The 411: South Korea

A tale of two cities.

“The 411” is where I do a no-frills recount of my week. Here’s what I did in South Korea.

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10.04

My parents, two of their friends and I arrived in Busan, South Korea at 10 am local time and headed straight to our hotel in Nampo. We arrived hungry and tired, but luckily we were right next to BIFF square. We stopped in at a restaurant, and I had my first meal in South Korea: spicy seafood stew with noodles and rice. Decadent.

Left to right: BIFF square, street-food stalls under distinctive red and yellow umbrellas; Seafood stew.

After lunch, we explored the streets by our hotel, which were full of clothing outlets, street-food stalls, cafes, restaurants, souvenir shops and more.

Since we were lucky enough to be within walking distance of the Diamond Tower, located in Yongdusan Park, we headed there in the afternoon for a geeze. The Diamond Tower isn’t only a pretty view, there’s also several exhibitions in the structure. The admission ticket has a treasure hunt on it; participants go through the exhibits to find QR codes, which contain instructions that reveal a number. When participants find all the numbers, they get a voucher for a free prize at the gift shop. I won a shot glass!

Left to right: View of the Diamond Tower from the ground; (top) light display in the tower and UV mural display; (bottom) view from the observation deck.

Dinner at the famous Jagalchi Fish Market on the waterfront. Sashimi, abalone, grilled eel, clam soup, chive pancake and a whole coconut crab paired with sake to celebrate our first day. Sadly I was too busy eating to take many pictures, but here’s a glimpse of the spread.

Left to right: day and night views of Nampo, Busan; part of the spread at Jagalchi Seafood Market: abalone, sashimi and grilled eel.

11.04

First stop: Busan station to buy train tickets to Seoul. Headed to Texas St and Chinatown next, located just opposite the station. Pork back-bone stew for lunch.

Left to right: Busan’s Chinatown; pork back-bone stew.

Big walk up the 168 steps in Choryang-dong. These and other stairways around Busan are remnants of refugee routes established during the Korean war. At the top, there’s a beautiful view of Busan and the port. Lots of street art lines the narrow alley, and a recently installed monorail runs along it to make the hillside more accessible, though sadly it was out of service when we visited.

Left to right: The 168 stairs and adjacent monorail from the top; tile art on the stairs.

Coffee in the former Baekje hospital, a heritage building erected in 1922. The bottom floor retains the original interior and exterior from the era—a tad spooky, but super cool.

Interior(s) of the former Bakje hospital.

Final stop for the day: Gamcheon Culture Village (부산 감천문화마을). The district began as a working-class village in the early 20th century which faced persistent poverty and poor living conditions.

In 2009, the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism redeveloped the area into a cultural hub by establishing public art installations and repainting and redecorating the area. At the top of the village, a small museum is dedicated to the history of the village. Along the narrow road, shops, art galleries and cafes sit alongside art installations. Development of the area was met with mixed reception by residents; although some developed the area for tourism, some families moved away. Several houses are now abandoned, but the area is now one of the major tourist attractions in Busan.

Left to right: me at the top of the village; (top) sweet little alley cat; (bottom) one of the art installations dotted around the village.

Dinner back in Nampo-dong. My parents and their friends wanted ginseng soup, which I thought was super boring, so I went to have spicy seafood noodles alone at a nearby restaurant. Big fan of how normal it is to take yourself on a dinner/lunch date in Korea!

12.04

Train to Seoul. First stop: coffee and waffles. Not pictured: delicious Korean BBQ dinner.

Left to right: train to Seoul; banana and tiramisu waffle.

After dinner, we took the metro to the nearby Deoksugung Palace. We had a lovely stroll around the exterior stone wall before popping into the grounds. Going at night was an excellent decision because the compound was pretty quiet, and we had a lovely twilight view of the complex.

Left to right: (top) detail of interior; (bottom) Daehanmun gate; (top) Jeonggwanheon, the first western style building ever built in a Korean palace in 1900. Despite its European style, it features Korean elements like deer motifs in the decorative awnings; (bottom) Seokjojeon, a neo-renaissance style building used for high level diplomatic meetings.

13.04

In the morning, we headed to Gyeongbokgung, the main palace of the Joseon dynasty, originally built in 1395. In the 16th century, fire destroyed much of the palace and it was abandoned until the 19th century, when it was restored under King Gojong—the last emperor of Korea.

Like many Korean palaces, the grounds were largely destroyed by the Japanese occupation of the early 1900s. However, restoration has been ongoing since the turn of the century.

Left to right: Geunjeongjeon Hall, the throne room. One of the few original buildings remaining, constructed in 1867; a gateway in one of the palace residences; Hyangwonjeong Pavillion overlooking an artificial lake, Bugaksan in the background; two girls in hanbok exploring a courtyard.

After lunch (spicy noodles and dumplings! Too hungry to take a pic), we had a short walk to Bukchon Hanok Village to see houses of the Joseon era.

Left to right: street in Bukchon Hanok Village; (top) street view of a hanok; (bottom) fit check in front of a gate courtesy of my self-timer.

Popped into the National Folk Museum of Korea. Small but excellent exhibits on life in Korea circa 19th - 20th centuries, and cultural traditions from the Joseon era. There were also exhibits outside the museum. I didn’t take any pictures inside, but here’s a peek at the exterior.

Left to right: stone generals, usually placed in front of tombs to guard them; the twelve animals of the zodiac.

Then we headed to the Namsan Seoul Tower via cable car. I’d recommend just walking up if you can—the cars get crowded! We didn’t go up to the observation deck this time because it was too hazy.

Left to right: Namsan Seoul tower from its base; the view of the city from the same.

After heading back down Namsan mountain via cable car, we headed out to Dongdaemun to have a nosy around the shops. Dinner was another KBBQ feast!

14.04

Early start for a day’s hike at Bukhansan National Park, around an hour North of the city. This was probably one of my favourite days ever.

We hiked Baegundae peak, the highest of the many peaks in the range at 837 m. The climb starts out really easy, alongside a beautiful river valley. Then it gets rocky. For the last third, it’s a steep uphill over granite boulders, and the final few hundred metres are along exposed rockface. Along the way, there’s a few rest areas and some Buddhist temples.

Left to right: (top) the climb to the peak; (bottom) view of the mountain range from Baegundae peak; (top) me overlooking Bukhansan from Baegundae peak; (bottom) the Korean flag at the summit of Baegundae.

The mountainside was so beautiful, and very different from the mountains of Aotearoa. It almost looked like an old Chinese classical painting. And there were wild mountain doggies!

Left to right: the start of the trail; me in front of a temple gate; mountain doggy! <3

My parents and their friends were pretty exhausted, so they went back the way we came. I went the route we’d originally planned, which was to loop back along the neighbouring Wonhyobong peak.

This trail runs alongside one of the walls of Bukansanseong Fortress. The fortress, planned around the mid 17th century and completed in 1711, was built along the Bukhansan range to protect Seoul against Chinese and Japanese invasion.

This trail was my favourite, as it was less populated and had stunning views of the surrounds. Plus I’m a real history nerd, so seeing more of the fortress was a big kick.

Left to right: Wonhyobong peak, part of the fortress wall visible to the left; me at 511 m elevation overlooking Bukhansan national park; Buk-mun, the North Gate of the fortress, located between Baegundae and Wonhyobong; another part of the fortress wall. These low barricades were called Yeojang.

On the metro back to Seoul, my Dad and his friends got out at the wrong stop during rush hour (lol) so Mum and I went to the nearby Namsangol Hanok Village without them.

Situated in Namsan park, this little “village” consists of five reconstructed Hanok, which had been relocated to the site in order to preserve them. Each house had a little plaque explaining its history. Houses ranged from mansions owned by wealthy generals, to the homes of upper-middle class families in the late Joseon era.

Left to right: sitting room of a wealthy family; courtyard of a wealthy family; house of a common family.

After a yum dinner of spicy pork-bone hangover soup, I headed to Hongdae because it was Friday and I was curious. Turns out I love being in a big city, because the vintage shops were still open circa 11 pm and I spent the evening with a beer in hand, browsing coats. Then it was a bar or two, and a wee boogie.

Left to right: Macaroni Funky Club; a crowded backstreet in Hongdae; me in gremlin mode circa 2 am; vintage shopping ft. an excellent brown fur & suede coat which I regret leaving behind.

15.04

Last day in Seoul. A quick wander through the nearby Myeong-dong market, before hopping on the train back to Busan.

Left to right: leaving Seoul; candied fruit at Myeong-dong.

Dinner back in Busan deserves its own spread: beef tripe stew + veges. And stir-fried rice. And miso soup. And my first ever taste of makgeolli: raw rice wine. It kind of tastes like an alcoholic yakult. Win!

16.04

A trip to Songdo Beach, one of the first public beaches in Korea. We walked along the beach toward the cloud trails, which connect the mainland to Geobugseom, a small island along the beach-front.

Then, after a quick stop for some roadside beondegi (silkworm pupae), daseulgi (river snail) and coffee, we went on the Busan Air Cruise to Amnam Park, where there’s a stunning view of the coast from the cliff-side trails.

As you can tell from the gloomy look of the sky, it started raining (actually hailing) and we had to hurry back to Nampo-dong by bus.

Left to right: (top) cloud-walk at Songdo Beach, with the marine cable car in the distance; (bottom) views from Amnam Park cliffside walk; (top) rocks and seaweed on Geobugseom island; beondegi and daseulgi from a street vendor; (bottom) Songdo Beach with the marine cable car (Busan Air Cruise) in the distance.

Back in Nampo-dong, I headed to Bosu-dong Book Alley, which is lined with used bookstores. The street was started by a refugee couple from Hamgyeongbuk-do who sold used magazines during the Korean war.

Left to right: one of the bookstores of Bosu-dong Book Alley; the entrance to the alley.

Dinner was naengchae jokbal (cold tossed pork-hock) at the famous Busan Jokbal.

The spread!

17.04

A visit to the famous Haeundae beach today. We rode on the Haeundae Blue-Line Park, known for its scenic sea trains.

Left to right: (top) A capsule car on the Haeundae Blue-Line; (bottom) views of the coast from said capsule trains; (top) sand sculpture at Haeundae; (bottom) view across the beach.

At the end of the Blue-Line, we walked the Cheongsapol Daritdol skywalk. The structure stretches out over the coast, with some parts made of glass.

A little further along the coast, at Cheongsapo, we caught a bus to Haedong Yonggungsa. It’s a Buddhist temple originally built in the 14th century, but destroyed by the Japanese in the late 16th century. The temple was rebuilt in its current form in the 1930s. It features a giant laughing Buddha and a big statue of Guanyin, who watches over the sea.

Left to right: gate to the temple; Haedong Yonggungsa seen from the coast, with Guanyin top right.

18.04

Our last day in Busan. We spent the day in and around Gukje Market, where I converted my Mum and her friend to vintage shopping. Anyone who wants a haul should message me, hehe.

19.04

Back to Melaka—for now. 안녕히 가세요!

Thanks for reading the latest edition of “The 411: South Korea”. If you’re wondering why my next essay is late, now you know.