Day 1
On the last day of May, my friends and I made our first trip to Busan. It was a bit of a spontaneous decision for me, as I joined in on my friend+roommate Jasmine and her friends' trip at the last minute.
We took the KTX train to Busan, and fortunately, there weren't any zombies harharhar (Train to Busan reference). After a two-hour ride from Seoul Station, we arrived at Busan Station at around 1:00pm.
We headed to our hotel near Gwangalli Beach, but since we couldn’t check in yet, we decided to grab some drinks at a nearby spot called Front Cafe which my friend’s coworker had recommended. We had a killer view of the beach, which we got to enjoy while sipping our drinks. After spending some time there, we checked in at our hotel. I shared a room with Jazmin, my friend+roommate who also made the impulsive decision to join the trip with me. Jasmine and her friends booked a capsule room together. I reserved our room through the hotel's Instagram, where they were able to provide me an overview of their cheaper offerings (their website was a bit confusing to navigate). We went with a two-person room that was surprisingly cheaper than their capsule rooms, for some reason. So we lucked out a little, and felt guilty that we were staying in a nicer room... But Jazmin and I settled in easily to the hotel room, and enjoyed all the amenities. The only thing was that the walls were super thin—we could hear loud conversations from next door.
After dropping off our belongings, we took a taxi to Haeundae Blue Line Park to ride the beach train, a popular activity for tourists in Busan. You can make reservations on their website, bluelinepark.com. We had also planned to ride the sky capsule, but we couldn’t secure a good time slot. The sky capsule ride is in high demand, so I recommend booking well in advance—especially if you’re aiming for the golden hour, as those slots tend to sell out quickly.
We rode the beach train from Mipo, the 1st stop, all the way to the last stop, Songjeong Beach. You can hop on and off the train at each stop without any extra charge. It was heartwarming to see locals and other tourists waving at us from outside the train.
We headed back to Gwangalli Beach and had Dwaeji Gukbap (돼지국밥), a popular pork rice soup dish in Busan. I’m not usually big on soups, but this was delicious. It was a hearty meal that we all definitely needed after such a long and busy day.
Day 2
First thing we did was head to Gukje Market (국제시장), one of Korea's largest markets, for lunch. We didn't explore the entire market, only lingering around the nearest food stalls that we could find. I ate some Busan Bibim Dangmyeon (비빔당면), which is basically just spicy glass noodles with some vegetables and egg toppings. For dessert, we also got some 32cm ice cream lol. The mango flavor wasn't too strong, but it was still good.
Next we visited Huinnyeoul Culture Village (흰여울문화마을), another tourist attraction known for its picturesque location near the coastline. We walked through these narrow alleys that were all throughout the village, and stopped by some of the small shops for some Busan souvenirs. We also got pretty thirsty under the hot sun, so we grabbed some drinks at the Lazy Cat Cafe, which had plenty of outdoor seating and a stunning view of the ocean.
After finishing our drinks, we headed down to the coastline and joined other tourists in stacking rocks. There were a lot of stairs, so the climb back up was super exhausting. We couldn't find a taxi big enough for all five of us, so we decided to take a bus back to Gwangalli Beach.
We chilled for a bit in our hotel room until dinner time rolled around. We had a difficult time deciding on what to eat for dinner with everyone's different food preferences. I suggested milmyeon (밀면), a Busan cold noodle dish similar to naengymyeon. I expected the idea to get turned down, knowing that Jasmine and Jazmin aren't big fans of naengmyeon, but surprisingly they were open to trying it out. We found a nearby restaurant that specialized in milmyeon, and everyone ended up enjoying it! :-D It was the perfect meal for the hot Busan weather.
We ended the day by watching the drone show near the beach, which was science/technology-themed. It didn't look that good on camera, so I don't have anything to show, but it was pretty neat to watch in person! We also met up with some friends who were also on a trip in Busan and grabbed dessert at a cafe that was still open.
Last Day
After checking out of our hotel, we headed to Oryukdo Skywalk, which has a free-admission glass bridge that overlooks the ocean and offers a view of Oryukdo island. I'm not good with heights, so it was a bit freaky, but still super cool. To distract myself, I took some pictures of local fishermen in the distance.
After wandering around the area, we started to feel a bit tired, so we took a bus to Magnate, the cafe that Jimin’s father opened in 2019. The cafe was much more spacious than we expected, with plenty of seating and some unique paintings of Jimin on the walls that were fun to check out. Each of us grabbed a drink and a dessert, and everything was delicious. I can’t remember the exact name of the cake I got, but it was a tangerine cheesecake, and honestly, it was probably the best cheesecake I’ve ever had lol.
After spending a few more hours at the cafe, it was finally time to head back to Seoul. Our time in Busan flew by, but it was packed with memorable experiences.
For anyone wondering about the blog title loll:
"마, 부산 아이가" translates to "Hey, this is Busan" in the Busan dialect.
I'm a big fan of the different dialects in Korea, especially the Gyeongsang dialect, also called Gyeongsang-do satoori (경상도 사투리) in Korean. Gyeongsang is the province that includes major cities like Busan and Daegu.
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