Busan - Day 2 & Day 3

Dear Diary,

Day 2 - 13th April 2018
Busan
Al-Fatah Masjid, Nampo-Dong Street, Yongdusan Park, Busan Tower, Lotte Deparmental Store

D and I woke up late the following day almost at 10am, even though our itinerary state that we have to be awake by 6am. Lol! But it's okay because we needed that rest.

Dusil Station

We are always excited about the Muslim culture part in Korea. So we always make it a a point to visit to see. By the way, D was supposed to do Friday prayers but we missed it because I was feeling super unwell, but we still wanted to see the Mosque in Busan.

Tips 5: In Korea, it's always easy to find Halal food whenever there is a mosque around. 

We headed to Dusil station, Exit 8 and visited Busan Al-Fatah Masjid. Haiz! Teringat Fatah Amin. K k k k. Lol!  I was looking at how beautiful the mosque is, still amazed that wherever we are, there are always Muslim people around all over the world. Alhamdulilah! We met with a Korean Muslim who just finished his Friday prayers. He talked to us and asked where we were from. Told him we were from Singapore and he said he have been to Singapore once. He told us that Level 2 of the mosque is for man and Level 3 is for woman and showed us where we can do my wudhu to do our solat.

We were spoil for choices since there is 2 places for us to have lunch at. Either at Morocco Casablanca Restaurant Halal Food or Cappodocia, but since Morocco Casablanca was at level 2 and I was afraid that place is full, since we cannot see, we decided to settle for Cappodocia.

Morocco Casablanca Restaurant Halal Food

Cappodocia

 - Good food! I read reviews and people recommended the Chicken Kebab which i tried and then D bought the Dana Guvec. It Cappodociawas soooo nice and I would recommend that dish!

Our Green Apple Tea & Turkish Apple Tea. Hehe!

Cappodocia Turkish Kebap House

30-1 Namsan-dong, Geumjeong-gu, Busan, South Korea  

+82 51-515-5981

Nampo-Dong Street

After feeling full, we headed off to Nampo-Dong Street. Alight at Nampo-Station, Exit 1. They sell jackets, sweater for just 3900 Won which is about SGD4. So cheap! I bought one jacket for myself. Hehe!

Yongdusan Park + Busan Tower

Directions credit to: The Google Girl Blog

And of course to give this 2 places a visit since this is what everyone go to when they visit Busan. But honestly, to me there is nothing much to do there just for sight-seeing purposes and for experience sake. The weather was cold and the higher we go, the colder it felt. Hurhur! But nothing beats the cold weather when I get to see a first-hand up close view of cherry blossom!

Since there isn't anything much to do. D and I bought the heart & lock thingy which is very popular in Korea. I know it's haram, when my brother saw us doing it he was so quick to judge but we were doing it for fun sake and after watching A Korean Odyssey drama, I also want to feeling-feeling Son Oh Gong & Jin Sun Mi. Hahahahaha!

So if you see this in Busan, South Korea, that's ours. Hahaha!

After locking our heart, lol! We collected our tickets from the counter and head up to Busan Tower.

It cost us 1,500 Won each.

The view from Busan Tower

Souvenirs. Hehe!

There are like 5 levels if I'm not wrong in Busan Tower, as you go down, you'll get to see different "exhibits" at different level.

At the end of our Busan Tower tour, of course not forgetting to take picture here..

We continued walking around Nampo-dong again and this time I bought 2 lipsticks.

BIFF Square

We even headed to BIFF Square, sadly, nothing much here probably because it's a Friday and not the weekends? I read up there is a Halal Mee Goreng stall here but we couldn't find any here. And yes yes, I saw a Monkey God soft toy from the Korean Odyssey drama. Hehehehe! But in the end we didn't buy because haram. Lol!

Lotte Departmental Mall

This isn't part of our itinerary. Lol! But since the place was nearby, I decided to ask D to drop by and see what's inside. Basically it's just a normal mall but interesting to see different malls over the world. But by then, D and I were tired and our body were aching from too much walking. Thus, we decided to sit down and feeling-feeling atas while we had coffee at - Cafe The Med.

My White Mocha Coffee & D's Caramel Macchiato.

We walked around and bumped into Toys R Us and bought Shayleen her favourite Tayo Tayo toys. Hehe! Definitely cheaper here compared to the ones in Singapore.

Bought this for my bestie's daughter, Shayleen because she loves Tayo tayo bus. Hehe!

D bought for his sister this too.

When the clock strikes 9.30pm, we slowly make our way back to our apartment from Nampo Station to Heaudae station. We didn't take the cab but learn to walk back home in the cold weather. So so proud of ourselves that we managed to find our way back to the apartment. Showered and had a good sleep for a better day next day!

Day 3 - 14th April 2018
Busan - Busan Sea Life Aquarium

Day 3 was a bit disappointed for us. 😢 We woke up feeling excited to conquer our next adventure was sadly, it was raining super super heavily. Literally raining cats & dogs. Haiz!

We were supposed to head to Gamcheon Culture Village but couldn't even make it to walk to the Subway station because there was just no shelter to the Subway station around and plus we were already soaking wet. And even if cab to Gamcheon, it's no use as well because the place is not sheltered and it will still be a wasted trip because we can't take pictures in raining weather. 😢

We didn't had umbrella as well and so we had to BUY an umbrella ella ella eh eh eh there that cost $16 each.  We decided to give Gamcheon Culture Village a miss since we didn't pay anything for that but still had to proceed for our pre-bought activities to Busan Sea Life Aquarium from Klook. And now we realized, the disadvantages if you buy anything in advance, it's hard to cancel the activities if by any chance you cannot make it, thus end up having to burn the tickets just like that. But luckily, Busan Sea Life Aquarium was in Haeundae station itself, a few kilometres walk down from our apartment. So we decided to just proceed and go ahead.

By the time we reached Busan Sea Life Aquarium, we felt super uncomfortable because our whole pants, shoes and socks were SOAKING wet. Kinda spoil my mood and I felt even extra cold when I was there.

Busan Sea Life Aquarium 

We enjoyed the blues & the seas, so let all the pictures do the talking! Hehe!

I love the sea life but honestly, I think I prefer Singapore's Sea Aquarium better. Hehe! But it was definitely an experience because there are quite a bit of sea creatures that we don't see in Singapore's Sea Aquarium but is in Korea's. We left the place and it was still raining heavily outside and I was already feeling so ravenous!

Magnetic loots of Busan Tower & Sea Life Busan

We had lunch at Namaste. We had other choices to choose from but Nameaste was the nearest eatery to eat because it was raining. If you miss having Indian food, this place is definitely worth to visit. Nice ambiance and they had Bollywood songs being played at the background too. Hehe!

SEA LIFE Busan Aquarium
266, Haeundaehaebyeon-ro, Haeundae-gu, Busan, Korea, 612-846 (Joong-dong) 
+82-51-740-1700

Namaste

My Masala Chai Tea was nice and so was my Palak Paner. 

Namaste
7, Haeundaehaebyeon-ro 265beon-gil, Haeundae-gu 
| B1, Busan 48094, South Korea
+82 51-746-1946

Despite taking our own sweet time for lunch, it was still raining outside when we're done. I thought we could make our way to Gamcheon Culture Village but it was already almost 4.30pm and I think that place closes at 6pm if I'm not wrong. D wanted some hot coffee (we were feeling cold due to the rain) and Hajar recommended us Hollys Coffee saying their coffee is all nice. Since there was Hollys Coffee nearby, we walked over for some hot drinks. D decided to settle for the Hot Chocolate instead and I tried their Real Belgian Chocolate. Omo! The Hot chocolate was really nice!! The Belgian Chocolate was nice too, but it was a bit too bitter sweet for my liking.

Then somehow it stopped raining. I was so excited and I told D to quickly make our way to Haeundae beach which was just across. We managed to take some pictures at the beach before it starts to pour heavily again.  We actually wanted to head to Busan station or make way to Gwangalli for sunset and to see the Gwangandaegyo bridge but to no avail.

I even thought of going back to our apartment first and head out at 7.30pm in the evening but I forget it because D was sick, he was having a running nose and have been sneezing non-stop. The weather temperature dropped from 14 degrees to a colder 11 degrees and plus we're soaking wet too, it was so so freezing cold.

We went back to our apartment and I contracted his sickness. I'm easily contagious like that. I felt truly unwell and out of breath again just like the first day when we wanted to board the flight. Haizzz! Hate it when this happen. D tried to nurse me till I fall asleep and so did he after that. We decided to not head anywhere anymore but to rest and recuperate while incubating ourselves inside our warm room.

Hoping tomorrow will be a much better day for us.

XOXO,

Princess Azie Anni ♥

South Korea / Busan - Day 1

Dear Diary,

Day 1 - 12th April 2018
South Korea / Busan

I'm going to start on my Day 1 of..... Yes! Korea!

As you all know I was still quite new into my job, just days before heading off to Korea, I was still adjusting to the working environment there. Everyday there felt so tiring and exhausting that I haven't got time to pack anything. I even knock out early by 10pm. Anyway, D had already pack his luggage days before the trip and I was busy packing mine few hours before the trip. I actually didn't sleep the whole night till we headed to the airport while D had his good few hours sleep.

Reached the airport, collected our Router from Changi Recommends. I started to not feel well after that as I was down with a terrible diarrhea and nausea. I was vomiting so bad that I was having shortness of breath. We almost cancel the whole trip because I felt like I cannot tolerate the pain anymore but looking at D's upset face, I forced myself to feel okay and we boarded the flight. We have already spent close to almost 5K for this trip. =X

6 hours 35 mins long flight. To me this is long enough and I was already feeling so restless. I have no idea how people do even longer flight than this. I can't sit still and I feel so suffocated. But girl can't complain because girl have to fly to travel anyway. I tried to ask for airsick pill like I used to before but yerps, they no longer carry them pills anymore. So sad! 

We got Ice-cream but my tummy wasn't feeling too well for Ice-cream.

Victoria & Abdul on flight.

I know people always have good reputation of SIA but for the FIRST time in my life we had such a bad turbulence experience for almost close to an hour. So bad that I really thought I wasn't going to make it out of the plane alive. I kept looking at the live map on the plane screen and gosh! We were in the middle of East China Sea, nowhere to even land! And I can't even freaking swim in deep cold sea. I keep saying my prayers and so were the rest too. The air stewardess & air steward stayed in their sit for long before we finally hit Jeju and the lights & bell were on again, I think indicating it's safe now. Alhamdulilah for a competent Pilot. Good job!

Incheon Airport - South Korea

I was super excited when we landed, like FINALLY I'm breathing a different atmosphere but as excited as we are, we were also slightly feeling homesick! Hahahaha! Both D and I are hopeless! We have never been away from Singapore this far and as for me from my parents too. So we felt something was amiss. After making through South Korea's custom, we headed off to retrieve our luggage. And of course both noob have no idea where to go but it does not mean we're not smart. Lol! We recognize people who took the same flight as us and we follow. HEHEHEHE!

KTX Tickets

We wanted to cover both Seoul & Busan, so we did something different from what the rest would do. People will usually explore Seoul first and then headed for Busan, while we did the other way round. We reach Seoul, collected our KTX tickets that we have purchased them from Klook and took the KTX to Busan. We have our reason for doing this because, Busan doesn't have nothing much to shop (for us) compared to when you're in Seoul. Thus, we get to reserve some money in Busan first before heading off to Seoul (especially in Myeongdong) to splurge. I'm afraid if we follow the latter, we might end up not having any cash, in case we spend them in Seoul and end up with heavy lugagge when we head to Busan.



Collecting KTX tickets is "slight complicated" for noob like us but not to worry! You can ask around in the airport and mostly all of them can speak English, well of course they have to since there are a lot of Ang Mohs coming to Korea as well. We were directed to the KTX counter at the basement (one floor down from the arrival hall). Upon seeing another information counter (you can ask this information counter again for KTX counter if you're feeling unsure. That was what D and I always do/ask) walk past it and walk all the way straight to the back, that is where the KTX counter is located. We collected our tickets and sadly, there isn't any KTX from Incheon Airport to Busan (no idea if it's a new thing or just happened to be like that, that day). We had to travel to Seoul Station and take the KTX from there to Busan.

The KTX lady asked if we wanted to get the 6pm or 6.15pm seating KTX tickets. I was afraid we would not make it to Seoul in time to catch the 6pm KTX but the lady assured us that we have more than enough time. So we trusted her and chose the 6pm KTX tickets. Collecting the KTX tickets in Incheon Airport is also another better way to save time than collecting/buying them in Seoul because it will be super crowded there.

So we bought the AREX tickets and headed to Seoul. AREX are fast, non-stop train that goes from Incheon to Seoul or Seoul to Incheon for just 43 mins. We bought this AREX ticket opposite the KTX counter in Yellow. 2 tickets cost us 3,200 won. And not to worry if you don't know numbers in Korean because usually they will punch the number in the calculator for you to see.

Tips 1: Train tickets will indicate what is your seat number and keep your train tickets. Sometimes, well most of the time the ticket conductor will always walk around to see your tickets and your proof of purchase.

Truth to be told. We reach Seoul station at 5.30pm and slowly make way to KTX, since we are also noob to finding the KTX station. And again we look out for sign, follow people and keep asking around. But from Seoul platform you have to tap out and head to Level 2. We no longer have to collect or purchase KTX tickets since it has been done in Incheon airport. And upon seeing the KTX signboard, we just have to walk in.

And if if if possible buy your going back tickets too! Because we didn't do that and bought them last minute, we end up not having tickets and had to purchase a freaking standing tickets to go back from Busan to Seoul.

So excited seeing this from the movie Train to Busan and I'm finally here. No Zombie...checked! Lol!

And tell me about it. As if 6 hours 35 mins flight wasn't long enough, it was another 3 hours crazy KTX ride to Busan. D and my butt was super numb from sitting down too much but we had no choice but to suck it up. Lol! We kept sleeping and waking up, sleeping and waking up till we had a headache from too much sleeping & waking up.

Busan

We finally reached Busan at 8.25pm! It was late and erm..while it was still relatively safe there but mostly, the streets are slightly dark and quiet. I booked our apartment at Haeundae station so far from Busan station and that was another problem for us. We couldn't find the Subway station from the KTX station and imagine with our luggage walking up and down like crazy. Plus the cold weather isn't helping! It was 12 degrees and with the wind blowing, I felt so so so so cold and felt like crying. I wanted to cab to our apartment but I remember friends telling us even cab is cheaper there but to cab to a 45 mins subway station ride it will cost us a bomb and the cab driver do not know how to speak English. 

It was almost 9pm, we asked the almost closing counter they mentioned exit 5 but we don't see any subway station at Exit 5. We have been going up and down the escalator when we finally found a nice young Korean couple and approached them. Yes, younger people usually know how to speak English and we asked them for direction, showed her to map that I wanted to head to take Subway to head to Heaundae.

The girl suggested taking a bus there but her boyfriend (I guess) was quick to correct her and told us to just take the subway and mentioned to the girl in korean and said 'luggage'. Yes, I've read that it is less convenient to travel in buses with luggage. So they told us 'Yellow sign there' where the subway station was and my goodness! It was like 5 mins walk from the KTX station! I thought it was connected but nope. So D and I had to carry our luggage walk past the bumpy road and headed to the Subway station slightly across the road. It felt like 100 staircase down. 

Tips 2: Always ask around when you don't know and hopefully someone is able to speak English and help you. Tickets information counter are good and so are younger couples.

I regretted taking an apartment so far plus it was already so late. From Busan we had to change to another station in Seomyeon and then headed to Haeundae station but luckily, the train was quite fast we reached Heaundae station at almost 10pm.

Tips 3: Their train station mostly do not have an elevator. Mostly are stairs. So yes, you or your partner have to be strong enough to carry the luggage up and down the stairs. 

Haeundae Station

D suggested to take the cab to our apartment because initially we wanted to walk the 15 mins walk to our apartment but we were sooo exhausted already. I tried to show the map of our apartment to one of the cab driver but none know where it was and rejected us because they cannot speak English. Until one uncle, he was soooooo nice and asked us where we wanted to go. Even let us sit inside the cab first while he figure where we wanted to go. He called his taxi company via speaker and ask those operator to speak to us in English and translate to him back in Korean language. Nobody know where my apartment was because it was a new apartment I guess. Until I recalled that I google that our apartment was near Busan Paradise Hotel and told him to drop us there and then hoping that D and I will try to figure out the place to our apartment on our own when we reach Paradise Hotel Busan. So I told the operator Busan Paradise Hotel and then the uncle drove us there.

As he was approaching Busan Paradise Hotel, I saw my apartment name 'Prugio City' and I quickly told the uncle and pointed our apartment there there there. So Alhamdulilah! We finally we alighted at our own apartment instead of Busan Paradise Hotel. The cab driver was sooooo nice, he even went like "Annyeonghaseyo" when he was about to drive off. We keep bowing and thanking him so much. May God bless that uncle. So so touched for a wonderful uncle. 

So happy with our apartment area, it was near the beach (I love beaches) and peaceful, even though it was slightly further away from Busan station. There was 7 11 around, convenient store nearby. It was already 1030pm but D and I were hungry. The last meal we had was on our flight. We went to our apartment to put our luggage first but we had a problem to unlock our apartment door. The person said 4678# but it was actually 4678*. Hahaha! We were like decoding codes when D finally managed to enter the correct password.

Put our luggage and went to 7 11 to buy some food and drinks and went back to our apartment. We ate, showered and knock out immediately. My body was in pain and aching horribly. I totally needed that rest and sleep and so did D.

Tips 4: Buy all your activities and train tickets like AREX & KTX from Klook as much as possible. It help you lessen the trouble of not knowing how much to change Dollars to Won. And Klook is so much cheaper and trustworthy. Print the confirmation letter sent to your email and just show to the counter etc when in korea. So the money left for you to change to Won are now basically for spending and for food plus Subway transportation. You can buy their T Money Value card (like EZ Link card) at any Convenience store (GS5 / 7 11). 

We bought ours T Money Value card at GS5 in Busan just at the lobby of our apartment. Uncle was so nice too. Told us there is no value inside and so we topped up there too. We bought matching compatible cards and when he saw he was like "Ahhhh. Good!" He doesn't speak much English but tried. 

It has been a long entry for a Day 1.
Till I write again for Day 2.

XOXO,

Princess Azie Anni ♥

It's not the same.

Dear Diary,

It has been a month working in the new company and I shall keep everything confidential as it is. Work has been tiring and I haven't got time to catch up with life, my life. I used to end later at work but everything in life seems to be in control and in check. Now, even when I end early, time left is only spent for me to rest and gain energy for the next working days.

I feel lonely. Lonely as it is. It's not the same.

I haven't got the time to update on my Korea trip and I will try as much as possible to find the time or squeeze some time to.

It's not even tomorrow yet but I'm dreading the idea of going to work tomorrow.

Till here, I'm off to a ex-secondary schoolmate wedding and I'm hungry. Lol!