It's the second largest city in Korea, on the southeast coast. From Gyeongju it takes about 1-1.5 hours to get to Busan. It's a pretty big city, with everything most big cities offer: good food, nightlife, diverse constituency. And then oh yeah there are a bunch of beaches, most only three to five blocks from a subway stop.
The first trip I went with my friend Tony, from Los Angeles. He was in the same orientation group as me, and teaches at two elementary schools. He's a pretty chill dude, and we have a lot in common, and thus make good traveling partners. We went to see The Advantage, a band that plays instrumental rock versions of Nintendo video game theme songs. Mind you, this is an indie rock band I've followed for a while, and I'd never seen them in states. Just so happens they played THREE shows in Korea.
Here's a clip.
They were a blast to watch, and we caught a few drinks with the band after the show, and stayed out into early saturday morning, got cheap rooms at the Hotel Lamer, and then hit the beach on Saturday afternoon.
The minute I arrived at Haeundae Beach ("Sun and Fun Haeundae"), I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that Busan is the most perfect place for me on earth. You step off of the subway, and three blocks later you are on a crescent-shaped beach, surrounded by hillsides and high-rises.
The beach was super clean, and there were not too many people. We met up with a couple people from Gyeongju, and went to TGIFriday's because Tony was craving a burger. After another long night of bar-hopping and socializing, we returned to Gyeongju early Sunday evening.
The second weekend was the Fireworks Festival. Carolien and Laurence (CaroLau), a couple from South Africa, met up with me, Tony, and Joanne Friday night in Gyeongju. CaroLau live in Jeomchon, about 2 or hours north of Gyeongju by train. We were all in the same orientation group. CaroLau are a blast, always excited and fun to hang with. I've met up with them a couple times since orientation, once in Daegu and once in Seoul for the Justice concert, and they are an insane amount of fun.
Joanne is also from L.A., and speaks perfect Korean since her parents are from here. Always a help when traveling.
After Carolien and Laurence crashed at my place Friday night, we all headed took the train to Haeundae Beach. A newcomer, Dan, also came along.
(From L to R: Me, Laurence, Carolien, Dan, Joanne, Tony.)
We ate Mexican food at this place called Fuzzy Navel, which is owned by a Russian woman. That's right, a Russian-owned Mexican place in Korea. It's not that great but I hadn't had Mexican food in months so it hit the spot. And the margaritas were potent. From there we headed to the Fireworks festival, which was super crowded but really fantastic. Here's a shot Joanne took of the ending fireworks blitz.
On the way out, I bumped into Rachel, a Canadian that I'd met in Daegu, and her friend Diana. They joined our crew, and we basically partied all night and took the first morning train back to our respective homes.
oh yeah, we bought fried dough from this guy
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