This week's adventure takes us to Busan, Korea. Before we get to the pictures, let's understand some facts about the city.
- Busan
- Area: 296.3 sq miles (767.4 km²)
South Korea is a peninsula off mainland China surrounded by the Sea of Japan and the Yellow Sea. The name "Yellow Sea" almost frightens me. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be getting in it just because of the name!
South Korea is just east across the Sea of Japan. Let's get a closer look.....
Busan is the largest port city in South Korea and the world's fifth busiest seaport by cargo tonnage. The city is located on the southeastern-most tip of the Korean peninsula. The most densely built up areas of the city are situated in a number of narrow valleys between the Nakdong River and Suyeong River, with mountains separating some of the districts.
Busan was the host city of the 2002 Asian Games and APEC 2005 Korea. It was also one of the host cities for the 2002 FIFA World Cup, and is a center for international conventions in Korea. On November 14, 2005, the city authorities officially announced its bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympics Games. After Pyeongchang's successful bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics, the city is considering its bid to host the 2032 or 2036 Summer Olympics.
Busan has Korea's largest beach and longest river, and is home to the world's largest department store, the Shinsegae Centum City. And why didn't I go there while I was in Busan???
Busan is ranked the fourth best city after Singapore, Seoul and Tokyo among Asia's top convention cities in a 2011 global ranking by the International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA).[21]
Busan is located on the Southeastern tip of the Korean Peninsula. It is located on the coast, which determined the development of the whole city itself. It is the nearest of South Korea's six largest cities to Japan. The distance as the crow flies from Busan to Tsushima Island, Japan, is about 49.5 km (31 mi), to Fukuoka, Japan, about 180 km (112 mi), and by contrast, to Seoul about 314 km (195 mi). Busan borders low mountains on the north and west, and the seas on the south and east. TheNakdong River Delta is located on the west side of the city, and Geumjeongsan, the highest mountain in the city, on the north. The Nakdong River, South Korea's longest river, flows through the west and empties into the Korea Strait.
This is the South Korea national flag.
As you come into the airport, here is a sign to greet you. If you can't read that, maybe this one would make more sense........
Energetic City? Let's see if it is.
I suppose if you go to the Oxygen Bar and get some extra oxygen, you might have more energy.?.?.? Seriously? An oxygen bar? I'm pretty sure I would like to go have some reflexology and body care done between flights. I wonder if they do massages??
The first thing we do is get in a taxi and guess what we found!
The steering wheel is on the left side like it is in the U.S. Cool!
How about we check out the city as we drive to the hotel.
An Audi store and a nice blurry car driving by.
Kia Motors.....
A fish store.......
A neighborhood.......
Here's Kay Unger! So glad to see her in Busan. Wait......who's Kay Unger?
Watch out! This area is police enforced. What do they enforce?
What are these high rises?
They are apartment complexes.
and more apartment complexes. Most people live in these high rise complexes.
Everyday you will find produce trucks setting up their stands within the apartment complexes.
Some people may sleep in this building.......,
but I would bet that more work goes on in here than sleep....!! This building has some interesting architectural lines.
Donald decided to spread his wings a bit and build some buildings in Busan. In fact, I've seen his buildings all over Asia.
The buses are nice.
These kids look like they could have been in the U.S. Pretty normal.
The people seem like anyone else you would see in an American city except that they dress nicer than we do.
What about cars?
Hyundai and......
Kia are popular cars.....
and look!!! A Chevrolet!
This is truck is a little smaller than our trucks, but it does the job.
We've now come to a park. Grass? Is there any grass?
Wow! What is the patchwork on the ground? It's not grass. It is like a thick rubber mat! Awesome!
Check out the park toys!
So cute!
Well look at this! Workout equipment for the moms. Are the Koreans 'thinkers' and we Americans 'stinkers'? Why don't we have big people workout equipment at our parks?
We finally arrive at the hotel.
Very nice.
Our hotel is the small, short one between the tall buildings that you see.
This part of the city is near Gwangalli beach where you will see people coming and going with boats all day long during the summer months.
The outside is beautiful, how is the inside?
Very nice. The views were spectacular. The silhouette of the man at the table is of course, Kent working hard.
The bathroom and the....
bedroom had incredible views.
Check this night view out! Korea's longest suspension bridge lit by 100,000 lights. So cool!
What else does Busan have to offer?
Here is part of the skyline. Nice!
Let's go out to the water......
We find boats anchored to the dock.
Fishermen. He caught a fish and was so excited!
Beach "bums" with umbrellas!
Do I see wet suits draped on the cement?
Well I sure do. Scuba diving in this water? Hmmmm.
Let's go to a park. People bring their picnics and enjoy the weather.
Work out equipment again?
and again? No wonder people are rather fit in Busan.
Beautiful Lilies.
Comfy chairs with people sleeping on them.....
A serious "siesta" is happening right here!
The bike rack is rather empty.
After you have been playing at the park, of course, you need to shower. Why not provide showers at the park? Hmmmmm......
There are vending machines everywhere just like in Japan. No one is thirsty around here!
Let's go to Haeundae Beach.
What is Haeundae Beach? During the summer swim season which runs from July 1 - August 31 each year, millions of Koreans and increasingly more foreign visitors, descend on this strip of beach and revel in the water.
Just in front of the beach is the Haeundae "Sea Village" Pojangmacha street, a strip of identical, tented seafood stalls selling everything from live octopus to lobster. Customers pick their own meal from a tank and minutes later have it cooked and served to them. Sounds great to me!
Let's take a look at the beach.....
Say cheese!
Neat, organized, and clean.
I like how Japanese and Koreans take pride in the cleanliness of their city and country. I think they got that trait from the U.S. many years ago. However, as I go though-out the U.S., I wonder if some parts of our country are losing that pride.
People are happy and enjoying their time at the beach.
Families enjoying each other.
Friends enjoying the beach. Is that blonde girl a foreigner?
No, it's not raining. Asians are conscientious about the sun.
I'm not quite sure what these guys are promoting...... Is there anyone out there who can read this?
The small street market is so cute and......
colorful.
There's the blonde girl again, and no she isn't a foreigner. She wanted to fool us by putting some bleach on her hair.
Let's check out some "organic" Korean food!
This is truly artwork.
The taste matched the beauty.
Many of you may question what all of the food is. All you need to know is that it is all organic vegetables and pure lean proteins.....food that any of you health-conscious people would want to eat.
This is the dessert. How can anyone get fat off of this? It's impossible.
Our security guard, Bruce, took us to this restaurant and introduced us to the owner/head chef. She did an amazing job. If we ever find ourselves in Busan, we'll definitely go back again.
Bruce, our security guard, and Mr. Lee, our driver took such good care of us. We were so privileged to meet them. Thank you for all you did for us.
Some of you may want to make Busan a destination city for a vacation. This was our first time here and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I would go back any day.
The purpose of our trip was for a convention which I did not display in this blog. If you want to see the pictures from the convention, you can go to the page titled Kyani 2014 Asian Convention.
Our return flight home gave us a beautiful view of some of God's greatest creations. I didn't notice the rainbow until I took the picture. When I saw it on my camera, I looked out the window one more time and found a stunning rainbow over this bed of white clouds. As I gazed out the window, I thought of God's promises to us; one of which was He promised that He would never flood the earth again....Noah's Ark. May each of you feel of His love for you.
Love,
Mom and Dad
Grandma and Grandpa
Uncle Kent and Grandma Barb
Kent and Barb
