Busan Vacation day 1

When I was in Japan oh so many years ago, I remember keeping a small journal as I traveled.  I wrote down my thoughts, comments, and so on of the day and every so often I got a chance to reread my little scribbles and it takes me back to those times.  That’s the whole point of a journal, isn’t it?  My thoughts exactly, and so with all that in mind, I shall now expound on the details of our summer vacation to Busan. 

Day 1:

So after a long day of teaching and confrontations with “Marie A” that left the taste of bile in our mouths, we were off to sunny Busan.  Now as many people know I lived in this city once before and I still love it as one of my all-time favorite places.  We were well prepared for our journey with my black backpack and our KTX tickets pre-purchased. 

Ah, the KTX.   For many of you who do not know, the KTX is the high speed train that connects the major cities here together.  There are others, certainly, but this train is fast, comfortable, and felt much like an airplane.   The seats are comfortable, the bathrooms look identical to an airplane’s, and there are even two different trollies that run through the cars, one for coffee, and the other for yogurt/beer/snacks.  The only complaint that either Rachel or I had is that our ears began to do terrible things whenever we went through a mountain tunnel (which was often). 

Right, so after a few hours we made it to sunny Busan.  Memories flooded back into my consciousness and I knew exactly where and how to get to our hotel.  With no trouble at all we negotiated the subway, and got into our lovely, lovely hotel room.  The Press hotel is certainly steps up from the run of the mill hostel, and much better than your average “love motel” (author’s note:  Space is a high commodity here in Korea, and as such local youngsters who wish to, shall I say…do what young people do, they need space to do that in, and since most locals live with their families until they are in their late 20’s, home isn’t an option, hence “love motels”).  I digress.  Our room was a very nice one.  Jacuzzi, massive TV, free internet, large bed, and the toilet seat was even heated.  Did I forget to mention that the hotel is fairly close to the beach?  We didn’t have a view, but it’s very nice all the same. 

So, the first thing we needed when we got unpacked was food.  That having been decided, it was off to Hyundae beach where the tourists flock.  There is a lovely Irish pub there where we found (another franchise identical to the one we like in Itaewon).  The breeze was coming off the open windows, the beer was delicious, and it was wonderful.  The beach was overly crowded and as it turns out, closes after 6:00pm.  So with the day winding down and our strength not at 100% from a combination of stress, late nights, and travel, we found ourselves inside one of the local mega malls watching Dark Knight Rises for the second time.