Busan, a coastal city with a cool beach.
Busan is a charming little city that although has fewer people than Seoul, also has something a bit more than what Seoul can give. It’s got a city center, where you can do some shopping if you like, and where the shops aren’t too many in numbers or don’t all sell the same thing. There’s a great night scene in this city, where clubs are still sounding strong at 10pm on a Sunday night – at least from the outside.
Street food stalls go strong till late at night, and you also feel safe where you are. My favourite part of this city is Haeundae Beach, but maybe only because I’m a beach girl at heart. We went there three times in our four days here! If you love seafood, you’ll be spoilt for choice. Check out our travel video below.
Here are some things to do in Busan, if you’re looking for something other than Seoul to visit.
1. Shop at the Seomyeon Underground Shopping Center
It rained half the time we were in Busan, but thank God there are still things to do when the weather threatens to spoil everything. Shopaholics may enjoy this underground shopping center, but beware of shops that do not display prices.
2. Visit Seomyeon, the city center, in the day and night
Seomyeon is where everything happens. You’ve got shops, tons of restaurants and even street side food stalls. ‘Nuff said! In the day, it’s just like any other lively city but things liven up a lot at night. The neon lights, flashy signs and music escaping clubs’ entrances will remind one of Tokyo, even if you’ve never been there yourself.
If you’ve missed Yoogane before, you can try dining here too. There is an Artbox branch, where I ended up buying a card reader and selfie lens for my camera. I was so tempted to get one of those cute cloud night lights but stopped myself because I don’t really have space at home for it. Oh, and I might have also bought a new pair of sports shoes from one of the several Nike stores located in this area.
3. Visit Beomeosa Temple
Beomeosa Temple is one of the temples that can be found in Busan. It’s in the north of Busan, and you can easily get there if you can get by with the metro in a foreign land. It rained the whole time we had planned to be there, and even when we optimistically paused at a cafe at Beomeosa’s metro exit to wait for the rain to stop, it didn’t. Needless to say, we ended up not visiting this temple even though we were so close. Maybe next time.