All posts tagged: busan

THE FINAL ONE: GOODBYE SOUTH KOREA

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Two years later, here we are. My bags are packed and I’m ready to leave South Korea, the place that has made me constantly crave spicy food, challenged me with language barriers and (many) cultural differences. The place I pushed my limits, challenged myself, fell in love, and battled loneliness. The place I found inner strength, discovered the power of my voice, and (most importantly) a place I felt safe and called home. Busan, South Korea will always have a special place in my heart. I’ll miss the mountains, beaches, prompt public transportation, cheap convenience store ice cream, and of course, my students. Leaving has been an extremely emotional and overwhelming process. I was not prepared for how much it hurts to say goodbye to people, places, and memories. But such is life. You grow and move on. Currently I am in Seoul, wandering around the city until my departure on Sunday. I’ve been taking my time to walk in and out of shops and discovering new places such as the COEX Mall‘s Starfield Library, which holds …

BOSEONG GREEN TEA FIELDS

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Hello all. I’m currently at work, desk warming. Desk warming expectations: Me sitting in front of the computer, working hard, planning activities and gathering reading materials for summer camp, which commences Monday. I’m finished planning summer camp, so.. Desk warming reality: Me scrolling through Instagram, eating snacks, and researching how long it would take to travel to each country, in case of a mid-life crisis. If you’re wondering, if you spend 5 days in each of the 196 countries, and assuming it would take a day to travel to each of them, it would (apparently) take 3 years, 2 months, and 3 weeks. And probably a bajillion dollars. Anyway, I haven’t made a life update blog post in awhile and quite frankly, it’s Friday and I’m feeling lazy. So, I will show you pictures of what I’ve been up to and explain them all in a Haiku. *ahem* On top of a roof. Bridge lifts up at 2 P.M. Decent view, I guess. What are these trees called? They’re pretty and I like them. Want …

BIKE RIDING THROUGH SAMNAK RIVERSIDE

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‘Tis the season of getting outside and enjoying the heat, and what better way to ring in the sweet summertime than going for a riverside bike ride. My friend Jake and I made our way to Samnak Ecological Park in Busan and rented a bike for ₩3,000 each. We had to give the rental place a piece of ID, which was returned once we gave back the bikes. I read online that foreigners can rent these bikes for free, but turns out it wasn’t true. No biggie though, ONWARDS WE WENT FOR OUR RIVERSIDE ADVENTURE! We had one hour to ride around the area, which is the largest of the four parks located along the Nakdonggang River. We rode pass a plethora of soccer and baseball fields, camp grounds, and even an inline skating rink. The boys in the picture below enthusiastically said hello as I was passing by and couldn’t help but snap a photo, they were just so darn cute! Peddling along the riverside, I forgot I was still in a city. The leisurely ride was a great …

BUSAN ALLEYWAY FESTIVAL

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Hello all! The official days of summer are fast approaching (ONE WEEK AWAY!). I can already smell the scent of sunscreen, chlorine, and freshly cut grass *SNIFF SNIFF* ahhh. But, let’s be real, I live in Korea so it’s more like the smell of seafood, kimchi, and cigarette smoke. Take what you can get.. Summer means getting outside A LOT more, and what better way to spend an afternoon than exploring the Busan Alleyway Festival. Two weeks ago the city celebrated four popular alleyways, each showered with artwork and history. Honestly, I would not have known about these fascinating little side streets if it were not for the weekend celebration.I was fascinated to learn that there’s a monorail in one of the alleyways since older citizens live higher in the mountains. The monorail makes it easier for them to access their homes instead of busting their knee caps while climbing hundreds of steps. But if you do brave the steps, there are beautiful lookout points where you can gaze upon staggered city rooftops, the deep blue …

LET’S GO SAILING

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I’m too tired to write paragraphs about my adventures last week since life has been crazy busy and all I want to do is sleep without waking up every hour sweating from the humidity. Summer camp is almost over, and I’m at the final stretch of planning and executing lessons. Therefore, rather than massive paragraphs, I am going to explain each picture in a haiku. I don’t guarantee quality in these haikus, it’s midnight and my eyes are currently half closed. Leggo.. Skateboarding is cool. I’m secretly good at it. It surprised the boys. We went out sailing. I do not know how to swim. I jumped off the boat. The view from the boat. Busan is so beautiful. You should come visit. Love delicious noods. That’s short for noodles, weirdo. Do you love noods too? I did some shopping. Bought a mask and a planner. Watch my haul vid, now. (Subscribe to my fashion/beauty/lifestyle channel Get Up & Go Girl if you haven’t already!!!) This is my cool vlog. Sailing, shopping, and much more! Watch it now, …

WAS THAT AN EARTHQUAKE?

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Earlier this month there was a 5.0-magnitude underwater earthquake near Ulsan, which meant Busan also had quite a shake. No one reported any injuries and there were no damages in result of the earthquake, but if you’ve never felt the world tremble.. it’s a craaaaaaazy feeling. I was sitting on my bed when I felt a rumble. The best comparison of how it feels is when you’ve finished riding a roller coaster and you’ve come to a full stop, waiting to get back to where you started. All the sudden, you start to jerk forward and it keeps doing that until you stop (for good this time) and the ride announcer dude says it’s ok to push your handle bars up and exit to your left. The small stop and start of the ride is what a small earthquake feels like.  It’s enough to make your stomach feel queasy. Have you ever felt an earthquake? What do you do in emergency situations? Someone needs to inform me of all safety precautions and procedures! Please send informative earthquake …

HAEUNDAE SAND FESTIVAL

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Hello friends! I went to the Haeundae Sand Festival last weekend, a magical place where you can go tobogganing down a giant sand hill, get lost in a sand maze and awe at the countless number of sand sculptures. You get the point. See all the sandy festivities and witness non-sand related moments, such as when I get locked out of my house and where I had the BEST chicken soup, in the vlog below!

KOREAN FOOD COMA

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It’s getting pretty toasty in Busan (summer is coming!) so consuming ice cream as much as I breathe is getting to be pretty common. My go-tos are the honeydew melon popsicle and vanilla milkshake (you can get both at any convenience store in Busan and cost ₩1,000). Or if I’m feelin’ fancy, I get a green tea chocolate almond ice cream from Natuur Pop. This double scoop cone was around ₩4,500. I advise if you go, get the HUGE container that you can share with 4-5 people and fill up with ice cream for ₩10,000. I found that out a little too late.. I discovered one of my favourite places in Busan! If you ever visit this beautiful city, you need to head toward the Oryukdo Skywalk (the skywalk is a glass floor that looks over the sea). Beside the skywalk there is a coastal hiking trail that goes on for 3.5 kilometers. The views are breathtaking (see photo below.. it basically looks like this for the entire hike). Next time I’m going to bring a backpack full …

MY FAVOURITE THINGS TO DO IN BUSAN, SOUTH KOREA

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Ever wondered what Busan is like? What is there to do? What is worth seeing? Where should I go? I remember being in that spot. Googling and searching on YouTube this foreign city that wasn’t Seoul. While Seoul is incredible, Busan certainly has so much for you to see, eat, and experience. In my video below I tell you some of my favourite places to explore in Busan including where to go for breathtaking hikes, non-touristy beach recommendations, temples to trek to, the insanity that is watching live soccer and baseball games, where to shop, my favourite spot in the city to see the skyline (nope, it’s not from the Busan tower), and a dog cafe because well, why not! Be sure to follow me on Instagram to keep up with my adventures: CLICK HERE  This post was created for EPIK e-Press.

FROLICKING IN FLOWER FIELDS

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Hello everyone! Last weekend I went to Daejeo Ecological Site which sounds like a snore, but it was one of the most beautiful.. backdrops for an Instagram photo everrrrr. How much do you hate me for saying that? Heh heh. But seriously, with 760,000 square meters of garden and lush mountains in the background, it was incredibly scenic (smelt great too!). Also, it was some kind of wonderful being on the subway going there since it took you right over the garden. I saw the yellow blooms, mountains and river all in one shot. My mouth dropped when the subway car came out from the dark tunnel and into what seemed like a Tom Thomson painting. It was unexpected so I wasn’t prepared with my camera, you’ll just have to believe me on this one. I also took a photo of funky tree.. bamboo.. things. This was also at the ecological site. Everything was green and vibrant there. I want to go back! It’s too bad the flowers are only in full bloom in mid-April so, if you …

FREE SOCCER GAMES AT GUDEOK STADIUM

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Hello all! Sorry this blog post is a little late but, better late than never (says every one of my students who hand in their homework late). Last weekend I went to my first soccer game at Gudeok Stadium, a three minute walk from my house. Gudeok Stadium first opened in 1928 and hosted soccer matches during the Summer Olympics in 1988. Currently, it is home to the Busan Transportation Corporation FC. It’s exciting to watch them play but, the team has such an odd name. Transportation Corporation? Why can’t they be the Busan Bears or Busan Barracudas or Busan Barbarians.. I also love that when you go watch a soccer match it’s free entrance, BYOB and you can bring in ALL THE SNACKS! I brought in an entire pizza. Below is a photo of the Busan Tower from the Lotte Department Store roof, accessible for anyone to enjoy. I recommend going up there, it’s a nice place to spend an afternoon. You get a great view of the mountains on one side and the …

SMELLS LIKE HOME

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What do you do when you start having Canada withdraw? Hack open a can of maple syrup and make french toast. Mmmmm it was so good, and just what I needed to feel at home again. This week wasn’t too exciting, other than making my apartment smell maple goodness, nothing eventful happened. Oh, I did spend 15 minutes hacking at the maple syrup can. Should probably put “can opener” on my shopping list, as well as “spatula” since I used a rice scooper to flip my french toast. #singlelife #ilivealone #dontjudge Last weekend I went to Caffe Bene near my house to catch up on emails and finish up with some work. I had an iced coffee, and the entire upstairs floor to myself. Nothing like peace, serenity and caffeine to make you feel productive (aka Facebook stalk my friends from home pretending I was with them at all their outings and parties). Moving onto my work week, for one of my classes I taught a lesson on “mottos” and had students come up with a class motto. …

HIKES, ART & GOLD.. OH MY!

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Things making me happy right now: Currently sitting at a cafe and have it entirely to myself (Caffe Bene to be specific). I’m on the second floor looking over my neighbourhood. I slept in this morning, made french toast and drowned it in maple syrup. It’s 17 degrees outside. I booked my train to Seoul for next weekend because, FASHION WEEK! I bought an air freshener for my apartment. Looking forward to going home to see if it works (is that sad?). Came to the realization that I am exactly where I want to be, doing exactly what I want to do and that, makes me happy. Can I be real for a sec? If you’ve known me for the past three years, you know that moving to South Korea was an idea that quickly turned into a plan. However, I didn’t act on the plan until this year. I flip-flopped not knowing if I’d be “behind in my career” that I had in Toronto. It took me three years to make my final decision. THREE. YEARS. I …