BIFF Square (which got its name from Busan International Film Festival) is just a short walk away from the 자갈치시장 Jagalchi Market 札嘎其市場.
The square has rows of shops and was meant to be a gathering place for people when they visited the annual Busan International Film Festival. Do check out the hand prints of past award-winners of the BIFF, which was similar to Hollywood Walk of Fame/Hong Kong’s Avenue of Stars.
A short 10-min cab ride from 감천문화마을 Gamcheon Culture Village 甘川洞文化村 (₩3,800), we reached 자갈치시장 Jagalchi Market 札嘎其市場.
Though it was already close to 5:30pm, there were still lots of vendors hawking their stuff in the outdoor market. There were both live and dried items for sale, and it was quite an interesting walk.
We also went to the indoor market, but the fresh fish market on first level proved to be quite intimidating, with every stall trying to get our attention.
However, we decided to save our stomach space for more street eat, so we decided to head on to BIFF 광장 BIFF Square BIFF廣場 which is just a short walk away.
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From 태종대유원지 Taejongdae Recreation Area 太宗臺遊園區, we took Bus 8 at 1:34pm to Nampo Station 南浦站, and flagged a cab to 감천문화마을 Gamcheon Culture Village 甘川洞文化村.
Six minutes (and ₩3,700) later, we arrived at the pretty Gamcheon Culture Village, aka the “Machu Picchu of Korea”, or “Santorini of Korea”!
Our first stop was to get a guide map (₩2,000) at the community centre, so that it would be easier to navigate the area. Plus, we would get to collect stamps around the village and exchange for postcards at some stations, thus ensuring that we would not miss the must-see sights (check out The Little Prince in the feature photo above!).
It was a sunny morning and we were all set to go to 태종대 Taejongdae 太宗臺!
We had obtained a map from the hotel, and Bus 88 along the main road where Seomyeon Subway Station 西面站 Exit 1 leads to, goes direct to Taejongdae. It is the main road where underpasses are available for crossing, and the Bus Stop Number is 05-240.
We got off to an exciting start, when the bus door malfunctioned after Ms. V and I got up the bus… And the door closed on Ms. W, ouch!! The driver was unable to force open the door, and drove off, leaving hubby and Ms. W stranded.. And the rest of the passengers could not get off too. It was a scary moment for we could not understand what the driver was saying. Thankfully, we knew that we just need to get off at the terminal stop, and both pairs had 4G data connection so we were able to keep in contact.
After visiting the gorgeous 해동용궁사 Haedong Yonggungsa Temple 海東龍宮寺, we decided to head to 해운대전통시장 Haeundae Traditional Market 海雲台傳統市場 for lunch. It was a 25-minute cab ride (₩9,800).
We reached before 12 noon, and the area was still quite empty. We checked out the market to see what fresh produce the locals were selling, as well as some shops selling cutesy items (socks!!!).
There were a lot of seafood eateries, and we had originally wanted to try the 곰장어 hagfish/blind eel 盲鰻, but the eateries seemed to be all empty, and we were not sure which one to choose.
We left our hotel early to visit the beautiful 해동 용궁사 Haedong Yonggungsa Temple 海東龍宮寺 located by the gorgeous coastline (see the feature image above).
It was a 30-minute subway ride to 해운대 Haeundae Station 海雲臺站, followed by a 10-minute cab ride. It was already quite crowded when we arrived at 9am (the temple opens at 5am till sunset and there’s no admission charges).
We made our way through the stalls selling snacks, souvenirs, and even vegetables, before reaching the entrance. We were greeted by the stone statues of the 12 zodiac signs, plus many other stone figurines (some were seats!). There were also some beautiful cherry blossoms, and it was really pleasant 🙂
Despite the crowd, things were quite orderly. There were many statues and small figurines within the temple, and we found the visit quite interesting. The ocean view was really gorgeous, and we spent a fair bit of time enjoying the scenery. We’ll let the pictures do the talking 🙂
While we have yet to try out the 유가네닭갈비 Yoogane Dak-Galbi 柳氏家鐵板雞專門店 in Singapore, it is certainly not to be missed when in Busan, since this is where this popular Chicken Galbi brand first started out.
We got ourselves a medium 치즈퐁~닭 Fresh Cheese Chicken Galbi 新鮮的芝士雞排 (₩19,500) and a side order of 라면사라 Ramyeon 拉麵 (₩1,500).
Though the medium Chicken Galbi was meant for 2 to 3 pax, and the large Chicken Galbi (₩28,500) was meant for 3 to 4 pax, 4 of us could barely finish the medium portion, probably because we had eaten so much at Jinhae 😛
It was really thoughtful of them to give us aprons, so that we did not have to worry about getting our clothes dirty. We were almost about to attack our food after the staff brought the ingredients over and left our table, but the lady at the next table quickly stopped us, and gestured that the staff would help us with the cooking. How nice of her! Shortly after, the staff returned and did the cooking for us, while we tried to control our excitement.
Once ready, we picked up our chopsticks and attacked! The cheese was gooey and stretchy, and definitely enhanced the flavours of the spicy and tender chicken pieces. All I could say was that it was really quite addictive, and of course we were all fighting over the ramen too 😛
It was truly a fun and filling meal!
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We woke up at 4+ in the morning for the main highlight of our trip, cherry blossom viewing at 진해 Jinhae 镇海!
This year, the 진해군항제 Jinhae Gunhangje Festival 镇海军港祭 (aka Jinhae Cherry Blossom Festival) would be held from 1st to 10th April 2017. When we started planning for this trip, the cherry blossom forecast dates were not quite out yet, so we had buffered close to a week in 부산 Busan 釜山, and listed a few things to do in Busan, while keeping things flexible so that we could do a day trip to Jinhae, and hopefully catch the cherry blossoms in their full glory.
We had originally planned to go on a weekday so that it would not be not so crowded, but it appeared that the flowers were approaching full bloom earlier, and the weather forecast for today was rainy all day, which meant that that was a chance that the fragile flowers might be blown away! Today was a Saturday, and also the first day of Jinhae Cherry Blossom Festival, so we figured that it was better to be earlier than late.
Located in the Dwaeji Gukbap Alley 豬肉湯飯街 at 서면 Seomyeon 西面, this was a popular restaurant famous for its pork soup with rice, which is a must-eat when one is in Busan. The staff were very friendly to the many tourists, and through the English mixed with Mandarin explanations, we were able to place our orders.
We got the 순대국밥 (Sundae-gukbap) Korean Blood Sausage Soup with Rice 血腸湯飯 (₩6,500 nett), 내장국밥 (Naejang-gukbap) Pork Tripe and Intestine with Rice 內臟湯飯 (₩6,500), and instead of the 돼지국밥 (Dwaeji-gukbap) Pork Soup with Rice 豬肉湯泡飯 version (₩6,500 nett) where the sliced pork, rice and soup were all mixed together, we opted for the other version 수육백반 (Suyuk Baekba) Set Menu with Pork Slices 白切肉白飯 (₩8,500). In this version, sliced pork was served separate, along with an array of mee sua (rice vermicelli), kimchi, and other condiments, such as marinated chives, green chilli, garlic, onion, shrimp paste, soybean paste, soy sauce, etc.
A popular coffee chain known for its relatively cheap coffee in South Korea (it’s also available now in Singapore), we found an outlet near our hotel and it was just in time for some drinks after all the train travelling (2.5 hours) 🙂
Hubby got a Cafe Latte (₩2,500), which he thought was quite strong and bitter; perfect for a perk-me-up. It was my first time trying out a Marron Latte (₩3,000), and this was a sweet drink with a lovely hint of roasted chestnut taste.
We also shared a Creamy Choux (₩1,500), which tasted like a chilled cream puff, not bad at all.
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