Two Weeks Vacation in South Korea - Part IV
Part III: Two weeks Vacation in South Korea - Part III
Part IV: Two Weeks Vacation in South Korea - Part IV
Part V: Two Weeks Vacation in South Korea - Part V
Itinerary to South Korea
Day 4: Seoul - Busan
Incheon International Airport
Our parents should arrive this morning at 8:20 AM via Air Asia but the night before the flight that should depart at 1 AM delay for 3 hours. They ended arrive at 11:20 AM. Therefore, we had a chance to eat breakfast at the hotel since we did not have to leave early to the airport to pick them up. We decided to take metro to the airport since we wanted to experience it. After breakfast, we walked to Yeongdeungpo station.
Direction:
1. Take line 1 (blue line) from Yeongdeungpo station to Singil (2 stops)
2. Take line 5 (purple line) from Singil to Gimpo International Airport (13 stops)
3. Take AREX from Gimpo International Airport to Incheon Internation Airport (5 stops)
Alternative Direction:
1. Take line 1 (blue line) from Yeongdeungpo station to Seoul station (7 stops)
2. Take AREX from Seoul station to Incheon International Airport (10 stops)
Note: For the airport railroad, make sure choose the right train that go to Incheon International Airport. We chose the wrong one and had to exit Unseo and caught the next one. It really did not matter anyway since it did not make you wait longer. After 90 minutes or so, we arrived at the Incheon International Airport.
Tips: I will suggest to take Airport Limousine Bus rather than metro to the airport if you have lots of luggage especially on the weekend. I will explain it later when we were on the way to catch KTX from Seoul Station to Busan.
AREX at Gimpo International Airport (Credit @ Seoul Man)
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| Underground Walk Way from Transportation Center to Check-In Counter |
From the airport, we took airport bus limousine 6008 to Courtyard Seoul Times Square hotel with my parents and 3 luggage. Remember to use 1,000 won coupon from the coupon website links on Part I. When we arrived at the hotel, my mom would like to take a shower before we went to Busan. We bought night snack food in front of the Times Square so my parents could fill their stomach since they had not eaten all night long. Four of us have a total of 8 luggage, 4 were 28", 3 were 26", and 1 was 20". We decided to take 2 28" and 1 26" to Busan and Jeju Island. The rest we request the concierge at the hotel to keep it until we went back to Seoul. That was the great thing about Courtyard Seoul Times Square. They also let us to check out at 4 PM as complimentary for a gold elite member.
Yeongduengpo Underground Shopping Center
We then walked to Yeongdeungpo station to Seoul station to catch KTX to Busan. That day was a Saturday, and how regret of me to pick that day to go to Busan. The underground shopping and the metro were full of people and packed compare to the week day. It was unbelievable. That's the reason I mentioned not to take a metro to go to the airport with lots of luggage. Also, they were lots of stairs at the underground. Some station did not have elevator at all, only stairs and stairs.
My
dad was wearing sandal at time while taking one of the luggage. On the
way out from times square to underground shopping, there was revolving
door. My dad got in to one of the empty door with the luggage and an
unknown pregnant woman also got in the spot where my dad got in. Both of
them stuck and the revolving door did not stop revolving. My dad sandal
stuck at the revolving door and he could not take out his foot from the
sandal. One good thing about South Korea was that everyone directly
help my dad and couple men tried hold the door so that the door did not
nip my father's foot. The security came and turn off the revolving door.
What a stupid mistake, we should just take a door next to it. A lesson
to remember.
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| Underground Shopping during the Weekend |
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| Underground Shopping during the Weekday |
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| Subway during the Weekend (not as bad as during rush hours on weekday) Credit @ Larry Suen |
Direction:
1. Take line 1 (blue line) from Yeongdeungpo station to Seoul station (7 stops)
Seoul Station
We finally arrived at Seoul Station. This time we could take an elevator. What a relieved. Then, we head up to where the KTX were. I had to change my KTX ticket due to my parents' flight delay. Luckily, they allowed me to change the time of the departure. Since we have time before the departure, we bought food since all of us were hungry. I just bought mayak-gimbap for me. My parents and sister bought teriyaki with rice and noodles at one of the shop. After that we departed from Seoul Station Terminal 8 to Busan Station. It took approximately 2 hour and 40 min.
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| KTX tickets to Busan Station |
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| Food Counter at Seoul Station |
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| Seoul Station (Credit @ wikimedia) |
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| My mom and sister at the KTX train |
Busan Station
It was a good experience to ride KTX to Busan. Even the economy class chairs were very comfortable. I would take the KTX again in the future. My rate for KTX is 4.5/5. 0.5 off due to the WiFi. There is a free WiFi inside the train but it kept disconnected. We ended up using our KT WiFi Egg.
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| KTX arriving at Busan Station |
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| Mom and I inside Busan Station |
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| My parents and I outside Busan Station |
Since it late already, my parents requested not to take a metro but a cab instead to our hotel. They had not had enough slept due to the delay on the flight in the morning and both of them could not sleep at the airplane. Therefore, we walked to where the taxis were parked. In there, one of the ahjussi told us to use CRV taxi type. There was no indication that the CRV car was actually a Taxi nor it had the meter. Therefore, we asked the ahjussi, how much to go to our hotel at Park Hyatt at Haeundae. He charged us 30,000 won. I guessed it was not bad.
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| The Haeundae view from taxi |
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| Gwangali & Haeundae Maps |
We finally arrived at our hotel at Park Hyatt Busan. This is one of the best hotel that I had ever visited. As a diamond member, the room was upgraded to the suites. We stayed here for two nights.
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| Fountain in front of Park Hyatt Busan |
Gumsubokguk
After checked-in, we decided to have dinner. For the dinner, my sister would like to try "Fugu/Puffer/Blow Fish/bok-eo". There was one road section at Haeundae that had couple restaurants that served this fugu fish. Fugu fish is poisonous due to its tetrodotoxin so that it must be prepared very carefully to remove the toxic parts and not contaminated the meat. One popular restaurant that served this fish was Gumsubokguk. Since they were very popular, they opened a branch in Seoul. We took a taxi from the hotel to get there and cost us around 6,000 won since it was very close.
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| Fugu/Puffer/Blow Fish/bok-eo |
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| Gumsubokguk Restaurant in Busan |
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| In front of Gumsubokguk Restaurant |
Fugu Fish Dishes at Gumsubokguk Restaurant
I would rate this restaurant 5/5. The fried fish and fish soup were great and we liked it. I liked the last one too but my mom and sister thought the smell are so strong on that dishes. For 4 people, 3 dishes were too much for us. Also, the food were on the pricey side but it was nice to try it and I would recommend people to try it.
Haeundae Beach
From the restaurant, we were to full and decided to walk to Haeundae Beach. The beach is amazing at night. I would rate it 5/5.
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| Haeundae Beach at Night |
Gwanggali Beach
From there we were taking a cab to Gwangalli beach where we could see the diamond bridge. The rate is about 6,000 won. The beach was fabulous. I would rate it 5/5.
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| Diamond Bridge at Gwangalli Beach |
After that we went back to the hotel. Since it was a Saturday night and where most of the bars located, it was a little difficult to catch a cab since there were lots of people also were waiting for the cab.
