in Korea really hard.) Before leaving for Busan, I had asked a co-worker, who lived in Busan as a child, what the city was known for. She surprised me by saying beef galbi. I had expected her to say seafood, since it’s a coastal town, but apparently it’s beef. (And eating live octopus, but I will sooner eat dog than that.) We ended up finding this restaurant between our hotel and the train station. It smelled amazing, and was packed with Koreans, so we knew we had found somewhere good. We managed to get a spot inside, and ended up having the most amazing galbi I have ever had in my life. It was very strange for me because it was very different to have it up in Seoul, with a sweet and savoury dipping sauce to put the meat in, and a different way of cooking it. Without the help of the ladies sitting beside us, we probably wouldn’t have had as good a time. People in Busan are really friendly!
Later that night, we were hanging out on the beach, and we came across these two guys singing, playing the guitar and drums. They were AMAZING! We ended up sitting there and listening to them for ages. They sung “Lucky” by Jason Mraz, one of my most favourite duet songs, and I mentioned to Alyssa that I’ve always wanted to sing that song as a duet. Well, long story short, a while later (we’re talking a solid hour or so later) Alyssa asked KBS (that’s his name) if he would sing Lucky again, and if I could sing the Colbie part. He agreed, but apparently was super nervous. We both ended up fumbling over the song, but it went well. Alyssa and I went off to get a drink, and an hour or so later, out of interest, went to see if he was still performing (it was well past midnight at this point.) The crowd around them had GROWN since! It was insane! We sat and watched some more, and he saw us again. They seemed to be running out of songs, so I was asked if I would sing Lucky with them once again, this time less nervous as before. Alyssa ended up getting it on film, YAY!
Our Sunday was a lot more relaxing. We went on a boat tour of the harbour, where the waves were huge and we almost got sea sick but it’s all good. And then we went back to Seoul and I tended to my sun burnt shoulders. Overall, it was a fantastic weekend, and I really want to do it again.
And in case you’re wondering about what’s up with the video at the top… When I first heard the song “MIracle” on the new U-Kiss CD, I really wanted to make an upbeat video to the song. I thought a vacation type video would be really fun, so I put all the video we took to music! It’s a pretty fun way of clipping together the whole weekend. 🙂