My mom and sister Amy arrived in Busan Sunday evening. After meeting them at the airport we headed to the Westin at Haeundae Beach and upon arriving discovered a nice bottle of champagne waiting for us! A nice toast and a few glasses later we enjoyed a great first night at the hotel bar.
Fresh off the plane
Monday, March 14, 2011
Started our morning at the Gukje International Market. Here it is vendor after vendor along many streets in Busan. It felt like we were in Mexico a little! It is organized by kitchen goods, electronics, jewelry, clothes, shoes, art work, office goods, food and the list keeps going!
Who's ready to eat me??
Our next stop was Jagalchi Fish Market. This place was amazing. Living in Okpo which is a small fishing town, I get to see many tanks full of fish on a regular basis. Well Okpo doesn't compare! I have never seen so many squid, octopus, crabs, lobsters, eels, various fish and sea urchins. It was extremely busy. There are hardly any men working and we assumed that they catch the fish and the women do the selling. These women are tough and aren't afraid to get a little aggressive or dirty!
This bad boy was $100!
After leaving the fish market we headed to our last stop of the day, the Jin Market. I have actually been here once before on a ladies tour. It too is cramped with vendors such as tailors & seamstress'. I heard that we could find someone to make tablecloths there but it was a little difficult to find because of the language barrier. I called a friend on the phone to translate for us but once we found the place the cloths weren't exactly what we were expecting.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Haeundae Spa-In Korea it is a tradition for people to bath together. It is segregrated by sex and usually you go with friends or family members and is a time for bonding and socializing. We didn't know what to expect and were nervous but thought we needed a little Korean excitement and a great story to tell. After the initial shock it was actually pretty pleasant. There are about 5 pools ranging in different temperatures as well as 3 saunas. We enjoyed the whirlpool and camped out there most of the time. On each side of the room, there are individual bathing stations with a mirror, chair, and shower head. Here the women with clean their bodies for 1-1.5 hours! While we were there we decided to each get an hour massage. We thought what a great way to relax and work out those kinks in our backs. Amy and my mom also decided to include a foot massage for an extra 30 minutes. My mom was the first victim to enter the massage area and 15 minutes later Amy and I were brought to our tables. Let's just say my skin lost a few layers ALL over for the next 45 minutes. I have never had such a detailed body scrub in all of my life. It was not pleasant and looking over at my mom and Amy I could tell they felt the same. The last 15 minutes of my hour I did get what was similar to a deep tissue massage, baby oil wash down and my hair washed. Before I left the table I did hear Amy yelping in pain and looked over only to see a lady standing on her back giving her a "foot" massage! This was what my Mom and Amy paid for, more torture! We did leave with one or two less layers of skin, a few sore muscles, and a memory that we will never forget. It was worth it and we will be talking about that experience for years to come!
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Next to our hotel was a park called Dongdbaek. We had a great tour around the area taking in the view of the coast line and the Statue of Mermaid.
We also had a chance to visit a temple called Haedong Yonggungsa. This place was breathtaking! It was so peaceful and touched each of us.
Entrance to the temple. GG is the little one on the left.
The painted detail is unbelievable. It doesn't show up in the picture but take my word for it.
One of the smaller temples.
Thursday, March 17-Friday March 18, 2011
Arrived in Okpo. I wanted to show off our apartment to Amy before she left so we cut our time a day short in Busan. Plus we were glued to the TV and internet with worry about Amy's flight the next morning to Tokyo. She made it home safely on Friday, but the worry consumed my mom and I for most of the time!
However, we did manage to take mom out to dinner Thursday night to our favorite place Michael Jackson ribs!
Saturday, March 19 2011
My Mom, Tommy and I headed to Windy Hill on Geoje Island. It was a nice view but not sure it is something I will do again. There is a Windmill on the coast and a few Korean movies have been filmed here which makes it a tourist spot! The weather was great and the fresh air was welcoming!
Doesn't he look like excited :)
