March 30, 2012 – First thing we checked was the weather for the day – both for Incheon and Busan. Today, Liza and I will be heading to Busan. The forecast isn’t good – 80% chance of precipitation. Jacob even discouraged us from going to Busan because it will be very cold, he says. But Liza and I have our hearts set for Busan, and not even 80% chance of rain can stop us.
We were a little behind schedule since we didn’t know what to pack for Busan. We will only be staying overnight, but with the rain and the ridiculous temperature we’ve been having in Seoul and Incheon, we thought we should go prepared for anything. That’s why, instead of going to Busan via bus and coming back via KTX (as originally planned), we switched things around. So, in our rain-ready gear, we headed to Seoul Station.
Seoul Station is huge! I mean, really. It was like we were in an airport! Since Seoul Station is a hub of sorts for inter-city buses throughout Korea, there were as many passengers as our very own airport back home. We were surprised to see a lot of military personnel waiting for their trains, too.
Tickets to Busan via KTX is at 54,400 Won each. Our train isn’t scheduled to depart the station till 12:30PM, so Liza and I have an hour to eat lunch and just relax a bit before our trip. By 12:20, we headed down to platform 4 to start boarding. The train left right on schedule – 12:30. We were impressed because back home, that’s almost an impossible feat! LOL
It was already starting to rain 10 minutes after the train left Seoul Station. We were hoping it wouldn’t be raining very hard in Busan but when we got there, it was pouring.
We managed to (almost) get lost in Busan Station. We didn’t know that Busan called their subway system ‘Metro’ so when we asked where the ‘trains’ were, we were directed back to KTX. LOL
We bought the 1-day pass for the Metro at 4,000 Won each, good for use till end of day service of the Metro in Busan. It sounded like a better deal than purchasing individual ticket each time.
Our first stop was Shinsegae Department Store – Centum City. This is officially the biggest department store as listed in the Guinness Book of World Records. It is indeed huge. But we weren’t really in the mood to shop. We were starving.
The food court is on the fourth floor of the building. Liza got some Carbonara and doughnuts for sweets. I didn’t feel like eating as I was already feeling a little under the weather. I managed to eat half of the doughnut, though.
We were also waiting for my Korean friend Jungmin, who was coming over from his university. He will be helping us look for a place to stay the night in Busan. We stayed in Zen Backpackers, where a bed in a dormitory room is at 22,000 Won each per night. A bit pricey, but the place was clean, had free wifi so I can work, and free breakfast (toast and coffee/tea). The owner, June Park was nice, too. He didn’t show annoyance that my other Korean friends decided to drop by at one in the morning!
I met my friends Sunny and Eric at Cafe Ti-amo. Had some waffle with gelato and strawberry smoothies. We stayed till 2AM and decided to head back since they both came from their respective jobs and were tired.
Sunny also brought over some Korean snacks (O Yes), yogurt drinks and coffee from his store, too. 🙂 I definitely have nice Korean friends.
One Step At A Time 