Beomnaegol MRT Station

Getting Risk at Busan Central Bus Terminal

23 May 202221 May 2022travelingpersecond

Bathroom dramas often coloring my travel stories, considering that I often chose a dormitory as a place to stay during my adventures.

First night in Busan. I was really annoyed, I just flushed a closed toilet seat, I mean that I didn’t want to see “zonk” things when I opened it… But, water spilled everywhere along with its load.

Damn it….This must be a behavior of the man who a few minutes ago passed me at shared bathroom door.

Suddenly I went to another bathroom which was two floors above me. I had no desire to take a shower in bathroom even though there were still several more shower rooms available. In upstairs bathroom, conditions were cleaner, maybe guests were reluctant to bother going upstairs. Because of this incident, my heartburn suddenly disappeared. I prefered to go straight to shower room to wash my body with warm water.

Olala….Turned out I was a same jerk…..

After taking a shower, I lingered in front of the sink to dry my t-shirt and sock with a hair dryer, until they were completely dry. “Ah, It’s Okay. There’s no one. I’m paying to this hotel too,” a devil’s voice in my heart whispered. Understandably in this travel journey, I began to apply a strategy of carrying two pairs of socks to simplify my luggage. I will wash and dry unused socks in preparation for next use.

—-****—-

That morning I woke up on time. After Fajr prayer, I no longer felt asleep. I prefered to open itinerary sheets while waiting for light of the day. When sun started to come, I started to leave Kimchee Busan Guesthouse after taking a shower, considering that this inn didn’t provide breakfast for dormitory room.

I exited to the inn alley, and followed Hwangnyeong-daero Street heading west, to Beomnaegol Station to continue my journey. But of course I had to get breakfast before boarding to Humetro. I stopped at a CU minimarket to then enter it and hunted for breakfast in it. I found a handful of rice filled with corn at a special food rack, went to cashier, paid for it and then ate it on a seat inside the minimarket.

Soon I ate it. I immediately entered the station building and looked for a ticketing vending machine to buy a one day pass, then headed to platform after holding a one day pass for 4,500 Won.

That morning I would head to Busan Central Bus Terminal to buy a bus ticket to Seoul which would depart at night. Humetro Line 1 (Orange Line) softly screeched to a stop at platform. I immediately sat at one of its seats in a half-empty carriage to then follow the train to Nopo Station, a station where Busan Central Bus Terminal is integrated. I arrived in 45 minutes.

Getting out of the carriage I looked for clues that could lead me to the terminal. It’s not hard to find. A clue which then continued with the next clue directed me to arrive at the Busan Central Bus Terminal.

Busan Central Bus Terminal ticket sales counter.

“Hello, Miss. How much is a ticket to Seoul? “I asked to ticket sales staff in a long row of ticketing counters.

“32,000 Won, Sir. Bus will depart on around 16:00 hours”.

“Miss, What is the cheapest price and what time does the bus depart?”, I bluntly remembered that my pockets were running low.

“23,000 Won and bus will depart on 20:30 hours, Sir”.

“Okay, Wait Miss”.

I left her and sat at waiting chair. I started to calculate, if I departed early then I would be relatively safe because I would arrive in Seoul before nightfall. But that means I had to increase cost to rent a dormitory sooner. Of course it would be expensive.

If I took a night ticket, then inevitably, I would spend the night at Seoul City Bus Terminal, a little risky, but it was most possible choice with my money which was running out.

Okay, I would do that….. I got up from my seat and returned to a female staff.

“Yes, Ms. I take the night one”.

“Ok. Sir”

I handed her the money and she gave me a ticket to go to Seoul.

Busan-Seoul bus ticket costs 23,000 Won.

Okay, one important part I quickly finished. I would spend the remaining time in Busan that day.

Lantern Show at Gwangalli Beach

21 May 202215 May 2022travelingpersecond

It was almost nine in the evening when I decided to leave Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) Square in the Nampo-dong area. I started walking away from an official UNIQLO counter at BIFF Gwangjang-ro and then continued down the main street, Gudeok-ro. One hundred and fifty meters ahead was Gate 7 of Jagalchi Station which was the target of my steps to immediately leave Jung District.

I was heading underground ten minutes later. In warm basement, I didn’t have to bother looking for ticketing vending machine because I still had a small piece of One Day Pass I bought this afternoon when I arrived in Busan. Walking past automatic fare collection gate, I waited for arrival of Humetro Line 1 (Orange Line) at station platform.

The Humetro quickly arrived, opened its automatic doors and I quickly entered center carriage. Sitting on a seat, I kept an eye on the busyness of Busan residents after work. Humetro slowly crept through underground line, dropping me off at Seomyeon Station after passing through nine stations, then I changed to Humetro Line 2 (Green Line). And similarly, after passing through nine stations I arrived at Gwangan Station in Suyeong District. It felt that trip towards this station took quite a long time, forty-five minutes.

I rushed down the carriage and back to surface using escalator. Then took exit at Gate 5 of Gwangan Station which was directly opposite Gwangan-ro Avenue. The street’s air temperature was already at the level of one degree Celsius. I was forced to walk with an occasional shaking body for seven hundred meters towards beach. The presence of several groups of tourists heading in the same direction, made me a little calm, considering that it was almost ten o’clock at night.

I arrived at the beach twenty minutes later after walking nearly seven hundred meters. Standing on the beach as far as the eyes can see, the luminous stretch of the second longest bridge in “Ginseng Country” was truly stunning….Yup, that was Gwangandaegyo Bridge, a seven and a half kilometer long suspension bridge which connects Haeundae District and Suyeong District.

Now I have mingled with tourists and other locals enjoying the festive atmosphere at Gwangalli Beach. I continued to observe the show by residents airing mini-sized lanterns. Parents, young people and small children were almost all immersed in the excitement of show.

While some others seemed to enjoy decorative lights in the form of various kinds of fauna which were pleasing to eyes. In the other hand, the beach looked crammed with multi-storey buildings which gave an impression that the beach area had been touched by technology. But everything looked clean with a well-maintained and organized environment.

I was only able to withstand cold air for forty-five minutes. Surely the air would approach freezing point when night reached its peak. I hurried off the beach and headed back to station. Quickly stepping to escape growing cold, I arrived at station breathless, then rushed to platform and a few minutes later Humetro took me, to then drop me off at Seomyeon Station. Humetro then transferred me on Line 1 to Beomnaegol Station, a station where the hotel I was staying at was located….Yup, Kimchee Busan Guesthouse.

Now it was time to rest for next adventure tomorrow.

Busan International Film Festival Square … Origin of BIFF

31 July 201931 July 2019travelingpersecond

IF….

Uncle Sam country has Sundance Film Festival

Great White North country has Toronto Film Festival

l’Hexagone Country has Cannes Film Festival

Then “The Land of the Morning Calm” also has same thing….i.e Busan International Film Festival.

Held every end of year i.e September or October, BIFF always introduces Asian newcomer directors with their first film. The festival which was first held 23 years ago has moved to Centum City in Haeundae-gu area.

This time, I wasn’t going to new BIFF homebase, but I would go along an area where became origin of BIFF, Nampo-dong. For remembering it then headed to BIFF Square.

My journey started from nearest station of Kimchee Busan Guesthouse i.e Beomnaegol MRT station using MRT Line 1 (Orange Line). After passed through 8 stations, I got off at Jagalchi MRT station. Other destination which can be visited near this station is Jagalchi Market (It selling a variety of seafood ) which is open from 5am to 10pm.

Out from exit gate, I’ve been greeted by street food stall. Because cold weather pierced bones, smoke which came out from furnace burning made MRT passengers stopped to eat hot food which sale by buyer.

I experienced a bit of disorientation. I confused in looking for BIFF Square Street, because all streets looked crowded. Finally I braved myself to approach a police officer who was on guard at police post. Patiently, He explained to me while pointing his finger left and right and spoke Korean….Even though I didn’t understand Korean, I though it was easy to understand his explanation.

BIFF street divides that place along 150 m. And when I visited it at night, it was easy to find street food stalls. These stalls form which liked mini house might aim to protect buyers from cold weather at night. It was arranged in a row in middle of road, making BIFF street became a culinary market at night.

I just tried a little bit of eating seafood in a stall, then I proceeded to find a portion of dinner food.

Because it was so hard to find food which suited with my tastes, finally I stopped by at a small food stall in a row of shops around BIFF Street. “Ahangeya” is name of that restaurant. I prefered to eat a beef rice bowl for USD 3,5.

Beside dining stalls, I also found many sellers of souvenirs, t-shirts and some electronic equipments. But my attention wasn’t fixed on that, I prefered to look for a winter jacket at UNIQLO shop.

For spare jacket….It was crazy, 12 days journey and just brought a jacket

Cold weather made me freeze.…I couldn’t stay there long and I decided to go back to guesthouse because tomorrow I would walk long and uphill to visit Gamcheon Culture Village.

So.…let’s sleep!

Clean and Modern.…Style of Kimchee Busan Guesthouse

27 July 2019travelingpersecond

Surely I never knew why this guesthouse was named Kimchee. All I know, kimchee or kimchi are Korean food made from fermented vegetables with various kinds of seasoning and ultimately its taste are spicy and sour. Perhaps this guesthouse will be a gathering place for travelers from various nations with same goal i.e enjoying uniqueness of South Korea.…It only my personal statement….hahaha

Dorm or dormitory have became general choice of backpackers in their journey. Apart offering minimum budget, dorm also offers an option to build network among backpackers who diverse in citizenship. This is very possible because in every dorm room will be filled 12-16 backpackers to sleep together.

This time, my choice was Kimchee Busan Guesthouse as my dorm during my adventure in Busan. The three things that be important concerns in choosing it are price, location and a good feedback rate.

I ordered it 4 months before departure, so I surely got best price. Guesthouse for USD 12,5 per night is located on Hwangnyeong-daero street. It’s about 270 meters from Beomnaegol MRT Station, so guesthouse can be reached by walk.

My arrival at guesthouse was warmly welcomed by a beautiful receptionist. After submitting passport and Won, I get access card to dorm room .

For general guesthouse, it’s certainly an extraordinary thing because of elevator availability in it. As I know, a lot of dormes that I have stayed in required me to prepare my leg muscles to climb dozens of stair before reach the room.

Entering room, my fatigue paid off with spacious dorm room which consisting 10 beds with each locker provided near bed.

In this guesthouse, I firstly breathed fresh aroma of soju –originally Korean drink-. Even though I didn’t drink it, at least I knew its aroma, its form and how to drink it from my roommates.

My other funny activity was using hair dryer which provided in shared bathroom to dried my wet socks. It’s become a habit, I only carry 2 pairs of socks, no matter how long is my trip. Every two days, I will wash my socks which I use and dry them in any way.

Another good thing about this guesthouse is providing container to store guests backpacks and their other things. Usually, guests will save their backpack when they arrive earlier than check-in time or when their departure time to leave city is still far from check out time.

I left my backpack because my departure to Seoul was on a scheduled bus on 8pm while I checked out on 12pm.

Guesthouse also provides shelves and refrigerators to store guests foods…. Don’t take people’s food !….hahaha. Usually guests who stay a little longer in guesthouse will store their food here. Surely, I never use this facility because I just stay 2 nights in Busan.

Of course, you have your own taste in choosing hotel.…the important thing is our goals are same, guys.…i.e traveling. That’s it.