The highs and lows in Busan

by Alinein Travelon Posted on

Busan was the most relaxing part of the trip yet, as I was a bit tired from all of the sightseeing so far. While I was in Busan, there were two places which I’ve absolutely loved visiting:Β 

  1. Jagalchi fish market
  2. SpaLand at Shinsegae Centumcity

I went to Jagalchi fish market on the first evening. It’s the largest seafood market in South Korea. The main building contains two floors. On the ground floor you can buy fresh seafood and bring it up to one of the stalls on the second floor, where they will prepare a meal for you with the seafood that you have just purchased. As I would be completely lost buying seafood by myself at such a big market, I walked through the aisles on the ground floor and then went to the second floor directly to a stall, as they also have menus there. I’ve ordered one of the tasting menus, and the owner was very generous as he provided me with two additional starters. I loved the raw crab meat and the spicy fish soup. Again, I’ve had plenty of banchan (side dishes), which would have probably been sufficient on their own.

Ground floor of Jagalchi fish market in Busan.
Ground floor of Jagalchi fish market in Busan.
Some additional sushi from the chef during dinner at the fish market.
Some additional sushi from the chef during dinner at the fish market.
Even more additional food from the chef during dinner at the fish market.
Even more additional food from the chef during dinner at the fish market.
Steamed scallops at the fish market.
Steamed scallops at the fish market.
Tasting menu at the fish market.
Tasting menu at the fish market.
Tasting menu at the fish market.
Tasting menu at the fish market.
On the way back to the metro station.
On the way back to the metro station.

My next highlight in Busan was the SpaLand at Shinsegae Centumcity. Shinsegae Centumcity is the world’s largest department store, which also contains Asia’s largest bath house (according to my Lonely Planet travel guide). Yes, they are both quite large (especially the department store, that one is huge). In South Korea there are many hot springs and thus many spas and bathhouses (also called jjimjilbang). SpaLand has 13 different saunas which are communal and two gender-separated baths. While there, I’ve also decided to get one of the body scrubs which are usually offered at these places. The scrub is very intense, and at times I was wondering how much skin would be left. There is still enough and it’s super soft!

At the entrance to Shinsegae Centumcity from the metro station - does anything look familiar to you?
At the entrance to Shinsegae Centumcity from the metro station - does anything look familiar to you?
Part of Shinsegae Centumcity from the outside - the statue could be me, but I did not buy anything there (who would have thought? πŸ˜‰).
Part of Shinsegae Centumcity from the outside - the statue could be me, but I did not buy anything there (who would have thought? πŸ˜‰).
It felt like there was an endless number of floors in one of the buildings of Shinsegae Centumcity.
It felt like there was an endless number of floors in one of the buildings of Shinsegae Centumcity.
In a Jjimjilbang you usually wear a head towel to keep sweat from going into your eyes. Two Korean ladies were kind enough to help me with the rolling, as this was not straight forward to me.
In a Jjimjilbang you usually wear a head towel to keep sweat from going into your eyes. Two Korean ladies were kind enough to help me with the rolling, as this was not straight forward to me.
Close to Shinsegae Centumcity is the Busan Cinema Centre, where the Busan International Film Festival takes place. This place must look amazing at night with all the lights on, but I unfortunately missed this.
Close to Shinsegae Centumcity is the Busan Cinema Centre, where the Busan International Film Festival takes place. This place must look amazing at night with all the lights on, but I unfortunately missed this.
Busan Cinema Centre.
Busan Cinema Centre.

I did enjoy my time in Busan, but I also felt like I spent a lot of time in the metro. A few spots were unexpectedly closed or down for maintenance, which threw my schedule a bit overboard and led to a few extra metro rides here and there. Furthermore, on my last day in Busan there was a lot of rain, so I’ve decided to spend the rest of the morning in the hotel instead of going out. In hindsight this was not so bad, as I was leaving for Japan in the afternoon and therefore got to relax a bit before another long-ish journey.

Diamond bridge at Gwangalli beach, usually there is a light show everyday at 8 PM and 10 PM, but this was also under maintenance while I was there.
Diamond bridge at Gwangalli beach, usually there is a light show everyday at 8 PM and 10 PM, but this was also under maintenance while I was there.
Gwangalli beach in Busan.
Gwangalli beach in Busan.
I was very much looking forward to eating Haemul-pajeon (Korean pancake with green onion and seafood).
I was very much looking forward to eating Haemul-pajeon (Korean pancake with green onion and seafood).
He seems to be quite famous.
He seems to be quite famous.

Honestly, one week is a good start but definitely to short for visiting South Korea. The people are very nice and I would have enjoyed a couple more days to spend in one of the national parks. The food is delicious and you get Kimchi for every meal as a side dish. I mean, who wouldn’t want to have Kimchi for breakfast, lunch and dinner?Β I will keep this week in good memory and by next time I will be able to speak a bit more in Korean (even if you don’t speak it, you will absolutely be fine).

μ•ˆλ…•νžˆ κ³„μ„Έμš” (annyeonghi gyeseyo – goodbye in Korean),

Aline β˜€οΈ

Β 

One Comment

  1. Aline
    June 23, 2023 @ 6:44 am  Β·  Reply

    Unfortunately, the image loose a bit of their quality during the uploading. I will try to fix this in the future, but the plugin which I’ve installed for this post did not seem to help, but I’m sure there is a way to get a good quality with a reasonable loading time πŸ˜ƒ

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